Miraz Jordan

The adventure continues in Dreadnought And Shuttle: Halcyone Space, book 3 by LJ Cohen. Our team of heroes are enterprising and creative. Another good read. 📚

As the former shipmates track Maldonado down, each course they plot endangers the life of his hostage, threatens to reveal Ithaka, and uncovers conspiracies that could brand them all traitors.

Another good read in a series I enjoy — Critical Traces (The Jessica Anderson K-9 Mysteries Book 10) by D. L. Keur 📚 :

An injured horseback rider, then two missing ATVers, a gunshot through the engine of one of the machines--thus begins a strange series of wildland trail incidents, all of them on the county's public lands.

This is a slim book in the way a surgeon's scalpel is slim — and equally effective Understanding Te Tiriti. 📚

A handbook of basic facts about Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

No 200 page academic treatise, this book cuts right to the point, clarifying what led to Te Tiriti, what it says and what that means.

Buy it, read it, if you are in any way engaged with Aotearoa.

Another enjoyable adventure with this young group of friends — Ithaka Rising: Halcyone Space, book 2 by LJ Cohen. 📚

When Barre's brother Jem disappears, Barre and Ro race to find him before he sells his future and risks his mind for a black market neural implant.

I think someone on Micro.Blog mentioned Derelict: Halcyone Space, book 1 by LJ Cohen. 📚

Although I enjoy watching sci-fi I don't always enjoy reading it. This book though kept my attention and I enjoyed the characters and the story.

I'll definitely be reading more.

You probably don't want to read the this gripping psychological suspense, The Door at the Top of the Stairs by Alison Naomi Holt. 📚

I nearly stopped early on but persevered through the descriptions of terrible torture relived by a young woman.

The whole book was problematic, with key characters who were bullying and coercive. The fox hunting that went on in the background also didn't help.

The following disclaimer at the end of the book probably reflects one reason why I was so uneasy while reading:

Another in a series I really feel comfortable with, and an author whose writing I enjoy. This particular book seemed a little less than the others though and didn't quite grip me as much — A Poisoned Chalice (Sister Agnes Mysteries Book 8) by Alison Joseph. 📚

St Bruno’s church is burning. … Was this the hiding place of the fabled Judas chalice? A priceless heirloom that’s been missing for decades.

Another very good read from a favourite author — Echoes on the Fens (Detective Nikki Galena Mysteries Book 15) by Joy Ellis. 📚

I really like these characters and how they go about things.

Three days. Three murders. No leads

I came across an older book I hadn't read from an author whose work I enjoy. This was a really good read: Alias by Cari Hunter. 📚

A car lies crashed below a Welsh mountain road. One of the young women inside it is dead, the other badly injured, with no memory of who she is or what just happened. All she has is a bus pass showing her photograph and a name she doesn’t recognise.

Heavy on the religious minutiae, it was interesting that Sister Joan was able to ferret out wrongdoing in spite of the enormous limitations of a very contained life. I may not read more.

A Vow of Silence (Sister Joan Murder Mystery Book 1) by Veronica Black. 📚

There are whispers of virgin sacrifice and suicide, and the mother prioress certainly wears pink nail varnish. And who is the young man hiding in the bracken?

This book grew on me as I read more, but it didn't entirely grab me. Blindsided (Grace Smith Mystery Book 2)by Liz Evans. 📚

When Grace Smith, a down-on-her-luck private investigator with an unimpressive track record, gets a call from an elderly man about a missing person, she’s not expecting much.

I really enjoy this series, in part for the very ordinary and likeable characters who work at the supermarket in small town Kingsleigh. The Missing Heirloom Mystery (The Supermarket Mysteries Book 5) by Rachel Ward. 📚

Several mysteries here and I suspected one perpetrator, but not the motive.

This series has such excellent writing — Cast the First Stone (Sister Agnes Mysteries Book 7) by Alison Joseph. 📚

For example, this sentence in the middle of an intense and difficult discussion:

How brilliant: the silence muffled the traffic noise, not vice versa.

I think I'm done with this series: The Bea Abbot Agency Mysteries Books 11–15 by Veronica Heley. 📚

Book 12 in particular was a bit silly and repetitive. The others lacked the occasional writing sparkle that previous books had.

The stories have grown stale.

A tricky mystery to unravel, and an enjoyable read: Knight On Edge (Jorja Knight Mystery Series Book 7) by Alice Bienia. 📚

When a distraught woman hires her to confirm suspicions of her husband’s infidelity, Jorja welcomes the seemingly routine job. But from the moment she accepts the assignment, something feels off, and soon, her instincts prove right.

This was another reread from 2009 and was a bit all over the place. Maybe the fan fiction aspect explains that somewhat. Tropical Convergence: Book 7 in The Dar & Kerry Series by Melissa Good. 📚

There's trouble on the horizon for ILS when a rival challenges them head on, and their best weapons, Dar and Kerry, are distracted by life instead of focusing on the business.

I warmed up to and enjoyed Terrors of the High Seas: Book 6 in The Dar & Kerry Series by Melissa Good. I bought it back in 2011 so this was a reread. 📚

This is essentially a fanfic for the Xena TV series, a show I used to really enjoy.

Expect a high over-the-top quotient.

It took me a long time to get into this book — I put it down several times to read others — but towards the end I kept reading late to learn the outcome. Lest Bridges Burn (DS Liz Moorland. Major Crimes. Book 2) by Phillipa Nefri Clark. 📚

May well not read more, unless the price drops.

Reading a Sister Agnes book is like luxuriating in a hot bath. I highlighted several sections in Shadow of Death (Sister Agnes Mysteries Book 6) by Alison Joseph because they delighted me. 📚

Another good read in a series I enjoy: The Man Who Kept Secrets (The Shee McQueen Mystery Thriller Series Book 8)by Amy Vansant. 📚

When former patients start dying in strangely symbolic ways, Dr. Skinner hires Shee McQueen and her band of freelance mercenaries to solve their troubles before the hospital loses its coveted reputation.

I've very much enjoyed D. L. Keur's other series so was interested to try Night Trouble (The King & Midnight K-9 Mysteries Book 1). I'll definitely be reading more. The odd editorial quirk / typo but a really good read with great characters and an interesting plot. 📚

I finished Marsh Madness by Jana DeLeon, the latest in a long series of Miss Fortune books. 📚

when a group of friends decide to meet up at a B and B ahead of their ten-year reunion, old grudges resurface, and one of them ends up dead.

It was enjoyable enough but the "Gertie mishaps" gags are a bit tired now. I think the shine is gone.

It seems people around Special Agent Nikki Hunt keep getting knocked off. Lost Angels (Nikki Hunt Book 3) by Stacy Green. 📚

It all gets a bit personal and her team wonder if she should still be leading the hunt.

Good read.

Nikki is devastated to see the victim is her childhood friend …

I didn't warm to A Cotswold Killing (The Cotswold Cozy Mysteries Book 1) by Rebecca Tope. 📚

The village people were weird, the main character not specially endearing, the story a bit flat. Then, early on, there was troublesome behaviour towards an animal, and I can't abide that. Abandoned.

Another good read: A Hymn of Death (Sister Agnes Mysteries Book 5) by Alison Joseph. 📚

I didn't find the plot quite as interesting, but the author's wordsmithing skill more than made up for it.

This seems conclusively the last in the series, but I thought that with books 3, 4 and 5 …