Oryx and Crake by by Margaret Atwood

The novel takes place in the distant future, where global warming has changed the earth so much that the coastal cities no longer exist, and New York is now New New York. Going outside in the sun is a death sentence, so the wealthier areas of the world are protected under places known as compounds, although areas known as The Pleebands still exist, where people live and are still exposed to nature in all its glory.

The other major plot line has to do with three central characters. Snowman is the narrator, also known as Jimmy, who at the start of the book is the only known surviving human being on the face of the planet. The book starts off with Snowman sleeping in a tree, barely alive, knowing that he does not have too much longer to live. Food is scarce, the sun is so hot he has blisters all over his body, and the genetically engineered creatures the wolvogs and the pigoons that have escaped are now roaming the grounds.

While he tries to keep alive, Snowman also keeps watch over a group of humanoid creatures called the Crakers, named after his "best" friend Crake, who was somehow responsible over the creation of these people. These Crakers are supposedly the ideal humans. They have no emotional desires, in particular no sex drives, except to pro-create. There is no reason for war, with this new type of human being. They are vegetarians, and do not desire meat. They are very simple people, and Snowman had promised to care for them if anything happened to Crake.

As Snowman goes back in time to reflect on the past, we learn more about Crake, who was an egotistical brilliant young man who had visions of a so-called better world. The third main character is Oryx, a woman whose history takes the reader to a third world Asian country where she was sold into a type of servitude, and eventually becomes a prostitute. She then finds her way to the western world and ends up working with Crake, becoming part of his plan when he creates the Crakers. Their story is revealed in pieces, told while Snowman goes on an adventure to find food and seek out the compound where it had all began. Snowman wants to go back to this place, hoping to find answers and food and supplies, and to remember the reasons why the human race was nearly obliterated. It's the story of these three and their lopsided relationship that leads us to answers of why the world "ended".

Atwood is a truly aweinspiring author. I'm always amazed at the varied books she has written over the years. This book really makes you think and wonder what our future will hold.

Ambulance Girl: How I Saved Myself By Becoming an EMT by Jane Stern

She write columns and books with her husband, Michael Stern, such titles as Roadfood, Eat Your Way Across the USA and they also speak on NPR's show Where We Eat.

At 52, Stern, a well-known foodie-she and her husband, Michael, have coauthored some 20 books on American culture and food she found herself profoundly depressed. Holed up in the couple's Connecticut home, she'd lost interest in doing much of anything. Phobias (bus riding, air travel, claustrophobia, etc.) made her isolation worse. One day, on a whim, she responded to the "volunteers wanted" notice at the local firehouse and signed up for EMT training. No one teaching "boot camp"-style classes would have tolerated a queasy (much less depressed or phobic) recruit, so she had to tough it out. Humor definitely helped. As Stern remarks, after a few classes covering major trauma, "I am no longer clinically depressed but instead am dying of everything simultaneously."

Some of her class notes are funny, like her list of EMT no-nos: don't replace organs hanging from bodies, don't give CPR to a severed head, don't attempt to revive someone in a "state of advanced decomposition" and if "you have a patient whose leg or arm is partially amputated, do not pull it off to make things `neat.' " After training and certification, the real work started, and while initially it did the trick-"in helping others I learned to help myself"-the ultimate truth, that she couldn't save everyone, brought back her depression.

I read this for my bookclub at work and found myself enjoying it. I did get tired of her talk about the firemen being so good looking. But her interactions with people she met and finding her inner strength to get over her phobias was truly amazing and inspiring. I wish we could all find our inner calling to get us through the hard stuff.

This book was made into a movie starring Kathy Bates.

Book of Jane by Anne Dayton & May Vanderbilt

Jane has it all - a career in public relations, the perfect boyfriend, a great West Village apartment, and a strong faith in God. That faith is tested when, in quick succession, her boyfriend leaves her, an untrue rumor costs Jane her job, and a storm floods her apartment. She finds her way out of this mess with some unlikely help from her ex-boss' nephew Coates, who challenges her to be spontaneous and to follow her true calling. Loosely based on the Book of Job.

Ok, book. Got a bit tired of the marter attitude of the main character by the end. But it was an interesting premise and I was curious to see how this new type of Christian fiction would be.

Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse by Robert Rankin

Imagine a town where toys and nursery rhymes come to life and pursue human activities: they walk, talk, eat, drink and commit heinous crimes. This is the land that Rankin creates. 13-year-old Jack goes to the City to find his fortune, unaware that the City is in fact Toy City, where legends and fables walk (or stumble, if they've had too much to drink). He meets up with detective teddy bear, Eddie, who is investigating the murder of Humpty Dumpty. When Little Boy Blue is offed, it's clear that a serial killer is prowling Toy City, leaving behind the titular chocolate bunnies as his calling card.

We see a lot of familiar characters but we get to see their riotous back stories: Miss Muffett hosts a daytime TV talk show called "The Tuffet"; Mother Goose (who prefers to be called Madame Goose) runs a brothel; Humpty Dumpty was likely a failed television stuntman named Terry Horsey. Although the story is wickedly clever and the payoff is a great and satisfying surprise, the real delight comes from watching Rankin work his linguistic magic: characters talk in hilariously circular and self-aware dialogue, and puns and wordplay are packed into the prose like sardines in a tin.

Jasper Fforde is one of my favorite authors so I thought I would give this a try. This is not for the faint of heart as it is in the gutter humor. No holds bared as the saying goes. I would go out hunting for more but down the road when I'm in the mood for raunchy British humor I might see what else he has to offer.

Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster

This is the journey of Milo, a boy bored of basically everything around him. One day he receives a mysterious package that turns out to be a tollbooth. For lack of anything better to do, he puts it together and begins to play, only to find himself driving in an entirely different world. There he meets all sort of curious creatures, from a giant watchdog (literally, a dog whose body is a watch) and a humbug the size of a person. Juster plays with words as if they were tangible objects to juggle, and continually surprises the reader by turning ordinary events into magical occurrences. This book very much exemplifies the quote "The Universe is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to get sharper" Eden Phillpots."

As most adult readers I read this as a child but it didn't make much of an impression of me at the time so it was great fun to read it as an adult and rediscover it. Utterly delightful.

Sophie Metropolis series by Tori Carrington

Sofie is in transition. She was engaged to marry Thomas-the-(...)-Toad Chalikis - not that it was love, mind you - but being twenty-six and single was not easy in a Greek family. It might not be love, but there are other uses for a man, such as carrying rugs up to her apartment. Only, when she catches Mr. (...)-Toad on the day of her wedding locked in an embrace with her maid of honor (honor?), Sofie sees the handwriting on the wall, so to speak. She stopped waiting tables at her father's and grandfather's cafés (the cafés are across the street from each other, mind you, even though there is long standing fuel between them!) dumps the groom, keeps the wedding presents and sets out to find her own way. The biggest wedding gift was a six-unit apartment building her family bought as a nest egg for her new marriage. Sofie now struggles to collect rent from her oddball tenants and also is taking over her uncle's detective agency. So far, the cases haven't been all that exciting, such as dog hunting and wife tracking.

However, her newest cases does have promise. Old Mr. Romanoff down the street - affectionately known as "the vampire" has vanished. His equally creeping nephew came for a visit and suddenly the old man is nowhere to be found. Odd, in the estimation of Sofie's office manager. She insists Sofie find out what happened to the old vamp...man. Then while tailing a wayward wife, Sofie lands in the middle of a shoot-out and is rescued by a sexy mystery man, Jake Porter. Life is definitely looking up! What is Jake doing in the middle of her cheating wife case? Why is the wife wanted by the FBI?

Very similiar to Stephanie Plum novels by Evanovich. But a fun, light summer read.

Can you Keep a Secret by Sophie Kinsella

Things are suddenly starting to look up for the hapless but optimistic Emma Corrigan. She has kept her job at Panther Cola for nearly a year, has the perfect boyfriend and hopes for a promotion to marketing executive should her first opportunity to strut her stuff and land a business deal be successful. Unfortunately, things don't go quite as planned, and on her unusually turbulent return flight from a disappointing client meeting, in a terrified state, she confesses her innermost secrets to the good-looking stranger sitting beside her. When she shows up at work the next morning, she is horrified to discover that her mystery man is none other than the revered and brilliant Jack Harper, American CEO of Panther Cola, on a weeklong visit to the company's U.K. branch.

Thus begins a series of chaotic, emotionally exhausting and funny episodes that thrust Emma, with her workaholic best friend, Lissy, and their awful flatmate Jemima, into a world of fairy tales, secrets and deceit. We see her compeate with her nemesis cousin who her parents favor over her and her grandfather who is constantly giving her self defense advice.

