Spook in the Stacks

Spook in the Stacks is an entertaining cozy mystery.  It is the fourth Lighthouse Library Mystery. The Bodie Island lighthouse library is located on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Rich Jay Ruddle is looking for somewhere to house his historic documents.  The library and a local college are inContinue Reading

Dark Nights: Metal

Dark Nights: Metal was billed as the ultimate event from DC Comics.  Certainly, the book is filled with every hero and villain in their stable. In addition, there are a multitude of Easter eggs and call outs (literally—they are in little yellow boxes) to other DC Comics. Maybe the buildupContinue Reading

Jar of Hearts' Author Video

Angela Wong’s body is found buried and dismembered fourteen years after her disappearance in Jar of Hearts. DNA links the crime to Calvin James, aka the Sweetbay Strangler, who is ultimately found guilty of four murders.  His 16-year-old girlfriend at the time of the murder, Geo Shaw, is found guiltyContinue Reading

Lulu is a Rhinoceros

Cute, well-illustrated picture book that explains why Lulu is a Rhinoceros. Lulu looks like a bulldog to everyone but herself. She knows deep inside that she is a rhinoceros. To fix her lack of horn, Lulu tries on a banana peel and an upside-down ice cream cone. It is onlyContinue Reading

Vanishing Frontiers

Vanishing Frontiers documents the changing nature of Mexican immigration and Mexico’s economy. The wave of Mexican immigration to the United States is over. Both China and India send more immigrants. In addition, Mexico’s healthy economy has pushed wages higher leading to a large increase in the middle class. Cheap laborContinue Reading

Soul

Soul includes 150 southern soul food recipes that look uniformly delicious thanks to great photographs. With chapters focusing on a single ingredient, each chapter in Soul progresses from simple to complex recipes.  The chapters include: Collards, Onions, Berries, Lamb, Seafood, Corn, Tomatoes, Melons, Stone Fruit, Eggs and Poultry, Pork andContinue Reading

Peril in the Old Country

Peril in the Old Country is a hilarious quest fantasy! Sloot Peril is an accountant who has a nervous condition. He lives in the Old Country where swearing causes goblins to physically appear. There is so much bureaucracy that a union provides professional line waiters. Sloot is a patriot whoContinue Reading

Word is Murder

“The word is murder. That’s what matters.” And so begins another original take on a thriller from Mr. Horowitz. First person meta-mystery where the author plays himself as Dr. Watson to a memorable, recently  disgraced, consulting detective, Hawthorne. To avoid confusion, when referred to as Mr. Horowitz, I am speakingContinue Reading

Unofficial Guide to Ancestry com

Comprehensive and well-organized handbook for ancestry.com. The Unofficial Guide to Ancestry.com is a wellspring of knowledge about how find your ancestors more efficiently. Beginning with a simple description of ancestry.com’s menu, this book then drills down past the site’s hint system into the databases themselves. Here is a list ofContinue Reading

Probable Claws

Probable Claws continues the 18th century tale from the previous book along with a modern day mystery. Harry, her Corgi Tucker, fat cat Pewter and even tempered cat Mrs. Murphy are hunting a killer again in the 27th entry in the long-running series. When a motorcycler shoots Harry’s architect, Gary,Continue Reading