Candy Cane Murder by Joanne Fluke

Started: 12/3/2025

Finished: 12/3/2025

Year: 2007

Pages: 148

Genre: cozy mystery

Grade: B

Reason for reading: continuing with series, library book

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "A collection of three holiday mysteries includes stories by Joanne Fluke, Laura Levine, and Leslie Meyer, and features fourteen Christmas recipes"

Opinion: I only read the novella from Fluke and it's another body discovered by Hannah and where she helps solve the whodunit. Decent mystery-took a while to figure it out and why.

All of Us Murderers by KJ Charles

Started: 12/2/2025

Finished: DNF

Year: 2025

Pages: 331

Genre: mystery

Grade: F

Reason for reading: library book

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "When Zeb Wyckham is summoned to a wealthy relative's remote Gothic manor, he is horrified to find all the people he least wants to see in the world: his estranged brother, his sneering cousin, and his bitter ex-lover Gideon Grey. Things couldn't possibly get worse.

"Then the master of the house announces the true purpose of the gathering: he intends to leave the vast family fortune to whoever marries his young ward, setting off a violent scramble for her hand. Zeb wants no part of his greedy family―but when he tries to leave, the way is barred. The walls of Lackaday House are high, and the gates firmly locked. As the Dartmoor mists roll in, there's no way out. And something unnatural may be watching them from the house's shadowy depths…

"Fear and paranoia ramping ever-higher, Zeb has nowhere to turn but to the man who once held his heart. As the gaslight flickers and terror takes hold, can two warring lovers reunite, uncover the murderous mysteries of Lackaday House―and live to tell the tale?"

Opinion: Blah. None of the characters are interesting enough for me to continue. Everyone seems petty and only out for an inheritance.

Force of Nature by Jane Harper

Started: 11/30/2025

Finished: 12/2/2025

Year: 2017

Pages: 324

Genre: mystery

Grade: B

Reason for reading: library book, continuing with series

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "When five colleagues are forced to go on a corporate retreat in the wilderness, they reluctantly pick up their backpacks and start walking down the muddy path.

"But one of the women doesn’t come out of the woods. And each of her companions tells a slightly different story about what happened.

"Federal Police Agent Aaron Falk has a keen interest in the whereabouts of the missing hiker. In an investigation that takes him deep into isolated forest, Falk discovers secrets lurking in the mountains, and a tangled web of personal and professional friendship, suspicion, and betrayal among the hikers. But did that lead to murder?"

Opinion: Decent mystery mixed with a serial killer

The Ex-Girlfriend Murder Club by Gloria Chao

Started: 11/25/2025

Finished: DNF (had to return to library and I don't want to finish it)

Year: 2025

Pages: 309

Genre: mystery

Grade: D

Reason for reading: library book

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "The body in the closet was going to be a problem. Kathryn Hu knew it. Yes, Tucker Jones was a cheating scumbag, and yes, she’d agreed to meet Olivia and Elle—Tucker’s other girlfriends—to exact revenge for all he’d put them through… But then they found him. Dead.

"Do they look guilty? Yes.

"Do they feel guilty for having wished him dead just hours before? Maybe a little.

"But—solid motive and a crime scene covered in their DNA aside—they’re innocent. They swear.

"To clear their names, Kat, Olivia, and Elle team up to find the real killer. But as they go undercover and lie to everyone, including the hot detective working the case, they realize that every person in their ex's life had a reason to want him dead. Will they uncover the truth before they go down for a murder they didn't commit?"

Opinion: Amazon describes this as laugh out loud....nope...not in the least. You have 3 women old enough to NOT play the stupid disgusting pranks that were described-especially when one is a lawyer. Yes he was a cheating ahole but just move on. The murder mystery was ok.

The Academy by Elin Hlderbrand and Shelby Cunningham

Started: 11/24/2025

Finished: DNF

Year: 2025

Pages: 413

Genre: literature

Grade: F

Reason for reading: library book

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "It’s move-in day at Tiffin Academy and amidst the happy chaos of friends reuniting, selfies uploading, and cars unloading, shocking news arrives: America Today just ranked Tiffin the number two boarding school in the country. It’s a seventeen-spot jump – was there a typo? The dorms need to be renovated, their sports teams always come in last place, and let’s just say Tiffin students are known for being more social than academic. On the other hand, the campus is exquisite, class sizes are small, and the dining hall is run by an acclaimed New York chef. And they do have fun—lots of parties and school dances, and a piano man plays in the student lounge every Monday night.

"But just as the rarefied air of Tiffin is suffused with self-congratulation, the wheels begin to turn – and then they fall off the bus. One by one, scandalous blind items begin to appear on phones across Tiffin’s campus, thanks to a new app called ZipZap, and nobody is safe. From Davi Banerjee, international influencer and resident queen bee, to Simone Bergeron, the new and surprisingly young history teacher, to Charley Hicks, a transfer student who seems determined not to fit in, to Cordelia Spooner, Admissions Director with a somewhat idiosyncratic methodology – everyone has something to hide.

