Life can be horribly unfair, especially if you are a teen. Or so you may think. Sometimes parents can be right, but not all adult decisions seem just and reasonable. Unfortunately, adults usually have the last word. In her third book in the Bird Face series, 6 Dates to Disaster, […]
10 steps to Girlfriend Status, by Cynthia T. Toney
Adolescence is the most difficult time of life. How do we survive it? What with all the physical, emotional, external, and self-inflicted challenges, it is no wonder that many teens lose their way on the path to maturity. In 8 Notes to a Nobody, Cynthia Toney’s first volume in the […]
Thrice the Brinded Cat Hath Mew’d, by Alan Bradley
Flavia de Luce fans stand to applaud her return from her interminable trials in the tundra of Toronto. Unfortunately, her family barely recognizes her existence. “Like a pair of sick suns rising, (her sister) Daffy’s eyes came slowly up above the binding of her book. I could tell she hadn’t […]
Into the Way of Peace, by Karen Kelly Boyce
Into the Way of Peace blends the mystical with the mysterious. While a blizzard swirls around an inner city church, a desperate few pass within. Some seek shelter from the storm. Others desire consolation because of life’s overwhelming burdens. One young man hopes to escape a police manhunt. Fr. D’Angelico […]
Specter, By John Desjarlais
Specter mixes the flavors of Romero, Ghostbusters, and The Terminator with generous glops of sour cream and salsa. John Desjarlais embroils his favorite DEA agent, Selena De La Cruz in a fictional parallel to the 1993 assassination of a Cardinal at the Guadalajara airport. She unearths the stench of corruption […]
Navajo Autumn—A Navajo Nation Mystery by R. Allen Chappell
The Navajo Nation Mystery Series mixes murder with large doses of anthropology, archaeology and the survivalist lifestyle. Fans of Tony and Anne Hillerman, and James D. Doss, will welcome these jaunts to the Four Corners region of the American west. Set in and around the largest Indian reservation in the world, among […]
Murder as a Fine Art, by David Morrell
David Morrell blends horror, history and mystery in his tale of narco-political terrorism with a twist. The author opens with a narration by “The Artist,” the antagonist who in 1854 savagely murders members of a London household near Ratcliffe Highway. This reenactment of of the 1811 Ratcliffe Highway killings presses […]
The Accidental Alchemist, by Gigi Pandian
Gigi Pandian’s murder-mystery offers comfort on rainy days with teahouses, a warm kitchen and a fun read. She sets her scene in Portland, Oregon, a.k.a. Portlandia, the epicenter of the alternative fringe—a perfect place to hide in plain sight. So thought Zoe Faust, a 300 year old who doesn’t look […]
A Book of Scars (The Breen and Tozer Mystery Series, Volume 3), by William Shaw
Detective Sergeant Cathal “Paddy” Breen of the Metropolitan CID (Marylebone Police Station, London) can’t seem to avoid disaster whether he’s rescuing a cat from a tree, investigating a crime scene or chasing a bad guy. To his aid rides Helen Tozer, a Woman Police Constable who wants to do more […]
Yes, a Short Story by Ann McIntyre
During a cold and damp Lent, Yes, a homeless immigrant, barely survives his crossing of the Mediterranean to Italy. Suffering from pneumonia and a multitude of injuries, he finds shelter among Bernini’s colonnade in Vatican City, drawing disdainful stares from Christian tourists and members of the curia. Thanks to the […]