What Are We Reading And Reviewing in March 2020?

Looks like the leprechaun has had a slight accident! Oh well...just tell us what you are going to read until he shows up again.

📌 - ★

Carol's Reads for March
📌Too Close To Home - 4★ (Early Reviewer)
📌The Night Olivia Fell - Christina McDonald - 4★
📌Icebound – Dean Koontz - 4.5★
📌What the Night Knows – Dean Koontz - 4★
📌Darkfall - Dean Koontz - 4★
📌Stone Cold - Jenny Hilbourne - 3★
📌The Collectors David Baldacci – 5★ (group read)
The Devil’s Colony – James Rollins - ★– (group read)
📌The Witch Elm - Tana French - 4★
📌Here to Stay – Mark Edwards - 4.5★- (Pick A Winner Make A Friend)
📌Bluegrass: A True Story of Murder in Kentucky - William Van Meter
3.5★- ★
📌Teacher Man - Frank McCourt - 5 ★
📌Lies Sleeping – Ben Aaronovitch - 2.5★
📌The Breakdown – B.A. Paris - 3★
📌Golden in Death - J.D. Robb - 5★
📌The Dark Corners of The Night Meg Gardiner - 4.5★
📌The Fisherman - John Langan - 5★
📌The Affair of the Mutilated Mink Coat - James Anderson - 4★
📌The Vendetta Defense - Lisa Scottoline - 3★
📌Crouching Buzzard, Leaping Loon - Donna Andrews - 2.5★
📌The Haunting of Rookward House - Darcey Coates - 4★
📌The Magpie Murders - Anthony Horowitz - 5★
📌Salvation Station - Kathryn Schleich - 4.5 ★ -(Early Reviewer)
📌The Three Weissmanns of Westport – Cathleen Schine - 2.5★

Lynda and Oliver's March Reading List

Mysteries

🍒 And Then There Were None - Agatha Christie - 4.5 Stars
🍒 Black Hills - Nora Roberts - 4 Stars
🍒 Collectors - David Baldacci - 4.5 Stars
🍒 Crooked River - Preston/Child - 5 Stars
🍒 Dead Until Dark - Charlaine Harris - 3.5 Stars
🍒 Final Cut - Catherine Coulter - 3.5 Stars
🍒 Golden in Death - J. D. Robb - 5 Stars
🍒 Hunting Hour - Margaret Mizushima - 4 Stars
🍒 In the Woods - Tana French - 3.5 Stars
🍒 Mamur Zapt and the Return of the Carpet - Michael Pearce - 3.5 Stars
🍒 One of Us is Lying - Karen McManus - 4 Stars
🍒 Over the Edge - Suzanne Brockmann - 3.5 Stars
🍒 Risen - Ron Rash - 3.5 Stars
🍒 Rock Chick - Kristen Ashley - 3 Stars
🍒 That Night - Chevy Stevens - 4 Stars
🍒 White Heat - M. J. McGrath - 4 Stars

Other Than Mysteries

🍒 Big Stone Gap - Adriana Trigiani - 4 Stars
🍒 Caught in the Crossfire - Joe Nick Patoski - 3 Stars
🍒 Dreamland - Sam Quinones - 4 Stars
🍒 Flight of the Sparrow - Amy Belding Brown - 4 Stars
🍒 Giver of Stars - Jojo Moyes - 4 Stars
🍒 Gods of Mars - Edgar Rice Burroughs - 3.5 Stars
🍒 Grand Hotel - Vicki Blum - 3.5 Stars
🍒 Jaws - Peter Benchley - 3.5 Stars
🍒 Lord John and the Private Matter - Diana Gabaldon - 4 Stars
🍒 Master Butcher's Singing Club - Louise Erdrich
🍒 Moneyball - Michael Lewis - 4 Stars
🍒 Mudbound - Hilary Jordan - 4 Stars
🍒 Orchardist - Amanda Coplin - 4 Stars
🍒 Rainwater -Sandra Brown - 3.5 Stars
🍒 Sixth Extinction - Elizabeth Kolbert - 3.5 Stars
🍒 Stevie Ray Vaughan Caught in the Crossfire - 3 Stars
🍒 Three Body Problem - Cixin Liu - 3 Stars
🍒 Tiger Lily - Jodi Anderson - 4 Stars
🍒 Under the Wide and Starry Sky - Nancy Horan - 3.5 Stars
🍒 Vanished Arizona - Martha Summerhayes - 3 Stars
🍒 Verily a New Hope - Ian Doescher - 3.5 Stars

Stone Cold - Jenny Hilborne
3★

In the competitive world of advertising, Charles Dean is a ruthless boss driven by results. When a scandal threatens to ruin his company, he is determined to identify the culprit and handle it his way. Mara Mann has other ideas, and her own reasons for bringing him down. Then the murders of two senior corporate executives stun the Oxfordshire community. Mara's hatred for Dean leads her into the dangerous and twisted world of Vice President, Reid Dalton, and to the discovery of a forgotten grave. As she uncovers more truths about her boss, and learns the secret he has kept hidden, she is drawn deeper into the mind of a killer and puts her own life at risk.

It wasn't a bad book. It was well written and the author seemed to have put some thought into what was...at least for me...a difficult plot to really grab and hold my interest. I actually found it a little depressing and filled with negativity that you just couldn't get away from. For someone that reads what I usually read...this is saying a lot. The main character is one that you know right from the start that you are either going to really love or really hate. The story also contained some really crazy unbelievable twist that were difficult to follow but were very inventive. I have read other books by this author so I know she is more than capable of turning out a really good story. Maybe this was just one of my off days...so based on previous experiences with her, I'll give her 3 stars.

