Books Read - July 2018

Ashley, Mike

The Mammoth Book of Locked Room Mysteries & Impossible Crimes ***

Fiction.  Anthology of locked room mysteries.

Berry, Steve

The Museum of Mysteries *****

Fiction.  Cassiopeia Vitt is on the hunt for a man who stole a priceless Sabbat Box containing vials of liquid hundreds of years old.  When she accidentally inhales the vapors of one of them, she is transported back in time to the days of Arthur and Morgan la Fey.

Best, Morgana

Broom Mates ****

Fiction.  First in the Sea Witch cozy mysteries series set in Australia.  Goldie Bloom loses her boyfriend at the same time she inherits a house on the Gold Coast.  She sees this as a sign and travels to this small town, where she discovers not only is she a witch, but she has a familiar named Persnickle.

Broom with A View ****

Fiction.  Second in the Sea Witch Paranormal Cozy Mystery series.  Goldie is called to the retirement home when her friend Oleander is accuse of murder.  With her trusty familiar at her side, Goldie is able to communicate with the deceased to find out who really did kill her.

Christmas Spirit ****

Fiction.  Prudence is a clairvoyant medium, not a fortuneteller, but she has never seen a corporeal ghost before until this Christmas.  She’s a bit sad at spending Christmas alone until she develops feelings for this deceased police officer who needs her help in solving two murders.

Dizzy Spells ****

Fiction.  Second in the Kitchen Witch paranormal cozy mysteries.  A new self-proclaimed witch has moved into town and set up shop, but it’s Amelia’s house she wants.  When a man dies on Amelia’s front porch, she learns that he is a realtor.  It’s up to Amelia and her friends to connect the dots and find out who killed him and why.

A Ghost of a Chance ****

Fiction.  First in the Witch Woods Funeral Home paranormal cozy mysteries.  Laurel Bay can see and hear ghosts.  When she inherits her father’s funeral home business, her first funeral is interrupted by a dead body in the casket.  On top of the dead body supposed to be there.  The young woman lying on top of the other body appears to Laurel

Miss Spelled ****

Fiction. First in the Kitchen Witch paranormal cozy mysteries.  Amelia loses her boyfriend and her job and her apartment all in the same day.  But she also receives a letter telling her that her aunt has left her a house and a cake shop in her will.  Surprised and bewildered, she travels to the small town and to her new home, where she finds a group of people who were very good friends of her aunt and who become her good friends.  But when a man arrives in her cake shop and dies moments later, she is worried that the town and the police will suspect her.

Witches’ Brew ***

Fiction.  Pepper moves to Lightning Bay to help her aunts run their bed and breakfast.  Unbeknownst to her, there are vampires and witches and werewolves living there.  When Pepper arrives, the body of a dead man falls from the roof right in front of her, and she has to figure out who killed him and why.

Bowen, Rhys

The Tuscan Child *****

Fiction.  Hugo was a British flyer in WWII.  When his plane went down, he was rescued by a lovely Italian woman who kept him hidden in a ruined monastery.  Joanna is a modern young English woman studying to be a lawyer.  When her father dies, she returns to his home to dispense with his belongings.  She finds an old letter written by her father and decides to put her studies on hold to travel to Italy to discover about the father she realizes she never really knew.

Finsilver, Janet

Murder in the Mansion ***

Fiction.  Second in the Redwood Cove cozy mystery series.  Kelly has been hired as the fulltime manager of the B&B, but on her first day back at work, a guest at a nearby B&B has been killed, and Kelly was the one who found her.  While trying to solve that case, Kelly finds herself in dangerous when she draws too near the solution, and she has to fight her way to safety.

Galenorn, Yasmine

Oak and Thorns ****

Fiction.  Second in the Wild Hunt urban fantasy set in Seattle.  The Wild Hunt agency is on a case on Whidbey Island.  A series of murders and missing people has lasted for decades, and Herne, Ember, and the others are investigating the case and find themselves facing off with one of the Ante-Fae.

