Sunday, December 17, 2017

Books Read - November 2017

Bruni, Riccardo
The Night of the Moths *****
Fiction.  Ten years ago a young woman was killed.  When her boyfriend at the time returns to the small town to sell the family home, secrets arise that question the identity of the murderer and what really happened that night.

Galenorn, Yasmine
Siren’s Song ****
Fiction.  Sixth book in the Bewitching Bedlam urban fantasy series set in the San Juan Islands.  Maddy’s best friend, Sandy, is in the hospital, the victim of a hit and run.  When her brand new restaurant is burned to the ground, Maddy and her friends realize someone is definitely after Sandy.  Struggling to find out who is responsible is taxing Maddy, who is willing to put her own life on the line to save her friend.

Glidden, Helene
The Light on the Island ****
Fiction.  Based on the true story of a young girl brought up as the lighthouse keeper’s daughter on Patos Island in the San Juans.  Her exploits  with her many siblings, their losses, and their joys tell an interesting story.

McKay, Ami
The Witches of New York ***
Fiction.  Three witches are simply trying to live their lives and ply their trades, when a rogue preacher and a demon set out to destroy them.

Stevermer, Caroline
A College of Magics ****
Fiction.  First in the College of Magics series.  Faris has been sent by her uncle to attend Greenlaw Finishing School, which graduates witches.  When her uncle demands that she return home before she graduates, the headmistress charges her to stop in Paris to visit a mysterious person who has a task for her to accomplish.  Upon finding  the man, she learns that she is the new warden of the North and must close a rift that has opened in the world.  Her life is in jeopardy, but she has given her word that she will follow through on her mission, one that will challenge her to give up all she desires.

A Scholar of Magics ***

Fiction  Second in the College of Magics series.  Jane travels to England to visit her brother Robert at Glasscastle, which is a school that graduates male witches.  She meets an American sharpshooter there who is helping out on the Agincourt Project being run by the university.  Unknown to them, the project is creating a weapon, but it’s stolen and is being misused to gain power.  Jane and Samuel try to find the weapon and a missing professor who was working on the project.

Books Read - October 2017

Beaton, M.C.
The Witches’ Tree ****
Fiction.  31st book in the Agatha Raisin cozy mystery series.  A body is found hanging from the Witches’ Tree in a neighboring town, and Agatha is hired to uncover the murderer, which puts herself and Toni in danger.

Blake, Deborah
A Year and a Day of Everyday Witchcraft ****
Non-fiction.  A calendar of thoughts, lore, and exercises to last you through the year.

Brown, Dan
Deception Point *****
Fiction.  Rachel Sexton is an NRO analyst who has been sent up to the Arctic circle to learn about a secret NASA discovery that will affect national security.  She meets up with three civilian scientists and embarks on a journey fraught with deception and danger.

Digital Fortress *****
Fiction.  NSA has developed a secret computer program that can break any code, but someone has announced they can break into it.  Susan is called in on a weekend to assist her boss with the problem.  They’re on a timeline racing against the clock to find a pass key that can stop a virus from attacking their program.  Susan’s fiancĂ© is sent to Spain to find a ring and bring it back, but the person with the ring has died, and the ring has disappeared.

Origin ****
Fiction.  Fifth in the Robert Langdon mystery books.  Robert has been invited to the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao by his former student and good friend, Edmond, a billionaire genius computer scientist, whose eccentric view on religion has drawn a large following.  He’s promised the world that he will unveil a world-changing theory to answer two questions: Where did we come from? and Where are we going?

Charles, Ann
Rattling the Heat in Deadwood *****
Fiction.  Eighth book in the Deadwood Mystery series.  Hawke is still out to nab Violet as a murderer, and he is convinced she is a witch with the power to hex him.  Violet can’t help playing along when he continues to annoy her.  Cooper has to put a tracker on her phone, but when that doesn’t work, he’s forced to move into her home to keep her in his sights.  That puts a crimp into Violet and Doc’s plans, and she gets word that her treacherous sister is coming to visit with their parents.

Hanna, H.Y.
All-Butter ShortDead ****
Fiction.  Prequel in the Oxford Teashop Mystery series.  Gemma is returning to England to open a teashop in Meadowforde-on-Smythe.  She meets a woman named Jenn on the plane and they get to chatting.  When they arrive, Jenn leaves a scarf behind, and Gemma grabs it to return it to her.  When Jenn is found dead, Gemma is suspected to be the murderer.

