Slightly Shady by Amanda Quick (aka Jayne Ann Krentz)

Lavinia Lake first encounters Tobias March when he bursts into her antiques shop in Rome, trashing her wares, all the while claiming to be on the trail of a murderer and warning Lavinia that she is in danger. There's also talk of treason, a criminal organization known as the Blue Chamber and an evil mastermind named Azure.

Despite her skepticism, Lavinia returns with her niece, Emeline, to London, where she is caught up in more intrigue. She sets herself up as a private detective and even though stubbornness on both sides leads to an oil-and-water pairing, she soon finds herself in business with Tobias, attempting to foil a blackmail scheme, locate the culprit in a series of murders and identify the surviving member of Azure's organization. 

Lavinia also is skilled in the practice of mesmerism, but decides to become a private investigator. Strong-willed and independent, Lavinia isn't a typical society widow, a fact which alternately attracts and frustrates her enigmatic partner, Tobias March. Lavinia and Tobias have a prickly and passionate relationship, and Tobias is determined to protect her, while Lavinia is just as determined to be an equal partner in their business. 

Both Lavinia and Tobias come from simliar backgrounds where they have to take responsiblity of another person and help make both better.  But the sexual tension doesn't have much depth and it took me awhile to figure out what drives the characters.  The sub-characters were almost more interesting than the main ones.

The first chapter of the next book in the series was included but I'm not sure if I'm that interested in reading more of this series or not.  It reminds me of the Amelia Peabody and Radcliffe Emerson series by Elizabeth Peters which I think I really prefer.  Plus I think I prefer her books that have more a futuristic aspect to them that she writes under Jayne Castle.

Strain by Guillermo del Toro & Chuck Hogan

First in the Strain series

When a plane arriving from Berlin goes completely black on the runway at JFK, losing all electrical power and contact with the outside world, authorities expect to find a tense hostage situation on board. Instead, they discover that almost everyone on the plane has mysteriously died, presumably during the very brief interval between the time it landed and the moment a SWAT team stormed the cabin. Suspecting a disease of some kind and fearing its spread, authorities call in Dr. Ephraim Goodweather, head of a CDC team set up to deal with just this sort of fast-moving, potentially catastrophic epidemic.

What Dr. Goodweather and his team gradually discover, however, is something much stranger and potentially even more dangerous: a species of parasitic worm that gradually turns its host into a bloodthirsty something that very closely resembles a vampire. Soon they are operating well outside the realm of established science, especially after they team up with Abraham Setrakian, a Holocaust survivor and former academic who now operates a pawnshop in Spanish Harlem and has dealt with this sort of thing before. Armed with Setrakian's knowledge and an extensive arsenal of anti-vampire weaponry, the CDC team sets out to control the outbreak by attacking its source.

An interesting premise and I was intrigued by the storyline as I've enjoyed many vampire novels in the past.  This one did not disappoint though I could tell towards the end that it was going to be a series as there was no way it could be finished in one.  So of course there is a cliff-hanger to make me want to read the next one.  But it was borderline too much for me.  The gore was pretty offensive especially in some sections.  I just turned down the volume and waited it out.

Ristorante Paradiso by Natsume Ono

Nicoletta, in her late teens or early 20's is seeking out the mother who left her as a child.  She finds her way to Casetta dell'Orso, a quaint little restaurant in the heart of Rome. The food's delicious, but the handsome staff of bespectacled gentlemen is the real draw. Nicoletta's mother, Olga, left her with her grandmother when she was 4 years old to marry her dream man, Lorenzo, whom she believes would have refused her had she revealed the existence of her child. Fifteen years later, the adult Nicoletta plans to expose her mother by telling Lorenzo the truth.

But instead decides to observe her mother and her relationship with her husband and the people who work in the restaurant.  She finds herself attracted to one particular waiter, Claudio, who still wears a wedding ring even though he has been divorced for years.  But his ex-wife continues to eat in the restaurant every week almost making in impossible for him to move on.  So Nicolette continues to watch and learn from everyone as she starts to work in the kitchen prepping and cleaning.

I enjoyed this quiet graphic novel though I'm not really sure I understood everything but found the illustrations intriguing and it kept me reading.

Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson

This picks up where "Girl Who Played with Fire" left off - Lisbeth Salander, who was found by Blomkvist shot in the head is alive after having brain surgery. Though still the prime suspect in three murders in Stockholm, she is convalescing under armed guard.  Meanwhile Mikael Blomkvist works to unravel the decades-old coverup surrounding the man who shot Salander: her father, Alexander Zalachenko, a Soviet intelligence defector and longtime secret asset to Säpo, Sweden's security police. While Blomkvist and Listbeth primarily communicate via online the story flows as both come to terms with the truth.

It took me 2 months to read this book as the first 350 pages just were difficult for me to process.  We are introduced to many new characters while we continue to follow old ones.  Plus since I knew it was the final book I think I just didn't want to finish it.  But once I got to about 350 I just couldn't put it down.  Thankfully it was over a long weekend so I was able to finish it and I felt very happy by the ending.  While I'll miss this series I felt like it ended where I would like it to be.

Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword by Barry Deutsch

Mirka is a normal Orthodox Jewish girl who dreams of fighting dragons.  She constantly battles wits with her stepmother, Fruma, whose argumentative nature and sharp nose conceal a warm and caring nature.  Mirka is stuck going to school, cleaning and has to learn how to knit, yet longs to wield a sword and do battle with dragons. 

