Books Read - August 2019

Barks, Colman

• The Essential Rumi **

Fiction.  Rumi poems.

Bellet, Annie

• Once Upon a Quest ****

Fiction.  Anthology of quest-type fantasies, based on fairytales.

Black, J. Carson

• Cry Wolf ****

Fiction.  Fourth in the Laura Cardinal police series.  A man of lies is found dead in his car, but Laura is having trouble finding her way through his web of lies. 

• The Devil’s Hour ****

Fiction.  Third in the Laura Cardinal police series.  Girls have gone missing, and it’s up to Laura and her team to find out what happened to them.  When bones are found in two locations, she knows there’s a serial killer at large.

Blackwell, Juliet

• Bewitched and Betrothed ****

Fiction.  Tenth in the Witchcraft paranormal cozy mystery series.  Lily and Sailor are moving forward toward their handfasting, but an old enemy of Lily’s has returned.  He now makes his home on Alcatraz Island, and the demon is ready to challenge Lily once again.

Ching, G.P.

• The Soulkeepers ***

Fiction.  First in the Soulkeepers urban fantasy.  A young man finds himself at a loss when his mother disappears and he is forced to move into his uncle’s house in a small town in Illinois.  What he finds is an extraordinary woman living across the street with an even more exotic garden that leads to hidden places.

Colgan, Jenny

• The Bookshop on the Corner ****

Fiction.  Nina has lost her library job, and prospect of getting one at the new office downtown are very slim.  When asked what she’d really like to be doing, she answered that she’d love to own a small bookshop.  Having no funds to rent a space, she comes up with the idea to buy a large van to sell books from.  But the only van she likes is in Scotland, so she makes the move and starts a new career.

Danley, Kate

• Maggie for Hire ***

Fiction.  First in the Maggie MacKay paranormal cozy mystery series.  Maggie lives in two worlds, Earth and the Otherworld.  She learns that the vampires are trying to open portals between the two worlds, so they can take over, and Maggie is the only one who can stop it from happening.

• A Spirited Manor ****

Fiction.  First in the O’Hare House mysteries.  A recent widow moves into a new house hoping to get away from memories of her husband.  But there she finds the house already occupied by a teenage ghost who was murdered.

Dark, Juliet

• The Angel Stone *****

Fiction.  Third in the Fairwick Trilogy.  Callie must travel to the past to help save Fairwick and her college, but she must go through Faerie to get there.  She meets William, who will someday become Liam then Bill, and though they fall in love, they know she loves the man he will become.

• The Demon Lover ****

Fiction.  First in the Fairwick Trilogy.  Callie takes a new job at Fairwick College in upstate New York.  She is fascinated by an old Victorian that used to be owned by Dahlia La-Motte, a Gothic romance writer.  Callie is drawn into Dahlia’s work and also finds that she has a nighttime visitor, one she thinks is only in her imagination, only to find that he is very real.

• The Water Witch *****

Fiction.  Second in the Fairwick Trilogy.  Callie is missing Liam, but she knows she can’t let him back into her life or he’ll suck the life out of her.  Her grandmother summons her to the Grove for an initiation, but when Callie finds out the Grove is planning on closing the gate to Faerie, she is determined to keep it open.

Fowley-Doyle, Moira

• Spellbook of the Lost and Found ****

Fiction.  A mystical tale of seven girls and two boys set in Ireland.  A spellbook is found, and a spell is cast that has repercussions through generations.

Gilbert, Elizabeth

• City of Girls *****

Fiction.  Vivian flunked out of college, struggling to find herself and her path in life.  When her parents ship her off to live with her Aunt Peg in a theatre in New York City, she finds a world like none she has never known about.  This is her story,

Harper, Helen

• Slouch Witch ***

Fiction.  First in the Lazy Girl’s Guide to Magic paranormal cozy mystery series.  Ivy had been kicked out of the Order years ago and worked driving a taxi.  But when she accidentally gets bound to an Order witch to help solve a mystery, she dives right into the job.