Too Close To Home - Andrew Grant (Early Reviewer)
Paul McGrath series Book #2
4★

An intelligence agent-turned-courthouse janitor, Paul McGrath notices everything and everyone—but no one notices him. It’s the perfect cover for the justice he seeks for both his father and the people who’ve been wronged by a corrupt system. Now he’s discovered a missing file on Alex Pardew—the man who defrauded and likely murdered McGrath’s father but avoided conviction, thanks in large part to the loss of this very file. And what lies behind its disappearance is even worse than McGrath had feared.
Meanwhile, at the courthouse, he stumbles on the case of Len Hendrie, a small businessman who’s been accused of torching a venture capitalist’s mansion. Though Hendrie admits starting the fire, McGrath learns how the VC has preyed on average Joes to benefit himself—and his extensive wine collection. McGrath can’t resist looking deeper into this financial predator and soon finds himself in a gray area between his avenging moral compass and the limits of the law. Then, just as the Hendrie case is heating up, McGrath receives word of the death of his father’s former housekeeper, sending him back to his family home to confront unfinished business from his past. And he’s about to find some unwelcome truths about the mother he lost as a child—and the father who hid even more secrets than he realized.

“My name’s not important,” McGrath says. “I’m just a janitor. Here to clean up the mess you made...one way or another.” These words set the flavor of the remainder of the book. I have read other books by this author and really enjoyed them. His style of writing is smooth and easy to read and his books are always interesting. The concept of the series is different...interesting...and very inventive... but it's not really much on the reality side. A different setting other than a busy courthouse would have made more sense. The character of McGrath is a extremely complex almost coming across as a modern day Robin Hood. At first, I thought he was a vigilante but soon found that he was so much more. This is the second book in the Paul McGrath series, but the first one I have read. It works perfectly well as a stand-alone book. As a matter of fact, I didn’t even know it was a series until I received this book as a part of the Early Reviews program. Andrew Grant became on of my favorite authors several years ago...so I'll be hunting down the first book in this series.

I received an advance copy of this book from Random House Publishing in exchange for an honest review. The opinions are entirely all my own.

The Word is Murder by Anthony Horowitz
4 ★
When a wealthy woman is found murdered after planning her own funeral service, disgraced police detective Daniel Hawthorne and his sidekick, author Anthony Horowitz, investigate.

Horowitz, the author of this book, is a main character in this book. He’s a mystery writer talked into writing a true crime book by investigator Hawthorne. They do a serious investigation of the murder but they don’t work that well together and it’s very entertaining. The story kept me interested with lots of twists and turns. There were many laughs with their opposite approaches to figuring things out. There was also a touch of working on TV shows and movies, which Horowitz does in real life. It was a very enjoyable read.

Golden In Death - J.D. Robb
In Death series (Eve Dallas) Book #50
5★

Pediatrician Kent Abner received the package on a beautiful April morning. Inside was a cheap trinket, a golden egg that could be opened into two halves. When he pried it apart, highly toxic airborne fumes entered his body and killed him. After Eve Dallas calls the hazmat team, and undergoes testing to reassure both her and her husband that she hasn’t been exposed, it’s time to look into Dr. Abner’s past and relationships. Not every victim Eve encounters is an angel, but it seems that Abner came pretty close, though he did ruffle some feathers over the years by taking stands for the weak and defenseless. While the lab tries to identify the deadly toxin, Eve hunts for the sender. But when someone else dies in the same grisly manner, it becomes clear that she’s dealing with either a madman…or someone who has a hidden and elusive connection to both victims.

Wow! 50 books in this series and each one is as good as, or better than the last. I had read that J.D. Robb may have the largest fan base of any living author. Anyone that has read more than one book in this series…spent sometime with Eve & Roark and Galahad, the cat…Peabody and McNabb and all the other regular wonderful characters…can not only agree 100% but can totally understand why this is true. For me…aside from the characters… what I really like is that we…the reader…get to ride along with Eve and Peabody through each and every phase of the investigation. We see how they come to each conclusion and are right there when the bad guy faces justice. I don’t know that there is anything that needs to be improved on to make the stories any better…I just hope that we get to read number 100 sometime in the future.

The Vendetta Defense - Lisa Scottoline
Rosato and Associates Book #6
3★

Lawyer Judy Carrier takes the case of her career when an elderly pigeon racer named Anthony Lucia is arrested for the murder of his lifelong enemy, Angelo Coluzzi. "Pigeon Tony," as he's known to all his South Philly neighbors, confesses he killed Coluzzi because of a vendetta begun more than fifty years ago, a blood feud that has brought great tragedy to Pigeon Tony's life. Her client's guilt, however, is only the beginning of Judy's problems. The Coluzzi family wants revenge, and they are determined to finish off Pigeon Tony and Judy before the case can go to trial. And if that isn't enough, Judy's got to contend with Tony's magnetic grandson, Frank, a man who makes her think about everything but the law, and her boss, the no-nonsense Bennie Rosato.

I have to give it credit for being a very interesting story but parts of it were just boring and unrealistic and I sometimes found myself getting lost in the sheer number of characters. The thing that I disliked the most was that it went quickly from being a mystery to being mainly a romance. I had to give it a 3 star rating because it was well written and I generally like this author...and...you guessed it... it fit a challenge very well.

The Witch Elm - Lisa Scottoline
4★

Toby is a happy-go-lucky charmer who’s dodged a scrape at work and is celebrating with friends when the night takes a turn that will change his life—he surprises two burglars who beat him and leave him for dead. Struggling to recover from his injuries, beginning to understand that he might never be the same man again, he takes refuge at his family’s ancestral home to care for his dying uncle Hugo. Then a skull is found in the trunk of an elm tree in the garden—and as detectives close in, Toby is forced to face the possibility that his past may not be what he has always believed.

