l really enjoyed this latest installment in the Kenni Lowry series. Kenni, the ghost of her Poppa, and the hunky deputy Finn have to figure out who killed a famous local author's assistant and left another woman in a coma. Rumor has it that the author wrote a tell-all manuscript about the people of Cottonwood, KY and hid it before she died. Did her assistant know where it was or what was in it? What's in it that the killer doesn't want people to know about? The author, one Beryle Stone, had quite a few secrets of her own, secrets that might affect the way her estate is settled. Is money the motive behind this crime? Kenni has to rely on all of her resources, including a lot of southern gossip, to get to the bottom of this and solve the case. Fun read with a lot of twists and surprises (and a little romance too).

I'm on a short story kick lately, which is great since my kids are back in school and I am always in the car running back and forth. This mystery story is part of the Jeff Resnick Mystery series, but you can read it without having read any of the other books in the series. As a consequence of a skull fracture, Jeff has some psychic abilities that are very useful when it comes to crime solving. That's why he and his half-brother decide to open their own investigation office. The first case they have is a cold case, a missing child from two decades ago. Once I started reading, I couldn't put it down. It was fun watching Jeff connect the dots and follow the leads, and if you are worried about gore and/or violence, don't....there's none of that here, just a solid mystery.

This short story is part of the Talk Radio Mysteries series by Mary Kennedy. It isn't necessary to have read any of the previous books in this series to fully enjoy this one. Maggie is a radio talk show host in Florida but just like Frasier Crane, she used to be a psychiatrist. She gave up her practice for an easier life but has found that she's also pretty good at sleuthing. While participating in a scavenger hunt at a local mansion during a high society fundraiser, she and a few other friends stumble across a dead body in a secret passageway. Maggie could just let the police handle the investigation, but as a local radio host, she has an awful lot of connections and people are good at opening up to talk when she's around. It doesn't hurt that she's dating someone in the police department either. The radio show angle is fun, and I love a good scavenger hunt, especially one that takes place in a mansion with secret rooms. If you are looking for a quick mystery with fun characters, try this one.

A Ghostly Secret is the 7th book in the Ghostly Southern Mysteries series about Emma Lee Raines, and while it still has the trademark humor that the series is known for, things have gotten much more serious for Emma Lee. She's still grieving the loss of her sister when she meets the ghosts of an eight year old girl and a cat. Betsy Lynn Brady doesn't remember what happened to her or Mr. Whiskers, but Emma Lee knows she has to find out so that they can pass over. She's never met a ghost that's so young before, and helping a child proves to be a challenge. Sheriff and love interest Jack Henry Ross lays some news on Emma Lee that shakes up her world too and makes her question her future. Good mystery and I'm curious to see what will happen with all of these characters in the future.

Loved this one! Second in the Haunted Guesthouse series and it starts out with a bang. We meet a new ghost in this one, Scott McFarlane, when he comes to Alison Kerby's house looking for help. He was hired to play a prank on a woman in exchange for passage to "the other side" and has a problem. He's afraid that his prank might have been a murder and has no idea who hired him. Alison will need the help of her own resident ghosts, Paul and Maxie, and their connection to the "Ghosternet" to figure out what happened. To make life more complicated, she has a house full of people to entertain, and they want the full supernatural experience. They get more than they bargained for when someone ends up murdered at the seance Alison decides to host. If only she hadn't taken that reality TV crew up on their offer to film at her house. There is never a dull moment in this book and plenty of suspects. Good, cozy fun!

Even though I figured out who the killer was very early on in this book, I thoroughly enjoyed it. The main characters (Liza and Melanie) are so much fun and have a great relationship, and I love the idea of the two of them opening a B&B in a small town on the Oregon coast. The fact that the B&B is haunted makes it even better! The town is full of interesting characters with lots of potential. I hope we get to see several more installments in this series.

