Books Read - September 2015

Abbott, Victoria

• The Marsh Madness ****

Fiction.  Fourth in the cozy mystery series set in Harrison Falls, New York.  Mrs. Van Alst is invited to the Summerlea, the Kauffman estate, to look at some first edition Ngaio Marsh books.  Jordan and Kev accompany her to the luncheon, and the deal is made.  The next day, the police show up and accuse them of murdering Chadwick Kauffman.  While they’re trying to stay out of jail, Jordan learns that people are not what they seem, but that doesn’t prevent the police from concentrating on Jordan, Vera, and Kev as the prime suspects.

Allen, Jenny Jo

• Connecting with Crystals ****

Non-fiction.  Information on creating crystal divination sets for divination.

Allende, Isabel

• The House of the Spirits *****

Fiction.  This family saga set in South America is centered around three unique women, Clara, her daughter Blanca, and her granddaughter Alba, and the men in their lives.  In the midst of political unrest, these women are simply trying to keep their families together.

Beaton, M.C.

• The Wizard of Evesham ****

Fiction.  Eighth book in the Agatha Raisin cozy mystery series set in the Cotswolds of England.  Agatha is bored and tired of waiting for James Lacey to return home, so she looks around for any mysteries to solve.  Her hair is showing some grey roots, so she takes herself off to a hairdressing salon in Evesham that she’d heard good things about.  Mr. John’s has a lot of good energy, and Agatha is just relaxing when the owner, John, comes to work on her hair.  He’s handsome and flirty, and before she knows it, she finds herself falling for him.

Bevill, C.L.

• The Flight of the Scarlet Tanager *****

Fiction.  Teddy is on the run for her life, but seeing a young boy fall off a bridge into the ocean makes her forget her own danger, and she leaps off to save him.  Unfortunately, the ensuing news  coverage has film of her face, and the danger she fears hunts her down.  

• The Life and Death of Bayou Billy ***

Fiction.  Bayou Billy was an infamous thief who spent time living in two towns on opposite sides of the Mississippi river.  When he died, a feeding frenzy erupted, as both towns tried desperately to gain access to his remains, in the hope that it would be good for tourism.

• Missile Rats *****

Fiction.  Rick Skeets decides to join the military, and after interviewing several recruiters, he chooses the US Army.  Missiles are what interest him, so off he goes to basic training.  The Army isn’t everything the recruiter told him it  would be, in fact it’s very different.  As his eyes are opened to life in the military, he goes through advanced training, and then more training to become a Nike-Hercules technician.  As bizarre as his life becomes, he still prefers it to going home to live with his ma.

• Shadow People *****

Fiction.  Urban fantasy set in Texas and Oregon.  Penelope Quick is a creeper, a sneak thief, a cat burglar.  She had planned to wait on her friend, Jeremy, to do the creep together, but she needs money quickly in order to pay her blind mother’s quarterly fees at the retirement home, and Jeremy is out of town.  This house isn’t like most houses, it has a reputation of behind haunted.  It’s been known as a murder house since a man who lived there killed his wife, their four children, and even the family dog, before turning the gun on himself.  Penelope doesn’t believe in ghosts, something she reminds herself as she’s emptying the safe in the basement.  Until she hears a sound behind her.

Blackwell, Juliet

- The Paris Key *****

Fiction.  Genevieve is ending her marriage, and her elderly uncle in Paris has just died and left her his locksmith shop.  Genevieve had spent a summer there when she was 14 and recovering from her mother’s death, and to keep her mind occupied and the sorrow at bay, her uncle Dave had taught her how to open and work with locks.  Trying to have a fresh start in her life, she moves to Paris to take over Dave’s shop, and in doing so, learns who she is, and who her mother was.

• Spellcasting in Silk *****

Fiction.  Seventh in the paranormal cozy mystery series set in San Francisco.  Lily Ivory runs a vintage clothing store with a side business of helping the police solve otherworldly situations.  The magical issues in the city is ramping up, and the police need her help in resolving a situation in a local botanica, where the owner has been jailed in relationship to the suicide of a woman.  Lily must also find the owner’s granddaughter, who has gone missing.

Blake, Heather

• Some Like It Witchy *****

Fiction.  Fifth in the Wishcraft paranormal cozy mystery series set in Enchanted Village.  Darcy’s aunt Ve is running for mayor, and the town is arguing whether part of the forest should be razed to build more houses.  The forest, being sacred, is very important  to the Crafters in the village.  Darcy’s current assignment is to help her friend, Calliope, find a house to buy, and Calliope has her heart set on the Tavistock, but she has tough competition, and a bidding war has started.  Raina, the realtor, is late for the showing, so Darcy and Calliope decide to look around by themselves, only to find Raina’s corpse stuffed into a closet.

