ARC Review: Scandal Above Stairs by Jennifer Ashley

Scandal Above Stairs
Author: Jennifer Ashley
Series: A Below Stairs Mystery (Book 2)
Publication: Berkley (July 3, 2018)

Description: A mystery of stolen antiquities has Kat Holloway setting aside her apron once again for the intrigues of the upper echelons of Victorian London

Priceless artwork has gone missing from the home of a wealthy baronet, and his wife stands to take the blame. When Kat's employer asks for help in clearing her friend's name, Kat trades her kitchen for the homes of Mayfair's wealthiest families. Soon antiques are disappearing not only from the extravagant households of connoisseurs and collectors, but from the illustrious British Museum.

As the thefts increase in frequency, Kat calls upon her friend Daniel McAdam, who has already set himself up in a pawnshop on the Strand as a seedy receiver of stolen goods. When a man is murdered in the shop, Kat must use all of her wits to see that the thieves are caught and justice is done.

My Thoughts: Kat Holloway has to leave her kitchen and solve another mystery when Lady Cynthia asks her to help a friend clear her name when her husband is accusing her of stealing valuable paintings to pay off her gambling debts.

It doesn't take long for Kat to find out what actually happened to the paintings but that just begins her investigation. Her friend Daniel McAdam, who has been away for a couple of months without a word, has set himself up in a pawnshop as a receiver of stolen goods. Kat just happens to visit him when one of the criminals who want to sell the goods comes into the shop. Daniel hides her in a back room but she manages to hear some things which raise questions.

Daniel tells her that he is investigating the theft of Greek antiquities from back rooms of British museums. When Kat realizes that there have been a number of thefts of antiquities among upper class families, she decides to help Daniel out by investigating below stairs while Lady Cynthia and Daniel's friend Mr. Thanos handles the above stairs part of the investigations.

Meanwhile, at home, Daniel has sent a young woman named Tess to be trained up as Kat's new kitchen assistant. Tess is bright and a quick learner but she has some secrets of her own which add an interesting plot twist.

I enjoy the setting of the Kat Holloway mysteries. Victorian England is shown from the point of view of someone who works for the upper classes but isn't a member herself. Kat is a fascinating woman who has made a good career for herself as a cook which is a big jump in social class from her beginnings. She is a kind woman who helps those who need help and who is very loyal to her friends. She is also quite bright and observant. Daniel McAdam is still a man of mystery but at least some of the secrets of his past are finally being shared with Kat. I'm still really curious about who his mysterious employer is.

This was a great historical mystery and I look forward to reading more about Kat and Daniel.

Favorite Quote:

I’d tried to tell the silly girl that looking after a husband was far more difficult than being in service ever would be. Husbands didn’t pay wages, for one thing, and you never got any days out. Asking for extra pin money or an hour to oneself could send a husband into a towering rage and earn a wife a trip to the doctor, both to have her bruises seen to and so the doctor could assess whether there was something wrong with the woman’s mind. A true wife was a sacrificing angel who asked nothing for herself.

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from Penguin's First to Read program. You can buy your copy here.

Friday Memes: Scandal Above Stairs by Jennifer Ashley

Happy Friday everybody!

Book Beginnings on Friday is now hosted by Rose City Reader. The Friday 56 is hosted at Freda's Voice. Check out the links above for the rules and for the posts of the participants each week. Don’t dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

Beginning:

May 1881

The clatter of crockery on the flagstone floor broke my heart. I knew without turning that it was my platter of whole roast pig, the crowning glory of the vast meal I’d spent days creating for the supper party above stairs in this grand Mayfair house.

Friday 56:

“He is not my Mr. Thanos,” I said stiffly. “And he is quite a different sort of person than Sir Evan Godfrey. You know this. Mr. Thanos is a kind man, if a bit featherheaded about ordinary life.”

Cynthia waved this away, though her cheeks grew pink. “Oh, he’s all right. Don’t take offense. But men do become titillated at the thought of females in gentlemen’s  clothing— do not tell me they do not.”

This week I am spotlighting Scandal Above Stairs by Jennifer Ashley. I got this review copy from Penguin's First to Read program. It is the sequel to last year's Death Below Stairs. Here is the description from Amazon:

A mystery of stolen antiquities has Kat Holloway setting aside her apron once again for the intrigues of the upper echelons of Victorian London

Priceless artwork has gone missing from the home of a wealthy baronet, and his wife stands to take the blame. When Kat's employer asks for help in clearing her friend's name, Kat trades her kitchen for the homes of Mayfair's wealthiest families. Soon antiques are disappearing not only from the extravagant households of connoisseurs and collectors, but from the illustrious British Museum.

As the thefts increase in frequency, Kat calls upon her friend Daniel McAdam, who has already set himself up in a pawnshop on the Strand as a seedy receiver of stolen goods. When a man is murdered in the shop, Kat must use all of her wits to see that the thieves are caught and justice is done.

ARC Review: The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager

The Last Time I Lied
Author: Riley Sager
Publication: Dutton (July 3, 2018)

Description: In the latest thriller from the bestselling author of Final Girls, a young woman returns to her childhood summer camp to uncover the truth about a tragedy that happened there fifteen years ago.