This is the 3rd book in the Asperger's series by Copperman/Cohen and it was just as good as the first two. I do recommend reading this in order if you can because character development is a big part of this series. So in this one, Samuel is faced with another unique question, but this one is particularly tricky for him: A young man who also is on the autism spectrum comes to Samuel and wants to know if the man he calls his friend is actually his friend or not. This is not something Samuel can quantify with facts or data, and picking up on mannerisms, sarcasm, and emotion can be quite difficult. Ms. Washington will be needed more than ever to help Samuel with this request, but it turns out that there is more to the question than meets the eye, especially when the man who may or may not be his new client's friend ends up dead with Samuel's client left holding the gun. Samuel's client's autism makes it difficult to suss out what really happened, but Samuel and Ms. Washington are determined to find out the truth. It's nice to see Samuel interpret and analyze someone else on the spectrum aside from himself and work against the biases that some have towards people with autism. His relationship with Ms. Washington becomes a bit complicated as she navigates some personal issues in her life and he struggles not to cross professional boundaries. The mystery is interesting and I didn't quite see the angle that it was leading towards until right there at the end. Satisfying read and show more I hope the series is able to continue for a long time. show less

"Love had done me wrong and love could kiss my queso."

This is just one of the lines in this book, the second in the Taste of Texas Mystery series, that made me laugh out of loud. This book if full of quips like these, which makes it a fun read. Our protagonist, Josie, tries to tell her best friend Patti to stay away from her famous heartbreaker of an ex, but the heart wants what it wants. Patti can't resist Jeff, in spite of their past, especially when he's up on stage singing his heart out to her and making all the other ladies crazy jealous. When Josie goes to meet up with Mr. Heartbreaker himself the next day for a newspaper interview, she finds him naked and dead, face-down in a bowl of guacamole. While he may have put on a good country music show, he clearly was doing something wrong, and Josie is determined to find out what it was.

I hadn't read the first book in this series, and this one kind of hit the ground running, which made it hard to initially get into. Josie and Patti are part of a very colorful and sassy cast of characters with a love of all things Texas, especially Tex-Mex food. The book includes some incredible recipes too. If you're a fan of the southwest and/or mysteries that center around the music industry, this one is for you.

*I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.

The first thing that you should know about this book is that it is not just a mystery, but it contains supernatural elements. I didn't really realize that going in, so it kind of threw me for a loop towards the end.

Aside from that unexpected revelation, this is an excellent book. There are three points of time that the book switches between (the 50's/60's, 80's, and present day) and there are several different character POVs, which is a format that I love. The writing style is fabulous, and the characters are quite complex. I flew through this book, unable to put it down because it was so gripping.

I would have given it 5 stars if not for the unusual ending, which may extremely appealing to some. Strange ending or not though, it was a great read.

I wanted to like this book, but I just couldn't make it happen. I read a little over half of it before calling it a day. I never felt a connection with any of the characters and really didn't care who the murderer was.

I have read many books by Erica Spindler and enjoyed all of them, including this one. This is the story of two sisters, Katherine and Sara. When their parents die in an accident, a young Sara is left to care for her teenage sister Katherine. The sisters are fortunate that their parents were financially well-off, but Katherine is not happy that her sister is now her guardian, and as teens often do, she rebels and causes trouble. It's no surprise then, when Sara is found brutally murdered, all eyes turn to Katherine. While Katherine is found innocent in a court of law, it's the court of public opinion that matters most. Katherine leaves town for a decade and builds a good life for herself, but is tempted by a mysterious letter writer into coming back and finding out what really happened to her sister all those years ago. A more mature Katherine has to face her past, which isn't easy when she seems to have enemies everywhere. It's hard to tell who might be a suspect or who just doesn't trust her. She develops a romantic relationship with the Chief of Police's son, the same Chief of Police who was determined to see her locked up. The book was very fast-paced and hard to put down. I became suspicious about a certain character about midway through the book, and while my suspicious paid off, there was still a huge twist I didn't expect. Kept me interested up until the very end.

