Category: Books

Have I mentioned how much I love summer? I've been enjoying the warm temperatures we've had this past week. We finally got our garden planted too, just a couple of weeks behind schedule. And here's the list of books I've received in the last month or so. Blessed Are Those Who Thirst by Anne Holt- from Blackstone Audiobooks (review) Frank Sinatra in a Blender by Matthew McBride- from Blackstone Audiobooks (review) Foreseen by Terri-Lynne Smiles- purchased Spoon by Robert Greer- won at the Ohioana Book Festival The Song Dog by James McClure- from AudioGo Invitation to Die by Helen Smith- from the author The Ophelia Cut by John Lescroart- from Atria Game by Anders de la Motte- from Atria Siege by Simon Kernick- from Atria North Sea Requiem by A. D. Scott- from Atria Dragons At The Party by Jon Cleary- from AudioGo "Shoggoth's Old Peculiar" by Neil Gaiman- was a freebie at Audible.com Mailbox Monday was started by Marcia of To Be Continued and is hosted by Meredith of...

Title: Blessed Are Those Who Thirst  (Hanne Wilhelmsen #2) Author: Anne Holt Translator: Anne Bruce Reader: Kate Reading Category: Mystery- Police Procedural Audio published: May 1, 2013 by Blackstone Audio (First published 1993) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars Add: Goodreads Purchase: Amazon | IndieBound | Book Depository It is only the beginning of May but in Oslo a brutal heat wave has coincided with an alarming increase in violent crime. In the latest instance, police investigator Hanne Wilhelmsen is sent to a macabre crime scene on the outskirts of town. An abandoned shed is covered in blood. On one wall an eight-digit number is written in blood. There is no body—nor any sign of a victim. Is it a kid’s prank or foul play? Is it even human blood? As more bloody numbers are found in isolated locations throughout Oslo, Hanne’s colleague Håkon Sand makes a startling discovery: the digits correspond to the filing numbers of foreign immigrants. All are female, all are missing. Is there a serial killer on the loose in Oslo?...

Title: Mrs. Budley Falls from Grace (The Poor Relations #3) Author: Marion Chesney Reader: Davina Porter Category: Romance- Historical Audio Published: June 1, 2012 by AudioGo (First published 1993) Rating: 3 out of 5 stars Add: Goodreads Purchase: Amazon Lucy Budley, one of the indigent gentlefolk who pooled their resources to create the Poor Relation Hotel, is prompted by her co-proprietors to travel to Delacourt Castle in Warwickshire. Once there, they plan, she will pretend to be a distant relative and relieve the dotty old Marquess of Peterhouse of enough trinkets to support herself back in London. The plot is foiled, however, when the old Marquess dies and is replaced by his sharp-witted and darkly handsome nephew. Exposed as a liar, the widow Budley tells all and begs his forgiveness, only to discover that the new Marquess may have plans for her; he needs a wife to keep both prying neighbors and ambitious London mothers at bay. In Mrs. Budley Falls from Grace by Marion Chesney, the proprietors of The Poor Relation hotel are,...

Title: Clockwork Mafia (Badlands #2) Author: Seleste deLaney Category: Romance- Steampunk Published: April 29, 2013 by Carina Press Rating: 4 out of 5 stars Add: Goodreads Purchase: Amazon Inventor Henrietta Mason is retiring from airships and adventuring to return home to Philadelphia. Determined to erase all trails leading to her late father's duplicity, she dismantles his lab and removes all records of the Badlands gold. While in the city, she can't resist the lure of a charity gala but winds up regretting the whole experience. Well, everything except a heart-racing dance with a certain U.S. Marshal. His career and vengeance on the line, Carson Alexander must prove a connection between Senator Mason and the mafia. He lucked out happening across Mason's strikingly beautiful daughter, only to have her slip through his fingers. On a desperate hunt to track her down, he never expects his search to take him into the brutal Badlands. With a mechanically enhanced enforcer after them, only Carson knows the extent of the danger they face. He'll have to...

Title: Miss Tonks Turns to Crime (The Poor Relations #2) Author: Marion Chesney Reader: Davina Porter Category: Romance- Historical Audio Published: May 8, 2012 by AudioGo (First published April 1993) Rating: 3 out of 5 stars Add: Goodreads Purchase: Amazon The oddly assorted group met some time ago. All of them were poor relations, the genteel paupers of society, living on little more than their dignity. They banded together and started The Poor Relation hotel, hoping to be bought out by their embarrassed relations, but as the hotel prospered, they began to enjoy the fruits of their labor. But once more they are in need of funds. To stoop to crime in their days of poverty was one thing, but to turn to it again when they have enjoyed a certain amount of success is quite another. But they all agree. The hotel must go on. And so poor, faded Miss Tonks has been persuaded to steal something valuable enough from her rich sister to set the poor relations...

Title: Strong Poison (Lord Peter Wimsey #5) Author: Dorothy L. Sayers Reader: Ian Carmichael Category: Mystery Audio published: August 17, 2007 by AudioGo (First published 1931) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars Add: Goodreads Purchase: Amazon | Book Depository Mystery writer Harriet Vane's murder trial is the talk of London, and naturally, Lord Peter Wimsey is fascinated by the case. He's not convinced she poisoned her fiance in the same way she offed one of the characters in her books, but is it because the case against her is weak, or because he's fallen in love with her? Thus begins one of the most complex romantic relationships in mystery fiction. I think I finally get why Sayers is one of the Queens of Mystery. Strong Poison is the third of her Wimsey books I've read and definitely the best so far. It took me a couple of books, but Lord Peter does grow on you. He's intelligent and loyal, well-read and doggone funny. He'd be almost too perfect, if he weren't a bit of a...