Two Truths and a Lie. The girls played it all the time in their cabin at Camp Nightingale. Vivian, Natalie, Allison, and first-time camper Emma Davis, the youngest of the group. But the games ended the night Emma sleepily watched the others sneak out of the cabin into the darkness. The last she--or anyone--saw of them was Vivian closing the cabin door behind her, hushing Emma with a finger pressed to her lips.

Now a rising star in the New York art scene, Emma turns her past into paintings--massive canvases filled with dark leaves and gnarled branches that cover ghostly shapes in white dresses. When the paintings catch the attention of Francesca Harris-White, the wealthy owner of Camp Nightingale, she implores Emma to return to the newly reopened camp as a painting instructor. Seeing an opportunity to find out what really happened to her friends all those years ago, Emma agrees.

Familiar faces, unchanged cabins, and the same dark lake haunt Nightingale, even though the camp is opening its doors for the first time since the disappearances. Emma is even assigned to the same cabin she slept in as a teenager, but soon discovers a security camera--the only one on the property--pointed directly at its door. Then cryptic clues that Vivian left behind about the camp's twisted origins begin surfacing. As she digs deeper, Emma finds herself sorting through lies from the past while facing mysterious threats in the present. And the closer she gets to the truth about Camp Nightingale and what really happened to those girls, the more she realizes that closure could come at a deadly price.

My Thoughts: Emma has been haunted for fifteen years by the events that happened at Camp Nightingale when she was thirteen. Her three cabinmates - Vivian, Natalie, and Allison - disappear one night and are never seen again. Emma suffered a mental breakdown and was hospitalized when she kept hallucinating seeing Vivian all over the place. She is still in therapy. She is an artist who is becoming known for her large paintings of deep, dark forests. Only she knows that she begins each painting with portraits of the three girls and then covers them all up with the forests.

When Franny Harris-White, the wealthy owner of the camp, asks Emma to come be the artist in residence at the camp's reopening, she is fearful but eager to try to finally learn what happened to the three girls.

Emma finds herself back in the same cabin with three new young girls. She gradually uncovered the secrets that Vivian was keeping and tells the reader the secrets that she has been keeping. Many of the people who were at the Camp the first time - Franny, her companion Lottie, her sons Theo and Chet - are there again and Emma is suspicious about all of their actions. She gets even more suspicious when she finds a camera aimed at her cabin, sees suspicious shadows outside the cabin, and finds the word Liar in red paint on the cabin door. These things combine with her own mental state since she is sure that she is catching glimpses of Vivian.

When the three girls who share Emma's cabin in the present go missing, it is like the whole nightmare scenario is happening again. But this time the police are really trying to pin the crime on Emma.

The story is told in the present and also fifteen years in the past. Each part adds one more piece to a complex and frightening puzzle. This book was a real page turner. It was hard to put down since each page added one more clue to a puzzle that had haunted Emma for years.

Favorite Quote:

Vivian sighed and began the swim back to the canoe. "Everything is a game, Em. Whether you know it or not. Which means that sometimes a lie is more than just a lie. Sometimes it's the only way to win.

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from Edelweiss. You can buy your copy here.

ARC Review: The Banker's Wife by Cristina Alger

The Banker's Wife
Author: Cristina Alger
Publication: G.P. Putnam's Sons (July 3, 2018)

Description: On an early morning in November, a couple boards a private plane bound for Geneva, flying into a storm. Soon after, it simply drops off the radar, and its wreckage is later uncovered in the Alps. Among the disappeared is Matthew Lerner, a banking insider at Swiss United, a powerful offshore bank. His young widow, Annabel, is left grappling with the secrets he left behind, including an encrypted laptop and a shady client list. As she begins a desperate search for answers, she determines that Matthew's death was no accident, and that she is now in the crosshairs of his powerful enemies.

Meanwhile, ambitious society journalist Marina Tourneau has finally landed at the top. Now that she's engaged to Grant Ellis, she will stop writing about powerful families and finally be a part of one. Her entry into the upper echelons of New York's social scene is more appealing than any article could ever be, but, after the death of her mentor, she agrees to dig into one more story. While looking into Swiss United, Marina uncovers information that implicates some of the most powerful men in the financial world, including a few who are too close to home. The story could also be the answer to Annabel's heartbreaking search--if Marina chooses to publish it.

The Banker's Wife is both a high-stakes thriller and an inside look at the personal lives in the intriguing world of finance, introducing Cristina Alger as a powerful new voice in the genre.

My Thoughts: This story begins with a plane crash over the Alps taking the live of personal banker Matthew Werner and one of his clients. Werner leaves behind his grieving wife Annabel who can't come to terms with her loss. She does her own investigating which leaves her with more questions than she started with and makes her the target of those who don't want Matthew's secrets to come to light.

While Annabel is in Geneva, Marina is in Paris with her fiance Grant Ellis. She is getting ready to give up her career as an investigative journalist in order to marry into the powerful Ellis family. Her future father-in-law is soon to announce his candidacy for President of the United States. But a phone call from her mentor has her making a detour to pick up a USB drive that will blow the lid off the corruption in the personal banking industry. Before she can get the USB to him, she receives another phone call telling her that her mentor was killed in a home invasion. She cuts her vacation short to go back home for his funeral.

