#BookReview Beastly Bones by William Ritter @algonquinyr @willothewords

Beastly Bones by William Ritter
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I've found very little about private detective R. F. Jackaby to be standard in the time I've known him. Working as his assistant tends to call for a somewhat flexible relationship with reality . . .

In 1892, New Fiddleham, New England, things are never quite what they seem, especially when Abigail Rook and her eccentric employer, R. F. Jackaby, are called upon to investigate the supernatural. First, members of a particularly vicious species of shape-shifters disguise themselves as a litter of kittens. A day later, their owner is found murdered, with a single mysterious puncture wound to her neck. Then, in nearby Gad's Valley, dinosaur bones from a recent dig go missing, and an unidentifiable beast attacks animals and people, leaving their mangled bodies behind. Policeman Charlie Cane, exiled from New Fiddleham to the valley, calls on Abigail for help, and soon Abigail and Jackaby are on the hunt for a thief, a monster, and a murderer. 

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I was lucky enough to be granted an ARC of Beastly Bones from NetGalley and I read Jackaby just a couple of days before I read Beastly Bones and that was a wise decision since the story in this book picks up right where we left Abigail and Jackaby in the last book; A woman with an ailing cat. Well, ailing is probably the wrong word, the cat is slowly turning into a fish. But Abigail and Jackaby have a bigger fish to fry than then the catfish because dinosaur bones from a recent dig has gone missing and they together with exiled police detective Charlie Cane/Barker must find the missing bones. But odd things are happening at the site and something is attacking both animals and people.

This sequel to Jackaby was a real treat. I liked Jackaby very much, but the story was more interesting in this one. We have already got to know Abigail, Jackaby, Charlie, Jenny and Marlowe in the first book so instead of getting to know the characters as one does in the first book we get into action from page one. Of course, we get to know new characters along the way in this book like Hank Hudson a skilled trapper and Nellie Fuller a reporter, but I feel that the story in this one is better since it is more multilayered. We have the obvious bone theft, but there is a mysterious man that seems to be behind it and also the mystery of Jenny and her murder. Not everything gets answered in this book and the book ends with a cliffhanger. But that is alright, it only makes me more eager to read the next book. On a side note, there is some romance in this book, well some flirting between Abigail and Charlie, but that is just fine. It's not rushed in, it is not instalov, it's sweet, in a good way.

When it comes to YA is this the best I have read in a long while and I'm looking forward to reading more books in this series.

I received this copy from the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review!

#BookReview The Ice Twins by S.K. Tremayne @GrandCentralPub

The Ice Twins by S.K. Tremayne
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

One of Sarah's daughters died. But can she be sure which one?
A year after one of their identical twin daughters, Lydia, dies in an accident, Angus and Sarah Moorcroft move to the tiny Scottish island Angus inherited from his grandmother, hoping to put together the pieces of their shattered lives.

But when their surviving daughter, Kirstie, claims they have mistaken her identity--that she, in fact, is Lydia--their world comes crashing down once again.

As winter encroaches, Angus is forced to travel away from the island for work, Sarah is feeling isolated, and Kirstie (or is it Lydia?) is growing more disturbed. When a violent storm leaves Sarah and her daughter stranded, they are forced to confront what really happened on that fateful day.

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This is a truly intense psychological thriller; I was enthralled with the story from the beginning to the end and giving this book five stars was a very easy decision.

Angus and Sarah are trying really hard to pull their lives together and then having Kirstie claim that she is Lydia, that the daughter they thought had died was alive and vice-versa that is really making their life a hell in their new home and putting their already fragile marriage to the test.

What really happened the day their daughter died? They can't tell their daughter apart and the twins were wearing the same kind of clothing on the day one of them died.

This is a real page-turner, never a dull moment and the ending of the book, well I was afraid that S.K. Tremayne wouldn't be able to write a satisfying ending, but he did. This is without one of the best thrillers I have ever read and I recommended it strongly to anyone that likes psychological thrillers.

On a side note; I found out the real identity of S.K. Tremayne when I was writing this review. I actually though S.K. Tremayne was a woman, but it's Tom Knox, and he usually writes archaeological and religious thrillers. So, while I wait for S.K. Tremayne to publish a new book can I read Tom Knox's books and I love archaeological thrillers so it's a win-win.

I received this copy from the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review!

#BookReview Dry Bones by Craig Johnson @ucrosspop25 @VikingBooks

Dry Bones by Craig Johnson
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Wyoming’s beloved lawman must solve his coldest case yet when a T. rex skeleton surfaces—along with a dead rancher—in Absaroka County.

Longmire, the TV adaptation of Craig Johnson’s New York Timesbestselling Walt Longmire Mystery series, has ratcheted up demand for the Wyoming sheriff’s written adventures. Publishing on the heels of the Longmire boxed set, Dry Bones is certain to join Johnson’s four most recent Longmire novels when it moseys on up the New York Times bestseller list.