"As if high school wasn’t dramatic enough...As the year unfolds, bonds are forged and broken, secrets are shared and exposed, and the lives of Tiffin’s students and staff are changed forever."

Opinion: The writing style was fine. Just didn't care about reading about teenagers in boarding school.

Cold Snap by Marc Cameron

Started: 11/17/2025

Finished: 11/23/2025

Year: 2022

Pages: 336

Genre: mystery/thriller

Grade: B+

Reason for reading: continuing with series, library book

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "After an early spring thaw on the Alaskan coast, Anchorage police discover a gruesome new piece of evidence in their search for a serial killer: a dismembered human foot.

"In Kincaid Park, a man is arrested for attacking a female jogger. Investigators believe they have finally captured the sadistic serial killer. But one deputy is sure they have the wrong man.

"In the remote northern town of Deadhorse, Alaska, Deputy US Marshal Arliss Cutter escorts three handcuffed prisoners onto a small bush plane on route to Anchorage. It’s a routine mission and a nonstop flight—or so he thinks. When the plane makes an unexpected landing in the middle of nowhere, all hell breaks loose.

"Back in Anchorage, deputy Lola Teariki has traced the dismembered foot to a missing girl—and the serial psychopath who slaughtered her. It’s one of the prisoners on Cutter’s flight . . ."

Opinion: Intense. Two cases that ended up being more related than initially thought. Very good continuation of series and ending leads to the next book.

Ladder of Years by Anne Tyler

Started: 11/14/2025

Finished: 11/17/2025

Year: 1995

Pages: 327

Genre: literature

Grade: C

Reason for reading: library book

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "The headlines are all the same: Beloved mother and wife Delia Grinstead was last seen strolling down the Delaware shore, wearing only a bathing suit and carrying a beach tote with five hundred dollars tucked inside. To the best of her family's knowledge, she has disappeared without a trace. But Delia didn't disappear. She ran.

"Exhausted with her routine and everyone else's plans for her, Delia needed an out, a chance to make a new life for herself and to become a different person. The new Delia can let go of all the hurt and resentment that left her stuck in her past. As she eagerly sheds the pieces of herself she no longer needs, Delia discovers feelings of passion and wonder she'd long since forgotten. The thrill of walking away from it all leads to a newfound sense of self and the feeling that she is, finally, the star of her own life story."

Opinion: Relateable but predictable. Wasn't horrible. Wasn't great. Average

Dedication to Murder by Lauren Elliott

Started: 11/13/2025

Finished: 11/14/2025

Year: 2023

Pages: 314

Genre: cozy mystery

Grade: B-

Reason for reading: library book, continuing with series

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "Wedding bells are about to ring again in Greyborne Harbor, and as Addie slips into her white dress her thoughts are focused on a bright future with Dr. Simon Emerson. But a discovery in her attic leads her to startling revelations about the past. As the owner of Beyond the Page Books and Curios and a lifelong bibliophile, Addie is delighted to find a rare collection of classic children’s books gathering dust in a secret room beneath the rafters, including a first edition of The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams. To her surprise, a handwritten inscription on the title page provides a clue to unraveling a complex mystery in Addie’s family . . .

"But that’s only the first surprise in a series of shocking twists that will turn Addie’s vision of where her life is going and where she’s come from upside down—including a suspicious death in the present that suggests foul play."

Opinion: Different than the other books in the series. Two pretty interesting mysteries that are tied together.

Hunter's Heart Ridge by Sarah Stewart Taylor

Started: 11/7/2025

Finished: 11/11/2025

Year: 2025

Pages: 303

Genre: mystery

Grade: C

Reason for reading: library book, continuing with series

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "It's November of 1965 and the second weekend of Vermont's regular deer season when Vermont State Police detective Franklin Warren is called out to what looks like an accidental shooting at The Ridge Club, an exclusive men's hunting and fishing club for congressmen, diplomats, judges, and titans of industry: a former ambassador has been shot while out hunting. With the war in Vietnam picking up speed on the other side of the world, Warren quickly realizes that many of the club’s members are powerful men who may have ulterior motives and connections in high places.

"While Warren's suspicions about the club members build, his neighbor Alice Bellows is throwing a dinner party, preparing for Thanksgiving, and worrying about her pregnant friend and fellow widow, Sylvie Weber, whose due date is coming up. When Alice's old handler and friend, Arthur Crannock, unexpectedly shows up in Bethany, Alice begins to wonder whether his presence has anything to do with the death at the hunting club.

"As an early season snowstorm bears down on Bethany, knocking out power and phone lines and blocking the roads, Warren and his assistant, Trooper Pinky Goodrich, are trapped at the Ridge Club, likely along with a killer, and Alice, increasingly fearful that her past in the intelligence world is no longer in the past, will have to act fast to save Sylvie and her baby."