Geary, Debora

A Hidden Witch ***

Fiction.  Second in the Modern Witch series.  Witchcraft and technology collide in this tale of a group of witches who use a computer game to keep in touch and a woman with no skills who finds out she is one powerful witch.

Gilbert, Victoria

A Murder for the Books *****

Fiction.  First in the Blue Ridge Librarian mysteries.  Amy is a librarian who moves to a small town in Virginia to care for her elderly aunt and manage the local library.  She comes across an old mystery when she stumbles over a dead body, and with the help of her handsome next door neighbor, she sets about trying to solve both cases.

Gimpel, Ann

Tarnished Beginnings ***

Fiction.  Prequel to the Soul Dance shifter series set in Egypt.  Tairin, a young Romani girl, hits puberty and discovers she’s a wolf shifter.  Her mother is killed by the Romani for marrying a shifter, and her father has gone back to his people, leaving Tairin to live on her own.  She escapes the Romani and travels across Cairo, finally choosing to live as a wolf rather than a vulnerable girl.

Harkness, Deborah

The All Souls Real-time Reading Companion ***

Fiction.  Playlists and links to paintings of the All Souls world.

The World of All Souls Compendium *****

Non-fiction.  Writing notes for the All Souls trilogy.

Jaffarian, Sue Ann

Sh*t I’d Kill For ***

Fiction.  Short story about a woman who is solicited by a stranger to kill in order to get things.

Johnson, Erin

Seashells, Spells & Caramels ****

Fiction.  First in the Spells & Caramels paranormal cozy mystery series.  Imogen is having a hard day when she is handed a flyer for a baking contest to be held in France.  Something tells her to take a chance for once in her life and go for it.  When she arrives at the unusual town, she falls in love with it, but the contest is fraught with danger, and she is the prime suspect when one of the contestants is poisoned.

King, Kerry Anne

Whisper Me This ****

Fiction.  A woman returns home when her mother is found unconscious, and her father has slipped into dementia.  While going through the family papers, she discovers an old secret that shatters her to the core.

Locher, Wes

Braving Britannia *****

Non-fiction.  From the beginning of development through the various expansions of Ultima Online, this book tells the stories of behind-the-scenes creation of the game.

Marcum, Diana

The Tenth Island ****

Non-fiction.  Memoir of a journalist’s trips to the Azores.

Milligan, Molly

What the Cat Dragged In ***

Fiction.  First in the Celtic Witch mysteries series.  Bronwen, a hedgewitch, lives with her elderly aunt and a mystical cat.  When her cousin arrives for a visit from America to learn about her own powers, the two of them work to solve a haunting and a mystery.

Wine, Witches and Song ***

Fiction.  First in the Wildham-on-Sea paranormal cozy mysteries.  Jackie finds a body under a pile of stones on the beach and uses her magic to help solve the case.

Omer, Mike

A Killer’s Mind ****

Fiction.  A forensic psychologist consults for the FBI and is sent to Chicago to work on a case of a serial killer, one who possibly has ties to her past.

Phipps, C.A.

Apple Pie and Arsenic

Fiction.  First in the Maple Lane cozy mysteries.  Maddie returns from New York to take care of her ailing grandmother in Oregon.  Her dream is to ope a bakery in New York, but she hasn’t considered opening one in her home town.  Her grandmother talks her into buying an empty shop, and her business is going well.  She even has time to enter a pie in a local contest, but when she finds a dead body, she feels she needs to solve the mystery herself.

Robinson Holly

Sleeping Tigers ****

Fiction.  A teacher on summer break travels to San Francisco to visit a friend and to look for her brother.  She finds him, a drug addict, living in a flophouse with others.  When she finds out he has fathered a baby on a homeless teen, she tries to get him to assume responsibility, but he flees the country, and she follows hoping to bring him home again.

