Category Archives: Mystery/Suspense/Thriller

This is the first in what I hope is a series (at least one other book) about literary editor Val Cameron. Val is a New York City type of gal of who is sent to a small town in Canada by her boss and sometimes more than a boss to get a contract signed with an author who will “save” the imprint they both work for at their publishing company.

Val doesn’t know (or care) anything about camping, living in a small town, or probably anything outside of the big city. She gets challenged over and over again as she makes her way to the author.

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I had no idea that this book was the seventh in a series when I chose to read it. I often read books out of order in series to see if the book stands alone as a story. This one certainly does; however, I so enjoyed it, I feel like I must now go back and read the first six books to catch up on the characters and to provide myself hours of enjoyment as well.

The sleuth in the story is Mattie (Matterhorn) Winston. She is a former nurse who now works for the Medical Examiners office. How she went from treating living patients to dealing with the ME’s office is another story (and one that I will be reading soon enough.)

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I picked up this prequel to three series of mysteries published by Henery Press. I am familiar with the novels by Gigi Pandian and Diane Vallere but had not read any books by Kendel Lynn.

In this set of three short stories, there is a mix-up of three pieces of luggage. What is interesting but perhaps a little too ingenious is that the luggage is vintage in make and style and all three individuals have the same bag. It might have worked better if the luggage had been more nondescript as I questioned how and why such an unusual bag would be owned by three individuals who crossed flight paths.

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This is the second book in this series I have read (though I have read other books by Lisa Scottoline as well.) I am getting the drift that in each of these book, Ms. Scottoline focuses on one of the two partners in this law firm and picks a social issue to focus on as well. In this story, we follow Mary DiNunzio as she takes on the needs of a special education child who is not getting the attention he requires and the education assistance he should receive.

Patrick O’Brien is a ten year old with diagnosed dyslexia. He is picked on and made fun of at school not only by other children but, shockingly, by the adults who should be helping him. His grandfather, Edward, is compelled at last to find an attorney to help Patrick and, with that one move towards assistance, sets into motion the events of this legal procedural, action book.

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I had not read any of the Taylor Jackson series by this author, so when the opportunity arose to read her prequel to the series, I thought it would be a good place to start. It wasn’t until I had finished the book and was reading the after notes that I discovered that this book had actually been written first and was never published as a stand-alone book (though another reviewer mentions that it was part of a box set she once purchased.)

The book is very well written (though the author apologizes for the early writing style) and it was intriguing enough that I will certainly pick up the back list on this series to read in the future.

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I didn’t realize that “Paint the Town Dead” was the second in a series of books until after I had finished reading it. It reads fairly well as a stand-alone book but there were references in text that were a bit confusing until I realized it referred to action in the earlier book.

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Liz Talbot Mysteries are one of my favorite series for a fun and definitely Southern mystery/detective book. Liz is a private detective and she works with her (now) husband, Nate to solve a variety of mysteries – generally those involving murder.

In this book, a much beloved socialite has been pushed to her death and her husband has come under suspicion. Liz and Nate are hired to try to disprove this and come up with the real killer.

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I picked up this series beginning with the last book, “Independence Day” and was so pleased with the book that picking up “First Strike” was an easy choice. The book takes up shortly after the last one ended and, once again, there is a rush of adventures that culminate with a satisfying end.

The story could have been taken from today’s headlines. It was shocking to have a book talk so much about the atrocities that ISIS is responsible for. At first, I felt like I didn’t want to read about them and then I realized that I should because the author is honest in his appraisal and descriptions of the horrors that this group unleashes.

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I started reading this series many years ago when I picked up a copy of “How to Murder your Mother-in-Law” at my (then) local library. I just could not get over the title and then read through the series for a number of years. As it turns out, I stopped reading the series just before this book was originally released, so reading it on its re-release was the first time I had read it.

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“Clouds in My Coffee” is the latest addition to the Country Club Murders series by Julie Mulhern. Her sleuth is Ellison Russell who, in this book, is unnerved to find herself the target of multiple accidental or not so accidental threats on her life. There are more developments in her relationship with Detective Anarchy Jones as he spends a lot of time in this book investigating the attacks.

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