Marina begins her own investigation to continue her mentor's work and finds direct ties to money laundering, illegal offshore accounts, and ties to terrorism that implicates the family she was ready to marry into. Each step of her investigation puts her and her colleagues into more and more danger.

Meanwhile Annabel is facing dangers of her own as she gets her husband's work laptop from his young assistant Zoe who then disappears. She doesn't know who she can trust at the bank Matthew worked for when all his boss and best work friend are acting suspiciously.

This was a fast-paced thriller that kept ratcheting up the danger and tension throughout the book. Fans of thrillers and international intrigue won't want to miss it.

Favorite Quote:

She would destroy the USB and its contents, and pretend that Paris had been nothing more than a lovely vacation, cut short by the death of an old friend and colleague.

But could it ever be that simple? Marina doubted it. Someone would always be looking for her, hot on the trail of information that went missing somewhere between Paris and New York. Even if they weren't, she'd wonder if they were. She'd always be looking over her shoulder, taking note of dark cars that idled too long in from of her apartment building, or strangers who came just a little too close on the street.

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from Edelweiss. You can buy your copy here.

First Paragraph/Teaser Tuesday: The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager

Every Tuesday Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea posted the first paragraph of a book she is reading or planning to read. In 2018, Vicki from I'd Rather Be at the Beach is taking over this meme.

Here's mine:

This is how it begins.

You wake to sunlight whispering through the trees just outside the window. It's a faint light, weak and gray at the edges. Dawn still shedding the skin of night. Yet it's bright enough to make you roll over and face the wall, the mattress creaking beneath you. Within that roll is a moment of disorientation, a split second when you don't know where your are. It happens sometimes after a deep, dreamless slumber. A temporary amnesia. You see the fine grains of the pine-plank wall, smell the traces of campfire smoke in your hair, and know exactly where you are.

Camp Nightingale.

 

Link up here. It is very easy to play along:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers! Everyone loves Teaser Tuesday.

Here's mine:

The drive to Camp Nightingale takes up most of the afternoon. Almost five hours when counting in rest stops. Most of it a straight shot north along truck-clogged I-87.

This week I am reading The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager. I got this eARC from Edelweiss. Here is the description from Amazon:

In the latest thriller from the bestselling author of Final Girls, a young woman returns to her childhood summer camp to uncover the truth about a tragedy that happened there fifteen years ago.

Two Truths and a Lie. The girls played it all the time in their cabin at Camp Nightingale. Vivian, Natalie, Allison, and first-time camper Emma Davis, the youngest of the group. But the games ended the night Emma sleepily watched the others sneak out of the cabin into the darkness. The last she--or anyone--saw of them was Vivian closing the cabin door behind her, hushing Emma with a finger pressed to her lips.

Now a rising star in the New York art scene, Emma turns her past into paintings--massive canvases filled with dark leaves and gnarled branches that cover ghostly shapes in white dresses. When the paintings catch the attention of Francesca Harris-White, the wealthy owner of Camp Nightingale, she implores Emma to return to the newly reopened camp as a painting instructor. Seeing an opportunity to find out what really happened to her friends all those years ago, Emma agrees.

Familiar faces, unchanged cabins, and the same dark lake haunt Nightingale, even though the camp is opening its doors for the first time since the disappearances. Emma is even assigned to the same cabin she slept in as a teenager, but soon discovers a security camera--the only one on the property--pointed directly at its door. Then cryptic clues that Vivian left behind about the camp's twisted origins begin surfacing. As she digs deeper, Emma finds herself sorting through lies from the past while facing mysterious threats in the present. And the closer she gets to the truth about Camp Nightingale and what really happened to those girls, the more she realizes that closure could come at a deadly price.

ARC Review: Iron and Magic by Ilona Andrews

Iron and Magic
Author: Ilona Andrews
Series: The Iron Covenant (Book 1)
Publication: NYLA (June 26, 2018)

Description: No day is ordinary in a world where Technology and Magic compete for supremacy…But no matter which force is winning, in the apocalypse, a sword will always work.

Hugh d’Ambray, Preceptor of the Iron Dogs, Warlord of the Builder of Towers, served only one man. Now his immortal, nearly omnipotent master has cast him aside. Hugh is a shadow of the warrior he was, but when he learns that the Iron Dogs, soldiers who would follow him anywhere, are being hunted down and murdered, he must make a choice: to fade away or to be the leader he was born to be. Hugh knows he must carve a new place for himself and his people, but they have no money, no shelter, and no food, and the necromancers are coming. Fast.

Elara Harper is a creature who should not exist. Her enemies call her Abomination; her people call her White Lady. Tasked with their protection, she's trapped between the magical heavyweights about to collide and plunge the state of Kentucky into a war that humans have no power to stop. Desperate to shield her people and their simple way of life, she would accept help from the devil himself—and Hugh d’Ambray might qualify.

