Nancy Haddock

This came sooo close to being a really excellent cozy, but as is, it's a very good one.

Nixy is called to Lilyvale, Arkansas by the local detective because he's been called out to the home of Nixy's aunt and her friends one too many times for fires and explosions and there's talk about the courts stepping in and shipping them all off to a nursing home. When she arrives she finds 6 people that are anything but incompetent and a rather unconventional reason for all the false alarms. She also show more finds an unscrupulous developer itching to get her hands on the family land - and everyone else's too.

There are a lot of things to love about this book: strong, independent senior citizens, a strong, independent, educated main character who never, ever resorts to ditzy behaviour or immature behaviour, and a charming small town setting. The mystery was better than average too, although the murderer wasn't hard to figure out after the half-way mark.

The only reason I didn't rate it higher was Nixy's declaration that she was 'investigating' the murder and she wouldn't rest until she solved it and cleared her aunt. That, for me, left a disappointing dent in my enjoyment. In every other way this mystery was great, it just crossed that line into immaturity when the MC decided she could do the police's job better than they could.

I'm interested in reading the next one, as it was easy to grow fond of the characters and setting. But its with the hope that future mysteries will be more subtly crafted. show less

Ok- when reading a book such as this, the reader is required to suspend belief. This doesn't work if the characters are cardboard, or the world is so badly written that you are always questioning it. In this book its the characters. The book feels like it was fan fiction, and the fan is writing from a script, without the deeper understanding of a characters motivation.

Francesca is a 2 hundred year vampire who was recently unearthed. She likes shopping at Walmart, surfing, and drools over hot show more men. Unfortunately, Francesca should have a few moral hangovers about modern society, a hard time adjusting to modern conveniences, and have a slightly different vocabulary than my 13 year old cousin.

But, the world is quite interesting - its a world with vampires, ghosts, and the were creatures are now extinct. With a little bit more darkness and characters that fit with their background, it could be a very good series. show less

First one a bit better but this still kicks out loads of fun. Saber is still drool-worthy, Ci still funny and quirky, and the intro of Jo-Jo rocked, he's hilarious. The resolution with a big baddie at the end seemed a little anticlimactic; however, I'm looking forward to the third (and last) book to see who the Void ends up being.

Last Vampire Standing by Nancy Haddock

I knew with the very first chapter of La Vida Vampire (Oldest City Vampire, Book 1)
that I had found something worth my book reading time, my patience and my cash. I don’t think I had even actually finished this book before I was off and running recommending it to anyone that would listen to me. I just knew that here was finally an author that knew how to write a fresh, funny vampire mystery/romance series. Now with the release of Ms. Haddocks newest, show more “Last Vampire Standing (Oldest City Vampire, Book 2) I am positive that we have the making for a long running series; a wonderful roller coaster ride that has me chortling with glee, and already anxious for my next fix of Princes Francesca, or Cesca (rhymes with Fresca) as she likes to be called!

All Cesca ever wanted from her underdead life…er…death was to make up for the centuries of being buried. She wants to live her life like a semi-normal human being. She wants to blend with the humans, shop Wal-Mart, surf (yes; a surfing Vampire, who knew!) have a boyfriend and give her historic ghost tours. After all she is living history. But alas, the road to hell is paved with good intentions and what could she do when the fates brought to her doorstep Jo-Jo the Jester? Yep J J the Jester (Ms Haddock has a real creative imagination!)
Then comes more trouble in the shape of Ike the head vamp from Daytona, his henchwoman Laurell (who braids her hair using human bones as decoration) and Vlad the head honcho from Atlanta (what mother would name her baby Vlad?) and Marcus, a blast form Cesca’s past. Toss into the mix Cesca learning how to fly, helping J J with updating his comedy act, some new Vamp powers of hers coming on line, a prophecy starting to come true, an old very old friend helping her out, a shape shifting cat and a surprise from her boyfriend Deke--and you have the makings of a rollicking good read.

This second book in the series delivers a more difficult mystery to be solved, wonderfully fleshed out secondary characters and even some pretty humorous tertiary characters like next door neighbors Hugh and Selma Lister.

Run, walk, fly or down-load it to your Kindle; I don’t care how you do it, just go and get this book. If you haven’t read La Vida Vampire yet, then may I suggest that you splurge on that book too, although you don’t need to have read it to understand what is going on in this second book in the series!

Happy reading! show less