8-29-12 Proof of the Pudding by Phoebe Atwood Taylor - Fiction

3 - I think if I had started this series closer to the beginning I would have enjoyed this a little more.  Asey Mayo is a self made detective in Cape Cod in the 40's and the book is full of the particular dialect of the time and area.  Not a bad mystery but I feel I may be missing some back story that would definitely have made it more fun.  Quirkiness abounds in the story with some distinctly odd characters, as there are in any small town, but a well put together murder mystery overall.

8-12-12 Blind Sight by Terri Persons - Fiction

4 - I really like this series.  Agent Bernadette Saint Clare is a great character with her fair share of flaws and the cases are very unusual but well planned out.  There is a little bit of the paranormal in these but even if you avoid those kind of books, I think you could really enjoy these because they are more cop than paranormal.  In this one, there is a killer on the loose (of course) who is leaving bodies behind with a pentagram on their forehead. Is he a religious nut or not?  Very good book.  Really enjoyed the story.

2-2-12 An Ice Cold Grave by Charlaine Harris - Fiction

4 - Harper gets pulled into a serial killer case this time when she is hired by a woman to find her grandson and she finds him plus seven other boys. The killings in this case are so disturbing that Harper wants to leave immediately and if you are faint of heart you might want to skip this one. But things never quite go Harper's way so she is stuck in the town for a while and is now a target of the killer too. Great crime thrillers even if you didn't have the paranormal twists.

12-25-11 Grave Surprise by Charlaine Harris - Fiction

4 - Harper Connelly unwittingly inserts herself into another missing person/murder mystery in Harris' second book of the series. As she is being "tested" by an unbelieving professor for his class, she discovers a second body in a grave. That second body is of a little girl she failed to find the year before. And so begins the new mystery of how the child ended up in a different state from where she was missing and who is trying to disrupt the investigation and get Harper accused of murder herself. These are well written murder mysteries. If you don't normally read paranormal themed stories, I suggest you try these anyway. The paranormal is almost second to the great mystery plot.

12-23-11 The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson - Fiction

5 - Holy Crap! These books involve business, government conspiracy, international intelligence, defecting spies, lunatic asylums, and newspapers. And they are tied all together so neatly that at the end you go, "Wow. I have no more questions except what is Lisbeth going to do now?" It's such a shame that Larsson died without continuing the series because that is a true loss for book lovers everywhere. Seriously, I know I've said it before, read these books!

12-1-11 The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson - Fiction

5 - This trilogy really is incredible! The first book was enthralling and the second book is just amazing as it takes you on a whole new adventure that opens up the characters even more. Lisbeth Salander is the antiheroine in these books and, as weird and unusual as she is, she makes you root for her every step of the way. This book goes deeper into who she is and how she ended up being the way she is and the story continues to surprise and shock. Seriously, read these books!

11-16-11 Grave Sight by Charlaine Harris - Fiction

4 - This is a different series by Charlaine Harris and something I think she started before the Sookie Stackhouse books. And I like it. Harper Connelly was struck by lightening when she was a young girl and ever since then she can find dead bodies and tell the cause of death. She travels with her brother and they are the people families call when they are desperate. Harris starts to flesh out the characters very well and combines the unusualness of their occupation with a very good murder mystery. I'm definitely continuing this series.

11-5-11 Goodnight Irene by Jan Burke - Fiction

4 - This is the first Irene Kelly book and it is a great debut. Full of twists and turns, Goodnight Irene introduces us to a feisty reporter who gets involved in a murder investigation when her good friend is killed in a bombing. As it turns out, her friend had just made a new break in a decades old unsolved murder. The question is who killed the earlier victim and who killed her friend and are they related. I enjoyed this mystery because it kept moving and kept the reader shifting blame until the end. I will definitely be reading more of this series.

8-18-11 The Jasmine Trade by Denise Hamilton - Fiction

4 - This is the first Eve Diamond mystery and it is wonderful. Eve is such a well built character and following her as she works on stories for the LA Times is a treat. The Jasmine Trade is about parachute children, Asian gangs, and the Asian sex trade. Eve is drawn into the story when a 17 year old girl is found murdered in her car as she was on her way to get bridesmaid dresses for her wedding. Eve suspects this may not have been a strict carjacking gone wrong and becomes immersed in the Asian culture in LA. I'm very excited to read more Eve Diamond stories as long as they continue to be as engrossing as the first two.

7-11-11 Sugar Skull by Denise Hamilton - Fiction

4 - This was a great mystery. Eve Diamond is a reporter for the LA Times and she gets embroiled in a story that involves politics, cultural traditions, and street kids. Eve is a great character and Hamilton's descriptions of the streets, foods, and events through LA really bring the city to life. The mystery itself is well done and winds through so many different class and cultural levels and yet ties together very well at the end. I'm going to look up her first Eve Diamond novel and check that one out soon.

6-8-11 The Up and Up by Lee Irby - Fiction

4 - This was a neat look at Miami in the 20's full of gangsters, gambling, guys, and dolls. The Up and Up is a murder mystery featuring Frank Hearn, a man who wants to leave his rough past behind and become legit so he can marry his fiancee with a clean conscience. Unfortunately, he chose the wrong business partner to try to go straight and gets pulled into the middle of a murder investigation involving the corrupt police department, the local mob, and the federal authorities. Throw in Gloria Swanson's arrival just in time for tourist season and this is a crazy and humorous ride. Full of the lingo of the time, The Up and Up paints a very convincing and complete picture of Miami in the 20's and is a really fun read.

