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
Sunday, May 29, 2016
Sunday, May 22, 2016
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
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
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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
Sunday, May 15, 2016
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
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
Sunday, May 8, 2016
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
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
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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
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