Salvation in Death by J.D. Robb

Salvation in Death by J.D. Robb - 373 pages

Detective Eve Dallas has a new murder case to solve.  A Catholic priest was murdered during a funeral service while taking communion.  The investigation takes many twists as turns as identities are questions and ties are found to a bombing from twenty years ago.

I enjoyed this volume in the Eve Dallas series by J.D. Robb (aka Nora Roberts).  The twists and turns were interesting.  I also found the various characters' views on religion interesting.

Pandora's Boy by Lindsey Davis

Pandora's Boy: A Flavia Albia Novel by Lindsey Davis --- 307 pages including maps, List of Characters, and Author's Afternote

Book Six in the series of historical mysteries featuring Flavia Albia, who has taken over her father’s business as an informer (private detective) in First Century CE Rome.  Albia reluctantly agrees to look into the sudden demise of a privileged young girl after a night out with the brat pack of  her so-called friends.

Clodia's death has devastated her family. Her parents are divorcing, her grandmothers are making accusations against each other. Yet her friends  are indifferent, even callous. Meanwhile, there are rumors among the family's acquaintances and neighbors that the willful Clodia, pining for a young man who did not return her regard, had obtained a love potion from a local herbalist and witch, and that drinking this potion had caused her death. 

But Albia reasons that a love potion --- if there is one --- would have been intended for the young man, not for Clodia's own consumption. She becomes even more dubious when she learns that the object of Clodia's desire was in fact the much indulged grandson of the witch, Pandora --- and the heir to the boss of one of Rome's most powerful criminal gangs. Her investigation reveals the Rome of CE 89 to be a city sinking in a toxic stew of public corruption, private vice and gang violence, the poor desperate to survive, the privileged reeking with entitlement. 

The clear-eyed and skeptical Albia is equal to the task of sifting the sorry truth from this mass of human dross --- though sadly, not without other deaths along the say.

Another entertaining adventure embedded in a well-researched and accurate portrait of First Century Rome in the reign of Domitian. I have been a fan of Davis since my first encounter with Albia's father Falco in The Silver Pigs (1989).

Click HERE to read the review from Publishers Weekly.

Click HERE to read  the review from Kirkus Reviews.

Click HERE to read the review from the Bookbag (UK).

Click HERE to read the review from the Crime Reader (UK).

The Sin Eater's Daughter

The Sin Eater's Daughter
 by Melinda Salisbury
 570 pages

A startling, seductive, deliciously dark debut that will shatter your definition of YA fantasy. (Yep, completely shattered it. My hope in YA Fiction came to a screeching halt and died with this book.)

 Sixteen-year-old Twylla lives in the castle. But although she's engaged to the prince, no one speaks to her. No one even looks at her. Because Twylla isn't a member of the court. She's the executioner.As the goddess-embodied, Twylla kills with a single touch. (Sounds cool, awesome, totally kick butt! I wish it had been.)

 So each week, she's taken to the prison and forced to lay her hands on those accused of treason. No one will ever love her. Who could care for a girl with murder in her veins? Even the prince, whose royal blood supposedly makes him immune to her touch, avoids her.But then a new guard arrives, a boy whose playful smile belies his deadly swordsmanship. And unlike the others, he's able to look past Twylla's executioner robes and see the girl, not the goddess. Yet a treasonous romance is the least of Twylla's problems. The queen has a plan to destroy her enemies-a plan that requires an unthinkable sacrifice. Will Twylla do what it takes to protect her kingdom? Or will she abandon her duty in favor of a doomed love? (After the first couple of chapters all this girl does is mope, pray, and let herself be used by all the people around her and her family that she hasn't seen in years. Honestly this was one of the more disappointing teen fiction books I've read this year. Why can't we have more strong, female protagonists like we had 20 or even just 10 years ago?)

Assassination Classroom, v. 8 by Yusei Matsui

Assassination Classroom, v. 8 by Yusei Matsui - 192 pages

In the volume, the students devise a plan of attack against the mastermind of the poison.  They must defeat three deadly assassins and an old foe to save their classmates.

Great volume.  Several characters advanced in development.  It was also very interesting to see the different morals of the assassins.

Assassination Classroom, v. 7 by Yusei Matsui

Assassination Classroom, v. 7 by Yusei Matsui - 192 pages

Exams are over and Class E is rewarded for doing well.  They go on a school sponsored summer vacation where they plan on assassinating Koro Sensei.

This was another great volume in the story.  The class' assassination skills are rapidly growing.  It is interesting to see how Koro Sensei evades such an elaborate assassination attack.

