Midnight on Beacon Street by Emily Ruth Verona

Started: 7/30/2024

Finished: 7/31/2024

Year: 2024

Pages: 192

Genre: thriller

Grade: C

Reason for reading: library book

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "October 1993. One night. One house. One dead body.

"When single mom Eleanor Mazinski goes out a for a much-needed date night, she leaves her two young children—sweet, innocent six-year-old Ben and precocious, defiant twelve-year-old Mira—in the capable hands of their sitter, Amy. The quiet seventeen-year-old is good at looking after children, despite her anxiety disorder. She also loves movies, especially horror flicks. Amy likes their predictability; it calms the panic that threatens to overwhelm her.

"The evening starts out normally enough, with games, pizza, and dancing. But as darkness falls, events in this quaint suburban New Jersey house take a terrifying turn—unexpected visitors at the door, mysterious phone calls, and by midnight, little Ben is in the kitchen standing in a pool of blood, with a dead body at his feet."

Opinion: Not cohesive. Not scary. 

Bones to Ashes by Kathy Reichs

Started: 7/29/2024

Finished: 7/30/2024

Year: 2007

Pages: 310

Genre: mystery

Grade: B

Reason for reading: continuing with series, library book

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "Temperance Brennan is a brilliant, sexy forensic anthropologist called on to solve the toughest cases. But for Tempe, the discovery of a young girl's skeleton in Acadia, Canada, is more than just another assignment. Evangeline, Tempe's childhood best friend, was also from Acadia. Named for the character in the Longfellow poem, Evangeline was the most exotic person in Tempe's eight-year-old world. When Evangeline disappeared, Tempe was warned not to search for her, that the girl was "dangerous."

"Thirty years later, flooded with memories, Tempe cannot help wondering if this skeleton could be the friend she lost so many years ago. And what is the meaning of the strange skeletal lesions found on the bones of the young girl?

"Meanwhile, Tempe's beau, Ryan, investigates a series of cold cases. Three girls dead. Four missing. Could the New Brunswick skeleton be part of the pattern? As Tempe draws on the latest advances in forensic anthropology to penetrate the past, Ryan hunts down a serial predator."

Opinion: Decent mystery. More hiccups romantically.

Eight Perfect Hours by Lia Louis

Started: 7/25/2024

Finished: 7/28/2024

Year: 2021

Pages: 323

Genre: romance

Grade: B-

Reason for reading: goodreads.com giveaway

Type: ARC

Blurb (from Amazon): "On a snowy evening in March, thirty-something Noelle Butterby is on her way back from an event at her old college when disaster strikes. With a blizzard closing off roads, she finds herself stranded, alone in her car, without food, drink, or a working charger for her phone.

"All seems lost until Sam Attwood, a handsome American stranger also trapped in a nearby car, knocks on her window and offers assistance. What follows is eight perfect hours together, until morning arrives and the roads finally clear. The two strangers part, positive they’ll never see each other again but fate, it seems, has a different plan. As the two keep serendipitously bumping into one another, they begin to realize that perhaps there truly is no such thing as coincidence."

Opinion: A predictable romance but worth the read.

Murder on Memory Lake by J. D. Griffo

Started: 7/24/2024

Finished: DNF

Year: 2018

Pages: 318

Genre: cozy mystery

Grade: F

Reason for reading: library book

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "Alberta Scaglione's spinster aunt had some secrets--like the fortune she squirreled away and a secret lake house in Tranquility, New Jersey. More surprising: she's left it all to Alberta. Alberta, a widow, is no spring chicken and she's gotten used to disappointment. So having a beautiful view, surrounded by hydrangeas, honeysuckle, and her cat, Lola, sounds blissful after years of yelling and bickering and cooking countless lasagnas.

"But Tranquility isn't as peaceful as it sounds. There's a body in the water--and it belongs to Alberta's childhood nemesis. Alberta suspects foul play and when Alberta's estranged granddaughter, an aspiring crime reporter, shows up, it only makes sense for them to team up and investigate . . ."

