Food Matters (2009) Mark Bittman I really like Mark Bittman’s cookbooks. His How to Cook Everything is well written, clear and concise. So when I heard he’d written something of a food manifesto a la Michael Pollan, I was very curious to see what he had to say. First, if you’re a vegetarian or vegan […]
Captiva (1996) Randy Wayne White Synopsis: Doc Ford & Tomlinson are up in the middle of the night to watch the starts. Well, Doc is watching the stars, Tomlinson is looking for extra-terrestrial intelligence he believes is trying to make contact. Because they are awake, they witness an explosion that eventually kills the man involved. […]
Sunset Express (1996) Robert Crais Synopsis: A woman is found murdered, and her husband becomes the immediate suspect. However, when he hires a celebrity lawyer to defend him, stories start appearing in the case, and Elvis is hired to see if any of those hole in the case are real. And in the middle of […]
The Book of Murder (2007) Guillermo Martinez translated by Sonia Soto As much as I enjoyed The Oxford Murders, I found The Book of Murder to be thoroughly disappointing. Rating: 5/10 Published by Penguin
The Wild Road (2008) Marjorie Liu Why yes, this is a floating head & torso romance. However, as I am on crutches and spending a lot of time waiting, I needed a diverting book to keep in my purse, and since I enjoyed The Fire King (another floaty head romance book set in the same […]
Lullaby Town (1992) Robert Crais Synopsis: The 3rd book in the Elvis Cole series finds Elvis hired by a famous (and perhaps infamous) move producer, to find his ex-wife and son, who the producer abandoned soon after the birth of his son. Lucky Elvis: the producer is an asshole, the woman doesn’t want to be […]
The Man Who Invented Florida (1993) Randy Wayne White I found the 3rd Doc Ford book, The Man Who Invented Florida, to be a bit disappointing. Mostly it was because I didn’t particularly enjoy reading the point of view of Doc’s uncle, Tucker Gatrell. I’m not saying I disliked Tuck and his friend Joe, I’m […]
Clockwork Heart (2008) Dru Pagliassotti Two words for you: Steampunk Romance. Perfect right? I mean, isn’t the essence of Steampunk the romance of the Victorian era? OK, yes, the cool mechanical robots and stuff are a large part as well, but that’s also very much a romantic era of dress and manner social striation. So […]
Voodoo River (1995) Robert Crais Synopsis: Elvis is hired to find the natural parents of TV star Jodie Taylor, who was given up for adoption immediately after her birth, and whose adoption records remain sealed by the courts. The case takes a turn for the worse when Cole discovers there is a whole lot more […]
Strip Jack (1992) Ian Rankin When a raid on a brothel operating secretly in Edinburgh nets a local MP, Inspector Rebus thinks things feel a little off–Gregor Jack isn’t the kind of MP you’d expect to find at a brothel, and his reaction during the raid isn’t precisely what Rebus would have expected. From there, […]
The Heat Islands (1992) Randy Wayne White Synopsis: When the most hated man on the island is found floating, the list of possible suspects seems to be astronomical. Unfortunately, the most likely suspect seems to be Doc’s friend Jeth, and Jeth–who seems to be going through a personal crisis–doesn’t seem to be doing much to […]
Free Fall (1993) Robert Crais Synopsis: Jennifer Sheridan wants to hire Elvis to find out what is wrong with her fiancee. He’s a cop, and he hasn’t been the same for several months, and she thinks he’s in some kind of trouble and she wants Elvis to find out what it is–and if possible how […]
Stalking the Angel (1989) Robert Crais Synopsis: In the second Elvis Cole book, Elvis is hired to find a missing ancient manuscript. He doesn’t much like the guy hiring him, and he doesn’t much like the job he’s hired for, but he takes the job anyway. In doing so he learns a bit (nothing good) […]
The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker (2009) Leanna Renee Hieber Picked this up a few weeks ago after breaking my leg, but as I was on pain killers, I couldn’t focus and put it back down. Now that I’m still laid up but no longer spaced out, I’m tearing through books and came […]
Veil of Lies (2008) Jeri Westerson The complete title of the book is Veil of Lies: A Medieval Noir, which is part of what interested me in the book. I like historical fantasies, though I often take umbrage at the lengths to which authors will go to create an historical detective. but they’re fun, so […]