One day on her way to school she takes a wrong turn and discovers a magical house where a witch lives.  She brings her siblings there to prove she isn't just making it up.  She takes one grape and finds herself caught in a battle of wills with a talking pig.  The girl encounters both a mind-reading witch and a multilingual troll in her quest for a sword with which to fight dragons. Yiddish language and Jewish customs are an essential part of the story and provide window to another way of life. 

The scene where Mirka outwits the troll and obtains the sword is hysterical as she is challenged to a race of knitting the perfect sweater.  What makes this graphic novel endearing is the relationships that Mirka has with her stepmother and her opinionated brothers and sisters.  We see how life is in an Orthodox Jewish village as Mirka has to deal with life and yet dreams outside her ordinary life.  Interestingly enough the father never has a voice and is in the background while the stepmother is the one who teaches Mirka how to live life including how to fight trolls.  A fun yet thought provoking graphic novel.

Timbuktu by Paul Auster

Mr. Bones, "a mutt of no particular worth or distinction," and his master, Willy G. Christmas, a middle-aged schizophrenic who has been on the streets since the death of his mother four years before. The novel begins with Willy and Mr. Bones in Baltimore searching for a former high school English teacher who had encouraged the teenage Willy's writerly aspirations. Now Willy is dying and anxious to find a home for both his dog and the multitude of manuscripts he has stashed in a Greyhound bus terminal.  Timbuktu is Willy's name for heaven.

After Mr. Bones is forced to leave Willy he is temporarily adopted by a Chinese boy named Henry but after a few days is discovered by Henry's father and forced to run again.  He then finds a family with 2 young children, Alice & Tiger - but there is no longer has control of his own life.  There are rules that he must follow or there might be serious consequences. But in the end Mr. Bones decides his own fate and goes to find the road to Timbuktu.

This was a rough book to read as about half is focused on Willy and Mr. Bones' relationship and mostly about Willy's rants. But this is all Mr. Bones has ever known.  Over the years I've worked with a lot of homeless that are homeless by choice - more often than not really intelligent people.  So it was hard to read the sections with Willy.  Plus I knew the book wasn't really going to be a happy one - it just had a despondent feel to it.  But there were some really lovely passages - I loved the section in which Mr. Bones turns into a fly and follows Willy to the hospital and is there until he dies.  It is a dream of course but wouldn't it be a wonderful thing?

Dexter is Delicious by Jeff Lindsay

5th book featuring, Dexter, who works as a blood-spatter expert for the Miami Police Department.  This book continues where the previous one left off - but now he’s got a new baby, a beautiful little girl. So Dexter decides he really, really wants to live like a normal human, to leave his Dark Passenger behind and stop all this murder stuff.  But his Dark Passenger isn't ready to leave and now his left for dead dead brother, Brian, is back.  We left him at the end of book 1.  Brian starts bonding with Dexter's family as Deborah, his sister, keeps insisting that Dexter help her with the case that involve missing girls, vampirism, and cannibalism.  And honestly it is making it difficult keeping his homicidal urges in check.

Part of the charm of these books is the dialog Dexter has with us (the readers).  His use of witty and sarcastic dialog makes for a fun read.  Interesting enough Dexter only kills one person and he really, really deserved it.  It isn't the strongest of the series but definitely back on track after book 3 that I really did not like at all.

Skinny Dip by Carl Hiaasen

The story starts with Joey Perrone being thrown overboard from a cruise chip by her husband Chaz. The almost-murdered wife of corrupt Charles "Chaz" Perrone, survives by clinging to a floating bale of marijuana and is rescued by Mick Stranahan, a burnt-by-love ex-cop. The description alone of how she deals with the attempted murder and then the fight to survive is hysterical if it wasn't so scary at the same time.

Chaz, an incompetent marine biologist, (he doesn't even know which direction the Gulf Stream flows in), has long been on the take from agribusiness tycoon Red Hammernut, who's been dumping fertilizer into the endangered Everglades. He thinks that Joey has discovered that he's been exchanging clean-water samples for the actual tainted water that is the result of Hammernut's environmental pollution. But while his wife suspects he is sleeping around she doesn't have a clue about the scam.

Joey recovers her strength, mental and physical, at the island home of her gallant rescuer Mike, who is the victim of six failed marriages. Instead of going to the police, however, she decides to play dead. She persuades Mike to help her mess with Chaz's mind while she figures out why he tried to kill her.

Great cast of charcters - Tool the hired goon of Red Hammernut w ho is brought in to watch Chaz. He was shot in the behind and still has the bullet lodged up his butt.  So since he is in constant pain he raids hospice nursing homes for pain patches.  During one of his late night raids he meets an old woman who gives it right back to him and suddenly reveals that Tool might have a heart of gold.

Hiaasen is not for the faint of heart as he likes his humor dark but still laugh out loud funny.  It is a bit preachy on the devastation of the everglades but you can tell it is a passion of Hiaasen and you can't fault him with being passionate.

Hold Me Closer, Necromancer by Lish McBride

Sam has dropped out of college and is stalled in a fast-food job in Seattle. Interrupting the boredom of days waiting on Plumpy customers and evenings watching old movies with his friends, a scary guy named Douglas enters Sam’s world. After a few pithy verbal threats, Douglas has Sam beaten and mauled by a sidekick—and later delivers teen Brooke’s pretty blond head to Sam’s door. The good news is that Brooke seems to be in no pain and is as sassy as ever. The bad news, as Sam finds out in short order, is that Douglas is a necromancer and has identified Sam, who hasn’t a clue what his strengths are, as a rival. Before the week is out, Sam finds himself in a cellar, caged with another pretty girl, who is part werewolf, part fairy. And then there’s Ashley, the parochial-school-uniformed 10-year-old who can orchestrate salvation for Sam by using her Blackberry and brains.