This is a standalone novel and not a part of her Dublin Murder Squad. We met Toby the protagonist who is different than most characters in this type of novel...he is a crime victim rather than the protagonist. Toby has just gotten himself into a bit of a mess at work...but he’s certain that he’ll be able to smooth things over because life is easy for him...that is until two men break into his apartment and beat him nearly to death. Toby emerges from the beating no longer his easy going confident self. his ability to articulate his thoughts and his self esteem and confidence are a thing of the past. Toby and his girlfriend move into his families ancestral home with his uncle and strange things begin to take place. His cousins children discover a human skull at the base of an old elm tree. As the police attempt to solve this crime...Toby begins to doubt everything he ever knew about his family. The pace is slow and the story is more than compelling. The reader will figure things out long before Toby...but that's one of things that makes this one so much fun.

The Dark Corners of The Night - Meg Gardiner
UNSUB series Book #3
4.5★

I am the legion of the night … He appears in the darkness like a ghost, made of shadows and fear–the Midnight Man. He comes for the parents but leaves the children alive, tiny witnesses to unspeakable horror. The bedroom communities of Los Angeles are gripped with dread, and the attacks are escalating. Still reeling from her best friend’s close call in a bombing six months ago, FBI behavioral analyst Caitlin Hendrix has come to Los Angeles to assist in the Midnight Man investigation and do what she does best–hunt a serial killer. Her work is what keeps her going, but something about this UNSUB–unknown subject–doesn’t sit right. She soon realizes that this case will test not only her skills but also her dedication, for within the heart of a killer lives a secret that mirrors Caitlin’s own past. Hesitancy is not an option, but will she be able to do what must be done if the time comes?

The story picks up speed from the first chapter and never slows down. Meg Gardiner has an impressive knowledge of behavioral analysis and all the technology...ballistics...and forensics that go into aiding the police agencies in catching the bad guy, and she transfers all of them well into her stories. She has written one great nail-biter of a suspense story with this one. Sometimes wishes do come true as I have just read that this novel is to be the focus of an Amazon TV series. If you a fan of thrillers or if you like programs like Criminal Minds…then you will more than likely like these books.

The Affair of The Mutilated Mink Coat
The Missing series Book #2
4★

The Earl of Burford hosts another slightly batty, thoroughly baffling house party....
George Henry Alwyn Saunders, 12th in his line, has taken a fancy to films. He's nearly killed with delight when a movie mogul wants Alderly, the Burfords' 17th century country estate, for the set of a new Rex Ransom epic. The bronzed, handsome star has long thrilled the loopy lord with dazzling deeds on the silver screen. Less than thrilled is the Countess, who's suddenly playing hostess to a Hollywood crowd and a growing guest list that includes a long-lost cousin and a shady second spouse, two suitors for the Burford's willful daughter Lady Geraldine, an eccentric screenwriter protesting the pirating of his work, a sultry, sparky femme fatale, a professional blackmailer.

It’s 1930 England and the Earl of Burford is hosting another house party. His parties are always unusual to say the least and looked forward to by almost everyone….Everyone that is except hais wife, the Countess. The Earl of Burford is very proud of his country holdings… so he is thrilled when he finds out someone wants to film a “talking picture” at his estate starring one of his favorite movie heroes. Not only do the film stars and film crew descend on her but she now has a long-lost cousin who arrives at the same time. Before long the country estate is overflowing with invited and uninvited guests. Then, inevitably, the house party leads to a murder, and Scotland Yard comes to solve the crime. The entire story is populated with bizarre and often funny characters…fiendish plots…red herrings, and surprises. This is a wonderful old time classic detective story that everyone that likes this type of story will be sure to enjoy.

Crouching Buzzard, Leaping Loon - Donna Andrews
2.5★

Poor Meg Langslow...somehow her road to contentment is more rutted and filled with potholes than seems fair. There's her demanding mother. Then there's the fruitless hunt for a place big enough for her and her biyfriend, Michael to live together. Just one crisis after another. For companionship she has a buzzard with one wing---who she must feed frozen mice thawed in the office microwave---and her boyfriend Michael's mother's nightmare dog. It's all simply loony. Then there's the office practical joker, lying on top of the mail cart pretending to be dead. Meg soon realizes that he's become the victim of someone who wasn't joking at all. He's been murdered for real.

I had never read any of this series before...but hey...it had a buzzard, also known as a vulture, on the cover and I needed something on the cover that started with the letter "V"... that's right...for a challenge. I thought it might be funny...it's been my experience after 28 years in a zoo that vultures were often funny creatures...but unfortunately it was just ridiculous and Meg was just plain annoying. I'm more than likely a minority here but I think I'll skip any more of these.

Darkfall - Dean Koontz
4★

They found four corpses in four days. Each more hideously disfigured than the last, the bodies punctured with dozens of tiny wounds.At first they thought it was a savage psychopath. Then they thought it was a vicious gangland war. Then they thought packs of demonic rats were escaping through the ventilation system. Then they saw the nightmare itself, in all its mottled, slimy horror, coming after them from every direction, and they realized that the Gates of Hell had been left open.

Dean Koontz has been and remains one of my favorite authors. I gave this one four stars because I didn't feel that it was one of his best books. The storyline was good and the synopsis of the book was very intriguing but I didn't especially like any of the characters. Ten year old Penny was actually the best...and her father, Jack would have been a spot on detective IF anyone had listened to him and given him some credit. His partner was obnoxious and superficial through the entire book. Also more details could have been provided about the things in the dark. With that said, it is still a wonderful suspenseful, thriller, that is a fairly quick read. The author just didn't leave me wanting more like he usually does and even Dean Koontz himself admits in the back of the book that this wasn't his best work.

