Dec 25 - 31, 2016

Where There's a Will by Rex Stout - Nero Wolfe is low on money so he reluctantly takes a contested will case. A multimillionaire has left the bulk of his money to his mistress and his heirs don't want the will contested in court because of their high status. Of course there's also a murder, multiple suspects and many, many clues before Wolfe prevails again.

3 star
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The Pier Falls: And Other Stories by Mark Haddon - a collection of short stories by the author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. Some have fantasy and myth woven in, The Pier Falls reads almost like a newspaper account. Most are told in present tense. Only a couple have what I consider satisfactory ends. I did like the writing.

3 stars
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The Mother Tongue: English and How It Got That Way by Bill Bryson - a sometimes amusing study of the English language. Written in 1990, so it's a little dated. I gave it three stars on Goodreads but actually it's

2.5 stars

Dec 18 - 24, 2016

Stiletto by Daniel O'Malley - the Checquy and the Grafters have hated each other for centuries, taught to do so from a very early age. Now the two sides are suddenly in negotiations to join forces. And two young women on opposite sides learn about themselves and each other. This is the second in a series about monster hunters in Great Britain. And the monster hunters are monsters themselves. Quite a bit of monster related violence.

3.5 stars
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In Sunlight or In Shadow: Stories Inspired by the Paintings of Edward Hopper edited by Lawrence Block - several authors, Lee Child, Michael Connelly, Stephen King to name a few, were asked to pick a painting by Edward Hopper and then write a story about it. I found it interesting that so many set their stories in the same time period as the painting. Many of them were in the hard-boiled genre. And some were just strange. Each story was accompanied by a print of the painting that inspired them. I liked probably half.

3 stars
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The Woman on the Orient Express by Lindsay Jayne Ashford - part fact, mostly fiction, this is the story of Agatha Christie's trip to the Middle East after her divorce from her husband. Tired of being in the news, she is traveling under an assumed name. With her on the train are two other women, both with secrets of their own. As the women become friends, the secrets are gradually revealed.

4 stars

Dec 11 - 17, 2016

A Chihuahua in Every Stocking by Waverly Curtis - a short ebook in a new to me series featuring P.I. Geri Sullivan and her talking(!) chihuahua, Pepe. When Pepe sees that a little girl's dog has been stolen on Christmas Eve, he convinces Geri to investigate. They find more than a missing dog. I might read more in this series when I want fluff.

3 stars
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Bruno and the Carol Singers by Martin Walker - Chief of Police Bruno is busy with Christmas duties -  organizing carolers and playing Father Christmas. When there's a theft of charity money, he steps in with some kindness and mercy. Very short book with lots of food talk, it will make you want to go St. Denis in France.

3 stars
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The Wrong Side of Goodby by Michael Connelly - in the 21st Harry Bosch book, Harry is now a licensed pi and also working as an unpaid volunteer at the San Fernando police department. In his private capacity he's hired by a multi billionaire to see if the man has an heir. And in his police capacity he's tracking down a serial rapist. No, the two cases don't intertwine, and time spent on one is to the detriment of the other. We also learn a little bit more about Harry's time in Vietnam.

4 stars
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The Book That Matters Most by Ann Hood - Ava joins a book club mostly for companionship after her marriage falls apart. Their theme for the year is the book that matters most and Ava chooses a book from her past that helped her get through a very difficult time. But she can't find a copy of the book or anything about the author. In the meantime, her daughter Maggie is making bad decisions in Paris. Told from several different viewpoints.

4.5 stars
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In the Pulps - 26 Short Stories by Rex Stout - published between 1912 and 1917, these short stories were written before Stout came up with his famous detective, Nero Wolfe. Most of these are not mysteries but more like quick character studies. My favorite was Pamfret and Peace, written in 1913. The main character comes back to life in 1970 and finds that the Peace Committee has taken over. No differences of opinion, no cheering for one side or the other, no comparisons, and even no talking in your sleep! At least no one can be offended.

3 stars
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As Dark as Christmas Gets by Lawrence Block - a short ebook. Chip Harrison and his Nero Wolfe wannabe employer are called to a bookstore on Christmas day to find out who stole a valuable manuscript. The author gets in a lot in these 33 pages - his opinion of deceased writers books being continued, collectors, and his fun with Nero Wolfe. But the big fun for me was when Mr. Block replied to my comment on his facebook page.

3 stars
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The Dreams of John Weaver by Josh Hanagarne - John wakes up from a coma and can see other people's dreams. I didn't really care for this book and yet had to keep reading to see what it was about. And then was sorry I did. I think it's a YA horror book.

1.5 stars

Dec 4 - 10, 2016

Dog Run Moon by Callan Wink - a collection of short stories about sad, pathetic people. Some of the stories started out good and I liked the writing but then they just....petered out. Is this the new way to write? The story actually has no ending? Doesn't work for me.

1 star
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When All the Girls Have Gone by Jayne Ann Krentz - Charlotte can't contact her step-sister. Then she learns one of Jocelyn's friends has died, supposedly a suicide. She teams up with Max Cutler, a P.I., and their investigation leads to an investment club. But there are clues that lead to a dark event in the past, too. This is billed as a romance and it is somewhat Harelquin-y, with the obligatory sex scene. But it was much more of a mystery to me.

3 stars
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Kissing Christmas Goodby by M.C. Beaton - Agatha Raisin is bored with the mundane cases her detective agency is handling. So when she gets a letter from a woman claiming someone in her family is going to kill her she's intrigued. What follows is a rather boring mystery that is only solved with luck. Much of the book deals with Agatha's wish for a perfect Christmas dinner and the efforts she puts into that. I've read some of this series before, Agatha is not my favorite character.

2 stars
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A Most Novel Revenge by Ashley Weaver -  Amory and Milo Ames are asked by her cousin to come to the estate of her friend, a place where there was a mysterious death several years ago. When they arrive, they learn everyone from that time is there, including the woman who wrote a scandalous account of the death. An atmospheric house, bad weather, and unlikeable people are a recipe for disaster. Written very much in the style of British mysteries of the '30's, where wealthy, sophisticated people weekend at strangers homes and talk wittily among themselves.

3.5 stars
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The Body in the Sleigh by Katherine Hall Page - this is the 18th Faith Fairchild book, wife of a minister and stumbler upon of bodies. I've read a few others many years ago. The family is spending the Christmas holidays on Sanpere Island in Maine while Tom Fairchild recovers from surgery. Faith finds a body in the sleigh of a holiday display. In the meantime, a baby has been left at a goat farmer's house. Somehow these intertwine. Almost more recipes than mystery. These books are good for a cozy read if you're looking for something to veg out on.

2.5 stars

Nov 27 - Dec 3, 2016

Triple Jeopardy by Rex Stout - in this trio of short stories, Nero Wolfe deals with communism, a couple on the run, and a monkey.

3 stars
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The Dollhouse by Fiona Davis - Rose Lewin is going through a tough time personally and professionally when she stumbles on a story from the '50's that took place in the very building where she lives. The Barbizon was an exclusive hotel for women at the time, a safe place for aspiring models and secretaries. For most it was a stepping stone to nabbing a wealthy husband. Told in alternating chapters set in 1952 and 2016. Not billed as a mystery, but there is one.

4 stars
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A Last Goodbye by J.A. Jance - a novella in the Ali Reynolds series. Ali and B. Simpson are finally getting married in Las Vegas on Christmas Eve. While shopping, B. and Ali's grandkids rescue a dog thrown from a car. So now they have to search for the dog's owner while also getting ready for the wedding. This series is my least favorite by this author but this was a cute story.

3 stars
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The Magnolia Story by Chip and Joanna Gaines with Mark Dagostino - told mostly by Joanna with Chip chipping in, this is the story of their courtship and how they started doing the tv show Fixer  Upper. They had many ups and downs and were at the lowest when they got the show offer. A very quick read.

3 stars
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The Mistletoe Murder: And Other by P.D. James - four short stories, all of them with a twist.

3 stars
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The Lighthouse by P.D. James - an island off the coast of England is used as a retreat by the rich and powerful. When a suspicious death occurs, Adam Dalgliesh and two of his team are sent to investigate. It would seem a small suspect pool would make it easy but everyone seems to have secrets. I've read a few in this series, not in order.

3.5 stars
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Crime for Christmas edited by Richard Dalby - a collection of short stories by suthors such as Agatha Christie, Ellis Peters, and others. Some of them were old even at the time of publication, 1991. I have to admit I couldn't read the story by Wilkie Collins, published in 1852, too much flowery language. I picked this up at the library, where they had a collection of Christmas mysteries.