Opinion: Mystery was intriguing....side story did not need to be there-there is another way to get more of Alice and neighbors' stories-felt disjointed.

A New Lease on Death by Olivia Blacke

Started: 11/5/2025

Finished: 11/7/2025

Year: 2024

Pages: 322

Genre: paranormal mystery

Grade: C

Reason for reading: library book

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): Ruby Young's new Boston apartment comes with all the usual perks. Windows facing the brick wall of the next-door building. Heat that barely works. A malfunctioning buzzer. Noisy neighbors. A dead body on the sidewalk outside. And of course, a ghost.

"Since Cordelia Graves died in her apartment a few months ago, she's kept up her residency, despite being bored out of her (non-tangible) skull and frustrated by her new roommate. When her across-the-hall neighbor, Jake Macintyre, is shot and killed in an apparent mugging gone wrong outside their building, Cordelia is convinced there’s more to it and is determined to bring his killer to justice.

"Unfortunately, Cordelia, being dead herself, can't solve the mystery alone. She has to enlist the help of the obnoxiously perky, living tenant of her apartment. Ruby is twenty, annoying, and has never met a houseplant she couldn't kill. But she also can do everything Cordelia can't, from interviewing suspects to researching Jake on the library computers that go up in a puff of smoke if Cordelia gets too close. As the roommates form an unlikely friendship and get closer to the truth about Jake's death, they also start to uncover other dangerous secrets."

Opinion: Interesting concept. Decent murder mystery. Some things didn't apply but might in the next book.

Sudden Prey by John Sandford

Started: 11/1/2025

Finished: 11/5/2025

Year: 1996

Pages: 374

Genre: thriller/mystery

Grade: B+

Reason for reading: TBR pile, continuing with series.

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "The crime spree should have ended when Lucas Davenport killed the female bank robber during the shoot-out. But it’s just beginning, because the woman’s husband isn’t about to let Lucas—or anyone he loves—escape retribution."

Opinion: Revenge doesn't always go the way that you want. Good thriller, fast paced.

The City and Its Uncertain Walls by Haruki Murakami

Started: 11/1/2025

Finished: DNF

Year: 2024

Pages: 445

Genre: literature/fantasy

Grade: F

Reason for reading: library book

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "When a young man’s girlfriend mysteriously vanishes, he is heartbroken – and determined to find the imaginary town where he suspects she has taken up residence. Thus begins a lifelong search that takes the man into middle age, to a job in a remote library with mysteries of its own, and on a journey between the real world and this otherworld: a shadowless city where unicorns roam and willow trees grow."

Opinion: Not sure if it was a lost in translation or what but I could not follow or be interested in this couple or what happened to them.

Body of Evidence by Patricia Cornwell

Started: 10/28/2025

Finished: 10/31/2025

Year: 1991

Pages: 403

Genre: mystery

Grade: B

Reason for reading: library book, continuing the series

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "A reclusive author, Beryl Madison finds no safe haven from months of menacing phone calls—or the tormented feeling that her every move is being watched. When the writer is found slain in her own home, Kay Scarpetta pieces together the intricate forensic evidence—while unwittingly edging closer to a killer waiting in the shadows."

Opinion: Everything comes full circle...interesting mystery.

Dying Cry by Margaret Mizushima

Starting: 10/25/2025

Finished: 10/27/2025

Year: 2025

Pages: 277

Genre: mystery

Grade: A

Reason for reading: TBR, continuing with series

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "Newlyweds Mattie and Cole Walker are teaching Cole’s daughters how to snowshoe in a remote canyon when a shattering scream pierces the air. They know that somewhere ahead, someone has been injured or worse. Cole takes the girls while Mattie and Robo go deeper into the canyon to search for the source of the scream.

"From a distance, Mattie and Robo see a shadowy figure at the base of a cliff, but a rockslide buries the person under layers of stone and shale before they can provide help. Desperate to uncover the individual in case they’re still alive under the rock, their efforts are in vain. The victim is already dead. When they investigate the canyon rim from which the person fell, they discover evidence that indicates the fall was no accident. To make matters worse, the victim was one of Cole’s friends.

"The Timber Creek County investigative team springs into action, uncovering a trail of greed that leads to a killer who threatens Mattie’s cherished new family and tests her with the most difficult task she’s faced in her duty as a K-9 handler."

Opinion: Another great book in this series. Action starts immediately. Interesting twist. Can't wait to read the next one.

Seven Reasons to Murder Your Dinner Guests by KJ Whittle

Started: 10/21/2025

Finished: 10/24/2025

Year: 2025

Pages: 336

Genre: mystery

Grade: B

Reason for reading: library book

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "Seven strangers meet for an anonymously hosted dinner party. As the evening winds down, seven cards appear, one in front of each of the guests. On the card is a number – the age at which they will die. Thinking it an elaborate prank, the guests disperse into the night, hoping to forget the morbid evening forever.