Shaffer, Andrew

Hope Never Dies ****

Fiction.  Obama/Biden mystery.  Biden’s old friend, a conductor on the Amtrak train is run over by one of the trains, and Biden promises the man’s daughter that he’ll try to help find out what happened to her father.  She is convinced he didn’t kill himself, but the police have a different point of view.  Obama comes along for the ride, though his relationship with Biden is a bit tarnished.

Swain, James

The King Tides *****

Fiction.  First in the Lancaster and Daniels mystery series.  Lancaster is hired by a Miami doctor to find out who is targeting his daughter.  When Lancaster finds pornographic videos portraying someone who looks exactly like the girl, he realizes the case involves pedophilia.  He tracks down the girl’s aunt who works for the FBI and realizes the similarities between the two are causing the problem.

Books Read - June 2018

Annino, Barbara

Bloodstone ***

Fiction.  Second in the Stacy Justice paranormal cozy mystery series.  A young woman arrives in town and announces to Stacy that they’re sisters.  Stacy’s mother disappeared after her father died, and Stacy was raised by her grandmother and aunts at their bed and breakfast.  When the young woman is kidnapped, Stacy learns that she is part of a trio of people assigned to protect the Blessed Book, and Stacy must find and protect the girl.

Bury, Scott

The Three-Way ****

Fiction.  Book in the Sydney Rye Kindle Worlds series.  Van Freeman is out to take down another human trafficker, but when he’s caught and beaten, it looks like the end is near.  Robert Maxim and Van’s friend, Earl, are doing the best to extract him, but he might have to rely on the help of two drones to save his life.

The Wife Line ****

Fiction.  Book in the Sidney Rye Kindle Worlds series.  Sydney is working for Elite Forces in Europe when she assigned to find out if an employee of a company has been stealing company funds or has been doing anything else nefariously.  She meets Van, who is tracing a line of human traffickers and whose case is intermingled with Sydney’s.  They travel from country to country to stop these men and to release the women and others who are being held by them.

Carey, Ella

The Things We Don’t Say ***

Fiction.  The love affair between two painters sets the scene for this story.  The man is gay, but he is in love with his female friend, who happens to be married to a man who is cheating on her.  A painting is used for collateral for a student loan, but when an art dealer claims the painting is a forgery, the bank recalls the loan, and the student does her best to prove the painting is real.

Epperson, S.K.

Green Lake *****

Fiction.  Madelaine Heron’s husband committed suicide, and she has left her job as a college professor to spend the summer at her sister’s cabin at Green Lake.  A Native American conservation officer lives in the next cabin, and they strike up a cautious acquaintance.  Crime is rampant at the lake this summer, and Madelaine and Eris have troubles of their own.

Ernst, Kathleen

Old World Murder ****

Fiction.  First in the Chloe Ellefson mystery series.  Chloe has a job as head of collections at Old World Wisconsin, an historic museum.  One her first day, an elderly woman begs her to find an old ale bowl that the woman had donated years ago.  Chloe promises to look for it, but as the woman signed it over to the historical society, she wouldn’t be able to get it back.  One the way home from work Chloe sees the old woman’s car overturned at the side of the road with the woman dead inside.  Her promise guides her actions as she struggles to find the missing item.

Finsilver, Janet

Murder at Redwood Cove ****

Fiction.  First in the Kelly Jackson cozy mystery series.  Kelly’s new assignment is running the B&B in Redwood Cove, because the previous manager fell down a cliff and died.  Whether it was an accident or murder is anyone’s guess, but when things go missing at the inn, Kelly is convinced the two incidents are related.

George, Kate

Moonlighting in Vermont ****

Fiction.  First in the Bree MacGowan cozy mystery series set in Vermont.  Bree works two jobs, as a typesetter at the local paper and as a part time housekeeper at the fancy resort.  When she finds her boss dead, Bree suddenly becomes one of the main suspects, and she has to fight her way to prove her innocence.

