Frost Burned (Mercy Thompson #7)

Frost Burned
by Patricia Briggs
Rating: ★★★★
isbn: 9780441020010
Series: Mercy Thompson #7
Publication Date: March 4, 2013
Pages: 342
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Ace

After a traffic accident in bumper-to-bumper traffic, Mercy and Jesse can’t reach Adam—or anyone else in the pack. They’ve all been abducted. Mercy fears Adam’s disappearance may be related to the political battle the werewolves have been fighting to gain acceptance from the public—and that he and the pack are in serious danger. Outmatched and on her own, Mercy may be forced to seek assistance from any ally she can get, no matter how unlikely.

I was late to the Mercy-love, and was only convinced to try this series a few months ago. I LOVE it when that happens, as it means that there are lots of delicious stories just waiting for me to gorge myself on. And even though the series is darker than I usually like in my books, a bit more gory, a bit more creepy and violent, gorge is exactly what I did. I totally fell for all the characters: Mercy is someone I’d choose to be friends with – she’s neither butch, nor victim, nor susie-mary-sunshine. Adam, while not my personal type (Samuel comes closer) is a good mate for Mercy. Stephan and his Scooby Van? Priceless!

I held off ordering Frost Burned hoping that I could string out the reading to get me closer to the March release of the new book, but when push came to shove, I couldn’t leave it any longer on the TBR pile.

I can’t believe anyone interested in UF hasn’t already read this book, but in the interests of thoroughness, Frost Burned starts with Mercy and her step daughter Jesse are in a car accident during a midnight shopping spree on Black Friday. Calling for assistance, Mercy finds that everyone in the pack is missing: no one is answering their phones and a cryptic message from the Marrok indicates that phones are not safe to use. Mercy needs to find her mate, find her pack and figure out who’s behind the mass kidnapping and what they hope to accomplish.

It’s obvious from my rating that I thoroughly enjoyed this book, so when I say that I found the structure of the story to be a bit different, that’s a good thing. As many books as I read, I sometimes find myself a bit bored by the tried and true path most fiction takes: introduction, conflict revelation, build up of tension as the conflict is worked through, climax, and the wrap up. It’s a cross-genre structure and it works, but it adds a bit of predictability to any book, no matter the plot line.

So, when the book starts off with the pack’s abduction, my first thought was ‘ok, I’m now going to read 20 chapters of Mercy searching for her mate and pack, fighting off random attacks from bad guys, going down blind alleys and chasing down false clues until she finally finds the pack and engages in a final battle to free them’. Hah! Frost Burned surprised me – Ms. Briggs tweaked the formula; this is a book that has at least two sets of conflict/buildup/climax arcs, offering a story that is quick to action. It felt like the book and plot were off and running well before I expected it to be, and what I thought was the major plot point was resolved almost immediately, which means I was thoroughly sucked in because I wanted to know what was going on?! It also means this was a very intricate, complex plot that left me in a completely different place at the end from where I expected to find myself.

Matchpoint (The Matchmaker Series #2)

Matchpoint
by Elise Sax
Rating: ★★★★
isbn: 9780345532244
Series: Matchmaker Mystery #2
Publication Date: January 1, 2013
Pages: 263
Genre: Fiction, Mystery
Publisher: Ballantine Books

My DH tells me that the first time he saw this book on my bedside table he immediately thought “What kind of crap is she reading!?”

Thereby proving the adage that you can’t judge a book by it’s cover.

But boy can I judge this cover. Yuck. This cover has nothing to do with the story at all, which leads me to my next point: The publisher has this book listed under contemporary romance. ?!?! It and it’s predecessor (also with an awful cover, btw) are murder mysteries, first and foremost. This book has exactly 1 almost-but-not sex scene and 2 kisses. In the whole book. And almost no romance and only one romantic setting.

What it does have is a murder, attempted murder and a scarecrow that will scare the hell out of more than just the birds.

This is a hell of a good murder mystery.

