Books Read September 2013

Armstrong, Lori G.

• No Mercy 

Fiction.  This is no cozy mystery.  The story, like the protagonist, is tough and gritty.  Mercy Gunderson returns home after serving as a soldier in the U.S. Army for twenty years.  She is wounded, as is her heart.  Her father dead, she struggles to figure out if she’s ready to return home for good to hold onto the land generations of her family has lived on.  Prime land that others are willing to kill for.

Beck, K. K. 

• Death in a Deck Chair 

Fiction.  On a ship bound from England to America, Iris Cooper, who has been accompanying her aunt on a trip around the world, receives a shock as a young gentleman she danced with the night before, is found dead.  Murdered.  All is not what it seems, and a foreign king being pursued by enemies is hiding amongst the passengers.

Blackwell, Juliet

• Murder on the House

Fiction.  Mel Turner has the chance to renovate a 1911 Italianate mansion in San Francisco, but when she arrives to speak to the owner, she finds that she will be bidding against another contractor for the job.  It’s an unusual bidding process this time, as the two contractors must spend the night in the supposedly haunted mansion, and the contractor who stays the longest will win the bid.

Blair, Annette

• Tulle Death Do Us Part 

Fiction.  Sixth installment in the Vintage Magic paranormal cozy series about the owner of a vintage clothing shop with the gift of psychometry.  When she touches vintage cloth, she sometimes has visions connected to crimes.  With the help of a goth BFF, her father, her witchy aunt and a hunky cop, she does her best to solve them.

Charles, Ann

• Nearly Departed in Deadwood 

Fiction.  Violet Turner struggles to keep her job and has just a few more weeks to sell her first house.  A new tenant moves into the office next door who has her libido springing into action.  The problem is that her best friend has laid claim to him.  On the other hand, a handsome and wealthy jeweler wants her to sell his family home and begins showing her a lot of personal attention.  With two precocious twins to care for, Violet has her hands full of men who suddenly seem to be coming out of the woodwork.  And that family home she is hired to sell?  It’s haunted.

Childs, Laura

• Photo Finished 

Fiction.  Carmella and her friends are getting ready for the Monsters and Old Masters’ Ball, when Ava stumbles over the body of the owner of the antique shop next door to Carmella’s scrapbooking store.  As she tries to solve the murder and prevent an innocent boy from being arrested, Carmella’s relationship with her estranged husband heats up.

Christie, Agatha

• Evil Under The Sun 

Fiction.  Hercule Poirot takes a vacation at a hotel on an island.  He truly meant to simply relax and enjoy his stay but finds himself investigating the murder of a beautiful woman, with more suspects than he needs.

Connolly, Sheila

• One Bad Apple 

Fiction.  Meg Corey finds herself at loose ends when she is downsized from her job at the bank and the end of a romance.  Her mother is trying to sell their old family farm, but the house will need a lot of care to get it in shape to sell.  They decide that this is just what Meg needs right now, a challenge she can sink her teeth into as she tries to figure out what to do with the rest of her life.  But her past comes back to haunt her when her ex-boyfriend turns up on her doorstep, and murder follows.

Fluke, Joanne

• Red Velvet Cupcake Murder 

Fiction.  A renovated hotel is the scene for a party that Hannah’s bakery, The Cookie Jar, is catering.  After touring the lush new condos, Hannah returns to the lobby to join the other party-goers.  Their celebrating comes to a quick end when they hear a scream, and someone falls from the penthouse down to the ground.

Gustainis, Justin

• Black Magic Woman 

Fiction.  Shades of the past arise when descendants of two women connected by the burning of a witch in the Salem Witch Trials collide in a flurry of revenge.  Libby Chaistain and Quincey Morris unite to help a young couple under attack from evil magic users.    

Lavene, Jim & Joyce

• Hooked Up

Fiction.  Second installment in the Stock Car Racing cozy series.  Glad Wycznewski, ex-cop, and his much younger wife Ruby come to Dover to watch the races.  When Ruby picks up a battered hitchhiker to come to his aid, they’re thrown into the middle of a mistaken identity murder.

Luce, Carol Davis

• Night Passage

Fiction.  Mysteries from now and twelve years ago are entwined in this fast-paced suspense tale.  Trying to find out who did what will keep Roni on her toes as she tries to stay out of the line of fire and hopefully will help a young boy to a more fulfilling life.

Patterson, James

• Pop! Goes the Weasel 

Fiction.  Alex Cross is hoping to take some time off after his last case, but already murders are happening that will draw him in.  Across town, a homicidal maniac is already preying on people in the city.  Men and women, nobody is spared.

Whitehurst, Tess

• The Art of Bliss

Non-fiction.  A wonderful blending of Feng Shui, the I Ching and western philosophy about creating harmony and fulfillment in the Self and the home.