Jaffarian, Sue Ann

• Wilde in Love ***

Fiction.  Third in the Winnie Wilde trilogy.  Winnie finds true love in Hawai’i.

MacInerney, Karen

• Scone Cold Dead ****

Fiction.  Twelfth in the Gray Whale Inn cozy mystery series.  Trouble is afoot for the lobstermen, and they suspect an investigator is there to check on them, but when she is found dead, Natalie jumps in to find the killer.

Marple, Mona

• The Ghosts of Mystic Springs ***

Fiction.  First in the Mystic Springs paranormal cozy mystery series.  Connie and her ghostly sister Sage have to solve a murder with the help of their ghostly friends.

• The Secrets of Mystic Springs ****

Fiction.  Second in the Mystic Springs paranormal cozy mystery series.  A journal hides the truth about their town, but someone wants to keep that truth quiet.  Connie, Sage, and the new sheriff are trying to solve a killing, but someone keeps attacking the residents of the town.

May, W.J.

• Rae of Hope ***

Fiction.  Rae is invited to attend a prestigious school in England where only very special student live.  At the age of sixteen, each student receives a tattoo, one that unlocks their special powers.

• Seventh Mark ***

Fiction.  Rouge moves to a new town and meets a girl and her brother who are not quite human.

• Shadow of Doubt ***

Fiction.  A Shadow haunts a college campus and falls in love with a human against the law.

McNeill, Robert

• The Innocent and the Dead ***

Fiction.  First in the DI Jack Knox police drama set in Scotland.  One girl is kidnapped, and another is murdered, and Jack’s team has to solve both cases.

Neal, Toby

• Razor Rocks *****

Fiction.  Thirteenth in the Lei Texeira thriller series.  Lei gets drawn into a piracy and human trafficking case and ends up with her life in danger.

Payne, Melissa

• The Secrets of Lost Stones ****

Fiction.  Jess has lost her son and her will to live.  When she’s kicked out of her apartment, she grabs a few items and takes off in her car heading nowhere.  When it breaks down in a small town, she ends up meeting Lucy, an elderly woman with a special talent for gathering loose ends and tying them together.

Sharp, Anthea

• The First Adventure ****

Fiction.  Prequel to the Feylands cyber fantasy series.   Jennet enters a cyber game only to find it interacts with real life.

• Once Upon a Star ***

Fiction.  Anthology of Sci-Fi stories.

VanBergen, Shannon

• A Family Affair ****

Fiction.  Third in the Glock Grannies cozy mystery series.  A gangland-style murder leads the ladies into a chase to find the killer.

• The Root of All Evil ****

Fiction.  Second in the Glock Grannies cozy mystery series.  Senior men are being killed, and the ladies decide to find out who the murderer is.

• Up in Smoke ***

Fiction.  First in the Glock Grannies cozy mystery series. A group of grannies help stop crime and solve cases in their hometown. 

Whitney, Phyllis A.

• Silversword *****

Fiction.  Caroline was raised by her paternal grandmother after her parents’ death, but after her own divorce, she finds out that her maternal grandmother wants to see her, so Caroline flies to Mau’i to be reunited with her grandmother and her aunt, only to find that her mother is still alive, and the family has been hiding more than one secret for years.

Winter, Justine

• Nature’s Destiny ***

Fiction.  Woman gets bitten by a werewolf, the Alpha of a pack comes searching for her, they fall in love, Evil werewolf attacks but is beaten.

Books Read - July 2019

Anderson, Amorette

• The Case of the Love Spell ***

Fiction.  A private eye gets drawn into a case of murder, but when she is gifted a box of items from the murder victim that contains a book on witchcraft, she starts noticing changes in her life.

Barz, Vivian

• Forgotten Bones ****

Fiction.  A child’s body has been uncovered at the site of a car accident, and when his body leads to the discovery of dozens more, a local sexual predator is suspected.