Gladie is training to be a matchmaker and follow in her Grandmother Zelda’s footsteps. Gladie isn’t my favorite MC of all time, I’d prefer she be more fiscally responsible instead of revelling in debt. (I like my heroines to be responsible, even if they can’t be pulled together at times.) But she is a hoot and I do like her. There are some great slapstick moments in Gladie’s life. She struggles to make matches for others, and of course, her own love life is all over the place. She’s actively got the hots for her very mysterious neighbour with no history and she has the involuntary hots for the Police Chief who is the poster child for womanisers. It’s sort of hard to know who to cheer on, but there’s more comedic gold here, especially with the Police Chief.

Grandma Zelda is widely regarded to be a witch and there are quite a few things she says throughout the book that implies she is at least psychic. I love Grandma Zelda. The “lessons” from her at the beginning of each chapter are entertaining and sometimes priceless (I had to read the one on waxing out loud to my DH). She never leaves her house but always manages to be at the centre of everything happening in Cannes, California.

What’s happening in Cannes now is an invasion of Pagan’s awaiting the Arrival. They’ve taken over the town and hilarity is right around the corner. Collapsing yurts, broken chakras, donkeys and public fornication – Oh! and a truly gold moment with a steel pipe. Truly, the scene where we get to “hear” the police radio band had me giggling out loud. It is truly a comedic sub-plot for much of the book.

The main plot, the murder of the town’s dentist, was really well crafted. Suspects abound and I never had a clear suspicion of who committed the gruesome murder. In the end there was a bit of a twist, and I ended up not seeing it coming at all. I love when that happens! My only nitpick with the plot is
View Spoiler »

Throughout all of this, Gladie is desperately trying to make a match for a client. All in all it’s a really fun read, and I am really looking forward to the third book.

a scarecrow that will scare the hell out of more than just the birds.

INSERT SPOILER TAG HERE

This is a hell of a good murder mystery.

Grandma Zelda is widely regarded to be a witch and there are quite a few things she says throughout the book that implies she is at least psychic. I love Grandma Zelda. The ‘lessons’ from her at the beginning of each chapter are entertaining and sometimes priceless (I had to read the one on waxing out loud to my DH). She never leaves her house but always manages to be at the centre of everything happening in Cannes, California.

What’s happening in Cannes now is an invasion of Pagan’s awaiting the Arrival. They’ve taken over the town and hilarity is right around the corner. Collapsing yurts, broken chakras, donkeys and public fornication – Oh! and a truly gold moment with a steel pipe. Truly, the scene where we get to ‘hear’ the police radio band had me giggling out loud. It is truly a comedic sub-plot for much of the book.

River Marked (Mercy Thompson, Book 6)

River Marked
by Patricia Briggs
Rating: ★★★★
isbn: 9780441020003
Series: Mercy Thompson #6
Publication Date: January 31, 2012
Pages: 291
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Ace

Being a different breed of shapeshifter—a walker—Mercy can see ghosts, but the spirit of her long-gone father has never visited her. Until now. An evil is stirring in the depths of the Columbia River—and innocent people are dying. As other walkers make their presence known to Mercy, she must reconnect with her heritage to exorcise the world of the legend known as the river devil.

2021 Update: I was certainly succinct in my original review. Having re-read it, I still love the Native American theme of the plot, I still think the river devil was over the top in terms of size, though the rest of the devil’s backstory works beautifully, and I will add that I got a little misty-eyed over the wedding scene. I’m not normally the sentimental type, but Briggs really outdid herself, setting up both Mercy and the reader perfectly.

Original Review: Great read. As usual, the humour and wit shown in these books offsets the sometimes dark themes the plot lines incorporate. I loved the American Native Indian focus to this story; learning about Mercy’s heritage, and the introduction of Coyote. I hope he’ll be a recurring character in the remaining books. The River Devil was over the top towards the end, but the whole story was enjoyable, nevertheless.

