Book 159: Spying on High Heels

Spying on High Heels by Gemma Halliday is the first cozy mystery in the High Heels series starting show designer Maddie Springer.  What starts as simple worry when her boyfriend disappears quickly becomes a full downhill slide in luck.  Her boyfriend is suspected of helping one of his clients with embezzling.  Then the client's wife is found dead face down in the studio, and Maddie's boyfriend turns out to be married.  Since finding a murderer seems easier than facing a pregnancy test, Maddie sets out to find the truth much to the chagrin of police detective Ramirez.

Maddie is definitely a girlie girl, and I rolled my eyes several times at some of her decisions and believe she has earned too marks in procrastination.  Still overall, I found the mystery entertaining and humorous.  4 stars

Book 158: The Trouble With Magic

The Trouble With Magic by Alt is the first mystery in "A Bewitching Mystery" series.  Maggie O'Neill gets fired from the job she hates and takes a retail position at Enchantments working for Felicity Dow.  On her first day, her employer receives a call from her estranged sister and leaves Maggie to tend store.  Maggie is shocked when a few hours later a cop arrives at the store with Felicity's keys explaining that her employer is being questioned regarding the murder of her sister.  Believing that the cops are allowing their prejudice against Felicity to cloud their investigation, Maggie embarks on her own quest to find the murderer while trying to understand her strengthening psychic abilities. 

A decent start to a cozy mystery series.  3 stars

Book 157: Some Danger Involved

Thomas Llewlyn had reached the end of his rope.  Released from prison, unable to find a job, and mourning the loss of his wife, he tries one last interview with private inquiry agent Cyrus Barker and is shocked to find himself hired with a new wardrobe, a roof over his head, and plenty of food to eat.  His first case begins when Barker is hired by the head of the Jewish community in London to investigate the murder of a Jewish student, who was found hanging on a crossbeam attached to a pole in a manner clearly reminiscent of crucifixion  in one of the main Jewish business areas. 

A brilliantly written mystery with lots of twists and turns and a surprise scoundrel at the end.  I look forward to reading more books in this series.  5 stars

Book 156: Murder at Redwood Cove

Murder at Redwood Cove by Janet Finsilver is the first in the Kelly Jackson mystery series.  Kelly has been sent to Redwood Cove to assume the position of interim manager after the previous manager is found dead at the bottom of a cliff.  She quickly meets the Silver Sentinels, a group of older people who try to solve mysteries together.  The group believes that Bob's death was murder, and Kelly agrees to keep them informed about any information that she discovers.  Then Kelly is hit over the head by an intruder who is stealing Bob's blackberry and find an envelope with a coded message in the safe with instructions to turn it over to the Silver Sentinels.  When the son of one of her employees is also nearly murdered, Kelly is determined to find the murderer and protect him.

An intriguing cast of characters and delightful setting form an excellent backdrop for this mystery.  The mystery itself was well written and kept me guessing to the end.  I'll definitely be continuing with this series.  4 stars

Book 155: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

The final installment in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, by Rowling recounts the story of Harry, Hermione, and Ron continuing to hunt for Voldemort's horcruxes so that he can be defeated.  Voldemort, meanwhile, infuriated at his inability to kill Harry embarks on his own hunt for the most powerful wand in the world while his Death Eaters take over both the Ministry of Magic and Hogwarts.  A fantastic end to an enduring series.  5 stars

Book 154: Wicked Appetites

Wicked Appetites by Evanovich is the first in the Lizzy and Diesel series.  Lizzy is enjoying her quiet life and her job at the bakery when Wulf, then Diesel crash into her life.  Both are looking for one of the stones of the seven deadly sins, and naturally Lizzie just happens to have a magical talent that helps her find enchanted objects.  First up is the gluttony stone, but locating it first requires the finding of four charms held by four different individuals in Salem.  The race is on to see who will end up with the first stone.

I enjoyed the main characters and thought the one-eyed cat was cool.  The monkey, however, needs to go.  He detracts from what otherwise is an entertaining tale.  3 stars. (4 without the monkey).