Berneathy, Sally

• Death by Chocolate ****

Fiction.  First in the Death by Chocolate cozy mystery series.  A woman running from her past is befriended by a chocolatier who helps her with shelter, a job, and the end of a nightmare.

Booth, Stephen

• Black Dog ****

Fiction.  First in the Cooper and Fry mystery series.  A girl has gone missing, and when her body is found there are multiple possible suspects.  Cooper and Fry are determined to solve the mystery.

Charles, Ann

• In Cahoots with the Prickly Pear Posse ****

Fiction.  Sixth in the Jackrabbit Junction cozy mystery series.  Natalie is visiting her cousins in the Winnebago park, while she tries to figure out her relationship with Coop.  Diamond thieves are still after the sisters, and the girls can’t stay out of trouble.

Christian, Claudia Hall

• The Fey *****

Fiction.  First in the Alex the Fey thriller series.  Alex has lost her team and suffers agonizing injuries.  After over 40 surgeries, she is finally able to walk again and goes back into training.  Eleazar is coming after her soon, but he’ll destroy everything she loves before he kills her.

Crowley, Harper

• Pretty in Pink *

Fiction.  First in the Brady Investigation paranormal. Three members of a ghost hunting team find that there are no ghosts in the pink house.

Diede, Kimberly

• Whispering Pines ****

Fiction.  First in the Whispering Pines series.  Renee is raising two teenagers on her own, and when she loses her job, she re-evaluates her life.  She wasn’t happy working in the corporate world but isn’t sure what will make her happy.

Galenorn, Yasmine

• Witching Hour *****

Fiction.  Seventh in the Wild Hunt urban fantasy series and first in the Witching Hour series.  Raven BoneTalker is hired by a woman who believes her house to be haunted, though her live-in boyfriend is not a fan of Raven and resents her interference.  Raven is determined to help the woman, even if it means losing her friendship.

Garrett, Danielle 

• A Royal Witch ****

Fiction.  Eleventh in the Beechwood Harbor paranormal cozy mystery series.  When a princess is placed in the manor as a safe house but then is kidnapped, Holly and her friends set out to find her.

Henry, Angela

• The Company You Keep ****

Fiction.  First in the Kendra Clayton cozy mystery series.  Kendra’s friend is accused of murder, but Kendra believes she is innocent and goes out of her way to prove it.

McGowan, Claire

• What You Did *****

Fiction.  A group of college friends is gathering at Ali’s house for a reunion weekend, but when a woman starts screaming in the middle of the night and accuses Ali’s husband of rape, a lifetime of secrets unravels drawing them all down.

McGurl, Kathleen

• The Forgotten Secret *****

Fiction.  A woman leaves her husband and retires to an Irish farm she has inherited.  The farm has secrets from the past when another young woman falls in love with an Irish Volunteer who is fighting to gain Irreland’s independence.

Patterbee, Kee

• The Death of a Celebrity Chef ***

Fiction.  First in the Hannah Starvling cozy mystery series.  Hannah and her friends travel to a small town where a celebrity chef has died.  In investigating her death, they seek to prove that it was murder.

Pepper, Angela

• Wolves of Wisteria ***

Fiction.  First in the Wisteria Witches City Hall paranormal cozy mystery series.  Zinnia works at City Hall, and when she gets to work she finds out that one of her co-workers has been murdered.  The co-worker has written a tell-all book lightly disguising her co-workers  as characters in the book, and she has told all her secrets there.  Secrets someone is willing to kill for..

Selfman, Sylvia & Leigh

• Eclair Case of Murder ****

Fiction.  Second in the Rosie Kale cozy mystery series.  Rosie volunteers at the local crisis center, when she receives a call from a woman who wants to commit suicide.  By the end of the call Rosie has gotten the woman to promise to call back the next night, but by chance the bakery is catering an anniversary party, and Rosie realizes the woman caller is the woman whose anniversary it is.  But the next day the woman is dead, and everyone is convinced she committed suicide.  Everyone except Rosie.