4-20-11 First Grave on the Right by Darynda Jones - Fiction

3 - The premise is pretty good: there's a woman who is a grim reaper. She's not the scary guy in the cloak but an ADHD neurotic private eye who sees souls not yet departed and helps them finish their final business so they can cross over. The writing: not so good. Way too much ADHD thrown in the writing to make a smooth read and it started to go a little too romance/porn for me at the end. And I didn't need to know what she named each of her breasts and ovaries, thank you. My favorite character is her best friend/employee and she's just not in the story enough. The murder mystery part of the story is only so-so. I just wasn't impressed even though she won some award for the book. I don't think I'll be able to stomach checking the next book out.

3-31-11 On the Wrong Track by Steve Hockensmith - Fiction

4 - I'm really enjoying the Holmes on the Range series. The second book takes place on a train that's speeding to California. Big Red and Old Red, unable to find detective work with any agency, have joined the Southern Pacific Rail's security detail. After discovering a murder, meeting a suffragette, and dealing with a very pissed off snake, Big Red and Old Red do their detecting and keep the reader enthralled and amused as they deduce like Sherlock Holmes. Seriously, try one of these books!

1-18-11 Holmes on the Range by Steve Hockensmith - Fiction

4 - This is a funny and clever debut of a series of books by Hockensmith. Old Red Amlingmeyer is a cowboy in 1893 Montana with a huge Sherlock Holmes obsession. He has his brother, Big Red, read him every Holmes story they can get their hands on. So when there's a suspicious death on the ranch they are working, Old Red decides to follow Holmes lead and try to deduce the true cause of death and find the culprit, dragging Big Red right along with him. Fans of Sherlock Holmes and westerns will enjoy this book and I look forward to reading the next in the series.

1-10-11 Death at the Table by Janet Laurence - Fiction

3 - There are so many catchy mystery books right now that are subject oriented (cooking, coffee, cats to name a few) that it can be tiresome to pick up another to try. Death at the Table is a mediocre example of this genre. Centered around a cook who occasionally solves murders, Death takes place in the world of television food shows. I honestly don't have too much to say about this one because it was just so middling. Would I read it again? No. Was it a waste of my time? No. Could I have happily lived my life without ever reading this? Yes. It's unfortunate that my first post after my long break is so wishy-washy but this just happened to be the book I had. Cross your fingers that the next book is more fascinating or just so horrible that I can't stop complaining.

6-7-10 Hand of Evil by J.A. Jance - Fiction

5 - I've almost gotten up to speed on this series so that I can read the rest in order. I'll just have to hunt down the first book. But anyway, I enjoyed this one even more than the other two Ali Reynolds books I've read. Tightly woven with multiple crimes and story lines, Hand of Evil is written so well that the reader is never confused and is able to follow all the threads until everything meshes. Ali becomes drawn into Arabella Ashcroft's life after meeting her for tea. Because the scholarship provided by Arabella and her mother made it possible for Ali to go to college, she agrees to assist Arabella in telling her story as a book. In the meantime, her friend Dave requests Ali's help as well with his 13-year-old daughter who is beginning to run down the wrong path. Ali's just a busy bee in this story.

6-3-10 Web of Evil by J.A. Jance - Fiction

4 - I still couldn't get the first Ali Reynolds book so I settled for the second and got the story of how Ali was accused of her soon-to-be-ex-husband's death. And I enjoyed it. Ali has to travel back to LA from her home in Sedona, Arizona to finalize her divorce. Her soon to be ex wants a quick solution to the divorce and they are scheduled to sign on Friday so he can marry his very pregnant fiancee on Saturday. But he never shows. His body is found in the wreckage of a car that was hit by a train. It turns out he hadn't signed his new will yet so Ali is the sole beneficiary. That's what the police see when they start their investigation. So Ali, her mom, and her friend Dave start their own investigation. A good twisty mystery.

5-17-10 Cruel Intent by J.A. Jance - Fiction

5 - Another score for Dad. Plus this book is set in Sedona, Arizona and I do enjoy reading stories set locally. It just adds another layer of enjoyment. Anyway, Jance writes a great mystery and her main character, Ali Reynolds, is an enjoyable woman. Ali just wants to remodel her new home but ends up being pulled into a murder investigation when her contractor is accused of killing his wife. The supporting characters are also entertaining, especially her mom, and add to the story. This is a very fast paced mystery and it keeps you on your toes all the way to the end. I will definitely be reading the other Ali Reynolds mysteries in the near future.

5-11-10 Back Spin by Harlan Coben - Fiction

4 - I laughed my ass off during a lot of this book because Myron Bolitar, the sports agent main character, doesn't get golf, doesn't like golf doesn't want to understand golf but is at the US Open. and his opinions on golf are absolutely unapologetic and hilarious. Nope, not a big golf fan here either. Interspersed with the humor is a tense mystery involving the kidnapped son of the LPGA champion and her husband who has become the front runner in the Open. Myron gets pulled in to help find the boy and is soon in over his head. With millions of advertising dollars riding on the outcome of the Open, the competition is fierce no only on the course, but also off the course for agents and merchandisers alike. Myron, with the help of his employee Esperanza (who used to be a professional wrestler. Love the quirky!) is racing against time to wade through all the family secrets and find the boy. If you haven't read any Harlan Coben yet, shame on you. You don't know what you're missing.

4-6-10 Death by Chick Lit by Lynn Harris - Fiction

4 - A funny mystery, Death by Chick Lit, is a great satire of the genre. Lola, a one book author, gets pulled into a mystery when the NYT bestselling authors of chick lit begin dropping dead. She tries to keep a balance with her new husband, her struggling book career, her friends, and her new case and she endearingly stumbles along. This was a very enjoyable palate cleanser.