Book 153: Southern Spirits

Verity Long had enough problems in her life, and then she accidentally dumped the ashes of a ghost in her roses gaining not only a supernatural sidekick but also the ability to see ghosts.  When Ellis Wydell discovers her new ability, he hires her to solve a ghost problem at a historic site that he is renovating just outside town.  If the rampaging poltergeist wasn't enough, the duo stumble upon evidence that a very human someone has been excavating in a tunnel below the property.  Now they just have to stay alive long enough to put all the pieces together and solve the mystery.  4 stars.

Book 152: Any Witch Way You Can

Bay Winchester, the editor of Hemlock Cove's paper, is not excited about covering the local corn mazes, but finding the body left in the center of the maze missing its heart was a complete shock.  With her ability to see ghosts, Bay attempts her own investigation with the help of the newly departed, her cousins, and a little help from the rest of the witch family. 

Any Witch Way You Can was an interesting mystery.  I felt like there was too much time spent on the family bickering, which wasn't really humorous to me, that could have been better spent on the murder investigation.  3 stars.

Book 151: A Shift in the Water

Cade Bowman is waiting to die.  Trapped in his wolf form for months on a concrete pad surrounded by scorching ground by a crazy fire elemental and nearly dead from starvation, he gets one last chance to escape while she is away for a couple of days.  Climbing in the open trunk his only way to escape the island.

Mara Taylor is saying goodbye.  One last swim in the ocean before the mysterious blood disorder becomes so severe that the transfusions will no longer keep up.  Arriving back home she is shocked to find the emaciated wolf in her trunk.  She had prayed for the chance to make a difference, and helping this wolf seems to be the answer.

A Shift in the Water by Eddy was an entertaining werewolf tale of hate, hope, and second chances as these two battered souls find a chance to save each other.  4 stars

Book 150: Carpe Noctem

Alyssa unwisely chooses to walk home alone one night when her friend is unable to meet her for coffee.  Attacked by two human males, she is rescued and turned by Lysander.  Still trying to navigate the basics of being a vampire, Alyssa's life becomes even more dangerous when she is threatened by the ancient head of a large vampire clan who was once Lysander's mate.  At the same time, Santino, a vampire who specializes in hunting and killing other vampires for the Catholic church arrives in town. 

A entertaining and quick read.  4 stars.

Book 149: Still Life

Still Life by Penny is the first book in the Chief Inspector Gamache series.  In the quiet town of Three Pines, Canada the body of Jane Neal is found in the woods shot through with an arrow.  Gamache and his team arrive and set up for an investigation expecting the final verdict to be an accidental death, but it is not.

A well written murder mystery with a surprising villain.  5 stars.

Book 148: Swamp Team 3

The fifth installment in the Miss Fortune mysteries, Swamp Team 3 by Deleon, continues the hilarious exploits of CIA assassin Fortune Redding with her entourage of former spies Ida Belle and Gertie.  Someone tries to set fire to Ally's house, so the intrepid trip band together to find the culprit.  The investigation is complicated when Ally's next door neighbor is found murdered in her back yard shortly afterwards, and the FBI barge in to take over the homicide investigation.  Much hilarity ensues as usual.  Another 5 stars.

Book 147: Hunter's Trail

Hunter's Trail by Olson is the final installment in the Scarlett Bernard series.  Scarlett is trying to recover from a seizure that out her in a coma after changing Eli from werewolf back to human.  Despite her knee injury and vertigo, she is still in call when a female body is left on the doorstep of the local alpha.  After the appearance of the second body, Scarlett again teams up with Detective Jessie Cruz to hunt the werewolf responsible.  The investigation gets even more complicated when a werewolf hunter turns up and kills two pack members. 

A satisfying ending to an interesting series.  4 stars.

Book 146: Scorpia

Scorpia by Anthony Horowitz, the fifth installment in the Alex Rider series, begins with Alex hunting for an organization named Scorpia for which his father had once worked.  Alexx manages to find Julia Rothman, one of the organization's leaders, and is shown footage of his father being shot in a London bridge in a double cross at a prisoner exchange.  In anger, Alex begins training to work with Scorpia, but his first assignment is to kill Mrs. Jones.  Meanwhile Scorpia is planning to murder thousands of British school children in an operation known as Invisible Sword.  Once Alex realizes the truth about Scorpia he agrees to help knowing that this time of he fails he will die along with all the other children.