Hide and Seek (1990) Ian Rankin After reading his anthology A Good Hanging, I decided to pick up another of Ian Rankin’s Inspector Rebus books. I had ’em in the house, just never got around to reading any further in the series, because the first two books I read were quite dark, and I wasn’t […]
Sanibel Flats (1990) Randy Wayne White Doc Ford has lead an exciting life, and he is more than ready for his move to the beach and second career as a marine biologist. Too bad for him that he receives a phone call from an old friend in trouble. Not a hard boiled mystery and not […]
The Monkey’s Raincoat (1987) Robert Crais Elvis Cole went to war, then he came back to the US and was a security guard for awhile, and then he became a private investigator, which is what he when Janet Simon drags her friend Ellen Lang into his office. Her husband and son have disappeared, and Ellen […]
The Poisoner’s Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York (2010) Deborah Blum I think that anyone who enjoys mysteries has to be at least a little bit fascinated with poisonings and forensic medicine, and The Poisoner’s Handbook looks at the beginning of forensic medicine and the circumstances that allowed […]
A Good Hanging (1992) Ian Rankin A Good Hanging is a collection of Inspector Rebus short stories. I read Knots and Crosses a couple years ago, and although I enjoyed it, found it very dark, so I’ve been hesitant to continue in the series because I haven’t been in the mood for that much darkness. […]
Magic Bleeds (2010) Ilona Andrews Things never go right for Kate Daniels. She makes dinner for Curran, and he never shows up, and when she calls looking for him, she’s blown off. Then heading back to work after a long day, she’s called to check out an emergency, and things go downhill from there. There […]
Butcher Bird (2007) Richard Kadrey Spyder lives just on the edge of being a deviant. He’s a tattoo artist and owns a shop with his childhood best friend, Lulu, who does piercings and body mods. He drinks and smokes and enjoys the company of women of questionable morals, but underneath that he’s actually not a […]
The Spellman Files (2007) Lisa Lutz The book opens with the main character involved in a car chase. The next chapter has the main character–Isabelle–being interviews. Then we go way back into the past. The main character, Isabelle Spellman, is a private investigator for her family’s PI firm. She has a checkered past, and a […]
The Masqueraders (1928) Georgette Heyer A couple weeks ago I decided I wanted something completely different to read. After coming upon a review of The Masqueraders by Georgette Heyer, “I thought this might be a fun read,” and ordered it. I will admit, the language took some getting used to. The book is set in […]
Fall of Light (2009) Nina Kiriki Hoffman The first Nina Kiriki Hoffman book I read was Fistful of Sky, which I read in a single sitting and absolutely loved. Fall of Light is set in the same world was Fistful of Sky, only the main character is Opal, Gyp’s sister, and these events take place […]
Dead and Gone (2009) Charlaine Harris When I first discovered the Sookie Stackhouse books the were like a revelation: Romance can be fun? Really? And they were fun! Mysteries, vampires and sex that wasn’t completely ridiculous! Then at some point, they started to get ridiculous. It seemed as if every supernatural creature adored and wanted […]
A Broken Vessel (1994) Kate Ross Continuing my effort to lift my mood, I read the second Julian Kestrel book, A Broken Vessel.
Cut to the Quick (1993) Kate Ross Amazing how reading–and rereading–an excellent book can lift one’s mood. I love Kate Ross’ Julian Kestrel series, which starts with Cut to the Quick.
Jailbait Zombie (2009) Mario Acevedo Synopsis: Felix Gomez has zombie problems, specifically, the Araneum wants him to find the source of the current zombie infestation and put a stop to it. To add insult to injury, the don’t even seem to trust him and are sending Jolie to help him with the task. It’s probably […]
Where’s My Cow? (2005) Terry Pratchett Children’s Winner of the Ankh-Morpork Librarian’s Award: OOK! Needed something to cheer me up after a particularly depressing mystery. Where’s My Cow (click to read previous review) was the perfect palate cleanser. Except, of course, now I want to go read more Discworld books.
