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
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
“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
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
More trouble for Flaxborough in the 8th book in the series. A contentious boat race leads 2 of the town’s leaders almost to blows. Nighttime escapades show the naked frolicking of a town leader, his friend, and two working girls to the neighbors. A mysterious note from the states promisesContinue Reading
Blood Standard is a beautifully written slow-moving hardboiled noir. Isaiah Coleridge is an enforcer with the Chicago mob. Since he is Maori, he can never be truly part of the Family. When he falls out of favor, he is sent to Nome Alaska, the “Mafia penal colony”. After letting hisContinue Reading
Maggy has been without a job in London for two years. Her neighbor sets her up as a secretary to Mr. Wight, an alcoholic private investigator. When he sends her home minutes after her arrival on her first day, Maggy cleverly solves one of his cases and pockets the fee.Continue Reading
Unusual artwork is used effectively in a murder mystery set in a traveling circus. Spectacle Vol 1 is good until the unsatisfactory conclusion. Twins Anna and Kat are members of a traveling circus. Anna is the fortune teller. Kat is a knife thrower. When Kat is murdered with her ownContinue Reading
Another great police procedural, #4 in the Memory Man series. Amos and his partner, Alex, are on vacation when Amos sees something in a nearby house and investigates. Two bodies are found and Amos and Alex join the local police in searching for the murderer. Soon the opioid crisis, anContinue Reading
Archie Coe, hypnotist, cat whisperer and sucker to every dame he meets. The art and dialogue both up the 1940s noir feel in Archie Coe Vol 1. Jack Midland hires Coe to find the reason his wife, Hope, is frigid to him since their marriage. Hope insists that she andContinue Reading
Southern paranormal cozy mystery with ghosts, witches and a murder or two. Hope, Faith and Charity plan to open a Wiccan school and white witches’ potion shop in rural Sunflower County Mississippi. Sarah Booth Delaney and her partner in the Delaney Detective Agency, Tinkie Richmond, are paid to dig upContinue Reading
Great finish almost makes it worth reading the rest of The Favorite Sister. Brett, Stephanie and Jen are the sole remaining season 1 cast members on the new season 4 of the Real Housewives-esque reality show, Goal Diggers. The show ostensibly empowers women, while provoking as many fights among themContinue Reading
“Something or other is sending half the over-sixties round the twist” in the Flaxborough Crab. A rash of panty theft, quick grope and runs, and window peeping has befallen Flaxborough. The perps are described as elderly men who scuttle away sideways like a crab. When an esteemed villager is accidentallyContinue Reading
Cabals be caballing. In The Crooked Staircase, Jane Hawk is hunting more of the cabal that used brain nanobots to force her husband to kill himself. In this series entry, Simon Yegg is the so-mean-it-is-unbelievable type of villain. He tortures his ex-wives up to, and including, gang rape to getContinue Reading
Page-turner is so overused that it has become trite. Here is how I felt about Obscura by Joe Hart. I…COULDN’T…PUT…IT…DOWN! Literally! I was reading my kindle at stop lights, during boring parts of a telephone conference call at work (with my office door closed of course) and when I shouldContinue Reading
Romance, history, southern charm, friendships, family and secrets swirl in the High Tide Club. At 99, Josephine is dying on her half of an island off the coast of Georgia. She calls Brooke, an attorney, to help search for her best friends, Ruth, Millie and Varina, from over 80 yearsContinue Reading