Hugh needs a base, Elara needs soldiers. Both are infamous for betraying their allies, so how can they create a believable alliance to meet the challenge of their enemies?

As the prophet says: “It is better to marry than to burn.”

Hugh and Elara may do both.

My Thoughts: People who have read the Kate Daniels series will know Hugh d'Ambray but this book sees him much changed. Roland has cast him aside taking away all of his certainty about his actions and leaving him broke and broken. His first response is the try to commit suicide by alcohol. But when his men come to find him and tell him that his Black Dogs are being hunted down and killed, he has to pull himself together and save the people who gave him their loyalty.

Hugh gathers just over 300 of his troops but now needs to find a way to feed, clothe and house them. When he is approached to marry Elara Harper, he is skeptical. But Elara has a castle, people to protect, a bad reputation, and needs a strong man to provide that protection.

Neither one of them are happy to marry the other but it is the best option for each of them. Two strong people are naturally going to butt heads and one of the best parts of the story is the banter between the two of them as they try to do the best they can for the people under their care.

Both have secrets and both have enemies. Landon Nez, who is the current leader of Roland's Golden Legion of Vampires, is an enemy to both of them. He wants Elara's castle and he wants something from Hugh but it isn't clear to either of them what it is. The Golden Legion is formidable but they aren't Elara and Hugh's only enemy. They also have to deal with an invasion of vampire-like creatures and the soldiers who command them who are gating in when the magic is up. They are apparently under the control of one of the magical beings who can't survive on Earth when the technology is up.

The story is filled with battles large and small. Through it all Hugh finds a new purpose for his life and begins to tentatively trust Elara and her people even after he learns her secrets. I loved the relationship between Hugh and Elara. I loved seeing the world Ilona Andrews has created through the eyes of another character and in another location. I can't wait to read more in this new series.

Favorite Quote:

This new life, it was just his. Hugh didn't owe it to anyone. He was building it himself, brick by brick, one shovel of cement at a time, the same way he had built that damn moat. He was building his own castle, and for better or worse, the harpy wormed her way into his world and became its tower.

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (June 25, 2018)

It's Monday, What Are You Reading? is now hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date.

It’s Monday!  What Are You Reading is where we gather to share what we have read this past week and what we plan to read this week.  It is a great way to network with other bloggers, see some wonderful blogs, and put new titles on your reading list.

I will be combining my YA and adult reading and purchases on this one weekly roundup. YA and middle grade reviews will still be posted on  Ms. Martin Teaches Media - my other blog.

Other Than Reading...

This week was mainly a pleasant, quiet week at my house. Duluth was busy because President Donald Trump stopped by for a rally on Wednesday evening. Unfortunately, my brother and I planned to go out to eat during the heat of the traffic jam thinking that we were in between traffic congestion times. It took us 25 minutes to make what was usually a 5 minute trip and we didn't go anywhere near the venue of the rally.

Saturday was the annual Rhubarb Festival which offers all things rhubarb and raises money to feed the hungry and house the homeless. I came home with two jars of rhubarb jelly and one rhubarb custard pie. I wanted a tee-shirt but they were really picked over and didn't have any in my size.

This coming week has me doing end of the month blogging things. It is time to catch up with my reviews on Amazon and prepare my State of the Stack post which deals with review books I've received, read, and reviewed .... and the many that are still on the stack.

Read Last Week

If you can't wait until the review shows up on my blog, reviews are posted to LibraryThing and Goodreads as soon as I write them (usually right after I finish reading a book.)

• When Life Gives You Demons by Jennifer Honeybourn - Contemporary YA paranormal about a girl who is being trained as an exorcist while trying to keep up an active high school social life. My review will be posted July 11.
• The Disappearing by Lori Roy - introspective mystery told from multiple viewpoints. My review will be posted on July 12.
• Nyxia Unleashed by Scott Reintgen - middle book in a YA Science Fiction trilogy. My review will be posted on July 13.

 

• Shelter in Place by Nora Roberts - another entertaining story by a favorite author. My review will be posted on July 14.
• Rubbernecker by Belinda Bauer - mystery with a main character was Asperger's. My review will be posted on July 18.
• Paradox (An FBI Thriller) by Catherine Coulter -  entertaining entry into this long-running Thriller series. My review will be posted July 19.

I didn't finish Kill the Farm Boy by Delilah S. Dawson & Kevin Hearne. I lasted until 41% when I had finally reached my limit for poop jokes. I am not a fan of the Monty Python school of humor but could see how the authors were enjoying twisting fantasy tropes.

Currently

Between Frost and Fury by Chani Lynn Feener is a YA Science Fiction story which is the second book in a series.

Next Week

All are review books that are being released in July.

Adult:

• A Double Life by Flynn Berry (July 31)
• Deep Cover by Scarlett Cole (July 31)
• Murder, She Reported by Peg Cochran (July 31)

Young Adult:

• Contagion by Erin Bow (July 24)
• The Impossibility of Us by Katy Upperman (July 31)
• The Girl You Thought I Was by Rebecca Phillips (July 31)

Reviews Posted

On Inside of a Dog:

• The Lady Julia Gray Novellas by Deanna Raybourn
• A Rumor of Bones by Beverly Connor
• Foolproof by Barbara D'Amato, Jeanne M. Dams & Mark Zubro

On Ms. Martin Teaches Media:

• The Lost Books: The Scroll of Kings by Sarah Prineas
• My Plain Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, Jodi Meadows

Want to See What I Added to My Stack Last Week?

