Shores of Desire (1997) Tracy Grant Set in Midlothian, Scotland, March 1815 This is a re-read of an historical mystery/romance, because I wasn’t sure what I was in the mood to read, but most of what is at the top of my to-be-read list is books I can’t read during the week, because I’ll stay […]

The Last Watch (2009) Sergei Lukyanenko translated by Andrew Bromfield The fourth book in the Night Watch series means I’m now ready to read the fifth book–finally! “A car’s not the right place for showing off to a girl— the bed’s for that. The consequences of a mistake there are more upsetting, but less tragic… […]

By its Cover (2014) Donna Leon At last, we reach the books I had not yet read. The 23rd book finds Brunetti called to investigate the theft of both books and pages cut from old and rare books. Old books had always filled Brunetti with nostalgia for centuries in which he had not lived. … […]

A-Force Presents Vol. 1 (2015) by G. Willow Wilson, Nathan Edmondson, Kelly Sue Deconnick, Jason Aaron, Phil Noto, David Lopez, Adrian Alphona, Russell Dauterman This is brilliant. These are six introductory stories to six female characters in the Marvel world: Black Widow, Captain marvel, Thor, She-Hulk, Ms. Marvel, and The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl. It’s a […]

Blood from a Stone (2005) Donna Leon A young African man–a vú cumprá, or street vendor–is shot down on the street in what seems to be a professional hit. Brunetti, Vianello and Signorina Elettra attempt to discover why the man was murdered in cold blood, but at every turn they run into road blocks–and not […]

A Matter of Magic: Mairelon the Magician and The Magician’s Ward (1991/1997) Patricia C. Wrede This is a reissue of two lovely YA novels, Mairelon the Magician and The Magician’s Ward. Kim is a thief in London, who hopes that this job will help her get off the streets for good–before those around her discover […]

Bangkok 8 (2003/2011) John Burdett narrated by Paul Boehmer This series has always fascinated me. Sonchai Jitpleecheep is a Buddhist ahrat and a Thai detective–a rare uncorrupt detective–and the son of a Thai prostitute and an unknown American GI. All of these things make him a man who is incredibly foreign to the western mind, […]

Half-Resurrection Blues (2015) Daniel José Older It is well-known by anyone who has more than a passing acquaintance with me that I do not like zombies. I f’ing HATE zombies. So I was quite hesitant about this book, because the main character is half-dead / half-alive, which, to me, sounds like a zombie. Carlos Delacruz […]

Summer Campaign (2012) Carla Kelly Set in England in ~1813. Major Jack Beresford is returning home from four years of campaigning, much in Spain. He (like other soldiers) has seen and lived horrors, but he is now returning back to England, and to Yorkshire. Onyx Hamilton is about to make the match she has been […]

Miss Grimsley’s Oxford Career (2012) Carla Kelly Set in England, indeterminate time during the Napoleonic wars. Ellen Grimsley is frustrated–she would love to study at Oxford, but instead her brother Gordon is sent, and he wants nothing to do with Oxford but wants instead to be fighting in Spain. James Gatewood, Lord Chesney, is expected […]

Salsa Nocturna (2012) Daniel José Older This is a collection of intertwined short stories. It doesn’t seem quite so at the beginning, but they are are all more than just set in the same world. The characters are ghosts and ghost hunters and those who can see the dead, and with each story you learn […]

Halfway to the Grave, Audible Version (2007/2010) by Jeaniene Frost narrated by Tavia Gilbert I’ve enjoyed this series (although I am still sitting on the final book, waiting for the right time to read it) and I very much enjoyed the audible version. Tavia Gilbert is very good with the narration and giving different characters […]

The Terra-Cotta Dog (1996/2004) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli The second Montalbano book was, according the Camilleri, was supposed to be the last. I felt less than fully satisfied with how the figure of Montalbano had come out. I felt as if I had painted an incomplete portrait of him, favoring his role as […]

Lord John and the Hand of Devils (2007) Diana Gabaldon This is a collection of three stories–novellas, really rather than short stories: Lord John and the Hellfire Club, Lord John and the Succubus, and Lord John and the Haunted Soldier. “Lord John and the Hellfire Club” Set in London in 1756, prior to Lord John […]

Who Buries the Dead (2015) C.S. Harris Set in London in 1813. “In my experience, people who view others as social or financial assets rarely do accumulate close friends.” A body is discovered at Bloody Bridge–its head sitting on the brick wall, the body lying nearby in the grass. At first, there seems to be […]

The Forbidden Rose (2010) Joanna Bourne Set during the French Revolution Marguerite de Fleurignac is on the run. The Jacobeans have burned her home and tried to kill her. But she has far greater worries than the loss of her home–if her secrets are learned, many lives could be threatened. William Doyle–going by the name […]

