Quietly in Their Sleep (1997) Donna Leon The 6th Commissario Brunetti mystery finds Brunetti in charge while Patta is on vacation. It also finds a young woman in his office with claims of patients at a nursing home being murdered for the legacy they left to the church and home. ‘No, Commissario, it’s not your […]

Acqua Alta (1996) Donna Leon The fifth book in the Commisario Brunetti series finds the city of Venice a major character, as the Acqua Alta threatens the city with flooding. We also return to Flavia Petrelli and Brett, the women from the first book. Brett has returned to the city to speak to the Dottor […]

Death and Judgment (1995) Donna Leon The fourth book in the Commisario Brunetti series opens with a truck smuggling prostitutes crashing, and killing the driver and all the women in back. We then see the death of Avvocato Carlo Trevisan. Italy is a country in which many laws are passed one day, only to be […]

Raven Cursed Audible version (2012/2012) Faith Hunter narrated by Khristine Hvam I am really enjoying listening to this series–perhaps more than I was expecting to. I’ve found that when I listen to a book, I tend to hear things I missed when reading, especially when it comes to action scenes, where I’m speed reading through […]

Dressed for Death (1994) Donna Leon And now, in the third book of the Commisario Brunetti series, we finally meet Elettra, who will become just as (if not more) central to the series as Vianello. “I’m very pleased to meet you, Signorina Zorzi,” Brunetti said. The name rang familiarly in his ear. “I believe I’m […]

Death in a Strange Country (1993) Donna Leon The second Commisario Brunetti books finds Brunetti investigating the murder of an American stationed in Vicenza, Italy. In this book, we meet Sargent Vianello, who will help Brunetti throughout the series, and become just as beloved. When Brunetti turned to leave, Vianello asked, ‘What about the deal […]

Death at La Fenice (1992) Donna Leon I love Donna Leon’s Guido Brunetti series. It’s set in Venice, Italy, and the place is a much a character as Brunetti, his family, and the other members of the Questura. Like all street addresses in Venice, the one the American had given him was virtually meaningless in […]

The Mayfair Affair (2015) Tracy Grant Set in London in 1818. This book takes place three months after The Berkeley Square Affair, and although I read it earlier this year, I went back and re-read it after finishing The Berkeley Square Affair. Although I enjoyed this book the first time I read it, things made […]

The Berkeley Square Affair (2014) Teresa Grant Set in London in 1817. Interestingly, this is a re-writing of her first book, Secrets of a Lady, so I was slightly confused for awhile, until I realized what was going on. I actually like this better than the original book, partially because she didn’t take the “easy” […]

Mercy Blade, Audible Version (2011/2011) Faith Hunter narrated by Khristine Hvam For the first time in her life, Jane Yellowrock has a semi-stable job and a stable boyfriend. Until they return back to New Orleans, and discover that the vampire council is meeting with the just-now-out-of-the-closet African weres, and that were-wolves actually exist and are […]

The Mayfair Affair (2015) Tracy Grant Set in London in 1818. Malcolm and Susanne Rannoch have had a difficult three months, after Malcolm finally learns that Susanne had been a French agent. But when their governess is accused of murder–found on the scene in fact, they hope the tenuous peace between them won’t be shattered […]

The Snack Thief (1996/2003) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli Obviously, Camilleri didn’t stop after the second book, so we have the third in the series, which finds Montalbano investigating the stabbing death of an elderly man, while elsewhere, a fisherman is shot to death in a typically international incident with Tunisia. Yes, the title […]

The Custom of the Army (2012) Diana Gabaldon Why do I like Lord John so much? “The world is chaos and death and destruction. But people like you— you don’t stand for that. If there is any order in the world, any peace— it’s because of you, John, and those very few like you.” And […]

Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade (2007) Diana Gabaldon Set in London in 1758. This is not my favorite Lord John story, although events that happen here are both the culmination of past mysteries, and the impetus for events in later stories. “But your brother is not now Duke of Pardloe?” Despite himself, […]

Dead Men’s Boots (2007) Mike Carey The last book ended with Castor being booted out of his living quarters by Pen, and the Stranger giving him 30 days to find somewhere else for Rafi, or they were sending him to Jenna-Jane Mulbridge–a fate even worse that his current miserable situation, timesharing his body with the […]

Vicious Circle (2006) Mike Carey Felix Castor can’t stay out of trouble. He’s taking some consulting work for the police, to bring in some money, but when parents as him to find their daughter–who is a ghost–Felix gets in bigger trouble than even he expected. There’s just something about the writing in these books. Felix […]

The Devil You Know (2008) Mike Carey Felix Castor is an exorcist, a job that has been quite in demand since the dead starting coming back in the late 90s. (T)he Bible is strangely coy on the subject of the were-kind, hedges its bets on demons, and draws a big fat blank on ghosts, so […]