When Emma's every secrets are revealed on national television can she find the nerve to survive and actually tell people what she really thinks? and be honest - even when it hurts? Plus will she ever learn to trust again?

Kind of reminiscent of Sex and the City crossed with Bridget Jones' Diary. I really enjoyed this read as it gave me some escape from my own kind of mundane life. I have not read any of her other works which include the popular "Shopaholic" books. But I'll give them a try. Very fun and perfect for summer.

Good Husband of Zebra Drive by Alexander McCall Smith

8th in the series featuring the #1 Ladies Detective Agency - Mma Ramotswe and her friends

As with the previous novels there are several cases going on at one time. But now the cases are shared with others besides Makutsi.

Dr. Cronje, who's half Xhosa and half Afrikaner, consults Smith's sleuth, the gentle and insightful Precious Ramotswe, because patients at his hospital who have occupied a particular bed have been dying mysteriously at the same time of day. Meanwhile, Mma Ramotswe's recently engaged assistant, Grace Makutsi, threatens to break their longstanding association. Mma Ramotswe must adjust their relationship in order to retain Mma Makutsi's services. J. L. B. Matekoni also tries his hand at the detective business, catering to a rude client who suspects her husband of infidelity. The case prompts Mr. Matekoni to wonder whether he's exciting enough for his cherished wife. Charlie, Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni's older assistant branches out on his own when he buys a Mercedes from him with disastrous consequences.

Of course, no matter what dramas the day brings, Mma Ramotswe always has time to enjoy a cup of red bush tea and revel in the beauty of her native land.

Delightful as always and so nice to hear it read outloud as the reader is excellent. Plus now I have a better idea of how the names should be pronouced. One of my most favorite series.

Plain Janes by Cecil Castellucci & Jim Rugg

First book in a new series aimed at teenage girls, DC comics recruited novelist Castellucci (Boy Proof, 2004, and The Queen of Cool, 2005) to write this story about outsiders who come together, calling up themes from the author's popular YA novels.

Relocated to suburbia after a brush with disaster in the big city (aka Metro City) Jane and her family relocate to Suburbia. She has changed her entire phsical image down to coloring and cutting her hair drastically, interestingly enough both of her parents are hair dressers so can get jobs anywhere! We learn through the novel that Jane was close to a bomb that explouded leaving a mysterious man in a coma. She would visit him daily in the hospital, sharing her inner most thoughts and worries. Fueled by a notebook she found from a man she takes it with her and continues his diary so to speak.

She finds the urge not to be terrified of the world as a result, Jane rallies a small group of outcasts (all named some form or spelling of Jane) into a team of "art terrorists," called P.L.A.I.N. -- People Loving Art In Neighborhoods. Shaking the high school and town from its conservative complacency by putting bubbles in the city fountain and wrapping objects on the street as Christmas packages. Their activities end up rallying the local teenagers to their cause and working the adults into a dither. The book has its share of stereotypes--popular barbie dolls, droll drauma queen, the science geek, the psychotically overprotective mother, the irrepressible gay teen and the seemingly uninterested, distant boy who she is of course attracted to.

This book has been getting a lot of positive reviews hence why I wanted to read it but it felt rather flat and safe to me. After reading such fabulous graphic novels featuring rebel teens in "Ghost World" I was disappointed. I was discussing it with a friend of mine and we both agreed that it was for those who fear graphic novels so this helps them feel like now here is something not too risque. Too bad as it had a good premise.

Ivy Tree by Mary Stewart

Mary Grey is enjoying her day off by taking in the local tourist sights near her new home. She has recently left her native Canada to return to Northumberland where her great-grand parents had been born. Suddenly a young man confronts her, calling her Annabel and insisting that she is his cousin who disappeared eight years earlier. Mary manages to convince him of her identity but soon finds herself embroiled in a plot to impersonate the missing Annabel in her family home, Whitescar.

Gradually it becomes apparent that all is not quite as it seems, everyone there seems to have a secret, her Grandfather has not disclosed who will inherit the family farm, 'cousin' Con has not revealed the depths of his ambition, the missing Annabel left behind secrets when she fled, even the estate itself has been keeping things hidden. Eventually all is revealed with the usual Stewart flair for drama and romance.

I have always enjoyed a good Mary Stewart novel and this one did not disappoint. She is most well-known for her Merlin & other middle ages fantasy. But she wrote a lot of suspenseful romantic fiction in the 1950's & 1970's. She really does make you read and re-read passages as so much description and in this case clues to the ending are all there right for you. Stewart is able to write such intense characters but not so it feels cliched.

Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

Spanning across 25 years, the story begins when newlyweds Ashoke and Ashima Ganguli emigrate to Cambridge, Mass., in 1968, where Ashima immediately gives birth to a son, Gogol. A pet name that becomes permanent when his formal name, traditionally bestowed by the maternal grandmother, is posted in a letter from India, but lost in transit. Ashoke becomes a professor of engineering, but Ashima has a harder time assimilating, unwilling to give up her ties to India.

There are several small scenes dealing with Gogol as a young child to a teen becoming ashamed of his Indian heritage and his unusual name. He sheds his embarrassing name as he moves on to college at Yale and graduate school at Columbia, legally changing it to Nikhil. In one of the most telling chapters, Gogol moves into the home of a family of wealthy Manhattan WASPs and is initiated into a lifestyle idealized in Ralph Lauren ads. After the death of Gogol's father interrupts this interlude, we see Gogol's attitude toward his mother and his culture change and he learns to embrace it. The story then move ahead a year, quickly moving Gogol into marriage, divorce and his role as a dutiful if a bit guilt-stricken son.

I liked this book more than I thought I would as it deals with so much guilt, taking one's family for granted and missed opportunities. Both Gogol and his mother evolve into better people because of life's struggles.

The book was made into a movie with the same name in 2006.

Blind Spot by Terri Persons

Female FBI agent, Bernadette Saint Clare, has the power to see through the eyes of a serial killer as he goes about his killing sprees. She's been kicked around field offices all over the United States and her latest assignment is in St. Paul. Hoping that her unusual vision and strange ability will be more welcome than they usually are to both her bosses and her fellow agents. She immediately draws a case involving bodies bound with unusual knots and each missing a right hand. A ring found at one of the sites leads her into the eyes of the killer, but his identity and motives remain unclear.

Because Bernadette makes wrong choices, I found myself wanting to shake her and say "it's him you idiot" as the author gives us almost too much information and not enough for the character to really develope herself.

Honestly I thought it was ok, but not as good as some of the reviews have been. It is an interesting concept but has been done before.

Austenland by Shannon Hale

Thirty-three-year-old Jane Hayes, who has a fairly serious addiction to the Colin Firth version of Pride and Prejudice, inherits a trip to Pembrook Park, Kent, England, the location of a resort where guests dress, talk, think, and act in ways that Jane Austen would approve. Refusing to lie about her age, even on vacation in a place right out of Austen's England, Jane finds herself quickly overcoming the obsession with Mr. Darcy that may very well have jeopardized her 13 "relationships" over the years. Left to walk in last to dinner, mildly obsessed with one of the hotel's gardeners, and annoyed by another guest's overeager attempts to bag a man, Jane is eager to return to Manhattan. Then she decides to give it all one more chance, since Great-Aunt Carolyn did see fit to pay for the entire vacation.

Very enjoyable read, I've read a few of Hales children's and YA novels so it was fun to see how she writes for adults. You can really see her love for Jane Austen.

White Lies by Jayne Ann Krentz
Book 2 in the Arcane Society series - though this is set in contemporary times while book 1, Second Sight, is set in late Victorian era.

Clare Lancaster is a Level Ten para-sensitive – and a “human lie detector” and a member of the modern day Arcane Society. Over the years she has come to accept that someone with her extraordinary talent is doomed to have relationship issues. Clare has even been rejected as “unmatchable” by the Society’s matchmaking agency, arcanematch.com To her frustration she has ben applying to the Jones & Jones, a pyschic detective agency, and continually turned down for a job. In a way, Clare’s whole life has been a lie. Now, however, she has just met the half sister and family whom she never knew until seven months ago.

Her father summons her from California to play a role in his business empire. Clare rejects the offer. But after meeting Jake Salter, Archer Lancaster’s “financial consultant”, she is convinced that things aren’t what they seem. Salter’s careful conversation seems to walk a delicate line between truth and deception. Something sparks and sizzles between them – something more than the usual electricity between a man and a woman. Jake Salter is also a Level Ten para-sensitive with some dangerous psychic talents of his own. He, too, has been declared “unmatchable” by the Society’s matchmakers.