Hoffman, Alice
Angel Landing ***
Fiction.  There has been an explosion at the nuclear power plant being built in Fisher’s Cove, and the welder responsible for the faulty valve makes a therapy appointment with a social worker who quickly falls for him.  Though he knew what he was doing when he damaged the valve, his lawyer thinks he’ll be found innocent.  The social worker wants a relationship, but the welder pushes her away.  She’s relentless, and he finally agrees to spent one night with her.  Their relationship causes problems for her at work, but she doesn’t care.

The Drowning Season ***
Fiction.  Esther the Black lives at her grandmother’s compound in Connecticut, but she has received no love from Esther the White while she was growing up and hates her grandmother.  Her father has suicidal tendencies and tries to drown himself every summer.  When Esther the White knows she is dying of cancer, she tries to reach out to her granddaughter, without much luck.  She’s a hard woman, but Cohen, who works for the compound, has fallen in love with her.  The past threatens the future of the family and the compound.

Illumination Night ****
Fiction.  Jody is sent to her grandmother’s house when her grandmother falls and injures herself.  Bored, Jody sets her sights on the man who lives next door and doesn’t care that he’s married and has a young son.  Andre is aware of Jody’s presence, and though he has a good marriage, he’s feeling lost and afraid that he might succumb to her charms.

Rules of Magic ****
Fiction.  Prequel to Practical Magic.  Franny, Jet, and Vincent are living in New York and wishing they could be anywhere but there.  A summer visit with their Aunt Isabelle in Massachusetts introduces them to the magic that runs through their veins and changes their lives forever.

Turtle Moon ****
Fiction.  A woman flees her ex-husband, taking their daughter with her.  They end up in Verity, Florida where they settle.  But when the woman is murdered, and her baby daughter is missing, a young boy becomes the prime suspect.

White Horses ****
Fiction.  A girl grows up in love with her brother, a bad boy who stays out all night and commits petty crimes.  Their mother also idolizes the boy, believing in stories told by her father of the mysterious man who will come into her life and sweep her away.  She thought she found him in her husband, but when he wanders off, she realizes the stories were just stories and not truth.

Kimelman, Emily
Unleashed ***
Fiction.  First in the Sydney Rye mystery series.  Joy has worked as a dog walker for just one day before one of her clients turns up dead, and she’s the one who finds him.  While the police consider her as a suspect, she is determined to solve the mystery.  But things turn dangerous for Joy, and she’s finally forced to flee the city.

McNicol, Donna B.
Not a Whisper ***
Fiction.  First in the Klondike Mystery series.  Cherie is spending time with her aunt, who is recovering from a stroke.  A fire has burned down a bar in town, and in the basement, a body is found in an old freezer.  A twenty-year-old mystery comes back to haunt the town, and the townspeople are determined to find the solution.

Rowland, Laura Joh
The Ripper’s Shadow *****
Fiction.  First in the Victorian mystery series set in London.  Sarah Bain is a photographer working in a field usually reserved for men.  One sideline of hers is taking boudoir of some ladies of the night.  When these women become victims of the murderer known as The Ripper, Sarah is determined to do what she can to protect the rest by uncovering his identity, putting he own life in danger.

Wrede, Patricia & Caroline Stevermer
The Grand Tour ****
Fiction.  Second in the Cecelia and Kate novels.  Cecelia, Kate, and their new husbands are on their wedding tour of Europe.  They are staying with Thomas’ mother, Lady Sylvia, in Paris when an ampoule is stolen.  The ampoule was an ancient relic used in a ritual to name a king.  Other items have been stolen around Europe, and the foursome realize  they are being collected to be used in a new ritual naming a new King of Europe.  They must stop the ritual in time, or the entire continent will end up at war.

The Mislaid Magician ****
Fiction.  Third in the Cecelia and Kate novels.  Ten years later, Cecelia and James leave their four children with Kate and Thomas and head north on another mission for the Duke of Wellington.  He has charged them to find out what happened to a Prussian wizard surveyor who had been trying to discover if ley lines are interfering with the railway lines for the steam engines.  As they try to unravel the mystery, Thomas and Kate are having problems of their own when someone repeatedly bypasses all the wards Thomas has set around their property.

Sorcery & Cecelia ****

Fiction.  First in the Cecelia and Kate novels.  Cecelia and Kate are cousins living in England in the early 1800’s.  Cecelia lives at a manor in Essex, and Kate is in London for her first Season.  Magic is alive in their world, and the girls become embroiled in a war of magic between bad wizards and good wizards.