Galenorn, Yasmine

• Night Shivers *****

Fiction.  Sixth in the Indigo Court series.  Cecily and Grieve face another danger in the form of a giant wolf.  Fenrick sees her as a young and untried queen and hopes to take over her throne.  Cecily is determined to send him back from whence he came.

Greiman, Lois

• Unplugged ****

Fiction.  Second in the Chrissy McMullen cozy series.  Chrissy’s geeky acquaintance has gone missing, and Laney, her best friend, has asked Chrissy to find him.  Much to Chrissy’s chagrin, Laney has fallen for the millionaire geek and is desperate to know why he’s gone missing.  Rivera is brought back into her life when she goes to the police department to missing J.D. as missing, and he knocks her hormones out of kilter once again.

• Unzipped ****

Fiction.  First in the Chrissy McMullen cozy series.  Chrissy is a psychologist with a practice in Los Angeles.  She is treating one of her patients for impotency, when she suddenly finds out in a brutal way that he has been lying to her all along.  Unfortunately for her, the patient dies in her office, and she has to convince  police lieutenant Rivera that she is innocent of the murder.

Lavene, Joyce & Jim

• Be My Banshee *****

Fiction.  First in a new paranormal cozy mystery series set in Norfolk, Virginia.  Sunshine Merryweather owns the Purple Door Detective Agency.  Her lover has been murdered, and she has to solve the case and hire someone to replace him.  When a bean sidhe walks into her office during the interviews, Sunshine isn’t sure what to do with her.  The bean sidhe, Aine of Ulster, is not here to apply for the job, but to hire Sunny to find the last remaining O’Neill of the family she had been guarding for hundreds of years.

LoTempio, T.C.

• Meow If It’s Murder ***

Fiction.  First in a cozy mystery series set in Cruz, California.  Nora Charles has left a crime reporting job in Chicago to take over the family deli.  At first, she thinks she’s left that whole world of crime and mobsters behind her, but as she becomes entangled in trying to solve a murder, her old skills come into play.

Roberts, Anthony H.

• The Beautiful Shore ***

Fiction.  Short story about Jonah, a father who had lost a son and a faith, and how he found them again.

Books Read - August 2015

Bevill, C.L.

• Brownie and the Dame ***

Fiction.  Third in the Bubba cozy series.  Brownie is staying at the Snoddy Mansion for  his spring break, and Janie Gray has joined him for the week.  Brownie has taken on the persona of a gumshoe, and with Janie’s police expertise, the two of them hunt around town looking for a mystery to solve.

• Bubba and the 12 Deadly Days of Christmas ***

Fiction.  Second in the Bubba cozy mystery series set in small-town Texas.  Bubba lives  with his out-of-control mother, Miz Demetrice in Snoddy Mansion.  He has an old basset hound named Precious and is in love with Deputy Willodean Gray.  But Bubba keeps finding himself in trouble with the law, because it seems that everyone in town wants to frame him for murder.

• Bubba and the Missing Woman ***

Fiction.  Third in the Bubba cozy mystery series.  Bubba is frantic with trying to find Deputy Willodean Gray.  They were all set for their first date, when she suddenly disappeared.  Her cruiser was rammed into, and there is blood on the steering wheel, but the deputy is nowhere to be found.  Bubba fears the stalker she had when she lived in Dallas has followed her to Pegramville and kidnapped her.

• Bubba and the Mysterious Murder Note ***

Fiction.  Miz Demetrice is busy organizing the murder mystery festival in town, and Bubba’s been working on his always-ailing truck.  He finds a note in a box of old Chevy parts that says if the note is found, the writer has been murdered.  The sheriff and Big Joe aren’t sure any murder happened, but Bubba feels a strong need to find out for sure.  Butting in might just get him killed.

• Bubba and the Ten Little Loonies *****

Fiction.  Eighth in the Bubba cozy series.  Bubba and Willodean are getting ready for their nuptials, and Miz Demetrice has hired a wedding planner from New York to make all the arrangements.  Bubba, as a typical groom-to-be, is having a hard time concentrating on all the details and at first ignores his friend David when he warns that there are have been two murders at the mental hospital on the hill.  When Bubba finally visits David, people start disappearing, and Bubba realizes that David’s fears just might be true.

• Bubba and the Zigzaggery Zombies ****

Fiction.  Seventh in the Bubba cozy series.  A film crew  is in town filming a zombie movie, and the prevail upon Bubba to play Zombie#14/Farmboy.  He is trying desperately to find a way to ask Willodean to be his wife, but things keep getting in the way.  Mostly zombies.  Usually there are dead bodies before zombies, but in this case, there is a dead body that came after the zombies.  Miz Demetrice, Miz Adelia, and Willodean are busy doing something very mysterious and probably illegal, and it brings DEA agents down on Bubba’s head.