The first things that come to mind when considering how to sum up this book are clever and imaginative. I read a lot of cozy mysteries and this one was definitely unique. An author is approached by a man who has the same name as the lead character in her mystery series, the same occupation, and has no memories prior to when she started writing her books. Not only that, he says he needs her help to solve a crime, one that hits close to home. It isn't long before we are caught up in mysteries inside of mysteries, one enigma after another. There's humor, suspense, and a lot of situations that had my mind spinning. Can't wait for the follow-up!

I finished this a few days ago and put off writing my review so I could think about this one.

I did enjoy reading this mystery, and finished it in two days. It kept my interest and the pacing was good. There were several notable characters in the book and I enjoyed them all. Interestingly enough, I feel like the one that was least fleshed out was the lead character of Erica. It would have been nice to learn more about the issues in her past, helping us learn more about her.

One of the things that bugged me in this book was her own personal lack of interest in who the body in the wall is and how it got there. Her daughter has to keep encouraging her to get more information. While other things are going on during this time frame, I know if a body was discovered in the wall of my home, I would be obsessed with finding out who it belonged to and how it came to be there. This seems to be in the back of her mind.

These are probably nit-picky things on my part, however. The mystery was well set up, the characters were diverse and interesting, and the ending was satisfying. Good read.

I usually love books by Karen White but I have mixed feelings about this one. I'll start with the positive and move on to the negative.

This novel is told from varying perspectives and in different time periods. It is told through the eyes of Merritt, Loralee, and Edith, three women who all have secrets of their own. A central theme in this book is domestic abuse and relationships. The book starts out in the past with a plane crash, which also points to a mystery is unveiled slowly and in little pieces throughout the book. You have to be patient to see how this ties into the events of modern day. I enjoy a story that is told in layers and I found this to be rewarding. I also liked the characters, for the most part.

Now, on to the negatives. These are SPOILERS, so be advised. I found it incredibly frustrating that everyone continuously attributed Merritt's quiet and distanced behavior to being from "the north." The last time I checked, introverts and extroverts existed all over the United States and it was inappropriate to bully a person because they didn't want to share all of their secrets with you. Furthermore, as we later learn, Merritt survived a childhood accident in which she lost her mother and then went on to suffer years of abuse by her husband. Of course she is going to be withdrawn and quiet! The constant north v. south thing got tiring. I get it, the author loves the south and finds people from "up north" less than pleasant.

Moving on, as Loralee gets sicker, she show more gets much preachier. Again, I understand that she has a lot that she wants to say before she passes on, but her advice practically becomes instructions. The worst part and the part that really caused me to rate this book so low is when she tries to convince Merritt that her ex-husband, the one that abused her both physically and mentally for years, actually loved her. No, no, no. People who love you will NOT abuse you. They will cherish you, protect you, and take care of you. They will not torture you. Why anyone would think they were helping someone by trying to convince them that their abuser actually cared for them is beyond me. This is one of the worst things I think you could tell an abuse victim.

A few changes could have made this book great, but it just let me feeling unsettled. show less

I am a big fan of Tess Gerritsen's Rizzoli and Isles series, and this new novel caught my attention. There are two parts I would like to address in my review: the story itself, and the narration.

The story goes back and forth from present day to the past, which I love when it is done well, and it is here. You are hooked immediately from the beginning of the tale, in which the main character picks up a piece of very old sheet music at a shop in Venice. The unusual things that begin to happen from that point on set the stage for a mystery with unearthly undertones. This is not a paranormal, however, so don't let that put you off. You will feel haunted by the time you finish this book, though, because the Holocaust is a predominant theme throughout.

Now, to address the narration of the audiodisc, I recommend listening to this one over reading it for one standout reason...the music. The book is centered around a piece of sheet music and there are several times that the piece is played throughout the disc, as well as a few other pieces. It sets the tone for the story and adds so many layers. My only criticism of the narration is when the female narrator attempts a male voice and the male narrator attempts a female voice. Both come off sounding somewhat silly to me, but this probably won't bother most people. It was just slightly distracting to me. Overall, it was a solid performance of a very good book.