Gilbert, Julie C.

Fatal Interest ***

Fiction.  Book in the Sydney Rye Kindle Worlds series.  Sydney has taken a P.I. job posing as a House Mother at a prestigious boarding school to help solve vandalism going on at the school.  A ghost tells her something is wrong and continues to give her messages during the case.  A young girl has been kidnapped, and Sydney and Blue stop the criminals.

Gladden, DelSheree

The Catalyst ****

Fiction.  Book in the Sydney Rye Kindle Worlds series.  Hugh is still suffering over James’ death, but when a friend asks him to sub for her at a cooking school, he’s willing to give it a shot.  He meets a young girl who wants to help her friend find his sister.  Hugh brings Mulberry in to help.

Hamilton, Victoria

A Deadly Grind ****

Fiction.  First in the Victorian Kitchen cozy mystery series.  Jaymie Leighton buys an antique Hoosier cabinet at auction and parks it on her summer porch until she can make room for it in her kitchen.  When she hears noises in the middle of the night, she sees that someone has broken into the porch, upset the cartons of cookware she purchased at the auction, and has left a dead body behind.  The mystery of what is so special about the cabinet evolves, and more dead bodies are found around town.

Harkness, Deborah

The Book of Life *****

Fiction.  Third in the All Souls trilogy.  Diana and Matthew are readying themselves to face Benjamin, and Baldwin selects Diana to represent the de Clermonts at the Congretation.  She must prove to them that the covenant against different creatures mingling should be abolished.  Their twins are proving to be a blend of vampire and witch, and there are still enemies who are coming after them.

A Discovery of Witches *****

Fiction.  First in the All Souls trilogy.  Diana Bishop is a visiting professor at Oxford studying medieval alchemy.  She is also a witch.  Matthew Clairmont is a doctor and scientist also working at Oxford.  He is also a vampire.  Unknown to Diana, she uncovers an ancient manuscript that many are searching for, including Matthew.  Their forbidden relationship leads them far into the past, and right into danger.

Shadow of Night *****

Fiction.  Second in the All Souls trilogy.  Diana and Matthew have time traveled back to 1590 in search of the alchemical manuscript that might or might not describe how the three otherworldly races, witch, vampire, daemon, began.

Harlow, Jennifer

Nemesis ***

Fiction.  In the Sydney Rye Kindle World.  Independence is a town with masked auperheroes who work in and out of the law to bring justice for the innocent.  

Kimelman, Emily

It Takes Two ****

Fiction.  First in the Jet thriller series, book in the Sydney Rye Kindle Worlds series.  Sydney is assigned to protect a Texan oil man and his family while they are on vacation on the Amazon.  Jet is assigned to kill him.  The two women find themselves intrigued with the other, and they end up working together while trying to stay clear of the other killers in the picture.

Kuhn, N.

The Storybook Murders ***

Fiction.  Book in the Sydney Rye Kindle Worlds series.  David is a young detective whose mother was killed by the Storybook Killer.  When he and his partner are assigned a murder, it is another of the Storybook murders, and a freelance author assists in solving the case.

Land Anthony

Idiot’s Tale ****

Fiction.  Prequel to the Nemesis Investigations books.  Morgana has been kidnapped and ended up in the office of John Rainwater, P.I.. She hires him to find out why she was kidnapped, but when her father finds out, he cancels that contract and hires John to keep his daughter safe.  They meet ex-Mossad officer, Roni Miller, who uses them to destroy the plot of international criminals who have planted a nuclear reactor on a ship and docked it in New Orleans.

A Private Affair at the Green Hell Hotel ****

Fiction.  Book in the Sydney Rye Kindle Worlds series.  Morgana and Lorena have fallen in love, though they/re trying to keep it quiet.  Morgana has made a deal with Joyful Justice to occasionally work in tandem on missions.  A Consortium is trying to take over, and they target Robert Maxim’s defunct hotel in Costa Rica where the full council of Joyful will be celebrating the reopening of the hotel.  But Joyful has a surprise waiting for the Consortium that will destroy their plans.