A little trivia, the title and all the chapter headings are lyrics, some which are familiar and others more obscure but it makes one pause and try to figure it out.

Great fun and I hope it will encourage readers who like this book to try other more established series such as Jim Butcher's Dresden's Files.

Naked Heat by Richard Castle

2nd book in the series featuring female New York cop, Nikki Heat, who reluctantly pairs up with a writer, Jameson Rook.   Rook had written an cover story featuring New York City Police department but it focused on Nikki Heat, leaving her feeling exposed to all to see.  When New York's most vicious gossip columnist, Cassidy Towne, is found dead, Heat uncovers a gallery of high profile suspects, all with compelling motives for killing the most feared muckraker in Manhattan.

Heat's murder investigation is complicated by her surprise reunion with superstar magazine journalist Jameson Rook. In the wake of their recent breakup, Nikki would rather not deal with their raw emotional baggage. But the handsome, wise-cracking Pulitzer Prize-winning writer's personal involvement in the case forces her to team up with Rook anyway. The residue of their unresolved romantic conflict and crackling sexual tension fills the air as Heat and Rook embark on a search for a killer among celebrities and mobsters, singers and hookers, pro athletes and shamed politicians.

Some of the storylines are following the TV series so it makes for fun reading.  If you watch the show "Castle" this will all make more sense.   But even if you don't watch the series it is great fun and I really enjoy the reader.

Scott Pilgrim 6 : Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour by Bryan Lee O'Malley

With six of Ramona's seven evil exes dispatched, it is time for Scott Pilgrim to face Gideon Graves, the biggest and baddest of her former beaus. But didn't Ramona take off at the end of Book 5? Shouldn't that let Scott off the hook? Maybe it should, maybe it shouldn't, but one thing is for certain all of this has been building to Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour!

This sixth and final volume doesn't disappoint as we finally get to the final battle that lasts most of the book.  I wasn't sure if I was going to like it but once the actual battle began it was a wild ride. 

Live to tell by Lisa Gardner

Boston police detective D. D. Warren returns in another gripping thriller. A family is murdered, apparently by the father (who, it seems, barely failed to take his own life after killing his wife and young children). But soon there are questions, the most pressing of which is, Why would this man, apparently out of the blue, slaughter his own family? Is it possible that someone else was the killer, perhaps another member of the family?  When another family is murdered in a very similar style the next day Warren fears there might be a serial killer at work instead.

We hear the story from 3 points of views - D.D. Warren from the point of view of the police, Victoria, a mother at her wits’ end - which until almost the end you wonder why you are hearing it and Danielle, survivor of a family slaughter.  Danielle works as a pediatric psych nurse on an acute hospital ward.  Every day she works with children who hurt themselves and have hurt others.  We learn that the 2 of the children from the murdered families were at the Acute ward in the last year. Through Victoria's eyes we learn that eight-year-old son, Evan, is capable of astonishing violence, including plotting to murder her.  We see that for 8 years her life has been put on hold as she does everything to keep her son even losing her husband and younger daughter. 

I have read several others of Gardner's work and so far all have featured D.D. Warren.  This by far has been the best, because it focuses more on the story behind the characters instead of the police side.  The story really came together and was engrossing even when I got angry by how some of the characters acted but it did feel authentic.

Koko Be Good by Jen Wang

Jon is a recent college graduate planning to follow his older girlfriend to Peru to work for an orphanage, and his story, starts the book. In the midst of his existential crisis, he meets Koko, an eccentric, sometimes almost feral young woman who ricochets from encounter to encounter, often leaving a trail of chaos in her wake.  We are introduced to Faron as he seems to be her sidekick. 

At first Faron seems to be an unmotivated slacker. He lives and works with his family and doesn't seem to have any aspirations beyond playing video games and sometimes performing Kung Fu tricks as Koko's sidekick. But out all 3 characters he seems to have the most depth as we learn as a young boy he was fat and teased by other kids.  He pushed himself to grow up strong and dangerous. He has a secret which is that he loves Broadway musicals, and his most treasured possession is a poster from the musical Wicked.

This had a very nostalgic feel to the artwork and I had some trouble following the story sometimes as it jumped between characters.  I did like how all 3 characters were so different from each other.  But when Koko gets to know Jon it inspires her to become a better person and she inspires Faron.  The ending is left open as both Koko and Jon follow their hearts to see where life takes them. 

Edwin of the Iron Shoes by Marcia Muller

Private eye Sharon McCone works for All Souls Cooperative, a San Francisco legal services plan.  She is hired to discover who was vandalizing a small street of antique shops.  But before she can discover who is behind the vandalism one of the antique dealers was found murdered in her own shop. Sharon had no idea who had killed Joan Albritton, who Sharon really liked.  She was a pleasant older woman whose main fault was talking to the dressmaker's dummy, the stuffed German shepherd, and the little boy mannequin she kept in her shop. She decides to stay on the case as she didn't feel confident in the police's ability to discover the killer. Especially after she met the unpleasantly patronizing Lieutenant Marcus who was in charge of the case. Uncertain of whether she would be paid for her work or not, but refusing to allow Joan Albritton's killer to go free, Sharon starts her investigation.

Suspects abound, with Charlie, the junkman who ran the shop across the street from Joan's, at the forefront. Charlie was Joan's former lover, recently jilted for a wealthier man, and he was the one who had discovered the body and called the police. Then there was Cara Ingalls, a real estate mogul with ice running through her veins. She made no secret of the fact that she was glad that Joan was gone so that she could buy the land and force the antique dealers out. Of course, Cara was not the only one trying to buy the land and then there was the slimy bond bailsman and the slick "antique-style" dealer who kept popping up at every corner. Not to mention the puzzling Lieutenant Marcus, who was grateful for Sharon's help and then pushing her aside the next.