Bought:

• Mortal Arts by Anna Lee Huber
• As Death Draws Near by Anna Lee Huber
• The Trapped Girl by Robert Dugoni

• Shadowspell by Jenna Black
• Sirensong by Jenna Black

Review:

Adult:

• Second Chance at Two Love Lane by Kieran Kramer (August 28)
• Her Majesty's American by Steve White (Sept. 4)
• Rocky Mountain Cowboy Christmas by Katie Ruggle (Oct. 2)

YA - These were a surprise arrival from Scholastic which makes me wonder what list I got on. These are all middle grade nonfiction. I very, very seldom read nonfiction but these all sound interesting. I'm willing to give them a try.

• D-Day: The World War II Invasion That Changed History by Deborah Hopkinson (August 28)
• Unpunished Murder: Massacre at Colfax and the Quest for Justice by Lawrence Goldstone (August 28)
• The Grand Escape: The Greatest Prison Breakout of the 20th Century by Neal Bascomb (Sept. 25)

These YA titles are more the sort of books I usually read.

• Del Toro Moon by Darby Karchut (Oct. 2) - from the author who is a favorite of mine
• Grenade by Alan Gratz (Oct. 9) - also a surprise from Scholastic and different from my usual picks
• Dragon Pearl by Yoon Ha Lee (Jan. 15, 2019) - a Rick Riordan Presents novel from NetGalley

What was your week like?

Book Review: A Rumor of Bones by Beverly Connor

A Rumor of Bones
Author: Beverly Connor
Series: Lindsay Chamberlain Mystery (Book 1)
Publication: Cumberland House (October 1996)

Description: Lindsay Chamberlain, archaeologist and forensic anthropologist, is working on an archaeological dig in Georgia. The local county sheriff asks her to identify human remains found recently in shallow graves in nearby woods.

As the archaeology crew excavates, strange things begin to happen. First come the grave robbers and pot hunters. Then mysterious opposition to the dig from a shady lawyer who has been orchestrating attacks against the crew. When the lawyer is murdered and someone attempts to abduct a five-year-old girl, Lindsay finds herself in the middle of a chain of crimes that began with a homicide sixty years ago. After the passage of so much time it looks as if the guilty party may get away with murder - unless Lindsay can uncover the solution.

My Thoughts: Archaeologist and forensic anthropologist Lindsay Chamberlain is working on a dig in Georgia when the local sheriff asks her to identify some bones that were just located by hunters. Lindsay has Sarah and Mike Pruitt, anxious parents, waiting to know if their little girl has been found. By comparing the bones to photos of their child, Lindsay quickly eliminates her but there is still a question of who the child is. Lindsay volunteers her friend Derrick who is in charge of clearing the site and his crew to the sheriff.

Derrick and his crew find another grave. This time the bones do belong to little Peggy Pruitt. It looks like the town has a serial killer. Than a third body of a molested and murdered little girl is found in the same area. Lindsay can't get the question of who killed the children out of her mind and brings her theories to the sheriff.

Meanwhile at the dig, tensions are high. The archaeologist in charge is constantly arguing with one of the other archaeologists, pothunters are harassing the site, a lawyer is trying to shut them down, and another body is discovered. This one is not one of the Native Americans who belong in the site as evidenced by a gold filling in a tooth and a bullet in the skull. Lindsay decides to do a facial reconstruction to see if the body can be identified but she estimates the person has been there between 25 and 50 years.

Adding even more tension is the fact that Lindsay seems to have gained herself an admirer who won't take no for an answer and who is the son of one of the prominent families. The Taylors used to own the banks, lumberyards and land though their influence has lessened over the years. Lindsay is also unsettled in her personal life. She's had a bit of a crush on Frank who is archaeologist in charge of the dig and who seems to be returning her interest but she also has changing feelings about Derrick who seems to want to move on from the friend category. Then there are other women who are interested in both Frank and Derrick and who resent Lindsay for what they see as not making up her mind.

This was an entertaining mystery filled will all sorts of great detail about what it means to be an archaeologist and what archaeologists do. I liked Lindsay despite her inability to make up her mind about her love life and look forward to reading more about her.

Favorite Quote:

"They are very real to you, these Indians."

"They were real. Every burial represents a person who once walked around just as you and I. They were happy and sad, loved and hated, worried about making a living, and enjoyed celebrations, just as we do. Mostly, working with the skeletal population is a pleasure. It's like going back in time and talking to them Their bones tell me a lot about how they lived and died."

I bought this one Oct. 17, 2010. You can buy your copy here.

Friday Memes: A Rumor of Bones by Beverly Connor

Happy Friday everybody!

