Saturday, February 1, 2020

Books Read - January 2020

Blackwell, Juliet
  • The Vineyards of Champagne *****
Fiction.  A two-part tale of a recent American widow who travels to the Champagne region of France on business and unravels the story of young love during the Great War and how the people of Reims fled to the underground caverns below the vineyards to escape the German bombs.

Blake, Deborah
  • Tiny Treasures ****
Fiction.  Very short stories involving the Baba Yagas and the Riders.

Charles, Ann
  • A Long Way from Ordinary *****
Fiction.  Second in the Undertaker paranormal cozy mystery series set in Deadwood.  Clementine is finding more and more bodies marked with certain symbol coming across her table, and a mysterious man dressed all in black takes on the Santa Fe Sidewinders but manages to get away.  The hunt leads to Galena, where it seems most men of the town are sporting the same symbol.  Hank and Jack come across a mine while out hunting, but the bars across the front aren’t to keep trespassers out, it’s to keep something indescribable in.

Christie, Agatha
  • The Body in the Library *****
Fiction.  Third in the Miss Marple mystery series.  A woman’s body is found in the Bantry’s library, but the Bantry’s have never seen her before. In a convoluted story, Miss Marple’s unique perspective is needed to help solve the case.

  • The Moving Finger *****
Fiction.  Fourth in the Miss Marple mystery series.  Poison Pen letters are flying around town, and when an injured pilot moves to town to recover with his sister, receives one, he begins investigating.  When one of the recipients kills herself, Scotland Yard gets involved. When the case still isn’t being solved, Miss Marple comes to town.

  • Murder at the Vicarage *****
Fiction.  First in the Miss Marple cozy mystery series.  The vicar tells the store of an unlikable man who is shot in the vicarage.  Although two people have confessed, neither of their confessions are believed.  Miss Marple solves the murder.

  • A Murder is Announced *****
Fiction.  Fifth in the Miss Marple mystery series.  An announcement in the local paper intimates that a murder will occur at a certain time.  As people gather to play the “game”, a murder does take place, but unraveling it is up to the police and Miss Marple.

  • They Do It With Mirrors *****
Fiction, Sixth in the Miss Marple mystery series.  Miss Marple visits an old school friend.  She has been warned that her old friend is in danger, but she has no idea where that trouble is coming from. Carrie Louis and her husband run a foundation to help juvenile delinquent boys, but when her stepson is murdered she can’t believe that any of the boys would be guilty.

  • The Thirteen Problems *****
Fiction.  Thirteen little tales as told by the Tuesday Night Club members.

Evanovich, Janet
  • Twisted Twenty-six *****
Fiction.  Twenty-sixth in the Stephanie Plum cozy mystery series.  Grandma Mazur’s new husband has died, and the mob is looking for keys he was in charge of. They believe Grandma has them but won’t give them up, so they set out to kidnap her and make her talk.

French, Dawn
  • Dear Fatty ****
Non-fiction.  Memoirs told in the fashion of letters to family, friends, celebrities, and strangers.

French, Tana
  • Broken Harbor *****
Fiction.  Fourth in the Dublin Murder Squad mysteries.  Mike draws a case that leads him back to Broken Harbor, a place that holds horror for him and reminds him of his mother’s suicide. But another woman needs him.  The victim of an attempted murder, she lies in the hospital between life and death while the police begin the investigation into a triple homicide in which her entire family has been killed. Mike and his rookie partner, Richie, are led on a convoluted chase toward the man they think is guilty, only to find that madness is involved and tells a different story.

  • The Secret Place *****
Fiction.  Fifth in the Dublin Murder Squad mysteries.  When a young girl approaches Detective Stephen Moran with a photo with a dead boy’s picture on it, it draws him out of Cold Case to work with a Murder detective at a girl’s school.  A boy has been found dead on the grounds, and the police believe one of eight girls is guilty of the murder, only they don’t yet know which of the eight it is.

  • The Trespasser *****
Fiction.  Sixth in the Dublin Murder Squad mysteries.  Detectives Conway and Moran are working the night shift and pull what looks like a domestic quarrel that turned into murder.  What they have no idea of, however, is how close it will hit to home.

  • The Witch Elm *****
Fiction.  Toby leads a normal life with a loving girlfriend and a good job, when his life is turned upside down during a burglary in which he suffers a brain injury.  While in recovery, he learns that his uncle is dying of a brain tumor, and Toby moves into the Ivy House to help out, but it is all but restful.

Gabaldon, Diana
  • Outlander *****
Fiction.  First in the Outlander time-travel series.  Claire travels back in time through some ancient stones and finds herself running for her life as she is chased by both the English and the Scots.  When she is captured and taken to Castle Leoch, her only thought is to get back to the henge so she can return to her own time and to her husband, Frank.  But circumstances intervene, and she finds herself drawn to the young Scot who has taken her under his wing.

Garrett, Danielle
  • Diamonds are a Ghost’s Best Friend ****
Fiction.  Seventh in the Beechwood Harbor Ghost cozy mystery series.  Star and Lucas check out an ideal wedding venue, but when a ghost appears and tries to drive them off, Star can’t help but volunteer to aid the ghost.

  • Ghosts Just Wanna Have Fun ****
Fiction.  Sixth in the Beechwood Harbor Ghost cozy mysteries.  Scarlett and Lucas are on their honeymoon in Hawai’i while a film crew is shooting an episode of a dating reality show next door.  When one of the women is found dead in a pool, Scarlett is forced into solving the case when the ghost contacts her.

Hamilton, M.L.
  • Jaguar *****
Fiction.  Jaguar is home in Sequoia caring for his mom who suffers from Alzheimer’s. When he receives notice from a DNA testing company that Nancy’s daughter is also his daughter, he doesn’t know what to think.  He’s not father material.  But when Nancy dies of cancer, he has to step up to the plate and decide whether his music career is more important than Sophia.

  • The Moon Thief ****
Fiction.  Fist in the Moonlight Trilogy.  A San Franciscan psychiatrist almost dies in a car accident, but when a mysterious man in a black suit asks her if she wants to live, she says, “Yes.” and her life is changed forever. 

Hannah, Kristin
= Firefly Lane *****
Fiction.  Tully and Kate have been best friends for years, but their paths separate after college, Tully heading for the bright lights in broadcast journalism, and Kate heading into marriage and motherhood.  They fight and reunite several times over the years, but when the chips are down, they’re reunited again for one last time.

  • Fly Away *****
Fiction.  Second installment of Firefly Lane.  Kate is gone, but Tully and Marah are lost and desperately trying to find their way back to life.  Dorothy has finally found herself and hopes that Tully will allow her back into her life.  When Tully suffers a car accident, it draws all of them closer together.

Hoffman, Alice
  • Everything My Mother Taught Me *****
Fiction.  Short story about a young girl who loved her father, and whose mother didn’t love her.

O’Neill, Bill
  • The Great Book of Hawaii ***
Non-fiction.  Random trivia of the Hawaiian Islands.

Wang, Wendy
  • Haunting Charlie ****

Fiction.  First in the Palmetto Witch cozy mystery series.  Girls have gone missing, and when Charlie realizes an evil ghost is to blame, she sets out to defeat him.