Dynamic Duo for Dean Street December! 😍📚🎄❤️✨

Happy Furrowed Middlebrow Friday and Happy Dean Street Press December 2025! 🥳💜✨

What could be better than spending the most lovely and cozy moments of December snuggled up with a cup of tea and a snack by a warm, crackling fire with a Dean Street Press's Furrowed Middlebrow book? (hint: nothing!)

So many thanks to Liz Dexter at Adventures in Reading for hosting another wonderful wintery month of DSP books! Yippee! ☺️📘❄️💙

Ian's SPAM socks (with container) and his 33-year-old can of unopened SPAM! 

Spam Tomorrow by Verily Anderson 

RATING: 4.5🌟 

A non-stop roller coaster of activity on the home front! 

This wartime memoir by Verily Anderson grabbed me from the very first page until the (wonderfully satisfying) last sentence. At first, I thought that Ms. Anderson's writing was all-over-the-place and it really had my head reeling...BUT...once I got into the rhythm and pace of her thoughts and writing style, it was a JOY to read. 

To me, the life of Verily, her family, her friends (and then later with her husband, Donald) reminds me of these other titles:

❊ The humor, flurry, excitement and coziness of the Mrs. Tim series by D.E. Stevenson
❊ A smidge of the satirical and amusing novels, The Benefactress and The Caravaners, by Elizabeth von Arnim
❊ With a touch of Susan Scarlett's slightly silly and irreverent (but also touching) romance novels. 

Once I got used to the author's writing style (maybe 30% in?), I flew through the rest of the memoir and I didn't want it to end. There's so much to love, lots to laugh about and also a little bit to frustrate in Spam Tomorrow. 

If you love wartime memoirs, quirky personalities, unbelievably wacky situations and an underlining theme of real life and honest feelings/reactions during the war, this book is for you! I really enjoyed it!

Murder While You Work by Susan Scarlett

RATING: 4.75🌟 

Oooh! This was SO good! I had no idea that Susan Scarlett wrote a murder mystery! 😱

This story had me on the edge of my seat from beginning to end. It has the perfect blend of coziness, Susan Scarlett/Noel Streatfeild's sparkling writing and intrigue. It was so hard to put down. Wow!

The only reason why I didn't give it a full five stars is because Judy (who I really liked overall) was almost entirely clueless to the affections of a certain war-time colleague. It seems to me that the author wrote her character to be very clever, positive, attractive and observant...but, in this one aspect, she is totally blind to the words and actions of this man. I had such a hard time believing this fact that it frustrated me and I had to bump it down a half star. 😭

But, aside from that, it was AMAZING! I would absolutely re-read this Susan Scarlett novel and...who knows...I might end up changing it to a five star story in the end. 

Highly recommended! One of my Top 3 Susan Scarlett favs! 

I also plan on re-reading Miss Plum and Miss Penny by one of my favorite authors, Dorothy Evelyn Smith this month! It's another Christmas-y favorite of mine! 😍❤️📚🎄

NOTE: 

Current Favorite Teas: Organic lemon balm, Simpson & Vale's Literary Teas in Goldilocks and the Three Bears or Louisa May Alcott (thoughtful and delicious gifts from Christie @felines_and_flowers!)

Current Favorite Snacks: Gladys Taber's homemade cranberry walnut tea bread, Fine & Raw dark chocolate or oyster crackers

Now, I can't even imagine December without a Dean Street Press book in my hand! I think I already have 2-3 DSP titles in mind for next year. Do you have any suggestions for me? 

What are your favorite drinks or snacks to enjoy while reading? Let me know in the comments below! 

If I can't manage to share another blog post this month, I want to wish all of you the most joyful, healing and peaceful holiday and New Year!! Thank you so much for taking the time to read my blog, comment, like my posts on Instagram/Facebook/Goodreads and for always being so caring, supportive and encouraging! It was also so exciting to grow from 1900 to almost 2400 followers on Instagram since early this year...thank you, thank you! 

All of my love, warmest hugs, and wishes for the most cozy and amazing reading for the rest of the year and 2026!! 🥰💕🤗❄️✨🎁💫❤️💚🎄

 

DSP Book Review: Bloody Instructions by Sara Woods 🤩📕

Happy Dean Street December, Friends! 

 

As you know, I absolutely adore the Dean Street Press Furrowed Middlebrow collection (I've read at least 34 books and counting so far...wooo!), but I'm also starting to sample some of their amazing Crime Fiction books. So far, my favorite author from that series is Moray Dalton (dying to read more of her golden age mysteries in 2025!)

Now that DSP has added Sara Woods (a new Crime Fiction author) to their list, I thought it would be a great opportunity to try out one of her books. (I always get excited about a new author, don't you?) Also, I have to give most of the credit to Caro, who recommended the first Sara Woods book to me. If you want to see her beautiful, in-depth and addictive reviews, make sure to start HERE! (don't forget to check out her gorgeous Instagram posts, too!)

So, here's my (as usual) very informal review of Bloody Instructions by Sara Woods:

I'm not a huge fan of crime dramas on television, but mystery books are sometimes different. To me, they are a lot more interesting and less stressful in book form. (Also, reading a mystery book that was written in the 60s makes it even better, in my opinion!) It took me some time to get used to Sara Woods' writing style, but it's mainly because courtroom dialogue and lawyer language sometimes make my head spin.

The characters in this crime fiction novel are distinct, intelligent and interesting. I especially appreciated the parts in Bloody Instructions in which Antony updates his uncle with the details of the murder (and investigation). This rehashing of the situation reminded me of how Poirot would share his thoughts to Hastings in Agatha Christie's books. It really helped me when my brain was working below its normal efficiency—lol. 

I was also grateful for the drawing of the layout of the office where the murder occurred because I sometimes have a hard time imagining crime scene details in my head. Although I had no idea how this murder was going to be solved, it was a lot of fun trying to figure it out.  I was really surprised to find out who the killer was in the end. Seriously unexpected!

The relationship and conversations between Antony, his wife Jenny, and his uncle Sir Nicholas Harding were my favorite parts. This little family in their unconventional London dwelling are highly amusing (also with a hint of coziness) and I looked forward to every evening dinner discussion with glee. 

Although I didn't have an immediate connection to Sara Woods' writing as I did with Moray Dalton, I'm still very interested in reading the rest of the series. (Especially after reading Caro's last post on the Antony Maitland series...she found that the books in this series just got better and better!)

To sum up... If you're highly entertained by mysterious murders with missing motives, complex courtroom conversations and a slew of suspicious characters, you will LOVE this crime classic by Sara Woods! 

Let me know which DSP Crime Fiction authors (or books!) are your favorites so far!

Many bookish hugs to you! 💕🌸🤗🌸💕