This one heats up pretty quickly as Clare and Jake are immediately attracted to one another and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know where that is heading. The storyline flows fast as there is a murder within the first few chapters, Clare discovering the body, and several attempts on both Clare & Jake's life. The story leaves it open ended for continuation of the series. I've read quite a bit of Krentz and under her two of pseudonyms "Amanda Quick" and "Jayne Castle" and really enjoy her paranormal romances the best.

Butchers Hill by Laura Lippman
Tess Monaghan has finally made the move and hung out the shingle as a P.I.-for-hire, complete with an office in Butchers Hill. Her first client is Luther Beale, the notorious vigilante who five years ago shot a boy for vandalizing his car, just sprung from jail. He wants to make reparations to the kids who witnessed his crime for his own peace of mind, so he needs Tess to find them. But once she starts snooping, the witnesses she locates start dying. Is the "Butcher of Butchers Hill" as it again? Or is there another, even more sinister force at work?

She reluctantly accepts a 2nd case of a woman looking for her sister. Tess quickly finds out that there is no sister and the woman she is looking for is the woman's real idenity. Passing the test she is then assigned to find out what happened to a daughter she gave up for adoption 13 years before. Both cases overlap as Tess tries to discover the truth buried under all the lies.

This novel was inspired by a real-life Baltimore homicide, the story of a man who shot and killed a 13-year-old boy who had thrown rocks at his car. I find myself really liking this character with each book. We see how she is developing into herself. Lots of plot twists and I found myself wondering who was really the bad guy here.

Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz

Meet Isabel Spellman, private investigator. This twenty-eight-year-old may have a checkered past littered with romantic mistakes, excessive drinking, and creative vandalism; she may be addicted to Get Smart reruns and prefer entering homes through windows rather than doors—but the upshot is she's good at her job as a licensed private investigator with her family's firm, Spellman Investigations. Invading people's privacy comes naturally to Isabel. In fact, it comes naturally to all the Spellmans. If only they could leave their work at the office. To be a Spellman is to snoop on a Spellman, tail a Spellman, dig up dirt on, blackmail, and wiretap a Spellman.

Isabel is the middle child, David her perfect old brother and Rae the 11 year her senior accidental 3rd Spellman. David became a lawyer to escape the madness of the family business, Rae embarrasses it. While Isabel, the rebel child, whether drinking too much or using drugs or always going for the wrong boyfriend she can't find her way.

So when Isabel's parents hire Rae to follow her (for the purpose of ascertaining the identity of Isabel's new boyfriend), that is the final straw. Isabel decides that the only way she will ever be normal is if she gets out of the family business. But there is a hitch: She must take one last job before they'll let her go. The final job? A fifteen-year-old, ice-cold missing person's case. But when a disappearance occurs far closer to home, Isabel's final job becomes the most important case of her life.

This was a greatly entertaining novel. I really liked all the characters and you can't help but sympathize with Isabel who knows she lives in a crazy life but can't do anything else. From reading the author's notes it appears we may seem more adventures of the Spellman. But this can definitely stand on it's own and left me very satisified.

Good Behavior by Donald Westlake

While escaping from a robbery attempt, Dortmunder falls through the roof of a convent. The cloistered nuns take this as a sign from heaven and tell Dortmunder (by writing notes) that they will not turn him in if he helps to return Sister Mary Grace to their convent. Sister Mary Grace is a young nun who is being kept in a tower apartment by her millionaire father, who is trying to deprogram her, but she is firm in her commitment to remain a nun. She is able to smuggle out the details of the high-rise's security system to Dortmunder, and the big escape plan begins.

Of course nothing really goes as planed as with most of Dortmunder's plans. He brings in the usual cast of characters to help him by promising them the king of heists. First he has to find a company that isn't quite on the up and up. He makes a deal with J.C. Taylor who owns several companies in one office. She gets a fee upfront and lets them use her office and shipping department to send out the stolen goods that will be sold to various fences. They can steal what can be mailed out of one of the shipping dept. Meanwhile why they are stealing various good Dortmunder goes to rescue the nun. In typical "nothing goes quite right" Dortmunder fashion. He gets off on the floor below the top floor and finds himself involved with a rebel group about to go and take a South American county. He manages to get himself rescued by the nun but is found hiding in a dishwasher. The gang at first decides to leave Dortmunder on his own but then come up with their own plan to rescue him. The police are brought in to arrest the rebels but unfortunately are doing a search to look for any other stolen goods hence backing the gang into a corner. A hilarious scene in which the nuns are brought in and all the guys dress up like nuns to escape.