• Haunt Flashes ****

Fiction.  First in The Ghost paranormal cozy mystery series.  Arden moves into a Hollywood bungalow that happens to be haunted by a man who died in the 40’s.  She is convinced he is evil until the whole story of his love life is played out, and she realizes why he can’t move on.

• Murder by the Book ****

Fiction.  Second in the Izzy Greene cozy mystery series.  Izzy’s friend Flo is to be interviewed for her novel on TV, which is to be followed by the prime spot in the book fair.  But when her spot is taken by a competitor who ends up dead, Izzy realizes her book was full of secrets nobody wants to be let out.

• Murder Over Miami ****

Fiction.  Fourth in the Izzy Greene cozy mystery series.  Izzy travels to Miami to attend the wedding of her college roommate, but when the bride is killed on her way to the ceremony, Izzy becomes the prime suspect.

• Murder She Typed ****

Fiction.  First in the Izzy Greene cozy mystery series.  Izzy belongs to a writing group, and a newcomer, Sondra, joins, looking like she just stepped out of a magazine.  While out hiking, Sondra passes Izzy on the trail, and after a scream, Izzy believes she has been murdered, but without any proof, the police won’t believe her.  She sets out to discover the truth.

• Murder Takes a Holiday ****

Fiction.  Third in the Izzy Greene cozy mystery series.  Izzy is invited to a posh Christmas party, and when the hostess asks for her help in determining if her boyfriend is cheating on her, Izzy is happy to help.  But when someone breaks into her condo, she realizes she, herself, is a target and goes on the offensive.

• Nothing Bundt Murder ****

Fiction.  First in the Rosie Kale cozy mystery series.  Rosie works at a bundt cake bakery, and when she and her boss cater an event and her boss’s rival ends up poisoned, Rosie is determined to prove her boss is innocent.

Strang, Phillip

• Death Unholy ****

Fiction.  First in the DI Tremayne thriller series.  Clare and Tremayne are drawn into a murder case involving an ancient pagan cult and a small village that practices the old ways.

• Murder is a Tricky Business ***

Fiction.  First in the DCI Cook thriller series.  Cook and Ahmed are trying to find a missing woman, but when three people are killed, supposedly because they know a secret she has been keeping and a high-level governmental personality gets involved, they realize they might never learn the answers.

Weiss, Kirsten

• Bound ****

Fiction.  First in the Doyle Witches paranormal cozy mystery series.  The three sisters are grieving the upcoming loss of their beloved aunt, but when Jayce is arrested for murder, Karin is determined to find the real killer.

Books Read - June 2019

Amphlett, Rachel

• Scared to Death *****

Fiction.  First in the Detective Kay Hunter police series.  A girl has been kidnapped, and her parents haven’t called the police hoping to get their daughter back safely.  Their gamble failed, and the girl was dead before they found her.  Kay’s team is brought into find the kidnapper, but another girl goes missing.

Anderson, Catherine

• Silver Thaw *****

Fiction.  First in the Mystic Creek romance series.  Amanda and her daughter are hiding out from her abusive husband.  Jeb happens on them during a snowstorm that makes their home uninhabitable and invites them to take shelter with him. Though Amanda is afraid of him, she has no choice but to stay with him, and as the days wear on, an attraction grows between them.

Bahrami, Beebe

• Cafe Oc: A Nomad’s Tales of Magic, Mystery, and Finding Home in the Dordogne of Southwestern France *****

Non-fiction.  A memoir of an anthropologist/writer who finds home and peace in Sarlat, France.

• Cafe Neandertal: Excavating Our Past in One of Europe’s Most Ancient Places *****

Non-fiction.  A memoir of an archaeological dig in the south of France.

Blair, Rickie

• From Garden to Grave ***

Fiction.  A woman returns home to deal with the affairs of her aunt, who has disappeared and is presumed dead.