This book introduced us to Sharon McCone and while I have read others in the series I have never read the first one.   It gives a great sense of place and time as it was written in 1977 before female PI's were all the rage.  Marcia Muller hints at the prejudices women had to face off with from the police and the public in general.  The mystery was a bit muddled as I felt like information was deliberately left out so I couldn't figure out who the killer was or what the motive was.  But it does make me want to go back and read more of her books.

Saturn Apartments. 1 / Hisae Iwaoka ; translation by Matt Thorn

Far in the future, humankind has evacuated the earth in order to preserve it. Humans now reside in a gigantic structure that forms a ring around the earth, 35 kilometers up in the sky. The society of the ring is highly stratified: the higher the floor, the greater the status. Mitsu, the lowly son of a window washer, has just graduated junior high. When his father disappears and is assumed dead, Mitsu must take on his father's occupation. As he struggles with the transition to working life, Mitsu's job treats him to an outsider's view into the living-room dioramas of the Saturn Apartments.
 
The story revolves around Mitsu but there are reoccurring characters, like Jin who had been Mitsu's father's partner and now is showing Mitsu the ropes, and Sachi, a girl who lives in a cleaning-machine with her cat that perpetually crawls the surface of the ring. But mostly the stories revolve around the quirks of Mitsu's clients, and the various reasons why they shelled out the massive amount of cash required to get their window's cleaned.
 
I didn't think I would like this as I don't do well with Japanese manga but I the first copule of pages several times to get a feel for it and actually found myself enjoying it.

My first book of 2011.

Hunt for Sonya Dufrette by R. T. Raichev

Antonia Darcy is the assistant librarian at London's Military and Naval Club.  This divorced grandmother is also an aspiring writer. Twenty years after the Royal Wedding, Antonia sadly remembers the little girl Sonya Dufreete, who disappeared the same day Charles and Diana were married in July 1981. Along with Sonya's parents, Antonia was on holiday at a country house on the Thames at the time the young girl went missing and was presumed drowned, her body never recovered.

Being a writer - Antonia writes a lot and while having writer's block discovers a long ago written detailed account of Sonya's disappearance that she wrote shortly after the tragedy.  While re-reading it Antonia has a strong sense that something isn't right with her story and sets out to satisfy her nagging doubts—with the help of her admirer and willing assistant, widower Maj. Hugh Payne.

Hence a mystery reminiscent of Agatha Christie as we are given a few red herrings and the ending was more complicated than I expected.  It also appears this is a the first in a series which I discovered by accident. Plus I really enjoyed reading it, the suspense was well done and the mystery worked well.  I'm looking forward to others by this author.

Happy New Year!  My Last book of 2010.

Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King

Vera Dietz's a little odd, but in a good way. She's dealing with the death of her ex-best friend, Charlie. She loved him. She hated him. She knows what happened the night he died, but can she find it in her to forgive him and clear his name? 

Vera  and Charlie have been best friends since childhood and they keep each other secrets - Vera's mother left when she was 12 and was a stripper when she was a baby.  Charlie's dad abuses his wife and Charlies.  But as they enter their Junior Year everything falls apart. 

Charlie finds new friends when he starts having after school detention buddies Evil Jenny Flick.  When Jenny decides that she wants Charlie and that Vera is in the way she broadcasts Charlie's secret about his father's domestic abuse to the whole school and blames Vera. In “retaliation,” Charlie reveals the fact that Vera's mother was a stripper before she deserted the family and then starts a perilous relationship with Jenny. 

But Vera is changing too as her goal has been to get hired by the local animal store/shelter that she has been volunteering in for the past several years.   But she is torn as her father tells her he can have her mother's car only if she gets a job delivering pizza.

Vera's story begins at Charlie's funeral where she hides the truth about Jenny's part in his death. It seesaws through her full-time job delivering pizzas while maintaining “A” grades, her upsetting relationship with Charlie, her conflicts with Jenny as well as her father, her romance with a 23-year-old coworker, and other complications.  Charlie's ghostly presence manifests itself through out the book making her feel like she is going crazy. The chapters alternate between perspectives of Vera's father, dead Charlie, and the pagoda atop the town (yes, the pagoda speaks). Vera's father's even include “flow charts” about dealing with life circumstances. All of these give us another view of Vera's life. 

Heartbreaking to read yet page turning as I wanted to know if Vera could find the strength to stand up and tell the truth and not just let things be.   It was refreshing to read a YA novel with real situations versus fantasy or teen angst.

Beat the Reaper by Josh Bazell

Dr. Peter Brown is an intern at Manhattan Catholic, what some would call the city's worst hospital. He's cynical, critical, comical and one tough guy. He's big, not so good looking (in his own words) and he used to be a mafia hit man. He went into witness protection, got a new identity which explains why he's a half dozen years older than most of his contemporaries.

His hours are long, but drugs help, so does attitude. One day he has to tell someone about his cancer and it turns out to be Nicholas LoBrutto, aka Eddy Squillante, someone from his mafia days. At first LoBrutto thinks Doc Brown has come to kill him, because the good doctor has an AKA as well, he's AKA Pietro Brnwa and he is also known as "Bearclaw."