The Night Olivia Fell - Christina McDonald
4★

In the small hours of the morning, Abi Knight is startled awake by the phone call no mother ever wants to get: her teenage daughter Olivia has fallen off a bridge. Not only is Olivia brain dead, she’s pregnant and must remain on life support to keep her baby alive. And then Abi sees the angry bruises circling Olivia’s wrists. When the police unexpectedly rule Olivia’s fall an accident, Abi decides to find out what really happened that night. Heartbroken and grieving, she unravels the threads of her daughter’s life. Was Olivia’s fall an accident? Or something far more sinister?

Who exactly is Olivia? Did her search for her true identity lead to the disaster...or was it just a terrible accident? Abi...Olivia's mother...was a literal basket case. I wondered how long she thought she could keep her secret from Olivia and how soon before Olivia would rebel. So the storyline revolves around the question of did Olivia fall from the bridge or was she pushed. The police were less than enthusiastic in their joke of an investigation and decided to half-heartedly listen to her mother who is certain it was a crime. Meanwhile Olivia remains brain dead...kept alive so her fetus can grow and be born. They are actually going to give Abi another child to raise???? The list of people who could have wanted Olivia dead is longer than Abi ever could have imagined. The known boyfriend??...The secret boyfriend? ?...The ex best friend??... The newly discovered half sister??...Her biological father??...or was it what it appears to be...just a tragic accident?

Death in an Elegant City (Murder on Location Book 4)

A nice cozy mystery set in Bath

Bluegrass: A True Story of Murder in Kentucky - William Van Meter
3.5★

A shocking investigation into a true crime that tore a town apart—the violent murder of a young coed in Kentucky, the innocent boy who was jailed for the crime, and a small Southern community filled with haunting, unforgettable characters. Katie Autry was a foster child from a tiny village in Kentucky; a little awkward, but always with the biggest smile on her high school cheerleading squad. In September 2002, she matriculated as a freshman at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, majoring in the dental program. She worked days at the smoothie shop, nights at the local strip club, and fell in love with a football player who wouldn’t date her. On the morning of May 4, 2003, Katie Autry was raped, stabbed, sprayed with hairspray, and set on fire in her own dormitory room. In telling the true story of this shocking crime, William Van Meter describes the devastation of not one but three families. Two young men are jailed for the crime: DNA evidence places Stephen Soules, an unemployed, mixed-race high school dropout, at the scene; and Lucas Goodrum, a twenty-one-year-old pot dealer with an ex-wife, a girlfriend still in high school, and a history of domestic abuse, is held by an ever-changing confession. The friends of the suspects and the foster and birth families of the victim form complex and warring social nets that are cast across town. And a small southern community, populated by eccentrics of every socioeconomic class, from dirt-poor to millionaire, responds to the horror.

I Believe that the author did a good job with all things considering. The story itself was interesting...however the characters were just ordinary...but seeing that it was based on actual events that occurred after a frat party...I suppose ordinary is the best description for them. I was very impressed with how this author handled the people that made up his account. William Van Meter tells this story without any condescension or judgement. Life in semi-rural Kentucky might have been filled with cliches in the hands of other writers... but not William Van Meter. He simply shows us the aimless lives of the two boys and the semi-aimless life of the girl and their unimaginatively bad choices along with their almost innocent kindnesses. It's not a perfect story with a neatly tied-up ending..but then life seldom is. In spite of the facts being laid out well...you still come away not really knowing what actually happened in that dorm room. It's a creepy story of sadly wasted lives but still an excellent read.

The Haunting of Rookward House - Darcy Coates
4

When Guy finds the deeds to a house in his mother's attic, it seems like an incredible stroke of luck. Sure, the building hasn't been inhabited in forty years and vines strangle the age-stained walls, but Guy is convinced he can clean it up and sell it. He'd be crazy to turn down free money. Right? The house is hours from any other habitation, and Guy can't get phone reception in the old building. He decides to camp there while he does repairs. Surely nothing too bad can happen in the space of a week. But there's a reason no one lives in Rookward House, and the dilapidated rooms aren't as empty as they seem... A deranged woman tormented a family in Rookward forty years before. Now her ghost clings to the building like rot. She's bitter, obsessive, and jealous... and once Guy has moved into her house, she has no intention of ever letting him leave.

I read this book 2 months ago and only gave it 3 stars. If this had been my first Darcey Coates book I would have let it go at that and moved on. However…the story haunted me... (no pun intended)…and I wondered if the rating was a bit unfair…so I have reread the book. While the main character, Guy is still pretty much a winy baby…I have to give him credit for staying to try and get the house ready to sell. Any normal person would have run for their lives the first time they saw this disaster of a house and diffidently the first time the baby monitor with no batteries or electricity “talked”. Not Guy…he stuck it out. The trip to the attic would have been the last straw for most people…and now we see that Guy isn’t thinking of the money at all anymore. I believe the thing that persuaded me to only give it 3 stars the first time was the possibility that there was not an actual haunting like in all the other books by this author. You just can’t take our haunting away from us like that. Ghost story junkies need that extra shiver. In spite of this I enjoyed the book more the second time around. It’s still not 5 star material… but it’s at least a 4 star story. Please don’t do this again Darcey.

Force of Nature by Jane Harper
3 ★
When five colleagues are forced to go on a corporate retreat in the wilderness, they reluctantly pick up their backpacks and start walking down the muddy path. But one of the women doesn’t come out of the woods. And each of her companions tells a slightly different story about what happened. Federal Police Agent Aaron Falk investigates and discovers a tangled web of personal and professional friendship, suspicion, and betrayal among the hikers.