When the largest, most complete fossil of a Tyrannosaurus rex is discovered in Absaroka County, it would appear to have nothing to do with Walt. That is, until the Cheyenne rancher on whose land she's found is himself found face down in a turtle pond. As a number of parties vie for ownership of the priceless remains, including rancher Danny Lone Elk’s family, the Cheyenne tribe, the Deputy Attorney General, and a cadre of FBI men, Walt must recruit undersheriff Victoria Moretti, Henry Standing Bear, and Dog to investigate a sixty-six million year-old cold case that’s starting to heat up fast.

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Craig Johnson's books about Sheriff Walt Longmire is a wonderful series, but I do miss the old days when I didn't have to wait a year until the next book. Walt Longmire is a marvelous character, he has that kind of old cowboy way that I love. The John Wayne feeling. Strong, reliable and tough and, as usual, Walt has a tendency to get into problems. I don't think I have read a book in this series when he doesn't end up in any way in the hospital. This book is not an exception. One thing I truly enjoyed was that Walt and Vic finally had the BIG talk that I have been waiting for since I read book nine in series (A Serpent's Tooth), the talked I waited to read in book ten that never happened.

When it came to the T-Rex story must I admit that even though I enjoyed reading it was the stuff around the case that I most liked. It was a difficult case, was it murder or not? Who would, in the end, claim the T-Rex? But the things happening around, a heartbreaking death that I didn't see coming, the openhearted discussion between Walt and Vic and then the realization that an old enemy is back was the best part of the book.

So in the end, the book gets 4.5 stars. I liked the book very much, but I would have liked a much more intense and interesting case.

I received this copy from the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review!

In Wilderness by Diane Thomas

In Wilderness by Diane Thomas
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The year is 1966 and Katherine Reid receives a heartbreaking diagnosis. She is dying from a terminal illness. The doctors can't even figure out what's wrong with her, only that she is dying. So, she sells everything's she owns and moves far away to a cabin in Georgia's Appalachian Mountains. Her plan is to spend her last months in solitude and she has brought with her a gun to end it if it gets too painful towards the end. But she doesn't know that she is not alone. In the forest, someone is watching her. The young Vietnam veteran Danny is watching her with a growing obsession. Danny is haunted by war memories and is living in an old once grand mansion alone.

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On Goodreads, you can read that this is a suspenseful and literary love story. I agree with suspenseful, but let not describe the relationship in this book as a love story. It's a relationship between two people that needs each and for a brief moment in life find comfort in each other arms. But love story, no. I thought it would be a love story, but certain things in the book, Danny destroying her car so that she wouldn't be able to leave and his attitude towards her, when they are together, isn't something that I would describe as a love story. A very dark love story perhaps, but now, it's a relationship.

Anyway, I did enjoy reading the book, but I did not love it as much I had hoped I would. It was well written, but the story just didn't work all the way for me, I liked the beginning when the hadn't met yet and the ending best. But the part, when they got together, was just no to my liking that much. Thankfully the book ended on a high note.

Spoiler Warning:

Btw in author's note, you can read about what it was ailing both Danny and Katherine. [Danny suffered from PTSD. This was hardly surprising. But Katherine suffered from environmental illness (EI) also know as multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) which makes perfect sense to how living in the cabin made her better
[Danny suffered from PTSD. This was hardly surprising. But Katherine suffered from an environmental illness (EI) also know as multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) which makes perfect sense to how living in the cabin made her better. (hide spoiler)]

I received this copy from the publisher through Netgalley in return for an honest review!

The Liar by Nora Roberts

The Liar by Nora Roberts
My rating: 2.5 of 5 stars

Shelby's life is in ruin. Her husband is dead, leaving her with debts and it seems he wasn't the man she thought he was when she married him. Even his name seems to be false. So, she packs everything she still owns and returns to her hometown with her daughter. But it seems that someone is out there watching her every move and soon her peaceful hometown will not be so peaceful anymore...

Before last year I had only read one Nora Roberts book, which to be honest feels a bit odd when you think about how many books she has written. But to be fair I mostly read fantasy, sci-fi and crime novels and hers have always felt a bit not my type of book. But lately I have been given a chance to try out various books written by her and this is the latest and I actually thought that this would be the first book by her that I would give four stars to. That was before I hit the 50% in the book and everything started to fall to pieces when it came to the story.

On the plus side with the book we had some really interesting characters; I liked the main character Shelby and her family, her love interest Griff was OK (yes it was a bit too much instalove for my taste, but I could take it). The crime/mystery everything to do with her husband worked for me (mostly) but it was all the Hard of Dixie stuff, feuding with an old enemy from school, playing family and the extremely predictable ending that made this book lose stars. There are three ways to end a thriller, a surprising ending (the best), a not so surprising ending (kind of OK ending, you had an inkling of what should happen, but for the most part, the ending still delivered) and a terrible, terrible predictable ending, the kind that you see miles away. This one had the number three ending and I can take many things like for instance instalove, well no not really, but I can overlook it, kind of. But this kind of ending, no!

