The House That Eats the Dead
Kudos to the author of The House That Eats the Dead. He made me believe that a house could be sentient, hungry, and trained like a dog. If you too are able to suspend your disbelief, this book is a fun and unique horror tale. Claire and Tom should haveContinue Reading
Time to Play
What would you do if an alien civilization told you and everyone on Earth it is Time to Play? This is no standard video game. People are dying. Monsters are spawning. Weapons are made from paper and duct tape. Life as we know it is over. All for an alienContinue Reading
Probable Caws
I love the family and friends populating the Meg Langslow cozy mystery series. Reading the two new books published each year is usually a highlight for me. While Probable Caws does have the whole gang involved in horse rescuing, the mystery is kind of a miss. There weren’t enough redContinue Reading
The Women in White
The Women in White are four young women in the 1960s who participate in experiments involving their psychic abilities at a prestigious university. Riley is the modern day caretaker of one of the woman. As she digs into their history, she uncovers an untold story that has been buried, intentionally,Continue Reading
The Felicity Complex
I just finished reading The Felicity Complex and I have to say, “wow!”. There is a lot going on in there. Realistic female bots are created to serve those humans rich enough to afford a 1960s luxury underground bunker. Each bot grows increasingly human with all the complexities that entails.Continue Reading
Bubble, Bubble, Tea and Trouble
Bubble, Bubble, Tea and Trouble is the seventh book in the popular Tea by the Sea cozy mystery series. This time tearoom owner Lily and her trusty writer/hacker friend Bernie have to contend not just with murderers but also ghostly presences. A medium and her believers are visiting Lily’s grandmother’sContinue Reading
50 True Stories That Will Scare You to Death
With a title like 50 True Stories That Will Scare You to Death, I expect three things to be true. Are there 50 stories? Yes. There are five categories: The Dead, The Gone, The Invaders, The Hunted, and The Unexplained. The Dead filled with spooks has 15 stories. The UnexplainedContinue Reading
Carry Me to My Grave
Are you sick of horror plots being reused over and over again? If so, Carry Me to My Grave will be a refreshing surprise. No ordinary ghosts, vampires or zombies here. Instead an ancient evil awakens from beneath an equally ancient tree. Its goal is simple, get Maggie Wise’s bodyContinue Reading
Sisterhood Above All
A girl fell, jumped, or was pushed from a balcony during a college sorority rush party. Whodunnit? Find out in the twisty Sisterhood Above All. Having never been, and having no interest, in a sorority, this book didn’t really work for me. The characters were not fully fleshed out andContinue Reading
Push the Wall
Frank Miller is an icon in comics. Push the Wall is his story. You don’t have to be a fan of Batman, Daredevil, or Sin City to enjoy this memoir/instruction manual of the creative process. There is just enough of Frank’s life included to see how his career began andContinue Reading
A Quiet Place
A Quiet Place is a twisty but slow moving psychological thriller. It is not a traditional mystery at all. And that is what I liked most about it. Asai’s wife has died young from a heart attack. She had a previous attack so her cause of death was no surprise.Continue Reading
The Mysterious Affair of Judith Potts
The Mysterious Affair of Judith Potts is another great Marlow Murder Club Mystery. Get ready to challenge your armchair detecting skills! Minor celebrities are dropping like flies in Marlow! Judith, Suzie, and Becks investigate, as usual, but don’t have the police’s support this time around. With plenty of twists andContinue Reading
Pretty Dead Things
Small town Texas beauty pageants. Can anything be more dramatic? Or fun? Well, fun for most—not so much for the dead bodies piling up. During this one, murders occur and blackouts happen. Mysteries and rivalries thought long dead arise. It is just another day in Texas with its Pretty DeadContinue Reading
Dead Men Don’t Play Fetch
Dead Men Don’t Play Fetch is another fine entry in the Andy Carpenter cozy mystery series. Andy really wants to retire from his defense attorney practice. But just when he thought he was out, they pull him back in. A homeless vet staying in a rehab facility is accused ofContinue Reading
Golden Age Suspense Stories
Adventure to an Indonesian rubber plantation and search for an escaped murderer. Or stay local in the lunchroom of a NYC diner in the 1950s. Either way, adventures await in Golden Age Suspense Stories, the latest Otto Penzler collection of vintage short stories. This collection includes fifteen stories with mostContinue Reading
Sweet Spot
Agatha Christie mysteries are my Sweet Spot. This book takes the tropes from those plots and subverts them for its own ends. It is a very original way to honor Dame Agatha, while winking steadily at the reader from beyond the fourth wall. Belle is a ghostwriter hired to assistContinue Reading