This story is mostly about the five women on the retreat, their relationships with each other and survival in the wilderness. Falk, who I really liked in The Dry, was almost a minor character, although he did investigate. I never really grew to care about any of the women. This story was only mildly interesting to me.

What The Night Knows - Dean Koontz
4★

n the late summer of a long ago year, a killer arrived in a small city. His name was Alton Turner Blackwood, and in the space of a few months he brutally murdered four families. His savage spree ended only when he himself was killed by the last survivor of the last family, a fourteen-year-old boy. Half a continent away and two decades later, someone is murdering families again, recreating
in detail Blackwood’s crimes. Homicide detective John Calvino is certain that his own family—his wife and three children—will be targets in the fourth crime, just as his parents and sisters were victims on that distant night when he was fourteen and killed their slayer. As a detective, John is a man of reason who deals in cold facts. But an extraordinary experience convinces him that sometimes death is not a one-way journey, that sometimes the dead return.

Dean Koontz makes the case that the only thing worse than a serial killer might be his ghost. I have to say that you will either have to be a real ghost story enthusiast or really, really like the early works of Dean Koontz to not become disillusioned with this ghost story. I happen to be both so I probably won't be as critical of the book as others might be and am willing to sacrifice a 4 star rating to it. We have, to begin with, a 14 year old mass murderer who is in the state mental hospital for the slaughter..."killing" or "murder" would be too kind to describe what he did...of his entire family. The reader should be able to work up some compassion for the child killer...Billy, but Billy neither wants nor deserves our compassion. He's not sorry...he has no desire to reform or be cured...whichever the state hopes will happen first. Billy has an invisible friend that is having more fun than he ever had in life. The book goes on and on moving from one time period to another and from Billy and the detective that sees way too much of himself in the young killer. A good ghost story requires the suspension of the reader's disbelief but as much as I like this author...this one is almost more disbelief than is possible to suspend.

The Breakdown - B.A. Paris
3★

If you can't trust yourself, who can you trust? Cass is having a hard time since the night she saw the car in the woods, on the winding rural road, in the middle of a downpour, with the woman sitting inside - the woman who was killed. She's been trying to put the crime out of her mind; what could she have done, really? It's a dangerous road to be on in the middle of a storm. Her husband would be furious if he knew she'd broken her promise not to take that shortcut home. And she probably would only have been hurt herself if she'd stopped. But since then, she's been forgetting every little thing: where she left the car, if she took her pills, the alarm code, why she ordered a pram when she doesn't have a baby. The only thing she can't forget is that woman, the woman she might have saved, and the terrible nagging guilt. Or the silent calls she's receiving, or the feeling that someone's watching her...

I loved B. A. Paris's Behind Closed Doors so was rather surprised at her character of Cass. I didn't know rather to pity her or kill her myself. I know that the author was trying to build the suspense but this woman just kept getting dumber and dumber. Some one is dead...or might be dead in the car you stopped and momentarily observed...so TELL someone!! The fact that she was on the road she wan't suppose to be on pales beside the reality. Overall I found the idea of the story-line interesting...hence the 3 stars... but badly carried through. The main character of Cass was gullible...needy..and stupid. I stopped feeling sorry for her about a third of the way through and gave up on her completely by the half way point.

The Magpie Murders - Anthony Horowitz
5★

When editor Susan Ryeland is given the manuscript of Alan Conway’s latest novel, she has no reason to think it will be much different from any of his others. After working with the bestselling crime writer for years, she’s intimately familiar with his detective, Atticus Pünd, who solves mysteries disturbing sleepy English villages. An homage to queens of classic British crime such as Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers, Alan’s traditional formula has proved hugely successful. So successful that Susan must continue to put up with his troubling behavior if she wants to keep her job. Conway’s latest tale has Atticus Pünd investigating a murder at Pye Hall, a local manor house. Yes, there are dead bodies and a host of intriguing suspects, but the more Susan reads, the more she’s convinced that there is another story hidden in the pages of the manuscript: one of real-life jealousy, greed, ruthless ambition, and murder.

I have yet to be disappointed in this author. This one is a who-done it written reminiscent of Agatha Christie. The story revolves around a manuscript turned into his editor by mystery writer Alan Conway. His editor soon realizes that is one mystery wrapped in another. As readers we get to read Alan's manuscript along with the editor. The fictional case soon plays out beside a real case playing out in the editors life. I found this interesting bit of info about Anthony Horwitz. "Horowitz has spent a long career thinking up suspense stories in the vein of the genre’s greats. In addition to creating the popular British detective shows Midsomer Murders and Foyle’s War, he has written screenplays for the Poirot TV series, a James Bond novel commissioned by the Ian Fleming estate. No wonder he is so good. Almost all of these series are favorites of mine. Here we have a murder in an English countryside...a fussy detective...a daft sidekick...a meddling busybody...a peculiar vicar...and a bombastic aristocrat. Most Mystery fans will find something about it to like.

Salvation Station- Kathryn Schleich
4.5★

Malevolence in the Midwest is at the heart of this crime tale. While religion is ever-present throughout, it is the misappropriation of faith and using it for obscenely evil purposes that take readers through a winding trail of deception, depravity, mayhem, and murder.

The story wraps mystery, murder, faith, and uncertain redemption into one whirlwind story. I didn’t know whether to feel sorry for Rev. Ray Williams or just shake some sense into him. Those that have seen some television ministers that take advantage of people and prey on the weak will hate him and his new “friend” right off the bat…but don’t give up on Rev. Ray…he has much bigger problems coming down the line. I really liked the police investigator, Linda Turner. She was relentless in her efforts to solve the gruesome murder of another minister and his two young children. I knew about a third of the way into the book what was really going to happen but the story had so many twists and turns that you have to read just one more page to be certain. It says that this is Kathryn Schleich’s first novel but if she produces more like Salvation Station she will make it big in the literary world. A really excellent read.

