Books 25-32 for 2014
25. Grave Witch by Kalayna Price. 256 pages.
Alex Craft is a witch who can speak to the dead - and more to the point, get answers. She uses her abilities to earn a living and to help the police catch murderers, but her latest case lands her in a huge heap of trouble.....
This was a bit like a cross between the original idea of the Anita Blake series and the Dresden Files and I enjoyed it very much.
Having finished it, I've just been online and bought the sequel, which is probably the accolade the author will like best ;)
26. Arabella by Georgette Heyer. 239 pages.
Not one of Heyer's best efforts I felt - a little too much of an air of Pride and Prejudice around the beginning for comfort and the main male character was so smug at times that I wanted to slap him with a fish.
Still a decent read though.
27. Grave Dance by Kalayna Price. 259 pages.
Second in the Alex Craft series. Alex gets involved in another perilous case. learns more about her family and heritage and has bizarre relationship issues.
I shall be hunting out book 3 very soon.
28. The Surgeon by Tess Gerritsen. 421 pages.
This is billed as the first book in the Rizzoli & Isles series, but only Rizzoli appears in it and she's not truly the main character either. Nor is she particularly endearing in this book - she's bitter and angry all the time. It's clear that she has every right to be, but the book doesn't give her scope to be anything else, so while I could sympathise with her, I couldn't really like her much.
The focus is much more on Rizzoli's colleague, Thomas Moore and Dr Catherine Cordell, who managed to kill the serial killer who'd taken her captive, but now seems to be being stalked by a copycat....
29. We'll Always Have Parrots by Donna Andrews. 236 pages.
Another book in the Meg Langslow mystery series. This time Meg and boyfriend Michael are at a convention for the tv show in which Michael appears.
Another fun outing in this series.
30. Enter A Murderer by Ngaio Marsh. 163 pages.
2nd of the Inspector Alleyn mysteries. I liked this one better than the first as Alleyn was more of an actual character this time. Still a bit remote and the author went to annoying lengths to conceal information from the reader, but if the books continue to improve at this rate I shall carry on reading for at least a few more of them.
31. Wish for a Pony by Monica Edwards. 157 pages
First in a series I read some of as a girl - nowadays it seems much less feasible, but interesting if only for the picture of life in a seaside vicarage at the time it was written.
I’ll try to hunt up more of these but they’re not easy to find at a non-eye-watering price.
32. Magic Study by Maria V. Snyder. 315 pages.
Third part of Yelena’s story. I didn’t like this one quite as much as the first two parts, because some of the characters were becoming annoying in persisting with illogical attitudes, but it was still enjoyable and a decent conclusion to the trilogy.
Alex Craft is a witch who can speak to the dead - and more to the point, get answers. She uses her abilities to earn a living and to help the police catch murderers, but her latest case lands her in a huge heap of trouble.....
This was a bit like a cross between the original idea of the Anita Blake series and the Dresden Files and I enjoyed it very much.
Having finished it, I've just been online and bought the sequel, which is probably the accolade the author will like best ;)
26. Arabella by Georgette Heyer. 239 pages.
Not one of Heyer's best efforts I felt - a little too much of an air of Pride and Prejudice around the beginning for comfort and the main male character was so smug at times that I wanted to slap him with a fish.
Still a decent read though.
27. Grave Dance by Kalayna Price. 259 pages.
Second in the Alex Craft series. Alex gets involved in another perilous case. learns more about her family and heritage and has bizarre relationship issues.
I shall be hunting out book 3 very soon.
28. The Surgeon by Tess Gerritsen. 421 pages.
This is billed as the first book in the Rizzoli & Isles series, but only Rizzoli appears in it and she's not truly the main character either. Nor is she particularly endearing in this book - she's bitter and angry all the time. It's clear that she has every right to be, but the book doesn't give her scope to be anything else, so while I could sympathise with her, I couldn't really like her much.
The focus is much more on Rizzoli's colleague, Thomas Moore and Dr Catherine Cordell, who managed to kill the serial killer who'd taken her captive, but now seems to be being stalked by a copycat....
29. We'll Always Have Parrots by Donna Andrews. 236 pages.
Another book in the Meg Langslow mystery series. This time Meg and boyfriend Michael are at a convention for the tv show in which Michael appears.
Another fun outing in this series.
30. Enter A Murderer by Ngaio Marsh. 163 pages.
2nd of the Inspector Alleyn mysteries. I liked this one better than the first as Alleyn was more of an actual character this time. Still a bit remote and the author went to annoying lengths to conceal information from the reader, but if the books continue to improve at this rate I shall carry on reading for at least a few more of them.
31. Wish for a Pony by Monica Edwards. 157 pages
First in a series I read some of as a girl - nowadays it seems much less feasible, but interesting if only for the picture of life in a seaside vicarage at the time it was written.
I’ll try to hunt up more of these but they’re not easy to find at a non-eye-watering price.
32. Magic Study by Maria V. Snyder. 315 pages.
Third part of Yelena’s story. I didn’t like this one quite as much as the first two parts, because some of the characters were becoming annoying in persisting with illogical attitudes, but it was still enjoyable and a decent conclusion to the trilogy.