London Falling, Audio Book (2014) Paul Cornell narrated by Damian Lynch (The Shadow Police) I really liked the audible version of London Falling. Detective Inspector James Quill is heading the investigation (which includes undercover officers Costain and Sefton) to take down crime lord Rob Toshack. Intelligence analyst Lisa Ross has personal reasons for wanting Toshack […]

Castle of Wizardry (1984) David Eddings Book four of the Belgariad finds Garion and his companions with the Orb, and needing to make their way back to safety. We discover who Garion really is, and what the future has in store for him. There are some marvelous passages in this book. Such as this bit […]

Queen of Sorcery (1982) David Eddings The second book of the Belgariad finds Garion and his companions traveling and following the trail of an object that his grandfather can sense, but Garion isn’t sure how. This is the book where Garion comes to terms with Belgarath and Polgara, and starts to come into his own […]

On the Edge (2009) Ilona Andrews Rose Drayton lives in the Edge, the border between the Broken (mundane world) and the Weird (magical world). She’s raising her brothers, George and Jack, with the occasional help of her grandmother. She’s proud, despite her poverty, and has one thing that sets her apart from the other Edgers: […]

Night Shift (2014) Nalini Singh; Ilona Andrews; Lisa Shearin; Milla Vane Let me be clear from the start: I read only two of these stories. In fact, I was going to read only one story, Ilona Andrews’ story “Magic Steals” until I realized the next story was a Lisa Shearin SPI files story. I very […]

Fables Vol. 20: Camelot (2014) Bill Willingham, Mark Buckingham, Steve Leialoha, Russ Braun, Barry Kitson I actually read this last month, but since it was on the day we caught the train, I forgot about it when I came back. It wasn’t until I was trying to clear off the table I remembered I’d hadn’t […]

Blood Bound (2007) Patricia Briggs This is a second book in the Mercy Thompson series, and finds Mercy inadvertently caught up in vampire business. There are so many little tidbits that I enjoy, dropped randomly throughout the books. The Marrok, the leader of the North American werewolves, insists that all of the wolves wear a […]

The Heiress Effect (2013) Courtney Milan The is book two of the Brothers Sinister trilogy, and the second book I read, however, I started with book three. So, backwards. Miss Jane Fairfield is a wealthy heiress who is supposedly seeking a husband, however, she’s doing everything she possible can to let any man get close […]

Skinwalker (2009/2010) Faith Hunter narrated by Khristine Hvam I started listening to this, and ended up going back and re-reading the entire series. But I still finished the audio version, because I thoroughly enjoyed it. First, Beast and Jane have distinct voices, which is important, since they often have conversations in Jane’s mind. Also, the […]

Blood Trade (2013) Faith Hunter The sixth book in the Jane Yellowrock series finds Jane very much out of sorts. She hasn’t heard from Molly since the death of Evangelina, Rick is mad at her (because she thought he shot her), she’s still mad at Bruiser, and Beast is chained to Leo. But a job […]

Death’s Rival (2012) Faith Hunter Jane is back to working for Leo, and she’s out West to gather blood samples from sick vamps–and vamps aren’t supposed to be able to get sick. There is a lot that happens here. Jane has to pay the piper for statements she made earlier (in the last book). There’s […]

Raven Cursed (2012) Faith Hunter Book four in the Jane Yellowrock series finds Jane back in North Carolina, running security for a meeting between a representative from New Orleans and Lincoln Shadrock, a vampire who wants to become a Master. It’s also where Molly is, but Evan wants Molly to have nothing to do with […]

Blood Cross (2010) Faith Hunter The second book in the Jane Yellowrock series (and another re-read). Jane has remained in New Orleans to hunt the vampire who is making young rogues–and allowing the free into the population where they kill, unrestrained. Additionally, while Evan is in Brazil, Molly and her kids are staying with Jane, […]

Skinwalker (2009) Faith Hunter This is a re-read. The first book in the series introduces us to Jane Yellowrock, a skin walker and rogue vampire hunter. She’s come to New Orleans at the request of the local vampire council to take out a rogue who has been killing civilians. I enjoyed going back to the […]

Something from the Nightside (Audio Version) (2003/2008) Simon R. Green narrated by Marc Vietor This is the first book in the Nightside series, and introduces us to both John Taylor and the Nightside. You’ll probably know very quickly if this is for you or not. John “Bloody” Taylor is a private investigator who has been […]

Reborn (2014) CC Hunter This is part of the Shadow Falls series, but Kylie’s arc is completed, and we now come back to Della, who was the character who introduced me to Shadow Falls in her short story and “Turned at Dark” (still free!) then again in the novella “Saved at Sunrise“. What is Shadow […]