"Two weeks later, one of them is dead at exactly the age the card predicted.

"It must be a coincidence. But as more guests die, each one dead at the same age as their card, it soon becomes clear that something much more sinister is afoot. Now, it's up to the quickly dwindling group to figure out who (or what) was behind that fateful dinner party, before their numbers catch up with them.

"Told from the perspectives of each of the seven guests, Seven Reasons to Murder Your Dinner Guests is a spellbinding and mysterious exploration of mortality, begging the question: how would you live your life if you knew your number was up?"

Opinion: Similar to Agatha Christie's "And Then There Were None" book. Twisted ending. Good mystery.

The Serial Killer Guide to San Francisco by Michelle Chouinard

Started: 10/18/2025

Finished: 10/21/2025

Year: 2024

Pages: 323

Genre: mystery

Grade: B-

Reason for reading: library book

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "Welcome to San Francisco, a city with killer charm.

"The chill of a San Francisco summer can be deadly. No one knows this better than Capri Sanzio, who makes her living giving serial killer tours of the city. Capri has been interested in the topic since she was a kid, when she discovered she’s the granddaughter of serial killer William ‘Overkill Bill’ Sanzio. She’s always believed in his innocence, though she's never taken the leap to fully dive into the case.

"But now an Overkill Bill copycat has struck in San Francisco. And Capri’s former mother-in-law, Sylvia, just cut off Capri’s daughter’s tuition payments. Needing cash, Capri wonders if this is the time to exonerate her grandfather. The case is back in the news and the police will be looking to understand the past to catch a present-day killer. Capri could finally uncover the truth about Overkill Bill―documenting the process with a podcast and a book―and hopefully earn some money.

"Before Capri can get very far, the cops discover the copycat’s latest victim: Sylvia. Capri soon finds herself at the heart of the police’s investigation for an entirely different reason. She and her daughter are prime suspects."

Opinion: Wasn't what I thought it was going to be about based on the title. Decent mystery and I had not fully predicted the killer. I will be reading the next in the series.

A Whiff of Death by Issac Asimov

Started: 10/17/2025

Finished: DNF

Year: 1958

Pages: 191

Genre: mystery

Grade: C

Reason for reading: TBR pile

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "Everyone knew that Ralph Neufeld was a careful young chemist, especially his professor, Lou Brade. That's why Ralph's accidental demise due to a confusion of chemicals struck Brade, as well as the police, as highly unlikely.

"Someone on campus had, somehow, switched bottles on poor Neufeld, and the result was as deadly as had been planned. The trouble was all the right suspects were in the wrong places when it happened...all the wrong suspects had the right motives...and the one person most qualified to solve the crime was already being considered the killer!"

Opinion: Predicted the killer and was confirmed. Didn't realize that he wrote mysteries along with his science fiction.

Tilt by Emma Pattee

Started: 10/17/2025

Finished: 10/17/2025

Year: 2025

Pages: 224

Genre: literature

Grade: C

Reason for reading: library book

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "Last night, you and I were safe. Last night, in another universe, your father and I stood fighting in the kitchen.

"Annie is nine months pregnant and shopping for a crib at IKEA when a massive earthquake hits Portland, Oregon. With no way to reach her husband, no phone or money, and a city left in chaos, there’s nothing to do but walk.

"Making her way across the wreckage of Portland, Annie experiences human desperation and kindness: strangers offering help, a riot at a grocery store, and an unlikely friendship with a young mother. As she walks, Annie reflects on her struggling marriage, her disappointing career, and her anxiety about having a baby. If she can just make it home, she’s determined to change her life."

Opinion: An interesting birth story. Considering that I live in the area where this book takes place, I could relate to it since we are all waiting for the Big One. Ending left something to be desired.

Key Lime Pie Murder by Joanne Fluke

Started: 10/15/2025

Finished: 10/17/2025

Year: 2007

Pages: 337

Genre: mystery

Grade: B-

Reason for reading: library book, continuing with series

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "While getting ready to judge the baking contest at the local town fair, Hannah Swensen stumbles upon the dead body of a fellow judge, along with a smashed key lime pie."

Opinion: Took too long to get to the murder. Predictable killer but setting of a county fair was decent and relatable.

Unleashed by David Rosenfelt

Started: 10/12/2025

Finished: 10/15/2025

Year: 2013

Pages: 308

Genre: mystery

Grade: B

Reason for reading: TBR pile, continuing with series

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "Andy Carpenter's accountant, Sam Willis, is stunned to receive a phone call out of the blue from Barry Price, a high school friend he hasn't spoken to in years, pleading for help with something too frightening to discuss on the phone. Barry needs Sam's financial acumen and lawyer Andy Carpenter's legal expertise―and he needs them immediately. But when Sam almost runs over an injured dog lying in the road on the way to Barry's house, he can't drive off without waiting for help to arrive. By the time Sam makes it, Barry's already taken off on a private airplane headed who-knows-where.

