What Are We Reading And Reviewing in April 2019?

This is the place to let everyone know the books you are reading this month, and then to leave reviews of these books. You can put up a list of the books you are reading for the month or put a post about a book as you start it, or even both.

A review doesn't have to long. It can be something as simple as a sentence about the book or as comprehensive as you want to make it - whatever is good for you. Our love of books is the reason we are all here.

Carol Hunts Down the "Bunny Killer"

📌- ★

Group Reads
📌The Armada Boy by Kate Ellis - 3★
📌Wild Fire by Ann Cleeves - 5★

Pick A Winner...Make A Friend...
📌Isolation by Travis Thrasher - 4★

Other Suspects
📌Sleeping In the Ground by Peter Robinson - 4.5★
📌The Rule of Law by John Lescroat - 2.5★
📌The Life We Bury by Allen Eskens - 3.5★
📌The Last Time I Saw Her by Karen Robards - 2.5★
📌The Girl Who Knew Too Much by Amanda Quick - 3.5★
📌Trouble on the Books by Esse Lang - 4★
📌The Cold Blue Blood by David Handler - 3.5★
📌The Spyglass by Richard Paul Evans - 3★
📌Ragdoll by Daniel Cole - 4.5★
📌The Chalice by Phil Rickman - 4★
📌Candlenight by Phil Rickman - 3★
📌An Unwanted Guest by Shari Lapena - 5★
📌Dead Lake by Darcy Coates - 5★
📌Elegy For Eddie By Jacqueline Winspear - 4 ★
📌Dead If You Don't by Peter James - 5★
📌Wild Card by Stuart Woods - 2.5★
📌The Good Good Pig by Sy Montgomery - 5★
📌Himself by Jess Kidd - 4★
📌The First Wife by Erica Spindler - 4★
📌Old Bones by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles - 3.5★
📌Michigan's Haunted Lighthouses by Dianna Stampfler - 5★
📌The Colorado Kid by Stephen King - 3.5★

I'll be back. Don't step in the blood...I mean chocolate

Lynda and Oliver's Happy Easter Reading Plan

Mystery & Suspense

📎 Armada Boy - Kate Ellis - 4/11/19 - 3.5 Stars
📎 Ashes to Ashes - Tami Hoag - 4.5 Stars - 4/30/19
📎 City of Broken Glass - Rebecca Cantrell - 4 Stars - 4/27/19
📎 Darkness for the Bastards of Pizzofalcone - Maurizio de Giovanni - 3.5 Stars - 4/12/19
📎 Cop Town - Karin Slaughter - 4 Stars 4/19/19
📎 Duty to the Dead - Charles Todd - 4 Stars - 4/5/19
📎 Killman Creek - Rachel Caine - 4 Stars - 4/9/19
📎 Meddling and Murder - Ovidia Yu - 3.5 Stars - 4/29/19
📎 Midnight Come Again - Dana Stabenow - 3.5 Stars - 4/6/19
📎 My Sister the Serial Killer - Oyinkan Braithwaite - 3 Stars - 4/1/19
📎 Outlaw Mountain - J. A. Jance - 4 Stars - 4/20/19
📎 Rogue Lawyer - John Grisham - 4 Stars - 4/14/19
📎 Silence of the Snakes - Ruby Loren - 3.5 Stars - 4/23/19
📎 Spark of Light - Jodi Picoult - 3.5 Stars - 4/4/19
📎 Stalking Ground - Margaret Mizushima - 4 Stars - 4/16/19
📎 Stillhouse Lake - Rachel Caine - 4.5 Stars - 4/2/19
📎 Venetian Reckoning - Donna Leon - 4 Stars - 4/3/19
📎 Wild Fire - Ann Cleeves - 5 Stars - 4/21/19

Other

📎 Cure for Death by Lightning - Gail Anderson-Dargatz - 4 Stars - 4/24/19
📎 Daisy Jones and the Six - Taylor Jenkins Reid - 4.5 Stars - 4/13/19
📎 Devil in the White City - Erik Larson - 4 Stars - 4/15/19
📎 Ill Wind - Rachel Caine - 3.5 Stars - 4/28/19
📎 League of Dragons - Naomi Novik - 4 Stars - 4/26/19
📎 Letter - Kathryn Hughes - 3 Stars - 4/18/19
📎 Lost Queen - Signe Pike - 5 Stars - 4/10/19
📎 Magician's Assistant - Ann Patchett - 4 Stars - 4/17/19
📎 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen - 3.5 Stars 4/7/19
📎 Stars are Fire - Anita Shreve - 4 Stars - 4/25/19

Where Serpents Sleep by C.S. Harris
Sebastian St. Cyr series Book #4
5★

Hero Jarvis, reform-minded daughter of the Prince Regent's cousin, enlists Sebastian St. Cyr's help in investigating the brutal murders of eight prostitutes. Following a trail of clues from London's seedy East End to the Mayfair mansions of a noble family, the two must race against time to stop a killer whose ominous plot threatens to shake the nation to its very core?

This series has produced some very interesting characters...some charming and some less charming, but all very human and believable in their behavior. This one has Sebastian and Hero Jarvis spending a lot of time together. I see it as setting up their relationship for some interesting choices for their individual futures as well as the future of this marvelous series. I like Hero but I find her a little too cold and bull headed. In spite of my likes and dislikes I think we will see a lot of Sebastian and Hero in the future in a new kind of "togetherness".

The Life We Bury by Allen Eskens
3.5★

"College student Joe Talbert has an assignment to interview a stranger and write a brief biography. With deadlines looming, he heads to a nearby nursing home. Carl Iverson is a dying Vietnam veteran -- and a convicted murderer. Writing about him, Joe can't reconcile the heroism of the soldier with the despicable acts of the convict, and tries to uncover the truth.

