Tag: mystery

Grave Dance (Alex Craft Series #2)

Excellent read. Different from what I normally choose, but never too dark or hard-boiled. The author has given Alex a very complicated past talent-wise, so there’s a lot of room for future discovery.

 

I’m not normally a fan of love triangles (at ALL) but so far this one has been well-balanced and not at all annoying or frustrating. The author has done an excellent job of keeping me from picking a favourite. But taking this triangle too far forward into future books will prove to annoy me to the point of abandonment. (Although, if she chooses to keep both of them, well that could prove to be fun too!) Just please don’t devolve into ‘which one will she choose’ silliness.  

 

The plot of the story was excellent and I was all prepared to accept the ‘bad guy’ in this story – Ms. Price really led me down the garden path – only to be blissfully surprised to find out I was wrong.  I have the next in the series, Grave Memory and I’m looking forward to cracking it open…

Death, Taxes, and Extra-Hold Hairspray (Tara Holloway Mystery #3)

I think this may be my favourite book in this series so far. I thought that the plot was a slightly different spin on the typical mystery – no murders for a start – and the need for Tara to be creative in order to bring down the ‘bad guy’. I put this on my shelves as a cozy mystery, but really it’s a bit more of a chick-lit mystery – the romance is just a little bit more explicit and the language just a little bit more vulgar than what most would consider ‘cozy’. But the humour is dry and wry and the romantic tension is ratcheted up a notch in this book as Tara tries to decide who is a better fit in her life, Brett or Nick.  An excellent read, I really enjoyed it.

Trail of the Spellmans (Spellman Files Series #5)

I can’t say anything except this is an excellent book. Funny, endearing, interesting. As with all the previous ‘documents’ there are quite a few plot lines and Izzy Spellman does her usual excellent job at getting to the bottom of all of them. The evolution of character development throughout all the books has been interesting, humorous and at times painful to witness and bittersweet.

 

I’d have given this book 5 stars, but was personally disappointed with the resolution of one of the story lines.

 

A definite recommendation for anyone who enjoys some hilarity with their sincerity.

Death, Taxes, and a Skinny No-Whip Latte (Tara Holloway Series #2)

I took a break from reading this book after about 6 chapters because it wasn’t holding my attention. I picked it back up after a few days and found myself much more interested in the rest of the book.

 

Slow start or short attention span, the book picked up quickly afterwards and while you pretty much always know who the bad guy is, I found myself looking forward to finding out how they catch him in the end. Lots of action, a few slapstick moments and great characters. I’ll be on the lookout for the third book.

Nice Girls Don’t Have Fangs (Jane Jameson Series #1)

I had so much fun reading this book! The author’s wit and humour clicked with me and I absolutely loved the dialogue.

 

The mystery was, while not the main focus of the story, well thought out and not obvious. The only part of this story I didn’t like was just how nasty the women in her family are to her but at least the author allowed the main character, Jane, to have a spine and she didn’t take being treated like crap as though she deserved it. Jane gives as good as she gets and I love reading about her. I’m really looking forward to reading the next book.

Third Grave Dead Ahead (Charley Davidson #3)

Third Grave Dead AheadThird Grave Dead Ahead
by Darynda Jones
Rating: ★★★★★
isbn: 9781250001542
Series: Charlie Davidson #3
Publication Date: February 4, 2012
Pages: 310
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Paranormal private eye. Grim reaper extraordinaire. Whatever. Charley Davidson is back! And she's drinking copious amounts of caffeine to stay awake because, every time she closes her eyes, she sees him: Reyes Farrow, the part-human, part-supermodel son of Satan. Yes, she did imprison him for all eternity, but come on. How is she supposed to solve a missing persons case, deal with an ego-driven doctor, calm her curmudgeonly dad, and take on a motorcycle gang hell-bent on murder when the devil's son just won't give up?


2021 Re-read: Wow,  I can’t believe I didn’t have anything to say in my original post about how dark this one is, and how hard to read at least one scene was.  Re-reading it, even knowing it was coming up, was still incredibly difficult, and I found I couldn’t let myself do more than skim read said scene.  It’s the sharp contrast of the often dark plots, to the snarky humour woven throughout the narrative that makes these books readable for me.

Original Thoughts: What a great book. I started it and couldn’t put it down until it was finished. I was hesitant about the premise – Charley can’t go to sleep. I was afraid it would be painful to read – but that wasn’t the case in the slightest. I found myself holding my breath during parts of the story, and although there were places where the reading of the story was difficult – truly painful for the characters at times – the humour never lets up and I love Charley’s sense of humour. The comedic banter she exchanges with many of the characters – especially her BFF Cookie, makes me laugh out loud.

I truly hope I do not have to wait another year for the fourth one. I’ll be re-reading the three I have in the meantime.

The Spellmans Strike Again (Izzy Spellman Mysteries)

This is my review after reading this book for the second time.

 

This is a great series and this one might be my favourite of the four so far. As funny as the family is, it’s nice to see a few of them get put in their place, and it’s great to see Izzy evolve. I love the footnotes, and there are quite a few laugh-out-loud moments.

 

This is not a typical mystery, with one major plot, but rather has many smaller plots running in parallel and I thought they were all handled really well. I’m really looking forward to the 5th Spellman case.

Death, Taxes, and a French Manicure (Tara Holloway Series #1)

Overall, I thought this was a very entertaining book. More cozy than romance, but with significant Romance traits (the sex scenes were more graphic than your standard cozy).

 

I found myself skimming once in awhile, even though I liked the characters and enjoyed the writing, so I’m going to chalk that up to trying to read during the busy holiday season.

 

I’ll definitely be ordering the next book in the series to see what happens next.

Hard Magic (Paranormal Scene Investigations Series #1)

A bit of a slow starter, as it seemed to take almost a third of the book to set the scene and introduce the characters. But after that, I found it to be a very fast paced, exciting plot with a genuinely likeable protagonist. While the ending is fitting with the premise of the series: finding out the facts of a paranormal incident, not catching the killer, it still left me feeling a bit like the story didn’t really end – or at least not in a satisfying manner. Still, I’ll look for the second one, as I am interested in the characters enough to want to know what happens next.

Second Grave on the Left (Grim Reaper #2)

Second Grave on the LeftSecond Grave on the Left
by Darynda Jones
Rating: ★★★★
isbn: 9780312360818
Series: Charlie Davidson #2
Publication Date: August 4, 2011
Pages: 307
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: St. Martin's Press

When Charley and Cookie, her best friend slash receptionist, have to track down a missing woman, the case is not quite as open and shut as they anticipate. Meanwhile, Reyes Alexander Farrow (otherwise known as the Son of Satan. Yes. Literally.) has left his corporeal body because he's being tortured by demons who want to lure Charley closer. But Reyes can't let that happen. Because if the demons get to Charley, they'll have a portal to heaven. And if they have a portal to heaven…well, let's just say it wouldn't be pretty.


2021 Update:  I didn’t say much first go-around, but the second book, along with the standard mystery plots – because she always has a couple going on at once – introduced more of what will be the overall series arc.   Charlie starts to learn about her background and role as grim reaper and that she plays a larger part in Jones’ version of the end time prophesies.

Knowing where the series was going made it easier to understand some of the nuances of this second book, and it made the relationship between Charlie and Reyes a lot more understandable.

Original Thoughts: Great book! I love the writing and Charley is a great character. The plots are all interesting and nicely intertwined. The secondary characters are all really well written and you like the ones your supposed to like.

I really hope this is the beginning of a continuing series.