In Bending the Paw, Fort Worth Police Officer Megan and her K-9 partner, Brigit, are helping Detective Audrey Jackson investigate a missing person, Greg Olsen. Judging by the amount of blood left in his kitchen, it is a probably a murder rather than a kidnapping case. The obvious suspect, Greg’sContinue Reading
If America is looking increasingly like chaos, the future portrayed in Zoey Punches the Future in the Dick is the obvious outcome. Social media drones record everyone’s life 24/7. The entire town of Tabula Ra$a is run by criminals with implanted robotic exoskeletons. There are no police or law ofContinue Reading
Saffyre is trying to be an Invisible Girl. She is investigating the creeps in her neighborhood. And what a large number of creeps there are! Every character in this book has a horrifying back story plus a deeply hidden secret. Even the seemingly innocent child abuse survivor, and now missing,Continue Reading
When Agatha dies, everyone has their eyes on her will. However, the bizarre terms will make it difficult to collect what they “deserve”. It seems everyone tries to kill everyone using extremely gory methods. In Dead End Drive, the last person alive wins the estate when the lawyer arrives theContinue Reading
My Review My favorite part about cozy mysteries are when they have a holiday theme. And Halloween is my favorite holiday! If you want to get in a Halloween mood, A Waffle Lot of Murder will get you there fast. Even here in California with triple-digit heat, I still feelContinue Reading
By all accounts, Helena Sanchez was a nasty rude woman. She insulted most of the attendees at Bertie’s fortieth college reunion. However, even she didn’t deserve to be murdered for her sins. For the murderer, it was A Death Long Overdue as Helena was the former Library Director at theContinue Reading
Confessions on the 7:45 would make a great movie! While ostensibly a remake of Strangers on a Train, it is so much more. Selena has had a bad few months. Her husband, Charlie, lost his job—and doesn’t seem to be searching too hard for another one. In fact, at thisContinue Reading
My Review It’s 1939 in England. You are a journalist, an amateur detective, and a part-time spy for the British government. You are chosen to join the Quaker Kindertransports of mostly Jewish children from Germany to England. Your goals? Find out who murdered the person you are replacing. Discover whoContinue Reading
“I do not climb into cars with a group of strangers or jaunt off into a snowstorm. This isn’t something I’d normally do, but to get home to Mom? I’ll do whatever it takes.” These are Mira’s last thoughts before she indeed becomes one of Five Total Strangers stuck inContinue Reading
In Come to Light, Emit’s wife, Julia, and two of her friends went missing six years ago while hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. When the skull of one of the friends is found after a storm on the PCT, Emit suspects his wife’s stalker ex-boyfriend, Guillaume. Unfortunately, Julia’s sister, Sara,Continue Reading
A Mexican drug cartel accidentally sees their former employee, an infamous killer named Ramirez, in an Arizona vacuum store. Could an assassin be in hiding as a mild-mannered vacuum repairman? The cartel is convinced and their assassins come Gunning for Ramirez! The art was my favorite part of this novel.Continue Reading
There is a gossip website called Dirty Laundry that focuses on Portland High School in Maine. While Sandra was giving a speech to the school’s PTA in her new role as PTA President, a story explodes from Dirty Laundry into the room. Sandra’s Senator husband is rumored to be usingContinue Reading
Teenage Lucy is still struggling with PTSD from her childhood experiences in Peru when she witnesses a demonic attack in her high school classroom. A fellow student blinds another. And then he kills the teacher who tries to break up the fight. Mysterious men then kill the attacker. But thatContinue Reading
John Banville is much more famous for literary fiction than mysteries. It shows in Snow. The plot reads like a too-easy-to-solve Agatha Christie. A priest is murdered in a down-at-its-heels country manor house during a snowstorm with no signs of forced entry. However, the setting in 1950s Ireland with theContinue Reading
My Review In Cake Popped Off!, Emory has a cupcake catering company that specializes in cupcakes flavored like cocktails. She is also a companion to octogenarian Tillie. When Tillie has a costumed Halloween party, Emory provides Fireball cupcakes and “poisoned apple” cake pops. Emory’s twin sister Carrie provides the cateredContinue Reading
Accidental CIA agent Charles Jenkins is back in Russia in The Last Agent, the second book in his spy thriller series. Charles is exonerated from charges of espionage in a US federal court. In the last book, his former company, CJ Security, had unknowingly worked for a CIA shell company.Continue Reading