Miraz Jordan

This series keeps me reading well past my going to sleep time! I really enjoyed Extra Dirty (A Ruby Steele Mystery—Book 2) by Mia Gold 📚:

A 40-something female tourist seeks out Ruby, desperate for her help. She was out partying all night with her friend [who now] is missing.

I really enjoyed On the Rocks (A Ruby Steele Mystery—Book 1) by Mia Gold 📚:

Welcome to the Bahamian world of Ruby Steele … her local dive bar, … her major drinking problem, her (way) too many fights, her inability to get herself out of trouble, and her fists made of stone.

I read and enjoyed The Chase: (The Diving Series Book 15) by Kristine Kathryn Rusch. 📚

I backed the Kickstarter and received an early copy. The first half confused me a little with several different storylines. The second half wove them all together in a gripping way.

I like the author, the book’s well written, but I need to stop reading as the grisly bits are infiltrating my brain and my dreams: Beware the Past (Detective Matt Ballard Book 1) by Joy Ellis. 📚

I bought this in 2017 — perhaps I read it then. May be why it seems a bit familiar.

Undermined: A Gay Mystery (Daniel Owen Welsh Mysteries Book 1) by Ripley Hayes. 📚

An unusual book for me to read, featuring male lead characters. A single, surprisingly graphic, sex scene. Leaned more to romance than mystery, but I did enjoy it.

Another good read from this author: Goodbye Calais Club: (A Port Alma Murder Mystery Book 2) by Anne Shillolo. 📚

Disappointed I have to wait for the third book in the series.

there’s no way Holly can investigate on her own. Or is there?

I quite enjoyed The Complete Monica Noble Murder Mysteries, a 3 book set, by Faith Martin 📚. I had to take a break after book 2 as they’re a little cloying.

A fairly easy read with a woman who has an eye for detail. Interesting acknowledgment of inappropriate attraction too.

A darn good read: Project Charon 1: Re-entry by Patty Jansen:

Tina needs money, and needs it fast. Another creditor is impossible to find. That leaves her one option: to return to the world she fled fifteen years ago and Kelso Space Station

📚

Well written, unusual, gripping.

22% through and I was considering abandoning When Murder Comes Home (Aileen and Callan Murder Mysteries Book 1) by Shana Frost. 📚 Then this para decided me👎🏼:

Steaming pots of savoury food effused mouth-watering aromas that drifted through the kitchen into the dining room.

Yet another excellent book in a series by a favourite author: Warn Me When It’s Time (Charlie Mack Motown Mystery Book 6) by Cheryl A Head. 📚

FBI agent, James Saleh, … helps the Mack Agency infiltrate and take down a homegrown militia hell-bent on starting a race war in America.

Hmmm, I’ve abandoned Blood in the Bayou: A Bone-Chilling FBI Thriller by CM Sutter just under half way through. There was too much point of view of a particularly nasty criminal and the FBI agents seem to be overlooking some obvious things. Just not working for me. 📚

I really enjoyed this Canadian story: Goodbye Port Alma (A DC Holly Towns Murder Mystery) by Anne Shillolo. 📚

DC Holly Towns is on the team that has to untangle a far-reaching web of sex, drugs, and money, and solve a crime that threatens to tear the city apart.

Damn good read, so well put together! The Case of the Fond Farewell (Ellie Tappet Cruise Ship Mysteries Book 6) by Cheri Baker. 📚

When tragedy strikes in the dark of night, Ellie and her friends investigate. The trail of deception leads to a shocking revelation…

// @cheri

Knockout (A Holly Hands Mystery—Book 1) by Mia Gold had a very strong start. 📚 A new and original character and compelling premise. I found it strained credulity overall though and sometimes just annoyed me. Not sure I’ll read the next one.

This was a pretty good read: Old Sins, Long Memories by Angela Arney. 📚

Meet Dr Lizzie Browne. After her divorce she moves to a small coastal town for a quieter life. Now her patients are turning up dead.

This started well, became a bit suss and then by 66% through was annoying: Last Call (The Janet Black Mystery Series Book 1) by Libby Kirsch 📚

I read to the end just to see the explanations really.

Hmm, I read The Uniform (Detective Helen Carter Book 1) by Jodie Lawrance. 📚

Set in Edinburgh in the 1970s the relentless grimness makes this a bit hard going: every single page contains dirt, grime, overt sexism, smoking, excessive drinking, poverty, tenements, slums, winter…

I enjoyed Lowcountry Box Set (A Liz Talbot Mystery) by Susan M Boyer. 📚

I’m not usually into ghosts but this was an inoffensive plot device much like hacking skillz or martial arts expertise. I skipped a few pages of the hetero-romance gory details too.

Set in South Carolina.

Ambivalent about Pineapple Lies: (Pineapple Port Mysteries 1) by Amy Vansant. 📚 The mystery solving seems to involve mainly having some random notion and declaring someone ‘the killer’. There’s a lot of (hetero) romance too. I may try book 2. It was light, and amusing enough.

I’m enjoying this author’s books, including The Girl Who Was Forgotten: (The Shee McQueen Mystery Thriller Series Book 2) by Amy Vansant. 📚

No more in that series so I’ve moved on to a different series by the same author.

This was a darn good read: The Girl Who Wants: (The Shee McQueen Mystery Thriller Series Book 1) by Amy Vansant. 📚

Shee’s quest to recover the life and loves she’s lost brings a depth of emotion rare in such page-turning suspense.

Now for book 2.

Hmmm, I enjoyed Mousse and Murder (An Alaskan Diner Mystery Book 1) by Elizabeth Logan. 📚 It strained my credulity a bit though. There seemed excessive attention to the cat. I’m not sure what exactly didn’t sit quite right, but I’m dithering about reading the next in series.

We had an unusual event at Waikawa Beach this weekend: the launch of a Little Free Library created by a couple of members of the community. Here’s Anja giving a speech before cutting the ribbon. And that’s the back of me as I introduced Anja to the 40 or 50 folks who attended. 📚

This one was a bit disappointing: A Simple Case of Murder (Lost in Alaska Book 4) by Leigh Mayberry. 📚

Pretty much everything was out of the Police Chief’s hands and I found the ending unsatisfactory. A spelling error was important in the plot but was rife throughout the book.

Another good read: Next of Kin (DI Sarah Quinn Mystery Book 5) by Maureen Carter. 📚

Lisa Webb is beaten and left to drown … the latest victim of a serial sex offender who has been terrorising the area. But DI Sarah Quinn realizes things are not as they seem