Assuming their help is no longer needed, Sam and Andy turn their full attention to helping the dog Sam found recover from his injuries. Then they learn that Barry's plane has crashed, and they come to the terrifying realization that Sam was also supposed to have been killed on that plane. Barry was in far more serious trouble than either of them knew, and for Sam and Andy, the trouble is only beginning."

Opinion: Getting caught up in an international/domestic terrorism...Decent mystery.

The Night Stalker by Philip Carlo

Started: 10/8/2025

Finished: DNF

Year: 1996

Pages: 421

Genre: True crime

Grade: C

Reason for reading: library book

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "Painstakingly researched over 3 years, based on nearly 100 hours of exclusive personal interviews with Ramirez on California's Death Row, The Night Stalker is the definitive account of America's most feared serial murderer, Richard Ramirez. You'll follow Ramirez on his odyssey into depravity and mind-numbing violence, from his earliest brushes with the law in El Paso, Texas to his deadliest stalking expeditions. You'll watch an unprecedented police manhunt gather force, driven by one implacable goal: to capture and bring to justice the monstrous Night Stalker. You'll triumph with the brave group of East Los Angeles civilians who, in a moment of unparalleled courage, finally brought his career of mayhem and murder to an end. And you'll be witness to one of the most sensational trials in California history, which resulted in no less than nineteen death sentences for Ramirez.

"A killer whose seductive, darkly brooding looks still draws women like moths to flame - from avowed Satanists who worship his perverted credo, to a legion of true crime groupies - including a juror who actually fell in love with the "Death Row Romeo" after helping to convict him - Richard Ramirez continues to fascinate and terrify to this day."

Opinion: I knew what had happened once he was arrested and that's when I stopped reading-I was more interested in why he became who he was-bad childhood/role models, etc. I had also recently watched a documentary about him and was also based partly on this book so I thought that I'd read it.

Bodies and Battlements by Elizabeth Penney

Started: 9/28/2025

Finished: 10/8/2025

Year: 2025

Pages: 277

Genre: mystery

Grade: B+

Reason for reading: library book

Type: paperback

Genre: "Herbalist Nora Asquith is delighted to welcome Ravensea Castle’s first guests to the picturesque village of Monkwell, Yorkshire. After a thousand years of ownership, her family has decided to convert the castle into a bed and breakfast. But when Hilda Dibble, a self-appointed local luminary, is found dead in the knot garden the next morning, Nora’s business is not only at risk―she’s a prime suspect.

"Hilda had opposed the hotel plan every step of the way, and although she didn’t succeed in stopping the venture, her disagreements with Nora seem to only further her motive. One of Ravensea’s guests happens to be Detective Inspector Finlay Cole, who is new to the area and now finds himself with a murder case in his lap.

"Nora and her actress sister Tamsyn decide to investigate for themselves. They look into the entangled dealings of their newly arrived guests, while also getting hints from Sir Percival, one of the castle ghosts. As they learn, Sir Percival’s tragic death centuries ago sheds light on present-day crimes. Surely they can get to the bottom of this mystery while keeping their new business afloat . . ."

Opinion: A decent murder mystery-first in a new series. 

Battle Royal by Lucy Parker

Started: 9/9/2025

Finished: 9/28/2025

Year: 2021

Pages: 396

Genre: romance

Grade: B+

Reason for reading: Goodreads.com giveaway

Type: ARC paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "Ready…

"Four years ago, Sylvie Fairchild charmed the world as a contestant on the hit baking show, Operation Cake. Her ingenious, creations captivated viewers and intrigued all but one of the judges, Dominic De Vere. When Sylvie's unicorn cake went spectacularly sideways, Dominic was quick to vote her off the show. Since then, Sylvie has used her fame to fulfill her dream of opening a bakery. The toast of Instagram, Sugar Fair has captured the attention of the Operation Cake producers…and a princess.

"Set…

"Dominic is His Majesty the King’s favorite baker and a veritable British institution. He’s brilliant, talented, hard-working. And an icy, starchy grouch. Learning that Sylvie will be joining him on the Operation Cake judging panel is enough to make the famously dour baker even more grim. Her fantastical baking is only slightly more troublesome than the fact that he can’t stop thinking about her pink-streaked hair and irrepressible dimple.

"Match…

"When Dominic and Sylvie learn they will be fighting for the once in a lifetime opportunity to bake a cake for the upcoming wedding of Princess Rose, the flour begins to fly as they fight to come out on top.

"The bride adores Sylvie’s quirky style. The palace wants Dominic’s classic perfection.

"In this royal battle, can there be room for two?"