I received an advance copy of this book from She Writes Press in exchange for an honest review. The opinions are entirely all my own.

>21 Carol420: I read my first Horowitz book recently, The Word is Murder with my in-person book group and I really enjoyed it. I'm also looking forward to reading the next in this series The Sentence is Death. My book group had read The Magpie Murders in the past and recommended it, like you. So, I'm putting that on my TBR list too!

Desperate Girls by Laura Griffin
3.5 ★
Defense attorney Brynn Holloran is a force to reckon with in the courtroom, but in her personal life she's a mess. When a vicious murderer she prosecuted resurfaces and starts killing everyone who helped put him behind bars, Brynn turns to a private security firm for protection. When Brynn defies advice and gets involved in the investigation, even the former Secret Service agent assigned to protect her may not be able to keep her safe.

This book had suspense, action, romance and sex, with a little more on the suspense side, which I liked, than the romance side. I enjoyed the perspectives of the security firm and some of the things they did to protect Brynn. Overall, a fun read.

Lies Sleeping - Ben Aaronovitch
Rivers of London series Book #7
2.5★

The Faceless Man, wanted for multiple counts of murder, fraud, and crimes against humanity, has been unmasked and is on the run. Peter Grant, Detective Constable and apprentice wizard, now plays a key role in an unprecedented joint operation to bring him to justice. But even as the unwieldy might of the Metropolitan Police bears down on its foe, Peter uncovers clues that the Faceless Man, far from being finished, is executing the final stages of a long term plan….a plan that has its roots in London's two thousand bloody years of history, and could literally bring the city to its knees. To save his beloved city Peter's going to need help from his former best friend and colleague--Lesley May--who brutally betrayed him and everything he thought she believed in. And, far worse, he might even have to come to terms with the malevolent supernatural killer and agent of chaos known as Mr Punch.

I have always liked this series even when I didn’t totally understand where the storyline was going. It seems that sometimes a great idea just runs out of steam, and it appears to have been the case with this one. I found that it just rambled on and on with twists that had no logic whatsoever. I was very surprised that this one was like this and actually looked to see if someone else had written it. I guess all authors have off days but I hope Mr. Aaronovitch gets it together for the next one.

Icebound - Dean Koontz
4.5★

The Arctic night is endless. The fear is numbing. Screams freeze in the throat. Death arrives in shades of white. And cold-blooded murder seems right at home.

Icebound is departure from Dean Koontz’s usual horror genre…but not by very much. It can easily be called a techno-thriller. The story follows the experiences of a group of Arctic explorers who are on a mission to blast off an iceberg from the ice cap but unfortunately get trapped on ice when a tsunami occurs. Two further problems are that the detonation charges are sealed in the ice and that there is a murderer amongst them. Who that is becomes evident and the yarn just keeps getting more complicated with the addition of a Russian submarine rescue mission. The scientists remain trapped on the iceberg with the charges set to go off at midnight. Dean has given us a group of characters that we don’t want to see blown to smithereens but it’s not looking good. All we can do is keep reading in the slim chance that hope will win over despair. It a tense and unforgettable read.

The Fisherman - John Langan
5★

In upstate New York, in the woods around Woodstock, Dutchman's Creek flows out of the Ashokan Reservoir. Steep-banked, fast-moving, it offers the promise of fine fishing, and of something more, a possibility too fantastic to be true. When Abe and Dan, two widowers who have found solace in each other's company and a shared passion for fishing, hear rumors of the Creek, and what might be found there, the remedy to both their losses, they dismiss it as just another fish story. Soon, though, the men find themselves drawn into a tale as deep and old as the Reservoir. It's a tale of dark pacts, of long-buried secrets, and of a mysterious figure known as Der Fisher: the Fisherman. It will bring Abe and Dan face to face with all that they have lost, and with the price they must pay to regain it.

John Langan is a new author for me and one that I will certainly be returning to. The heart and soul of this novel is a fundamental human emotion...grief and the desire to have one last conversation with a deceased loved one in order to say all of the things that never got said when they were alive. If such a thing were possible, what price would you be willing to pay since we all know that there is no such thing as a free lunch? I've always been a huge fan of ghost stories and horror literature...so it is very seldom that I read a book that has the power to transfix and produce such an uneasy after effect as this one did. If you love or even slightly like this type of story find this book and submerge yourself in one dark, frightening but tantalizing tale.

Teacher Man - Frank McCourt
The Frank McCourt Memoirs
5★

This is neither mystery or suspense or a thriller but it is one of the best books of this type that you will ever read about a remarkable teacher as well as a remarkable human being.

Now the Pulitzer Prize-winning author continues his amazing life story in a magnificent new memoir that glimmers with all the wit, charm and irreverence of his previous bestsellers. As he tells the story of his rocky path to "teacherhood", he recalls how he won over a class by eating a student's bologna sandwich, how he turned his students' hilarious excuse notes in an unlikely lesson, how a beautiful young woman broke his hear--and McCourt's passion for storytelling shines through. This is a brilliant look at the coming of age of an unconventional teacher, a gifted storyteller and ultimately a literary superstar

A side note: Frank McCourt (1930-2009) was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Irish immigrant parents, grew up in Limerick, Ireland, and returned to America in 1949. For thirty years he taught in New York City high schools. His first book, "Angela's Ashes," won the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Critics Circle Award and the L.A. Times Book Award. In 2006, he won the prestigious Ellis Island Family Heritage Award for Exemplary Service in the Field of the Arts and the United Federation of Teachers John Dewey Award for Excellence in Education.