Opinion: The characters are unlikeable, unrelatable, just overall frustrating to read about. Took too long to even figure out motive for murder.

What She Found by Robert Dugoni

Started: 7/22/2024

Finished: 7/24/2024

Year: 2022

Pages: 344

Genre: mystery

Grade: B

Reason for reading: continuing with the series, library book

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "Detective Tracy Crosswhite has agreed to look into the disappearance of investigative reporter Lisa Childress. Solving the cold case is an obsession for Lisa’s daughter, Anita. So is clearing the name of her father, a prime suspect who became a pariah. After twenty-five years, all Anita wants is the truth — no matter where it leads."

Opinion: One of the better books in the series.

On Fire Edited by Rachel Kramer Bussel

Started: 7/22/2024

Finished: 7/22/2024

Year: 2017

Pages: 198

Genre: erotica

Grade: C

Reason for reading: bookcrossing.com book

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "In On Fire, today's top erotic romance authors don't skimp on love or lust--they are entwined in tales that will make pulses pound and hearts race. Bestselling editor Rachel Kramer Bussel takes us inside the passions of couples who go above and beyond in their pursuit of sexual and romantic satisfaction, exploring the racy to the outrageous during their many arousing adventures. You'll treasure the sex toy exploration in "Every Second of It," find paranormal pleasure in "Masquerade," and be transported to "A Place As Beautiful As This." You'll go "Beyond the Blindfold," find out what lurks in the "Art of Darkness," and delight in discovering "The Sweetest Thing." These steamy stories by Kristina Wright, Delilah Devlin, Giselle Renarde, Kay Jaybee, Victoria Blisse, Jade A. Waters and others are perfect intimate reads to enjoy with your lover or for your own pleasure."

Opinion: As with all collections, some stories are better than others.

The Dead Guy Next Door by Lucy Score

Started: 5/6/2024

Finished: 7/22/2024

Year: 2020

Pages: 460

Genre: romantic suspense

Grade: B

Reason for reading: library book

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "Divorced. Broke. Living with a pack of elderly roommates. And those hallucinations she's diligently ignoring? Her tarot card-dealing mom is convinced they're clairvoyant visions.

"Just when things can't get worse, a so-hot-it-should-be-illegal private investigator shows up on her doorstep looking for one of her neighbors…who turns up murdered.

"Nick Santiago doesn't play well with others. Unless the "others" are of the female persuasion. Wink. He's a rebel, a black sheep, a man who prefers a buffet of options to being stuck with the same entrée every night, if you catch his drift.

"When the pretty, possibly psychic Riley lands at the top of the list of suspects, Nick volunteers to find out whodunit. Only because he likes solving mysteries not because he wants to flex his heroic muscles for the damsel in distress.

"All they have to do is figure out who pulled the trigger, keep a by-the-book detective with a grudge at bay, and deal with a stranger claiming he was sent to help Riley hone her psychic gifts. All before the killer discovers she's a loose end that requires snipping."

Opinion: A decent introduction to Riley and her fake fiancee Nick. Decent mystery. Lots of suspenseful action.

Murder of the Cat's Meow by Denise Swanson

Started: 7/18/2024

Finished: 7/19/2024

Year: 2012

Pages: 250

Genre: mystery

Grade: B

Reason for reading: library book, continuing with the series

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "When ex–Vegas showgirl and local business owner Bunny Reid starts an online dating service called Cupid’s Cat’s Meow, out-of-town visitors flock to her bowling alley for the speed dating and cat show events that she hosts to bring in extra cash. Bunny’s scheme sounds harmless enough, but school psychologist Skye Denison knows all too well that an influx of strangers in Scumble River always spells trouble….