Nice background into Alex's family mixed with plenty of action.  This one was definitely a little more far fetched but still entertaining.  4 stars

Book 145: Trail of Dead

Olson's Trail of Dead picks up a few months after the ending of the first book in the Scarlett Bernard series.  Scarlett returns to Los Angeles after spending some time with another null in New York trying to learn more about her powers.  Detective Jesse Cruz is waiting for her at the airport to take her directly to a crime scene for her analysis.  It turns out that Olivia, Scarlett's crazy mentor turned vampire, is putting her plan in motion killing two witches and a human couple with the same first names as Scarlett's parents to draw their attention.  Scarlett and Jesse work together to try to figure out Olivia's plan and stop her.  4 stars.

Book 144: Swamp Sniper

Swamp Sniper by Deleon is the third hilarious installment in the Miss Fortune mystery series.  After a near brush with death, Fortune tries to keep out of trouble by trying to assist Ida Belle with her run for mayor.  When Ida's competition turns up poisoned and the same poison is found in a bottle of "cough syrup" given to him by Ida, the trio resorts to their usual antics to insure that Ida Belle is cleared.  It doesn't take long to figure that the list of people with reason to kill Tom is quite lengthy.  The hard part will be narrowing the field down to the correct culprit before Deputy Carter is forced to arrest Ida.  5 stars.

Book 143: The Last Olympian

The Last Olympian by Riordan is the final installment in the Percy Jackson series.  Poseidon is entrenched in his palace battling Oceanus.  Hades is refusing to help and has both Demeter and Persephone with him.  With the exception of Hestia, the rest of the Olympic gods are unsuccessfully trying to stop Typhon.  That leaves only the demigods, the hunters, and a few allies to defend Olympus when Kronos launches his final attack.  Great ending to a fantastic series. 5 stars.

Book 142: The Anatomist's Wife

After the death of her husband, Lady Kiera Darby has fled the vicious gossip of London to reside with her sister's family in Scotland and paint.  Sixteen months later at her sister hosts a weekend party and one of the guests turn up dead.  Keira agrees to her brother-in-law 's request that she examine the body and assist Gage with the investigation.  Kiera knows that because of the sketch work of cadavers that her deceased husband forced her to make for his anatomy book and the vicious rumors that were made after his death if she does not find the killer she will be the prime suspect when the inquisitor arrives if the true murderer has not been found.

The Anatomist's Wife by Hunter is the first book in the Lady Darby mystery series.  4 stars.

Book 141: Lethal Bayou Beauty

Lethal Bayou Beauty by Deleon is the second installment in the Miss Fortune mystery series.  Fortune's cover is in jeopardy when a former beauty queen returns to town, and she is expected to assist with a children's beauty pageant for the town's festival.  When the former beauty queen turns up dead after the two have a public disagreement, Fortune finds herself as the chief suspect.  With the help of Gertie and Ida Belle, she begins investigating the murder with hilarious results.  5 stars.

Book 140: Wonder Woman: Warbringer

Wonder Woman: Warbringer by Leigh Bardugo begins with a teenage Diana struggling to find her place in the island of the Amazon's knowing that everyone but her has earned their right to live there.  While running a foot race, Diana sees a ship explode just beyond the barrier and feels compelled to swim out and help.  She rescues another teenage girl named Ali's and hides her in a cave.  When Alia's presence causes a series of unnatural events in the island, Diana seeks the advice of the Oracle.  She learns that Alia is a Warbringer, a child of Nemesis, who can plunge the world untoward simply by living to her next birthday.  The only way to save the island, the world, and Alia's life is to get her to a spring in Greece at the gravesite of Helen of Troy. 

A entertaining tale with plenty of twists and turns.  I thought Bardugo did an excellent job of keeping the character of Diana in line with the image created by the comics and subsequent television and movie ones.  The setting, however, does not fit chronologically with the dc comics universe; and while the modern-day tale is well done, I wish it had meshed better with the overall timeline.  4 stars