It's a crime novel as well as a well done detective story. it will draw you in and hold your attention right to the very last page. The hero is likable and to me this is always important. I really liked that he was "hell-bent" on doing a selfless deed for a dying old man, who was a Vietnam veteran with a less than stellar past but absolutely no future. It's the authors first book but it won't be the last one that I will read.

Trying to sort out the group reads for April.

I have Wild Life and need to read it by 23rd April, this is Book 8 (and the last one) in the Shetlands series.

Also want to read The Armada Boy by Kate Ellis, which is Book two in the Wesley Peterson Series. Hope to pick that up from library tomorrow night if I can get out of work on time.

Does it matter for anyone which order we read these in?

>6 Andrew-theQM: I think you mean Wild Fire by Ann Cleeves instead of Wild Life. It doesn't matter to me what we read first but I was going to bring The Armada Boy with me to Florida tomorrow as I won't be back home until April 8 and we usually start a book on the first Saturday of the month which would be April 6.

>6 Andrew-theQM: I would prefer The Armada Boy but I guess it's really immaterial. Who knows? it might be a "Wild Life" on Shetland Island:)

I have both books and can read in any order.

The Rule of Law by John Lescroart
Dismas Hardy series Book #18
2.5★

Dismas Hardy knows something is amiss with his trusted secretary, Phyllis. Her out-of-character behavior and sudden disappearances concern Hardy, especially when he learns that her convict brother—a man who had served twenty-five years in prison for armed robbery and attempted murder—has just been released.

Things take a shocking turn when Phyllis is suddenly arrested at work for allegedly being an accessory to the murder of Hector Valdez, a coyote who’d been smuggling women into this country from El Salvador and Mexico. That is, until recently, when he was shot to death—on the very same day that Phyllis first disappeared from work. The connection between Phyllis, her brother, and Hector’s murder is not something Dismas can easily understand, but if his cherished colleague has any chance of going free, he needs to put all the pieces together—and fast.

This is going to probably be the shortest review I have ever written in my entire life. It was a decent criminal story but had entirely too much political opinion. Everyone is entitled to theirs but pick a different venue.

>7 EadieB: >8 Carol420: wild Life is a much better book! 😂 I think That’s the iPad trying to take over my writing again. 😡 Given Eadie’s comments I suggest we start The Armada Boy on this Saturday.

Hi, just joined the group - I'm a long-time mystery fan! Unfortunately, for the past two years, I've planned my reading for the year ahead of time, so I won't be able to participate in many of the group reads this year, but I'll try to get some scheduled in for next year! I did read Wild Fire last year, so I can participate in the discussion.

I'm a member of the 75 Books Challenge Group - so my main thread will be there, but I'm going to try to participate here as well.

My planned reading for April is:

Mystery
A Dangerous Collaboration by Deanna Raybourn
The Road to Grantchester by James Runcie
A Death in Chelsea by Lynn Brittney
Bertie and the Tinman by Peter Lovesey
The Lonely Hour by Christopher Fowler
The Redbreast by Jo Nesbo
Triple Jeopardy by Anne Perry
A Bad Lie by Neil Richards and Matthew Costello
A Death in the Family by Neil Richards and Matthew Costello

Other
Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
The Great Hunt by Robert Jordan
Melmoth by Sarah Perry
Farthing by Jo Walton
Binti by Nnedi Okorafor

Wish me luck because I have a bunch of tax returns to finish in the next two weeks and will be out of town on two weekends! If I can get 75% of those books finished, I think I'd be happy!

Where Serpents Sleep by C. S. Harris
4 ★

Hero Jarvis, reform-minded daughter of the Prince Regent's cousin, enlists Sebastian St. Cyr's help in investigating the brutal murders of eight prostitutes. Following a trail of clues from London's seedy East End to the Mayfair mansions of a noble family, the two must race against time to stop a killer.

This was a lively story with some interesting interactions between Hero and Sebastian, who have a mutual distrust of each other. They also had their hands full by going against Hero’s powerful father, the local magistrates and the people who killed the prostitutes. I was let down a bit with the ending. Although it was plausible, it didn’t make a big impact on me as I didn’t know enough about the issue to care a lot about it. Overall, I did enjoy the story.

>12 rretzler: Welcome to the group, great to see you here. You will be well at home with the mystery and Suspense addicts on this page (including me). I read a wide range of literature, but mystery and Suspense, especially crime, detective and thrillers form a very high percentage of that reading. Some great choices on both your lists. I keep meaning to try Christopher Fowler.

You will be more than welcome in any discussions and particularly Wild Fire. I almost don’t want to read this as do not want to finish one of my favourite series.

>12 rretzler: Welcome. Glad to have you joining us and looking forward to another "reading buddie" for our group discussions.

>14 Andrew-theQM: She better not kill off any more characters like she did poor Fran:(

>14 Andrew-theQM: 🤞🤞🤞 You’ve never forgiven her have you.

April Group Reads

The Armada Boy by Kate Ellis, #2 in the Wesley Peterson Series : Starting Saturday 6th April

Wild Fire by Ann Cleeves, #8 and final book in the Shetlands Series : Starting Wednesday 17th April

>11 Andrew-theQM: Arrived in Florida safely and i am glad we are doing The Armada Boy. Thanks for choosing that one as Wild Fire was a heavier book to travel with and we don’t have the golfer or the golf bag with us. I guess we could have hid some books in the baby’s car seat. Kindle is easier but i really prefer reading from the actual book. Anyway, thanks again!

Ragdoll by Daniel Cole
4.5★

William Fawkes, a controversial detective known as The Wolf, has just been reinstated to his post after he was suspended for assaulting a vindicated suspect. Still under psychological evaluation, Fawkes returns to the force eager for a big case. When his former partner and friend, Detective Emily Baxter, calls him to a crime scene, he’s sure this is it: the body is made of the dismembered parts of six victims, sewn together like a puppet—a corpse that becomes known as “The Ragdoll.” Fawkes is tasked with identifying the six victims, but that gets dicey when his reporter ex-wife anonymously receives photographs from the crime scene, along with a list of six names, and the dates on which the Ragdoll Killer plans to murder them. The final name on the list is Fawkes. Baxter and her trainee partner, Alex Edmunds, hone in on figuring out what links the victims together before the killer strikes again. But for Fawkes, seeing his name on the list sparks a dark memory, and he fears that the catalyst for these killings has more to do with him—and his past—than anyone realizes.

