An Unnatural Vice (2017) K.J. Charles (Sins of the Cities) Justin stayed upstairs until he heard the door shut. Some people would call it flagrant physical cowardice to leave a twelve-year-old girl to deal with a large enraged man, and those people would be absolutely right, but Justin would have bet the house that Nathaniel […]
Fatality in F (2019) Alexia Gordon (Gethsemane Brown) I don’t recognize all the varieties. I know tulip.” She pointed at the familiar red cup-shaped blossom and then at a frilly red bloom. “That’s chrysanthemum. And these,” she lowered her head to inhale the subtle sweetness of several perfect, red, urn-shaped buds, “Roses, of course. What’s […]
Killing in C Sharp (2018) Alexia Gordon (Gethsemane Brown) Ghost Hunting Adventures reigned notorious for both its physicality and the amount of profanity that had to be bleeped out. “Some versions say Maja was the choice from the jump. Long and short of it, the baroness tricked Maja into going to the construction site where […]
Death in D Minor (2917) Alexia Gordon (Gethsemane Brown Mysteries) “Thank you, Miss Brown,” Hank said. “Doctor Brown,” she corrected. “Oh, that’s right, you do have some sort of degree in, what is it, music?” “A Ph.D. From Yale.” “You must forgive me, Doctor Brown. I believe I mentioned before I don’t pay much attention […]
Murder in G Major (2016) Alexia Gordon (Gethsemane Brown) “I’m Gethsemane.” “A nice Biblical name.” “Grandmother’s idea. Father wanted to name us all after Nobel laureates. Mother just wanted the names to be pronounceable with no unnecessary apostrophes.” (M)y career plans don’t include a scorched earth policy. I want to leave on a high, not […]
Color of You (2017) C.S. Poe (A Lancaster Story) “His voice was just so flippin’ gorgeous,” I said, sighing a little. “I’ve never heard an amber voice. It was smooth and flowed like blues music.” Sound-to-color synesthesia. When you look a certain way, a lot of men expect you to behave the part. Society had […]
Merlin in the Library (2018) Ada Maria Soto (The Agency) A very brief story from Martin’s POV, set a couple of weeks after his return. The previous day had been bad on the pain scale, leaving him with little appetite. Now, under the persistent ache, he found himself to be hungry. He would have to […]
Old Sins (2019) Charlie Cochrane (Lindenshaw Mysteries) Back from vacation, Robin and Adam are trying to decide about wedding plans, and taking Campbell for a walk, when they hear a shot and discover a dead dog. This not a common occurrence, and the difference between gun laws in the US vs UK is fascinating. “Somebody […]
The Lies of Locke Lamora (2009) Scott Lynch narrated by Michael Page (Gentleman Bastards) I read this in 2007, about a year after it was published. It’s dark, which is one of the reasons why I never got around to reading the sequels (the primary reason being because I only had them in hardback). Locke […]
A Curious Beginning (2015) Deanna Raybourn narrated by Angèle Masters (Veronica Speedwell) Set in England in 1887 Michael and I have a fair amount of overlap in what we like to read, but there are plenty of genres we separately like. It makes selecting an audiobook to listen to in the car both easier and […]
Dead in the Shop (2018) Dahlia Donovan (Grasmere Cottage Mystery) Pudding crawls had become one of their traditions after one of their many Olivers had given up drinking. They’d supported him through Alcoholics Anonymous, and decided to create a way to celebrate without alcohol. Instead of reunions spent in one pub after the other, they […]
Dead in the Pond (2018) Dahlia Donovan (Grasmere Cottage Mystery) Bishan found it very difficult to force himself to do anything without understanding the reason. “Would you rather stay?” Yes. “Yes, but if I do it’ll make leaving harder the next time.” They hadn’t restocked his cereal yet. Bishan didn’t feel up to making something […]
Dead in the Garden (2018) Dahlia Donovan (Grasmere Cottage Mystery) Cinnamon. What did I just read? No matter how many times Valor read it, the cause of death didn’t change. His old schoolmate had been killed by inhaling cinnamon. It had been good for him. Valor didn’t know if he’d have grown into the same […]
Open for Business (2016) Angel Martinez (Brandywine Investigations) After reading a dystopia, I needed something more comforting to read. The first story is far and away my favorite. Trigger Warnings: sexual assault, alcoholism, violence Hades is served with divorce papers, and so moves to the human realm. Told to find something to do with himself, […]
Blue Lily, Lily Blue, Audio Edition (2014) Maggie Stiefvater narrated by Will Patton (The Raven Cycle) Blue and Adam exchanged a delighted look. The only thing more pleasing than seeing Ronan singled out was seeing him singled out and forced to repeatedly sing an Irish jig. “Spruce Knob. Highest peak in West Virginia. Forty-five hundred […]
Love, Lies, and Hocus Pocus: Beginnings (2016) Lydia Sherrer (The Lily Singer Adventures) Lily Singer is a wizard. She didn’t learn this until she went away to college, but she quickly acquired a mentor, and even a friend who was a witch (much to the chagrin of her mentor, as the witch is her nephew). […]
