Tuesday, February 25, 2014

The Yoga Store Murder by Dan Morse

Started: 1/6/14
Finished: 2/24/14
Pages: 361
Year: 2013
Genre: True Crime
Grade: B+
Reason for reading: received through Library Thing
Blurb (from back cover): "Thirty-year-old Jayna Murray was dead-slashed, stabbed, and struck more than three hundred times. Investigators found blood spattered on walls, and size fourteen men's shoe prints leading away from her body.
"Twenty-eight-year-old Brittany Norwood was found alive, tied up on the bathroom floor. She had lacerations, a bloody face, and ripped clothing. She told investigators that two masked men had slipped into the Bethesda, Maryland, store just after closing, presumably planning to rob it. She spoke of the night of terror she and her coworker had experienced.
"Investigators were sympathetic...but as the case went on Brittany's story began to unravel. Why rob a business that dealt mostly in credit cards? Why was Jayna murdered but Brittany left alive? Could the petite, polite Brittany have been involved? Most chilling of all: could she have been the killer?
Opinion: This is one of the better true crime novels that I have read. It is obviously well researched and the author notes discuss the opportunity the author was given that allowed for the research. The book also dealt with all different aspects of the investigation and possible motives which some true crime novels don't do. A strong look into the psychology reasoning behind the murder was done and is appreciated by this reader.

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Seven Up by Janet Evanovich

Started: 2/7/14
Finished: 2/17/14
Year: 2002
Pages: 300
Genre: Mystery
Grade: B
Reason for reading: borrowed from library
Blurb (Amazon.com): "Bounty hunter Stephanie Plum's got a lot on her mind. How does cigarette smuggler Eddie DeChooch, a fugitive so geriatric that even the hot-to-trot Grandma Mazur won't go out with him a third time, keep giving her the slip? How did a woman who died of a heart attack end up in DeChooch's garden shed with five bullet holes in her chest? Who stole a rump roast from Dougie and Mooner, the two lovable potheads who have decided to be crime fighters in Spandex bodysuits? Can Stephanie's perfect sister Valerie make it as a lesbian single mother without driving her family crazy? And--oh yeah--what should Stephanie do about that damn wedding dress on hold at Tina's Bridal Shoppe, waiting for her to decide whether vice cop Joe Morelli's really the one for her?"
Opinion: An amusing look into yet another almost failed capture for Plum. This book seemed to drag a little bit in regards to how many times it took Plum to try to make her main capture.

Sunday, February 09, 2014

Notorious Nineteen by Janet Evanovich

Started: 2/2/14
Finished: 2/9/14
Pages: 302
Year: 2012
Genre: Mystery
Grade: B
Reason for reading: borrowed from library
Blurb (from book jacket): "After a slow summer of chasing low-level skips for her cousin Vinnie's bail bonds agency, Stephanie Plum finally lands an assignment that could put her checkbook back in the black. Geoffrey Cubbin, facing trial for embezzling millions from Tention's premier assisted-living facility, has mysteriously vanished from the hospital after an emergency appendectomy. Now it's on Stephanie to track down the con man. Unfortunately, Cubbin has disappeared without a trace, a witness, or his money-hungry wife. Rumors are stirring that he must have had help with the daring escape...or that maybe he never made it out of his room alive. Since the hospital staff's lips seem to be tighter than the security, and it's hard for Stephanie to blend in to assisted living, Stephanie's Grandma Mazur goes in undercover. But when a second felon goes missing from the same hospital, Stephanie is forced into working side by side with Trenton's hottest cop, Joe Morelli, in order to crack the case.
"The real problem is, no Cubbin also means no way to pay the rent. Desperate for money-or maybe just desperate-Stephanie accepts a secondary job guarding her secretive and mouthwatering mentor Ranger from a deadly Special Forces adversary. While Stephanie is notorious for finding trouble, she may have found a little more than she bargained for this time around. Then again-a little food poisoning, some threatening notes, a bridesmaid's dress with an excess of taffeta never killed anyone...or did they? If Stephanie Plum wants to bring in a paycheck, she'll have to remember: No guts, no glory."
Opinion: Typical Stephanie Plum antics where she gets herself caught up in blown up cars, run away convicts, and the ongoing decision of Morelli or Ranger.

Sunday, February 02, 2014

Eggs in a Casket by Laura Childs

Started: 1/31/14
Finished: 2/2/14
Pages: 300
Year: 2014
Genre: mystery
Grade: B
Reason for reading: borrowed from library
Blurb (from book jacket): "While Petra handles the breakfast rush at the Cackleberry Club, the cafe's other two owners, Suzanne and Toni, head to Memorial Cemetery to help prepare for its 150th anniversary celebration. But as they search the winding paths for the Historical Society tent, they discover something else out of place: the body of ex-prison warden Lester Drummond lying facedown in someone else's freshly dug grave.
"In the small town of Kindred, everyone knows everyone, and Lester was no exception. Suzanne knew him as the creepy guy who made unwanted advances on her friend Missy Langston. But now it appears the man was hiding a few secrets....and at least one of them was worth killing for.
"As the case cracks open, there are plenty of suspects to consider-from recent parolees to Missy herself, who Suzanne and Toni saw speeding away just before they found the body. Now, with a cemetery celebration in the offing, and the local authorities in over their heads, it's up to the Cackleberry Club to unscramble the clues and clear their friend's name."
Opinion: This was a fun little cozy mystery. However, the true lack of actual police protocol bothers me. The sheriffs and deputies seem a little to willing to give up any and all information to non-police personnel. The whodunnit was not someone that I was expecting so that was a good ending.