30. Wolfhound Century–Peter Higgins

  

 

I received this as an Early Reviewer Book:

My major complaint about the book: It ends on a cliff hanger. Hate that in any book, and dinged the rating I gave it accordingly.

The above said, I did enjoy the book, although the first 50 or so pages were very confusing. Having a Glossary for all the Russian (?) and made up words would have been immensely helpful. A lot of my confusion was not knowing exactly what the heck so many words meant/signified/hinted. 

The story is based on Russian fairy tales which I don't know so that made it a bit harder. But the main thrust of the story is that a police investigator is sent to the major city of this country (Vast) to do some secretive investigations.  We don't know anything about his background and he himself knows very little. He arrives in the city and immediately finds out there are plots within the police and that he can trust no one. He searches out an old friend he grew up with for assistance. The more he learns, the less he knows.

One thing he does learn is that while everyone thinks that all the 'angels' who fell to earth died, there is in fact one who is alive and is trying to take control of people, things, groups, to change the world the way he wants it.

29. Hounded–Kevin Hearne

 

Goddesses, a wolfhound who likes bangers and mash, the Tempe werewolf clan, and a troublesome coven of witches all make the life of one lone Druid interesting.

When his nemesis turns up to demand a Fae sword be returned, the same god who’s hounded him for millennia, and goes after his friends,  well, this time Atticus  decides to stand and fight and not to run.

Great series. Lots of humor, a joke cracking wolfhound and a bookselling Druid. What's not to like?

Oberon is a hoot, and Atticus is a pretty cool Druid.

28. Crime at Black Dudley–Margery Allingham

    
The typical English Manor murder mystery complete with secret passages, a curse, and a weekend house party.  The surprising thing, since it is the first Albert Campion mystery, was that Albert plays only a bit part!  He doesn’t really solve much, and we don’t learn what the heck he’s really up to.

27. Killing Floor–Lee Child

   
Jack Reacher, just out of the military, just wants to enjoy his freedom and wander across the US, going where his whimsy takes him. On a whim, he gets off a bus at a small town in Georgia, where he is nearly immediately arrested for murder. They chose the wrong drifter to hang the charge on.

Fast paced, complex mystery, and believable action. Will definitely continue this series.

26. Outsider in Amsterdam- Janwillem van de Wetering

      

A man is found hung in his rooms. Is it murder, or is it suicide? Two Amsterdam cops investigate the possibilities and run into a lot of red herrings.

Told with utilitarian simplicity, and not a lot of psychologizing or depth of meaning, it’s strictly ‘the job.’

25. Doctor Thorne–Anthony Trollope

        

The third book of the Barsetshire chornicles, Trollope shows off his skills at poking fun at everyone: the gentry, the smug, the proud, the fools and even a time or two the angels.

It’s the 1850s with all its conventions and assumptions on full display.

24. The Cater Street Hangman–Anne Perry

    

First in the Thomas Pitt series, it begins with a look at a well to do family living in the midst of violence and fear brought on by a killer of local women, both servants and their mistresses.

I like the atmosphere she invokes and the mystery is complex with a lot of red herrings thrown around.

This was a re-read for me, but from so long ago I’d forgotten most of it. Also I’d conflated it with a movie version I saw some time ago, the movie having altered major bits (to its detriment, I thought).

Re-reading so I can continue the series.

23. No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency–Alexander McCAll Smith

     

I sooo wanted to like this book more than I did. I love the setting, I love the way the characters take care of one another, I love the love of their country, but the main character, Precious, was way too precious for me. Not a single flaw, never a bad thought, never a step wrong, drove me a bit batty. And it was also a bit sappy.  Okay, granted, I’m a gal who likes noir, so I’m probably prejudiced, but still….. Glad I read it, glad I’m done with it, and it’s off my virtual shelf.

22. Ragtime in Simla–Barbara Cleverly

    

The second book in the Joe Sandilands series, set, as was the first, in India, although this time in Simla, the summer capital of the British Raj. Set in 1922, shortly after the war, and with the backdrop of Indian independence just raising its head.

Joe is driving to Simla in a friend’s car. He offers a famous opera star a ride up the mountain, only to have the opera singer shot by a sniper before they can arrive. Joe takes it rather personally and determines to find the sniper and figure out why anyone would lie in wait for an opera singer. Or was he the target?

I loved the locale and the exotic backdrop. Characterizations were quite well developed and the mystery was convoluted enough that even if you figured out a part of it, there was more to the whole of the story to discover, up to the very end.

21. Death of a Cozy Writer–G.M. Malliet

     

Obnoxious father brings his clan together as he plans to marry again. Of course someone ends up dead.

Interesting characterizations, pretty good mystery. Nice setting. Nice debut book, so probably will continue the series.

20. Fugitive Prince–Janny Wurts

    

The War of Light and Shadow Book 4.

Epic fantasy with a wide cast of characters in a sprawling landscape filled with pitfalls and betrayals and hopeless plights.  Two half-brothers, both poisoned by their encounter with the Mistwraith, their gifts twisted and turned to destruction of everything they care about. Arithon, trained as a mage, at least knows what’s happening and has training enough to fight against it.  Lysaer has no such protection and is totally under the Mistwraith’s spell.

By book 4, the spell has nearly consumed Lysaer.  His natural sense of justice is so twisted he no longer seems himself, and is consumed with destroying Arithon.

Arithon is so harried and pursued across the world, he has no safe haven.  All his allies are in deadly danger and under constant pressure from Lysaer armies of nearly fanatical believers. Only his natural bent toward brilliant tactics and subtle planning have given him any hope at all of surviving and of keeping his allies alive. He hopes to find a refuge for his people, where he can protect them from the Alliance of Light.

Intense emotions, depths of character, twisty plots and seemingly hopeless odds. All combine to make this book, as were the rest, compelling.