Please don’t be fooled by the book description and think that the book is filled with gore…it isn’t … although the killers methods are a bit over the top…but interestingly different. What we have is a well balanced team who have been tasked with finding a very determined killer who is armed with a list, a grudge, and seeming endless methods of carrying out his self made task. These well drawn characters should be the focus of a series or at least, hopefully, a sequel.

>14 Andrew-theQM: >15 Carol420: Thanks! I know what you mean about not wanting to read Wild Fire - it was hard to start, knowing that I would be saying goodbye to Jimmy and Shetland. Did you see that Cleeves has a new series Two Rivers, with the first book, The Long Call coming out in September?

>20 rretzler: Have it on my hold list at the library. Hope it's as good as Vera and Shetland Island.

Candlenight by Phil Rickman
3★

Journalist Giles Freeman and his wife Claire are thrilled when they inherit a cottage far from the noise of the city. And though the locals are slow to welcome them, the Freemans believe that in time they will be accepted. But the Freemans have fallen under an ancient Celtic curse--and soon they will learn the truth about what it means to be outsiders.

I can’t say I didn’t like it. Lets just say that I expected more from a “village that hides an ancient and bloody secret.” (from the book cover). When it got around to the “secret” it was well worth the wait, but it took forever it seemed. I liked the characters and I liked the “meat” of the story but it felt that it was somewhat rushed to the end. I also thought some of the characters needed to be fleshed out more so the reader understands their purpose in the story. I have another of Phil Rickman’s books…, Chalice…that I am looking forward to starting soon.

The Chalice by Phil Rickman
4★

Glastonbury, legendary resting place of the Holy Grail, is a mysterious and haunting town. But when plump, dizzy Diane Ffitch returns home, it's with a sense of deep unease—and not only about her aristocratic family's reaction to her broken engagement and her New Age companions. Plans for a new motorway have intensified the old bitterness between the local people and the "pilgrims," so already the sacred air is soured. And, as the town becomes increasingly split by violence and death, Diane, local bookseller Juanita Carey, and the writer Joe Powys must now face up to the worst of all possibilities: the existence of an anti-Grail—the dark chalice.

I really liked the complex dark and creepy plot of this one. The author has drawn a real life picture of the tensions in the town between the long-time residents and the new comers brought by its mystical aura. He writes about Pagans, Christians, and New Age people who all have to deal with the horror and hatred that goes with fascism. Power goes to those who desperately want it and are willing to sell their humanity and immortal souls…but he conveys the message to never allow only one group to ever be in complete power. Good lesson in that one Mr. Rickman. One word of warning…the paperback addition is 500 pages of tiny print that you could go blind trying to read….so go for audio or hardcover if you can.

Schedule for Group Read of The Armada Boy by Kate Ellis, #2 in the Wesley Peterson Series.

Saturday 6th April : Prologue, Chapter 1 - 4
Sunday 7th April : Chapter 5 - 7
Monday 8th April : Chapter 8 - 10
Tuesday 9th April : Chapter 11 - 14, Epilogue

An Unwanted Guest by Shari Lapena
5 ★

It's winter in the Catskills and Mitchell's Inn, nestled deep in the woods, is the perfect setting for a relaxing--maybe even romantic--weekend away. It boasts spacious old rooms with huge woodburning fireplaces, a well-stocked wine cellar, and opportunities for cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, or just curling up with a good murder mystery. So when the weather takes a turn for the worse, and a blizzard cuts off the electricity--and all contact with the outside world--the guests settle in and try to make the best of it. Soon, though, one of the guests turns up dead--it looks like an accident. But when a second guest dies, they start to panic. Within the snowed-in paradise, something--or someone--is picking off the guests one by one. And there's nothing they can do but hunker down and hope they can survive the storm--and one another.

It was a perfect murder mystery with a beautifully creepy atmosphere. I love this authors first book, The Couple Next Door, and thought that she couldn’t top that one…but I was wrong! I am probably the only person on the planet that only likes one of Agatha Christie’s books… but the more I read of this one the more it reminded me of Christie’s writing style with And Then There Were None. I didn’t want it to end. If you read all the reviews you will find a wide range of opinions among the readers of likes and dislikes… but this reader loved it.

Dead Lake by Darcy Coates
5★

A week's visit to the remote Harob Lake cabin couldn't have come at a better time for Sam.
She's battling artist's block ahead of a major gallery exhibition. Staying at Harob Lake is her final, desperate attempt to paint the collection that could save her floundering career. It seems perfect: no neighbours, no phone, no distractions. But the dream retreat disintegrates into a nightmare when Sam discovers she's being stalked. A tall, strange man stands on the edge of her dock, staring intently into the swirling waters below. He starts to follow her. He disables her car. He destroys her only way to communicate with the outside world. Sam is beginning to suspect he's responsible for the series of disappearances from a nearby hiking trail. Stranded at Harob Lake, Sam realizes she’s become the prey in the hunter’s deadliest game.>/i>

If you are a ghost story enthusiast like I am you will love any of this author’s books. The four that I have read thus far have been very short but the story that they tell doesn’t need four or five hundred pages. They are all creepy and you will have no problem painting the picture they evoke clearly in your imaginations. Haunted houses, haunted lakes, haunted people…Darcy Coates will introduce you to them all.