2 stars
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Sorrow Road by Julia Keller - this is the 5th book about Bell Elkins, prosecuting attorney of a small county in West Virginia. A little different in that she's not prosecuting a crime but investigating to see if there has been a crime. An old friend contacts her with suspicions about the death of her father in a facility for Alzheimer's patients. There are chapters from her daughter Carla's viewpoint. And the story of three friends from before WWII.

4 stars

Nov 20 - 26, 2016

Murder in E Minor by Robert Goldsborough - a continuation of the Nero Wolfe mysteries by Rex Stout, this takes place two years after the last novel by Mr. Stout. Nero Wolfe has not taken a case for two years and the only thing that can bring him out of his self-imposed retirement is a case involving an old friend from his years in Montenegro as a freedom fighter. I thought the author did a good job capturing the flavor of the Stout novels, but they just missed having that little something special. This was published in 1986 and the author has written several more. I'll be happy to continue the series.

3 stars
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The Bloodied Ivy by Robert Goldsborough - a college professor is sure that his fellow professor's  death is murder and not an accident. So much of the book is Archie trying to decide if it really is murder. Everyone is unlikeable and the conclusion was anticlimactic. The third in this new series. I read out of order because it was what I could get on my Kindle from the library.

2 stars
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Black Orchids by Rex Stout - two short stories in one book, the first also the title of the book. Nero Wolfe actually leaves his office to a look at some rare black orchids. And of course a murder happens at the flower show when he's there. In the second, Cordially Invited to Meet Death, a professional party giver hires Wolfe to discover who is sending her nasty anonymous letters. I had read these before but still enjoyed them.

3 stars
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And Four to Go by Rex Stout - a collection of four Nero Wolfe short stories, three with a holiday theme. In Christmas Party, someone is killed right in front of Archie, Easter Parade starts out with orchid theft and ends with murder, Fourth of July Picnic has someone murdered at a picnic where Wolfe is giving a speech, and Murder is No Joke has Archie and Wolfe hearing a murder over the telephone. It's always a pleasure to see how Wolfe figures things out.

3 stars
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The Rubber Band by Rex Stout - an almost lynching forty years ago, an English marquis, and an accusation of theft. They all come together in one case for Nero Wolfe that finds some of the accused hiding out in his house. I've read this before but had no recollection of it, one of the benefits of getting older.

3 stars
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Dark Matter by Blake Crouch - Jason Dessen lives a happy but somewhat bland life. Walking home from a bar one night he is kidnapped and knocked unconscious. When he comes to it's to a life he doesn't know. He's in a lab being congratulated for a successful experiment. But his wife is not married to him and his son doesn't exist. Which reality is real? This was a great, fast read. (You must be willing to suspend disbelief in order to really enjoy this.)

5 stars

Nov 13 - 19, 2016

The Gunslinger by Stephen King - the first book the the Dark Tower series. Everyone quotes the first line when they talk about this book so I will too. "The Man in Black fled across the desert, and the Gunslinger followed." And that about sums up the book. This takes place on our world in a different time, or another world like ours, or maybe we'll find out later. I read this because I wanted to have some background before the movie comes out. Not sure if it helped. And because I have to know, I'll read the second in the series.

3 stars
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Reckless Creed by Alex Kava - Ryder Creed and his K9 search and rescue dogs are called on for something different than the usual. Someone is trying to start a pandemic and the dogs are being trained to detect the virus. Although this is billed as the third Ryder Creed novel, Maggie O'Dell, the FBI agent from the author's other series features just as much. She's on the search for the rogue scientist that escaped her in the previous Creed book. I like these books because of the dogs.

3 stars
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The Girl from Venice by Martin Cruz Smith - it's near the end of  WWII in Italy, and one night Cenzo, a fisherman, pulls into his boat a young girl on the run from the Nazis. He decides to help smuggle her out of the country. This is supposed to be a historical mystery with some romance but it didn't hit any of those for me. A little too slow paced until the very end.

2 stars
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In Big Trouble by Laura Lippman - Tess Monaghan is out of her comfort zone when she goes to Texas to find an old boyfriend. She gets dragged into a 20 year old murder and at the same time the boyfriend is being accused of a current murder. The fourth in the series and it ends with an interesting development that I'm curious to see played out in the next book.

3 stars
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A Walk in the Woods:Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail by Bill Bryson - almost on a whim, the author decides to walk the trail, seemingly with little preparation. And his traveling companion is even less prepared. Lots of history and geology lessons along the way, with very un-pc thoughts about the residents of Georgia.  This wasn't as amusing as I expected.

2 stars
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Random Acts by J.A. Jance - a short e-book in which Sheriff Joanna Brady learns her mother and stepfather have been killed in a car accident. Or was it? I don't think it's fair to put important info in these short stories. Book 17 in the series started with Joanna dealing with their deaths and you're going when did this happen?

2 stars
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The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware - Lo Blacklock is not dealing well with a recent trauma. So when she thinks she's heard a woman thrown overboard while on a cruise she has trouble getting others to believe her. For one thing, no one is missing and no one saw the woman except Lo. But someone believes her and it's probably the murderer. Or is the whole thing her imagination?

4 stars

Nov 6 - 12, 2016

Butcher's Hill by Laura Lippman - the 3rd Tess Monaghan book. She's made it official and has opened her own office as a private investigator. Her first client is the notorious vigilante, Luther Beale, just out of prison for killing a young boy. He wants her to find the witnesses to the crime so that he can make retribution to them. But when they start turning up dead Tess wonders if she's helping him find them for another reason. Published in 1998, there are some interesting conversations about race that are relevant to today. Tess is starting to grow on me as she continues to become more mature.

3.5 stars
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Downfall by J.A. Jance - Sheriff Joanna Brady is planning the funeral of her mother and stepfather when she receives word there has been a murder/suicide or double homicide. Two women have been found at the bottom of a cliff. When it becomes apparent there was no connection between the two women, Joanna finds herself in the middle of a complex investigation while also grieving. And oh yes, she's also expecting a baby girl and in the middle of a reelection campaign.

4.5 stars
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Blind Sight by Carol O'Connell - the 12th Kathleen Mallory book. A nun and a blind boy disappear from a busy street and no one sees it happen. Mallory becomes involved because of the nun and the clues lead to the mayor of New York. This book is written in a (to me) disjointed style that makes it almost necessary to have read at least some of the previous books. The books are dark, Mallory is not likeable, and this book is no exception. I find them strangely compelling.

4 stars
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A Great Reckoning by Louise Penny - the 12th Armand Gamache book and the author is still going strong. The books starts with little tidbits of hints of what's to come and just keeps building. Gamache has come out of retirement to become head of the Surete police academy. The corruption he's been fighting has settled even here and he plans to dig it out. But a murder may lay those plans to rest. There's also an old found map, sullen cadets and a mysterious girl woven in.

5 stars
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An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness by Kay Redfield Jamison - the author's story of her struggle with manic depression beginning in her teen years. She has gone on to become a leading authority on the disease.

4 stars
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Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris - Jack and Grace are the perfect couple. He's handsome and oh so attentive to her every thought.  She pulls off dinner parties with ease. But what happens when everyone leaves? It's not a spoiler to say not everything is as it seems. It's the why that's horrifying.

3 stars

Oct 30 - Nov 5, 2016

The White Mirror by Elsa Hart - Li Du, an exiled librarian and now independent traveler, is traveling with a caravan in the mountains leading to Lhasa. A storm forces them to seek shelter in a secluded valley where they come upon a dead monk on a bridge. There are many undercurrents swirling among the travelers and their hosts and Li Du begins to suspect the death of the monk was not really suicide. I found this second in the series a little disappointing. There were almost too many legends and suspicions woven into the main story.

3 stars

Oct 23 - 29, 2016

Jade Dragon Mountain by Elsa Hart - I read this on the recommendation of one of my favorite authors, Louise Penny. This takes place in a remote province of China in 1708. Li Du, once an imperial librarian and now an exile, arrives in Dayan just a few days before the emperor of China is due. The emperor is there to witness the eclipse of the sun he has ordered. A Jesuit priest is found dead and Li Du is convinced it's murder. His insistence on discovering the truth has consequences that reach even the emperor. Lots of historical tidbits and full of atmosphere. The beginning of a series I want to continue.

3.5 stars

Oct 16 - 22, 2016

Baltimore Blues by Laura Lippman - Tess Monaghan's friend is having trouble with his fiancee. He wants to hire Tess to investigate, even though she's not a PI, but an unemployed newspaper reporter. Her meddling leads to her friend being accused of murder and that, of course, leads to more meddling. A somewhat convoluted plot. And I didn't find Tess likeable during most of the book, but I think she's changing. Written in 1997 and the beginning of a 12 book series so far. I've read the author before but somehow have missed this series.