Blythe, Bianca

• Murder at the Manor House **

Fiction.  First in the Starving Starlet cozy mystery series.  Cora accompanies her friend, Veronica, to England to stay with Veronica’s new in-laws, the Duke and Duchess of Hawley.  When the Duke is murdered, Cora is determined to find the killer.

Brassett, Pete

• She ***

Fiction.  First in a mystery series set in England.  Munro and his DS solve a crime of a serial killer who dismembers her victims.

Briggs, Patricia

• Moon Called *****

Fiction.  First in the Mercy Thompson urban fantasy series.  Mercy becomes involved in a power struggle between werewolves and rushes to help save a kidnapped girl.

Budewitz, Leslie

• Assault and Pepper ****

Fiction.  First in the Spice Shop cozy mystery series.  Pepper runs her spice shop at the Pike Place Market in Seattle.occasionally giving out cups of tea to the homeless.  One morning she finds one of them dead on her doorstep with a cup of spilt tea at his side.  The police think he’s been poisoned.

Coehlo, Paulo

• The Devil and Miss Prym ****

Fiction.  Set in a small village in southern France, this is the story of whether man is inherently good or inherently evil.

Crater, Theresa

• The Judgment of Osiris ***

Fiction.  Short story in the Power Places series.  An Egyptologist and his wife are leading a tour of the Egyptian temples, when he is poisoned by a rival and experiences a dire vision.

• Under the Stone Paw ****

Fiction.  First in the Power Places series.  Anne learns about her family’s big secret, but she has just two months to get caught up on all the training she’ll need to help the light come back into the world. There are forces all over the world trying to stop this from happening, but a core group of people, the Keepers of the Keys, might possibly have a chance.

Flower, Amanda

• Assaulted Caramel ****

Fiction.  First in the Amish Candy Shop cozy mystery series.  Bailey leaves New York to visit her Amish grandparents in Ohio when she learns that her grandfather is sick.  He’s being pressured to sell his candy shop, but the man who wants to buy him out is murdered in the kitchen, and Bailey becomes the prime suspect.

• Criminally Cocoa ***

Fiction.  Second in the Amish Candy Shop cozy mystery series.  A young Amish girl meets the Big Apple when Bailey takes her on rumspringa.  Bailey has a TV show to shoot, but someone on the set is sabotaging her.

• Lethal Licorice ***

Fiction.  Third in the Amish Candy Shop cozy mystery series.  A candy competition has arrived in town, and Bailey is ready to compete.  But it’s an Amish competition, and one of the other competitors is incensed that Bailey was allowed to enter.  When she is found murdered, Bailey becomes a suspect.

• Premeditated Peppermint ***

Fiction.  Fourth in the Amish Candy Shop cozy mystery series.  The Christmas festival is in town, and Bailey’s ex shows up with a TV crew to shoot an episode of his cooking show in Harvest.  His executive producer makes an impression on Bailey as an outstanding businesswoman, but when she is found strangled and Bailey’s ex becomes a suspect, he begs Bailey to help him.

Galenorn, Yasmine

• The Silver Mist *****

Fiction.  Sixth in the Wild Hunt urban fantasy series.  Ember and the rest of the Wild Hunt travels to the Olympic Peninsula to help a friend and to save another from the Tuathan Brotherhood.

Gray, Lisa

• Thin Air *****

Fiction.  First in the Jessica Shaw thriller series.  Jessica is a private investigator working on a missing persons case that is 25 years old.  She learns that it involves a murder.  Meanwhile, a police detective is investigating a new murder in the same general area.

Griffiths, Elly

• The Crossing Places *****

Fiction.  First in the Ruth Galloway mystery series.  Ruth lives on the edge of the Saltmarsh, an eerie and dangerous place to wander.  When human bones are found, the police ask for her expertise in dating them but find the bones are thousands of years old, not the recent bones of a missing girl.

