Monthly Archives: February 2015

“A Killer Collection” is the debut book in a mystery series by Ellery Adams about antiques and collectibles. I have read another series by Ms. Adams (The Hope Street Church Mysteries) and enjoyed all of them. I really enjoyed this new book and found it quite different from the previous books I have read by this author.

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I read this book a few years ago. It was extremely thought provoking – what would happen if an EMP was detonated over the United States and we lost all of our power grid? What exactly would that mean? What everyday things would we suddenly be doing without?

I thought the book was well written but in some ways it went a little over the top for me. It seems that the author degraded society much more quickly than I would think it would happen, especially in a small town. I could see some very rough things happening in large cities where people have no access to water or food apart from what is on hand at any given moment.

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“The Root of All Evil” is the fourth book in the Hope Street Church Mystery series. The whole gang is back again. There is so much going on in this book, it really jumps along as you read.

Cooper is now working in a managerial position at Make It Work and there is a problem at work – it appears that someone has been pilfering the work machines. The boss wants Cooper and the other manager to figure out who is responsible and, much as it goes against the grain, Cooper knows she has to figure it out. Cooper also is trying to figure out just what is going on with her relationship with her boyfriend Nathan. They have been together as a couple for more than a year but the relationship is taking a very different course than what she has learned to expect.

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“Bringing in the Thieves” is the debut mystery by Lora Lee who also writes romance stories. It is set in western Texas and the heroine (Frankie Lou) is the daughter of a preacher. Ms. Lee is clearly in her element here – she is from the Hill Country of Texas (really more mid-state than west) and is, herself, the daughter of a minister.

Frankly, nothing is sacred here. Ms. Lee skewers the police, the church and its members, Big Hair, southern manners, cosmetic surgery, politicians, and everyone and everything else. I found myself laughing at some of her over-the-top dialog, especially anything to do with Miss Nettie – the elderly neighbor of Frankie Lou who clearly rules the town by the sheer force of her big personality in her tiny little body.

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This is the third book in the Hope Street Church mystery series. Once again, Cooper and the rest of her Bible study get drawn into a murder mystery. While Cooper doesn’t find the deceased this time, it is close enough to home that she feels compelled to find out whodunnit. She runs into “the Colonel” now that he is out of prison and sparks begin to fly a bit. The story is good and the mystery is interesting. While it is certainly a Christian story, it doesn’t hit you over the head with it and the characters all have their flaws. It is a good series and I plan to continue to read the new books as they are released.

I was given a sample copy of this book by the publisher, Beyond the Page, via Netgalley.

“Compulsion” is the second full length novel in the new Max (Maxine) Revere mysteries by Allison Brennan. There is also a short novella prequel, “Maximum Exposure” which focuses on how Max gets her television show about solving cold cases regarding people who have gone missing. Max is an investigative reporter who specializes in this type of cold case. She started her career by reporting on the disappearance of her college roommate and has now written four books on various cases and has a monthly cable television show with a similar focus.

In this book, Max is trying to solve the missing persons case of an older couple who have disappeared more than a year ago after a visit to New York City. While that mystery is being worked, complex stories of other cases which may or may not be related are woven into the story. Max’s relationships are picked apart – beginning with that of her missing wild-child mother through others to her new romantic relationship with Nick Santini (introduced in “Notorious”).

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This is a fairly short novella prequel to the new Allison Brennan series about Max (Maxine) Revere. Max is an investigative reporter who specializes in cold cases.

In “Maximum Exposure”, the story of how Max gets her cable television show is told. With one exception, Ben, the rest of the relationships which are introduced in “Notorious” (the actual first book of the series) are missing. The focus is really on a single case of a missing college student and how Max goes about finding what has actually happened. This, in turn, leads Max away from writing her books about the cold cases to doing a monthly show.

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