Little Black Book of Murder: A Blackbird Sisters Mystery #9

Little Black Book of Murder
by Nancy Martin
Rating: ★★★★
isbn: 9780451415257
Series: Blackbird Sisters #8
Publication Date: August 5, 2013
Pages: 372
Genre: Fiction, Mystery
Publisher: Obsidian

Nora’s assigned to write a profile on billionaire fashion designer Swain Starr, who recently retired to build a high-tech organic farm with his new wife, Zephyr, a former supermodel. But before Nora can get the story, the mogul is murdered. And now her boss wants her to snap up an exclusive on who killed Starr before the cops do.

But solving this murder won’t be easy with a family as colorful as Nora’s. Mick, her sort-of husband, is associating with unsavory characters from his past. Her sister Libby is transforming into a stage mom for her diabolical twins. And Emma, the youngest Blackbird, is mysteriously kicked out of the house by Mick. Nora’s home life may be hogging the spotlight, but there’s also a matter of Starr’s missing pig, which just might be the key to solving this mystery and the way Nora can bring home the bacon…

I’ve been reading this series since the first book came out, How to Murder a Millionaire (Blackbird Sisters Mystery, #1), and I’ve been hooked from the start. I can’t think of one book in this series that I’d call weak, and Little Black Book of Murder, IMO, upholds the series winning streak.

I loved this book and it’s always great fun to catch up with the Blackbird sisters and their individual insanities. Libby is often a bit ‘too much’ but the author does try to expose us only in smallish doses, so it never wears too thin. I will say it feels a tiny bit like she’s recycling a plot device in this book with Gus chasing Nora and Nora finding herself pregnant – we’ve seen this before but Nora seems to be going in a different direction this time, so perhaps not.

The mystery plot of this one was a bit – odd. It ends a bit messy, but not. I can’t say much more without giving too much away, but it’s definitely not one of the pre-canned, pre-packaged plot lines so popular with a lot of cozy authors up until recently. There are a lot of players involved, but I never struggled to keep them all straight and there was only one thread left dangling – we never find out definitively who burned Nora’s barn – I think we’re supposed to take it as read.

I hope this series continues a bit longer, as I am genuinely attached to all of these characters and the world Ms. Martin has built. I’m not sure how I feel about Nora becoming a mother, as I usually don’t care for cozies that have a maternal protagonist, but I’m sure willing to find out!

Fifth Grave Past the Light (Charley Davidson #5)

Fifth Grave Past the Light
by Darynda Jones
Rating: ★★★★★
isbn: 9781250014405
Series: Charlie Davidson #5
Publication Date: July 4, 2013
Pages: 339
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Love love love this book. Love this whole series. Ms. Jones has a unique ability (IMO) to take a very dark subject matter (or matters) and make it bearable to get through it. Charlie has had every bad thing thrown at her in this series, and they are all written graphically, and without holding back. Normally, this would cause me to run rapidly in the opposite direction, but she also writes with such compassion, humour, and scathing wit. I find the latter helps me get through the former.

The mythology(?) of Charlie’s world comes together in this book and I was totally sucked in – and relieved that what she’d been led to believe about the future was inaccurate. Questions are answered in this book, in between solving murders and other mysteries. I can’t wait to see what happens with all of these people coming together: Cookie, Uncle Bob, Garret, Quentin, Reyes, Sister Mary Elizabeth. Charlie is getting herself a gang. As for Reyes and Charlie, well damn. Hot damn. Literally. Just taking these two and their relationship into consideration, this is by far the best book of the series so far.

Thank you Ms. Jones, for writing a story/series I can lose myself in, and come out of, grinning like a fool.

Silver Borne (Mercy Thompson, Book 5)

Silver Borne
by Patricia Briggs
Rating: ★★★★
isbn: 9780441018192
Series: Mercy Thompson #5
Publication Date: April 4, 2010
Pages: 342
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Ace

Mercy is smart enough to realize that when it comes to the magical Fae, the less you know, the better. But you can’t always get what you want. When she attempts to return a powerful Fae book she’d previously borrowed in an act of desperation, she finds the bookstore locked up and closed down.

It seems the book contains secret knowledge—and the Fae will do just about anything to keep it out of the wrong hands. And if that doesn’t take enough of Mercy’s attention, her friend Samuel is struggling with his wolf side—leaving Mercy to cover for him, lest his own father declare Sam’s life forfeit.