The Shrike ****

Fiction.  Book in the Sydney Rye Kindle Worlds series.  Morgana Trehane is a billionaire who uses her inheritance to set up an international intelligence agency.  Their first case involves a serial killer who is targeting old Russian spies in America.  Morgana carefully gathers a team of experts to begin their investigation.

Maher, Tegan

The Deadly Daiquiri ****

Fiction.  First in the Enchanted Coast Magical Mystery series.  Destiny is a waitress at the tiki bar at a magical resort on the Gulf Coast when she becomes the prime suspect in the murder of her unlikable boss, a fallen angel.  In order to save her own skin, she starts investigating and finds herself becoming enamored of a mysterious werewolf who never seems to tell the whole truth.

Sweet Murder ***

Fiction.  Firs tin the Witches of Keyhole Lake paranormal cozy mystery series.  Noelle lives with her younger sister, a miniature donkey, and an expired aunt.  She works as a waitress serving up BBQ, but when the most hated man in town dies face first into a plate of coleslaw, she becomes one of the prime suspects.

Pawlish, Renee

Walk Softly, Danger ***

Fiction.  Book in the Sydney Rye Kindle Worlds series.  Reed Ferguson is a P.I. in Denver who gets involved in a case of human trafficking that has also drawn Sydney Rye’s attention.  Together they solve the case.

Petterson, Bev 

Strange Behavior ****

Fiction.  Book in the Sydney Rye Kindle Worlds series.  Sydney and Blue are supposed to be on vacation, but it is cut short when a groom at the neighboring horse farm tells Sydney she is in trouble and needs to make sure her horse wins his next race.  But the horse owner has other ideas and sends his goons after the groom.  Sydney manages to stop the criminals with the aid of the track security chief.

Stevens, Dustin 

= Justice ****

Fiction.  Book in the Sydney Rye Kindle Worlds series.  Sydney teams up with Reed, a detective in Franklinton, Ohio to avenge the death of a girl Sydney helped once. 

Welling, ReGina

Spell or High Water ****

Fiction.  An anthology of paranormal cozy mysteries.

Books Read - May 2018

Adams, Ellery 

Murder in the Locked Library ****

Fiction.  Fourth in the Book Retreat cozy mystery series.  Jane receives a postcard from Edwin advising her that one of the Fins is false, but she doesn’t have time to dwell on that when one of her guests is poisoned and dies at her feet.  The spa project has been stalled when a skeleton and an old cookbook are found on the grounds, and she suspects that somehow the two deaths are related.

Murder in the Secret Garden ****

Fiction.  Third in the Book Retreat cozy mystery series set in Virginia.  Jane, the manager of Storyton, is busy raising her twin sons and trying to keep order at the manor.  A group of herbalists descends on the hotel, but when one of them is found dead, Jane and the Fins assist the police i finding the murderer.

Boone, Martina

Bell of Eternity ****

Fiction.  Second in the Celtic Legends romance series.  A castle on a sea mount  off the Cornish coast plays host to an American woman traveling with her best friend who was raised in the castle.

Echo of Glory ****

Fiction.  Third in the Celtic Legends romance series.  An American woman travels with her mother to an island off the southern coast of Ireland to work at an archaeological dig.

Lake of Destiny ****

Fiction.  First in the Celtic Legends romance series.  A small village in the Highlands of Scotland become home to an American woman who arrives to help her aunt with the annual local Beltane celebration.

Magic of Winter ****

Fiction.  Fourth in the Celtic Legends romance series.  Fearing something wrong has happened to her father, a young woman returns to the Highland village she was born and raised in, leery of seeing her ex-fiancé, but hopeful she can figure out what her father has been hiding.

Welcome Home ****

Non-fiction.  History of the British Islands and how they came to be.

