String City
String City is where the universe’s different strings come together. Oh, mythological creatures like Zeus, monsters like cyclops and golems, and all manner of strangeness live there too. A world full of infinite possibilities makes some strange bedfellows. An unnamed private investigator is asked by the Titans to look intoContinue Reading
Something Read, Something Dead
Lighthouse? Check. Library? Check. Library cat? Check. Wedding? Check. Amateur sleuth? Check. Murder? Of course, check. There is a little bit of everything cozy in Something Read, Something Dead. Lucy is the assistant librarian at the Lighthouse Library in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. She is helping her cousinContinue Reading
A Dangerous Collaboration
A Dangerous Collaboration between Veronica and Stoker’s brother, the Viscount, result in a much more gothic entry in the series. Veronica Speedwell is not your typical Victorian woman. She doesn’t believe in marriage but does believe in male companionship. Veronica has a career as a lepidopterist, or butterfly researcher. SheContinue Reading
House on Fire
In House on Fire, Leigh and Pete are returning home early from their fifth wedding anniversary trip when they get a call from Leigh’s fourteen-year-old daughter, Chrissy. She is calling from the police station, where her stepbrother, Pete’s eighteen-year-old son Kip, is in custody. Kip was planning on spending theContinue Reading
Daisy Jones & The Six
Daisy Jones & The Six is the best non-thriller that I have read this year! Set in the turbulent late 1970s Sunset Boulevard band scene, The Six is a five member middle-of-road rock band who are effectively forced by their label to add a sexy new lead singer, Daisy Jones. Continue Reading
Beautiful Bad
Beautiful Bad tells the story of Maddie and Ian’s relationship that ended in murder. The story starts with a bang: a female calls 911, a child screams in the background and the call is abruptly cut off. When police arrive, they find a large bloodstain on the open concept kitchen’sContinue Reading
Mastermind. Drugs. Empire. Murder. Betrayal.
Mastermind. Drugs. Empire. Murder. Betrayal. The title really tells the entire story in a nutshell. Paul Le Roux started out small with online prescription drug sales in the United States. Marijuana dispensaries still use his “doctors prescribe without seeing the patient” methods. Like most legitimate CEOs, Paul expanded his productContinue Reading
Chasing American Monsters
Organized by state, Chasing American Monsters is a fine introduction to monsters found next door and across the United States. With more than 250 monsters listed, this book is sure to have something to interest every monster fan. I didn’t know that the state I live in, California, has bothContinue Reading
Drawn and Buttered
The third Lobster Shack mystery, Drawn and Buttered, is another great cozy mystery. It’s Halloween in Mystic Bay Connecticut. A giant Lobzilla goes missing! Houses are broken into but nothing is taken! A witch is afoot! Someone is murdered (of course)! Allie is out of her ankle cast but cannotContinue Reading
Chronicles of a Radical Hag (with recipes)
Chronicles of a Radical Hag (with recipes) is the story of small town Minnesota life over the past fifty years seen through the eyes of a local journalist. The title refers to the name one of her readers called her, a “radical hag”, plus she felt that if she addedContinue Reading
Devil Aspect
With insane killers imprisoned in a castle fortress rumored to house the Devil himself and a brutal serial killer terrorizing nearby Prague, the Devil Aspect has plenty of plot and a whole lot of creepy, gothic atmosphere. It is 1935 in a rural village outside Prague. A new psychotherapist arrivesContinue Reading
Borrowed Time: The Science of How and Why We Age
If you are interested in the how and why behind aging, Borrowed Time: The Science of How and Why We Age will explain current aging research in an easily understandable manner while opening up a whole new frontier of science to lay readers. Borrowed Time: The Science of How andContinue Reading
Silent Patient
Silent Patient is a spellbinding whipsaw of a thrill ride where you won’t see the end coming! Alicia kills her husband who she appeared to be head-over-heels in love with. She is arrested, tried, found guilty and taken to a mental health facility. Throughout the ordeal, Alicia refuses to discussContinue Reading
A Fire Story
Heartfelt memoir about losing your home in the worst wildfire in decades. A Fire Story is sad but ultimately uplifting. Multiple fires merged into a Northern California firestorm of epic proportions. The resulting burn area was the size of 15 Manhattans. Entire neighborhoods burned to the ground overnight. Warnings wereContinue Reading
Murder Pit
The Murder Pit is a witty take on Victorian London with frequent humorous potshots at the Holmes canon that also contains an intriguing mystery. If you ever wanted more humor in, say, the Hounds of the Baskervilles, this book is for you! Arrowood is a consulting detective for the poorerContinue Reading
Chocolate Cream Pie Murder
How many books in this series am I going to read hoping they return to the interesting plots and non-stilted dialogue of the first few? It appears at least one more called the Chocolate Cream Pie Murder. Hannah is once again being harassed by the annoying Ross. Usually I wouldContinue Reading