Die Again by Tess Gerritsen
The Beautiful Mystery by Louise Penny
Heartbreak Hotel by Jonathan Kellerman

The Spyglass by Richard Paul Evans
3★

There once was a king who ruled over a darkened kingdom. Crops were planted and then failed, houses were built and then neglected, and people were impoverished and dispirited. But when a traveler arrives at the crumbling palace, and shows the monarch his kingdom through the lens of an enchanted spyglass -- a spyglass that shows him his kingdom not as it is, but as it could be. The king's imagination is ignited by the spark of faith, and with faith comes hope and change. By sharing his vision and inspiring his subjects to work alongside him, the king restores his land to glory.

My mother loved Richard Paul Evan's books and this was one of her all-time favorites. Some will see this book as just being about faith. I believe it is much more. I saw it as teaching you to have a positive outlook on life...having a vision for a better world and then working towards making it happen. Teachers seem to be using the book in their classrooms, so that may qualify it as being a children's/young adult book... but it will appeal to adults in that everyone can understand the simple message of faith that it brings.

Educated by Tara Westover
5 ★

Traces the author's experiences as a child born to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, describing her participation in her family's paranoid stockpiling activities and her resolve to educate herself well enough to earn acceptance into a prestigious university and the unfamiliar world beyond.

This was a well written memoir about Westover’s life with her extremely religious father who hated the government, public schools and modern medicine. Her mother was an herbalist midwife. She had 6 other sibilings with one brother being violent and abusive to her and some of the others. The psychological and emotional upheaval she went through was compelling, sometimes gripping and suspenseful, as she teetered back and forth between her parents’ world and the modern world as she got her education. An excellent read.

The Last Time I Saw Her by Karen Robards
Dr. Charlotte Stone series Book #4
2.5★

In this world, Dr. Charlotte “Charlie” Stone skillfully probes the twisted minds of incarcerated serial killers to better understand what makes them tick, and to help nab those who remain at large. But in the next world, Charlotte’s ghostly lover—convicted killer Michael Garland—is facing death yet again. It seem the only way Charlie can snatch Michael from the jaws of oblivion is by proving his innocence. And this dead man’s dead ringer may just be the key. A mysterious stranger has turned up in Big Stone Gap, Virginia, and Charlie is shocked to realize he could be Michael Garland’s identical twin. But she suspects the resemblance is only skin deep—and that behind the handsome face may lurk the perverse mind of a killer. While using all her keen profiling gifts, Charlie risks her life to discover the shocking secret that will clear Michael’s name. Then a breakout at Wallens Ridge State Prison forces Charlie to contend with a sudden swarm of psychopaths bent on spilling blood. No one has a better chance of tracking down the deadly fugitives than Charlie—unless the rampaging killers manage to find her first and make this case her last. But Michael will move heaven and hell—and even make a devil’s bargain—for the chance to save Charlie’s life, and feel her touch once more . . . if only for the final time.

The things I will read to complete a challenge:) This is the second book in this series that I have read so anyone can see that I haven't learned a thing. I just don't get Charlotte Stone. She seems to be an intelligent woman but she has this hang up with serial killers and her ghost, (literally), boyfriend. I guess it's one of these series that the reader either absolutely loves...and there are a lot of those...or absolutely hates...and we are diffidently a minority on that one. If you are one of the 90% then you will love it....and it did get me closer to complementing the challenge.

The Girl Who Knew Too Much by Amanda Quick
Burning Cove series Book #1
3.5 ★

At the exclusive Burning Cove Hotel on the coast of California, rookie reporter Irene Glasson finds herself staring down at a beautiful actress at the bottom of a pool. The dead woman had som… a red-hot secret about an up-and-coming leading man…a scoop that may have gotten her killed. As Irene searches for the truth about the drowning, she’s drawn to a master of deception. Once a world-famous magician whose career was mysteriously cut short, Oliver Ward is now the owner of the Burning Cove Hotel. He can’t let scandal threaten his livelihood, even if it means trusting Irene, a woman who seems to have appeared in Los Angeles out of nowhere four months ago. With Oliver’s help, Irene soon learns that the glamorous paradise of Burning Cove hides dark and dangerous secrets. And that the past is always just out of sight and could drag them both under.

It was a decent start to a new series. I believe the author chose a really interesting era to set this series in as it was reminiscent of The Thin Man series also from that period. Readers of Amanda Quick’s previous books will find that she has combined her dry wit, plots that twist and turn, and fantastic characterization into this series as well. The character of Irene was a woman that was certainly ahead of her time. I’m looking forward to more of these books.

The Armada Boy by Kate Ellis
Wesley Peterson series Book #2
3★

Norman Openheim is an American veteran of the D Day Landings on a sentimental journey with his old unit to their West Country base. His body is the last one archaeologist Neil Watson expects to find in the ruins of an old chantry chapel. Neil naturally turns to his old friend from student days, Detective Sergeant Wesley Peterson, for help. Ironically, both men are looking at an invading force - Wes, the WWII Yanks, and Neil, a group of shipwrecked Spaniards reputed to have met a sticky end at the hands of outraged locals as they limped from the wreckage of the great Armada. Local memories are retentive, and Wes is soon caught up in old accusations, resentments, and romances from fifty years before. But the coolness of Openheim's wife Dorinda, and her reliance on a fellow veteran in the party, offer an all-too-familiar motive for murder. As if that is not enough, a belligerent group of homeless youths are also under suspicion: then another veteran's wife disappears. Wes's case grows more perplexing, while Neil uncovers a tragic story from the distant past. Over four hundred years apart, two strangers in a strange land have died violently - could the same motives of hatred, jealousy, and revenge be at work? Wes is running out of time to find out.

I feel guilty only awarding this one 3 stars. This is one of my favorite authors. I love her other series and was really liking this series after reading the first book. This one, while having an interesting topic...just didn't have the punch of the first book. The character of Wesley Peterson that drives the series was almost absent from participation in the 50 year old murder...the Armada Boy really didn't seem to have much to do with the crime at all in spite of the title...It just didn't grab me the way the first one did. Wesley is going to be a father any day now so maybe his mind wasn't in the game. I'll give him a pass on this one if he promises to be more present in the next one. Is it a deal, Wesley?