• The Ransom of Brownie ****

Fiction.  Sixth in the Bubba cozy series.  Brownie is once again staying at Snoddy Mansion.  His mother is about to give birth, and his father thinks it best that Brownie stay away for a few months.  Bubba and Miz Demetrice are about at their wit’s end with Brownie’s capers, but they’re quite surprised when they find a ransom note on their  front porch.  Brownie has been kidnapped, but the kidnappers will soon regret their decision.

Blake, Lilliana & P. Seymour

Single Wide Female Bucket List ****

• Learn Pole Dancing
• Start a Blog
• Learn to Cook
• Create a Masterpiece
• Run a Marathon
• Go Skinny Dipping
• Start Online Dating
• Learn Yoga
• Be a Mentor
• Crash a Wedding
• Be a Movie Extra
• Join a Writing Group
• Enjoy a Spa Day 
• Donate Blood
• Learn Poker 
• Get a Tattoo
• Host a Dinner Party
• Publish a Book
• Walk Across Hot Coals 
• Learn to Swim 
• Learn to Meditate
• Quit my Job 
• Learn to Salsa 
• Fall in Love 

Fiction.  24 novellas about the life of Sammy, an overweight single woman challenging herself to do the items on her bucket list and hopefully find out who she really is.

• My Valentine’s Day 
• St. Paddy’s Day Disaster 
• A Bunny’s Tale

Fiction. More in the life of Sammy, the SWF.

• Becoming Zara ***

Fiction.  Books written by Sammy of SWF fame.  Zara decides to quit her job to begin working as a life coach.

Brennert, Alan

• Moloka’i *****

Fiction.  Young Rachel Kalama is taken from her family and sent to the Kaluapapa colony on Moloka’i, where patients with Hansen’s disease are isolated.  Scared and unsure whether she’ll ever see her family again, she tries to fit in with the other girls at the convent compound, where she will live until she reaches adulthood.  Life there is hard, but Rachel manages to create her own ‘ohana, with whom she finds love and kindness that will see her through the hard times.

Charles, Ann

• Meanwhile, Back in Deadwood ****

Fiction.  Sixth book in the paranormal cozy mystery series set in Deadwood, SD.  Violet Parker is just trying to raise her precocious twins, keep her job at Calamity Jane Realty, and spend time with her boyfriend, Doc.  However, her twins are not speaking to  her, her rotten co-worker at the office keeps trying to block her from making sales, and her past is keeping her from hoping for two much out of her relationship with the man in her life.  Add to that her newly discovered family “gift” of being an Executioner to beings from beyond the earthly plain who are determined to destroy her.

Copeland, Cyrus

• Off the Radar *****

Non-fiction.  In 1979, 66 hostages were taken when the U.S. Embassy in Tehran was captured by a group of angry Iranian students.  While the world was focussed on the hostage situation and the growing troubles in Iran, an American man was arrested on charges that he was a CIA agent and had been stealing radar parts from the Iranian Air Force and sending them back to the U.S., from where they’d originated.  His story is this story as written by his son, a half-American, half-Iranian boy who grew up during those troubling and turbulent times.

Grafton, Sue

• X *****

Fiction.  Kinsey Millhone is a PI living Santa Teresa, California.  She is hired by a woman looking for the son she put up for adoption.  He’s just been released from prison, and Kinsey quickly finds him and sends off her report.  Henry, Kinsey’s landlord, introduces her to their elderly new neighbor, Edna, who lives with her wheel chair-bound husband, Joseph. Henry is more than willing to help Edna out with running errands, but Kinsey is reluctant to be drawn into what could be a troublesome relationship, but she is quite surprised to find that the friendly couple aren’t quite who they say they are.

Hockensmith, Steve & Lisa Falco

• The White Magic Five and Dime ***

Fiction.  First in the Tarot Mystery cozy series.  Alanis doesn’t even know her real name.  Growing up the daughter of a con artist, she’s has many names over the years.  Twenty years after she sent her mother to jail, Alanis is informed by a lawyer that her mother has died and left her The White Magic Five and Dime, a tarot shop where her mother made a living conning people as a tarot reader.  When Alanis arries in town, she learns that her mother didn’t die of natural causes but was murdered.  She promised her mother justice.

Silko, Leslie Marmon

• Ceremony ***

Fiction.  Mystical story about a Native American WWII vet returning to the reservation with PTSD.  He struggles to rid himself of his demons by taking part in native healing ceremonies.

