Petty Treason (2004) Madeleine E. Robins Sarah Tolerance is a fallen woman. Although she lives with her aunt (another Fallen) in her brothel, she has not chosen to become a prostitute, but as society will not forgive her, so she has chosen an unconventional life as an Agent of Inquiry. She does well enough for […]
4:50 from Paddington (1957) Agatha Christie Mrs. Elspeth McGillicuddy is taking the train from London to visit her friend Miss Marple, when she looks into the windows of a passing train and sees a woman being throttled–she alerts the conductor, the station master, and the local police, but–strangely–no body is discovered. Her curiosity piqued, Miss […]
Discount Armageddon: An InCryptid Novel (2012) Seanan McGuire Verity Price is a cryptozoologist. And dancer. And member of a renegade family that supports the rights of cryptids to live as long as they don’t kill humans. Cryptids? They’re the monsters that go bump in the night. The creatures of myth and folklore. There is so […]
A Murder Is Announced (1950) Agatha Christie Next up on my Miss Marple reading binge was A Murder is Announced. The residents of Chipping Cleghorn are startled when their weekly paper has a strange personal announcement: ‘A murder is announced and will take place on Friday October 29th, at Little Paddocks at 6:30 p.m.’ And […]
The Thirteen Problems (1928, 1929, 1930, 1933) Agatha Christie (Also published as The Tuesday Club Murders) I read several stories in this collection, but not all, so I don’t think I’d previously read this collection as is. After dinner seems a good time to sit around and discuss crime, and see how clever everyone is, […]
The Body in the Library (1942) Agatha Christie Colonel and Mrs. Bantry are quite shocked to discover a body in their library–a very young blonde body. The Colonel calls the police, but Mrs. Bantry knows better, and calls Miss Marple. Again, like Murder at the Vicarage, I noticed that much of the story seemed timeless. […]
The Murder at the Vicarage (1930) Agatha Christie It’s been years since I’ve read an Agatha Christie, but she’s always been on of my favorites, and so I decided it was the perfect thing to read while I’m sick and feeling somewhat miserable. This is the first Miss Marple mystery, and is told from the […]
Home Improvement: Undead Edition (2011) Charlaine Harris, Toni L. P. Kelner As with most anthologies, there are stories here I really liked, and some that I found to be just okay. What was unusual was that there were some stories that I actually strongly disliked. “Gray” by Patricia Briggs isn’t a Mercy Thompson story, but […]
Any Taint of Vice (2012) Dana Stabenow A Kate Shugak short story for 99¢? Yes please! Kate receives a call to come to Anchorage and find a general’s son and destroy the incriminating pictures. And not in the order. It’s a nice short story, and shows a peek at how Kate keeps Mutt in kibble. […]
X-23 Vol. 3: Don’t Look Back (2012) Marjorie Liu, Sana Takeda, Phil Noto This is (apparently [at least for now]) the conclusion to Laura’s story arc. The first part of the story–pretty much ‘Adventures in Babysitting’ with X-23 I really could have one without. It felt like they needed to shoehorn some action adventure in, […]
X-23 Vol. 2: Chaos Theory (2012) Marjorie Liu, Sana Takeda, Phil Noto What could this be? Why, it’s a new volume of X-23! This wasn’t bad, but it’s still nowhere near as good as Craig Kyle’s take on X-23 in Innocence Lost and Target X. The first half of this volume is very good–X-23/Laura continues […]
So, yeah. I went to put away my new X-23 comics, and instead ended up rereading all the X-23 and NYX books. Oops! The stories written by Craig Kyle were still–far and away–my favorites. X-23: Innocence Lost (2006) Craig Kyle, Christopher Yost, Billy Tan, Jon Sibal X-23: Target X (2007) Craig Kyle, Christopher Yost, Mike […]
The Killing Dream (2011) Marjorie Liu, Will Conrad It’s possible I should have paused a bit, between reading X-23: Target X and The Killing Dream, because Target X is really really good. That’s not to say The Killing Dream is bad–it’s just not as good as Target X. Apparently, Things Happened between Target X and […]
Target X (2007) Craig Kyle, Christopher Yost, Mike Choi I really liked the X-23 comics, but for some reason had only read NYX and Innocence Lost. Target X is the same author and storyline as Innocence Lost. We see what has happened to Laura after her escape, and how she has continued to struggle with […]
And Only to Deceive (2005) Tasha Alexander I read And Only to Deceive back in 2007 and found it a disappointment–I wanted a straight up mystery, but instead god a romance with elements of mystery. So how did I feel upon a re-read? I still very much liked the arc of Lady Emily discovering who […]
The Far West (2012) Patricia C. Wrede This is the conclusion to the Frontier Magic Series, that started with Thirteenth Child. Eff is a thirteenth child, a fact which plagued her when she was younger, because her aunts and uncles and cousins believed that she was unluckly. The fact that her twin is a seventh […]
