Category: Books

I don't tend to read books based on who the publisher is. I choose them based on author, plot, reviews, but Carina Press, an imprint of Harlequin, is an exception. If I'm looking for a light read with a bit of romance, that's the first place I turn. I'm not saying I read everything they put out, but in the genres I do read, mysteries, paranormal romance, even contemporaries, the ones I've found have been enjoyable reads. The superhero hook is what drew me to How to Date a Henchman by Mari Fee and it turned out to be a cute romance with an interesting angle on the whole superhero, supervillain struggle. Gina is a receiptionist at EnClo, but she doesn't really know what the company. It's all a bit mysterious and when the owner shows up, along with a sexy bodyguard, Burke, things get even more interesting. The owner, Mr. Sparks, is an odd man, turns out that's because he's a supervillain, Static,...

Grandad, There's a Head on the Beach by Colin Cotterill is one of those rare mysteries that manages to be both laugh out loud funny and have an underlying seriousness. This is the second in the series, but having not read the first, I felt this worked fine on its own. Our intrepid sleuth is Jimm Juree, a currently unemployed crime reporter who is currently living in a rural village on the coast of Southern Thailand thanks to her family, primarily her nutty mother who purchased a run-down resort. Jimm is digusted when she finds head on the beach, but intrigued too. Finding out who the head belonged to and how it ended up on their beach leads Jimm, dragging along her family and friends, into a mess involving corrupt cops, slavery, and charities that aren't as charitable as they present themselves. There's also an unrelated side plot involving the only two guests at the resort, a mother and daughter who are quite obviously on...

I don't read much non-fiction and I'm not a film buff by any stretch of the imagination, so it's a little surprising that The IRA on Film and Television by Mark Connelly caught my eye, but a couple of books I've read recently, A Leprechaun's Lament and Frame Up, mentioned the IRA so it was already in my mind when this book came along. It was an interesting book. The Irish Republican Army (IRA) has for decades pursued the goal of unifying its homeland into a single sovereign nation, ending British rule in Northern Ireland. The IRA has appeared in mainstream motion pictures such as The Quiet Man, action films like Blown Away, political dramas, and dark comedies. IRA characters have been portrayed by stars, such as  Anthony Hopkins, Richard Gere, and Brad Pitt.  Whether portrayed as a heroic patriot, ruthless terrorist, or troubled anti-hero, the Irish rebel has emerged as a universally recognized cinematic archetype. This history dicusses film depictions of the...

When I received the request to review Frame Up by James Phoenix I had just finished reading Hammett's The Maltese Falcon and was tempted by the Frame Up's description. "The death in 2010 of Robert B. Parker, the Dean of American Crime Fiction, left a giant void in the hard-boiled detective mystery genre built by luminaries like Dashiell Hammett, Mickey Spillane, Raymond Chandler, and Ross MacDonald. James Phoenix continues the tradition of the tough, wisecracking, private detective with Frame Up, the first in the Fenway Burke Mystery Series." I don't think Fenway Burke is going to become one of those famous, genre-defining detective, but Frame Up is enjoyable enough. Fenway Burke is a down and out detective, living alone on his houseboat and drinking too much when his childhood pal Tiny Dan Murphy, a major Boston bookie, asks for help exonerating Shawn Corbett, a family friend who was convicted of murder. Fenway takes the case. Corbett is definitely a bad guy, but Fenway...