Mystique by Amanda Quick

Mystique by Amanda Quick - 359 pages

The legendary knight Hugh the Relentless has been searching for a green crystal stolen from him.  He's tracked it down to Lingwood Manor.  There, Lady Alice has a proposition for him.  Even though the crystal has been stolen from her, she will help him find the crystal if he will agree to a "betrothal" so she and her brother can leave her uncle's house.
This is a historical romance from Amanda Quick - pseudonym for Jayne Ann Krentz.  While most of her historicals are set in the 1700s or 1800s - this one is set right after the crusades.  Unfortunately, other than a few mentions of the crusades and the fact that Hugh is knight there is no real feel for the time period.  It reads just like all of her other historicals.  Still, it was an interesting story and I enjoyed reading the book.

Godchild by Kaori Yuki

Godchild, v.1 by Kaori Yuki - 208 pages
Godchild, v.2 by Kaori Yuki - 208 pages

Lord Cain became the head of the Hargreaves family upon his father's death.  But is his father really dead?  Why does death follow Lord Cain around?  And how are the two questions connected?
This series is a sequel to the Cain series which focuses on Cain's father.  I'm thinking that there might be a lot of back story in that series that would help to make this one make more sense.  It seems that this series focuses on various murders that Cain happens upon and that he then solves.  A lot of the murders are based upon nursery rhymes and classic books.  Some of the mysteries are better done than others.

Catering to Nobody by Diane Mott Davidson

Catering to Nobody by Diane Mott Davidson, 301 pages

The first book in her "Goldy" series, Davidson begins the story of Goldy and her catering business. These stories are clean mysteries, with some romance and mentions of sex, but does NOT give intimate details.

In this opener, Goldy caters a funeral for a local teacher and ends up having her business shut down when someone is poisoned halfway through the event.  Even more bad news for Goldy is that the poisoning victim is her former father-in-law and her ex-husband is pointing fingers at her.

Fun story with lots of plot twists - and a few recipes thrown in for good measure!

Poison Pages by Michael Dahl

Poison Pages by Michael Dahl - 40 pages
Library of Doom series

A girl finds a strange book on the bus and suddenly she is inside the book.  The Librarian rushes to her assistance to help her escape but they must be extremely careful.  The letters are poison and cause you to be stuck in the book forever.
I thought this book was absolutely horrible.  I believe it is supposed to be an easy reader but I don't know who for.  The writing is bad.  The sentences are choppy.  The story development is not there.  I would definitely never recommend this book.

Seduce Me at Sunrise by Lisa Kleypas

Seduce Me at Sunrise by Lisa Kleypas - 376 pages

Win Hathaway has been in France for two years recovering from Scarlet Fever and regaining her strength.  She's finally returned back home to England and hopefully to the man she loves Merripan.  However, Merripan doesn't seem to want her even though they both know he is in love with her and has been for nearly 15 years.  It's not until he faces the truth that she'll marry someone else to be able to have the family she desires that he finally acknowledges that love and acts upon it.
This is the second book in Kleypas' Hathaway series.  I had trouble getting into the story.  It wasn't until nearly halfway through the book that I actually cared about whether they got together or not.  Definitely not the best book in the series.

Tainted Legacy: the story of alleged serial killer Bertha Gifford by S. Kay Murphy

Tainted Legacy: the story of alleged serial killer Bertha Gifford by S. Kay Murphy - 164 pages

A post on the library's Facebook page highlighting the case alerted me to the is true crime book that happened in our very own backyard.  The author's great grandmother was convicted of murder in 1928 and suspected in the deaths of up to eighteen people.  Smith's journey to uncover the truth about her family's past is a fascinating glimpse into life in rural Missouri in the early 20th century and an intriguing examination of how your perception of the past can influence your life in the present. I highly recommend this book to true crime fans and those interested in Jefferson / Franklin county history.

The Poison Diaries - Maryrose Wood

The Poison Diaries by Maryrose Wood - 278 pages

Even the most innocent looking plants can kill, and no one knows that better than Jessamine Luxton. Jessamine has lived all her sixteen years in an isolated cottage near Alnwick Castle with her father, Thomas, a feared and respected apothecary, who has taught her much about the incredible powers of plants. Still, Thomas forbids her from entering the locked garden that is his pride and obsession - a poison garden, which contains exotic and local specimens of the most dangerous plants in the world. But Jessamine's life changes forever the day a traveler brings an orphan to their cottage, claiming that the young man has special gifts that Thomas might value, Jessamine is intrigued by the stranger, who goes by the name of Weed. His sensitivity to growing things is extraordinary, and he seems to have even more rare and specialized knowledge about plants than Thomas does. As Jessamine begins to fall in love with Weed, she learns his extraordinary secret - and is drawn into the dangerous world of the poison garden in a way she never could have imagined...