Boyles, Amy

Southern Magic ****

Fiction.  First in the Sweet Tea Witches paranormal cozy mystery series.  Pepper arrives in Magnolia Cove to find that she has inherited a shop from her uncle, one that she didn’t know existed.  Neither did she know that she comes from a family of witches but is thrilled when they welcome her with open arms.  Unfortunately for her, a fellow shopkeeper is killed, and Pepper is the main suspect.

Southern Spells ****

Fiction.  Second in the Sweet Tea Witches paranormal cozy mystery series.  Pepper’s grandmother, Betty Craple, receives a hen in the mail that is supposed to lay silver eggs.  Her rival, Melbalean, has bought a hen who lays golden eggs just to spite Betty and win the contest at the fair.  When Melbalean is killed, the only suspect is a chicken, but Pepper and Axel go on the hunt for the real killer.

Charles, Ann

Gone Haunting in Deadwood *****

Fiction.  Ninth in the Deadwood Humorous cozy mystery series.  Cooper demands that Violet help him out with a problem in Slagton.  The residents are different in the supposed ghost town, but something there has turned deadly and is killing them.  Violet, along with Cooper, Harvey, Doc, and Cornelius are armed to the teeth when they descend on the town, and Violet wields a deadly crowbar when she comes up against the first of the killers.

Galenorn, Yasmine

Harvest Song *****

Fiction.  20th in the Otherworld urban fantasy series.  Delilah is dealing with the feeling of loss as her sisters begin their lives in their new homes.  But they’ll all be gathered for the wedding as long as nothing happens to interfere with their plans.

Garrett, Danielle

Once Upon a Hallows Eve  *****

Fiction.  First in the Beechwood Harbor paranormal romance series.  Lacey has been summoned back to the east coast to her father’s court.  He’s determined to marry her off so she can provide an heir for their family, but she’s not interested.  A tournament of eight suitors with the final bout to the death, and he fate will be sealed.

Hart, Andrew 

Lies that Bind Us ****

Fiction.  Jan is a liar.  She doesn’t know why she lies, just that she does.  She’s invited to Crete on a week’s vacation to join some friends she met there five years earlier.  When she arrives, she quickly wonders why she bothered to come.  Her friends are all so successful, and she is a glorified check out girl.  When danger comes to the villa, Jan has to confront herself, her fears, and her lies to save herself.

Jones, John Legget

Catherine: A Hundred Year Love Story ****

Fiction.  Catherine is a young bride whose husband is stationed in France during WWI.  When he is listed as missing, Catherine and her grandfather go on a search to find him and bring him home.  The story doesn’t end until 100 years later.

Kimelman, Emily

Death in the Dark ****

Fiction.  Second in the Sydney Rye thriller series.  Sydney is in Mexico, restless, and out of control and needing to burn off some steam.  When the family she lives next to hears that their daughter has been raped and killed, Sydney takes them to bring the body home.  While there, she meets up with the girl’s friend who leads her to the killers, in this case, the police.  Sydney has her own brand of justice in mind.

The Devil’s Breath *****

Fiction.  Fifth in the Sydney Rye thriller series.  Sydney has been called back to the states to help her brother’s former lover who has been accused of murder.  She tangles with an old enemy who wants her to join FGI, but she doesn’t trust him.  A specialty drug is being used to control men and women, but when Sydney rushes in to help, she becomes a victim herself.

Flock of Wolves *****

Fiction.  Tenth in the Sydney Rye thriller series.  Sydney and Robert are in Syria.  He wants her to return to Miami for medical help, but she refuses.  She wants to find and slay the woman she believes held her as a captive after saving her life.  April, Sydney’s mother, is determined to spread the prophet’s word and returns to the States to begin preaching.  Robert realizes he is in love with Sydney but also knows she loves another.