There are teacher and then there are the kind of teacher that Frank McCourt was. Here he tells of his 30-year career teaching English in New York City high schools. He was scared to death on his first day…and who wouldn’t be, facing a room of 16-year-olds at McKee Vocational and Technical High School on Staten Island, where his job was to teach five English classes per day to teenagers who were never expected to go any higher than 12th grade…if that. The year was 1958 and Frank McCourt was 27 years old and just out of New York University himself. One doesn’t have to be a teacher to appreciate his account of how reading the students’ obviously self-authored absence excuses inspired him to create a composition assignment they couldn’t resist: write a note of excuse from Adam to God. I would have loved to have tacked that one. At 38, he left for a doctoral program at Dublin’s Trinity College, returning two years later without a degree. That is a story for another book. He relates two of his most memorable teaching experiences… a vocabulary lesson involving a picnic in the park with ethnic foods brought by students in his creative-writing class, and a recipe-as-poetry class in which students read recipes aloud to the accompaniment of assorted musical instruments. As I said there are teachers and then there are teachers like Frank McCourt. If you read his memoirs’ you’ll be more than just entertained…you’ll be enlightened.

Here To Stay - Mark Edwards
4.5

A beautiful home. A loving wife. And in-laws to die for. Gemma Robinson comes into Elliot’s life like a whirlwind, and they marry and settle into his home. When she asks him if her parents can come to stay for a couple of weeks, he is keen to oblige – he just doesn’t quite know what he’s signing up for. The Robinsons arrive with Gemma’s sister, Chloe, a mysterious young woman who refuses to speak or leave her room. Elliot starts to suspect that the Robinsons are hiding a dark secret. And then there are the scars on his wife’s body that she won’t talk about . . .As Elliot’s in-laws become more comfortable in his home, encroaching on all aspects of his life, it becomes clear that they have no intention of moving out. To protect Gemma, and their marriage, Elliot delves into the Robinsons’ past. But is he prepared for the truth?

Mark Edwards is one of my favorite authors so I was very excited to find something new by him. This story is based on such a simple premise…the guests that come to visit and then just won’t leave. In Elliott’s case the matter is made worse as these unwelcome guests are his new in-laws…and they may well not be at all what they seem…and not in a good way either. The thing that kept the book from receiving my other “half-star” was the character of Elliott himself. Although his character was well developed… a lot of his behavior made no sense and didn’t fit his personality…he came across as way too submissive. I genuinely could not imagine any person acting like this. It’s an interesting, and not-too commonly done take on the thriller genre. With so many thrillers out there, this one is a fresh… although slightly disturbing… read. Like all the other books by Mark Edwards, the biggest and best is saved for the end. He seems to consistently produce an unexpected surprise in the end.

Margin of Error by Edna Buchanan
3 ★
Hollywood actor Lance Westfell arrives in Miami for the shoot of a film in which he plays a reporter. To familiarize him with the profession, reporter Britt Montero is assigned to keep him company. A dangerous assignment as the actor is being stalked by a woman.

There was a lot going on in this story. There’s the stalker following Lance around. Then someone is trying to kill Lance. Then Lance and Britt get romantic. Britt also investigates a welfare mother accused of letting her baby starve. I thought there was too much going on, especially the romance between Lance and Britt. Just so-so for me.

The Good Detective – John McMahon
Detective P.T. Marsh series Book #1
4★

Detective P.T. Marsh was a rising star on the police force of Mason Falls, Georgia--until his wife and young son died in an accident. Since that night, he's lost the ability to see the line between smart moves and disastrous decisions. Such as when he agrees to help out a woman by confronting her abusive boyfriend. When the next morning he gets called to the scene of his newest murder case, he is stunned to arrive at the house of the very man he beat up the night before. He could swear the guy was alive when he left, but can he be sure? What's certain is that his fingerprints are all over the crime scene. The trouble is only beginning. When the dead body of a black teenager is found in a burned-out field with a portion of a blackened rope around his neck, P.T. realizes he might have killed the number-one suspect of this horrific crime. Amid rising racial tension and media scrutiny, P.T. uncovers something sinister at the heart of the boy's murder--a conspiracy leading all the way back to the time of the Civil War. Risking everything to unravel the puzzle even as he fights his own personal demons, P.T. races headlong toward an incendiary and life-altering showdown.

I think I’m going to like this series. Marsh is a likable character…but he’s going to die from exhaustion if John McMahon puts this much on his plate in every book. It made me tired just trying to put his cases in a normal work day. He has to solve Rowe's murder… exonerate himself;… rehabilitate himself and his reputation on the force… and expose and then fight the local backwoods cabal. Wow! Is there that many hours in a day? It’s a great start to a promising series but lets save something for future books. Great dog…by the way!

The Three Weissmanns of Westport – Cathleen Schine
2.5★

Betty Weissmann has just been dumped by her husband of forty-eight years. Exiled from her elegant New York apartment by her husband's mistress, she and her two middle-aged daughters, Miranda and Annie, regroup in a run-down Westport, Connecticut, beach cottage. The impulsive sister is Miranda, a literary agent entangled in a series of scandals, and the more pragmatic sister is Annie, a library director, who feels compelled to move in and watch over her capricious mother and sister. Schine's witty, wonderful novel The Three Weissmanns of Westport "is simply full of pleasure: the pleasure of reading, the pleasure of Austen, and the pleasure that the characters so rightly and humorously pursue….An absolute triumph"

This is a play on Jane Austen’s “Sense and Sensibility” I never cared for Jane Austen…put the rocks down folks… but then I'm the only living human in the world that doesn't like Agatha Christie either...but have to admit that this was slightly more tolerable than either. The two daughters followed their mother to Uncle Lou’s cottage in Westport. CT. It wasn’t the Ritz by any stretch of the imagination but the three women started to try to put their lives back together. Annie…the librarian…tries to help the women sort things out. Miranda…the literary agent is under siege because the "memoirists" that she has taken on have turned out to be frauds and she must figure out what to do with her life now. Needless to say this may turn out to be a bigger worry than her mother having been abandoned since she has had a tendency in the past to make some very foolish choices. As they search to rediscover who they are…they are surprised at what they find. The three women processed all the flaws and strengths of real people… and at the end, were some surprises. I believe you could call this a “beach read”. Good enough story…but I found I quickly tired of it.