Book Beginnings on Friday is now hosted by Rose City Reader. The Friday 56 is hosted at Freda's Voice. Check out the links above for the rules and for the posts of the participants each week. Don’t dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

Beginning:

The mist rose from the uncovered graves like a spirit. Soon the sun would rise above the horizon and burn off the haze, and the site would be alive with the activity of archaeologists. But now, in the predawn hours, it was a mystic place -- silent, stranded between the past and present. This was the time of day when Lindsay loved the site best. She could almost breathe in the past.

Friday 56:

They looked up at Lindsay and grinned, like suddenly the great Lindsay could be mistaken, humbled by the likes of Thomas. Derrick, however, winked his "I'm with you kid" wink at her. The sheriff grinned as if he were witnessing a contest.

This week I am reading A Rumor of Bones by Beverly Connor. This book has been on my TBR pile since I bought it October 17, 2010. Here is the description from Amazon:

Lindsay Chamberlain, archaeologist and forensic anthropologist, is working on an archaeological dig in Georgia. The local county sheriff asks her to identify human remains found recently in shallow graves in nearby woods.

As the archaeology crew excavates, strange things begin to happen. First come the grave robbers and pot hunters. Then mysterious opposition to the dig from a shady lawyer who has been orchestrating attacks against the crew. When the lawyer is murdered and someone attempts to abduct a five-year-old girl, Lindsay finds herself in the middle of a chain of crimes that began with a homicide sixty years ago. After the passage of so much time it looks as if the guilty party may get away with murder - unless Lindsay can uncover the solution.

Book Review: Foolproof by Barbara D'Amato, Jeanne M. Dams & Mark Zubro

Foolproof
Author: Barbara D'Amato, Jeanne M. Dams, & Mark Richard Zubro
Publication: Forge Books; 1 edition (December 22, 2009)

Description: The morning of 9/11 Brenda Grant and Daniel Henderson met for coffee before going to their software firm in the World Trade Center.  That casual act saved them from the Twin Towers' collapse, even as their friends and Brenda’s fiancé were killed and their company obliterated.

Founding their own software security firm, they never forgot that morning of horror.  Grant and Henderson then establish a clandestine division inside their company committed to covertly tracking down global terrorists. In a search involving Washington DC, Egypt, Italy and Turkey, they expose a plot to hijack a US presidential election, rig voting machines, and topple democracies worldwide.

Foolproof is a global thriller in the tradition of Tess Gerritson, Catherine Coulter, and Linda Howard.

My Thoughts: This thriller, written in 2009, has themes ripped from today's headlines. Brenda Grant and Daniel Henderson were two minutes away from being in the World Trade Center when the first plane hits on the morning of 9/11. Their company was above where the plane hit and no one managed to get out before the towers collapsed. Brenda lost her fiance who was one of the company owners.

A few years later, Brenda and Grant have started a security company and have a mission to track down terrorists. When they find evidence by trolling chat rooms and the deep web, they try to pass the information along to authorities who can do something about their finds with varying degrees of success.

Sarah, an old college friend of Brenda's gives her a call one day to set up an appointment but, before they can meet, she dies in what looks like a street accident. Having a bit of the friend's point of view, we know that she was pushed into traffic by a man she just met. Brenda, who hasn't seen her since college, wonders why Sarah, who works for a software development company, wanted to meet with her.

Brenda and Daniel are also approached by a man from the government who gives his name as Allen Cooper who works for NSAA and wants to hire their firm for some security work. They are hesitant because they don't like working for the government but the money is too good to pass up. Coop begins to make a play for Brenda by asking her out and taking her to expensive places but Brenda's heart is still with the fiance she lost on 9/11.

Coop asks them to look into a new vote tallying program that will be used in the next presidential election which is only days away. It looks to be a really tight race between the incombent President Kierkstra, a corrupt politician from South Dakota, who took office when the President died of a heart attack and Governor Evan Harkinnon. Meanwhile, Brenda is still puzzled about Sarah's death and sends memo to all of her offices to see if anyone knows more about her. She hears from her office in Egypt that Sarah has some concerns about an election program she was working on but then the office goes silent.

Daniel flies out to see what is going on in Egypt and the story takes a James Bond twist as he becomes the target of unknown assassins and has to wend his way back home facing all sorts of danger and gathering data along the way.

The story was exciting and fast-paced. The villains were larger than life but our smart computer security experts are a match for them. I enjoyed the characters in this one and would recommend it to those who read thrillers.

Favorite Quote:

"There isn't any personal tragedy caused by terrorism is my background. So I can't really...well, I can barely guess how you must feel, and I can't claim any emotional reason. Except outrage. Like a lot of people around the world who haven't personally been victims of terrorism, it disgusts me. It's an offense against reason. Maybe deep down there's nothing that scares me more than zealots, people who think they have the only right view of the world, and if you don't share it, you aren't even human. That scares me. You can't reason with them. They don't even hear you."

I bought this one Dec. 3, 2010. You can buy your copy here.

Book Review: The Lady Julia Grey Novellas

Midsummer Night 
Series: Lady Julia Grey Mysteries (Book 0.5)
Publication: MIRA (January 16, 2017)

Description: Midsummer in England—an auspicious time for a wedding. Brisbane has taken charge of the music. Julia has, perhaps mistakenly, authorized her sisters to choose the dress. And Belmont Abbey is overflowing with guests awaiting the blessed day. What could go wrong?