All in all, Mercy has had better days. And if she isn’t careful, she might not have many more to live…

This was my favorite book of the series until the last fifth or so the time spent in Elphame and that only because fae is my least favorite of the supernatural, I think. Still, this was an excellent read and I loved it. I really enjoyed the time spent on developing Mercy and Adam’s relationship, the pack, and definitely on Samuel. This book felt a lot less high-intensity than the ones before it in many ways, and I appreciated the break.

I can’t say a whole lot about the plot beyond what’s written on the back cover without going spoilerish. As I mentioned above, not a fan of the typical fae mythology – although I really like Zee and the way the author weaves the truth behind the fairy tales into this series. I just prefer them more when they aren’t taking center stage and this book – at least the last half, they are definitely center stage.

I have the next one on it’s way to me now and I can’t wait to read it.

Bone Crossed (Mercy Thompson Series #4)

Bone Crossed
by Patricia Briggs
Rating: ★★★½
isbn: 9780441016761
Series: Mercy Thompson #4
Publication Date: January 26, 2010
Pages: 309
Genre: Urban Fantasy

As a shape-shifter with some unusual talents, Mercy’s found herself maintaining a tenuous harmony between the human and the not-so-human on more than one occasion. This time she may get more than she bargained for.

Marsilia, the local vampire queen, has learned that Mercy crossed her by slaying a member of her clan—and she’s out for blood. But since Mercy is protected from direct reprisal by the werewolf pack (and her close relationship with its sexy Alpha), it won’t be Mercy’s blood Marsilia is after.

It’ll be her friends’.

I was prepared to dislike this book, as the synopsis didn’t sound all that interesting to me, but the author did an excellent job defying my expectations. I was dreading the whole aftermath of the last book, but found myself admiring the way she handled Mercy’s recovery. I also dreaded the whole vampire-revenge storyline, but the plot-twist was excellent! I genuinely enjoyed the first 80% of the book. The part I liked the least was the end, which, I suppose, wasn’t written to be liked. Ms. Briggs does evil well. However, she gets points for not dragging the ending out so very long and I liked the way everything wrapped up quickly and satisfyingly. I’m looking forward to reading more of this series.

Iron Kissed (Mercy Thompson, Book 3)

Iron Kissed
by Patricia Briggs
Rating: ★★★
isbn: 9780441015665
Series: Mercy Thompson #3
Publication Date: January 2, 2008
Pages: 287
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Ace

Though Mercy can shift her shape into that of a coyote, her loyalty never wavers. So when her former boss and mentor, Zee, asks for her help, she’s there for him. A series of murders has rocked a fae reservation, and Zee needs her unique gifts, namely her coyote sense of smell, to sniff out the killer.

But when Zee is accused of murdering the suspect Mercy outed, he’s left to rot behind bars by his own kind. Now it’s up to Mercy to clear his name, whether he wants her to or not.

Mercy’s loyalty is under pressure from other directions, too. Werewolves are not known for their patience, and if Mercy can’t decide between the two she cares for, Sam and Adam may make the choice for her…

I was dreading this book because I knew what was waiting for me in it, but I had just finished a Janet Evanovich, and if that isn’t inoculation enough against a dark, intense read, I don’t know what is, so I picked Iron Kissed up off Mt. TBR and started reading.

There’s no doubt that this is a great series with excellent characters. I enjoyed the slightly stronger focus on Samuel vs. Adam and I’m happy that this triangle isn’t going to drag on indefinitely. I also really enjoyed finding out a bit more about Zee and some of the fae folklore, although the fae as a group don’t hold a lot of fascination for me.

Iron Kissed is closer to a traditional murder mystery than the first two, and I have to admit I had the evil pegged from it’s first scene, but there’s so much going on in this book that it didn’t at all matter – I’m not even sure the author’s first goal here is to keep us from knowing who the evil is.