Opinion: Predictable? Yes but done in a great way. A fun non smutty romance

The Dry by Jane Harper

Started: 9/2/2025

Finished: 9/16/2025

Year: 2016

Pages 326

Genre: mystery

Grade: B

Reason for reading: library book

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "After getting a note demanding his presence, Federal Agent Aaron Falk arrives in his hometown for the first time in decades to attend the funeral of his best friend, Luke. Twenty years ago when Falk was accused of murder, Luke was his alibi. Falk and his father fled under a cloud of suspicion, saved from prosecution only because of Luke’s steadfast claim that the boys had been together at the time of the crime. But now more than one person knows they didn’t tell the truth back then, and Luke is dead.

"Amid the worst drought in a century, Falk and the local detective question what really happened to Luke. As Falk reluctantly investigates to see if there’s more to Luke’s death than there seems to be, long-buried mysteries resurface, as do the lies that have haunted them. And Falk will find that small towns have always hidden big secrets."

Opinion: Good mystery-didn't figure out the killer. Decent back and forth between the past and present day.

Bone Rattle by Marc Cameron

Started: 8/29/2025

Finished: 9/2/2025

Year: 2021

Pages: 324

Genre: thriller/mystery

Grade: B-

Reason for reading: library book, continuing with series

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "In Juneau, a young Native archeologist is sent to protect the ancient burial sites uncovered by an Alaskan gold mining company. He never returns.

"In Anchorage, a female torso—minus head, hands, and feet—is washed ashore near a jogging trail by the airport. It is not the first.

"At Alaska’s Fugitive Task Force, Arliss Cutter and deputy Lola Teariki are pulled from their duties and sent to a federal court in Juneau. Instead of tracking dangerous fugitives, Cutter and Lola will be keeping track of sequestered jurors in a high-profile trial. The case involves a massive drug conspiracy with ties to a mining company, a lobbyist, and two state senators. When a prosecuting attorney is murdered—and a reporter viciously attacked—Cutter realizes they’re dealing with something much bigger, and darker, than a simple drug trial. The truth lies deep within the ancient sites and precious mines of this isolated land—and inside the cold hearts of those would kill to hide its secrets…

"What’s buried in Alaska stays in Alaska."

Opinion: Decent thriller getting through the mines of Juneau.

Unraveled Secrets by Jan Fields

Started: 8/27/2025

Finished: 8/29/2025

Year: 2015

Pages: 202

Genre: mystery

Grade: C

Reason for reading: TBR pile, finishing up the series

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "Emma Cotton and Kelly Grace, are still on the trail of who killed their best friend Rose. This book takes them to East Haddam, Connecticut and Newport, RI."

Opinion: An interesting ending-Emma and Kelly set off to CT and their mom and aunt head to RI in search of the last student. Overall the series was decent and a quick read.

James by Percival Everett

Started: 8/26/2025

Finished: 8/27/2025

Year: 2024

Pages: 303

Genre: Literature

Grade: B

Reason for reading: library book

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "When the enslaved Jim overhears that he is about to be sold to a man in New Orleans, separated from his wife and daughter forever, he decides to hide on nearby Jackson Island until he can formulate a plan. Meanwhile, Huck Finn has faked his own death to escape his violent father, recently returned to town. As all readers of American literature know, thus begins the dangerous and transcendent journey by raft down the Mississippi River toward the elusive and too-often-unreliable promise of the Free States and beyond.

"While many narrative set pieces of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn remain in place (floods and storms, stumbling across both unexpected death and unexpected treasure in the myriad stopping points along the river’s banks, encountering the scam artists posing as the Duke and Dauphin…), Jim’s agency, intelligence and compassion are shown in a radically new light."

Opinion: I read abridged illustrated versions of Finn and Sawyer when I was young so I don't remember much of Huck's story but I found this an interesting take of Twain's classic. I can see why it's been a popular read

Postmortem by Patricia Cornwell

Started: 8/22/2025

Finished: 8/26/2025

Year: 1990

Pages: 440

Genre: mystery

Grade: B

Reason for reading: library book, starting the series

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "A killer is stalking the streets of Richmond, Virginia. When the bodies begin to mount, Chief Medical Examiner Kay Scarpetta is pulled into a chilling investigation that blends high-stakes forensics with psychological warfare. Armed with cutting-edge science and unflinching resolve, Scarpetta must navigate hostile forces both inside and outside the investigation—because someone isn’t just trying to hide the truth. They’re trying to kill her."

Opinion: I have read this one a long time ago and several others out of order so I decided to start from 1 and go through the series in order. Decent introduction to Kay and her neice Lucy.

Sleep No More by Susan Crandall

Started: 8/18/2025

Finished: 8/21/2025

Year: 2010

Pages: 380

Genre: Romantic suspense

Grade: B

Reason for reading: TBR pile

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "The night was always Abby Whitman's enemy. As a young girl she walked in her sleep, and one night, she started a fire that scarred her sister for life and left Abby with unbearable guilt . . . and a loneliness that echoes within her. Now Abby has begun blacking out again--with apparently fatal results. A car accident has killed the son of a prominent family.