I alway laugh when I read a Dortmunder novel and I managed to miss this one. So I'm glad that I went back to catch up on this one.

One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson

Sequel to Case Histories. Jackson Brodie returns, following his girlfriend, Julia the actress, to the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh. He manages to fall into all kinds of trouble, starting with witnessing a brutal attack by "Honda Man" on another man stuck in a traffic jam. Another witness is Martin Canning, better known as Alex Blake, the writer. Martin is a shy, withdrawn, timid sort who, in a moment of unlikely action, flings a satchel at the attacker and spins him around, away from his victim. Gloria Hatter, wife of Graham, a millionaire property developer who is about to have all his secrets uncovered, is standing in a nearby queue with a friend when the attack takes place. There is nastiness afoot, and everyone is involved. Nothing is coincidental.

Through a labyrinthine plot which is hard to follow because the points of view are constantly changing, the real story is played out, complete with Russians, false and mistaken identities, dead bodies, betrayals, and all manner of violent encounters. Jackson gets pulled in to the investigation by Louise Monroe, a police detective and mother of an errant 14-year-old. Atkinson is good at keeping all the storylines straight as they cross and weave into a very complicated plot and an ending I didn't see coming. I almost did not read this book as I didn't care for Case Histories but I found myself wanting to know more about Jackson and how it might end.

Kiki Strike by Kirsten Miller

White-haired, leprechaun-size Kiki Strike is a new student at Atalanta School in New York City when she meets 12-year-old Ananka Fishbein, the narrator of Miller's debut novel. Together they begin a detailed exploration of the Shadow City, the subterranean rooms and streets under New York's subway system, and Kiki recruits a team of other precocious 12-year-olds, whose skills include hacking, chemistry, lock picking, forging, making handmade explosives, and mechanical engineering, to join them. Ananka, the team's urban archaeologist, will supply her family's extensive library and learn everything about rats, the current Shadow City inhabitants. As the girls try to obtain layered maps of New York City's infrastructure, they fear that terrorists with the same goals are putting the city in terrible danger. The peripheral plotline about a nefarious, exiled princess of Pokrovia, who is a fellow Atalanta School student makes the story flow.

The end of each chapter gives us tips from Ananka on topics such as "How to Be a Master of Disguise" and "How to Foil a Kidnapping" and many more. This book was great fun. I found the story fresh and exciting and I didn't want it to end. I liked how it didn't try to make everything take place in a week. The book actually takes place over 2-3 years. We see the characters develop and evolve into very interesting girls. I'm hoping we'll get to know more about the other girls as we only really get to know the most about Ananka (since she narrates) and Kiki. This reminds me of Aretemis Fowl but for girls.

Witch way to murder: an Ophelia and Abby mystery / by Shirley Damsgaard

Thirty something Ophelia Jensen wants to live a quiet life as a small town librarian. She's created a comfortable existence with her kooky, colorful grandmother Abby, and if it were up to her, they could live out their days--along with Ophelia's dog Lady and cat Queenie--in peace and quiet. But, to Ophelia's dismay, she and Abby aren't a typical grandmother/granddaughter duo. She possesses psychic powers, and Abby is a kindly witch. And while Ophelia would do anything to dismiss her gift--harboring terrible guilt after her best friend was killed and she was unable to stop it--threatening events keep popping up, forcing her to tap into her powers of intuition. To make matters worse, a strange--yet devastatingly attractive--man is hanging around Ophelia's library, and no matter how many times she tells him she's sworn off men forever, he persists. Soon this handsome newcomer reveals he's following a lead on a local drug ring, and then a dead body shows up right in Abby's backyard. And much as Ophelia would like to put away her spells forever, she and Abby must use their special powers to keep themselves, and others, out of harm's way.

Ophelia is a great character, so intent on not getting hurt again that the walls she's built inside have kept her from really knowing people, like her coworker Darci. Ophelia's past is slowly revealed throughout the course of the book, so readers learn why she is the way she is, just as she herself does. Abby is another good character, content in who she is and not caring what other people think. Rick, with his incessant questions is annoying at first, but grew on me as a character once his true reason for being in town was revealed. The magick that Abby (and Ophelia to a lesser extent) perform is very believable, as is Ophelia's struggle to accept her gifts and her past. The mystery itself is a bit darker than in most cozy mysteries, but pretty easy to figure out, since it's obvious from the beginning who the bad guys are. It will be interesting to see future books with these characters.