This is the second Catherine Bruns book I've read, and I enjoyed it as much as the first. Killer Transaction is the first book in the new Cindy York series. Cindy is your average real estate agent, trying to sell houses, earn commissions, and put food on the table. She's a married mom of twin boys and for the most part enjoys her job. She would enjoy it more if she didn't have to work with Tiffany, a highly unethical, younger, wealthy, and gorgeous real estate agent who steals everyone's listings. It's the theft of one of Cindy's listings that leads to a huge argument with Tiffany, which is inconvenient, because shortly thereafter, Cindy finds Tiffany's dead body. With her own boss accusing her of the murder, Cindy has little choice but to try and find out who might have done it, not only to keep herself out of jail, but to save her reputation. No one wants to list their property with a murderer, after all.

The characters were a lot of fun and easy to keep up with. You don't have a villain as nasty as Tiffany without having a few suspects either. Cindy made some choices that I found questionable, but it didn't diminish my pleasure of the book. If you enjoys cozies and are looking for something different with a little bit of humor, you will enjoy this one.

*I was given this book by the author in exchange for my honest review.

I am a big fan of cozy mysteries, and I volunteered to read this one in exchange for my honest review. I really enjoyed Tastes Like Murder, the first in a new series by Catherine Bruns. The protagonist in this book is Sally Muccio, or Sal, as her friends call her. Sal owns her own cookie shop that she runs with her best friend, a feisty mom of four. Sal is divorced and a little gun-shy about getting back into dating again. Things get really turned upside down when the rich and gorgeous woman who had an affair with Sal's husband ends up dying at her cookie shop. Sal needs to clear her name to keep her customers coming in, which is how she finds herself investigating. There's a little romance thrown in too, when an old ex-boyfriend expresses interest as well as the officer who is working the case. The characters were well defined with very unique personalities, and I loved the small town setting. The teamwork between Sal and her business partner/best friend was great. Sal has a big, quirky family that added a lot of heart and comedy to the book. I'm definitely looking forward to future installments in the series and I recommend this to anyone who enjoys a good cozy mystery.

While there were some elements of the book that were predictable, I found this to be a very good read and had a hard time putting it down. I love a story that is partly told in flashbacks and Chamberlain does that well. She is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors.

I found this book to be so awful that I could not even finish it. I just skimmed through the last ten or so chapters to see how it ended. Cathy and Chris are two of the worst parents I've ever seen and seem to get dumber and dumber as each book goes on. With Bart's history, with their own history, and with the history of Foxworth Hall, you would think that ONE of them would have a clue in between them. This is not to be the case. They stand around like blithering idiots while things fall apart around them. If I were 15 I might be able to accept this, and maybe 15 year old's were the intended audience for this book. In the first book, I actually felt sorry for these characters. By the time I got to this one, I thought they were all horrible.

This is the sequel to Flowers in the Attic, and while decent, it's not as good as the first book. We see what has happened to children after escaping the attic and their struggles in adulthood. Chris struggles with his separation from Cathy, Cathy struggles with relationships in general, and Carrie struggles with her health. Several new characters are introduced.

In this 3rd book, we see a grown Chris and Cathy struggling to move on with their lives and raise a family. Cathy's youngest son Bart is mentally unwell and this largely escapes their notice. It isn't helped by their new neighbors next door, and older woman in dresses only in black and her strange butler. Bart seems to want to spend all of his time over at the neighbor's house.

This was the only book I was forbidden to read as a teenager, and since the new Lifetime movie was coming out this year I decided to finally read it. I'd seen the older movie version with Kristy Swanson and liked it and until recently was not aware of the level of incest in the book. Despite this, I found the book quite good. It goes without saying that the book is based on very dark themes (child abuse, death, incest, etc) but it does draw you in. Make no mistakes though, this really is a piece of fluff fiction and nothing more.

Very good book and I enjoyed the time period and history. There were times I became frustrated with the pace and the main characters, which is what kept me from giving it 5 stars, but otherwise it is a solid read. Looking forward to starting the sequel.