"Even though the evidence seems to exonerate her, Abby is plagued by doubts--and soon by mysterious threats. Psychiatrist Dr. Jason Coble is intrigued by Abby and offers to help her explore the dark recesses of her mind. Through this terrifying journey, Jason's interest turns to passion, and he yearns to give her the love she craves. But first, Abby must trust him--and shed light on secrets that will rock this Southern town and reveal a danger that threatens them both."

Opinion: Mystery was slightly predictable but the reasoning behind it was not. Romance was not over the top and was reasonable.

The River is Waiting by Wally Lamb

Started: 8/13/2025

Finished: 8/17/2025

Year: 2025

Pages: 461

Genre: literature

Grade: A

Reason for reading: library book

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "Corby Ledbetter is struggling. New fatherhood, the loss of his job, and a growing secret addiction have thrown his marriage to his beloved Emily into a tailspin. And that’s before he causes the tragedy that tears the family apart. Sentenced to prison, Corby struggles to survive life on the inside, where he bears witness to frightful acts of brutality but also experiences small acts of kindness and elemental kinship with a prison librarian who sees his light and some of his fellow offenders, including a tender-hearted cellmate and a troubled teen desperate for a role model. Buoyed by them and by his mother’s enduring faith in him, Corby begins to transcend the boundaries of his confinement, sustained by his hope that mercy and reconciliation might still be possible. Can his crimes ever be forgiven by those he loves?"

Opinion: TRIGGERS!!!! I am surprised that there are not trigger warnings for this book-it could trigger almost anyone that has gone through anything traumatic. With that said, this was a heartbreaking, emotional story with an interesting ending. I can see why Oprah choose this as part of her book club. I would recommend this to anyone who isn't sensitive to traumatic events.

A Margin for Murder by Lauren Elliott

Started: 8/9/2025

Finished: 8/13/2025

Year: 2022

Pages: 313

Genre: mystery

Grade: B-

Reason for reading: library book, continuing with series

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "Addie leaves her Greyborne Harbor bookstore, Beyond the Page Books and Curios, in the capable hands of her assistant while she travels to the neighboring town of Pen Hollow to attend a book sale at a library that is closing due to lack of funding. But the real find is a bookmobile bus, which she’s excited to refit as a traveling bookstore to hit all the summer festivals. The bookmobile also holds a surprising treasure: several classic first editions and an early edition of Robert Louis Stevenson’s A Child’s Garden of Verses.

"But before the bookmobile can be delivered to Addie, a fatal car crash occurs. When an autopsy reveals poison in the victim’s system and the first editions go missing, it’s up to Addie to determine what would drive someone to murder. If she’s not careful, however, she may be the next one to be dead on arrival . . ."

Opinion: Ending ended up being predictable but still a good twist.

Mind Prey by John Sandford

Started: 8/6/2025

Finished: 8/9/2025

Year: 1995

Pages: 323

Genre: mystery/thriller

Grade: B

Reason for reading: TBR pile, continuing with series

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "In the wake of the abduction of a woman and her two young daughters, deputy chief Lucas Davenport faces the most challenging case of his career, while the victim, psychiatrist Andi Manette, applies all her skills to outwit her captor."

Opinion: Decent kidnapping mystery mixed with gaming.

Murder on Sex Island by Jo Firestone

Started: 8/4/2025

Finished: 8/6/2025

Year: 2023

Pages: 209

Genre: mystery

Grade: B-

Reason for reading: library book

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "When a cast member goes missing from the hit reality show Sex Island, producers hire detective Luella van Horn to go undercover as a contestant and solve the case. What the producers don’t know is that the enigmatic Luella van Horn is actually a woman named Marie Jones, a divorced ex–social worker from Staten Island attempting to lead a double life as a private eye. The local press couldn’t get enough of Luella . . . until she horribly bungled her last case and a murderer went free.

"Unable to resist the opportunity to be a part of her favorite trashy TV show, travel to a remote island, and embark on a journey for redemption, Marie-as-Luella takes the case. But the more she learns about Sex Island’s dark underbelly, the harder it gets to make it out alive. She encounters shady producers, sleazy directors, contestants willing to do whatever it takes to win the $100,000 grand prize—and the dead body of the show’s missing fan-favorite in her bathtub.

"Will she find the killer? Will she find herself? Will she find . . . love?"

Opinion: Murder and Reality TV (Bachelor in Paradise, Love Island, etc). Decent mystery-certainly enough possibilities of whodunit.

