It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (June 22, 2026)

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.

Want to See What I Added to My Stack? links to Stacking the Shelves hosted by Marlene at Reading Reality.

Other Than Reading...

This was a nice June week. Temperatures were cooler than average which was good for the thousands participating in Grandma's Marathon last Saturday. I felt the need to run the furnace a couple of nights this past week. I also opened doors and windows for fresh air on the nicer days. Looks like we might escape June with no need for our air conditioner this year. 

I had a good reading week. I finally caught up on the Meg Langslow series by Donna Andrews. I do have the next two in the Meg Langslow series on my review stack though. I also have only one book left before I'm caught up on the Andy Carpenter series by David Rosenfelt with the newest also waiting on my review stack. 

I ran into a problem when I finished The Lightning Girl by Sam Ripley. I had it on my list as coming out on July 14 only to learn that the release date had been changed to December 8. So, I now have one December review already scheduled. I had a lot of calendar shuffling to do to accommodate this change. 

This issue did have me checking the release dates for all the other books on my review stack which showed that most were still accurate but one had its release date moved up a week. I changed my calendar to reflect the new release date which meant only a slight adjustment of the calendar.

I also added nine more review copies to my stack including two which won't be released until 2027.

This coming week should be a quiet one. I would like to finish all my July review books this week, but I still have seven of them. I might also get to the final backlist audiobook in the Andy Carpenter series. I may choose to listen again to favorites from the Liaden Universe series instead. 

It looks like the temperatures will be in the 60s and low 70s this coming week. Next weekend, both the Rhubarb Festival and the Greek Festival are on the calendar. I hope to get to one or both of them if the weather is good and I feel well. 

Read Last Week

• The Cloak and Dagger Club by Jackie McMahon (Review, July 14) -- Historical murder set in London, 1930. A mystery author joins a club of other mystery authors and then has to solve the murder of the club's president. My review will be posted on July 8.
• Crystal Soldier by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller (Audiobook Reread) -- By internal chronology, the first book in the Liaden Universe.
• Hot Girl Murder Club by Ashley Winstead (Review, July 14) -- Women's power, revenge and murder mix in this contemporary mystery. My review will be posted on July 9.

• The Lightning Girl by Sam Ripley (Review, December 8) -- Psychological thriller with an unreliable narrator. My review will be posted on December 2.
• Crystal Dragon by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller (Audiobook reread) -- Second book (by internal chronology) of the Liaden Universe series. 
• If Books Could Kill by Kate Eberle (Review, July 21) -- A woman makes a wish and finds herself in a story by her favorite romance author. Problem: the author has decided to write a thriller for her new book. My review will be posted on July 14.

• Dog Eat Dog by David Rosenfelt (Audiobook, Mine since June 5) -- 22nd Andy Carpenter mystery takes him to Maine to defend a man accused of murder. Entertaining and humorous mystery. My review will be posted on July 9.
• Savvy Summers and the Po'boy Perils by Sandra Jackson-Opoku (Review, July 21) -- Second Savvy Summers mystery set on the South Side of Chicago. My review will be posted on July 15,
• The Twelve Jays of Christmas by Donna Andrews (Audiobook, Mine since June 5) -- Another humorous Meg Langslow mystery set at Christmas time. My review will be posted on July 17.

Currently

• Death at King's Cross by Rosanne Limoncello (Review, July 21)
• Fledgling by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller (Audiobook reread)

Next Week

• Deadly Does It by Abbi Waxman (Review, July 21)
• The Seance Garden by Juliet Blackwell (Review, July 28)
• Sea of Charms by Sarah Beth Durst (Review, July 28)

• Pride Comes Before a Fall by Virginia Heath (Review, July 28)
• Buyer Beware by Catherine Ryan Howard (Review, July 28)
• Fossil Feud by Maggie North (Review, July 28)

Reviews Posted

• Death of an Irish Mummy by Catie Murphy (Audiobook)
• A Terrible Fall of Angels by Laurell K. Hamilton (Audiobook)
• An Irish Bookshop Murder by Lucy Connelly (Audiobook)

• A Bitter Cut by Anna Lee Huber (Review copy)
• A Liaden Universe Constellation Volume 6 by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller (Mine)
• The Silver Bullets of Annie Oakley by Mercedes Lackey (Mine)

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

Review:

• If Books Could Kill by Kate Eberle (Review, July 21)
• Homeward for a Spell by Jamie Pacton & Rebecca Podos (Review, August 18)
• Until She Dies by Kendra Elliot (Review, September 8)

• Jay to the World by Donna Andrews (Review, October 13)
• Midnight in the House of Commons by Charles Finch (Review, November 3)
• Bad Company by Sara Paretky (Review, November 10)

• Revenge in a Small Town by Delia Pitts (Review, December 1)
• Scream City by Hannah Morrissey (Review, January 26. 2027)
• Tell Me What You See by Samantha Jayne Allen (Review, March 2, 2027)

Bought:

• Dark Summer by Iris Johansen (Kindle $1.99, Audiobook $4.82)

What was your week like?