Rightfully His (1998) Tracy Grant The conclusion to the Lescaut Quartet. This is a historical mystery with boinking. But not tons of boinking. Set in 1822 This book was set up at the end of the last book, but you shouldn’t need to read the previous books in the series. Of course, reading this book […]

The Dragon Conspiracy (2015) Lisa Shearin This is the second book of the SPI files, and a fun romp. But is also has a few things that are quite different from other books in this genre. Such as this: Starting a romantic relationship with Ian and having it go bad would make our time at […]

The Mask of Night (2011) Tracy Grant Again, a reminder that this is a somewhat confusing series to read, as the publication order and chronological order are not related. The main portion of this book is set in 1820, but there are flashbacks going back to 1809, which provide bits and pieces of the back-story. […]

Beneath a Silent Moon (2003) Tracy Grant This series is somewhat confusing, as the author has published it under two different names (Tracy Grant / Teresa Grant) and the main characters have two different names (Charles & Melanie Fraser / Malcom & Suzanne Rannoch). It is, however, the same series. Additionally, the books were written […]

Outrage (2008/2011) Arnaldur Indridason translated by Anna Yates This is not Inspector Erlendur. Erlendur has taken a leave of absence, and no one knows where he is. Instead, the detective is Elínborg, a female detective who works with Erlendur. Because of crime–the murder of a rapist–Elínborg was a much better main character, since one would […]

Blood Cross Audible version, (/2010) Faith Hunter, Narrated by Khristine Hvam I quite like the narrator for this series. She does a good job of distinguishing Jane and Beast’s voices, as well as the different accents and voices for the other characters (and there are a lot of characters in this series). This is the […]

Eternal: Shadow Falls: After Dark (2014) C.C. Hunter This is the second full book of Della Tsang’s story (although she has been the center of several novellas, one of which is the reason I started reading this series). Della coming to terms with being one of the Reborn, and also dealing with her continued guilt […]

Blue Lily, Lily Blue (2014) Maggie Stiefvater I knew this was not going to end cleanly. I KNEW it. But I read it anyway, because OMG I love this series. This book begins a few weeks after the last book ended. Maura is missing, Blue and the Raven Boys are getting ready to start school, […]

Downfall (2014) Rob Thurman I fully admit that I have been avoiding reading this book. As the series has gone it, it has become more and more clear that Niko and Cal won’t outlive each other. If one is killed, the other will fall soon after, most likely in a horribly violent and destructive way, […]

Moon Called (2006) Patricia Briggs I started listening to the Audible version of Moon Called, and I don’t know if it was the narrator, the fact that I’ve been so blown away by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith who reads Ben Aaronovitch’s Peter Grant series, or a combination of both, but I just couldn’t listen to it. So, […]

Black Arts (2014) Faith Hunter And now I’m all caught up on Jane Yellowrock–at least until the new book comes out in October. The book opens with Jane under attack–from Evan Trueblood, who believes that Jane is hiding his wife, Molly. Jane and Evan came to an uneasy truce in an earlier book, but Molly […]

Have Stakes Will Travel: Stories From the World of Jane Yellowrock (2012) Faith Hunter This is a collection of Jane Yellowrock short stories, some of which were published elsewhere, but I love short story collections, so I sprung for this, and two other collections. The stories are: WeSa and the Lumber King Haints Signatures of […]

Magic City: Recent Spells (2014) Paula Guran Table of Contents “Street Wizard” by Simon R. Green “Paranormal Romance” by Christopher Barzak “Grand Central Park” by Delia Sherman “Spellcaster 2.0” by Jonathan Maberry “Wallamelon” by Nisi Shawl “-30-” by Caitlín R. Kiernan “Seeing Eye” by Patricia Briggs “Stone Man” by Nancy Kress “In the Stacks” by […]

Arctic Chill (2005/2009) Arnaldur Indriðason and translated by Bernard Scudder and Victoria Cribb This is, I believe, the fifth book in the detective Erlendur series, and I continue to like Erlendur and enjoy spending time with him despite myself. Erlendur is a broken and often not very nice man, and there are many reasons to […]

Legion (2012) Brandon Sanderson Important note: this is a novella. I love novellas and short stories, but some people don’t, so there’s your heads up. Stephen Leeds has multiple aspects–full fledged personalities that he sees as distinct individuals, yet knows are hallucinations. These hallucinations allow him to solve mysteries and conundrums and have made him […]

The Draining Lake (2004/2007) Arnaldur Indridason translated by Bernard Scudder Lake Kleifarvatn is draining, and no one is quite sure why, but what they do know is that as it drains, things are being uncovered. In this case, one of the scientists discovers the body of a man who obviously had been killed and his […]