It doesn't take long for LoBrutto to start the squeeze on Peter. Either Peter saves him or he turns him over to the mob. As long as LoBrutto lives, Peter is safe. And thus begins the zaniest thriller I've read. A lot of the book has Brown flashbacking to how his life got to this point.  He came home to find his grandparents dead at age 14.  His grandparents raised him when his own hippi parents were too caught up in living  their own lives to raise a child.  After their death he befriends a guy named Skinflick who is known to be the son of a mafia lawyer.  At 18 he is given his first kill by Skinflicks father - the 2 brothers who killed his grandparents to get made by the mob.  So over the next several years his reputation grows as he kills with a vengence and a blood tenacity.


But when he is sent to help Skinflick kill a father and his sons that are running a sex trade worker farm - he gets fingered as the main killer and goes to court.  Here is where we find out how he got his nickname Bearclaw which is much more anticlimatic than I thought it would be.  After Brown is aquited he finds himself thrown into a shark tank at the local aquarium trying to keep his girlfriend alive.  When she gets knocked off he decides to flip on the mob and gets put into witness protection.

I won't give anything away but I have to say the final 2 chapters were brutal - I almost threw up during some of the descriptions of Brown performing surgery on himself!  Plus I'll never look at a aquarium in quite the same way again.  I listened to it on CD as I couldn't get past the first chapter when I was reading it.  The flashbacks are mixed in and it was hard for me to follow where as I could just listen and I could just follow along.

This book was kind of crazy and fascinating at the same time.  If you don't like violence, fowl language or sex then do not read this book as it has all of that plus much more.  One of the reviews describes this book as a cross between House and Sopranos and that pretty much sums it up.

Trio of Sorcery by Mercedes Lackey

Collection of 3 stories. 

The first new Diana Tregarde story in almost 20 years and the first Jenny Talldeer tale in over 15 years.  Each story has a bit of a preface by Lackey to explain the time and place of the story.

Arcanum 101, which takes place in the 1970s, a young Diana Tregarde finds time between her studies at Harvard and her budding writing career to stop a supposed psychic from interfering in the police investigation of a kidnapping case. This was also more of a novella as it was over half the book in length.

Other books featuring Diana Tregarde 

Burning Water (1989)
Children of the Night (1990)
Jinx High (1991)

Drums, set in the 1990s, sends PI and Native American shaman Jennie Talldeer on a quest to prevent an angry Osage ghost from coming between Navajo Nathan Begay and his Chickasaw fiancee. 

Ghost in the Machine, set in the high-tech world of modern times, computer programmer and techno-shaman Ellen McBridge investigates a series of mysterious deaths linked to a multiplayer online role-playing game.

I was a huge fan of the Diana Tregarde novels so was really excited to pick this collection up.  Now I want to go back and re-read the rest of the books as well as look for the Jenny Talldeer books which I have not read.  Interestingly enough these stories were written in order of how much I liked it.  While I did enjoy the last story found it to be my least favorite maybe because  I'm not into online gaming.  I always enjoy these kind of books that Lackey wrote so am glad to see her writing in this style again.

MERRY CHRISTMAS! 

Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor by Lisa Kleypas

The Nolan men all live on San Juan Island in Friday Harbor.  Their family was never really a family and while all 3 live on the same Island have very little to do with each other.  Christmas for them is just another day. But tragedy strikes when their only sister dies in a car accident and she gives legal guardianship to her brother Mark. A single guy in his prime Mark doesn't know what to do. He persuades his brother Sam to share responsibility and he and Holly move in with him. But their niece Holly has been traumatized and can't or won't speak since the accident.

That is until the owner of a new toy shop named Maggie Collins gives Holly a magical shell. This connects Maggie and Mark  and they both find themselves undeniably attracted.  But Mark already has a girlfriend named Shelby and Maggie is recovering from her husband's recent death from cancer. Mark is a decent guy and knows that his girlfriend Shelby would be the perfect mother for Holly. Maggie feels guilt over finding another man attractive. Both are in a transitional period but can't seem to stop thinking about each other. Will they overcome their obstacles? 

This has a feel of a series and after reading the author's website that is confirmed.  You can see each brother has issues with relationships and intimacy.  While this was a short Christmas novel - barely 200 pages, it was engaging and the perfect read for an airplane ride.  I hope a bit more depth goes into the future books but this is a intriguing introduction.

Dashing through the snow by Mary Higgins Clark & Carol Higgins Clark

As Christmas approaches, the folks of Branscombe, N.H., are celebrating their first Festival of Joy. Visiting from New York City are novelist Nora Regan Reilly and her PI daughter, Regan Reilly, and their close friends Alvirah and Will Meehan, who won $40 million in the lottery a few years earlier. When four employees of Conklins Market win $160 million using numbers supplied by their associate Duncan Graham, they decide to share their winnings with Duncan even though he didn't put in a dollar that week. Duncan, alas, has vanished.  Eventually he shows up looking like he as been run over by a truck. 

Quickly we learn he has been scammed by con artists who have come to town teaching a money saving course.  He gave them $5000 - his entire savings - to invest in an oil well.  He naively gives them his lottery numbers and later discovers they took his numbers and were the 2nd winning ticket.  He goes to confront them and falls down the stairs but manages not to be caught.  He steels their ticket and goes to confess to his fellow lottery winners. 

Meanwhile his girlfriend Flower has flown into town from San Francisco to surprise him but when she learns he won the lottery and didn't call her immediately thinks he is no longer interested in her.  So she checks into a local B&B which conveniently is owned by friends of the con men who are thieves themselves and take Flower hostage.  The Reillys and Meehans are hot on the trail to discover where Flower is and who has the winning ticket.  Another twist is the flower ring that Duncan had put a deposit on to propose to Flower with.  Alvirah  recognizes it as a ring that was stolen 8 years ago from a woman who died under suspicious circumstances.

