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Review: Seduction (The Reincarnationist #5) by M.J. Rose
Complex, exotic scents bring this novel alive! This isn’t just a tale of historic fiction– it’s a novel with a unique blend of the paranormal, romance, mystery, and psychology. In 1843 the renowned author Victor Hugo discovers that his beloved daughter, Didine, has drowned. In his grief he turns to the occult in hopes of communicating with his daughter. His wife, family, and friends all being having séances and they soon discover they can communicate with the dead. Soon the séances turn into something more….Victor fears he has open an unwanted door to the spirit world when he starts being visited by the Shadow of the Sepulcher (the devil) who…
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Review: And Only to Deceive (Lady Emily #1) by Tasha Alexander
Lady Emily Ashford is not in love with her new husband, the Viscount Philip Ashford. In fact she hardly knows him. So when she receives word that her husband died on safari in Africa, she can hardly morn a man she barely knows. Emily married Philip to escape the constraints of her family and hoped that marriage would provide that. Now that she is a widow, she finds she has even more freedom than she did as a wife. All of London society can’t stop singing the praises of Lord Ashford to Emily which makes her uncomfortable, but in an effort to at least try and morn the stranger she…
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Review: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium #1) by Stieg Larsson
Financial journalist, Mikael Blomkvist’s, life is falling apart. Not only is he being sued for libel and facing jail time and mounting financial losses, his boss (who happens to be his sometimes lover) is forced into accepting his resignation. When he is at his lowest point, Blomkvist is approached with a curious offer of employment. Henrik Vanger is a wealthy, retired CEO of a major Swedish company, Vanger Cooperation. Vanger wants Blomkvist to use his trained journalists eye and find out what happened to his niece who mysteriously disappeared in the 1960’s. Blomkvist doesn’t really have a whole lot of options….he needs the money Vanger is offering but Vanger also…
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Review: Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
This book takes fatal attraction to a whole new level. Nick and Amy Dunne have been married for five years when suddenly she’s gone…..no explanation, no note, nothing. She is simply gone. Nick does what any sane man would do when his wife ends up missing….he calls the police. When the police come out, they quickly notice that things aren’t adding up. There are signs of a struggle and there are holes in Nick’s story and timeline. Suddenly Nick finds himself as the prime suspect in Amy’s disappearance. The evidence is pretty damning and in the court of public opinion….he’s more than guilty of the disappearance if not murder. But…
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Review: Princess Elizabeth’s Spy (Maggie Hope Mystery #2) by Susan Elia MacNeal
Being a spy sounds so much cooler and glamorous without all the physical training doesn’t it? That’s exactly what’s running through Maggie Hope’s mind while she’s at Camp Spook. After helping uncover a terrorist cell and cracking some difficult codes is the first book, Maggie has been recruited to work for MI5….an opportunity she simply can’t pass up there’s only one problem….the biggest muscle in Maggie’s body is her brain. But when she arrives at Camp Spook, she wasn’t counting on all the drills and exercises. It is quickly apparent that she is not cut out for MI5’s spy academy. After only a couple of weeks, her supervisor calls her…
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Review: A Monstrous Regiment of Women (Mary Russell #2) by Laurie R. King
A game’s a foot and Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes are on the case! In Sussex, Mary Russell is about to turn 21 and come into her sizable inheritance. On a whim one night, Mary sneaks away to London in search of her long time friend and mentor, Sherlock Holmes. When she meets up with Holmes on that dark London night, she nearly puts her foot in her mouth, but before she can cause herself too much embarrassment, Holmes cuts her off. But in doing so, he mistakenly insults her and she storms off into the night, anxious to be out of an uncomfortable situation. Come morning, Mary finds her way…
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Review: The Hangman’s Daughter (Hangman’s Daughter #1) by Oliver Pötzsch
A scream rips through the early morning fog of the small Bavarian town known as Schongau. The body of a young boy washes ashore, tattooed with a suspecious mark…..a witches mark to be precise. The people are in a frenzy when the local hangman, Jakob Kuisl, arrives to investigate the body and determine if witchcraft was indeed involved. Before Kuisl can make a final decision, the townspeople jump to their own conclusions and go after the only person who could be capable of witchcraft….the midwife. With the dark memories of witch trials and stake burnings stil fresh in their minds, the townspeople arrive at the midwifes house demanding answers. Kuisl…
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Review: The Tale of Hill Top Farm (The Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter #1) by Susan Wittig Albert
England’s charming Lake District is the home to the quaint village of Sawrey. Here in this cozy country village, life is different. It is far removed from the hustle and bustle of London which is precisely why Beatrix Potter means to make Sawrey home. The beloved children’s book author has recently lot her fiance and with the success of her books, she finally has the means to afford a quiet country home: Hill Top Farm. Instead of the welcome they expect from a country village, Potter and her four legged friends are met with trepidation and pessimism. In 1905, it was almost unheard of for a women to purchase anything…
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Review: Waiting for Sunrise by William Boyd
The name of the game is deception. Real or fake? Truth or lie? This gritty war time novel takes us all over Europe on an adventure unraveling espionage and flushing out spies. The novel opens in pre-WWI Vienna where London based actor Lysander Rief is taking a ‘holiday’ to resolve a ‘personal issue’ with a local psychiatrist. Must of Lysander’s “treatment’ and “cure” involves the psychological term Parallelism. This concept plays a large role in the themes/plot of the novel and with it’s characters. At his first appointment with the doctor, Lysander meets the frazzled, yet beautiful, Hettie Bull. He is immediately drawn to her but, since he is engaged…
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Review: Full Dark House (Bryant and May #1) by Christopher Fowler
Modern day London is rocked by a bombing, killing a senior police detective. A detective that happens to be head of the special unit of the force: The Peculiar Crimes Unit (PCU). Arthur Bryant was working late on an old case for his memoirs on a Sunday when the bomb exploded. Ironically he survived the Blitz of the 1940’s only to be blown up in his office decades later. His partner and fellow head of the PCU, John May, can’t help but wonder if the modern day bombing is somehow linked to their first case together at PCU back in 1940. Now in his 80’s May must try to find…