N or M? (1941) Agatha Christie (Tommy & Tuppence) It’s 1940 and both Tommy & Tuppence feel useless. “Well, come on, out with it. Nothing doing?” “Nothing doing. They don’t want me in any capacity. I tell you, Tuppence, it’s pretty thick when a man of forty-six is made to feel like a doddering grandfather. […]
The Gorgon Agenda (2023) Lisa Shearin (SPI Files) I seem to have forgotten much of the previous book. But now I check the publication date, I bought it a the end of March 2021, so, yeah, that explains it. The Aegis–the mythical shield with Medeusa’s head head embedded in the center, has been stolen from […]
Hide and Seek (2022) Josh Lanyon Andy was already headed home–to the small Maine town where his great uncle has his small antique store, but when he arrives, things are made even worse: his uncle was in the hospital after being badly beaten during a break in. It makes Andy’s reasons for running home seem […]
There Will Be Phlogiston (2014) Alexis Hall (Prosperity) Anstruther Jones is the Phlogiston Baron. Wealth beyond imagine from ignominious beginnings, he wants to be accepted not because he admires society, but because he wants to find companionship. Lady Rosamond Wolfram is on the marriage mart because it is expected of her. She will catch a […]
Legends & Lattes (2022) Travis Baldree Viv is read to retire from the life of an adventurer. She has her dream, and she has the treasure to make that dream come true, which is what leads her to Thune. After twenty-two years of adventuring, Viv had reached her limit of blood and mud and bullshit. […]
Check, Please! Book 1: # Hockey (2018) Ngozi Ukazu It’s like a hug! Only with hockey and bad language and drinking. Art from the comic blog. Publisher: First Second Rating: 8/10
The Holiday Trap (2022) Roan Parrish Greta has had it with her family. She may love them, but that doesn’t change things. “I know it’s Chanukah and I know your family, but I must introduce you to my friend Boundaries, and her best friend, Also Boundaries.” Truman needs to get away. “I left. Excuse me […]
Spectrum Women: Walking to the Beat of Autism (2018) edited by Barb Cook & Michelle Garnett A collection of essays where autistic women describe life from a female autistic perspective, and present empowering, helpful and supportive insights from their personal experience for fellow autistic women. Prologue: Barb Cook Chapter 1: Finding Your Tribe by Maura […]
Miss Marple: The Complete Short Stories (1985) Agatha Christie (Miss Marple) The first half of this edition is The Thirteen Problems / The Tuesday Club Murders, which I earlier. The second half has the following stories: From The Regatta Mystery and Other Stories (1939) “Miss Marple Tells a Story” first in Home Journal (1935) [“Behind […]
A Pocket Full of Rye (1953) Agatha Christie (Miss Marple) This is one of the stories that has always stuck with me–probably because of the rye mentioned in the title. Rex Fortescue dies in his office, and the police immediately suspect murder. “I gather you don’t think it was natural death,” he said dryly. “Not […]
Proper Scoundrels (2021) Allie Therin (Roaring Twenties Magic) Set in England in 1925. Me: I really liked this first series that this book is a spin-off of. Obviously I should not read it. (Repeat time and again for author after author) Sebastian de Leon spent the past three years enthralled, and forced to do terrible […]
Deadbeat Druid (2022) David R. Slayton (Adam Binder) This is the third book in the Adam Binder series, and unlike book two, does not end on a cliff-hanger. I’ll be honest, I was reading with a eye on the percent done, worried I’d get another cliffhanger. Luckily, it ended cleanly. This might be the final […]
Always Only You (2020) Chloe Liese (Bergman Brothers) Frankie is a social media coordinator for the LA Kings hockey team, which (considering the nature of hockey) gives her plenty to do. I also document informal charitable outings geared toward our most underrepresented fans. It’s not in my exact job description, but I’m a big believer […]
The Body in the Library (1942) Agatha Christie (Miss Marple) The second Miss Marple book has both Miss Marple and Sir Henry Clithering. One of the things I always loved Agatha Christie books is how descriptive they can be. The gay, laughing expression on his face was wiped off as though by a sponge from […]
Damaged Goods (2018) Talia Hibbert (Ravenswood) This novella is a sequel of sorts to A Girl Like Her. We see Laura’s redemption from Ruth’s enemy to friend. Laura is pregnant and that has given her the strength to flee her husband, so she has come to the place where she once was happy to rebuild […]
What Abigail Did That Summer (2021) Ben Aaronovitch narrated by Shvorne Marks and Kobna Holdbrook-Smith (Rivers of London) First, this is Abigail’s story. Peter doesn’t make an appearance (although we see Nightingale and hear from Postmartin). Second, this story jumps back and forth in time, opening with Abigail at a police station, and then jumping […]
The Hanging Tree, Audio Edition (2017) Ben Aaronovitch narrated by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith (Rivers of London) Lady Ty has decided to call in her favor. “Peter,” said Lady Ty, “Nightingale is not to know about this— is that clear?” “Crystal,” I said. As soon as she hung up, I called the Folly. Not that he’ll let […]
