A Drink Before the War by Dennis Lehane

A Drink Before the War by Dennis Lehane
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Patrick Kenzie and Angie Gennaro know their home, rough neighborhoods of South Boston. Their first PI job seems simple - find Jenna, a black cleaner, and confidential state documents she stole. Extortion, assassination, and child prostitution extend from the ghetto to the government. The worst atrocities are closest to home, and committed in the name of love.

**********

A Drink Before the War was my first Dennis Lehane book and an excellent start to the Patrick Kenzie and Angie Gennaro series. The only thing I wondered was, why the hell did it take me so long before reading this book?

I liked Patrick and Angie, I didn't like Phil, Angie's husband and wondered how long before she would get rid of him. But there was one person beside the detective duo that I liked; Bubba. I have a bit of fondness for one person armies! The case was interesting and seemed to be a simple one, just retrieve some documents. But as usual when it comes to the duo (as I came to learn reading more books about them) it never is that easy and soon they are up to their ears in trouble...

This is a great first book that I warmly recommend anyone that likes crime books to read!

Owl and the Japanese Circus by Kristi Charish

Owl and the Japanese Circus by Kristi Charish
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Ex-archaeology grad student turned international antiquities thief, Alix—better known now as Owl—has one rule. No supernatural jobs. Ever. Until she crosses paths with Mr. Kurosawa, a red dragon who owns and runs the Japanese Circus Casino in Las Vegas. He insists Owl retrieve an artifact stolen three thousand years ago, and makes her an offer she can’t refuse: he’ll get rid of a pack of vampires that want her dead. A dragon is about the only entity on the planet that can deliver on Owl’s vampire problem – and let’s face it, dragons are known to eat the odd thief.

Owl retraces the steps of Mr. Kurosawa’s ancient thief from Japan to Bali with the help of her best friend, Nadya, and an attractive mercenary. As it turns out though, finding the scroll is the least of her worries. When she figures out one of Mr. Kurosawa’s trusted advisors is orchestrating a plan to use a weapon powerful enough to wipe out a city, things go to hell in a hand basket fast…and Owl has to pick sides.

*********

This is the first book (of many I hope) about Owl and a very good first book. I liked Owl from the beginning. She’s a smart mouth thief with a knack for finding trouble and a faithful companion by her side; Captain a vampire hating cat. Owl has been laying low for months now hiding from vampires after a deal gone sour. So an offer from a dragon to get rid of her problem is perfect even though she usually tries to stay the hell away from supernaturals.

Beside Owl and the Captain, we also get to meet Nadya, her best friend, Rynn, bartender and also the guy she’s been shunning since he kissed her. Oricho and Lady Siyu that works for Mr. Kurosawa and are the ones that Owl has to report to.But the guy I liked the most is actually the one that we hardly get to met, Carpe, Owls online gaming partner. Yeah, Owl likes to play an online game called World Quest when she’s not out stealing…eh, I mean retrieving artifacts. Of course, old enemies show up, like Alexander a vampires that really don’t like her.

Of course finding the artifact isn’t a piece of cake and soon Owl, Nadya, and Rynn are in deep trouble and they have to fight vampires, Nagas and other creatures along the way.

I liked the book for its adventure, its action, and its humor. It was a fun and a pleasant read and I truly recommend this book to anyone that likes adventure books with a strong female character. Owl is great, she’s not perfect. For instance, she has a tendency to talk when she should keep her mouth shut. I even liked the relationship between Owl and Ryan and I’m extremely picky when it comes to romance.

Now I'm just looking forward to the next book!

Thanks, Gallery, Threshold, Pocket Books and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy for an honest review!

#BookReview Murder by Sarah Pinborough

Murder by Sarah Pinborough
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Dr. Thomas Bond, Police Surgeon, is still recovering from the event of the previous year when Jack the Ripper haunted the streets of London - and a more malign enemy hid in his shadow. Bond and the others who worked on the gruesome case are still stalked by its legacies, both psychological and tangible.

But now the bodies of children are being pulled from the Thames... and Bond is about to become inextricably linked with an uncanny, undying enemy.

*********

I like how Sarah Pinborough uses a combination of fantasy and real events and persons in her books Mayhem and Murder to tell a story. The Upir is an interesting creation and I like that it's a vampire, but still quite different. Vampires have become too popular in my opinion and that has made them quite boring to read about.

The story in this book takes place a couple of years after the first book and Dr. Thomas Bond is back, but he is still haunted by the memories of what happened years before when Jack the Ripper and the Torso Killer roamed the city. But now something is stirring in the city, there are dead children being pulled out of the river Themes is the evil back, didn't the priest manage to get rid of the Upir when they took care of the Torso Killer in Mayhem?

It was an interesting book to read, but not totally engrossing for me, I had some trouble getting really invested in the story and the love triangle made it not easier. The rivalry between men over a woman can be interesting, but in this case, the outcome was not that surprising and even though it was a logical part of the story I just didn't care for it so much. The book did manage to make some surprisingly turns even though I did guess the outcome right in the end and it was a perfect ending to a setup for a third book!