>32 Carol420: Yes Aunty Carol, I promise to pick up my game for the next book. Wesley.

>33 Andrew-theQM: Thank you very much my dear nephew...Wesley. You were pretty pitiful in this one:)

Wild Card by Stuart Woods
Stone Barrington series Book # 49
2.5 ★

Stone Barrington and his latest paramour are enjoying a peaceful country retreat when their idyll is broken by an unwelcome stranger. He was sent by an enemy, someone who'd be happy to silence Stone and all his collaborators for good . . . only it's soon clear that Stone is not an easy man to target.

But with boundless resources and a thirst for vengeance, this foe will not be deterred, and when one plot fails another materializes. Their latest plan is more ambitious and subtle than any they've tried before, and the consequences could remake the nation. With the country's future in the balance, Stone will need to muster all his savvy and daring to defeat this rival once and for all.

I’m all over the map with this series. I have always liked the character of Stone Barrington but I hate what Mr. Woods has turned him into. The description says quiet clearly the problem here…”his LATEST paramour”. He goes through women like water through quicksand. He has, in some books, become an alley cat with alley cat morality. Stone is a brilliant attorney and when the majority of his efforts are devoted to this venture these books are a pleasure to read. I’m not in any way opposed to sex in a book but how about a little mystery to the mystery?

>34 Carol420: Sorry aunty 😢😭

Trouble On The Books by Essie Lang
Castle Book Store series Book #1
4★

Rookie bookstore owner Shelby Cox must hit the books to learn the ropes before she loses a killer in the stacks. Shelby Cox never intended to become a bookseller, so when the former editor returns to her hometown of Alexandria Bay, nestled in upstate New York’s breathtaking Thousand Islands region, to take over her aunt’s bookstore, she has no idea what to expect. To her amazement, she discovers that she now owns a fifty-percent share in Bayside Books, and will also run the store’s second location in the majestic castle on nearby Blye Island. But just as Shelby is gearing up for the start of the tourist season, the Castle volunteer coordinator is found murdered in the nearby Grotto. Castle caretaker Matthew Kessler is suspect number one, but Shelby thinks the killing may be connected to an earlier era, when violence among Prohibition-era smugglers was rampant in the region. As Shelby launches her own investigation, handsome and unnerving Special Agent Zack Griffin of the Coast Guard Investigative Services tries to quell her smuggling theory and keep her safe. But Shelby is determined to summon all her savvy as a book editor to plot the murder―and find the killer before he strikes again.

I love books that I pick up for challenges because I find that I am constantly surprising myself...usually in a good way. This one, from the cover, reeked of "cozy"...and I am not a big fan of that genre....but it had an animal on the cover so off I go with it. From the very first chapter I really liked it. The only glitch keeping it from an extra half star was that this author is very "detail oriented" which tended to slow down the pace. I didn't need a detailed description of how the water filled the kettle for her tea. Other than that it was a captivating beginning to a new series that is well worth reading.

Elegy For Eddie by Jacqueline Winspear
Maisie Dobbs series Book #9
4★

Maisie Dobbs takes on her most personal case yet, a twisting investigation into the brutal killing of a street peddler that will take her from the working-class neighborhoods of her childhood into London’s highest circles of power.

It was a little longer than was necessary, but well-written with a twist to the plot that was very interesting. Maisie Dobbs is a strong character and an extremely independent woman. This is at a time when such independence would have been quite unusual and probably not very well received on either side of the pond. What I particularly liked was that the character of Maisie Dobbs is less concerned with "who" the villain is...although that is always worked through for the reader...but "why" they behaved as they did. Makes for an different and interesting story.

The Good Good Pig: The Extraordinary Life of Christopher Hogwood by Sy Montgomery
5★

“Christopher Hogwood came home on my lap in a shoebox. He was a creature who would prove in many ways to be more human than I am.”
–from The Good Good Pig
A naturalist who spent months at a time living on her own among wild creatures in remote jungles, Sy Montgomery had always felt more comfortable with animals than with people. So she gladly opened her heart to a sick piglet who had been crowded away from nourishing meals by his stronger siblings. Yet Sy had no inkling that this piglet, later named Christopher Hogwood, would not only survive but flourish–and she soon found herself engaged with her small-town community in ways she had never dreamed possible. Unexpectedly, Christopher provided this peripatetic traveler with something she had sought all her life: an anchor (eventually weighing 750 pounds) to family and home. The Good Good Pig celebrates Christopher Hogwood in all his glory, from his inauspicious infancy to hog heaven in rural New Hampshire, where his boundless zest for life and his large, loving heart made him absolute monarch over a (mostly) peaceable kingdom.

Pigs have gotten a bad rap. They are among the most misunderstood creatures on Earth. I worked at a zoo for 28 years and learned from "Petunia"..our education program pig that they are smart, loyal, mischievous and charming. They can be taught a variety of tasks and learn faster than dogs and some children. So when I ran across Sy Montgomery's book about Christopher Hogwood I just knew I had to have it. Ms. Montgomery is in many ways my heroine. She is a naturalist who travels all over the world and writes books about wild animals for both children and adults. All of her books are outstanding. Christopher was a dearly loved, sweet little guy who had many wonderful years with Ms. Montgomery and her family and friends. You can't go wrong with any of her books but I loved this one.

Dead If You Don't by Peter James
Roy Grace series Book #14
5★

Kipp Brown, successful businessman and compulsive gambler, is having the worst run of luck of his life. He’s beginning to lose big style. However, taking his teenage son, Mungo, to their club’s big Saturday afternoon football match should have given him a welcome respite, if only for a few hours. But it’s at the stadium where his nightmare begins. Within minutes of arriving at the game, Kipp bumps into a client. He takes his eye of Mungo for a few moments, and in that time, the boy is gone. Then he gets the terrifying message that someone has his child, and to get him back alive, Kipp will have to pay.

