Book 125: The Chimera Charm

Hattie Jenkins and her immortal cats are at it again in The Chimera Charm, book six of the Hattie Jenkins and the Infiniti Chronicles.  Hattie is trying to relax and enjoy herself while taking her cats to the local fair, but on her way to eat donuts, the famous lawyer, Morag Devlin, jumps from the top of the ferris wheel and dies.  Teaming up again with Chief Paranormal Investigator Trew, they discover that the deceased has been increasingly paranoid over the last few months and was heard muttering about having to hide something.

The cats were as delightful as ever, and the mystery portion was well written.  I was a little disappointed that her relationship with CPI Trew has suddenly taken another large step back after the progress in the last book as well as a bit annoyed that the reason behind his odd behavior is never explained in this book.  Still worth 4 stars.

Book 124: A Cherry Sinister Murder

A Cherry Sinister Murder by Nancy McGovern and Cyra Bruce is the beginning of the Slice of Paradise cozy mystery series.  Faith Franklin's only passion is baking; so when her grandmother calls want her to come run her cafe, Faith is thrilled and immediately sets out for Florida.  While she is still renovating the cafe, the owner of a nearby business complains that she cannot serve cupcakes.  Faith tries to be polite, but it doesn't work.  The outlook quickly takes a turn for the worse when the woman is discovered poisoned, and Faith is the top suspect.

The mystery was entertaining but had an obvious conclusion.  The main characters all need to develop more of a backbone, but the antics of her two fluffy gray kittens were adorable.  3 stars.

Book 123: A Mansion, a Drag Queen, and a New Job

A Mansion, a Drag Queen, and a New Job by C. C. Dragon is the first book in the Deanna Oscar Paranormal Mystery series.  Deanna is visiting New Orleans to apply for a teaching job at Tulane when her grandmother's ghost appears and tells her to stay at her mansion.  At the same time, Deanna gets a premonition that the can driver's granddaughter is in danger of being murdered and tries to earn her.  After the little girl's death, Deanna uses her psychic abilities to assist in the investigation.

Based on the title, I was expecting a lot more humor.  Still it was a decent cozy mystery.  3 stars.

Book 122: Stolen Chaos

Stolen Chaos by A. C. Nichols is the first book in the Cardkeeper Chronicles.  Keira Poe has defended Chicago for twenty-eight years, but her biggest challenge is about to begin.  The chaos card, one of the  darkest, most powerful of all the magicards, has been stolen from the vault; and it falls to Keira to bring it back.

I liked the premise of the book when I originally downloaded it, but the execution fell short for me.  For someone with 28 years of experience, Keira had a lot of doubts.  I found it disturbing that the cards were powered by trapping souls in them, and the overall feeling was a bit unpolished.  3 stars.

Book 121: The Titan's Curse

In The Titan's Curse by Riordan, half-bloods have been going missing, so all the satyrs are in the field looking for new heroes.  Chiron sends Thalia, Percy, and Annabeth to assist Grover in bringing a brother and sister pair safely to camp, but the rescue does not go as planned.  Although the siblings are saved with help from Artemis and her Hunters, Annabeth disappears with the manticore.  Soon Artemis is also in trouble, and a group of five is dispatched on a quest to save them both.

Another 5 star addition to the series.

Book 120: The Leper of Saint Giles

The Leper of Saint Giles is book five in Ellis Peters' Brother Cadfael mystery series.  While taking various medicines out to the Saint Giles leper colony, Brother Cadfael happens upon both parts of a wedding party: the groom, old and surly, and the bride, forlorn and hemmed in by her guardians.  Knowing the girl to be the granddaughter of an honorable knight that Cadfael was glad to serve under during the fall of Jerusalem, he sets his abbot to see if the girl is marrying of her own free will.  When she lies to the abbot trying to protect the squire that she loves from charges of theft, Cadfael can think of no way to stop the wedding.  Luckily, the groom turns up murdered so the faithful monk sets out to prove the innocence of squire.

Delightful and intriguing as always.  4 stars.

Book 119: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the fifth book in the series, begins as usual on Privet Drive with Harry trying to surreptitiously listen to the muffle news for hints about what Voldemort was doing.  The quiet is soon broken when two dementors attack Harry and his cousin.  Harry is taken to Sirius' house, which is also the headquartered for the Order of the Phoenix,  for the remainder of the summer.  Once at school, Harry's fifth year gets off to a decidedly horrible start due to the presence of Dolores Umbridge in the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.  The year goes steadily downhill as Umbridge's powers at Hogwarts are expanded, and Harry once again comes face to face with Voldemort.  5 stars