I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy through NetGalley for an honest review!

#BookReview Descent by Tim Johnston

Descent by Tim Johnston
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Rocky Mountains have cast their spell over the Courtlands, a young family from the plains taking a last summer vacation before their daughter begins college. For eighteen-year-old Caitlin, the mountains loom as the ultimate test of her runner’s heart, while her parents hope that so much beauty, so much grandeur, will somehow repair a damaged marriage. But when Caitlin and her younger brother, Sean, go out for an early morning run and only Sean returns, the mountains become as terrifying as they are majestic, as suddenly this family find themselves living the kind of nightmare they’ve only read about in headlines or seen on TV.

As their world comes undone, the Courtlands are drawn into a vortex of dread and recrimination. Why weren’t they more careful? What has happened to their daughter? Is she alive? Will they ever know? Caitlin’s disappearance, all the more devastating for its mystery, is the beginning of the family’s harrowing journey down increasingly divergent and solitary paths until all that continues to bind them together are the questions they can never bring themselves to ask: At what point does a family stop searching? At what point will a girl stop fighting for her life?

Written with a precision that captures every emotion, every moment of fear, as each member of the family searches for answers, Descent is a perfectly crafted thriller that races like an avalanche toward its heart-pounding conclusion, and heralds the arrival of a master storyteller

***********

This book hit me pretty hard. I had it for ages on my Ipad but the time never really came for me to read it until now when I saw that it would be released, then I thought “what the heck, I read it, who knows it could be good”. It was harrowing to read the family’s agonizing search. The father Grant who stayed and search, the mother Angela who in the end returned home but never really could go on living, the son Sean who finally left them and lived in his car and worked for gas money just driving around...

In the end, I just want to say that Tim Johnston has written a marvelous book, very beautiful written about the evil things men do. In many ways this is so much worse than paranormal horror because things like this happen, children disappear, some are found and some are never found. I cared deeply for the family and I even came to care very much for a character that I never really liked until in the very end, then he did something that made me actually get tearful and I seldom cry when I read books.

I recommend this book warmly!

I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy through NetGalley for an honest review!

#BookReview As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust by Alan Bradley

As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust by Alan Bradley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Hard on the heels of the return of her mother’s body from the frozen reaches of the Himalayas, Flavia, for her indiscretions, is banished from her home at Buckshaw and shipped across the ocean to Miss Bodycote’s Female Academy in Toronto, her mother’s alma mater, there to be inducted into a mysterious organization known as the Nide.

No sooner does she arrive, however, than a body comes crashing down out of the chimney and into her room, setting off a series of investigations into mysterious disappearances of girls from the school.

**********

This is my first Flavia De Luce book, but not my last. I had no problem getting into the story, but of course, since this is book seven were there bound to be things mentioned in the book that I knew nothing about. Like for instance why she was banished to Canada? Apparently, there happened things in the last book concerning her mother that led to this. But anyway if we disregard that, everything else was not that hard to understand, she mentioned people but often I got an explanation to who she was referring to so that was ok.

I admit that I first thought the story of the book took place much earlier than 1950’s, around 1920-30’s perhaps. But then television was mentioned and that meant a bit later. Also, I wasn’t sure about Flavia's ages until someone mentioned that she was 12, I thought she would be older. But she was fun; she was like a nosy Nancy Drew, but slightly more morbid. I was a bit weary of Flavia in the beginning, there is a thin line between precocious and obnoxious but she managed to stay on the precocious side throughout the book.

The story was interesting and I liked the school setting. I have always been a bit fascinated by boarding school milieu, and for mystery books are boarding schools a perfect setting. It was a good read and I'm looking forward to reading the previous six books in the series.

I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy through NetGalley for an honest review!

Winter at the Door by Sarah Graves

Winter at the Door by Sarah Graves
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Homicide cop Lizzie Snow moves from Boston to Bearkill, Maine. She is searching for her niece that disappeared not long after her sister died. And now she has a photo of a little girl that could me Nicki. Sheriff Cody Chevrier is problems of his own. Four ex-cops have died during the last year and only he suspects that it is murder.

**********

Winter at the door was a great book. I liked Lizzie Snow from the moment she was introduced into the book, short black hair, red lipstick and red fingernails. Small but strong, a really tough cop! She has moved from big-city Boston to little Bearkill (great name for a town) with ulterior motives; to find her niece that went missing. But soon she is caught up in the suspicious deaths of the ex-cops and then a child disappears…

I liked the characters; her ex-boyfriend Dylan Hudson who is trying to make amends for how their relationship ended and Trey Washburn the local vet who isn’t her type but still a very nice man and an excellent cook. And of course, Sheriff Cody Chevrier, who reminds me of Sheriff Longmire from Craig Johnson’s books and when I think about it; Lizzie Snow reminds me of Vic Moretti. No wonder I like this book.

The plot was good, it was never boring and Sarah Graves tied everything good together in the end. There are some things still not resolved, but I never expected everything to be fully explained in the end. This is the first book in a series. I’m looking forward to reading the next book!