Another 5 star offering from Peter James. The Roy Grace series has got to be one of the best series in print. This author always keeps the pages turning with short chapters, great characters, and a story that always has an unpredictable outcome.

The First Wife by Erica Spindler
4★

All her life, Bailey Browne dreamed of a storybook rescue: a knight in shining armor swooping in to bring her and her mother to a better life. Then, suddenly, there he is: handsome, wonderful Logan Abbott. Despite their ten-year difference age, Bailey’s working-class upbringing and his of privilege, they fall deeply in love. Marriage quickly follows. When Logan brings her home to his family’s stately horse farm in Louisiana, Bailey’s dreams of happily-ever-after begin to unravel. A tragic family history she knew nothing about surfaces, plus there are whispering about the disappearance of Logan’s first wife…and rumors about other women from the area who have gone missing. When yet another woman mysteriously vanishes, all signs point to Logan’s involvement. Bailey wants to ignore the gossip but even she can’t ignore the mounting evidence against her husband. Ultimately, it’s up to Bailey to make a desperate choice: believe what everyone says―or bet her life on the man she loves…but who she still doesn’t really know.

As most that know me know by now I am not fan of romance novels. Even though it is advertised as a Mystery/Suspense novel it has more romance than mystery. Still it was a decent read even if it does border a bit on the ridiculous side. Bailey meets this charming man on vacation. She knows absolutely nothing about his background but what the heck?...lets marry him anyway. Seems the "charming, handsome" man left out one small detail when telling her how great he is...his ex-wife. Not just his ex wife but his MISSING ex wife. To make matters more ridiculous seems she wasn't the first woman that has come up missing that became involved with Mr. Charming. I gave it 4 stars because it was intriguing to see just how dumb our Bailey was going to be before she too came up missing.

The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware
3.5 ★

Description
Travel writer Lo Blacklock has just been given the assignment of a lifetime: a week on a luxury cruise with only a handful of cabins. At first, Lo's stay is nothing but pleasant. But as the week wears on, Lo witnesses what she can only describe as a dark and terrifying nightmare: a woman being thrown overboard. But all passengers remain accounted for despite Lo's desperate attempts to convey that something (or someone) has gone terribly, terribly wrong.

This was an easy and entertaining read as the on-edge Lo went around asking too many questions. I thought I knew where the story was going but was a bit surprised when things turned out differently. It was a bit drawn out in places but I enjoyed the story.

Sleeping In The Ground by Peter Robinsin
Alan Banks series Book #24
4.5★

At the doors of a charming country church, an unspeakable act destroys a wedding party. A huge manhunt ensues. The culprit is captured. The story is over. Except it isn't. For Alan Banks, still struggling with a tragic loss of his own, there's something wrong about this case — something unresolved. Reteaming with profiler Jenny Fuller, the relentless detective deeper into the crime... deep enough to unearth long-buried secrets that reshape everything Banks thought he knew about the events outside that chapel. And when at last the shocking truth becomes clear, it's almost too late.

I have never read a bad or mediocre book in this series. I like the way Peter Robinson ages his character of Alan Banks and how he gives him a private life that we are privy to outside of his life as a detective. Alan is a very through police officer. He sees things that are often overlooked and helps to solve the crime. Banks family and professional history always adds context to the story. In this one, compassion was also a big factor. The books don't necessarily need to be be read in order but each one just serves to make Alan Banks come alive for the reader.

>43 Carol420: This is on my list for this week.

Halfway through Guilty Minds by Joseph Finder. Totally enjoyable, my first time reading the Nick Heller series although it's not the first book in the series. I would totally recommend this one.

>44 Andrew-theQM: Hope you like it as much as I did.

>45 ColinMichaelFelix: I haven't read this series but I have read some of his standalone novels and really liked them. I recommend Killer Instinct, Power Play, and The Fixer. Come join us for one our discussions. We're doing Wild Fire by Ann Cleeves in a week or so. It's the last book in the Shetland Island series.

>46 Carol420: Been waiting to get my hands on this book for a long time. Sure I will enjoy it. This series, the Roy Grace Series and the Rebus series are three of my favourite detective series.

>47 Andrew-theQM: Mine too.

The Cold Blue Blood by David Handler
Berger & Mitry series Book #1
3.5★

Mitch Berger, a top film critic with a major New York newspaper at a surprisingly young age, has become almost a recluse since his wife died one year ago. He spends his time secluded in his apartment or in the dark recesses of a screening room. Although he continues to dazzle moviegoers and the film elite with his criticisms. His editor, and good friend, is alarmed about him. As a scheme to pull him out of the doldrums of his grief, she gives him a non-film assignment - to do a color story on the wealthy and social homeowners on Connecticut's Gold Coast. It takes some doing, but in the end Mitch agrees. The discovery of a body during a bout of optimistic gardening in Dolly's (his landlady) back yard brings on the other main player - Lieutenant Desiree Mitry, one of only three women on the Connecticut State Police major crimes squad, the youngest of the three, and the only black. A dedicated officer, she is the terror of everyone who doesn't really want to give a home to one of her stray cats. She is, as well, a closet artist and a complicated and beautiful woman, and she intrigues Mitch from the start.

I wasn't real impressed with the description of the book but again...it met a challenge, so I thought I can stand less than 200 pages so lets go for it. I'm glad I did. It's not often that a writer can make the reader feel completely immersed in a story...David Handler can. The only complaint that I had was that he tried to hard to make Mitry into the idea of what a black woman is supposedly suppose to sound like and act like. She was more well bred that that and he didn't really do her justice. For the first book in the series...the author did very well and I will find the others soon.