Iron Night (2014) M.L. Brennan This is the sequel to Generation V, and finds Fort (short for Fortitude (his mother is centuries old, so you’ll have to forgive his name)) working with his brother Chivalry (see aforementioned comment about their mother) checking up on the various creatures and beings who owe fealty to the Scott […]

Miss Buncle’s Book (1936) D. E. Stevenson This book was a fun read. First published in 1936, it’s set in England, in that strange time period between the two world wars. Miss Buncle is at wits end as to what to do for money. Her dividends are no longer supporting her, so she has to […]

What Angels Fear (2005) C.S. Harris Sebastian St. Cyr is a young nobleman who returned from the wars with France wanting only to forget, but unable to do so, and thus unable to fit back into society. His refusal to wed and produce and heir only makes his already poor relationship with his father even […]

Gunmetal Magic (2012) Ilona Andrews And now I reach the conclusion of my binge reading of Ilona Andrew’s Kate Daniels (& World) series. We end with Andrea’s book: how Andrea puts herself back together after being thrown out of the Order. Except there’s lots of monster fighting and shooting (this is Andrea) so it’s not […]

The Kate Daniels short stories and novellas, by Ilona Andrews I decided I need to read all the Kate Daniels short stories and novellas (even the ones that don’t directly have Kate in them).   “A Questionable Client” originally published in Dark and Stormy Knights (2010) This is story of how Kate came to meet […]

Magic Strikes (2009) Ilona Andrews This is the third book in the Kate Daniels series, and we learn more of Kate’s secrets. This book also has a scene that stuck with me, and sort of bothered me, but that’s something else entirely. Kate is continuing to work for the Order, but spending more and more […]

In Camelot’s Shadow (2004) Sarah Zettel I originally picked this book up because I fell in love with the cover. This is one of my favorite book covers, ever. It’s gorgeous, it’s romantic, and it shows an active heroine not in need to rescue, but capable of defending herself. Luckily, the book lives up to […]

Broken Homes (2014) Ben Aaronovitch This is the fourth Rivers of London book, in which we find Peter Grant–son of a jazz man and an immigrant from Sierra Leon–becoming comfortable in his position at constable and apprentice magician. That’s not a common or even popular status in the London Force. His fellow apprentice, Lesley, is […]

The Wings of the Sphinx (2006/2009) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli Somehow, I managed to read this book and the one that comes before it out of order. Which was unusually problematic because events in the previous book–events involving Montalbano and Livia–had a tremendous influence upon events in this book. I remembered what they […]

The Paper Moon (2005/2008) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli The story opens with a woman–concerned that she has not heard from her brother–coming to report him missing. It hasn’t been long enough to declare him officially missing, but she convinces Montalbano to come with her, to see what signs are at his apartment. “Aahh, […]

The Patience of the Spider (2004/2007) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli This book picks up right after the events of Rounding the Mark. Monalbano has been on leave, recovering from being shot in the shoulder. Livia has come down to stay with him during his recover, so they get to argue in person, instead […]

The Snack Thief (1996/2003) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli This is the third Inspector Montalbano book. In the same morning, there is a shooting death aboard a fishing boat and a man found dead in the elevator in his apartment. (This is Sicily, after all.) Catarella plays a larger part in this book, though […]

The Grendel Affair (2013) Lisa Shearin I came across this on a book blog–although I have absolutely no idea which one it was. It was an early review (the book was published on the last day of the year), and it looked intriguing, so I put it onto my wish list. A month or so […]

Day Watch (2006/2010) Sergei Lukyanenko and narrated by Paul Michael This is a review of the audio version of Day Watch, you can read my review of the story here. I’ve gotten used to the narration, where the read speaks in a regular American accent when he reads the descriptions and thoughts of the characters, […]

Precious Dragon (2007) Liz Williams The third Detective Inspector Chen book finds Chen back at work, and, after having stopped a rampaging goddess in the previous book, Chen and Zhu Irzh must now suffer the attentions of the public, and, more specifically, the accolades of part of the government of Singapore Three. This, of course, […]

The Demon and the City (2006) Liz Williams I really do love this series. Chen and Inari are on vacation, so Zhu Irzh is–in theory–handling the supernatural cases in Singapore Three. In reality, the captain is giving him very small-time crimes, fearing (perhaps justifiably) that Zhu Irzh could cause more problems than he solved. So […]

He Who Fears the Wolf (1997/2003) Karin Fossum translated by Felicity David This is the second Inspector Sejer mystery, and once again, the story involves characters on the fringe, who are damaged or not normal. Errki has decided to leave the asylum/institute where he has lived after being involuntarily committed as a danger to himself […]

Snake Agent (2005) Liz Williams The Detective Inspector Chen series popped up as an Amazon ebook deal of the day, and I love this series so much I snatched them up as ebooks. (In my defense, my copies are all trade paperbacks.) Detective Inspector Chen is in charge of crimes that stretch into Heaven and […]