A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro

by Carol3 Comments
I have a soft spot for Sherlock Holmes, so when someone (I forget who) said they enjoyed this take on the characters, I had to put it on my to-read list. Jamie Watson and Charlotte Holmes are descendants of the famous duo and they "just happen" to meet at boarding school. In Connecticut. But don't worry, the story will get to that. Coincidences are never really coincidences in a Holmes world. Charlotte is pure Sherlock, complete with drug problems, brilliant deductions, and violin-playing, which comes off a little differently in a 16-year-old girl. She can be tough to like, but we're seeing her through Watson's eyes, and he's either falling in love with her or is obsessed with her or both. When a student they both hates ends up dead, everything points at them, so of course they have to solve the mystery. What else could a Holmes and Watson do? The mystery was clever, with plenty of connections to the original Holmes...
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The End of the Day by Claire North

by Carol5 Comments
Charlie is the Harbinger of Death. It's his job. He's a mortal, has no super powers except a support staff at an office somewhere who are great at making reservations, getting him across borders and out of jail, and paying ransoms. He meets good people and terrible people, and sometimes he's sent for ideas or ways of life and not individuals. He celebrates Life and we travel with him. That's what we do, we see what he sees, hear what he hears, including random snippets of conversation, go where he goes. We're with him when he meets people, gives them gifts, tells them he is the Harbinger and sometimes he comes as a warning and sometimes as a courtesy. We're with him as he listens to people's life stories and when he is beaten and held prisoner. After all, not everyone is happy when the Harbinger of Death shows up; some are though. Yes, sometimes we see slices of the lives of the...
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The Secrets of Wishtide by Kate Saunders

by Carol1 Comment
The Secrets of Wishtide is fine. I really just don't have much to say about it. Letty is a competent investigator, but I wanted her to have more of a personality I guess. She's a little bland, which does allow her to fit in unobtrusively, but I wished she had more of a spark to her. Ido have some hope for her and Inspector Blackbeard though. I liked the Victorian Britain setting, both London and the countryside. We see the seedy side of the city and the drawing rooms of the rich. We see inside of Newgate and the country manor. I do think it did a good job of portraying how women were treated and the (lack of) options in that era. As far as the mystery goes, what started as a short trip to look into an unacceptable love interest turns more complicate and dead bodies start to pile up. The story got a little complicated and I'm never much...
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A Fine Year for Murder by Lauren Carr

by Carol2 Comments
A Fine Year for Murder is the second in the Thorny Rose Mysteries. From the first, we know that Jessica has nightmares, and this time around we learn why. Once again, the coincidence that bring everyone into the investigation seems a little forced. Jessica and Murphy attend a family dinner where investigative journalist Dallas Walker is describing a cold case she is investigating that is known as the Pine Bridge Massacre – a brutal killing of a family. Jessica realizes that she witnessed the death of the young girl but has been suppressing the details causing her violent nightmares. What are the chances, really, first that Jessica was a witness to the massacre, and that a family member's girlfriend happens to be investigating it? But let's just ignore that and get on with the rest of the book. I thought the mystery was well done. I liked how Carr blended the "real" clues with Jessica's memory. The family at the winery, Jessica's adoptive family as...
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Kill and Run by Lauren Carr

by Carol3 Comments
The mystery in Kill and Run was good. Carr lets you think you know who the bad guy is, right up until you're wrong. Everything tied together, although some of the coincidences were a little tough to swallow. I don't know why I thought this was going to be a cozy mystery, because it's got a harder edge than that, which is not surprising considering Murphy is with NCI and a member of an elite secret force called the Phantoms. The tone of the narrator made it seem more like a thriller and less cozy, too. It does have a bunch of quirky animals, though, which is a cozy trait and the amateur sleuth - Jessica - who puts herself in dangerous positions. There are a lot of characters in this. From Murphy and Jessica's families to the military folks, it's a lot to keep track of. I listened to the audio, I guess print and ebook versions have a cast of...
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The Girl with Ghost Eyes by M. H. Boroson

by Carol3 Comments
The Girl with Ghost Eyes is an enjoyable read, but I felt like it was straddling the line between YA and adult historical fantasy, which threw me off a little. I can't put my finger on why it felt like that. Li-lin is not a teenager, she's in her early 20s, I think, and a widow. So, it's not her age. There isn't a love triangle. I listened to the audio, and maybe the writing sounded a bit simple at times and there were definitely repetitive sections. I don't know. Am I the only one who got that feeling? I listened to the audio and was glad that I did. Zeller brings Li-lin to life, but I also like to hear the Chinese words and phrases, not try to struggle with reading them. Li-lin is a good character. She is tough and strong and a talented martial artist. She's also a Daoist exorcist who has ghost eyes, meaning she can see all the spirits, ghosts...
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