books

Fantasy Mystery Romance Comics Non-Fiction

Come Unto These Yellow Sands

Come Unto These Yellow Sands (2011) Josh Lanyon It would be nice to believe in something like God. To believe some higher power with a greater purpose was concealed behind the violence and chaos. Max grunted. “Did you see any other possibilities?” “I didn’t let myself look for them.” He couldn’t afford this. Couldn’t afford […]

Lament at Loon Landing

Lament at Loon Landing (2023) Josh Lanyon (Secrets and Scrabble) This is the sixth book, and accidentally came out after the seventh. However, since it’s a cozy series, that wasn’t a serious issue. Now that summer is over, Ellery is starting to worry the bookstore isn’t going to remain in the black until the tourists […]

Hide and Seek

Hide and Seek (2022) Josh Lanyon Andy was already headed home–to the small Maine town where his great uncle has his small antique store, but when he arrives, things are made even worse: his uncle was in the hospital after being badly beaten during a break in. It makes Andy’s reasons for running home seem […]

Requiem for Mr. Busybody

Requiem for Mr. Busybody (2020) Josh Lanyon Aaaaand… I accidentally reread this as well. Michael spends a lot of time watching his neighbors. He has large windows, and since he doesn’t go out often, it gives him something to do. I usually woke up at about five-thirty and dealt with all the stuff that was […]

Death at the Deep Dive

Death at the Deep Dive (2022) Josh Lanyon (Secrets and Scrabble) This is book seven of the Secrets and Scrabble series. However, book six has not yet been published “due to circumstances outside our control”. Luckily, at this point in the series the switch isn’t a problem, since they are written as stand alones (mostly). […]

Murder in Pastel

Murder in Pastel (2015) Josh Lanyon Kyle Bari still lives in the home that belonged to his father, the famous painter Cosmo Bari, and makes his living writing mysteries. “That was the summer I got sick. Rheumatic fever.” “ Which left you with a weak heart.” “It was the summer my father disappeared.” Adam MacKinnon […]

Come Unto These Yellow Sands

Come Unto These Yellow Sands (2011) Josh Lanyon Something about this book works perfectly to pull me out of my head. Part of it is that Swift is a reformed screw-up who knows how and why he messed up, but also how easy it could be for him to fall of the wagon. Physical violence […]

A Ghost of a Chance

A Ghost of a Chance (2012) Josh Lanyon Rhys Davies is writing a book on haunted houses while teaching a course in parapsychology at UCLA. After a rough break up, he ends up traveling to the home of Oliver de la Motte to study the abandoned–and supposedly haunted–mansion on his land, that had belonged to […]

The Boy Next Door

The Boy Next Door (2017) Josh Lanyon Encyclopedia Brown grows up and wants to be a private detective for real. But his former sidekick is now the town sheriff who refuses to grant him his PI license. And the detective, his former sidekick, and his nemesis all went to school together. And I wasn’t crazy […]

Stranger in the House

Stranger in the House (2019) Josh Lanyon I didn’t have this book, so I was surprised to realize I’d read it before. It was in Footsteps in the Dark: An M/M Mystery Romance Anthology which had stories from multiple authors I very much enjoy. Miles has inherited a house–a mansion, really–from his godmother. Despite the […]

Body at Buccaneer’s Bay

Body at Buccaneer’s Bay (2021) Josh Lanyon (Secrets and Scrabble) This was delayed, and delayed, and delayed. However, a brief check of her website made it clear that she (like the rest of us) was struggling with the pandemic, and would be unable to meet her publishing schedule. Which, good for her for realizing that, […]

The Ghost Wore Yellow Socks

The Ghost Wore Yellow Socks (2008) Josh Lanyon This is an interesting story in a lot of ways. First, I think this is one of her earlier books, and the writing isn’t quite as smooth as I’ve come to expect from her. Secondly, it’s set in that weird time where before DADT ended and before […]

Scandal at the Salty Dog

Scandal at the Salty Dog (2021) Josh Lanyon (Secrets and Scrabble) Ellery Page seems to have gotten his man. He and Police Chief Jack Carson may be seeing each other, but Jack isn’t pleased when Ellery gets involved in another mystery–especially since he’s just recovered from the events of the previous one. Ellery was able […]

Seance on a Summer’s Night

Seance on a Summer’s Night (2018) Josh Lanyon “It’s one thing to be open-minded about the possibility of the supernatural. It’s another to bundle the Psychic Hotline with other phone and Internet services. I couldn’t quite understand the words. It took me a second or two to identify them as non-English. Oh, right. Because Roma’s […]

Mystery at the Masquerade

Mystery at the Masquerade (2021) Josh Lanyon (Secrets and Scrabble) The third book in the Secrets and Scrabble series finds Ellery back to “just friends” with Jack Carter, the sheriff. Luckily he has plenty to keep him busy. Like his book store. Ellery set about opening the shop for the day. Or, in other words, […]