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