Trouble Is Brewing is tea slinger Lily’s latest cozy mystery. Her cafe, Tea by the Sea, is closed for a bridal shower. Though the couple seem blissfully happy, their parents are less enchanted with each other. When the groom’s father is murdered, Lily must investigate to clear her tea houseContinue Reading
With ten eerie tales, Alley is a fascinating look into Japanese fears. With serial killers, ghosts and demons, most horror sub-genres are represented. My favorite story, Blessing, even has a mystery to solve within it. Many of the stories are unique enough to be remembered long after the story isContinue Reading
A plethora of adjectives. A dearth of full stops. The prose in The Book of Elsewhere reminds me of college literature courses. Here’s looking at you, James Joyce. This book contains run-on sentences that quickly emerge as run-on paragraphs. I’ll admit that it took me almost 20% of the bookContinue Reading
With nods to The Chronicles of Narnia and even Alice in Wonderland, The Lost Story begins with an intriguing premise. Two fifteen-year-old boys are lost in the woods for months. When they return, one cannot remember anything and the other refuses to talk about it. Fifteen years later, they meetContinue Reading
Shades of Mercy is perfect for fans of Longmire and Joe Pickett, while they wait for the next book to be released in those series. Sheriff Beck is investigating a hacked military drone in rural Nevada. His county has a whole lot of land and a dearth of people, includingContinue Reading
Dog Day Afternoon is another pleasant mystery with reluctant attorney Andy Carpenter and a myriad of supporting players. Marcus is Andy’s muscle, who keeps his personal life, well, personal. Until now. He brings a defendant, Nick, to Andy who seems to have the deck stacked against him. Most of Nick’sContinue Reading
Made for You is a twisty little tale told from the viewpoint of a “synth” (synthetic human or android) created to win the heart of the main character on a Batchelor type show. I love the concept of this book. It is nice to see AI portrayed in a goodContinue Reading
The Eyes Are the Best Part begins as a family memoir. Ji-won is devastated by her father leaving their family for his mistress. Ji-won’s mother is alternately despondent and hopeful of a reunion. One day, the mother makes fish and insists that Ji-won eat the fisheyes for luck. Ji-won thenContinue Reading
I so wanted to like Chris Stein’s, the guitarist from Blondie, autobiography, Under a Rock. Unfortunately, from my perspective, it needed both editing down and fleshing out. The author includes a lot of details about his childhood, 30% of the book, that didn’t add much to his story. When heContinue Reading
Mayor Geoffrey was beloved by everyone in the English small town of Marlow. Well, by everyone but his killer. It seems that The Queen of Poisons, aconite, had somehow made it into his coffee at a local town council planning committee meeting, of which he was a member. Luckily, Suzie,Continue Reading
In Tiger Chair, a Chinese platoon leader writes a very long letter home to his best friend from the front. It is not a cheerful letter. Ten long years ago, China declared a world war after a squabble in Taiwan. The letter writer has been stationed in Los Angeles forContinue Reading
The Noh Mask Murder has the best conclusion of a golden age locked room mystery that I’ve read since Agatha Christie died. It is brilliant. There are two things that annoy me in this book. First, it spoils the ending of a famous Christie book. Second, it would have beenContinue Reading
Ryan is on a lover’s lane date with his girlfriend, Ali, when he is ripped from the car. The assailant takes off with both Ali and the car. The only detail Ryan can remember about the man is he has both pinkies missing. The police suspect Ryan’s story but don’tContinue Reading
I have one word for The Ex-Human: boring. The author obviously has several axes to grind. If you are fascinated by science fiction because it shows us a world of wonder and imagination, read some science fiction. If you want to read about academics arguing about the definition of postmodernismContinue Reading
Lights, Camera, Bones is another great cozy mystery starring the Delaney Detective Agency. The Agency consists of organic farmer Sarah Booth Delaney and her best friend Southern belle Tinkie. They are asked to investigate some disappearances from a nearby movie set. The movie is about local Mississippi history. However, someContinue Reading
In Edenfrost, the Russian Civil War between the socialists and royalists is being brutally carried out. After their house is invaded and burned to the ground, two children run from the soldiers who killed their parents. The children are unarmed and the November night in Ukraine is cold. Groups ofContinue Reading