Combine the close-knit chaos of village life, pagan traditions bursting through staid Victorian conventions, and the congenial madness that tends to swirl around Lady Julia's
family, and you get an unforgettable wedding. But add in a dangerous past nemesis who has
come to wish them not-so-well, and their day to remember just might take a fatal turn…

My Thoughts: This novella tells about Julia and Brisbane's Midsummer wedding. Having turned over the arrangements to her sisters, the plans for the ceremony are rapidly getting out of control. Between Brisbane's deaf and outrageous great-uncle who happens to be a Scottish duke and his gypsy aunt who deeply resents that he has more gypsy powers than she does, Brisbane's side of the family adds a lot to the chaos that is already the March family. Throw in a fire and a jewel thief trying to recover stolen loot and you have a madcap adventure.

Silent Night
Series: Lady Julia Grey Mysteries (Book 5.5)
Publication: MIRA (September 14, 2015)

Description: After a year of marriage—and numerous adventures—Lady Julia and Brisbane hope for a quiet, intimate Christmas together—until they find themselves at her father's ancestral estate, Bellmont Abbey, with her eccentric family and a menagerie of animals.

Nevertheless, Julia looks forward to a lively family gathering—but amongst the celebrations, a mystery stirs. There are missing jewels, new faces at the Abbey, and a prowling ghost that brings back unwelcome memories from a previous holiday—one that turned deadly. Is a new culprit recreating crimes of the past? And will Brisbane let Julia investigate—?

My Thoughts: This novella takes place at Christmas at Bellmont Abbey. Julia has been looking forward to spending time with her new husband in the Rookery, a dower house given to her by her father, but a fallen tree means they are housed in the Abbey. With only half of his children able to attend and a romantic disappointment, the Earl is a picture of gloom. Throw in missing jewels and a return of the ghost from an earlier mystery and Julia and Brisbane have a number of things to investigate.

Twelfth Night
Series: Lady Julia Grey Mysteries (Book 5.6)
Publication: MIRA (February 1, 2017)

Description: To mark the passing of another decade, the esteemed—and eccentric—March family have assembled at Bellmont Abbey to perform the Twelfth Night Revels for their sleepy English village. But before Lady Julia and her handsome, sleuthing husband, Nicolas Brisbane, can take to the stage, a ruckus in the stable yard demands their attention. An abandoned infant is found nestled in the steel helm of St. George. What's more, their only lead is the local legend of a haunted cottage and its ghastly inhabitant—who seems to have returned.

Once again, Lady Julia and Nicholas take up the challenge to investigate, and when the source of the mystery is revealed, they'll be faced with an impossible choice—one that will alter the course of their lives…forever.

My Thoughts: The March family is all present at Bellmont Abbey for the traditional Twelfth Night mummers play. Every ten years the family gets together to perform the play written by Shakespeare. This year's performance has the addition of a foundling baby which opens an investigation by Brisbane and Julia to find out who he is. Julia is also dealing with some of her sibling's attitudes toward her new half-gypsy, private inquiry agent husband who is not their kind of people. This was has returning characters from earlier books in the series who bring their problems home with them and with Julia and Belmont winding up with a child when they never expected to have one. 

Bonfire Night
Series: Lady Julia Grey Mysteries (Book 5.7)
Publication: MIRA (March 1, 2017)

Description: It’s the autumn of 1890, and almost a year has passed since—much to their surprise—Lady Julia and her detective husband, Nicholas Brisbane, became parents. Just as the couple begins to adapt, a solicitor arrives with a strange bequest. Nicholas, it seems, has inherited a country house—but only if he and his family are in residence from All Hallows’ Eve through Bonfire Night.

Neither Lady Julia nor Nicholas is likely to be put off by local legends of ghosts and witches, and the eerie noises and strange lights that flit from room to room simply intrigue them. Until a new lady’s maid disappears, igniting a caper that will have explosive results…

My Thoughts: This novella takes place on All Hallows' Eve when Brisbane inherits a haunted manor from a man he has never met. Julia, Portia, and Plum accompany him and all of them investigate the many hauntings and happenings. They bring along Portia's daughter Jane the Younger and their child John Nicholas Brisbane. It is all a complex plot orchestrated by Brisbane's very disreputable father which puts both Nicholas and Julia in danger but does finally cement the place of John Nicholas in their lives.

I bought these. The titles link to their Amazon pages.

First Paragraph/Teaser Tuesday: Foolproof by Barbara D'Amato, Jeanne M. Dams & Mark Zubro

Every Tuesday Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea posted the first paragraph of a book she is reading or planning to read. In 2018, Vicki from I'd Rather Be at the Beach is taking over this meme.

Here's mine:

"One decaf mochacchino with a sprinkle of cinnamon," Daniel said.

Brenda said, "That's pitiful. The only decent coffee is fully leaded espresso with just a dash of caramel. Total bliss. Trust me."

 

Link up here. It is very easy to play along:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers! Everyone loves Teaser Tuesday.