Meanwhile, Skye is convinced that her house is haunted and is afraid her fiancé, police chief Wally Boyd, won’t move in until the ghost moves out. But ghost-hunting takes a back seat when Skye is called to the bowling alley, where a riled up contestant is choking a cat show judge for insulting his feline. Skye breaks up the scuffle, but the next morning the judge’s dead body is found, strangled with a cat toy. Now Skye must solve this purrplexing mystery—and show a devious killer that her sleuthing skills are the cat’s meow."

Opinion: Decent mystery. 

The Chatham School Affair by Thomas H. Cook

Started: 7/15/2024

Finished: 7/18/2024

Year: 1996

Pages: 303

Genre: psychological fiction

Grade: B

Reason for reading: TBR pile, reread

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "Attorney Henry Griswald has a secret: the truth behind the tragic events the world knew as the Chatham School Affair, the controversial tragedy that destroyed five lives, shattered a quiet community, and forever scarred the young boy."

Opinion: I think that I read this when it came out years ago and enjoyed it but it had been so long that I didn't remember details. It is still an enjoyable read.

All Your Perfects by Colleen Hoover

Started: 7/14/2024

Finished: 7/15/2024

Year: 2018

Pages: 305

Genre: romance

Grade: B+

Reason for reading: library book

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "Quinn and Graham’s perfect love is threatened by their imperfect marriage. The memories, mistakes, and secrets over the years are now tearing them apart. And the one thing that could save them might also be the very thing that pushes their marriage beyond the point of repair."

Opinion: People lose themselves, especially when they can't have what they've dreamed of, and sometimes it just takes a reminder

Break No Bones by Kathy Reichs

Started: 7/9/2024

Finished: 7/14/2024

Year: 2006

Pages: 439

Genre: mystery

Grade: B

Reason for reading: library book, continuing with the series

Type: mass market paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "Summoned to South Carolina to fill in for a negligent colleague, Tempe is stuck teaching a lackluster archaeology field school in the ruins of a Native American burial ground on the Charleston shore. But when Tempe stumbles upon a fresh skeleton among the ancient bones, her old friend Emma Rousseau, the local coroner, persuades her to stay on and help with the investigation. When Emma reveals a disturbing secret, it becomes more important than ever for Tempe to help her friend close the case.

"The body count begins to climb. An unidentified man is found hanging from a tree deep in the woods. Another corpse shows up in a barrel. There are mysterious nicks on bones in several bodies, and signs of strangulation. Tempe follows the trail to a free street clinic with a belligerent staff, a suspicious doctor, and a donor who is a charismatic televangelist. Clues abound in the most unlikely places as Tempe uses her unique knowledge and skills to build her case, even as the local sheriff remains dubious and her own life is threatened.

"Tempe’s love life is also complicated. Ryan, her current flame, has come down to visit her from Montreal, and Pete, her former husband, is investigating the disappearance of a local woman—and he and Tempe are staying in the same borrowed beach house. Ryan and Pete compete for her attentions, and Tempe finds herself more distracted by her feelings for both men than she expected."

Opinion: The last little twist wasn't needed. Decent mystery.

Redeeming Justice by Jarrett Adams

Started: 7/7/2024

Finished: 7/8/2024

Year: 2021

Pages: 287

Genre: biography

Grade: B+

Reason for reading: goodreads.com giveaway

Type: ARC

Blurb (from Amazon): "Seventeen years old and facing nearly thirty years behind bars, Jarrett Adams sought to figure out the why behind his fate. Sustained by his mother and aunts who brought him back from the edge of despair through letters of prayer and encouragement, Adams became obsessed with our legal system in all its damaged glory. After studying how his constitutional rights to effective counsel had been violated, he solicited the help of the Wisconsin Innocence Project, an organization that exonerates the wrongfully convicted, and won his release after nearly ten years in prison.

"But the journey was far from over. Adams took the lessons he learned through his incarceration and worked his way through law school with the goal of helping those who, like himself, had faced our legal system at its worst. After earning his law degree, he worked with the New York Innocence Project, becoming the first exoneree ever hired by the nonprofit as a lawyer. In his first case with the Innocence Project, he argued before the same court that had convicted him a decade earlier—and won."