Human Enough (2019) ES Yu Noah Lau joined the Vampire Hunters–first as an Intelligence Analyst, but after issues with his supervisor, then as a hunter. Although people assume he joined in revenge for the murder of his parents, he really just did not want another child to have to live through what he and his […]
The Secret of Bow Lane (2022) Ashley Gardner (Kat Holloway) Set in England in 1882 The Sixth Book in the Below Stairs mystery series finds Kat embroiled in her own mystery. Her husband’s actual wife has come to Kat demanding assistance in discovering treasure Joe supposedly had before he died. Kat has little interest, but […]
The Lawrence Browne Affair (2017) Cat Sebastian (The Turner Series) Set in England in 1816. Lawrence has a reputation as a madman. A reputation he fully believes. Penkellis was no place for a child, madmen were not fit guardians, and nobody knew those facts better than Lawrence himself, who had been raised under precisely those […]
Husband Material (2022) Alexis Hall (London Calling) Although the characters are the same, this is a very different book from Boyfriend Material. Which I utterly adored. That doesn’t mean this book wasn’t excellent, just that you need to go into it with different expectations. First and foremost, Alexis Hall said he wanted to write a […]
For Better or Worse (2017) R. Cooper I reread the previous book, so I had to reread this one. To this day he could remember the exact feeling of relief at discovering terms like demisexual and gray ace, and his immediate need to know more, and then still, always, that faint shame of not being […]
Purloined Poinsettia (2022) Dahlia Donovan (Motts Cold Case Mystery) Motts has been fascinated by cold cases since her childhood best friend was murdered and no one every caught. Recently, she’s discovered that the majority of girls she went to school with have been killed in the interim. Now, as they are slowly closing in on […]
Lock, Stock and Peril (2022) Charlie Cochrane (Lindenshaw Mysteries) Set in early 2021 during the pandemic. What a year 2020 had been, and the start of 2021 wasn’t shaping up that great, either. The pandemic is a part of the story, because it was part of the world at the time, but it is not […]
The Labours of Lord Perry Cavendish (2021) Joanna Chambers (Winterbourne) Set in England in 1823 For no reason I could discern I thought of this story and wanted to reread it. I think what I like best about this novella is that since it is a shorter length, there isn’t time for misunderstandings to be […]
The Wanderer (2017) Dahlia Donovan (The Sin Bin) After a hookup at his friend Francis’s wedding, Graham doesn’t expect to see the handsome rugby, but when the meet a second time, when Graham’s brother books him at the Inn BC inherited, he has a wonderful time–and then leaves in the middle of the night. Graham […]
After the Scrum (2016) Dahlia Donovan Although there are occasional issues with this series that could have been solved with stronger editing, this remains a series that has lodged itself in my brain and keeps popping up at random times. Francis is an interior designer who lives with his grandmother. He’d gone away to college […]
A Dangerous Deceit (2017) Alissa Johnson (The Thief-Takers) Set in England in ~1872 This is such a marvelous book. Jane, struggles with so many things, and is justifiably terrified of anyone discovering her secret, which makes it one of the few books where it is completely logical for the main characters to keep secrets from […]
An Impossible Impostor (2022) Deanna Raybourn (Veronica Speedwell) Set in England in 1900. Victoria and Stoker are back in London, when Sir Hugo comes to them to ask a favor: check on his goddaughter, and see if the man is her brother, returned from the dead. He is asking Veronica, because before he was lost […]
A Bride’s Guide to Marriage and Murder (2022) Dianne Freeman (Countess of Harleigh Mystery) Set in London in 1900. I’ve been picking up books, then putting them down, and noe and Murder and it was precisely what I was in the mood to read. It’s a cozy mystery. This is book five. Main character is […]
Kneading You (2016) C.S. Poe (A Lancaster Story) Reread. Because I can’t settle down into anything. Rating: 8/10
Shattered Bonds, Audio Book (2019) Faith Hunter narrated by Khristine Hvam (Jane Yellowrock) Book 13 of Jane Yellowrock I wasn’t sure how I feel about this book the first time I read it, and I’m still not positive how I feel about it now. Leo was killed in the Sangre Duello. Jane is dying of […]
The Soldier’s Dark Secret (2015) Marguerite Kaye (Comrades in Arms) Set in England in 1815. I’d picked this book up on a whim in2015, and was surprised by how much I liked it. Jack was a soldier for 13 years, and was Wellington’s code-breaker during the war with Napoleon. He resigned his commission after being […]
Prosperity (2018) Alexis Hall (Prosperity) Set in Prosperity in 1863. I’ve had this book for a bit, but wasn’t sure I was in the mood for a fantasy, but when a discussion of Our Flag Means Death. Which I haven’t seen, but sounds utterly marvelous. So since I’m not going to be watching Our Flag […]