3 stars
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The Road to Little Dribbling: Adventures of an American in Britain by Bill Bryson - twenty years ago the author wrote a book, Notes From a Small Island, about his travels in Britain and now he decides to revisit some of the towns and surrounding areas. The book is filled with lots of interesting tidbits and descriptions of a countryside the author obviously loves. It also has a few curmudgeonly rants - he's my age so I did identify with some of them. IMO, they weakened the book. The first page did have an amusing story that had me laughing out loud and my family looking at me like I was crazy. Some language.

3.5 stars
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Apprentice in Death by J.D. Robb - the 43rd(!) book in the series starts from the viewpoint of the killer targeting apparently random people at a skating rink. In the blink of an eye, three people are dead and Eve Dallas heads the investigation. This seems more of a police procedural than previous books, we know the killers identity fairly soon and then it's all about how to catch them. I enjoyed this more than the previous book.

3 stars
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You Look Like That Girl: A Child Actor Stops Pretending and Finally Grows Up by Lisa Jakub -  the author became an actress at age 4 almost accidentally. She stayed in the business 18 years, starring in Mrs. Doubtfire and Independence Day. But acting for her only fed her insecurities. She left Hollywood at 22 and reinvented herself. Verged on the whiny for me, but I'm in the minority on Goodreads.

3 stars
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Closed Casket by Sophie Hannah - Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot in a another mystery. Poirot and Inspector Catchpool (the narrator of the story) have been invited to the estate of Lady Playford, an author of children's books. At dinner she announces she has changed her will to leave everything to a man who is dying. Of course murder ensues, although maybe not the expected victim. What follows is a convoluted plot with lots of red herrings and peopled by some of the most unlikeable people I have ever met on a page. Not Christie worthy, imo.

2 stars
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Charm City by Laura Lippman - the second Tess Monaghan novel and she's starting to grow on me. She takes on some new responsibilities and seems to be growing up. This time around, she's hired by a newspaper to find out who caused a damaging story to be published. And then the subject of the article commits suicide. These books seem to be as much about the city of Baltimore as they are about the story. Published almost 20 years ago, it's interesting to see the women characters struggling to be accepted in the workplace. Things have changed a lot and yet so much is still the same. Anyway, the plot was nothing special, but I'm curious to see how Tess continues to change.

3 stars

Oct 9 - 15, 2016

Home by Harlan Coben - it's been five years since the last Myron Bolitar book and this was a great return. Ten years ago, two six year old boys were kidnapped, and after the initial ransom demand, nothing was heard again. But one of them is related to Myron's friend, Win, and he has never stopped looking. So when one of the boys turns up, his search intensifies for the other boy. Lots of twists and turns. The last page surprised me in a good way. Some violence, language, and child endangerment.

4.5 stars

Oct 2 - 8, 2016

In Such Good Company: Eleven Years of Laughter, Mayhem, and Fun in the Sandbox by Carol Burnett - a memoir only about her television show. She discusses the cast, production people, and her guest stars. No nastiness here, she only has bad things to say about one guest star and doesn't name them. Maybe a little too detailed about some of the sketches, they're not quite as funny on the page.

2.5 stars

Sept 25 - Oct 1, 2016

No books.

Sept 18 - 24, 2016

The Last One by Alexandra Oliva - a survival reality game crossed with a worldwide pandemic. The story is told in first person by Zoo and then flashes back to the other 11 contestants. People and situations are manipulated by the producers and when real disaster strikes no one realizes it. Some reviews complain the other characters aren't fleshed out but my take was that the author wanted them to be the caricatures that the producers in the book chose for them. This was an odd one, I really enjoyed it and yet felt it was dragging in some places.

4 stars
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Nothing Short of Dying by Erik Storey - Clive Barr is on his way to the Yukon to live his life alone and in peace when he gets a call from his sister saying she needs to be rescued. From there it's a fast paced adventure with hardly a breather. Small pieces of Clive's previous life are released in the rare quiet moment - he's a man who can handle himself very well in violent situations. His main fault is that he can't stop himself from helping those in need. PG13 verging on R for violence. The beginning of a series.

3.5 stars

Sept 11 - 17, 2016

The Last Time She Saw Him by Jane Haseldine - Reporter Julia Gooden's brother disappeared 30 years ago when she was 7 years old and she still blames herself for not remembering anything about it. Now she's zealously protective of her own children. But that doesn't keep her own son from being abducted. Soon, it looks like the two cases are related and there are many suspects from the past and present. The end was exciting but rather unbelievable. I didn't find any of the adults likeable. It looks like this is the beginning of a series.

3 stars
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City of the Lost by Kelley Armstrong - Police detective Casey Duncan was eighteen when she killed a man and got away with it. When the past threatens to catch up with her, she flees with her best friend, a victim of domestic abuse, to a secret town where everyone is hiding from something. That might not have been such a good idea. It seems there have been several suspicious deaths in a town with a very small population. And since Casey has been "allowed" into the town only because she's a detective, she has to hit the ground running. I really enjoyed this one. Also the beginning of a new series.

4.5 stars
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An Obvious Fact by Craig Johnson - the 12th Longmire books finds the sheriff and Henry Standing Bear in a small town near Sturgis, ND, during the annual motorcycle rally. They've been asked to look into the motorcycle accident of a young man. Was he run off the road for what he was carrying or what he knew? I have to say I found this one confusing and had trouble keeping track of people. Too many interruptions at the beginning of the book or old age? Some good one-liners from Henry but this was disappointing for me.

3 stars

* I'm anxiously waiting for the next season of Longmire starting on Netflix Friday, the 23rd. I keep both series completely separate in my head and enjoy them both.

Sep 4 - 10, 2016

The Black Widow by Daniel Silva - just before Gabriel Allon is about to become the director of Israel's secret service, there is an attack on a Jewish center in Paris. (The author wrote this before recent events in France.) It seems a new leader has risen, calling himself Saladin, and dedicated to cause catastrophe in the west. Gabriel recruits a female doctor to infiltrate the caliphate to find out when and where the next attack will be. Starts pretty slow and ends with a literal bang.There's not enough Gabriel in this book, he seems to have been reduced to mostly a watcher.

3 stars

Aug 28 - Sep 3, 2016

A Little Bit Wicked: Life, Love and Faith in Stages by Kristen Chenowith, Joni Rodgers - Kristen's story of her journey to Broadway. A little too chirpy and not enough details for me.

2 stars
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Someone Always Knows by Marcia Muller - the 31st Sharon McCone mystery. Sharon and her husband have just combined their agencies and moved into a new building when a man they thought dead reappears. He's out for revenge, but why? And what will he do? A rather thin plot but I'm grateful the author didn't stretch it another 100 pages as seems to be the norm these days. I've been reading this author since 1977, so for loyalty's sake (and because she has a lovely name)

3 stars

Aug 21 - 27, 2016

The Gentleman by Forrest Leo - set in Victorian times and written in that style with illustrations. Lionel Savage, a 22 yo poet, discovers he's broke and marries a beautiful woman for her wealth. He finds he can no longer write and comes to loathe his wife. One night at a party he meets the devil, the gentleman of the title, and comes to believe he has sold his wife to him. He then sets out to rescue her, accompanied by his butler, sister, and brother-in-law. This is a comedy/fantasy that I quite enjoyed.

4 stars
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Survivors Will Be Shot Again by Bill Crider - the 23rd Sheriff Dan Rhodes mystery. There's been a rash of thievery in part of the county and when a man is found dead in a barn the sheriff doesn't know if he's one of the thieves or a victim of them. Soon, another body is found. There are also small marijuana fields popping up guarded by alligators and snapping turtles. A light hearted mystery with quirky characters and the sheriff is always smarter than he seems.

3.5 stars
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Wilde Lake by Laura Lippman - Luisa has just been elected as the county prosecutor when she receives what looks like a slam dunk case. A homeless man is accused of killing a woman in her apartment. But something about the case has Lu thinking about the past and her brother's justifiable homicide in defense of a friend. Told in a style I usually dislike - third person present, first person past - but the story really kept me turning the pages. This also tells the story of real town Columbia, Maryland, a planned community of 10 villages.

4 stars

Aug 14 - 20, 2016

Fed, White, and Blue: Finding America with My Fork by Simon Majumdar - the author is probably best known for his appearances on The Food Network as a judge. The author of previous books combining travel and eating, he decided to explore becoming a US citizen by traveling the country eating and also discovering all the different cultures making up the country. Each chapter is a different area and has some history or cultural facts woven in. Finally, I know what keeping kosher is, I only had a vague idea before. A few PG-13 words and a couple of adult references.

4 stars
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See How They Run by Tom Bale - New parents Alice and Harry wake in the middle of the night to find three masked men in their bedroom asking questions they can't answer and threatening their baby. And then it's quite a thrill ride to the end. The only thing I didn't like was that the viewpoint changed abruptly sometimes. Some violence and child endangerment.