It all ends well with very little violence and with a romantic flavor.  Not the most difficult mystery but different.  I guess it is part of a series so might go and read some of the earlier books.  I was looking for a holiday mystery and this fit the bill.  One fact that bothered me is if Duncan had $5000 why didn't he just use it to buy the ring instead of just putting down a deposit.

Mrs. Miracle by Debbie Macomber

Seth Webster lost his wife in a car accident four years ago and he still is mourning her loss and trying to cope. After his wife's death, their young twin boys went to live with their grandparents but have recently returned to living with him and he is in way over his head. Trying to work full time, raise spunky 6-year-old twins and manage a house has left him feeling overwhelmed and multiple housekeepers have come and gone leaving him on his own.

Finally, Mrs. Emily Merkle arrives on his doorstep and sets the house to order, takes care of everything that is out of control and the boys absolutely adore her. The twins have trouble pronouncing her name and it comes out "Mrs. Miracle" which sticks and everyone around town begins calling her that. She seems to know everyone and everything and has her hand on what needs to be done in the Webster household as well as with other families in town.

The romantic love interest is Reba who is suffering from her own loss of a broken engagement and estrangement from her sister and family. Seth has seen her from afar but never gathered the courage to ask her out.  Events bring them together when Reba is suddenly in charge of the children's Christmas pageant, his twins are part of the pageant.  

Meanwhile Seth's in-laws, Jerry and Sharon, are having their own problems as their marriage is breaking apart as neither one can figure out how to get along or what they really want.   Sharon leaves Jerry when he forbids her from visiting the twins for Christmas.  Since she leaves all her medications behind he decides to bring it to her and hopefully resolve their issues.

Everybody's hanging on to old hurts and missing out on joys of Christmas because of it, but Mrs. Miracle will help them clean up the mess they've made of their lives.

Nice clean romantic Christmas story.  Mrs. Miracle is a modern day version of Mary Poppins.  There are some other subplots that bring the story along very nicely.  Even a few recipes included in the book and I did enjoy the quotes from Mrs. Miracle.  Good weekend on the plane reading.  This was made into a TV movie on Hallmark channel by the same name.

Corduroy Mansions by Alexander McCall Smith

This new novel focuses on London in eccentric occupants of Corduroy Mansions in Pimlico. Residents run the gamut from the very likable to the much loathed. There's William, a well-meaning, widowed wine merchant determined to oust his lazy twentysomething son from his house. (He's enlisted the assistance of his neighbor, Marcia, who's taken his desire for collusion as a romantic advance.) Four young women share a flat below him. Among them is Dee, a health-food devotee who can't understand a male coworker's resistance to her offer of a high-colonic, and art history student Caroline, who has designs on a friend unsure whether he wants to date women or men.

Then there's the thoroughly despicable Oedipus Snark, a Parliament member devoid of scruples, conscience, and class. Even his own mother despises him; she's writing his biography, with the aim of exposing every one of his faults.

One of the ways William tries to get rid of Eddie is by becoming a co-owner of Freddie de la Hay, a canine who has many ideas of what he wants to do instead.  Eventually William (tipsy on too much champaign) agrees to letting Marcia move in and moving all of Eddie's belongings into the hallway.  They discover a small painting that they suspect Eddie stole as it seems to good to be true.  We see Eddie's true character when he kicks Freddie de la Hay and later kidnaps him for what appears to be a dog fight. 

The book is nicely tied up with a dinner William has for the entire building and even his son Eddie shows up.  I will read anything that Alexander McCall Smith but I have to say this is one of my least favorite novels that he has written though I did enjoy the London scene. 

Busy Body by M.C. Beaton

Featuring Agatha Raisin

Agatha Raisin has always been ambivalent about holiday cheer, but her cozy little village of Carsely has long prided itself on its Christmas festivities. But this year Mr. John Sunday, a self important officer with the Health and Safety Board, has ruled that the traditional tree on top of the church is a public menace; that lampposts are unsafe for hanging illuminations; that May Dimwoody’s homemade toys are dangerous for children… Things have reached such a desperate pass that the Carsely Ladies’ Society joins forces with the ladies in the neighboring village of Odley Cruesis to try to put a stop to Mr. Sunday’s meddling—only to find that someone has literally put a stop to him with a kitchen knife. Millionaire and prime suspect Miriam Courtney, who threatened to kill Sunday, hires Agatha to clear her name. Complications ensue after someone strikes Miriam a fatal blow to the head.

Agatha and her perky young protégé, Toni Gilmour work together on the case and along the way Toni's friend Sharon who also works for Agatha goes missing and is later discovered murdered.  This provides more insight into Toni's character and is a small detour in the story.  We continue the original storyline as Agatha now is trying to determine who murdered Sunday & Courtney.  She even ventures to Boston to meet up with Miriam's estranged children who didn't even come over for the funeral.  this part of the mystery gets very complicated as there are several cases of mistaken identity. As with most Agatha Christie novels nothing is quite as it seems and sometimes those small villages harbour violent people.

The last few Agatha Raisin mysteries take place over several months to a year in time and this one is one Christmas to another before the mystery is solved.  A new Agatha Raisin book is always a reason for me to celebrate and I enjoyed the holiday aspects of this story.  Many of the original characters are back and it's nice to see them evolve.

Unseen by Nancy Bush

In rural Oregon, Gemma LaPorte wakes up in a hospital with a fragmented memory. Det. Will Tanninger tells Gemma that she's a prime suspect in a hit and run that critically injured a child molester. As Gemma's memories start to return and she finds notes she had made about brain function, she wonders whether the concussion is the only reason for her amnesia.

