Category Archives: Book Reviews

I have read all of the stories in the Vanessa Michael Munroe series by Taylor Stevens. As a character, Munroe is a bit of a puzzle. She is a woman who has horribly abused in the past. It has taught her to strike before being struck. To kill before being killed. Both her body and her mind are covered in scars but she is trying to find her way to a life where she doesn’t have to be on guard at all times. She has become an expert with knives – a real killing machine. She has also picked up martial arts street fighting skills that put her at an advantage in most fights.

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While I think that the writing style of this book is very good, I have a hard time accepting much of the action. I am a reader of mysteries who wants them to make sense. I want to feel that the characters could be real and that I can follow their actions. Unfortunately, that wasn’t true in this story.

It seemed as if no one in the book did anything approaching reality. The police were constantly breaking rules. If someone was told not to do something, on the next page, that is exactly what they did. I can take a little rule breaking but this went beyond that.

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This is the first book I have read by Alan Cupp. While “Scheduled to Die” is the second book in a series by Mr. Cupp, I found that it was very readable as a stand-alone book. I think that, perhaps, reading the first book would flesh out the character of Carter Mays (the private detective), it wasn’t necessary for this story. Having read and enjoyed this book, I will go back and read the first book in the series, too.

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“The Rhyme of the Magpie” is a first in a series of new books by Marty Wingate. It is also the first book I have read by this author but I will certainly be picking up her previous series based on how much I enjoyed this book.

The story is a delicious cozy mystery involving wind farm developers, bird enthusiasts, “typical” small village citizens, and even an Earl. It was a fun book to read, with lots of laughs and giggles. While I was able to figure out whodunnit, I had a blast reading through the rest of the book as the characters and the story were charming.

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“Second Street Station” is the first of the Mary Handley mysteries. It is also the debut novel by Lawrence H. Levy. The character, Mary Handley, is loosely based on a real life individual of the same name who was involved in a murder case upon which this story is also based.

Presumably, future novels will be completely fictional as I could not find further evidence that Ms. Handley pursued her work as a detective following the events described in this novel. Certainly, there is nothing to suggest that she was involved with such personages as Thomas Edison, J.P. Morgan, George Westinghouse, etc.

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