4 stars

August 7 13, 2016

The Return of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle - the author brings back his detective after killing him off in his previous collection. Thirteen short stories, including The Adventure of the Empty House in which Holmes returns. Watson is the real mystery, sometimes he's married, sometimes he's making a living as a doctor,  sometimes he's not.

3 stars
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His Last Bow: Some Reminiscences of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle - eight short stories, as always selected by Watson to show the brilliance of Holmes. Ending with a rather odd story not told by Watson right before the advent of WWI.

3 stars
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The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle - the last 12 short stories published. Some told by Holmes himself. The Adventures of the Lion's Mane was my favorite. What struck me in re-reading all these stories is how much we think we know of Holmes is from how he's been portrayed in movies and shows. Many of his mannerisms and catch phrases are not that evident in the actual stories.

3 stars
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Ink and Bone by Lisa Unger - imo, this did not live up to the hype. Billed as a cross between horror and thriller, I found it rather bland. A young woman with a psychic gift gets involved in the search for a missing child. But part of the book read as almost a romance novel. I don't believe in psychic stuff so that wasn't scary to me. Almost too much character development and yet so much left unexplained. Very unsatisfying. I'm in the minority on Goodreads.

2 stars
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A Banquet of Consequences by Elizabeth George - I had to give up on this book by one of my favorite authors. 540 pages is too long for a mystery. And a fourth of the way in the murder had still not been committed. By then I didn't care who got knocked off.

July 31 - Aug 6, 2016

A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle - the first Sherlock Holmes story. A man is found dead in an abandoned house with no visible means of death. Sherlock astounds the police and his new friend, Dr. Watson. This story is in two parts, the murder and solving of, and then the reason for the murder. The second part takes place in America, featuring deserts and Mormons, and goes on and on. I've read this several times, this time it was fun comparing it to the Sherlock tv series.

3 stars
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The Valley of Fear by Arthur Conan Doyle - another story in two parts. In the first, a man is found dead in a house with the drawbridge closed but the murderer is nowhere to be found. Sherlock does his stuff and then we hear, in excruciating detail, the why. The second part also takes place in America.

3 stars
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The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle - a collection of 12 short stories, including A Scandal in Bohemia, The Red-Headed League, and The Speckled Band, one of my favorites. Sherlock seems much more solicitous of his clients than how we're used to seeing him portrayed on tv. He still solves some of the mysteries before his client is out the door.

3 stars
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The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle - 11 short stories, ending with the author killing off his famous detective in The Final Solution. In these stories we learn that Sherlock has a family, he actually had one friend in school, and that he can make mistakes.

3 stars

July 24 - 30, 2016

The Baker Street Letters by Michael Robertson - two brothers, very different, rent offices at 221B Baker Street, not realizing a stipulation of the low rent is answering letters written to Sherlock Holmes. And that's the only connection to Holmes. Most of the book takes place in L.A. when the younger brother decides to personally answer a letter written 20 years ago. I'll try one more in the series because I like the premise.

2.5 stars
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Death Come Quickly by Susan Wittig Albert - the 22nd China Bayles book, a cozy mystery series. The author uses an I'm chatting to you in person style which I find irritating, but the story usually makes up for it. Not this time. An attack on an acquaintance that leads to her death has China giving us her views on global warming, urban sprawl, and the judicial system, along with her hatred of Houston traffic. Padding for a thin plot?

2 stars

July 17 - 23, 2016

Mind's Eye by Hakan Nesser - the first Inspector Van Veeteren, written in 1993, published in English in 2008. A man wakes up with such a hangover he's not sure who he is and discovers his wife drowned in the bathtub. With no defense other than he can't remember, he's convicted and sent to a mental hospital. When he is murdered a few weeks later, the police must find the real killer. I liked the police procedural part better than the policemen. Van Veeteren is not a likeable person.

3 stars
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Boar Island by Nevada Barr - the 19th Anna Pigeon book. Anna is on temporary assignment in Acadia National Park. But she could be anywhere by the lack of description of the park. In fact, she spends very little time there. There are two different plots: Anna's goddaughter is being cyber bullied and a lobster fisherman is murdered in a nearby town. Both plots are rather unrealistic. Sad to see this series going downhill.

2 stars
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Mayday by Karen Harrington - Wayne's world  is divided into Before and After. Before and after his uncle is killed, surviving a plane crash, and having his grandfather move in with he and his mother. The crash left him  unable to talk, so he can't even complain too much. A story about finding your voice. This is a children's book, probably for preteens. A little too repetitive for me.

3 stars

July 10 - 16, 2016

Hour of the Wolf by Hakan Nesser - a teenage boy is killed in a hit and run accident and somehow this leads to a murder. And another. Not realizing the first is connected to the second, the police struggle to find a motive and any clues at all. Retired Chief Inspector Van Veeteren becomes involved in a personal way. The seventh in the series. I've not read them all, some of the earlier books are harder to get in English.

4 stars
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The Hanging Girl by Jussi Adler-Olsen - in this Dept. Q installment, Carl refuses to take a cold case from an acquaintance. When there are severe consequences, his secretary Rose is infuriated and forces him to take the case. Twenty years ago a young girl was hit by a car and thrown into a tree. Only one man thought it was more than an accident. It's fascinating to watch the detectives find the smallest of threads to go back 20 years. There are little side plots that I find irritating because they don't seem to ever be resolved.  I didn't finish the previous book in this series, it just didn't grab me. This one did.

4 stars

July 3 - 9, 2016

In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware - Nora wakes up in the hospital and gradually comes to the realization that she's been in an accident and someone is dead. She remembers being invited to a hen party of a friend she hasn't seen for 10 years, but what happened in the hours right before the accident? The characters seem a little childish but I found the gradual unfolding of the story satisfying.

4 stars

June 26 - July 2, 2016

Rough Riders: Theodore Roosevelt, His Cowboy Regiment, and the Immortal Charge Up San Juan Hill by Mark Lee Gardner - from the forming of the Rough Riders to the posthumous award of the Medal of Honor for Roosevelt. What I found most interesting was how eager Roosevelt and all his volunteers were to engage in war. It certainly wasn't a war run with military precision. Lots of bungling from the higher-ups. This seems to have been extensively researched, with lots of excerpts from letters and diaries.

3 stars
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Brotherhood in Death by J.D.Robb - the 42nd Eve Dallas book. What starts out as a missing person case becomes several murders of revenge. I think I complained about the previous book being more graphic than I remembered the series being and this is the same. I read these mostly for the relationships between Eve and her friends but am getting tired of sifting through the other stuff. And there are the obligatory sex scenes with Eve and her husband.  At least those I know are a page and a half and can easily skip them. I do like watching Eve and her team catch the bad guys, you usually know who they are fairly soon.

2 stars

June 19 - 25, 2016

The Highwayman by Craig Johnson - a Walt Longmire novella inspired by Charles Dicken's The Signal Man.A highway patrol officer is getting radio calls from a trooper who died 30 years ago.

3 stars

June 12 - 18, 2016

War Hawk by James Rollins and Grant Blackwood - the second book about Tucker Wayne and his war dog Kane. Tucker is contacted by a former army colleague, telling him she and her son are in danger and another colleague is missing. Lots of action with shooting, explosions, intelligent drones, and Kane biting the bad guys. One of my least favorite plots, a megalomaniac trying to control everything, this time using cyber information. I'm reading this series for the dog.

3 stars
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Ashley Bell by Dean Koontz - Bibi Blair has just been told she has incurable cancer. After a strange experience in the night, she finds she has been cured. Why? She comes to believe it is to save Ashley Bell. But who is Ashley Bell and where is she? Who are the strange people after her? And what are the memories she can't remember? I got sucked into this right away and then two thirds in there was a twist that made me wish I could read faster. I've never read Dean Koontz because I've always thought of him as an author of the supernatural and horror. Although this has a touch of that, I prefer to think of it as suspense and fantasy. This is one you'll either love or hate. 560 pages that flew by.

5 stars
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Dinner with Edward: A Story of an Unexpected Friendship by Isabel Vincent - the author is asked by a friend to have dinner with her father, Edward. His wife of 62 years has just died and he feels he can't go on. What starts out as a favor has unexpected rewards for Isabel. A short book with good food.

3 stars

June 5 - 11, 2016I

My Sister's Grave by Robert Dugoni - Tracy Crosswhite became a detective because of the disappearance of her sister 20 years ago. She is convinced the man serving a prison sentence for the murder is innocent, which means the real killer is out there. When her sister's body is discovered, she is determined to find the truth. A couple of good twists. The beginning of a series and I will probably read more.

