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.

White Heat by Brenda Novak

Nate Ferrentino and Rachel Jessop shared one night of sex six months ago and it did not end well. Now they are being paired up as their roles of private investigators in Department 6 to investigate a religious cult/commune and the disappearance of one of its members. It sounds like a piece of cake assignment for Rachel, until she finds out that she will have to infiltrate the cult by posing as Nate's wife; and since she still has feelings for Nate, she will find this assignment a challenge.

Most of the novel is the almost lack of sizzle between these two as they try to infultrate the cult which is situated in a ghost town called Paradise. The cult is run by Ethan is is quickly established as a sociopath who lives off other's grief and drugs and sex. Honestly how this cult kept it together let alone how Ethan managed to keep these people in the cult I have no idea. He spends more time having sex or doing drugs than actually interacting with anyone. The only interesting twist was the gay relationship he started with his henchman.

It read quick but really had little sexual tension or substance to the story. I know that there are 2 others in the series but really have no interest in read them.

120 Days of Simon by Simon Gardenfors

Translated from Swedish, well known Swedish comicbook writer and rapper Simon Gärdenfors descides to go on an adventure and sublets his apartment for 120 days. He then posts on his website to get people to sponsor him for a maximum of 2 days. Simon gave himself only two rules: he couldn't return to his apartment and he couldn't spend more than two nights at the same place. Based on the responses he makes his map of where in Sweden he will go.

He scrupulously keeps a road diary and relies on his cell phone to keep in touch with friends and the love of his life. This of course doesn't stop him from having sex with anyone who will let him. He spends more time thinking about but it's still kind of shocking to see it done by a cartoon.

As all good things, they must eventually come to an end. He's had a great summer of alcohol, sex and adventures. Not everything went well as some of the previous girls he slept with are not happy with him and keep calling. So he spends a great deal of time avoiding them. He is way too casual about unprotected sex and not really caring about their age either. The book is kind of deceiving as it looks so cute and charlie brown like but it's way more adult than that.

So I'm not sure if I liked it or not. I found the premise interesting so that is why I wanted to read it. I was a bit disgusted by how casual Simon treats sex while touting his love of another woman.

Tricked by Alex Robinson

A new graphic novel that follows the paths of six characters who weave around one another, all finally meeting in the story's violent climax. The six are Ray Beam, a blocked and exhausted rock star; Nick, a small-time grifter; Phoebe, a daughter in search of her father; Steve, the very worst kind of music fan; Lily, a young girl drawn into Ray's artistic drama; and Caprice, a self-defeating waitress.

Again Robinson makes the characters real and believable. I think my favorite characters was Caprice, the waitress. Probably because she is a larger woman like myself. But I found her interaction much more believable than the relations between Ray Beam and Lily. The sections on Steve really terrifying and difficult to read. Robinson made it even more scary by making the text hard to read as it got more out of focus and scribbly.

I had just finished Box Office Poison a few weeks ago and enjoyed the more condensed storyline that focused on these 6 people whose lives are intertwined by a situation that hasn't happened yet. To keep the supsense going the chapters go from 49-1 almost like a countdown to the conclusion. But he really has a way of writing a story that is gritty but intriguing at the same time.