Best Laid Plaids (2020) Ella Stainton (Kilty Pleasures) Set in Scotland in 1928. Well, I’ve now completely ruined my search history, trying to find when top and bottom were first used as gay slang. And the worst part is, I didn’t find the answer. Joachim Cockburn fought in WWI. He’s now trying to finish his […]

Execution in E (2020) Alexia Gordon (Gethsemane Brown) Gethsemane Brown is frustrated that her landlord has rented the lighthouse for a wedding–though not as annoyed as Eamon, the ghost whose house she rents. The bride is an Instagram Influencer–and an all-around horrible person. “Ms. Markham’s parents’ money buys a great deal of tolerance of Ms. […]

Spooky Business (2020) S.E. Harmon (The Spectral Files) Rain Christiansen is settling into life with Danny. They both work for the cold case unit, which uses Rain’s (non-publicized) talent as a Medium to help solve cold cases. The fact that Rain worked as a profiler for the FBI doesn’t hurt. But the FBI wants him […]

Fatality in F (2019) Alexia Gordon (Gethsemane Brown) It’s summer break, and Gethsemane has taken a gig playing and conducting for a local flower and garden show–a show where her friend and co-worker has a chance of taking a prize. He’d hybridized the rose himself and christened it the ‘Sandra Sechrest’ in honor of the […]

Killing in C Sharp (2018) Alexia Gordon (Gethsemane Brown) Gethsemane Brown is mostly settled in to Dunmullach and teaching teenage boys, as well as the occasional foray into solving crime. Kent reached out and laid a hand on her arm. “Don’t be nervous.” Gethsemane patted Kent’s hand. “Don’t worry, I’m not.” She’d performed live all […]

The Story of the Stone (1988) Barry Hughart (The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox) Year of the Serpent 3,339 (A.D. 650). I’ve been re-reading The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox before bed for a really long time now. I’d read a page or two, then switch to something else, […]

Death in D Minor (2017) Alexia Gordon (Gethsemane Brown Mysteries) This book is set three months after the first, Murder in G Major. Gethsemane Brown has decided to stay in Carraigfaire to keep teaching music, but now the home where she has been staying may be sold to a hotel magnate–a man who turns historical […]

Murder in G Major (2016) Alexia Gordon (Gethsemane Brown Mysteries) Gethsemane Brown is stuck in Ireland. The assistant conductor job she was promised fell through, her luggage was stolen, and she’s out of money. If she doesn’t want to return to her family with her tail between her legs, she has get a job until […]

Principles of Spookology (2020) S.E. Harmon (The Spectral Files) Rain Christiansen is back home, working with his partner Daniel McKenna in the newly created PTU, an offshoot of the cold crimes unit, except that they get their leads through the cold cases through Rain’s talking with ghosts. Unfortunately, the ghosts won’t leave Rain alone, and […]

P.S. I Spook You (2019) S.E. Harmon (The Spectral Files) Couple of things to note, start with the fact this is self published, so parts of it are a little rough. Not typos or anything, but there story could have been tightened up in a few places where I got confused or felt like I […]

The Night Raven (2018) Sarah Painter (Crow Investigations) Lydia Crow has returned to London for a bit, after a case she was investigating turned uglier than expected. But she liked being on her own, and doesn’t want drawn back into the family, yet she turns to Uncle Charlie for a place to stay, which draws […]

Uncommonly Tidy Poltergeists (2017) Angel Martinez Taro has to make a confession to his family–and he’s afraid they’re going to freak out. He’s won the biggest power ball in history, and is going to keep it a secret from everyone but them. He is also, after buying his parents a vacation home and setting up […]

Half-Resurrection Blues, Audio Edition (2015) Daniel José Older narrated by Daniel José Older After re-listening to Salsa Nocturna, I figured that Half-Resurrection Blues should be up next. (A)nother little guy is definitely Indian/ Pakistani or maybe Puerto Rican. Or half-black. Whatever he is, he gets randomly searched every time he’s within twenty feet of an […]

Salsa Nocturna: Stories, Audio Edition (2012/2014) Daniel José Older, narrated by Daniel José Older This is a collection of stories set in his Bone Street Rumba world. “Tenderfoot” published in The Innsmouth Free Press (2011) “Salsa Nocturna” published in Strange Horizons (2010) “Skin Like Porcelain Death” “The Collector” published in The ShadowCast Audio Anthology (2010) […]

Vicious Circle, Audio Edition (2006/2008) Mike Carey narrated by Michael Kramer Since Felix is not longer comfortable doing exorcisms, he’s been acting as a consultant for the Met–reading murder scenes to see if he can get an idea of what happened. After reading a particularly brutal murder, he then has to go to the Stanger, […]

The Devil You Know, Audio Edition (2006/2007) Mike Carey narrated by Michael Kramer We’re now listening to the Felix Castor series while traveling. Michael doesn’t remember if he read the books or not, and he’s also not sure whether he likes Castor or not, but he wanted to listen to the next book. One of […]

River Marked, Audio Edition (2011) Patricia Briggs narrated by Lorelei King Mercy and Adam are getting married. But Mercy’s mother is about to drive her over the edge. “Butterflies and balloons,” I told Adam. “She wants to release butterflies and balloons. Two hundred balloons. Gold ones.” “I expect she’s trying to get Monarch butterflies if […]

Fair Game, Audio Edition (2012) Patricia Briggs narrated by Holter Graham I do like this series, and this book, even if this book has a serious lack of Asil. Asil left Bran alone with his thoughts then, because if he stayed, Bran would argue with him. This way, Bran would have no one to argue […]

Rivers of London: Vol. 4 Detective Stories (2017) Ben Aaronovitch, Andrew Cartmel, Luis Guerrero, Lee Sullivan The fourth Rivers of London comic finds Peter being interviewed to become a detective. The gentleman interviewing him is a bit unprepared for what he’s about to get. There is a lot to love about this comic. First off, […]

Child of a Rainless Year (2005) Jane Lindskold Mira Fenn was nine when her mother disappeared, and she was sent away to Ohio to live with foster parents. The further she goes from her time in Las Vegas New Mexico, the stranger her early childhood seems. Especially her mother. I watched, mesmerized, as Mother transformed […]

Rivers of London: Detective Stories #3: Cry Me a River (2017) by Ben Aaronovitch, Andrew Cartmel, Lee Sullivan, Luis Guerrero This one is actually a murder mystery–a ghost is trying to get his murder resolved, even though most of the principals died long ago. Because Peter can talk to the ghost, he looks into it. […]

The Furthest Station (2017) Ben Aaronovitch My current theory is that the reason the previous novel took so long to come out was because it was too long, and a lot had to come out, and that material has made up the comics and this novella. Sounds good anyway. This is a Rivers of London […]

Threads of Malice (2005) Tamara Siler Jones Holy crap. I had completely forgotten how dark this book is. I mean, extremely dark. Descriptions of torture and rape and then the murder of the victim. And by this we see the torture from the victim’s POV, not just Dubric seeing the results of the torture and […]

Battle Hill Bolero (2017) Daniel José Older This is the sequel to both Midnight Taxi Tango and Salsa Nocturna. You don’t have to have read Salsa Nocturna for this, but you really really should. Events have come to a head, and Riley and Cyrus and many other ghosts are in open rebellion against the Council […]

Beyond the Pale: A Fantasy Anthology (2014) edited by Henry Herz I probably started reading this right after it came out, and got hung up on a single story. Two years later I decided to skip through the stories that didn’t interest me and finish the anthology. “Hooves and the Hovel of Abdel Jameela” by […]