Dead Tide by Leighann Dobbs

by CarolNo Comments
Mystery, magical power, romance - and pirates. It's light and fun. This was one of my read-a-thon books and it was perfect. It's a quick read, maybe a little unbelievable, but that's okay since it's so enjoyable. The sisters are each discovering their own powers, like seeing ghosts or electric fighting powers - yeah, not sure about that one yet. I like how much they care for each other and how well they all work together. The plot is carried on from book #2; they're hunting for the treasure and so are the bad guys. People end up dead, thankfully none of them. The mystery is not terribly strong here, but the girls and their men make up for it. It does veer strongly toward romance, so if you don't like a love interest clogging up your mystery, avoid this series. I do enjoy it, when it works right, and it does for me with these stories. I'm looking forward to reading...
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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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Of Books and Bagpipes by Paige Shelton

by Carol1 Comment
I liked Of Books and Bagpipes much more than the first in the series. Delaney has been in Scotland for a while now and has come to care about the people she works with and her friends. I felt like her reason for investigating felt more natural this time around, a combination of natural curiosity and wanting to help. As a mystery, it worked well. There were plenty of clues and suspects and secrets that went back decades. It takes a lot of unraveling and I was surpised by the whodunnit, although I felt the motive was bit weak. And of course, Delaney gets herself trapped, but I didn't feel like it was because of stupidity on her part, which was nice. Sometimes female amateur detectives annoy me by taking risks that no sane woman would. Delaney didn't do that here. She has someone with her when there's a potential for danger, and always lets someone know where she is going. I...
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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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Earthly Remains by Donna Leon

by Carol1 Comment
I've read or listened to a fair number of the Commissario Brunetti series, but I read them out of order. It's a bit of bad luck that both this and the one I listened to before it both deal with pollution. Yes, it's a topic Leon keeps coming back to, apparently a major issue in Venice, but usually it's spread out a little than it was for me this time. I would have liked a different topic, but that's more my fault than Leon's. I liked that Brunetti gets out of town for a while this time around. I enjoy the early part of the story where he's relaxing and rowing; it's different than we usually see him. I like the people in the smaller towns, their relationships. I enjoyed the bees and how much they meant to David Casati. I missed his family a bit, but I'm sure they'll be in the next one. The investigation was interesting, with it's digging into...
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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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