The Girl with the Gun *****

Fiction.  Eighth in the Sydney Rye thriller series.  Sydney is blackmailed by Declan Doyle and his Homeland Security boss  to help them broker a deal with a female freedom fighter in Iraq.  When Doyle’s boss is killed, Sydney and Blue are kidnapped by said freedom fighters so she can meet The Tigress, who is leading the band of women.  They realize they’re both on the same side and fight to free themselves from the U.S. soldiers  trying to kill them, as well as from the Iraq’s with the same goal.

Insatiable *****

Fiction  Third in the Sydney Rye thriller series.  Sydney is still in Mexico, when she gets an assignment from Global Investigations to locate and return a missing teenager to her wealthy parents.  They think the girl is being helped by her cousin, so Sydney and her co-worker, Blane, travel under the guise of a honeymooning couple to a fancy hotel along the coast to find the girl.  When the girl convinces Sydney that her parents aren’t the people she thinks they are, Sydney decides to help her escape to the Caribbean, only to find that things are still not what she thinks they are.

In Sheep’s Clothing *****

Fiction.  Ninth in the Sydney Rye thriller series.  Sydney has gone missing, and her friends are trying desperately to find her.  The CIA has become involve and is trying to track her down to imprison her, and Robert walks a narrow line playing them on one hand and trying to use them on another.

Inviting Fire *****

Fiction.  Sixth in the Sydney Rye thriller series.  Sydney is at the Costa Rican base for Joyful Justice.  She’s trying to come to grips with the organization even existing, much less joining them.  Still recovering from being dosed with datura, she slowly comes back to herself and wants to prove herself ready for duty.  Merl takes a chance on sending her on a mission, but there is real danger ahead, and she has to leave Blue behind.

Shadow Harvest *****

Fiction.  Seventh in the Sydney Rye thriller series.  Sydney flies to Shanghai to rescue Merl, who went there himself to rescue his old teacher.  Something went wrong, and now Merl is missing.  Sydney and Blue meet up with Lenox’s Shanghai contact to travel to a tai chi center where all communications have gone down.

Strings of Glass *****

Fiction.  Fourth in the Sydney Rye thriller series.  Sydney and dan are in India relaxing, when they’re drawn into a case involving a wealthy sexual predator who preys on both women and children.  When a reporter asks for  their help, Sydney and Dan step in to stop the man.

Mayne, Andrew

Fire in the Sky ***

Fiction.  Second in the Jessica Blackwood thriller series.  Jessica and fellow FBI agent, Natalie, investigate the possible sighting of a UFO.

Morton, Andrew

Meghan: A Hollywood Princess *****

Non-fiction.  The tale of Meghan Markle, an American actress who ends up marrying a prince.

Orenduff, J. Michael

The Pot Thief Who Studied Edward Abbey *****

Fiction.  Eighth in the Pot Thief cozy mystery series set in New Mexico.  Hubie is invited to teach a semester of Anasazi pottery at the local university  When one of his students is found dead, Hubie goes on the hunt for the murderer.

Summers, Natalie

Mountains and Magic

Fiction.  First in the Witches of Pine Lake paranormal cozy mystery series set in Arizona.  Amalie inherits a cottage from a great-aunt she never knew existed and leaves her social work job in Minnesota to move to a small town in Arizona.  Upon reaching her new home, she meets a group of strangers who inform her that she’s a witch.  When a young girl is orphaned under mysterious circumstances, Amalie quickly takes her under her wing and tries to solve the mystery.

Swanson, Cynthia

The Bookseller ****

Fiction.  Kitty, also known as Katharyn, is a bookseller in Denver in the 60’s.  She’s single and lives with a cat.  Her best friend, Freida, is her business partner.  One night Kitty dreams of a man who says he is her husband, and they have three children.  It’s a life that Kitty might have wished she’d had if she wasn’t so happy with her life as it was running her shop.  But the dreams don’t know, and as she gets more and more drawn into her dreamlife, she starts to worry that she won’t be able to wake up into her waking life.