Books Read - November 2018

Allan, Barbara

• Antiques Maul ***

Fiction. Second in the Antiques cozy mystery series.  Mother and daughter decide to run a stall at a local antiques mall.  When the owner of the mall is killed and her dog is the suspect.  Mother and daughter work together to solve the mystery.

Amitrani, Riley

• The Haunting of Alfred House **

Fiction.  A young couple move into a house only to find it already inhabited by a taxidermist and his subjects.

• The Haunting of Carver’s Arms Pub ***

Fiction.  A rash of burglaries in a small village bring two out of town police officers to investigate.  When the ghost of a murdered woman announces her presence, an old crime is finally solved.

• The Haunting of Excelsior Hotel ****

Fiction.  A hotel has an infamous reputation that everyone who stays in room 33 ends up dead, but when a young woman is desperate for a place to stay, the hotel owner agrees to rent her the room.

• The Haunting of Luciano House **

Fiction.  A childless couple moves to their dream house in England, where they run into the ghosts of an angry man who killed his wife.

• The Haunting of Magnolia House **

Fiction.  A little girl has gone missing, but years later when a new couple move into the house they realize she’s still there.

• The Haunting of Perry Property ***

Fiction.  A young pregnant woman moves to a lovely little cottage not knowing that it was once the site of a cult’s mass murder.

• The Haunting of Prescott House **

Fiction.  Three college girls rent an abandoned mansion to study up for their exams.  They don’t know a family was murdered there years ago until the ghosts come calling for revenge.

• The Haunting of Sanderson Mansion ***

Fiction.  A family moves into a home where a man and his mistress were once murdered, and when the homeowner begins having affairs of his own, the dead mistress comes calling.

• The Haunting of Shawcroft House ****

Fiction.  A couple renovates an old school only to find that the ghosts of the children are coming after them.  

• The Haunting of Sunnyday House ***

Fiction.  When a former POW returns home to find his wife remarried, he murders the whole family.  When a college freshman is hired to dog sit, she finds that the POW is still roaming the house.

• The Haunting of Westmore Hospital ***

Fiction.  A mad doctor is responsible for six murders, and years later when a young woman ends up in the hospital, he comes calling again.

• The Haunting of Woodchester Mansion **

Fiction.  A young couple set up shop at an abandoned mansion to see if they can draw out any spirits who happen to live there.  They do.

Aukes, Rachel

• The Tidy Guide to Writing a Novel ***

Non-fiction. Guide to writing a nonvel.

Avey, Sydney

• The Lyre and the Lambs ***

Fiction.  Sequel to The Sheep Walker’s Daughter.  A Basque woman moves into her daughter’s house and tells the story of a troubled young man who dies in the back yard.

Black, J. Carson

• Dark Side of the Moon ***

Fiction.  Second in the Laura Cardinal police procedural.  A young couple is murdered by a lake, and Laura is called in to solve the case.  A group of ecoterrorists steals plutonium waste, and when the two cases come together, Laura is caught up in the race to solve the crimes.

Bledsoe, Alex

• Back Atcha ****

Fiction.  Third in the Witch Tales series.  Tanna and Ry are involved in three more cases.

• The Book of Cunning Women *****

Fiction.  Fourth in the Witch Tales series.  Tanna and Ry are involved in three cases.

• Croaked *****

Fiction.  Second in the Witch Tales series.  Tanna and Ry get involved in three new cases.

• The Hum and the Shiver *****

Fiction.  First in the Tufa fantasy series.  Bronwyn is a war hero newly returned home to Needsville, Tennessee, but not everyone is glad she’s home.  As she recuperates from her vast injuries, and old boyfriend comes calling.  The family has receives signs that a death is coming for one of them, but when it happens, Bronwyn is fired up to see justice done in the Tufa way.

• Sight for Sore Eyes ****

Fiction.  Fifth in the Witch Tales series.  Tanna and Ry are back for three new stories.

• Time of the Season ****

Fiction.  Three short stories, one standalone, one in the Tufa series, and one in the Witch Tales series.

• The Firefly Witch ****

Fiction.  First in the Firefly Witch story collection.  Ry Tully interviews the Firefly Witch for his newspaper, and she asks for his help in doing some research.  They fall in love.

Brackston, Paula

• Return of the Witch *****

Fiction.  Sequel to The Witch’s Daughter.  Tegan is living in Willow Cottage not realizing that Gideon has returned and is hunting her.  Elizabeth returns hunting Gideon and is hoping to save Tegan.

• The Winter Witch ****

Fiction.  A young mute woman is married off to a widowed drover, and while she has powers of her own, she runs into trouble from one who is even more powerful and wants what she has.

• The Witches of the Blue Well ***

Fiction.  Short story of a young girl who loses almost everything before coming into her own power as a witch.

• The Witch’s Daughter *****

Fiction.  Elizabeth is being hunted as a witch, but she can’t let herself be caught, so she escapes in the only way she knows how.  Three hundred years later, she’s working as a doctor, but there’s a warlock hunting her who won’t stop until she is his.

Charles, Anne

• A Bunch of Monkey Malarkey ****

Fiction.  Second in the AC Silly Circus paranormal series.  Madam Electra and Bruno have to solve the mystery of one of the monkey brothers being stuck in a catatonic state after a half-finished spell has gone crazy.  

Clarke, Alexandria

• Missed Connections Book 0 ****

Fiction.  First in a trilogy.  Veronica Bauer is taking revenge on the men who raped her and murdered her mother years ago.  When she finds herself in trouble with the police, an old friend comes to her aid.

• Missed Connections Book 1 ****

• Missed Connections Book 2 ****

• The Professor Book 0 ****

Fiction  First in a trilogy.  A woman working on her Master’s degree gets caught up in an on-campus secret society that enables the rich and powerful.  Before too long she finds her life and that of her boyfriend in danger.

• The Professor Book 1 ****

• The Professor Book 2 ****

Coyle, Cleo

• Through the Grinder ***

Fiction.  Second in the Coffeehouse cozy mystery series.  Clare manages the Village Blend coffeehouse, but when three of her customers end up dead from apparent suicides, which the police believe might be homicides, and her new boyfriend is the main suspect, Clare goes out of her way to prove him innocent.

Crabtree, Elisabeth

• Deadly Magic ***

Fiction.  First in a cozy mystery series.  A woman working at a toy store gets swept into a murder mystery and becomes a target for the murderer.

Creech, Sarah

• Season of the Dragonflies ***

Fiction.  Magical realism story of a family of women who run a perfume company using magical flowers.  Selling it only to wealthy women, the perfume has special attributes.

Crosby, Bette Lee

• Memory House ***

Fiction.  First in the Memory House series.  Annie is getting over her failed relationship with Michael and is looking for something new in her life when she finds Ophelia and the Memory House.  She finds she has a lot in common with the older woman, and they form a close friendship, which ends up changing Annie’s life for the better.

Galenorn, Yasmine

• Fury’s Mantle ****

Fiction.  Fifth in the Fury Unbound urban fantasy series.  Fenrir the Wolf has returned to the world and is bringing on Ragnarok.  They lycanthropes are rampaging through the forest and villages, and Lord Tam decided to return the Underbarrow to the Shining Lands.

Gruley, Bryan

• Bleak Harbor ***

Fiction.  A teenager is kidnapped in a small town, and there are many suspects, but no one suspects the one person it truly was.  A genius on the autism spectrum.