It delves on the supernatural as Gemma is able to read emotions and maybe minds as she finds herself reading thoughts that are not her own.  We learn as she starts to regain her memory that her adopted mother used her talent to con people by predicting their futures.  She can vaguely remember an elderly American Indian woman leaving her on a boat when she is little.  She wonders how this all ties together.

The combination mystery /supsenseful romance is further complicated with a serial killer who burns his victims - he sees their auoras as witches and since he is a wolf he has to kill the witches.   There is definite chemistry between Gemma and Will and he is torn between his attraction to her and finding the truth.

The story is told from several points of view, Gemma, Lucky, Will and Wolf (the serial killer who burns his victims).  We are left to wonder if Gemma and Lucky are the same person perhaps a different personality.  I was turned off by how many male characters were just nasty drunks who wanted to beat people up and attack women.  But overall this was a very good suspenseful romance.  I've tried to read her other series and didn't really enjoy it but will look for "Wicked Game" which might be a prequel.

Surgeon by Tess Gerritsen

A serial killer is on the loose in Boston. The victims are killed by being cut with a scalpel on the stomach, the intestines and uterus removed, and then the throat slashed. The killer obviously has medical knowledge and has been dubbed "the Surgeon" by the media.

Detective Thomas Moore and his partner Rizzoli of the Boston Homicide Unit have discovered something that makes this case even more chilling. Years ago in Savannah a serial killer raped and  murdered women in exactly the same way. He was finally stopped by his last victim, who shot him as he tried to cut her. This survivor now lives in Boston, Dr. Catherine Cordell, who now works as a cardiac surgeon at one of Boston's prestigious hospitals.  We quickly learn that Cordell is connected with the Boston victims by rape.

As the murders continue, it quickly becomes obvious that the killer is really after Dr. Cordell, who is becoming so frightened that she is virtually unable to function. But she might be the only person who can help the police catch this copycat killer. To complicate matters even further, Detective Moore, often referred to as Saint Thomas as he mourns the death of his wife, is getting emotionally involved with the doctor.

I wanted to read this book as I've been watching the TV show Rizzoli & Isles on TNT so I wanted to read the book that the show is based upon.  I guess I should say very loosely based upon.  I do not find the Rizzoli character very likeable and I'm not sure if the Isles characters is based on Dr. Cordell or not.  So I think I will try the next book in the series as the series is based on both books according to the credits.  My problem is I do not enjoy medical thrillers and this is definitely one of those.  So I skipped the medical surgery stuff and just read the rest.

Heat Wave by Richard Castle

In the middle of a New York heatwave, the murder of real estate tycoon brings detective Nikki Heat to the case--and along with her comes the aggravating journalist Jameson Rook.  Nikki Heat is hit with an unexpected challenge when the commissioner assigns superstar magazine journalist Jameson Rook to ride along with her to research an article on New York's Finest. Pulitzer Prize-winning Rook is as much a handful as he is handsome. His wise-cracking and meddling aren't her only problems. As she works to unravel the secrets of the murdered real estate tycoon, she must also confront the spark between them. The one called heat.  Jameson Rook, is a fictionalized version of Richard Castle himself.  If you watch the show "Castle" this will all make more sense.

One of the fun aspects of the show is the sexual tension between Castle & Beckett and in this book it comes to fruition with a not too graphic sex scene.  In the first season we see most of the characters reading "Heat Wave" and I always wondered if it was as fun as they kept saying it was.  Now I won't say this is the most exciting mystery I ever read but I did enjoy that it just wasn't another episode rehashed and I can see how characters from the were written into this series.   I enjoyed listening to it on CD while driving and will definitely look for the 2nd one that is already in press. 

Take from Amazon.com
"Mystery sensation Richard Castle, blockbuster author of the wildly best-selling Derrick Storm novels, introduces his newest character, NYPD Homicide Detective Nikki Heat. Tough, sexy, professional, Nikki Heat carries a passion for justice as she leads one of New York City's top homicide squads.

About the Author

Richard Castle is the author of numerous bestsellers, including the critically acclaimed Derrick Storm series. His first novel, In a Hail of Bullets, published while he was still in college, received the Nom DePlume Society's prestigious Tom Straw Award for Mystery Literature. Castle currently lives in Manhattan with his daughter and mother, both of whom infuse his life with humor and inspiration."

I do enjoy the way this series is being treated as a real thing and even has the actor "Nathan Fillion" who plays Castle as the author on the back of the book. I feel like ABC and the writers of the show are having a great time with this series and if you are a fan of the show then you'll enjoy these books.

Last Seen Wearing by Colin Dexter

2nd book in the Inspector Morse series.  This is one of the  most complicated mysteries that I've ever read.   Morse & Lewis are brought in to take over a case after the investigating detective died in a car accident.  Valerie Taylor has gone missing 3 years ago and presumed dead.  But suddenly letters to her parents start arriving to bring fresh interest into the case.  Morse immediately assumes she is dead but wonders why letters would start arriving but most of all who would send them.  Is it her distraught parents, her mysterious lover or the murderer?

Morse bumbles through the case trying out theories, drinking and listening to opera.  One of my favorite scenes is him trying to get into what we would call a stripclub without paying for a ticket.  Poor Lewis is left outside to wait.   Morse eventually figures it out but then it appears his theory is wrong - but as the book ends we wonder.  Maybe he was right after all.  You need to read it to judge for yourself.

Morse is one of my favorite book and TV series.  So I enjoy going back and re-reading these.