Higgs, Steve

• Spooky Shopping Mall Case 1 ***

Fiction.  First in the Harper Folly cozy mystery series.  Amanda is a police officer who also works as a private investigator, and her first case takes place at a shopping mall where odd things are happening in elevators.

Jones, Stacy M.

• Harper’s Folly ***

Fiction.  First in the Hattie and Harper Magical cozy mystery series.  Hattie always wanted Harper to come live with her, but Harper is business in New York working on a magazine and her marriage.  But when both come tumbling down, she’s off to visit Hattie in Little Rock.

Kaye, M.M.

• Death in Kashmir ****

Fiction.  First in the Death In... mystery series.  Set in India in 1946, Sarah is enjoying the last days of the Raj by going on a ski trip to Kashmir.  She gets caught up in a spy mystery when her new friend is murdered, and Sarah is left to finish her mission.

Lester, Paula

• Ghostly Trails ***

Fiction.  First in the Sunnyside Retired Witches Community Cozy Mystery series.  Zoey and her frenemy, Hope, are drawn into a case of a poltergeist who kills.

Lourey, Jess

• The Adventure of the First Problem ***

Fiction.  Prequel to the Sophie’s Cypher series.  Sophie and Bel are in the cemetery to decode a cypher on a mausoleum, when Sophie ends up trapped inside with a dead body and an unconscious little girl.

Menuhin, Karen

• Murder at Melrose Court ****

Fiction.  First in the Heathcliff Lennox mystery series.  Lennox’ butler finds a dead man on the manor’s front porch, and all he has on him is a pieces of paper with the Countess’ name on it.  Apparently this wasn’t a murder.  But Lennox goes to spend the holidays at his uncle’s estate, only to find out that his uncle is about to wed said countess.  When she is murdered, Lennox becomes the prime suspect.

Moore, Ann

• Leaving Ireland *****

Fiction.  Second in the Gracelin O’Malley trilogy.  Grace and her daughter, Mary Kate, travel to the New World with the hopes that their troubles are far behind them, but when an evil man discovers that Grace is running from the law, he threatens to tell the police when they arrive.

• ‘Til Morning Light *****

Fiction.  Third in the Gracelin O’Malley trilogy.  Grace and the children are settled in San Francisco, and she is looking forward to marrying captain Reinders.  Unbeknownst to her, her brother Sean is also living in the city, and her one true love is on his way to find her.

Mosse, Kate

• The Taxidermist’s Daughter *****

Fiction.  Connie and her father ply their trade as taxidermists, but secrets from the pass might destroy them.  Connie has lost all memory up until after an accident she had as a child, and her father is pleased she can’t remember the awful night it happened. When men begin disappearing, Connie is swept into the investigation as bits and pieces of her memory slowly come back to her.

Smith-Padgett, Gayle

• Passion for Provence ****

Fiction.  Memoir of a couple’s residence in France.

Stafford, K.P.

• Money, Murder and Mayhem **

Fiction.  Cozy mystery. 

• Mrs. Pickles’ Perilous Parting ***

Fiction.  Cozy mystery set in a theatre.  Jess is trying to keep her theatre going, but when her female star is murdered, she doesn’t know who is responsible.

Stone, Victoria Helen

• False Step ****

Fiction.  Victoria is having an affair with her husband’s best friends, but then her husband had cheated on her at least once too.  She wants a divorce but is afraid of scarring their daughter.  When her husband finds a lost toddler, he’s touted as a hero, but Victoria finds clues that maybe he isn’t as innocent as he claims.

Weldon, Sarah Jane

• Baa’d to the Bone ***

Fiction.  Beau is a young border collie getting ready to work at his new farm.

• Dead on Doughnuts ***

Fiction.  Two young women head off to Austria to work as baristas during their gap year.

Workman, P.D.

• Vegan Baked Alaska ***

Fiction.  First in the Auntie Clem’s Bakery series.  Erin and her friends are on an Alaska cruise but get into trouble when she sees one of the crew throw another man overboard.