Ware, Ruth

• In a Dark, Dark Wood ****

Fiction.  Nora receives an invitation to a hen party weekend to be held at a house in the middle of the woods.  The “hen” in question, is someone she hasn’t spoken to in ten years, and she isn’t sure she wants to accept the invitation, after all, she hasn’t been invited to the actual wedding.  Six people gather to drink and play games, and one night a game goes too far, and a shotgun goes off.

Books Read - July 2015

Arthur, Ruth M.

• A Candle in Her Room ****

Fiction.  Melissa Mansell and her family inherit an old house in Wales.  Melissa’s youngest sister finds an old wooden doll that has ties to witchcraft, and it causes no end of trouble in their family. 

Ash, Maureen

• Murder for Christ’s Mass *****

Fiction.  Fourth in the medieval mystery series set in England and starring Bascot de Marins.  Just a few days before Christmas, a body is discovered at the bottom of a quarry, but it is no accident.  The man had been stabbed in the chest before being rolled into the quarry, and only a single silver penny has been left at the site.  A few days later, and another body is found.  Bascot must find out if the two murders are related and who the killer is.

• A Plague of Poison ****

Fiction.  Third in the Middle Ages mystery series starring Bascot de Marins, a Templar Knight.  Bascot and his ward, Gianni, are waiting at Lincoln Castle for the sheriff to return, when a series of poisonings occur, and Bascot must work with the castellan Nicolaa de la Haye to solve the cases before more people are killed.

Blake, Deborah

• Everyday Witch A to Z ****

Non-fiction.  Trivia style book full of great information interspersed with witchy humor.

• Everyday Witchcraft *****

Non-fiction.  Sequel to The Goddess Is In The Details.  How to bring our spiritual life into our mundane life.

• The Goddess Is In The Details *****

Non-fiction.  Incorporating our religion into our daily lives, an advanced look at the Everyday Witch.

• Wickedly Dangerous *****

Fiction.  Second in the Baba Yaga series.  Barbara Yager, one of the Baba Yagas working in the U.S., has been summoned to the small town of Dunhill, where children have gone missing.  She, along with the Riders, Chudo-Yudo, and the local sheriff band together to find the children and to punish those responsible.

• Wickedly Magical *****

Fiction.  First in the Baba Yaga urban fantasy series.  Baba Yaga Barbara is approached by a man seeking her help in retrieving his two young daughters from a conman his wife has taken up with.  Using her magical powers, Barbara manages to obtain the magical amulet the conman has been using for his own gain.

• Wickedly Wonderful *****

Fiction.  Third in the Baba Yaga urban fantasy series.  Baba Yaga Beka looks like a  typical, and gorgeous, California surfer girl.  She lives in a converted school bus with her Chudo-Yudo, a very large Newfoundland.  Beka’s still very new to being a Baba, and she has doubts about her abilities to do the job well.  Her first big job comes when the Queen of the Mer people and the King of Selkies petition her to find out what is making their people so ill.  She requests the help of a cranky former Marine whose father owns a fishing boat to take her out onto the ocean so she can dive down and see what has been poisoning the oceanfolk.

• Witch Ever Way You Can ****

Fiction.  First in the Star Stone series.  Deirdre is a Witch and a writer who lives in upstate New York in a 100-year-old farm house with five cats (rather like the author).  She received a call from a billionaire to help him by performing some magick, and he offers her a lot of money to do it.  As long as it doesn’t interfere with another’s will or harms anyone, she is willing to consider it.  As an extra bonus, the billionaire Stephen Tyler, has arranged for her to have a dinner date with her heartthrob actor Rob.  After the date, they meet up with Tyler in his hotel suite, and he produces a sealed box.  He wants Dee to open it, and the adventure begins.

• Witch Upon a Star ***

Fiction.  Novella from the Star Stone series.  Rob Addison, Deirdre’s boyfriend, asks her to help him solve the problem with a  blighted area of the Louisiana wetlands.  She tries, unsuccessfully, to use regular magick on it, but it’s not until she uses the Star Stone that the land is healed.

Camfield, Thomas W.

• Port Townsend: An Illustrated History of Shanghaiing, Shipwrecks, Soiled Doves and Sundry Souls *****

Non-fiction.  An history of the Victorian seaport of Port Townsend, located on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington.

Collins, Suzanne

• Catching Fire *****

Fiction.  Second in the Hunger Games trilogy.  Katniss and Peeta are home in District 12, but they are having trouble dealing with the relationship that they were forced into during the Hunger Games.  Katniss still has feelings for Gale, and Peeta is convinced that he’s lost her.  As they take their Victory Tour around the districts, strange things begin happening.  Unrest begins, and Katniss still has to deal with the President’s hatred toward her.  Her fears that he will attack come true when history repeats itself, and Katniss and Peeta must once again fight for their lives.