A Dead Draw by Robert Dugoni

Started: 8/1/2025

Finished: 8/4/2025

Year: 2025

Pages: 377

Genre: mystery/thriller

Grade: A

Reason for reading: library book, continuing with series

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "Detective Tracy Crosswhite isn’t one to lose her cool. Until her interrogation of the taunting and malicious Erik Schmidt, a suspect in two cold case killings. Schmidt also has unnerving ties to the monster who murdered Tracy’s sister, stirring memories of the crime that shaped Tracy’s life. After a critical mistake during a shooting exercise, Tracy breaks.

"Haunted by nightmares and flashbacks, Tracy heads to her hometown of Cedar Grove to refocus. Just a peaceful getaway with her husband, her daughter, and their nanny at their weekend house. But Tracy’s sleepless nights are only beginning. A legal glitch has allowed Schmidt to go free. And Tracy has every reason to fear that he’s followed her.

"Forced into a twisted game of cat and mouse, Tracy must draw on all her training, wits, and strength to defeat a master criminal before he takes away everyone Tracy loves."

Opinion: Great thrilling parts that worked well with Tracy's character and her history. Well worth waiting for...now to wait for the next one.

The Murder Room by Michael Capuzzo

Started: 7/29/2025

Finished: 8/1/2025

Year: 2010

Pages: 426

Genre: true crime

Grade: C

Reason for reading: TBR pile

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "Three of the greatest detectives in the world were heartsick over the growing tide of unsolved murders. Good friends and sometime rivals William Fleisher, Frank Bender, and Richard Walter decided one day over lunch that something had to be done, and pledged themselves to a grand quest for justice.

"The Murder Room draws the reader into a chilling, darkly humorous, awe-inspiring world as the three partners travel far from their Victorian dining room to hunt ruthless killers, among them the grisly murderer of a millionaire's son, a serial killer who carves off faces, and a child killer enjoying fifty years of freedom and dark fantasy."

Opinion: Unorganized writing-format needed a lot more editing-have a case from start to end. A good idea to highlight these detectives and their cases but something more was needed.

A General History of Pyrates by Daniel Defoe, edited by Manuel Schonhorn

Started: 7/28/2025

Finished: DNF

Year: 1972 this edition

Pages: 660

Genre: history, pirates

Grade: C

Reason for reading: library book

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "Embark on a thrilling journey through the swashbuckling world of pirates with "A General History of the Pyrates." This captivating book takes you deep into the heart of the Golden Age of Piracy, where legendary figures like Blackbeard, Captain Kidd, and Anne Bonny ruled the high seas.

"Discover the daring exploits, epic battles, and larger-than-life personalities of history's most notorious pirates. From the treacherous waters of the Caribbean to the remote islands of the Indian Ocean, this meticulously researched account paints a vivid picture of piracy's heyday, exploring the social, economic, and political forces that fueled this thrilling era.

"Featuring gripping tales of adventure, betrayal, and romance, "A General History of the Pyrates" is a must-read for anyone fascinated by the allure of piracy and the mysteries of the sea. Whether you're a seasoned historian or an armchair adventurer, this timeless classic will transport you to a world where danger lurks around every corner and the call of adventure beckons on the horizon."

Opinion: Josh Gates mentioned this book on a recent episode of one of his television shows so I thought I'd check it out. Lots of interesting stories about lots of pirates. Great research. I only read a couple of entries. Some of it is hard to read since it was originally written in the 1700s.

Cherry Cheesecake Murder by Joanne Fluke

Started: 7/25/2025

Finished: 7/28/2025

Year: 2006

Pages: 339

Genre: mystery

Grade: C

Reason for reading: library book, continuing with series

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "When Main Street in Lake Eden becomes a movie set, a clever killer rewrites the script and bakery owner Hannah Swenson, while trying to decide which marriage proposal to accept, must sift through a cast of suspects before the film wraps with an even deadlier ending."

Opinion: Sigh....body wasn't done until page 200. Way too much "development" of outside Lake Eden characters. 

Leader of the Pack by David Rosenfelt

Started: 7/22/2025

Finished: 7/25/2025

Year: 2012

Pages: 360

Genre: mystery

Grade: B

Reason for reading: TBR, continuing with series

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "Over the course of his legal career, Andy Carpenter has lost a few cases. But that doesn't mean he forgets his clients. Andy has always been convinced that Joey Desimone, a man convicted of murder nine years ago, was innocent and believes that Joey's family's connections to organized crime played a pivotal role in his conviction. While there isn't much Andy can do for him while he serves out his prison sentence, Joey suggests that he check up on Joey's elderly uncle. He'd rather not, but as a favor to Joey, Andy agrees to take his dog, Tara, on a few visits.

"The old man's memory is going, but when Andy tries to explain why he's there, it jogs something in the man's mind, and his comments leave Andy wondering if Uncle Nick is confused, or if he just might hold the key to Joey's freedom after all this time.

"Andy grabs on to this thread of possibility and follows it into a world where the oath of silence is stronger than blood ties, and where people will do anything to make sure their secrets are kept."

Opinion: Decent mystery, sad ending..more Mafia/Mob stuff