Tales of the Otherworld (2010) Kelley Armstrong Not knowing what I was in the mood to read, an anthology seemed just the thing. These are stories from Kelley Armstrong’s Otherworld series–stories that fill in the cracks between her novels–most of which I have not read. (I believe I have read Bitten, and that’s it.) There […]

The Indian Bride (2001/2005) Karin Fossum translated by Charlotte Barslund This is another Inspector Sejer mystery, and I’ve found these books to be very hit or miss as to whether I enjoyed them. Luckily, this one was a hit. Gunder Jomann has spent his life alone, with few friends except for his sister Marie. An […]

The InCryptid Short Stories: Jonathan Healy and Frances Brown (2013/2014) Seanan McGuire Having read the latest InCryptid book, I realized I had downloaded a bunch of InCryptid short stories, but not gotten around to reading them. Since I didn’t feel like starting a new book, I blew through them all. As of right now, all […]

Night Broken (2014) Patricia Briggs This is the latest Mercy Thompson book, which I got as a new release, but was waiting for me to finish Why Kings Confess, which was waiting for me to catch up on the Sebastian St. Cyr series (which I didn’t actually do). Mercy’s life is about to become miserable. […]

Why Kings Confess (2014) C.S. Harris I gave up re-reading the past books and the series and jumped straight to the newest book. No more hardback books for me, I think. The last several books have been set in a relatively compressed time frame–within a nine month period, to be precise, and in this book […]

What Remains of Heaven (2009) C.S. Harris I’d forgotten this book ends on a cliff-hanger of sorts. Not the mystery, but the situation of Hero Jarvis. Sebastian is pulled into yet another mystery when he formidable aunt asks him to look into the death of the Bishop of London and the presumed successor to the […]

Where Serpents Sleep (2008) C.S. Harris Now we reach the point where I started buying this series in hardback. And I hate hardback books. The fourth Sebastian St. Cyr book discovers Sebastian working with someone entirely unexpected: Hero Jarvis. A home for reformed fallen doves (ie women who want to escape prostitution) is burned to […]

When Gods Die (2006) C.S. Harris I have to admit, I’m reading slower than I have been, because I can’t afford to buy the eBook version, so I’m re-reading my paperbacks. It’s odd how much more comfortable I find an eBook to read. Plus, if I fall asleep reading an eBook, I don’t loose my […]

Magic Burns (2008) Ilona Andrews Book two in the Kate Daniels series finds Kate still working as a merc, but also still working for the Order. We get more important introductions here: Julie, Andrea, Auntie B, Raphael… Most of the main characters have now entered the series. We’re still missing a lot about Kate’s history […]

Magic Bites (2008) Ilona Andrews After finishing off the Inspector Salvo Montalbano series, I’ve been picking up books, trying to figure out what I was in the mood to read. There were several new releases that I quite liked, but they didn’t help me fall into what I wanted to read after. At a loss, […]

The Dance of the Seagull (2009/2013) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli Alas, I’m now back to current on the Inspector Montalbano series, and I have no idea what I want to read next. The story opens with Montalbano seeing a seagull dive to the ground, do a strange dance, and then die on the […]

Voice of the Violin (1997/2003) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli This story is a turning point for Catarella. “(I)n a few days, some absolutely up-to-date computer will be arriving… He wanted each of us to give him the name of an officer we thought had a special knack for computer science. Which I did.” […]

Known Devil (2014) Justin Gustainis Stan Markowski is a Sergeant in the Occult Crimes Unit of the Scranton Police. His daughter and his partner are both vampires, but he doesn’t hold that against them. (He can’t, really, since it’s his fault they’re vampires.) It was believed that only goblins were affected by intoxicating substances (in […]

Hard Spell (2011) Justin Gustainis (Occult Crimes Unit Investigation) Stan Markowski is a detective in Scranton’s Supernatural Crimes Investigation Unit. He works the night shift and works the cases that deal with supernaturals.   My name’s Markowski. I carry a badge.    Also a crucifix, some wooden stakes, a big vial of holy water, and a […]

The Terra-Cotta Dog (1996/2002) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli I was out of sorts yesterday and didn’t know what I wanted to read. Since I recently read Montalbano’s First Case, I decided I wanted to read some Andrea Camilleri–despite the fact that the first book in the series was loaned out to someone and […]

Generation V (2013) M.L. Brennan Fortitude Scott is the youngest of three children, and a vampire. But being a century and a half younger than his closest sibling, Chivalry, makes things difficult. Especially since he hasn’t fully transitioned and is trying very hard to hold onto his humanity. First, I really liked the vampire mythology […]

Taken (2012) Benedict Jacka After a terrible apprenticeship, Alex Verus hasn’t wanted much to do with other mages, and the Light Council in particular. But he’s starting to get a reputation, and it’s a reputation of someone whose enemies tend to end up missing or dead. None of this is really Alex’s fault, but it […]