• Hunger Games *****

Fiction.  First in a dystopian trilogy.  Every year a boy and a girl are chosen from each of twelve districts to participate in the Hunger Games, a brutal test of survival and killing skills.  When Katniss’s young sister is chosen for District 12, Katniss quickly volunteers to take her place.  The baker’s son, Peeta, is chosen as the male participant for their district, and Katniss fears the time she might have to kill him to save her own life.

• Mockingjay *****

Fiction.  Third in the Hunger Games trilogy.  Katniss and her family and friends have escaped to District 13, formerly believed to have been annihilated, but the survivors have simply moved underground.  Katniss is still in danger from President Snow who wishes to destroy her and the symbol she is to the rebels.  Though unwilling at first, Katniss finally becomes the Mockingjay who will lead the rebels in their fight to freedom.

Dedman, Bill

• Empty Mansions *****

Non-fiction.  Biography of copper mining heiress Huguette Clark who lived a reclusive life for most of her 105 years.

Dugan, Ellen

• Secret of the Rose **

Fiction.  Second in the Legacy of Magick series starring Autumn, a woman who recently discovered that she has magickal powers.  She lives with her aunt and cousins while she attends graduate school and is having a romance with Duncan, a member of another magickal family in a town full of magickal families.  Upon finding an album that contains her family tree, she learns that she has a half-brother and is determined to find him.  The family is also seeking pages of the Blood Rose Grimoire, a book that was torn into four parts with the hope that it would never be put back together again.

Dugan, Ellen & Tess Whitehurst

• Every Witch Way ***

Non-fiction.  Two very different witches’ opinions on different topics in their spiritual path.

Evanovich, Janet

• Wicked Charms ****

Fiction.  Third in the humorous paranormal cozy mystery series starring Lizzy and Diesel.  Diesel is in Lizzy’s life to recover eight special stones.  They have two, and Diesel’s evil cousin has one of them.  This time they’re searching for the Avaritia Stone, the stone of avarice.  They aren’t the only ones searching.  Diesel’s cousin, Wulf, wants it, as do a Trump-like businessman and a history professor.  It’s a search for treasure.

Galenorn, Yasmine

• Flight from Death *****

Fiction.  Book two in the urban fantasy series set in Seattle and starring Shimmer, a blue dragon, and Alex, her vampire boss.  An old friend of Alex’s contacts him to help rid his B&B of ghosts.  Shimmer is excited to visit the Victorian seaport of Port Townsend, and after some twists and turns, they arrive at the High Tide Inn along with their werewolf co-worker, Ralph.  Patrick invites them into the inn, and right away they feel negative energy surrounding them.  Energy that comes from something much more dangerous than ghosts.

Graham, Heather

• Ghost Memories ****

Fiction.  Novella prequel to the Bone Island Trilogy set in Key West.  Bartholomew was a privateer who fell in love with the beautiful Victoria.  She returned his love, and they planned to spend the rest of their lives together, once Victoria convinced her father that Bartholomew was a worthy man.  Their relationship was doomed from the beginning, and Bartholomew was hanged for her death, though he was innocent of the crime.  

• Ghost Moon ****

Fiction.  Final book in the Bone Island Trilogy.  Cutter Merlin dies alone in his house full of oddities.  Liam has the task of calling Cutter’s granddaughter to let her know of his passing.  When Kelsey hears the news, she berates herself for not fulfilling her promise to Cutter to return home from California, but she finally does fly home to bury Cutter and to put his house in order.  Cutter had a reputation of being a Satanist, one who practices the dark arts, and as such there are many rumors flying around town after his death.  When Kelsey arrives home, something is amiss in the house.  Something unseen.  Something that wants her.

Hamilton, Laurell K.

• Divine Misdemeanors ***

Fiction.  8th in the Merry Gentry urban fantasy series.  Merry is a faerie princess who has left behind fairyland and lives in Los Angeles with her retinue of male and female guards and lovers.  She’s pregnant now, by six men, and is carrying two children.  Her friend, police detective Lucy, calls her in to help investigate the deaths of some demi-fey who are staged in scenes from children’s stories.  As deaths continue to happen, Merry and her followers need to figure out who the serial-killers are, before they lose one of their own.

Jackson, Melanie

• Moving Violation ***

Fiction.  First in the Chloe Boston cozy series.  Chloe is a tiny meter maid with big aspirations.  She wants to be a detective, but no one will take her seriously, and she really needs to make a good  impression on the new Chief of Police.  She’s not off to a good start, but when her partner goes missing, she decides to undertake the investigation of his disappearance on her own.