I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy through NetGalley for an honest review!

All That Glitters by Michael Murphy

All That Glitters: A Jake & Laura Mystery by Michael Murphy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In Michael Murphy’s rollicking new Jake & Laura mystery, the hard-boiled writer and the aspiring movie star head for sun-drenched Los Angeles, where a cold-blooded murderer lurks behind the scenes.

Just arrived from New York, Broadway actress Laura Wilson is slated to star in Hollywood’s newest screwball comedy. At her side, of course, is Jake Donovan, under pressure to write his next mystery novel. But peace and quiet are not to be had when an all-too-real murder plot intrudes: After a glitzy party, the son of a studio honcho is discovered dead from a gunshot wound. And since Jake exchanged words with the hothead just hours before his death, the bestselling author becomes the LAPD’s prime suspect.

In 1930s Tinseltown, anything goes. Proving his innocence won’t be easy in a town where sex, seduction, and naked power run rampant. With gossip columnist Louella Parsons dead-set on publicizing the charges against him, Jake has no choice but to do what everyone else does in the City of Angels: act like someone else. Blackie Doyle, the tough-talking, fist-swinging, womanizing hero from Jake’s novels wouldn’t pull any punches until he exposed the real killer—nor will Jake, to keep the role of a lifetime from being his last.

**********

Laura Wilson, Broadway star arrives in Hollywood to star in a screwball comedy. With her is her boyfriend Jake Donovan, who is under pressure to write his next mystery novel. But they hardly have time to settle down before everything goes wrong. A man is killed at a party they attend the very same night they arrive in Los Angeles and Jake is soon murder suspect number 1...

Everyone that has seen screwball comedies from the 1930s will feel familiarity with this book. It feels really like an homage to old Tinseltown and screwball comedies. There is even cameo appearances by William Powell and Carol Lombard in the story. I really loved that since I'm a huge fan of 1930s movies and love screwball movies. If you haven't seen The Thin Man, then you should see it after you read this book.

Anyway to the story. This was a fast-paced humor filled story with mobsters, movie stars, and murder. Never a dull moment! Jake must do everything in his power (together with Laura of course) to exonerate himself and that before the press prints that he is the prime suspect and his career is over and also clear himself so he doesn't end up in jail for a murder he didn't commit...

This was the first book I read with Jake and Laura, but it won't be the last (especially since I own the first book). I enjoyed reading this book very much and it felt very good to read something lighthearted once in a while. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series, perhaps a female aviator will be in it...?

Thanks to Random House Publishing Group - Alibi and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy for an honest review!

The Death Season by Kate Ellis

The Death Season by Kate Ellis
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Detective Wesley Peterson investigates another mysterious and deathly case on his 19th adventure in Kate Ellis's captivating crime series

When a middle-aged man is found dead in a hotel room, it seems like a routine matter—until it becomes clear to DI Wesley Peterson that it is a case of cold blooded murder and that the identity the victim has been using isn't his own. Then DCI Gerry Heffeman, frustrated at being given only cold cases during his recovery from being shot in the line of duty, discovers from a DNA review that Wesley's mystery man was responsible for the murder of a child back in 1979. But soon, as Wesley delves in to the events of the past more people die. Meanwhile archeologist Neil Watson is investigating a ruined village that tumbled into the sea during a storm at the time of World War I. Events take a cryptic turn when he encounters a 100-year-old mystery with echoes in the present. As a terrifying truth is revealed, Wesley has to face a great danger, especially if he is to save someone very precious to him.

**********

DI Wesley Peterson is summoned to investigate a possible murder in a hotel room. It looks like routine matter but then it is revealed that the man used a fake name and the man in question is linked to a cold case; the murder of a child in 1979. Now DCI Gerry Heffeman, recovering from a gunshot in the line of duty, and Wesley must find the killer because more dead bodies are turning up...

This is the first book I have read by Kate Ellis and I admit that starting with book 19 in a series doesn’t feel like the most perfect start. But I never really had a problem with that because I was so enthralled with the story and the characters that I never had any real problem with not having read the previous books. Sure there is a lot of back history, but instead of being hindered by that I just found myself more curious about reading the previous 18 books.

The plot was really good, there were lots of different things going on at the same time, the cold case murder, the murder at the hotel and an archaeological dig at a ruined village that tumbled in the sea during WW1, but all these happenings had connections to each other and let to a thrilling ending.

I liked Wesley Peterson, he is a good police that knows he is spending too much time working and too little with his family and feeling guilty about it. I’m looking forward to seeing how it will go for him in the future, especially since he is working with a DS Rachel Tracey who has feelings for him. He seems to be happily married but a close working relationship with a woman attracted to him can be dangerous, especially since his wife seems to be a bit jealous of Rachel…no smoke without fire.

I'm really looking forward to reading the previous books in the series since I want to know more about his past and how it must have been coming to a little community as a black police after working at the MET. This crime novel was terrific, great story, great characters. Couldn't find anything with it that I didn’t like!

I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy for an honest review!