So, in the end, 2.5 stars because half the book was good and I still liked Shelby and her family in the end.

Thank you Piatkus for providing me with a free copy for an honest review!

The Bleiberg Project by David S. Khara

The Bleiberg Project by David S. Khara
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Wall Street trader Jay Corbin learns that his long-lost father has been killed and not long after that is his mother assassinated. Now together with a Jackie Walls, a CIA bodyguard must he figure out what his father was investigating. What was it his father knew that got him killed? The trail leads to Zurich and it seems that the Nazis is behind everything...

I admit that the first person narrative got a bit annoying in this book, but fortunately, the story was interesting enough to keep my interest. Jay Corbin may be the main character, but I found Eytan Morg, the Mossad agent to be the most interesting character in the book, even though I guessed his background early on. It was a nice thriller with a fast-paced story and I will continue reading the series.

I received this copy from the publisher through Netgalley in return for an honest review!

#BookReview The Angel Court Affair by Anne Perry

The Angel Court Affair by Anne Perry
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

When Commander Thomas Pitt is ordered to protect a young woman visiting London from Spain, he cannot see why this is a job for Special Branch. When she disappears in the dead of night from Angel Court, however, he is faced with a dangerous mystery. Sofia preached new, and some say blasphemous, religious ideals, and her life had been threatened. But Pitt senses there is some deeper and more dangerous reason for her kidnap - if that is what it is. Three men are caught up in the hunt for Sofia - her cousin, a banker for the Church of England, a popular and charismatic politician, and a journalist who seems determined to goad Pitt to the truth. Each seem to be hiding something, and as the search for answers stretches from London to Spain, Pitt knows that time is running out, and the nation's security could be at stake...Angel Court is the thirtieth superb mystery featuring Thomas and Charlotte Pitt from the master of Victorian crime.

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This is the 30th book in the Charlotte and Thomas Pitt series and this first book in the series that I have read. Luckily for me, it was easy to get into the story and to get to know the characters. I found the story to be interesting and well written. But still I felt sometimes that the story lacked something, I just didn't feel that connected to Thomas and Charlotte, perhaps it would have been easier to connect to them if I would have read previous books in the series. I guess I will figure that out when I do that. I also felt that Charlotte never really got to be, in this book, anything else than a mother and wife so I would very much like to read the books from the beginning to really get to know her. Luckily I own the first book.

But the two characters I actually came to like the most were Narraway and Vespasia. I just felt that their characters were so much more interesting to read about than the Pitt's. Their marriage came later in life so they both have a past and I want to know more about their past and how they met and finally got married so when I start to read the series from the beginning will I have a look out for those two wonderful characters.

The story itself was interesting, sometimes I felt that it dragged on a bit, but not that I became bored I just felt sometimes that it moved a little too slow forward and I enjoyed the part on Spain very much and of course the ending was good.

All and all, I enjoyed the book and I'm looking forward to reading the previous 29 books in the series!

I received this copy from the publisher through Netgalley in return for an honest review!

Quicksand by Gigi Pandian

Quicksand by Gigi Pandian
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Historian Jaya Jones has settled in San Francisco when she gets a letter from Lane Peters, an old fling, with a ticket to Paris. She has her doubts about going, she has a great job and leaving at the start of the term isn't the best thing, but in the end thanks to a little help from a friend she is able to leave her job for a week to see Lane again. But of course, nothing goes as planned...

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I had no problems getting into the story even though this is the third book in the series and the first one that I read. This is a wonderful cozy mystery book with a fantastic main character; Jaya Jones. Actually a lot of fantastic characters. We have her friends Tamarind and Sanjay back in San Francisco. Tamarind is a librarian and Sanjay magician. Then, of course, there is Lane Peters, he just happens to be a very good thief and now someone needs his help and they think leverage in the form of blackmail against Jaya is a perfect idea. So Lane and Jaya must help the criminal North with a theft. Finally, have we Sébastien an old magician that helps Lane and Jaya when they are in France.

The story was wonderful and a page turner and I found it amusing to read about Mont Saint Michel again. Never read about the place before, but this is the second book this year I read about when the story takes place on the island.

The story was wonderful and a page turner and I found it amusing to read about Mont Saint Michel again. Never read about the place before this year, but this is the second book that brings up the place and where much of the story takes place. Also, even though I enjoyed all the characters I must admit that I found North to do the most intriguing, yes I know he is the baddie, but he was such a wonderful character and I do have a bit of a weakness for great baddies. So, I like him and I hope to read about him more in future books.

In the end, I want to say that Gigi Pandian has written a book that really suited me and if you like I like cozy mystery books, then I would recommend checking out this book and the rest of the books in the series. I'm lucky, I already own the first two books!

I received a copy from the publisher and France book tours in return for an honest review!