I crave books

Another fun beach read about the adventures of Stephanie Plum.

These are just like candy - fun but not filling.

Nothing new in the development of Stephanie’s relationships with either Joe or Ranger. Just another silly story of her bungled attempt to solve a crime. Although this time I did sense some new maturity from Stephanie, it seems she’s finally internalized the mistakes from her past mishaps and learned some real detecting skills. She was much smarter at the end of the novel.

Although I wish there’d be some resolution to the love triangle.

Another delectable Hannah Swenson mystery. This time Hannah’s business partner Lisa, and her husband Herb, have planned a huge family reunion. And when long lost Uncle Gus arrives, and is this murdered, Hannah is asked to solve the mystery.

I enjoy these books, as they’re a nice cozy mystery with recipes thrown in. I am finding them to be a bit formulaic, and I was able to solve the mystery before Hannah did, which usually isn’t the case. I was glad to finally get Hannah’s recipe for Salmon Cakes, which have been made before in previous books. I think these could stand alone because there’s not too much that carries from one book to the next, they really don’t seem to build on each other. (i’m still categorizing this as a mystery series though). The one ongoing storyline is Hannah’s love triangle with nice guy dentist Norman, and hunky cop Mike. And not much happened to move that story forward during this book.

But all in all a nice diversion for the weekend.

Another great entry into the Alex Cooper series.  And another fascinating bit of New York history. In her 10th outing Alexandra Cooper is trying a 30 year old rape case, and also trying to solve murders committed by what may be a serial killer. Oh, and she’s trying to make time for romance.

This did not disappoint, and Fairstein has kept this series fresh. All the familiar elements are there, the Jeopardy Final Question bet between Alex and Chapman,  the police details, the interesting NYC history that becomes a plot point, and a legal sub-plot that explores an issue.

The last 50 pages are a gripping race against time and I stayed up too late racing to finish the book. Very satisfying.

This is the sequel to “Uncommon Grounds” which was published a few years ago to much critical acclaim. This book was ok, but I think suffers from a sophomore slump.

Maggy Thorsen, is the divorced owner of the coffeehouse “Uncommon Grounds.” It’s time for the annual “Java Ho” a coffee trade show and Maggy gets roped in to running the barista competition. The book opens with Maggy discovering a dead body of the conference coordinator and then flashes back for the next 100 pages to catch the reader up on how Maggy got there.

I remember liking Uncommon Grounds, and I don’t feel this lives up to that book’s promise. I didn’t get a good sense of Maggy, even with the subplot of her thwarted romance with the hunky local sherriff and there were a couple of secondary characters (Maggy’s friends and co-workers) who I kept confusing because they weren’t distinct enough as characters. But it was only 217 pages and an ok enough mystery. The ending did feel a little forced.

This is the third book in the Dixie Hemingway Mystery series. I am an avid mystery reader. So if you keep reading this little blog, I’m sure you’ll see lots of mystery series reviewed, as I enjoy a number of mystery series and keeping up with them seems to consume most of my reading time. But since the writer’s strike is still going on what else should I do?

Anyway, Dixie is a former Sheriff’s Deputy who suffered the devasting loss of her husband and child, which led her to give up law enforcement and become a pet sitter. She lives in Siesta Key, outside of Sarasota, Florida.

I enjoy the Dixie Hemingway series because they’re not just a cozy animal mystery. Dixie’s got grit and humor. Plus I find her believalble and she reminds me of Kinsey Milhoune (she lives in a small apartment above the garage and her brother lives in the house).

In this book, she’s struggling with having killed a man (at the end of Book 2) and she finds another dead body. But she doesn’t want to report it because she doesn’t want to get caught up in another murder investigation. Of course she does get caught up because someone sees her leaving the scene, which makes her a suspect; and the house where the murder occured is also where an iguana she supposed to care for lives.

Also, it’s been 4 years since her tragic loss and she’s struggling with her attraction to two men, handsome laywer Ethan Crane and Lieutenant Guidry. (This reminds me of Stephanie Plum’s struggle between Joe & Ranger, although I hope Clement doesn’t string us out as long as Evanovich has.)

The fun thing I learned - chickens and iguana have identical respiratory and digestive systems.

One thing I found annoying was a subplot involving a kitten and the topic of declawing animals. I felt the author spent too long going on about the evils of declawing pets.

But other than that it was a great addition to the series!