Finally the scene I dreaded the most: I was relieved to find the author didn’t feel the need to be disgustingly graphic about the physical brutality, but she does manage to convey the horror and creepiness of the scene vividly by exploiting the mental angle. I think of all the disturbing scenes of the overall horror, the one in the car ride over to the garage was the most disturbing for me. In just two (maybe 3?) short sentences, I’m completely creeped out, and horrified by the lack of free will Mercy suffers. The garage scene felt a bit jagged – like a film clip that was missing frames – but I was completely ok with that. I was happy to have details filled in when needed after everything was over and the body parts swept up.

This isn’t a series where I’ll be reading the books back-to-back until I catch up, but I’ll definitely keep on reading.

Blood Bound (Mercy Thompson, Book 2)

Blood Bound
by Patricia Briggs
Rating: ★★★★
isbn: 9780441014736
Series: Mercy Thompson #2
Publication Date: January 30, 2007
Pages: 292
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Ace

Mercy has friends in low places—and in dark ones. And now she owes one of them a favor. Since she can shapeshift at will, she agrees to act as some extra muscle when her vampire friend Stefan goes to deliver a message to another of his kind. But this new vampire is hardly ordinary—and neither is the demon inside of him.

When the undead and the werewolves sent to find him don’t return, the local vampire queen turns to Mercy for help. A coyote is no match for a demon, but Mercy is determined to get her friends back—including the two werewolves circling around her heart.

A tad darker than the books I usually enjoy, Blood Bound sort of rides that edge of what I enjoy reading and what I’d rather put down and move on from. Though as I start to read more and more books similar to Mercy Thompson, it’s not easy to keep saying that. But, I really enjoyed it, in spite of it’s slightly darker intensity. Most of that can be contributed to my ‘bonding’ with the characters in the first book, so I found myself really wanting to know what was going to happen to all of them this time around.

I’m one who thinks you can never have too much humor, and there was enough throughout the dialog to keep things from becoming positively moribund.

The plot line is definitely dark stuff and the author gets big kudo’s from me for giving Mercy faith and using it as a strength, without becoming evangelical about it. She strikes a nice balance – Mercy is never, ever, preachy or superior, but she doesn’t hesitate to use that faith as a tool in her arsenal. Well done.

The climax was intense but I didn’t find it overly done and it didn’t drag out either. Following the sometimes labyrinthine vampire politics took some concentration, which at times I didn’t always have (especially when I’m picking the book up after a long day at work), but it added a level of intrigue that kept the plot from being too obvious.

I had my doubts about a were-based series – they aren’t my favorite paranormal species, but I’m really liking Adam and Warren and Bran. I’m looking forward to picking up the third book.

Moon Called (Mercy Thompson, Book 1)

Moon Called
by Patricia Briggs
Rating: ★★★★
isbn: 9780441013814
Series: Mercy Thompson #1
Publication Date: January 31, 2006
Pages: 288
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Ace

Mercy Thompson is a shapeshifter, and while she was raised by werewolves, she can never be one of them, especially after the pack ran her off for having a forbidden love affair. So she’s turned her talent for fixing cars into a business and now runs a one-woman mechanic shop in the Tri-Cities area of Washington State.

But Mercy’s two worlds are colliding. A half-starved teenage boy arrives at her shop looking for work, only to reveal that he’s a newly changed werewolf—on the run and desperately trying to control his animal instincts. Mercy asks her neighbor Adam Hauptman, the Alpha of the local werewolf pack, for assistance.

But Mercy’s act of kindness has unexpected consequences that leave her no choice but to seek help from those she once considered family—the werewolves who abandoned her…

This one started out slow for me, although reliable friends recommended it to me so I wan’t too worried I wouldn’t love it.

The story really kicked in for me once they hit Montana and I was hooked from there. I like Mercy – she’s got enough humour about her to keep the whole thing from feeling too dark. Adam is exactly what Adam should be! Zee is fun and Stephan is, again, what he should be. So a great cast of characters you can get involved with.

The plot itself was delightfully labyrinthian – not so complex you couldn’t follow it, but complex enough to keep you guessing right up until the very end, when even the bad guys were somewhat sympathetic.

I’m not yet ready to add this series to my top 5 list, but I’ll definitely be reading the next book as soon as possible.