Iced by Carol Higgins Clark
#3 Regan Reilly mysteries
3 1/2 *

Regan Reilly and her parents head to Aspen, CO for the Christmas holidays. They are to stay at a the home of a well known actress. Sadly, upon arrival the actress finds that her home has been broken into, paintings stolen, and their caretaker is missing. The caretaker was a former jewel theif, so he becomes a wanted man. However, the caretaker was actually keeping kidnapped by the real thieves. Louis, a friend of Regan, is trying to launch a new upscale restaurant in Aspen, but the grand opening may be scuttled as Louis is the one who recommened the caretaker/jewel theif to the actress for a caretaker. Regan knows that something odd is going on and despite it being a vacation, she starts an investigation. Missing twins, stolen art, curmudgeonly old people, museums, dry cleaners, the ski slopes and long lost loves keep Regan on her toes.

This was an enjoyable read. I did feel that there were too many unnecessary secondary characters who muddied the waters. The action and dialogue were fast.

Isolation by Travis Thrasher
4★

James Miller is a burned-out missionary whose time on the mission field in Papua New Guinea left him exhausted and disillusioned. His wife, Stephanie, feels like she's losing her mind. After moving to North Carolina, Stephanie begins seeing strange and frightening things: blood dripping down the walls, one of her children suffocating. Premonitions, she's sure, of what's to come. As the visions and haunting images intensify, Stephanie asks her brother to come for a much-needed visit--but he's hiding secrets of his own that will prove more destructive than Stephanie can imagine. Nine-year-old Zachary sees his family's move as an adventure, and as he explores the new house, he discovers every young boy's dream: secret passageways and hidden rooms. But what seems exciting at first quickly becomes altogether frightening. When a snowstorm traps the Millers, the supernatural dangers of their new home will test everything they thought they knew about each other, and about their faith.

It was a chilling story of a families' terror in a giant maze of a house in the high mountains of North Carolina. isolation was a good title for this book as well as a spot on description of what was happening to to the family. Something isn't right in the big lodge house that was supposed to give them a fresh start. We know that they are not alone... and they know they are not alone...but they are unprepared for the terrible thing that is residing as yet unseen within the rooms with them. A blizzard has imprisoned them inside with IT and what it wants is unimaginable. It was listed as "Christian fiction"...which I didn't realize at the time...but the author was in no way "preachy"...just told a very good story.

Wild Fire by Ann Cleeves
Shetland Island series Book #8 (Last Book - end of this series)
5★

Hoping for a fresh start, an English family moves to the remote Shetland islands, eager to give their autistic son a better life. But when a young nanny's body is found hanging in the barn beside their home, rumors of her affair with the husband spread like wildfire. As suspicion and resentment of the family blazes in the community, Detective Inspector Jimmy Perez is called in to investigate. He knows it will mean his boss, Willow Reeves, returning to run the investigation, and confronting their complex relationship. With families fracturing and long-hidden lies emerging, Jimmy faces the most disturbing case of his career.

I almost hated to read this book as it would be the end of a fabulous series. Saying goodbye to these characters was a bit like saying goodbye to friends and family. Ann Cleeves certainly ended the series on a high note. As is Ann Cleeves usual habit she gave us suspects galore and a perfectly good reason for each of them to have committed the murder. She manged to keep us guessing until the very end. I'm glad to see that she has chosen to allow life to go on for the characters that we have come to love. "Slàinte mhath" Jimmy and friends.

Look Alive Twenty-five by Janet Evanovich
4*

Stephanie Plum is a New Jersey bounty hunter and works for Vinnie. Vinnie ended up owning a Deli, due to a revoked bond. Said Deli has a real problem, and its not the two stoned cooks, who have lost their green cards. For some reason, the managers keep disappearing. The only clue left is one shoe behind the deli. Vinnie decides that Stephanie and Lulu should run " his" deli. Stephanie will be manager. Lulu immediatey becomes the sandwich maker, after a brief time waitressing in a too short skirt. Stephanie is still working on bringing in skippers while managing the deli. However, Ranger and Morelli are worried about Stephanie's safety. Hal is sent over from Rangeman to keep n eye on Stephanie. Meanwhile, Vinnie disappears. Crazy rock musicians, stabbings, fires, more kidnappings, inedible haute sandwiches, chickens, forgotten birthdays, Columbin hitmen, and cat rescuing keep Stephanie exceedingly busy and in harm's way.

This was a bit out of the ordinary for a Stephanie Plum mystery as she doesnt destroy even one car, and she actually tracks and recovers bail jumpers. I enjoyed this more than the previous books in the series. The action is fast, dialogue is fast, and I simply liked the goofy storyline.

Michigan's Haunted Lighthouses by Dianna Higgs Stampfler
5★

Michigan has more lighthouses than any other state, with more than 120 dotting its expansive Great Lakes shoreline. Many of these lighthouses lay claim to haunted happenings. Former keepers like the cigar-smoking Captain Townshend at Seul Choix Point and prankster John Herman at Waugoshance Shoal near Mackinaw City maintain their watch long after death ended their duties. At White River Light Station in Whitehall, Sarah Robinson still keeps a clean and tidy house, and a mysterious young girl at the Marquette Harbor Lighthouse seeks out other children and female companions. Countless spirits remain between Whitefish Point and Point Iroquois in an area well known for its many tragic shipwrecks. Join author and Promote Michigan founder Dianna Stampfler as she recounts the tales from Michigan's ghostly beacons.

It was a really short little book but filled with really good information about, and photos of the many allegedly haunted lighthouses that cover my beautiful state of Michigan. It's divided by the lighthouses locations on 3 of the 5 Great Lakes...Michigan ,Superior and Huron. I believe she has another book that covers the Upper Peninsular. I was surprised to see that I had visited 5 of these lighthouses and plan to see the others in the future. Proof that ghost story enthusiast will go out of their way to pursue a good haunt.