3.5 stars
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The Most Perfect Thing: Inside (and Outside) a Bird's Egg by Tim Birkhead - a very detailed description of how a bird's egg is formed, laid, and hatched and how much it varies from bird to bird. The author has studied birds, mainly the guillemot, for over 40 years. I enjoyed the beginning of the book but soon got bogged down with the many scientific terms. It is fascinating how complex an egg is.

2.5 stars

May 29 - June 4, 2016

Orphan X by Gregg Hurwitz - The Nowhere Man can help you when no one else can. But now he's in need of help himself. Contacted by two people for help at the same time, he's pretty sure one is a setup. But how to tell? Evan Smoak was originally trained as a covert assassin, buried deep behind government intel. Now he's on his own in a bad situation getting worse. This is the first in the series and I'm anxious for the next one. PG13 at least on the violence level.

4 stars
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The Black Star of Kingston by S.D.Smith - a prequel to The Green Ember. The rabbit community, led by King Whitsun, are hopeful they've found a safe place to rebuild. But on a journey to find coal, they find terror coming out of the mountains. Loyalty, bravery, obedience and lots of other good traits in a children's book. With lots of action, too.

3.5 stars
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The Girl in the Ice by Robert Bryndza - it's possible I was not in the right mood to read this. DCI Erika Foster is thrown into the beginning of a murder case when she should probably not be working at all. She's still recovering from the death of her husband in a botched police raid she led. An influential man's daughter is found murdered and the investigation is hampered by politics. I don't like books where the police fight among themselves and the top officers are unjust. Very crude sex stuff. I won't be reading anymore of this series and I'm very much in the minority at Goodreads.

1 star

May 22 - 28, 2016

The Marriage of Mary Russell by Laurie R. King - a short ebook that gives us previously unknown details about the wedding of Mary and Sherlock Holmes. The event took place several books ago, but the ebook was published before the latest book in the series. Several hints are dropped that I would have missed had I read these in the proper order.

3 stars
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The Killing Lessons by Saul Black - a horrific serial killer with a horrific past, a haunted police officer, and lots of people in danger. The story was horrible yet compelling. About two thirds of the way through I thought I would quit, but decided to keep reading because I had to know what happened. Very graphic.

2.5 stars
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Try Not to Breathe by Holly Seddon - Alex is an alcoholic leading a very carefully constructed life so she can function as a freelance journalist. While interviewing a doctor about his work with comatose patients, she learns about Amy, the victim of a vicious attack fifteen years prior. She becomes obsessed with finding out what happened. Told from various viewpoints including Amy's. I read this straight through and although I had a few little quibbles I'm still giving it

5 stars
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Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson - just what the title says, told in a very engaging style. The chapters switch between the journey of the ship and the journey of the u-boat that sank her. Even though I knew what would happen a feeling of dread built up. There are also chapters about President Wilson and a secret British intelligence group. I'm pretty sure this is the first non-fiction book I've given

5 stars
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Rainy Day Sisters by Kate Hewitt - Lucy Bagshaw's life has fallen apart and in a moment of desperation she calls her half sister Juliet. Juliet invites her to her home in Hartley-by-the-Sea in England's Lake District. Part romance novel, but really about two sisters who don't know each other learning to accept each other and growing in the process.

3.5 stars
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The Woman Who Wasn't There: The True Story of an Incredible Deception by Robin Gaby Fisher and Angelo Guglielmo - Tania Head told an incredible story of her survival during the events of 9/11. She also lost her fiance in the destruction of the other tower. She became the spokesperson and head of the World Trade Center's Survivors' Network. The problem is that none of it was true. An interesting read, even though you know at the outset she's lying. No one seems to know why she did it. I find it incredible she kept up the sham as long as she did.

3 stars

May 15 - 21, 2016

I started the week with some ebooks I've had on my list for awhile.

No Honor Among Thieves by J.A. Jance - the author brings together two of her characters for the first time, Ali Reynolds and Sheriff Joanna Brady. The story starts with a truck over an embankment and barrels on from there. Quite a bit of action for a short story.

3.5 stars
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A Haunting of the Bones by Julia Keller - old bones are discovered and they turn out to be the mother of Bell Elkins, prosecuting attorney. She's always been told her mother ran off with another man and now she vows to learn the truth.

3 stars
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An Event in Autumn by Henning Mankell - finally published in English, this wraps up the Kurt Wallander series, although it takes place between two other books. Kurt literally stumbles on a semi-buried body while looking at a house to buy. He and the team try to solve a mystery that is 50 years old.

3 stars
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Keller's Fedora by Lawrence Block - hitman Keller is out of retirement but he's also playing detective this time. The client doesn't know the identity of his wife's boyfriend but wants him out of the picture permanently. Lots of Keller's usual musings about stamps and odd facts. Inspired by the author's recent train trips. Crude sex talk, which I don't remember from previous Keller novels.

3 stars
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3:17 a.m. (The Lassie Files) by Nick Pirog - a short story in the Henry Bins series, the man who is only awake one hour each night. The Lassie files center on the pets in his life. Lassie, his cat, wants him to rescue a gerbil. I like these improbable stories.

3.5 stars
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3:46 a.m. (The Wedding) by Nick Pirog - Henry and Ingrid are getting married, of course between 3 and 4 in the morning. His dad has everything timed down to the minute. There is an unexpected guest and then things go awry. There's also a new pet in the mix, Archie the kitten.

3.5 stars
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Fan Mail by Peter Robinson - an author receives a letter from a fan asking him to help plan the murder of his wife. Things take an ugly turn.

3 stars
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Summer Rain by Peter Robinson - a man comes to the police station claiming that he was murdered in a former life. Inspector Banks looks into it mainly to avoid dealing with crime statistics.

3 stars
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And now some actual books.

Fool Me Once by Harlan Coben - former special ops pilot Maya has buried her husband just a few days ago when she thinks she sees him playing with their daughter on the nanny cam. Is it real or PTSD? Her private investigation leads her to the death of her sister and her involvement with a secretive blogger. One of the more surprising endings I've read.

4 stars
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The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George - Jean Perdu runs a bookshop on a barge in the Seine. He has somewhat peculiar ideas about what books people should read and often will not sell the wrong book to them. But when his lover deserted him 20 years ago, he sealed himself off from emotion. When circumstances lead him to finally read her goodbye letter he sets off on his barge through the south of France accompanied by some other hurting people. Translated from the French and with a European sensibility towards sex. With recipes and book recommendations.

4 stars
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The Doorbell Rang by Rex Stout - Nero Wolfe is asked to somehow persuade the FBI to cease its harassment of a woman and her business. Wolfe sets several traps to snare the FBI into showing its hand. Mr. Stout did have a bias against the FBI and Herbert Hoover and the way it treated private citizens. This was published in 1965. I've read it before but nothing rang a bell until the last fifth of the book. One of the advantages of getting older. Not one of my favorites in the series.

2 stars

May 8 - 14, 2016

The Man from Primrose Lane by James Renner - a reclusive man know only as the Man from Primrose Lane is found murdered in his home. Four years later, David Neff is still trying to recover from the death of his wife shortly after their son was born. An author, he is unable to write since that event. His publisher urges him to look into the mystery of the primrose man. Somehow this becomes mixed in with the mystery of missing girls. And then halfway through the book things really take a turn. I'll just say even though I didn't totally understand what was happening I was still very engrossed. A tale of obsession.* Graphic.

4 stars
* The author knows about obsession. He has a non-fiction book coming out soon which tells his own story of pursuing a mystery to the detriment of his health and family.
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The Summer Before the War by Helen Simonson - it's 1914 and Beatrice Nash is shattering ideas of Latin teachers when she accepts a position at a school in Rye, England. Brought up to be an independent thinker by her father, her reality is quite different due to his traditional planning of his estate. The story is also about Hugh and Daniel, two cousins of very different natures and their entry into the war. This seemed a genteel book to me even though it deals with ungenteel ideas: refugees and the prejudice against them, very strict class lines and woe to anyone who tries to cross them, gossip and the damage it does, and of course the realities of war. Lots of talking. I was just going to read a few chapters right before bed and before I knew it I was half way through. That's almost 250 pages.

4.5 stars
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It Ended Badly: Thirteen of the Worst Breakups in History by Jennifer Wright - beginning with Nero and ending with Elizabeth Taylor, Eddie Fisher and Richard Burton, this is a book about people behaving very badly when love goes awry. A few too many humorous (?) asides by the author with a little advice thrown in.

3 stars

May 1 - 7, 2016

Rise of a Legend by Kathryn Lasky - although this is the 16th in the Guardians of Ga'Hoole series, it's a prequel telling the story of one of the great teachers. Lyze has lots of new ideas about ways to fight the 100 year war. It has been quite awhile since I finished the series so it did take time for me to remember some owlish terms. This did have a little feel of being written for the sake of the series, not because the author had something new to say. Written for 5/6th graders.