• Mysterious Island *****

Fiction.  Fifth in the Wendover mystery series.  The storms around the islands are getting worse and worse and seem to have a supernatural effect to them.  Tess is woken by someone pounding on her front door, but it’s not a normal knocking.  It has a very regular beat and is pounding so hard she fears the door might crack.  Is it friend or foe?

• On Deadly Tides ***

Fiction.  Third in the Wendover mystery series.   A body washes up on Little Goose island who bears a striking resemblance to Kelvin Wendover, Tess’s great-grandfather, who died and was buried six months previously.  When Kelvin’s casket is opened and no body is found, Tess determines to figure out what is going on.

• Pieces of Hate ***

Fiction.  Fourth in the Wendover mystery series.  A storm rages outside waking Tess, and when she crosses to the window, she sees a strange green glow coming from the beach.  Knowing she has to see what it is, she hurries down to the beach and finds a small wooden chest covered with barnacles on the sand.  Another curse is connected to the Wendover family, this one is related to a pirate ancestor of her.  Deaths will continue to happen unless she can resolve the curse.

• The Secret Staircase ****

Fiction.  First in the Wendover mystery series.  Tess’s great-grandfather whom she never knew has left her the Wendover house  on a remote island off the Maine coast.  She’s the last of her family, and since her grandmother had run away from the island when she got married and never spoke of the Wendover family, Tess grew up knowing nothing about them.  When she arrives on Little Goose island, she’s surprised to find herself enchanted by the quirky house with no electricity, but she’s not alone in the house, and she soon finds herself surrounded by mystery.

• Twelfth Night ***

Fiction.  Second in the Wendover mystery series.  Tess and her friends are gathered at the house during a storm.  They’re telling supposedly true ghost stories, experiences that they’ve had.  Tess has engineered this party in order to tell the story of her ancestor, Hannah Wendover, who was executed for being a witch.  Hannah’s ghost has been haunting her for awhile, and Tess wants to set her to rest.

Lee, Harper

• Go Set A Watchman **

Fiction.  Prequel to To Kill A Mockingbird.  Scout is now an adult living in New York City.  She returns home to Maycomb for her annual visit with her father, and what she finds there shakes her world.  Life there is nothing like she remembers from her youth, the town is being poisoned by racial prejudice, and she is disillusioned by her father.

Orenduff, J. Michael

• The Pot Thief Who Studied Ptolemy ****

Fiction.  Second in the Pot Thief cozy mystery series.  Hubie is commonly called a “pot thief”, because he digs up ancient pottery in the desert of New Mexico, but he is very observant of cultural feelings and only digs on public property, never on a reservation or on private property.  These pots he sells for a great deal of money, but he also copies the originals and sells the copies for a reduced rate, though still for quite a bit of money.  A former professor of anthropology at the university contacts Hubie to locate 18 pots that he suspects were stolen by the head of the department.  When said head of the department is found dead, Hubie is the number one suspect.

Books Read - June 2015

Archer, Connie

• Ladle to the Grave ****

Fiction.  Fourth in the cozy mystery series set in Snowflake, Vermont.  Lucky’s best friend, Sophie, is about to marry Sage, the wonderful chef at the Spoonful, and she wants them to move into her mother’s cabin after the marriage.  While Sophie and Lucky are checking on the cabin, they find a mangled body in the creek on the property.  Sophie is shocked when she’s told that the body might be that of her long lost brother, and the property might be the reason he was killed.

• A Roux of Revenge ****

Fiction.  Third in a cozy mystery series set in Snowflake, Vermont.  Lucky Jamieson and her grandfather own By the Spoonful, a soup restaurant in the small town.  It’s time for the Harvest Festival, and Lucky is planning a big holiday event.  Nate, the local chief of police, has been called out to investigate a car crash, and to his surprise, he finds the cause of death wasn’t the accident but a bullet hole.

Arlington, Lucy

• Played by the Book ****

Fiction.  Fourth in a cozy mystery series set in Inspiration Valley, a lovely little town where many of the shops and restaurants have literary-based names, including the Novel Idea literary agency where Lila Wilkins works.  She lives in a lovely cottage with her son, Trey, a college student who works at Lila’s favorite coffee house during the summers.  He also helps out at home, and when Lila asks several of his friends and him to do a little work on the garden, he willingly picks up a spade...only to dig up a skull under her hedgerows.

Chambers, Anne

• Pirate Queen of Ireland ****

Fiction.  Story of Granuaile, Grace O’Malley, pirate queen of Ireland.

Charles, Ann

• Boot Points ****

Fiction.  A short story from her Deadwood cozy mystery series and several other un-related tales.