Wildfire by Ann Cleeves
4 ★

Description
Hoping for a fresh start, an English family moves to the remote Shetland islands, eager to give their autistic son a better life. But when a young nanny's body is found hanging in the barn beside their home, rumors of her affair with the husband spread like wildfire. As suspicion and resentment of the family blazes in the community, Detective Inspector Jimmy Perez and his boss, Willow Reeves, investigate, and confront their complex relationship.

There’s a good variety of well-developed characters in this police procedural, which really makes the story for me. They were all suspects with reasons to kill and it kept me guessing. Knowing Jimmy and Willow from previous books, their tenuous relationship was another interesting part of the story. The ending was plausible except for one part that was a stretch. This was another enjoyable read in the series.

Himself by Jess Kidd
4★

A charming ne’er-do-well returns to his haunted Irish hometown to uncover the truth about his mother in this “supernaturally skilled debut” (Vanity Fair) and turns the town—and his life—upside down. Having been abandoned at an orphanage as a baby, Mahony assumed all his life that his mother wanted nothing to do with him. That is, until one night in 1976 while drinking a pint at a Dublin pub, he receives an anonymous note implying that she may have been forced to give him up. Determined to find out what really happened, Mahony embarks on a pilgrimage back to his hometown, the rural village of Mulderrig. Neither he nor Mulderrig can possibly prepare for what’s in store. From the moment he arrives, Mahony’s presence completely changes the village. Women fall all over themselves. The real and the fantastic are blurred. Chatty ghosts rise from their graves with secrets to tell, and local preacher Father Quinn will do anything to get rid of the slippery young man who is threatening the moral purity of his parish.

Author, Jess Kidd uses an interesting approach to the supernatural element that she attempts, and mostly succeeds in accomplishing, in this book. The book is actually laughable...and I mean that in a good way...in places. Her characters are so entirely "Irish"... and I also man that in a good way. Her opening passages are so catching and are what sets the mood for the entire book and holds the readers attention. You just have to find out if this tiny babe who witnessed the death of his mother and nearly became a victim "himself" would succeed in finding the "why" of the matter and solve all the questions he has had his entire life about his existence and his "talents". Now I need to find her second book.

Old Bones by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles
DI Slider series Book #19
3.5★

A young couple discover human remains buried in the garden of their new house: could this be the resting place of 14-year-old Amanda Knight, who disappeared from the same garden two decades before, and was never seen again? The problem comes almost as a relief to DCI Slider, still suffering from the fallout of his previous case. He is not popular with the Powers That Be, and his immediate boss, Detective Superintendent Porson, reckons that at least this little puzzle will keep Slider out of trouble. After all, with a murder twenty years in the past, this is the coldest of cold cases. Most of the suspects and principal players are now dead too, and all passion is long spent … Or is it?

It was an interesting story with a plot that was fairly difficult to figure out. The book was nearly at the end before I finally figured out what was happening and found the guilty party of this 25-year old murder. The main problem I had with the story was the attitude of the police. They were all an obnoxious lot that seemed to be fed up with their jobs, their supervisors and even the men that had put in their time and were long retired. The found fault with everybody and everything. I have read this author before and found the characters to be much more likable so I'm going to assume she was just having a bad week...or month...or year.

The Colorado Kid by Stephen King
3.5★

On an island off the coast of Maine, a man is found dead. There's no identification on the body. Only the dogged work of a pair of local newspapermen and a graduate student in forensics turns up any clues.
But that's just the beginning of the mystery. Because the more they learn about the man and the baffling circumstances of his death, the less they understand. Was it an impossible crime? Or something stranger still...?

I have been watching the series "Haven" which is based on this book so was anxious to read it because of the tie to the TV series but also because I couldn't believe that there was a Stephen King book that I hadn't read. Stephen King himself stated that there would be no middle ground on this book. People would either hate it or love it...but I found that I was on middle ground. The characters were likable enough but it was rather short on entertainment value. The mystery was never actually answered or maybe the answer was not all mysteries have an answer. Strange little story to say the least...but then King fans know that he is the master of strange.

The Cold, Cold Ground by Adrian McKinley
3.5 ★

Description
Northern Ireland, spring 1981. Hunger strikes, riots, power cuts, a homophobic serial killer with a penchant for opera, and a young woman's suicide that may yet turn out to be murder: on the surface, the events seem unconnected, but then maybe not. Detective Sergeant Duffy is the man tasked with trying to get to the bottom of it all.

There was a lot going on in this police procedural and at times was a bit confusing with so many characters. But Duffy was an interesting character who was young and a bit of a loose cannon with a good sense of humor. Northern Ireland was an interesting setting with just enough description of bombings and paramilitary activities to get the sense of violence all around. This was an entertaining story with a good pace. I’d read more by this author.

Dark Tort by Diane Mott Davidson
3 *

Goldy Schulz is a caterer in Aspen Meadow, CO, on the outskirts between Denver and Aspen. Currently she has a catering gig for the H&J law firm. She serves breakfasts and luncheons for the upper crust clients. Goldy's neighbor Dusty is working at the firm while she wotks on her paralegal degree. Dusty is also taking cooking lessons fom Goldy, to help catch a rich lawyer husband. Unfortunately, this particular evening, Goldy wasloaded with bread baking supplies as she entered the law firm's office building. She tripped and baking supplies went all over. However, sadly, it was Dusty's orone body that Gody had tripped upon. Dusty ran for help, but it was too late. Something odd is going on at the lawfirm, and Dusty's mom implored Goldy to find out what had happened to her daughter. Stole art, crooked clergy, jealous wives, birthday parties, a baptism, poorly written recipes, imperious legal secretaries, and assorted confusing clues lead Goldy toward discovering the murderer. It sure would help if it would stop snowing in the Rocky Mountain springtime!

This was a nice average entry into this series, albeit rather slow reading for me. Lots of bizarre characters to muddy the clues.