3 stars
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Sun on Fire by Victor Arnor Ingolfsson - a businessman is found dead in the Icelandic embassy in Berlin. Two Icelandic detectives are sent to investigate. The only suspects are some of Iceland's elite. This does have an unsavory description of a pedophile.

3 stars
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Down the Rabbit Hole - this is a collection of 5 stories by 5 different authors, each with an Alice in Wonderland twist. I read it for the Eve Dallas novella by J.D. Robb. What initially looks to be a murder/suicide turns into something more with a little paranormal twist. I gave that story 3 stars. The other stories include time travel and a bodice ripper and they receive

2 stars
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After the Fire by Jane Casey - Maeve Kerrigan # 6 finds Maeve and the rest of the team investigating a fire on the Maudling Estate that has resulted in the death of four people, including a politician with no reason to be there. Maeve is still struggling with the desertion of her boyfriend. And she still has a problem with her stalker that I sincerely hope has finally been put to rest in this book. I ordered this book immediately after finishing the previous in the series and read it straight through. It really flowed right along and didn't feel like 466 pages. Maeve is one tough woman.

4 stars
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Small Wars by Lee Child - a story from Jack Reacher's past featuring his brother Joe. A lieutenant colonel is found shot execution style on a remote road. A very short e-book that packed a lot in.

3 stars
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Why is This Night Different from All Other Nights? by Lemony Snicket - the 4th and last in the All the Wrong Questions series. This was supposed to answer all the questions about the events on Stain'd By the Sea. But I must have been too tired when I read it because I was left going huh? A disappointing end.

2 stars
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We Die Alone:A WWII Epic of Escape and Endurance by David Howarth - this is the true story of Jan Baalsrud, a Norwegian on a secret mission to northern Norway in 1943. Things go bad and he is the only survivor of his group. He is taken in by strangers who make it their mission to get him to Sweden under the nose of the German army. Written in 1954 by a British officer in the SOE.

4 stars
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Breakdown by Jonathan Kellerman - five years ago Alex Delaware was asked to perform an evaluation of a 5 yo boy after his mother, an actress, suffers a mental break. Now the actress has been found ranting a digging in stranger's gardens. And there is no sign of her son. The plot is a little farfetched but I enjoyed it more than the previous in the series. I have read 31 books in this series now!

4 stars
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The Life We Bury by Allen Eskens - Joe needs to do a college writing assignment by interviewing a stranger and writing their biography. He somehow stumbles upon Carl, a murderer recently released from prison because he's in the end stages of cancer. At the same time, Joe is trying to escape his dysfunctional home life while also helping his autistic brother. As Joe gets to know Carl better he can't reconcile his crime with the man. And Carl claims he's innocent. Pretty thrilling at the end.

4 stars
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The Woman in Blue by Elly Griffiths - the 8th Ruth Galloway book. Ruth's friend Cathbad is housesitting when one night he sees a woman in blue in a graveyard. The next day a young woman wearing a blue housecoat is found murdered. Then an old friend of Ruth's contacts her about threatening letters she's receiving. All the action centers around Walsingham, a town with many religious overtones. IMO, Ruth is back to being a little whiny again, she wants what she doesn't want. Other personal relationships come to a head. And it was a little disappointing that there is no archeological dig going on this time.

3 stars

Apr 24 - 30, 2016

The Great Forgetting by James Renner - what starts as a simple mystery becomes much more. Jack Felter returns to his hometown to visit his father who is suffering from Alzheimers. His old girlfriend asks him to help find her husband. And then things get really strange. A story of time and memories.

4 stars
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The House of Eyes by Kate Ellis - the 20th Wesley Peterson book starts with a missing girl. Or has she run off to London to be a model? It takes quite awhile for this story to get going and part of the problem is that there are too many cast members. I thought the ending rather farfetched. The author also throws in a health scare for Pam, Wesley's wife.

3 stars
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Journey to Munich by Jacqueline Winspear - Maisie Dobbs is back in her 12th book with a much improved attitude. After returning to London from Spain, she is asked to assist her country by pretending to be the daughter of a man being released from Dachau. It's 1938 and things are more than a little dangerous in Germany. Maisie does one improbable thing near the end of the book but she seems almost her old self. The epilogue does make me wonder if the series will continue.

4 stars

Apr 17 - 23, 2016

Cat Shout for Joy by Shirley Rousseau Murphy - Joe Grey and Dulcie, the talking cats featured in 18 other books, are expecting kittens. At the same time, one or more persons are targeting the elderly by pushing them down. Two have already died from their injuries and then there is an actual murder. How are they related? The mystery part is a little incidental in this story. Once again, the jacket synopsis is inaccurate, leading you to believe one of the kittens will have a much bigger role. Maybe in a future book but certainly not in this one. A quirk of the author - she uses the most outlandish names for some of the characters. Of course, you must believe in talking cats to enjoy these books.

3 stars
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The Murder of Mary Russell by Laurie R King - the 14th book in the Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes series begins with Mary being threatened in her home by a man claiming to be Mrs. Hudson's son. We then go back in time to learn Mrs. Hudson's history, beginning with her mother and father. This history takes most of the book, with brief flashes of present time and what's happening with Mary. Sherlock doesn't even appear until more than halfway through the book. The whole story seems somewhat forced and I didn't like the end. A low

3 stars
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Looking for Alaska by John Green - a YA book with lots of smoking, drinking, swearing, sex and talk of sex. Don't know why I continued but I kept waiting for it to get better. Miles Tanner goes to boarding school because he thinks life will be better there. He makes a few friends, something tragic happens, and there is much angst. I'm in the minority on Goodreads and this book won many awards.

2 stars

Apr 10 - 16, 2016

The Blondes by Emily Schultz - graduate student Hazel Hayes has just discovered she's pregnant. And then she witnesses one of the first incidents caused by a pandemic affecting only blonde women. A virus is causing the women to go berserk and attack anyone in range. And it doesn't seem to matter if the blondes are natural or fake. I didn't find Hazel very likeable but was still swept up in the story. Frank and matter of fact in talk of sex and bodily functions. This is one you'll either love or hate.

4 stars
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The Kill by Jane Casey - the 5th Maeve Kerrigan book. A policeman is found dead in his car. Is it personal or is someone targeting cops? It's beginning to look like the latter and Maeve may know the reason. Maeve's superior, Derwent, is irritatingly chauvinistic and then he'll turn around and be understanding. He's part of what makes these books appealing to me but he's certainly not pc.

4.5 stars
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Of Things Gone Astray by Janina Matthewson - told in very short chapters about several different characters, all of whom have suddenly lost something important too them. Piano keys, house walls, the building where they worked. And Jake, a young boy whose mother has died, is in danger of losing the most important thing. I usually like quirky books like this but it seemed rather bland to me. And left too many questions unanswered. I'm in the minority on Goodreads.

2 stars

Apr 3 - 9, 2016

The Honest Truth by Dan Gemeinhart - Mark is a boy who has a dog, a best friend, and loving parents. He also has cancer. He decides the last thing he wants to do is climb Mt. Rainier so he runs away from home with his dog, a camera, and a notebook. I found the whole book sad and worried about the dog the whole time. Written for older children about a heavy subject. I did like the writing, just wasn't in the right mood.

2 stars
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Cold Call by Dean Wesley Smith - from a series about retired detectives who try to solve cold cases. This has the gang on the trail of a serial killer who is incredibly wealthy and thus able to thwart the law. Fortunately, the main character has a daughter with an incredibly wealthy boyfriend who makes his resources available to them! Very repetitive and like lots of ebooks, could have used some good editing. "Lot was stunned from the air that he could see the ruggedness of the wilderness they were flying over." Just one of many sentences that had me going ? I only finished this because I was waiting for an appt. to be over.

1 star
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Between the Living and the Dead by Bill Crider - the 22nd Sheriff Dan Rhodes book has the sheriff investigating the death of a drug dealer in a haunted house. Everyone jumps on the paranormal bandwagon, especially when a second body is found. Of course there are the usual county happenings, a runaway bull in the Walmart parking lot, feral pigs, and people not using their turn signals. Fits the cozy genre nicely.

3 stars

Mar 27 - Apr 2, 2016

The Waters of Eternal Youth by Donna Leon - the 25th Commissario Guido Brunetti book. He's asked to look into the almost drowning of a young woman that occurred 15 years ago. There is the usual finessing of his superior in order to re-open the case. I usually enjoy the family life over the mystery in these books. But this mystery is very compelling to Brunetti and I thought made for a better story.