It's been a long time since a book has kept me up until 4 a.m., but this one did just that. I love a good book that alternates between the past and the present and keeps you in suspense along the way. The ending was a little too neat and tidy for me, which kept me from giving it a full five stars (I think an epilogue would have served the book better) but if you enjoy WWII fiction, you will enjoy this.

This is the second Liane Moriarty book I have read and she is quickly becoming one of my favorite new authors. Once I started this book I just could not put it down. Three women from the same small community are connected by one man's secret. Each of these women are plagued by uncertainty, the "what if's" of their lives. The author does a wonderful job of showing how so many little choices can have such big effects on our lives.

Ava is a divorced, single mom with a 12-year old son. It's the 50's, and the threat of Communism and bombs keep everyone on edge and slightly paranoid. It doesn't help that Ava is Jewish, attractive, and works outside the home, isolating her even further from her neighbors. She is more concerned with creating a better life for herself and her son than pleasing her neighbors, so when one of the other boys in the neighborhood goes missing, a boy who was known to spend time at her house, her life becomes even more subject to gossip and negative speculation. This book kept me hooked chapter after chapter, desperate to find out what happened to the missing child and also wondering how Ava would fare in the end.

I really, really loved this book. It had a little of everything....mystery, suspense, paranormal activity, and romance. I'm really glad that this is going to be a series (or will at least have a sequel). I would like to know more about Garland and his past. Charlotte Stone's lucky escape from a serial killer as a teen led her to a career that puts her inside the mind of the most heinous murderers. When the murders start again, the FBI enlists her help both as a professional and a witness. An unlikely companion in the form of a ghost doesn't make her job any easier. When the media outs her identity, she goes from being part of the FBI team to a target.

I've read a lot of Debbie Macomber's books over the years, and one thing that hasn't changed is the audience that she primarily writes for: Christian grandmothers. That being said, Starting Now is not a bad book. It's predictable but sweet and interesting. The main character, Libby, has lost her job and now has way too much free time on her hands, which results in her spending time knitting and volunteering at the hospital rocking premature babies. This gives her a chance to meet new people, strengthen old relationships, and form new ones. Ultimately she has to decide if this new life is the one she wants or if her older career-driven life is still worth chasing. Two little things made me crazy in this book. First of all, everyone in this book eats soup all the time. People are constantly going out for soup, delivering soup to one another, or ordering soup to go. Debbie Macomber must really love soup. Also, Libby's answer to everything is "perfect." It's never "great", "sounds good", "wonderful"....it's always "perfect." I thought if I saw the word "perfect" one more time I was going to scream. Anyway, if you're familiar with Debbie Macomber then you will enjoy this book. If you enjoy light inspirational novels with family and relationship themes, you will enjoy it as well.

I wanted to love this book. Everyone talked about this book as if it were "THE" book to read. It started off really well, and I thought, how clever! We're going to have something slightly paranormal that's really an allegory to the horrors of the Holocaust. No. That would have been brilliant. The author should have run with that. Instead we get a foggy island, some kind of strange time-travel, Harry-Potter, X-Men mash-up with monsters that reminded me of the Langoliers. What I will give the author props for is his use of photography. The collection of old photography used in this book was so interesting and unusual. I think the author's desire to showcase this collection left him to make poor plot choices. There was one scene in particular that dropped very heavy clues to indicate there was a traitor in the group, and then....nothing. It's as if the author forget what direction he was going. I recommend looking at the photography in this book, but the story is optional.

I don't read a lot of memoirs, and when I first requested this book I wasn't even aware that it WAS a memoir. It doesn't take long to realize that the author struggled from various mental health issues, but what draws you into the book is the loneliness and longing he feels for his friend Laura, a friend who died long ago but he can't let go of. The author goes on a journey to prove to himself once and for all that ghosts, the spectral kind, don't actually exist. Unfortunately he can't let go of the ghosts of his confusing past. Laura was his one true friend, his anchor, and while he has since recovered from many of his past demons, he has never been able to get past her loss. You can feel the sadness and regret, but what really comes through is the appreciation he has for his friend and this book is almost his thank-you gift to her. A quick and interesting read that I think a lot of people will appreciate.