Half-Life of Planets by Emily Franklin

Told from two alternating points of view. Liana, who loves studying about outer space, has recently been deemed a “slut” via an anonymous note, and she aims to disprove the label by not kissing anyone during summer break. Liana deals more with her own self-image as well as her disassociation with her parents. Her father is a hypercondriac and constantly in the hospital with tests.

Hank, who has a vast knowledge of music, has Asperger's syndrome, and he doesn't think that a girl would ever want to kiss him. He has is own issues with his family as we see him interact with his mother and older brother.

They meet in the hospital at the candy machine and quickly form a bond, yet as they navigate their friendship, they have a hard time expressing their individual needs.

It's really well done and it was refreshing to read a YA book that wasn't filled with drama and teen angst. Both characters felt real and it had me rooting for the ending.

Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk: a modest bestiary by David Sedaris and illustrations by Ian Falconer

Short stories that feature animals. Each story starts out normal enough, more or less like an Aesop's Fable, but then gets more preposterous as far as animals go and then more and more relevant to life as we live it today. But to me a lot of the stories were unneccessary violent or just depressing. At first I enjoyed Falconer's illustrations but when some were more graphic than I wanted it just left a bad taste in my mouth. I think my favorite ones were early on and as the stories got more perverse I just didn't enjoy it.

I've enjoyed the other books by Sedaris that I've read so was disappointed in this collection.

Sleeping Doll by Jeffery Deaver

Featuring Katheryn Dance

Kathryn Dance, an investigator with the California Bureau of Investigation, is the lead cop handling the escape of psychopathic killer Daniel Pell. Pell dubbed "Son of Manson" by the press for his "family" of young runaways and his most horrendous crime, the murders of computer engineer William Croyton, Croyton's wife and two of their three children. The only child left alive, nine-year-old Theresa, is known as the Sleeping Doll. Pell, charismatic and diabolically intelligent, continually eludes capture, but Dance, a specialist in interrogation and kinesics (or body language), is never more than a few suspenseful minutes behind.

As with all Deaver's books there is a big twist that kept on coming. It kept me guessing and I enjoyed learning more about Dance's character and her specialty of kinesics. This series is much less violent than his other series and I enjoy the mental aspects of it as well.

Cat getting out of a bag and other observations by Jeffrey Brown

You can tell from the cover that Jeffrey Brown knowns his cats. This small comic book captures the various mannerisms of how cats behave and act. So much of this book reminds me of my 2 cats that it made me smile and laugh. Brown obviously loves his cats and admires their quirks. Many of the comics stand alone and some combine together to make lovely little vignettes.

For cat lovers everywhere.

Espresso Tales by Alexander McCall Smith

Continues 44 Scotland Street serial that McCall Smith wrote for the Scotsman. It continues the adventures of all our favorites but mostly focuses on Bertie Pollock, the super intelligent 6 year old and his relationships with his parents and adapting to a new school and making friends.

But our other band of characters are there as well. Bruce has lost his job as a surveyor, and between admiring glances in the mirror, is contemplating becoming a wine merchant. Pat is embarking on a new life at Edinburgh University and perhaps on a new relationship, courtesy of Domenica, her witty and worldly-wise neighbor. Plus we see Ramsey Dubarton, who puts his wife, Betty, to sleep by reading her installments of his memoirs.

It makes for such a nice mix of stories, that I can't help but smile when I read them. I love everything he writes and have found that I'm really enjoying listening to this series on audio as I drive.

Any Place I Lay My Hat by Susan Isaacs

Amy Lincoln has trust issues. Her mother abandoned her after her father was first sent to prison. She was brought up in the projects by her Grandma Lil, a leg waxer and devoted Falcon Crest viewer; her amiable father, Chicky, spent most of Amy's childhood in prison on a series of minor theft raps.

A boarding school scholarship rescues Amy from lower-class oblivion; she goes on to Harvard and Columbia, then lands a job at "In Depth", a highbrow weekly magazine. Upbeat and self-deprecating, Amy spends little time bemoaning her past, but an encounter with college student Freddy Carrasco, who claims he's the illegitimate son of a Democratic presidential candidate, gets Amy wondering where her own mother might be. While advising Freddy how to approach his father, she uses her reporting skills to track down her elusive mother.

She eventually discovers her maternal grandmother living in Florida. Thankfully Amy's job takes her to Florida to cover a democratic rally. She instantly connects with her new found grandmother and wonders about her mother. Most the rest of the book is Amy trying to get up the nerve to actually find her mother as well as try to get over her recently ended 2 year relationship with John.

This was my first book by Isaacs and while there were elements I enjoyed I just kept wondering why I was reading it. I guess to see if Amy ever met her mother. It ended with a surprisingly happy ending but it felt unsatisfactory. I know Isaacs has been writting for a long time but it doesn't make me want to read more of her work.

Prime Baby by Gene Luen Yang

Eight-year-old Thaddeus Fong is insanely jealous of his baby sister and uses his intelligence as a weapon to prove his sister is really an alien or at least a portal for aliens to come through. He starts counting his sister's Ga (as this is the only sound she makes) and everytime it is a prime number. This leads him to conclude that his sister is an alien but eventually he discovers she is really a portal for aliens to come through.

So he uses his evil genius to corrupt the aliens into doing bad things like taking over the world but they keep doing good deeds like knitting socks and blankets. In a stroke of genius he manages to convince his parents that she is an alien and it works when she is taken away by the government to be studied. But surprising to him, Thad discovers that that his sister really loves him and he has broken her heart. So to make things right he shows his parents he is a portal to the aliens too so he can be with his little sister.

It is told in a delightful graphic book version. I didn't expect to really like it as much as I did. I read his other graphic novel "American Born Chinese" and enjoyed "Prime Baby" much more.