Books Read - April 2020

Bradbury, Laura

• My Grape Quebec *****

Non-fiction.  Memoir of Laura’s time attending university in Montreal and Franck moving to Canada to live with her.

Christie, Agatha

• The Big Four *****

Fiction.  Hastings if back in England, and he and Poirot are drawn into a number of cases dealing with the Big Four, a group of international criminals.

• The Murder of Roger Ackroyd *****

Fiction.  Hercule has retired from the detective business and moved to a village in the country, but when he befriends the local GP, Dr. Sheppard, he gets drawn into another case of murder with very surprising results.

• The Murder on the Links ****

Fiction.  Third in the Hercule Poirot series.  Hastings meets a young woman on the train from Paris to Calais, and when he meets up with her again in the midst of a murder investigation, he decides to hide her participation in the murder.

• The Mysterious Affair at Styles ****

Fiction.  First in the Hercule Poirot mystery series.  Hastings is a house guest when the lady of the manor is murdered, and he calls upon his friend Poirot, who happens to be staying nearby, to come solve the case.

• Poirot’s Early Cases *****

Fiction.  Short stories of Hercule Poirot.

• While the Light Lasts ****

Fiction.  Short story in the Poirot series.  A wealthy woman discovers her lost love is still alive and thinks about leaving her husband, but the next day her old love is found dead of a suicide.

Dyer, K.C.

• Finding Fraser ****

Fiction. Emma is an Outlander fan and makes the decision to travel to Scotland in search of her very own Jamie Fraser.  What she finds is her inner Claire.

Gabaldon, Diana

• The Outlandish Companion I *****

Non-fiction. In which Gabaldon explains her writing process, talks about the first four books, and shares her feelings about the TV series.

• The Outlandish Companion II *****

Non-fiction. In which Gabaldon discusses books 5-8 and the Lord John Grey books.

• The Scottish Prisoner *****

Fiction. Novel in the Lord John series.  John finds some papers supporting the theory that Irish Jacobites are still trying to see their king on the throne, and he needs Jamie’s help to stop them.

(w/Tara Bennett)

• The Making of Outlander: The Series Seasons One & Two *****

Non-fiction.  On the process of creating seasons one and two of Outlander.

= The Making of Outlander: The Series Seasons Three & Four *****

Non-fiction.  On the process of creating seasons three and four of Outlander.

Galenorn, Yasmine

• Changeling *****

Fiction.  Third in the Otherworld series.  Delilah is having to face the reality of how their lives have changed, and she takes on additional responsibility by becoming a Death Maiden for the Autumn Lord when Zach asks the girls for their help in saving the Rainier Puma Pride, which is being attacked by werespiders.

• Darkling *****

Fiction.  Menolly has to face her nemesis, her sire, and fight to gain her freedom from him.

• Demon Mistress *****

Fiction.  Seventh in the Otherworld series.  Fae and vampire women are disappearing, and the ladies uncover a demonic cult attempting to bring Shadow Wing to Earthside using their horrendous sacrifices._

• Dragon Wytch *****

Fiction.  Fifth in the Otherworld series.  Camille must keep her word to Smoky and spend time with him in his barrow.  A Rakshasa is in town causing trouble and searching for the third spirit seal. Camille ends up marrying both Smoky and Morio in an attempt to gather their energy to find Trillion, who has gone missing in Otherworld.

• Etched in Silver *****

Fiction.  First in the Otherworld series.  Camille has been assigned to track down Roche for the YIA, but while looking for him, she runs into Trillian, a Svartan warrior, and a strong attraction is held by both of them.  Her sisters also work for the YIA, but their half-human blood causes problems with their innate talents.

• Night Huntress *****

Fiction.  Sixth in the Otherworld urban fantasy series.  Delilah is having relationship problems, and when she finds Chase having sex with his ex-girlfriend, she’s not sure whether she wants to see him again.  Trillion is still missing, but the girls are briefly reunited with their father.  Vanzir is proving that he’s loyal to the women when they go up against his former master.

• The Shadow of Mist *****

Fiction. Novella of Siobhan, a wereseal living in the Puget Sound.  An old enemy, one she’s traveled around the world to escape, has found her and beat up her fiancee. A short story about Maggie, who gets out of her outdoor playpen and finds herself lost and at the hands of a goblin.

• Sun Broken *****

Fiction.  Eleventh in the Wild Hunt series.  Raven Bonetalker has gone missing, and the team heard about Typhon who is opening to gates to flood the world with his dragons. As the team tries to trace Raven’s whereabouts, Herne’s mother and grandfather arrive to help them.

• Witchling *****

Fiction.  Second in the Otherworld series.  Camille and her sisters have moved Earthside and are working for the OIA.  Camille works in a bookshop, Delilah is a private detective, and Menolly works at the Wayfarer, a bar that caters to Subs. When three demons arrive searching for the spirit seals, the women are tasked to find Tam Lin, the keeper of the seal, and return him to Otherworld.

Garrett, Danielle

• Sassy Witch *****

Fiction.  A succubus is loose in Beechwood Harbor, and while Holly is busy running a week of singles’ events, she has to help stop the succubus from killing more men.

MacInerney, Karen

• Anchored Inn ****

Fiction.  Fourteenth in the Gray Whale Inn cozy mystery series.  A wealthy man comes to the island to search for a sunken U-boat. What they find is the skeleton of a missing teenager.  When a man is found dead near the inn and a friend of Natalie’s is arrested for the murder, she is determined to find the real killer.

• Lupine Lies ****

Fiction. Thirteenth in the Gray Whale Inn cozy mystery series.  A ruby ring is rumored to have been buried years ago, and people are once again trying to find it.

Pandian, Gigi

• The Alchemist’s Illusion *****

Fiction.  Fourth in the Accidental Alchemist series.  An art forger is in town, and a local artist has died in mysterious circumstances. Zoe visits his art gallery only to see a picture of someone she knew hundreds of years ago.  The painting calls to her, and she suspects alchemy has a part to play in the mystery.

• Lost Gargoyle of Paris ****

Fiction.  Fifth in the Accidental Alchemist series.  Zoe takes Dorian to Paris to find out if a recently discovered sketch found in Notre Dame after the great fire is an authentic sketch or a fake.  If real, it could mean certain dark alchemists will be after it.

Troy, Alyn 

• Lattes and Spirits ***

Fiction.  First in the Welsh Witch cozy mystery series.  April moves to Wales to run a tea/coffeehouse with her aunt and learns that she comes from a magical community. One of her gifts is seeing and communication with ghosts, and when two of them appear needing her help in solving their murders, she’s ready to help.