• The Great Jackalope Stampede *****

Fiction.  Third in the humorous cozy mystery series set in Jackalope Junction, Arizona.  Claire’s two sisters and her mother have joined the crew at the RV park, and tempers are flying high all around.  Ronnie finds out that a gold pocketwatch from the 17th century is hidden in Ruby’s safe, thanks to Ruby’s former husband, black market thief extraordinaire.  When she investigates it at the library, she finds that it was stolen from a German castle, and knowing that the thief’s partners are sniffing around for anything he left behind, Ronnie has to find a place to keep it even safer.

• Seeing Trouble ****

Fiction.  A short story from her Deadwood cozy mystery series and another un-related tale.

Dams, Jeanne M.

• The Gentle Art of Murder *****

Fiction.  16th in the Dorothy Martin cozy series set in England.  Dorothy, an ex-pat American who has lived in England since her first husband died, is now married to a former chief constable.  They join a young friend to tour a nearby art school, and while they are in the studio building, they stumble over a body who suffered several attempts at murder.

Dugan, Ellen

• Natural Psychic *****

Non-fiction.  Discussion on the different psychic skills, how they can be enhanced, and how to protect against psychic attack.

Fluke, Joanne

• Double Fudge Brownie Murder ***

Fiction.  22nd in the cozy mystery series set in Lake Eden, Minnesota.  Hannah leaves the running of her cookie shop in the hands of her partner, as she and her sisters fly to Vegas for their mother’s wedding.  When the groom’s man appears, Hannah is surprised to see an old college friend, and they kindle a romance.  When she returns home, she has to face a trial for homicidal manslaughter after she accidentally killed a man with her Cookie Truck.  When they arrive at the courthouse, she finds the judge dead on the floor.

Golden, Karen

• The Cats That Chased the Storm ****

Fiction.  Second in the cozy mystery starring Katz and her four felines.  Since moving into her great-aunt’s pink mansion, strange things are happening in the house.  Footsteps can be heard, loud crashing sounds in different rooms, and some rooms the cats absolutely won’t enter.  During a tornado warning, Katz runs down to the basement to take shelter as the storm batters the house.  Something hits her on the back of the head, and when she recovers, she realizes that a brick wall has tumbled down.  When she looks into the wall, she finds a skull.

• The Cats That Told a Fortune ****

Fiction.  Third in a cozy mystery series starring Katz, inheritor of her great-aunt’s vast fortune including a pink Queen Anne mansion.  And a cat.  Katz begins teaching her first class of computer students at the mansion, but one of them is very disruptive and is removed from the course.  Unfortunately for Katz, the woman is a member of the local crime family, one who doesn’t take well to being snubbed.

Landis, Jill Marie

• Three to Get Lei’d ***

Fiction.  Third in the cozy mystery series set on Kaua’i.  Em and her uncle run the Tiki Goddess, a bar on the North Shore, frequented by locals and tourists alike.  Em is having a hard time dealing with the television crew filming a reality show based at the bar, but she knows that it’s great for business and that her uncle is really enjoying the celebrity.  When one of the camera men is found dead in the kitchen with the chef’s special sashimi knife sticking out of his chest, suspicious falls on the chef, and Em is worried, because she’d seen the chef hurrying away from the bar right before the body was found.

• Too Hot Four Hula ****

Fiction.  Fourth in the cozy mystery series set in Hawai’i.  Louie, Em and the Hula Maidens are headed to Waikiki for the Western Regional Shake Off contest, where Louie’s cocktails are sure to be a hit.  Upon arrival though, Louie’s famous Booze Bible is missing.  Em has her hands full meeting up with her ex-husband who wants to introduce her to his new fiancee.  The next day, Em is told that her ex-husband has been murdered.  Luckily, Roland has arrived from Kaua’i to  help her solve the mystery.

Laxalt, Robert

• The Land of My Fathers *****

Non-fiction.  Memoir of the author who was raised in a Basque sheepherding family in Nevada, who returns to Pays Basque in France to live for two years in the land of his parents.  His remembrances and story of the Basque people and how they live.

Morrison, Toni

• Beloved *****

Fiction.  The story of three women and a man who come out of the period of the end of slavery and on to life afterwards.  Babies killed to save them from the harsh life of slavery, a mother’s madness, and a young girl who lives with a ghost.

Myers, Tim

• Death Waxed Over ***

Fiction.  Third in the cozy mystery series set in a candle shop in North Carolina.  Harrison is determined to set up a stall at the local fair, even though Eve is against the idea.  He figures it will bring new customers to his shop.  When he arrives, he comes face to face with his rival, Gretal Barnett, who has opened a new candle shop in Micah’s Ridge.  They have heated words in front of a group of fair-goers, then each goes on their way.  Later, as Harrison is walking back to his stall after grabbing a quick breakfast, he passes Gretel’s booth.  As he glances at her, a bullet shatters through her chest, and she falls to the ground dead.  Immediately, a woman in the crowd starts yelling that she saw Harrison shoot her, and Harrison begins the quest to prove his innocence.