3 stars
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The Quality of Silence by Rosamund Lupton - Ruby and her mother arrive in Alaska to meet her father and almost immediately learn he has been killed in an accident in a native town. But Ruby's mother refuses to believe it and sets off into the dark Alaskan wild. What made this improbable plot work for me was Ruby - she's 10 and deaf and much of the story is told from her viewpoint. The other various viewpoints do get in the way. In spite of the flaws I enjoyed it quite a bit.

4 stars
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Thursday's Children by Nikki French - the 4th Freida Klein book. Freida is asked by an old school friend to talk to her daughter and this leads her to an incident from her past. She returns to her home town, reconnecting with her mother and friends. She seems very cold in this book, almost unlikable, and the ending was improbable.

2 stars
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Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend by Susan Orlean - the author wrote this book because of her own fascination with Rin Tin Tin. By the time she and I were watching the television show, the dog was already the 4th to portray Rinty. I hadn't realized the original had made so many movies. From the dog's beginnings in WWI Germany to the fairly recent lawsuits over who owns the rights to the story with some discussion of dogs in war.

3 stars
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Beastkeeper by Cat Hellison - Sarah's mother deserts her family and then things really get bad. A YA fantasy tale that I may have enjoyed if I were a tween. I just didn't get this at all and found it depressing.

1 star
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What You Left Behind by Samantha Hayes - DCI Lorraine Fisher is visiting her sister in a small village that had multiple teenage suicides two years ago. And now her nephew is moody and withdrawn. It appears two more teenagers have just taken their lives. This book seemed very disjointed to me. Told from various viewpoints. Also throw away comments relating to the first book in the series that made no sense if you hadn't read it.

2 stars

Mar 20 - 26, 2-16

Even Dogs in the Wild by Ian Rankin - John Rebus is now retired and is bored, bored, bored. So he jumps at the chance to become involved when someone shoots at his old nemesis, Big Ger Cafferty. A convoluted tale of gangsters against gangsters, or maybe not. It could be something from the past. I thought this one cheated a little in the plot. Rebus is still as ornery as ever.

3 stars
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No Shred of Evidence by Charles Todd - 1920, four young women are accused of trying to drown a young man from their rowboat. They claim they were trying to rescue him. Inspector Rutledge is called to the case when the original inspector drops dead on his first day. There are only the conflicting stories of the one witness and the women. Thankfully, Hamish, the soldier ghost who haunts the mind of Rutledge is not heard from very much. I always like to see how Rutledge investigates his cases. I enjoyed this very much. Maybe not a total 5 but close enough.

5 stars
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Deep Blue by Randy Wayne White - Doc Ford has finally bungled one of his secretive missions and the mistake is going to affect everyone living at Dinkins Bay. He's made really bad people mad at him. I still don't like all the mystical Tomlinson stuff. Much better than some of the more recent books. 23rd in the series, and I've read them all.

4 stars

Mar 13 - 19, 2016

The Crossing by Michael Connelly - the 20th Harry Bosch novel finds Harry at loose ends after his abrupt retirement from the LAPD. When he's asked by his half-brother Mickey Haller to look into one of his cases he initially balks at crossing to the other side. But his obsession with the truth soon has him wondering if the police have it right. Almost too much detail for my taste.

3 stars

Mar 6 - 12, 2016

Into the Savage Country by Shannon Burke - an adventure story set in the 1820's era of fur trapping in the west. William Wyeth is determined to make something of himself and joining a fur brigade seems to be the way to do it. An unlikely group of men pull together to form a company of trappers who then have run-ins with Indians and the British of the Hudson Trading Company. Also a love story is intertwined. I really liked the way the author wrote.

4 stars
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The Further Adventures of Ebenezer Scrooge by Charlie Lovett - twenty years after Scrooge's turn around, he is annoying everyone around him with his relentless cheeriness and generosity. When Marley's ghost visits him again, he comes up with a scheme to help Marley rid himself of the last of his chains. Written in the style of Dickens and using many locales from his books. A slim book and quick read.

3 stars
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Leonard: My Fifty-Year Friendship with a Remarkable Man by William Shatner and David Fisher - I didn't realize the two actors had so much in common. Only 4 days apart in age and raised in Jewish families. They didn't actually become good friends until Star Trek was over and they began attending conventions together. Mr Shatner seems a little more open than in previous books I've read by him. I think he probably narrated the stories and Mr. Fisher did the actual writing.

3 star
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Death Wears a Mask by Ashley Weaver - a mystery regarding stolen jewelry becomes a case of murder in this second Amory Ames book. It's set in the 1930's, but these elite English characters seem untouched by any financial worries. Amory is still having trouble with her husband and they both approach the problem with very British reserve. If the series continues I hope that part doesn't, I find it very irritating. I enjoyed this book more than the first in the series.

3.5 stars
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The Theory of Death by Faye Kellerman - the 23rd Peter and Lina Decker book. They've settled into their new life upstate New York after living in California for 21 books. A student suicide at one of the five colleges in the area begins an investigation into missing thesis notes. Way too much math talk and very repetitive too. Then there's a murder with a somewhat lame conclusion. The inside jacket blurb is wrong in it's description, did whoever wrote it read the book?

3 stars but barely
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Keller on the Spot by Lawrence Block - our favorite contract killer is casing his next job when something very unexpected happens. Not a book but a very short story that I probably read a long time ago. But I always enjoy Keller's inner musings as he goes about his work.

3 stars

Feb 28 - Mar 5, 2016

Locked In by Kerry Wilkinson - one of the first self-published successes on Amazon, it was a top seller in the UK. The first book in the Jessica Daniels series. Somehow a murderer is killing random people and leaving them in a locked house and the police have no idea how he's getting in and out. The mystery part was compelling. But like many self-published books, this could have used some good editing. Had to buy this from the UK as it's no longer available as an e-book. If anyone reading this would like it, first come, first served.

3 stars

Feb 21 - 27, 2016

Our Endless Numbered Days by Claire Fuller - Peggy is 8 years old when her father, a survivalist,  takes her to a remote cabin in the woods. What follows is his descent into madness while she learns to cope. Told from her viewpoint after she has returned home. (Not a spoiler, you know that on the first page.) The ending was disturbing.

4.5 stars
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A Fine Romance by Candice Bergen - she loves her daughter, she's not dealing with aging well, and, imo, is rather a snob. Almost quit this one several times. This memoir begins with her marriage to Louis Malle.

2 stars
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The Promise by Robert Crais - K-9 dog Maggie is back with her handler, Scott James, and this time Elvis Cole and Joe Pike get involved too. So most of the author's creations are in this book. Maggie and Scott chase a suspect to a house Elvis is staking out and come across a ruthless killer. Told from various viewpoints. I felt the author was stretching a little to find a story to involve everyone. I still like Maggie's parts the best.

3 stars
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Midnight Sun by Jo Nesbo - a man calling himself Ulf heads to the Arctic Circle in Norway. He's on the run from the Fisherman, a drug lord. Can he stay sane in the never ending daylight? More importantly, can he build some new relationships? Language and a smattering of sex.

4 stars

Feb 14 - 20, 2016

The Language of Secrets by Ausma Zehanat Khan - Esa Khattuk, head of Canada's Community Policing Section, is asked to investigate a murder that took place at a supposed terrorist camp. What he's really asked is to appear to investigate. He sends his partner, Rachel Getty, undercover to join the mosque that is probably the headquarters of the group. This book has an insider's viewpoint of Islam that I found very interesting, if maybe a little talky at times. It's not necessary to read the first book of the series but may be helpful.

4 stars
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Born with Teeth by Kate Mulgrew - the actor's memoir. A little flowery and dramatic for my taste, but I can so hear her saying the words. Seemingly very honest.

3 stars

Feb 7 - 13, 2016

So You Don't Get Lost in the Neighborhood by Patrick Modiano - a man with very little contact with others receives a phone call telling him his lost address book has been recovered. But the man who found it seems to want something. This begins a return to the past and dredging up old memories. I found this a little hard to follow, I couldn't always tell what was past and what was present. Didn't really get it.

1 stars
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Black-Eyed Susans by Julia Heaberlin - Tessa Cartwright is the only survivor of a serial killer. Almost 20 years later she is pretty sure she helped convict the wrong man. The story goes back and forth between the present and the months leading up to the trial. Some good twists at the end.

4 stars

Jan 31 - Feb 6, 2 2016

A Small Indiscretion by Denise Rudberg - billed as a mystery but that really plays a very small part. 486 pages full of the smallest detail about everything and some graphic sex. The actual mystery part is suddenly solved near the end and then we get even more details about the main characters.This is the beginning of a series, but the only book by the author translated from Swedish.

2 stars
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The Murder Wall by Mari Hannah - Kate Daniels gets her chance to be Senior Investigating Officer on a home invasion murder. But she knows something about the murder victim she doesn't reveal and that comes back to haunt her. Too much moaning by her to make this book enjoyable for me. I might not have been in the right mood. First in a series I won't be continuing.