Here's mine:

"We have a companion in every bus, besides the driver, and seat belts for every child --"

Sighing at the thought that he might go through the company's entire brochure, she interrupted. "That's very good. I am appalled that most school buses don't have seat belts. But they won't keep terrorists or kidnappers away. They won't stop a hijacking."

This week I am reading Foolproof by Barbara D'Amato, Jeanne M. Dams, and Mark Richard Zubro. This one has been on my TBR mountain since Dec. 3, 2010 because I liked Zubro's gay mysteries and was looking for more books he wrote. Here is the description from Amazon:

The morning of 9/11 Brenda Grant and Daniel Henderson met for coffee before going to their software firm in the World Trade Center.  That casual act saved them from the Twin Towers' collapse, even as their friends and Brenda’s fiancé were killed and their company obliterated.

Founding their own software security firm, they never forgot that morning of horror.  Grant and Henderson then establish a clandestine division inside their company committed to covertly tracking down global terrorists. In a search involving Washington DC, Egypt, Italy and Turkey, they expose a plot to hijack a US presidential election, rig voting machines, and topple democracies worldwide.

Foolproof is a global thriller in the tradition of Tess Gerritson, Catherine Coulter, and Linda Howard.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (June 18, 2018)

It's Monday, What Are You Reading? is now hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date.

It’s Monday!  What Are You Reading is where we gather to share what we have read this past week and what we plan to read this week.  It is a great way to network with other bloggers, see some wonderful blogs, and put new titles on your reading list.

I will be combining my YA and adult reading and purchases on this one weekly roundup. YA and middle grade reviews will still be posted on  Ms. Martin Teaches Media - my other blog.

Other Than Reading...

This has been a quiet week at my house. Duluth has been pretty busy gearing up for Grandma's Marathon which attracts thousands of visitors each year. Friday was really nasty weather with strong thunderstorms and there were also thunderstorms forecast for the race time too. Fortunately, there were no storms during the actual race. I don't think it even rained.

I've been keeping busy reading the many July releases on my review pile. I've also been able to get a couple of books off TBR mountain. Unfortunately, I enjoyed them and added to TBR mountain so that I have the complete series for Glimmerglass and The Agency.

Read Last Week

If you can't wait until the review shows up on my blog, reviews are posted to LibraryThing and Goodreads as soon as I write them (usually right after I finish reading a book.)

• The Anatomist's Wife by Anna Lee Huber - Historical mystery that was a recent arrival on TBR mountain. My review will be posted on July 5.
• Glimmerglass by Jenna Black - YA fantasy that has been on my Kindle since May 8, 2011. My review will be posted on July 4.
• Hullmetal Girls by Emily Skrutskie - YA science fiction from my review stack. Review will be posted on July 6.

• Shelved Under Murder by Victoria Gilbert - Cozy mystery from my review stack. My review will be posted on July 7.
• The Agency: A Spy in the House by Y.S. Lee - YA historical mystery that has been on my Kindle since Sept. 16, 2012. My review will be posted on July 9.
• Lovers and Ladies by Jo Beverly - Two Regency romances that have been on TBR mountain since at least May 8, 2008. My review will be posted on July 11,

Currently

When Life Gives You Demons by Jennifer Honeybourn - YA from my review stack. Publication date is July 17.

Next Week

These are all July releases from my review stack.

• Nyxia Unleased by Scott Reintgen (July 17)
• Between Frost and Fury by Chani Lynn Feener (July 24)
• Contagion by Erin Bowman (July 24)

• The Disappearing by Lori Roy (July 17)
• Kill the Farm Boy by Delilah S. Dawson & Kevin Hearne (July 17)
• Murder, She Reported by Peg Cochran (July 31)

Reviews Posted

On Inside of a Dog:

• The Dark Inquiry by Deanna Raybourn
• Ocean Light by Nalini Singh

• A Merciful Silence by Kendra Elliot
• Girl With a Gun by Kari Bovee

On Ms. Martin Teaches Media:

• Divergent by Veronica Roth
• Insurgent by Veronica Roth
• Allegiant by Veronica Roth

Want to See What I Added to My Stack Last Week?

Bought

• A Pressing Engagement by Anna Lee Huber
• A Grave Matter by Anna Lee Huber
• A Brush with Shadows by Anna Lee Huber

• A Study in Death by Anna Lee Huber
• The Agency: Rivals in the City by Y.S. Lee

New Review

• Paradox by Catherine Coulter (July 31)
• Dactyl Hill Squad by Daniel Jose Older (Sept. 11)
• The Guilty Dead by P. J. Tracy (Sept. 11)

• The Storm Runner by J. C. Cervantes (Sept. 18)
• A Murder by Any Name by Suzanne M. Wolfe (Oct. 9)

• The Guggenheim Mystery by Robin Stevens (Oct. 16)
• Six Cats a Slayin' by Miranda James (Oct. 23)

• A Wrench in the Works by Kate Carlisle (Nov. 6)
• A Scandal in Scarlet by Vicki Delany (Nov. 13)
• The Hangman's Secret by Laura Joh Rowland (Jan. 8, 2019)

What was your week like?