The Collectors - David Baldacci
The Camel Club series Book #2
5★

The assassination of the speaker of the House has rocked the nation. And the Camel Club has found a chilling connection with another death: that of the director of the Library of Congress's Rare Books and Special Collections Division. The club's unofficial leader, a man who calls himself Oliver Stone, discovers that someone is selling America to its enemies one secret at a time. Then Annabelle Conroy, the greatest con artist of her generation, comes to town and joins forces with the Camel Club for her own reasons. And Stone will need all the help she can give, because the two murders are hurtling the Camel Club into a world of espionage that is bringing America to its knees.

I was wondering how these two story lines...Annabelle and the big Atlantic City heist...and a dead librarian in the Library of Congress rare books section...was ever going to connect. I should never have questioned the "master storyteller"...David Baldacci. Come together they did...with a BANG!)...or was that a shot fired by Seagraves, the government assassin adding to his "collection"? Annabelle with her perfect...though maybe questionable, skills...was a fantastic asset to the Camel Club boys. It isn't a perfect book by any stretch...and some readers won't like the two different story lines or that the story of Annabelle will continue into the next book... but it is Baldacci...it's entertaining and ensures that we, the fans of this author will be picking up the next in the series.

Lakeside Cottage - Susan Wiggs
3★

If you trust your heart, you’ll always know who you are.... Each summer, Kate Livingston returns to her family’s lakeside cottage, a place of simple living and happy times - a place where she now hopes her shy son can blossom. But her quiet life gets a bit more interesting with the arrival of an intriguing new neighbor, JD Harris. Although she is a confirmed single mother, Kate is soon drawn into the sweetness of a summer romance and discovers the passion of a lifetime. JD is hardly able to remember who he was before the media frenzy of becoming an overnight hero back in Washington, D.C....until he escapes to this lovely, remote part of the Northwest. Now Kate Livingston and her son have rekindled the joy of small pleasures and peace… But how long will his blissful anonymity last before reality comes banging at his door?

I'm not a fan of romance novels but it was an okay read. The book starts out dramatically and mysteriously...so I thought maybe this romance would be okay but it didn't take long the story began to deteriorate. The characters were good but it was just too "sappy" for me.

Unraveling Oliver by Liz Nugent
3.5 ★

Oliver Ryan, handsome, charismatic, and successful, has long been married to his devoted wife, Alice. Together they write and illustrate award-winning children's books; their life together one of enviable privilege and ease--until, one evening Oliver beats her into a coma. In the aftermath of such an unthinkable event, the couple's friends, neighbors, and acquaintances try to understand what could have driven Oliver to commit such a horrific act. As his story unfolds, layers are peeled away to reveal a life of shame, envy, deception, and masterful manipulation.

This story was told in alternating points of view to slowly reveal Oliver’s life and situations that led him to act the way he did. I thought that worked well and was easy to follow. I didn’t like Oliver but I did feel sympathy for him and his childhood difficulties. All the characters were developed well and I liked some and disliked others. I think when Oliver snapped in the end it made sense based on what happened in his life. This was an interesting story and I liked it.

Popped by Carol Higgins Clark
3 1/2 *

Regan Reilly gets a call from Danny, a former school classmate, now a producer of a reality TV show pilot. He really needs the show to get picked up by the Balloon Network, owned by the eccentric Roscoe Parker. Danny needs Regan's help as bizarre things keep happening on his set. Regan flies from her office in LA to Las Vegas. The story is fast moving with quirky characters and unusual mysterious happenings. The story was a bit choppy and hard to follow at first, but it all pretty much pulls together by the end.

Burned by Carol Higgins Clark
3 1/2*

Regan Reilly, PI, was packing to go to NYC to visit her fiance and her parents. However, a raging blizzard closed the airports out east. Her best friend Kit was vacationing in Hawaii. Kit invited Regan to spend the weekend with her. Besides, Kit wanted Regan to meet her new rich boyfriend, Steve. Upon arriving in Waikiki, Regan found there had been a murder at the hotel in which she was staying. The hotel manager asked if Regan could snoop around to find out what had happened. Weird little things kept happening at the hotel, and Regan was going to get to the bottom of it in a working vacation. Not a bad silly quick read. Overwhelming amounts of quirky characters and bizarre twists and turns made the book go fast.

A Treasure to Die For by Richard Houston
3 ★
There is a treasure high in the Colorado Rockies waiting for someone to find it. Jake Martin couldn't care less. Since the death of his wife, all Jake wants is to be left alone in his mountain cabin where he and his dog, Fred, can get on with life. But when it becomes known that an old miner used a copy of Tom Sawyer as a key to a coded message for the location of the treasure, someone wants that edition so bad he's willing to kill for it. Can the amateur sleuths decode the message and stop the murderer, or have Jake and Fred finally met their match?

This story was somewhat convoluted and sometimes hard to follow. Jake was likeable but did some risky and silly things once he got involved. His friend Bonnie and Jake’s dog Fred were also likeable and there were some humorous moments.