January 2006

One of the slowest months I've had in a long while but some good ones.

Sandra Dallas, New Mercies, A-
Another historical novel with a slight bit of mystery from Dallas (Persian Pickle Club, etc). A woman from the North goes South when a relative she didn't knew she had is murdered and leaves her the estate. Enjoyable Southern setting and good characters.

Cynthia Harrod-Eagles, Dear Departed, A
Latest Bill Slider mystery. I like these so much I buy them in hardback as soon as I can since the library where I live now doesn't seem to realize she exists. For someone who spent $0.00 buying mysteries before moving here, it's saying a lot. Slider and Atherton tackle a case that appears to be another in a string of serial killings but turns out to be quite different.

Carol O'Connell, Mallory's Oracle, A
Finally getting around to reading this series. I know this is one that has split readers into two camps, but as you can tell from my rating, I really liked it.

Jo Bannister, The Lazarus Hotel, A-
A standalone from her. A group of people arrive for a weekend personal enrichment-type workshop and discover they've been brought together for a sinister reason. Very suspenseful.

Donna Andrews, Murder with Peacocks, A-
I had started this one awhile back and couldn't get into it. Decided to give her another try. Cute and funny.

Donna Andrews, Murder for Puffins, A-
Again, cute and funny, but decided I'd better pace these out.

Anita Shreve, A Wedding in December, A-
Some of the critics really hated this one, but I thought it was pretty good. A group of friends from high school reunite for a wedding. The bride and groom were sweethearts who married others and found each other later. Lots of entertwining stories of the group's lives, and an interesting story-within-story aspect (one of the women is an aspiring writer and is writing a novel based on a World War I event).

Stuart MacBride, Cold Granite, A
Not for the faint of heart. First in a series, set in Aberdeen, police procedural. Great characters, solid writing, but I must disclose that there's lots of forensic details and the cases involve the kidnapping and murder of children.