Across the Great Barrier (2011) Patricia C. Wrede The sequel to Thirteenth Child, Across the Great Barrier continues the story of Eff Rothmer. Her twin brother is a seventh son of a seventh son, and a strong magician, but Eff–the old of the two–is the thirteenth child, and she grew up believing she was fated […]
Ashes of Honor (2012) Seanan McGuire Toby has, in theory, been putting her life back in order. But mostly she is still grieving the loss of her lover and her daughter. When she is asked to find a lost Changeling child–a child who has powers that may well turn out to be a threat to […]
A Fatal Waltz (2008) Tasha Alexander Lady Emily’s marriage to Colin Hargreaves was put off when Lord Fortescue arranged to have Hargreaves sent overseas on a mission. Fortescue opposes Emily’s marriage to Colin and will do everything possible to end their engagement. Thus it is with some surprise that Lady Emily finds herself invited to […]
A Poisoned Season (2007) Tasha Alexander I read the first book in this series several years ago, and was singularly unimpressed. Not the the writing or the characters, but because it was (like this book) subtitled: A Novel of Suspense. I still disagree with that subtitle, but after enough time had passed, I decided to […]
Girl Genius Book 11: Agatha Heterodyne and the Hammerless Bell (2012) Phil & Kaja Foglio Clanks! Fighting! Even smooching! It’s the latest Agatha Heterodyne book! Rating: 8/10 Published by Airship Entertainment
Tempest’s Fury (2012) Nicole Peeler Fury. Yes, that’s what I was feeling when I finished the book to a GIANT CLIFFHANGER. That was NOT cool. Especially since I’d really been enjoying the book up to that point. But now? Fury. OK, on her website she says this is the penultimate book of the Jane True […]
Though Not Dead (2011) Dana Stabenow This book takes place immediately after A Night Too Dark. “Old Sam” Dementieff has died, and he made Kate his executor and heir. Just as she is starting to settle his estate, Jim–who she has been leaning on a bit to get her through this–is called home with the […]
Kate Shugak Short Stories Dana Stabenow There are four short Kate Shugak stories originally published in different anthologies, but available for $0.99 from Amazon. Well worth reading, and it’s always good to support authors you enjoy. Conspiracy (2011) A brief history of the Grosdider brothers and how Something Was Done about them. Nooses Give (2011) […]
The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: The Hidden Gallery (2011) Maryrose Wood and Jon Klassen Miss Penelope Lumley continues to be the governess of Alexander, Beowulf, and Cassiopeia Incorrigible, the three children raised by wolves and adopted by Lord Ashton. Penelope (or Lumawoo as the children call her), continues to be both protector and educator […]
The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: The Mysterious Howling (2009) Maryrose Wood and Illustrated by Jon Klassen Penelope Lumpey has just graduated from the Swanburne Academy for Poor Bright Females and now, at the age of 15 must make her way forth in the world. Luckily for her, a governess position was found by her […]
The Mislaid Magician or Ten Years After (2006) Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer Kate and Cecy are once again embroiled in magical mysteries. James is called to investigate the disappearance of a magician who was inspecting the rail lines up north. Thomas and Kate thus get to care for James and Cecy’s brood, and […]
Thirteenth Child (2009) Patricia C. Wrede I discovered Patricia C. Wrede’s writing when I couldn’t resist the title, Sorcery & Cecelia -OR- The Enchanted Chocolate Pot. I also read and enjoyed A Matter of Magic. Both are alternate histories where magic is an integral part of the world, however, in Thirteenth Child they live in […]
One Salt Sea (2011) Seanan McGuire Most fantasy series, the longer the series goes on, the weaker the stories get. Or perhaps the series remains strong, but for a book or two it seems like the author is struggling to figure out where they are going with the characters. Or, to work with the overarching […]
Eye of the Tempest (2011) Nicole Peeler There are so many things about this book I should hate–boinking and cliffhangers being the top two–yet I love Jane True and this series. The story takes off where the previous book ended. Jane and Anyan are newly returned to Rockbill after the dire events of the previous […]
Girl Genius Vol 10: Agatha Heterodyne and the Guardian Muse (2011) Phil & Kaja Foglio It was reading Agatha H and the Airship City that made me realize it had been awhile since I read a new Girl Genius comic. (Yes, I know you can read them online, but I just like having the bound […]
Agatha H and the Airship City a Girl Genius Novel (2011) Phil and Kaja Foglio I stumbled across Girl Genius in 2007, and was immediately hooked. Phil and Kaja Foglio publish the Girl Genius comic online twice a week, and then publish a compilation graphic novel approximately once a year. Which is totally not frequently […]
