Reviews

Molly MacRae: Come Shell or High Water

by

Series Debut – Haunted Shell Shop #1

Molly MacRae launches her new haunted shell shop mystery series with Come Shell or High Water. Newly widowed Maureen Nash heads to Ocracoke Island to follow up on some rather odd letters from the shell shop owner. Maureen is a Malacologist and teller of stories and legends. Malacologist is the term for someone who studies mollusks, an interesting factoid I enjoyed learning. One might think that Maureen of the mollusks could have picked a better time to visit the island than right in the middle of hurricane season. Apparently, though, that is a prime time to find some seaside treasures of the shelled variety. Maureen has quite the journey to the island, but the real adventure starts when she literally trips over a body, then stumbles through a series of unfortunate events that results in compromised memory, becoming a murder suspect, and meeting a ghost. read more

Anna Lee Huber: A Deceptive Composition

by

Lady Darby #12

This enjoyable series centers on unconventional artist Lady Darby, aka Kiera Gage, who still carries her first husband’s title, though she’s since remarried one Sebastian Gage. That first husband was cruel, forcing her to use her artistic skills as an anatomical illustrator to sketch as he dissected corpses, an extremely disreputable occupation for a woman in the 1830s.  Fortunately for her, his passing left her free to marry her dishy second husband and have a baby with him.  She now uses those skills as a society portraitist, but it’s her eye that makes this series original, detecting colors and relevant details others would miss. It’s her incredible powers of observation that makes her such a valuable assistant to her husband, an operative for the crown. read more

Connie Berry: A Collection of Lies

by

Kate Hamilton #5

Even though this is book five in an established series, I was able to comfortably settle in with Berry’s characters, setting, and story right away. The series features antiques expert Kate Hamilton, and in this instalment she’s on honeymoon in Devon with her police detective husband, Tom Mallory.  In true mystery tradition, it’s a busman’s honeymoon, as they’ve also taken on a private job to verify the provenance of a blood covered dress from the 1880s, which supposedly belonged to a murderess. read more

E.J. Copperman: Same Difference

by

Fran and Ken Stein #2

There are several things a reader can expect when they pick up an E.J. Copperman book, among them humor, a tight plot and great characters. Also to be expected in each of his series, written as either Jeff Cohen or Copperman, is a high concept premise, and this instalment is no exception.  The sibling protagonists, brother and sister Fran and Ken Stein (you get the word play), were not born, exactly, but created by their scientist parents who added a little extra something to the formula.  The two of them are remarkably tall and strong, the downside being that they have to plug the USB port under their arms into a charger every couple of days to keep going.  This part of the story was, to me, almost extraneous – the rest is so excellent that it needs no embellishment.  Fran and Ken could just simply have been tall and extra strong and the book wouldn’t have suffered any.  Being Copperman, however, there’s an extra emotional layer here as Fran and Ken haven’t seen their parents since they were children and are still hoping to find them.  All signs point to that search being the plot of the next book. Their sense of loss is only lightly touched on here but it’s present and beautifully handled. read more

M.E. Hilliard: Smoke and Mirrors

by

Greer Hogan #4

Since the first book in this series (The Unkindness of Ravens), librarian Greer Hogan has been working through the aftermath of her husband’s murder.  While she’s upright and functional, his death feels unresolved, and she’s not so sure the right person is in prison. While she has a job, she’s taken on a temporary one in New York City, archiving the collection of a magician.  The gig comes with an apartment across the street, and the archiving job gives her the flexibility she needs for sleuthing.  It also comes with an assistant: the aptly named “Grim” (short for Grimaldi), a former magician himself, is helping out by archiving the straight up magic tricks part of the collection, while Greer herself sticks to books.  She decides to trust him early on and he proves to be incredibly useful. read more

Frank Figliuzzi: Long Haul: Hunting the Highway Serial Killers

by

True Crime

Long Haul: Hunting the Highway Serial Killers is former FBI agent Frank Figliuzzi’s second non fiction work, and an in depth dive into the prevalence of serial killers in long haul trucking. Though not an examination of any one individual, or any one case, the  book covers the culture of trucking. That includes not only the drivers themselves, but the prostitution rampant at truck lots, and the kind of trafficking that leads to an unfortunately thriving industry.  Truckers are primarily men alone for weeks at a time, isolated and often unaccounted for, and combined with vulnerable and often intoxicated women, this doesn’t lead to good things. read more

Lynn Morrison and Anne Radcliffe: The Missing Diamond

by

Crown Jewels Regency #1

(Editor’s note: this is only available on Kindle Scribe & Audio).

The first in Lynn Morrison and Anne Radcliffe’s Crown Jewels series, The Missing Diamond is a regency delight. Starting at the beginning of the London season, the drama, at first, revolves around who will marry who. At first it seems obvious that the season’s most eligible bachelor, Roland, Lord Percy, will wed the season’s diamond, Lady Charity. Charity is determined to marry as well as she can and her best friend, Lady Grace, is happy to help her do so. read more

Carolyn Haines: Lights, Camera, Bones

by

Sara Booth Delaney #27

Lights, Camera, Bones is impressively Carolyn Haines’ 27th book in her Sarah Booth Delaney series. Hollywood comes to take a bite out of Greenville, Mississippi, to film a dramatic movie about a great flood in 1927. It was a very controversial flood for the town as, while there were heroes, there were also some very unfortunate victims left to the mercy of the elements. The Director and lead actor, Marlon Brandon’s, goal is to share the heroic story of how his family saved many during the tragedy. However, not everyone believes that showing off his hero roots is the whole story. There are at least two who are convinced that the movie is there to paint Greenville in a negative light, and dig up old wounds caused by the state’s darker history involving slave labor. What starts as just a few arguments and clashes escalates when Marlon and another member of his crew, Jules, goes missing. read more

Krista Davis: The Diva Goes Overboard

by

Domestic Diva #17

Krista Davis’ latest addition to her Domestic Diva Mysteries, The Diva Goes Overboard, follows event planner Sophie Winston in Old Town Alexandria. Her best, and highest maintenance friend, Natasha Smith, has wonderful but shocking news. Her free-spirited mother, Wanda, and local antiques dealer, Orson Chatsworth, are getting married. Sophie is thrilled to be asked to help Natasha get an engagement party together, but not so thrilled with the short time frame she’s given to work with. With the short notice, she already knows finding a venue is going to be more than a little challenging. read more

Michael Bennett: Return to Blood

by

Hana Westerman #2

This is an interesting new series.  In the first novel, New Zealand cop Hana Westerman took down a serial killer – and then walks away from the job.  She’s not just a New Zealander, she’s a Māori. The Māori culture is infused into both books, lending them an interest and snap.  She was conflicted in book one: is she a Māori, or is she a cop?  Is she meant to enforce laws against her own people?  In book two she’s back in the tiny seaside town where she grew up, living down the street from her father, Eru. Her daughter, Addison, and her roommate, PLUS 1, are back in Auckland living in Hana’s old place – and to Hana’s annoyance their new puppy is peeing all over her beloved garden. read more