Opinion: If his story doesn't make you angry, then you have no compassion for your fellow human.

The Only Survivors by Megan Miranda

Started: 7/4/2024

Finished: 7/7/2024

Year: 2023

Pages: 335

Genre: mystery

Grade: C

Reason for reading: library book

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "A decade ago, two vans filled with high school seniors on a school service trip crashed into a Tennessee ravine—a tragedy that claimed the lives of multiple classmates and teachers. The nine students who managed to escape the river that night were irrevocably changed. A year later, after one of the survivors dies by suicide on the anniversary of the crash, the rest of them make a pact: to come together each year to commemorate that terrible night.

"To keep one another safe.

"To hold one another accountable.

"Or both.

"Their annual meeting place, a house on the Outer Banks, has long been a refuge. But by the tenth anniversary, Cassidy Bent has worked to distance herself from the tragedy and from the other survivors. She’s changed her mobile number. She’s blocked the others’ email addresses. This year, she is determined to finally break ties once and for all. But on the day of the reunion, she receives a text with an obituary attached: another survivor is gone. Now they are seven—and Cassidy finds herself hurling back toward the group, wild with grief—and suspicion.

"Almost immediately, something feels off this year. Cassidy is the first to notice when Amaya, the annual organizer, slips away, overwhelmed. This wouldn’t raise alarm except for the impending storm. Suddenly, they’re facing the threat of closed roads and surging waters…again. Then Amaya stops responding to her phone. After all they’ve been through, she wouldn’t willfully make them worry. Would she?

"And—as they promised long ago—each survivor will do whatever he or she can do to save one another. Won’t they?"

Opinion: Didn't like the way that this was written. Just an average story of a plot that has been done before.

In Her Tracks by Robert Dugoni

Started: 7/2/2024

Finished: 7/4/2024

Year: 2021

Pages: 363

Genre: mystery

Grade: B

Reason for reading: library book, continuing with the series

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "Returning from an extended leave in her hometown of Cedar Grove, Detective Tracy Crosswhite finds herself reassigned to the Seattle PD’s cold case unit. As the protective mother of an infant daughter, Tracy is immediately drawn to her first file: the abduction of a five-year-old girl whose parents, embattled in a poisonous divorce, were once prime suspects.

"While reconstructing the days leading up to the girl’s disappearance, Tracy is brought into an active investigation with former partner Kinsington Rowe. A young woman has vanished on an isolated jogging trail in North Seattle. Divided between two critical cases, Tracy has little to go on except the treacherous deceptions behind a broken marriage―and now, the secrets hiding behind the closed doors of a deceptively quiet middle-class neighborhood.

"To find two missing persons, Tracy will have to follow more than clues, which are both long cold and unsettlingly fresh. Given her own traumatic past, Tracy must also follow her instincts―to whatever dark and dangerous places they may lead."

Opinion: Wasn't crazy about the two different cases-one felt like it was fell by the waistside throughout most of the novel.

S is for Silence by Sue Grafton

Started: 6/26/2024

Finished: 7/2/2024

Year: 2005

Pages: 434

Genre: mystery

Grade: B-

Reason for reading: continuing with the series, bookcrossing book

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "Cases don't get much colder than that of Violet Sullivan, who disappeared from her rural California town in 1953, leaving behind an abusive husband and a seven-year-old named Daisy. But PI Kinsey Millhone has promised the now adult Daisy she'll try her best to locate Violet, dead or alive. All signs point to a runaway wife—the clothes that disappeared; the secret stash of money Violet bragged about; the brazen flirtations she indulged in with local men, including some married ones.

"Kinsey tries to pick up a trail by speaking to those who remember Violet—and perhaps were more involved in her life than they let on. But the trail could lead her somewhere very dangerous. Because the case may have gone cold, but some people's feelings about Violet Sullivan still run as hot as ever..."

Opinion: This is written in a different format-going back and forth from 1953 and present day. Interesting mystery.