Shades of Milk and Honey (2010) Mary Robinette Kowal Oddly, Shades of Milk and Honey is in some ways a parallel to Under Heaven, only set in an alternate England instead of an alternate China. I also wish I had not read this immediately following Under Heaven–I should have read a thriller or a detective […]
Nightside (1989) Mercedes Lackey Diana Tregarde and Andre are investigating a terrible something that is eating the souls of it’s victims. Another disappointment. Rating: 5/10
Satanic, Versus (1990) Mercedes Lackey As with the previous Diana Tregarde short story I got, it was ultimately disappointing. Diana and Andre go to a romance convention masquerade and trouble happens. I think that the root of the story would have been interesting if it hadn’t been wrapped in the romance convention package. That simply […]
Lark and Wren (1992) Mercedes Lackey I read a LOT of Mercedes Lackey when I was in my 20s. Then, several years ago (and several years after I’d fallen off reading Mercedes Lackey) I all but stopped reading epic/high fantasy. Was there a single reason? Not really. The fact that high fantasy books tended to […]
Killer Byte: A Diana Tregarde Short Story (1994) Mercedes Lackey A really long time ago–a lifetime ago it sometimes feels like–I read the Diana Tregarde books. And was quite disappointed when Mercedes Lackey stopped writing them. But as I didn’t have ready access to MZB’s Fantasy Magazine, I missed all the short stories. So when […]
A Matter of Magic (2010): Mairelon the Magician (1991) and The Magician’s Ward (1997) Patricia Wrede Kim is almost too old to pass for a boy, which means that when she is offered a significant sum of money simply to break into a magician’s wagon to see if a silver bowl is kept there, she […]
Late Eclipses (2011) Seanan McGuire Apparently the beginning of March is THE time for new releases. I received a TON of books I’d had on pre-order this week, and had a very difficult time deciding what I wanted to read first. C. S. Harris and Rob Thurman won that decision hands down. Additionally, I started […]
Tempest’s Legacy (2011) Nicole Peeler First and foremost, this is a boinking book. There is less boinking than in the last book, and the boinking actually wasn’t superfluous but was instead important to the course of the story, but still. Boinking. So be aware. Jane True is back in Rockabill, trying to recover from the […]
The Babylonian Codex (2010) C.S. Graham I found this book quite frightening, not because it was particularly suspenseful, but because the political scenario described so very well could come true. Toby is asked to do a remote viewing to see if she can discover where some of the artifacts stolen during the looting at the […]
Girl Genius Vol 9: Agatha Heterodyne and The Heirs of the Storm (2010) Phil Foglio & Kaja Foglio Rating: 7/10 Published by Studio Foglio
A Night Too Dark (2010) Dana Stabenow Rating: 7/10 Published by St Martin’s Paperbacks
An Artificial Night (2010) Seanan McGuire How many miles to Babylon? Three-score and ten. Can I get there by candle-light? Yes, there and back again. If your heels are nimble and light, You will get there by candle-light. Things are not going well for Toby Daye. She sees an unpleasant harbinger, she’s getting calls from […]
Blameless (2010) Gail Carriger I loved Soulless, the first book in this series. I thought Changeless was good with the exclusion of the ending, which I despised, so I had mixed feelings about starting Blameless. Alexia is pregnant, and Lord Maccon–who is a werewolf and an immortal–has thrown her out, believing that the child cannot […]
Tracking the Tempest (2010) Nicole Peeler First off, there is a lot of boinking in this book. I’d forgotten about that in the time that had passed between this book and the first. Once I remembered that and was able to move myself into that frame of mind, I thoroughly enjoyed Tracking the Tempest. In […]
Changeless (2010) Gail Carriger Well, that was disappointing. As I have mentioned repeatedly before, I really dislike cliffhanger endings. When I read a book, I like the story arc to end at the end of the book. This doesn’t mean I dislike threads that carry from story to story–that’s fine. But what I do NOT […]
The Solomon Effect (2009) C.S. Graham I picked up both The Archangel Project and The Solomon Effect after discovering they were written by the same couple who write the Sebastian St. Cyr mysteries as C.S. Harris. After reading the first book, The Archangel Project, I held off on reading The Solomon Effect, since there are […]
A Local Habitation (2010) Seanan McGuire Toby has gotten her PI license back, and has started taking cases in the mortal world, however, the big case that comes to her is from her liege, Sylvester: Go into the county of Tamed Lightening, and check on Sylvester’s niece. She gets to take one person with her–the […]
The Archangel Project (2008) C.S. Graham I love the Sebastian St. Cyr mysteries by C.S. Harris. So when I realized she also wrote under the name C.S. Graham, I immediately ordered the books. Now the books written as C.S. Harris are set in Victorian/Regency England. These books are modern thrillers. October Guinness is a Navy […]