2 stars
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Light in a Dark House by Jan Costin Wagner - another Nordic noir, this time set in Finland. An unidentified woman in a coma is murdered by someone who wept over her body. Kimmo Joentaa, already morose, has trouble with the case since the woman died in the hospital where his wife passed away. Also, his sometime girlfriend(?) has disappeared. The plot moves slowly but I like this author's writing. This is 4th in a series.

3 stars
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The Winter of the Lions by Jan Costin Wagner - how are the murders of a forensic pathologist and a puppet maker connected? There is absolutely nothing to go on until Kimmo Joentaa gets one of his strange ideas. The third in the series and another dark Nordic tale.

3.5 stars
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The Old Blue Line by J.A. Jance - this is billed as a Sheriff Joanna Brady mystery but she gets just a brief mention the end. This is the story of how Butch Dixon was a suspect in a murder case before the two of them married. And how a group of retired law enforcement men come to his rescue.

3 stars
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Code Blues by Melissa Yi - the beginning of a series about Dr. Hope Sze. She's just beginning her residency in a Montreal hospital when one of the teaching doctors is found dead. And she's attracted to bad boy Alex. I wasn't finding this especially well written and then it suddenly turned into Fifty Shades of Grey. I had to scroll past many pages, seeing things I didn't want to see. I regretted that much more than Hope. By then I was hooked on the mystery part and that was resolved soon. Won't be reading anymore of this series. Part of a bundle I bought for my Kindle.

1 stars

Jan 24 - 30, 2016

Playing with Fire by Tess Gerritsen - Julia, a violinist, finds a piece of music that seems to affect her daughter adversely when she plays it. She tries to track down the composer, not knowing that someone will go to any lengths to stop her. This book is billed as suspense but it was almost more historical. Told from Julia's viewpoint and Lorenzo's, a violinist in Venice during WWII. The ending is anti-climatic.

2 stars
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The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy by Rachel Joyce - this is the counter story of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of  Harold Fry. As he is walking towards her, Queenie is reliving her life and friendship with Harold. It seemed to take awhile for the story to get going. And probably not the best book to read while my mother is in a nursing home.

3 stars
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I read 3 of what I call .5 books, the short novellas authors seem to need to write these days to put between their previous and future books.

Not a Drill by Lee Child - Jack Reacher finds a secret in the woods when a hitchhiked ride takes him to Maine. 2 stars
 Messenger by Craig Johnson - Walt and his friends find a ranger and a tourist on top of a PortaPotti, having been chased there by a bear and her two cubs.  2 stars
 Ring in the Dead by J.A. Jance - New Year's Eve finds J.P. Beaumont reminiscing about one of his first cases. 3 stars
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After being thrilled with finishing a series, I discovered I had missed one.
A Perfect Death by Kate Ellis - the 13th Wesley Peterson book finds Wesley and his wife on vacation. Wesley is approached by an old friend hoping for help finding a missing person. When Wes returns to work he soon finds a connection to his friend and a murder by arson. This was pretty convoluted and the author had to keep reminding us of the facts.

3 stars

Jan 17 - 23, 2016

The Beat Goes On by Ian Rankin - 29 Detective Inspector Rebus short stories. All of them showing just how clever he is. Some of these I had read before but I found them all enjoyable.

3 stars
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Michelangelo:  A Life in Six Masterpieces by Miles J Unger - the story of the artist focusing on what the author feels are his greatest works. A brilliant man with bad people skills fought for the right to make the art he wanted rather than what he was told. A little too much art talk for me (because I don't understand it).

3 stars
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The Explorers: A Story of Fearless Outcasts, Blundering Geniuses, and Impossible Success by Martin Dugard - through the story of Burton and Spekes search for the source of the Nile, the author studies the seven character traits of great explorers. Curiosity, hope, passion, courage, independence, self-discipline, and perseverance. He also writes about the history of exploration itself and other explorers. I will probably read some of his other books.

4 stars

Jan 10 - 16, 2016

A Dictionary of Mutual Understanding by Jackie Copleton - a Japanese woman opens her door to a strange man claiming to be her grandson. But she knows he and her daughter were killed when the atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. Told using narrative, journal excerpts, and letters, the story slowly unfolds.

5 stars
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Tricky Twenty-Two by Janet Evanovich - bounty hunter Stephanie Plum is looking for a college student accused of attacking the dean of his college. Somehow this ties into the deaths of two business partners. I don't remember the earlier books being quite so sexual.

3 stars
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Wait for Signs: Twelve Longmire Stories by Craig Johnson - just what it says, 12 short stories about Walt. They just flesh out the character a bit. Some of them I had read in another publication.

3 stars
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The Chess Men by Peter May - the third in the Isle of Lewis trilogy. Fin Mcleon is now living on the Isle of Lewis and working as head of security on an estate. A freak act of nature leads to the discovery of a plane that disappeared many years ago flown by an old friend. Fin delves into his past to uncover the mystery. While this is supposed to wrap up the stories begun in the first two books, lots of new characters are introduced. And Fin still seems unsure of what he really wants.

3 stars

Jan 3 - 9, 2016

 I'm finally finished with this series by Kate Ellis. Of these last five, three ended with what was supposed to be a note of suspense but just irritated me. The characters in question are never mentioned again in later books. The 20th book in the series comes out in Feb. I certainly found her earlier books more satisfying.
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The Jackal Man - the 15th Wesley Peterson novel. A teen is attacked by a man with what looks like a dog head. Soon there are a series of more serious attacks and it looks like a killer with an Egyptian obsession is at large. Meanwhile, Neil is helping a castle owner evaluate her Egyptian collection. I thought the solution was a little unfair. As always, the historical excerpts at the beginning of each chapter are almost more interesting than the main story.

3 stars
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The Cadaver Game - an unidentified woman is found dead in her cottage. And two people are killed while playing the Game. How are they connected? Neil is doing some work for a pretentious artist when a skeleton is found. Not one of the best but still enjoyable.

3 stars
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The Shadow Collector - a woman rumored to be a witch has just returned to her home after serving 18 years for the murder of two teenage girls. Now a woman has been found in a neighboring field, killed in a similar manner. Wesley has to look into the original murders to find the truth. And Neil is dealing with witchcraft in the 17th century.

2.5 stars
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The Shroud Maker - it's Palkin Festival time in Tradmouth and the police are keeping a sharp eye out, especially since a young woman went missing the previous year. When a young woman is found murdered it looks like the two cases are connected. Neil makes some discoveries that make it look like history is inspiring the murderer. And I learned that shrouds are the ropes that hold the sails to the mast.

3 stars
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The Death Season - a very convoluted story involving dead men in hotel rooms and unsolved cold cases. Neil makes a grim discovery in an old ice house. Also, the author has started minutely describing very incidental characters, almost as if she can't think what to do with the story and is filling the book this way.

3 stars

Dec 27, 2015 - Jan 2, 2016

Almost Interesting by David Spade - the first half of the book is fairly interesting: his childhood in a financially strained household, getting started in comedy and what it was like to work on Saturday Night Live. But it's all told with lots of crude language and humor. I expected that, just not so much. The second half rambles a lot with disjointed stories and some outdated "advice" on relationships. I came away with the feeling he's not comfortable with intimate personal stories. He never mentions his daughter except in the acknowledgements.

2 stars

I ended the year with a downer but didn't want to end the week that way so splurged on a book for my Kindle by my most read author this year.
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The Flesh Tailor by Kate Ellis - the 14th Wesley Peterson book. A respected doctor is found murdered on his doorstep and there seems to be no reason. In the meantime, Wesley's friend Neil is uncovering ancient skeletons on a nearby farm. Then a more recent skeleton is found. Is it connected to the doctor's death?

3 stars

My 5 star books of 2015

I read 122 books in 2015 and only had 6 five star books. Some of these probably received 5 stars because I was so relieved to read a good book. I actually quit many books this year, something I rarely do. I included the dates in case you want to read a more detailed review on my blog.

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins - girl on a train sees something mysterious in a backyard. Lots of twists and turns. This is being made into a movie starring Emily Blunt. Feb 13

Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Stein - a young girl with a different viewpoint than most loses her parents and finds a different sort of family. June 4

The Magician's Lie by Greer Macallister - a magician tells her life story to the policeman who has arrested her for the murder of her husband. June 22

The Nature of the Beast by Louise Penny - A boy goes missing in Three Pines and retired Inspector Gamache finds much more in the forest. Aug 27

The Book of Speculation by Erika Swyler - a young man becomes obsessed with finding the history of his family after learning many of the women in his family have drowned. Sept 11

Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith ( J.K. Rowling) - the 3rd Cormoran Strike novel. A serial killer targets Cormoran and his assistant. Dec 14