Playing for the Ashes (1994) Elizabeth George Synopsis: Kenny Flemming is a brilliant cricket player who seemed to have come out of nowhere, and came to cricket not through the school system by through a factory league. Just before players are to be chosen for the Test matches, Kenny Flemming is found dead, in a […]
Missing Joseph (1993) Elizabeth George Synopsis: Deborah St. James is still struggling over her inability to have a child. When she ducks into a museum to escape a storm, she meets a vicar with whom she feels she feel she could talk, however, when she and Simon arrive at Lancashire for an out-of-season vacation, they […]
For the Sake of Elena (1992) Elizabeth George Synopsis: Lynley is still keeping busy as things are still uneven between him and Helen, while Havers continues to struggle with finding care for her mother. When Lynley volunteers to take a case in Cambridge, both of their personal situations come to a head. Elena Weaver is […]
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 […]
A Suitable Vengeance (1991) Elizabeth George Synopsis: Going backwards in time, we see the engagement of Lynley and Deborah, which we well know isn’t going to last, and we meet other members of Lynley’s family, including his mother and his brother, and spend time in the town where he grew up. Unfortunately, Lynley’s engagement weekend […]
The Shadow Pavilion (2009) Liz Williams Detective Inspector Chen has multiple problems to deal with: his partner Zhu Irzh has disappeared, along with the badger, a Bollywood star/tiger demon is on the rampage, and someone wants to kill the Emperor of Heaven. Add to that the complexity of everyday life in Singapore Three, a new […]
Well-Schooled in Murder (1990) Elizabeth George Synopsis: Thomas Lynley is called upon by an old schoolmate from Eton, when a boy at his school–a boy for whom he was ultimately responsible–is discovered to have been missing for the entire weekend. As Lynley is currently taking every case that comes across his desk (and a number […]
Payment in Blood (1989) Elizabeth George Synopsis: Once again, Thomas Lynley is called from vacation to deal with a murder. And once again Barbara Havers is to be his partner. As the subject of their investigation the upper class to which Lynley belongs, he feels that Havers may cause more problems that she might help […]
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 […]
Doppelgangster (2010) Laura Resnick Considering that I disliked Disappearing Nightly, I hesitated to pick up Doppelgangster, however, the premise intrigued me so much I decided to give it a chance. (OK, the cover also helped. I really liked the cover.) Esther Diamond is working at Bella Stella as a singing waitress while waiting for her […]
A Great Deliverance (1988) Elizabeth George I’ve been out of sorts recently, and keep picking up books, reading a few pages, and then putting them back down, because they’re not what I’m in the mood for. Luckily (or perhaps unluckily) for me, Amazon provides endless recommendations, based upon other books you’ve read and enjoyed. Thus, […]
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 […]
Turn Coat (2009) Jim Butcher Harry’s idea that he might get some down time is (unsurprisingly) thrown awry when Morgan–yes, the Morgan who has spent his recent years waiting for Harry to screw up so he can kill him–shows up at Harry’s house in bad shape and asking Harry to hide him from the Wardens. […]
Road Kill (2010) Rob Thurman I love this series. I’d specifically not wondered where baby revenants came from when we’d gotten out of the Jeep. And here I was finding out anyway. Ain’t that life? Life and pained eyeballs I suddenly didn’t want anymore. Love it. Yes, Cal is an asshole. But considering that he’s […]
The Undead Kama Sutra (2008) Mario Acevedo Felix Gomez is again on the case–or rather cases as his luck would have it. First a dying alien asks Felix to find his killer, then orders come down from the Araneum too looking into a plane crash. Meanwhile, he’d come to Florida on his own to investigate […]
The Oxford Murders (2005) Guillermo Martinez, translated by Sonia Soto Although related years after the events–after the death of the mathematician Arthur Seldom–we follow a young Argentinian graduate students during his stay at Oxford, and his discovery of the body of his landlady, an elderly women in failing health who had been involved in the […]
The Unwritten: Tommy Taylor and the Bogus Identity (2010) Mike Carey, Peter Gross After the disappearance of his father, Tom Taylor has been surviving by going to convention and doing book signings for the series he father named after him. Because Walter Taylor disappeared–and there is no proof of his death–Tommy cannot touch any of […]
Madame Xanadu Vol 2: Exodus Noir (2010) Matt Wagner, Michael Wm. Kaluta Disenchanted gave us Madame Xanadu’s past–how her powers were curtailed by Merlin. Exodus Noir gives us a different look into her past through two time lines, one in 1493 during the Spanish Inquisition, the second in the 1940s, as she looks into the […]
Spider’s Bite (2010) Jennifer Estep Gin is an assassin called the Spider. She makes a good living, and her handler wants her to retire, but she’s not sure she’s ready–after all, she’s still young, what would she do? All of her family is dead, and the only people she’s close to are her handler (who […]
Fables Vol 13: The Great Fables Crossover This was apparently my week to be disappointed in my reading choices. I love Fables. I really do. I’ve avidly awaited every volume, especially as the War with the Adversary came to a head. However, I never much cared for the Jack spin-off, and actually gave up on […]