• A Flicker of Doubt ***

Fiction.  Fourth book in the cozy mystery series surrounding a candle shop, At Wick’s End.  Harrison is enjoying a kayak trip down the Gunpowder River, when he suddenly bumps up against what he thinks is a submerged log.  Curiosity changes to horror when he realizes it is the body of his ex-girlfriend.  The sheriff thinks she committed suicide, but Harrison is convinced her death is something more sinister.

• Snuffed Out ***

Fiction.  Second in the cozy mystery series set in Micah’s Ridge, North Carolina.  Harrison Black own At Wick’s End, a candle shop in the River’s Edge shopping complex, which he also inherited from his great-aunt.  As landlord, he has to deal with the various tenants, some of whom are quite eccentric.  While trying to discover why the electricity has gone out after hours in the building, he finds that the door to one of the shops is unlocked.  Entering the shop, he sees the lifeless body of the pottery shop owner on the floor.  He assumes it was an accident, but is surprised when the chief of police reports that it is a case of homicide.

• Waxing Moon *

Fiction.  Short story in the Candle Shop mystery world.  Harrison is helping Millie by serving food at a rehearsal dinner for a young couple getting married.  Millie pulls Harrison aside to tell him that her lockbox has been emptied, and she has lost all her money.  Harrison puts on his thinking cap and tracks down the culprit.

Neal, Toby

• Black Jasmine *****

Fiction.  Third in the Lei Crime series set on Maui.  Lei and Stevens have transferred to Maui with Stevens receiving a promotion to detective sergeant.  He and Lei are working out of different offices, though some of their cases are connected.  Lei and her old partner, Pono, who has been promoted to detective and also transferred to Maui, are called out to investigate a possible suicide.  The body of a young woman is found in a car at the bottom of a cliff.  Lei is not convinced this is a suicide, and indeed, this is just the tip of the iceberg.

• Blood Orchid *****

Fiction.  First in the Lei Crime mystery series set on the Big Island.  Lei Texeira is a police officer with the Hilo Police Department and is hoping to move up to detective.  When she finds two girls naked and dead in the water, she petitions with the lead detective, Michael Stevens, to be on his team.  As they investigate the case, they begin believing that the culprit is a serial rapist and killer.  Lei becomes nervous when she begins receiving threatening notes in the mail and is being followed by someone driving a dark Toyota pickup, which is the type of car the police believe belongs to the killer.

• Broken Ferns *****

Fiction.  Fourth in the Lei Crime mystery series.  Lei has graduated from the FBI academy and is a probationary agent on O’ahu.  As she begins to work her first real case, she finds out that her ex-boyfriend/fiance, Stevens, has married a woman that he and Lei had saved from a sex-trade ring.  Lei is devastated, though she hasn’t tried to contact Stevens since she left for the academy a year earlier.  This case brings her back into Stevens orbit when the FBI flies to Mau’i  to trace a young culprit who acts like Robin Hood, stealing from the poor and giving to the needy.

• Torch Ginger *****

Fiction.  Second in the Lei Crime mystery series.  After panicking at the thought of marrying Michael Stevens, Lei breaks up with him and transfers to Kaua’i, gaining a promotion to detective along the way.  She’s heartbroken, but the thought of commitment terrifies her, so she tries to move on with her life.  She discovers that quite a few transient people around the North Shore have gone missing, and after a flood, she finds a sawed-off hand bobbing in the water.  During her investigation, she meets up with a kahu kupule, a Hawaiian spiritual leader, and is introduced to her son, a very handsome developer named Alika.  Her growing feelings for Alika are clashing with the feelings she still has for Stevens, and the situation is even more complicated when Stevens arrives to help out on the case.

Roberts, Nora

• Heart of the Sea ****

Fiction.  Final book in the Gallagher’s of Ardmore trilogy.  Trevor Stiles, a wealthy Irish-American developer has arrived  in Ardmore to oversee the building of his theatre, which will connect to the Gallagher’s pub.  Failed once in love, he has no intention of setting himself up for failure again.  Darcy Gallagher, local beauty with an angel’s voice, believes only fame and riches will give her what she wants.  When the two of them meet, it’s as if a raging storm clashes the two together, and only if they go against their intentions will an ancient curse finally be broken.

Stowe, Harriet Beecher

• Uncle Tom’s Cabin *****

Fiction.  A story about slavery and some very memorable people, both slaves and slaveowners, and the movement toward abolition.