Book Review: The Silver Bullets of Annie Oakley by Mercedes Lackey

The Silver Bullets of Annie Oakley
Author: Mercedes Lackey
Series: Elemental Masters (Book 16)
Publication: DAW (January 11, 2022)

Description: The sixteenth novel in the magical alternate history Elemental Masters series follows sharpshooter Annie Oakley as she tours Europe and discovers untapped powers.

Annie Oakley has always suspected there is something "uncanny" about herself, but has never been able to put a name to it. But when Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show goes on tour through Germany, Bill temporarily hires a new sharpshooter to be part of his "World Wide Congress of Rough Riders": a woman named Frida, who also happens to be an Elemental Master of Air. Alongside this new performer, Annie discovers that she and her husband, Frank, are not simply master marksman, but also magicians of rare ability.

As they travel and perform, Annie must use her newfound knowledge and rare skill to combat creatures of the night scattered across the countryside, who threaten both the performers and the locals. Annie's got her gun, and it's filled with silver bullets.

My Thoughts: This Elemental Masters story takes place in Europe - mostly Germany - and follows the adventures of Annie Oakley. Annie is the star of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. She and her husband Frank are hard-working performers. 

A new performer comes to the troupe with her husband especially to meet with Annie.  Frida and her husband are elemental masters who have recognized Annie's talents as being more than just a very skilled shootist. Frida is an Air Master who is convinced that Annie is one too. She convinces Annie to take training to use her gifts. Annie is skeptical, not because she doesn't believe she has gifts but, because she doesn't want to spend her life hunting and killing monsters.

However, the monsters don't feel the same way. Annie had an encounter with a werewolf when she was a child who cursed her and who has never forgotten about her. Now, he has followed her to Europe and is trying to claim her for his pack. Annie, Frank, Frida and her husband also confront other monsters during the winter season in Germany. Sometimes they have to kill them. Other times, Annie is able to use persuasion to make them stop their evil ways.

This was an entertaining episode in the Elemental Masters series. I liked the setting. I liked the mythology. I liked the worldbuilding. 

I bought this one November 18, 2025. You can buy your copy here.

Audiobook Review: An Irish Bookshop Murder by Lucy Connelly

An Irish Bookshop Murder
Author: Lucy Connelly
Narrator: Kimberly M. Wetherell
Series: Mercy McCarthy (Book 1)
Publication: Bookouture (August 22, 2024)
Length: 8 hours and 25 minutes

Description: Meet Ireland’s newest daring detective: she’s a bookstore owner, a coffee lover, and a crime writer. Now Mercy McCarthy needs a little Irish luck as she takes on her first case!

After receiving unexpected inheritance from her grandfather, Mercy and her twin sister Lizzie are now the proud owners of a charming antique bookshop in the tiny Irish village of Shamrock Cove But before they can take in the beautiful view of the sea, one of their neighbors drops dead!

Mercy finds the Judge, a well-respected man who lives next door, dying on his own doorstep. She rushes to help, but with his final words, he accuses Mercy of murder! Most of their new neighbors hear his words and, with suspicion pointing at Mercy, she decides to investigate the case to clear her name.

Searching amongst the Judge’s old books, Mercy uncovers letters proving several of the townsfolk had reason to dislike the judge—but was it the local pub landlord, the kindly cook or neighborly knitter who killed him?

Then Mercy’s chief suspect turns up dead and she receives a threatening note, typed on paper from her own bookstore… Ireland was supposed to be a fresh start for Mercy and Lizzie, but dead bodies keep turning up.

Does Mercy have what it takes to nail the culprit or will the killer close the book on her time in this charming Irish village?

My Thoughts: The first Mercy McCarthy mystery has the famous author moving to Ireland with her twin sister when they inherit a home and bookshop from a grandfather they never knew existed. 

Mercy and Lizzie are ready for a new start. Mercy has been dealing with a stalker and the loss of her mother to cancer. Lizzie is also dealing with her mother's death and the deaths of her fiance and her soon-to-be stepdaughter in a car accident. Lizzie's losses had her hospitalized and her twin determined to help her. 

A new start in Ireland is eagerly anticipated by both of them, but discovering the body of one of their neighbors is not the start they were hoping for. The Judge dies after a gathering to meet Mercy and Lizzie and, while Mercy tries CPR, she is unsuccessful. Even more strange is that the Judge seems to indicate that he suspects Mercy of his murder before he dies. 

The local police detective Kieran is the grandson of another of the residents of the exclusive court where Mercy and Lizzie have inherited a home. He is suspicious of Mercy who decides that she has to find out who murdered the Judge before she can continue writing her book which is a little schedule.

Since the Court, where their houses are, is a gated community, Mercy is certain that one of the other residents has to be the murderer. As she investigates, she gets to know the gay couple, the shop owner who butted heads with the Judge and her husband the accountant, the photographer who could be a model herself, and Kieran's grandmother. 

Mercy's career as a successful mystery author with a penchant for research gives her a leg up in investigating which Kieran is not very happy about. The two butt heads a lot, but he does take advantage of her talents. 

This was a cute cozy mystery that starts a series. I liked the characters and look forward to more of their adventures. 

I bought this one April 8. You can buy your copy here.

ARC Review: A Bitter Cut by Anna Lee Huber

A Bitter Cut
Author: Anna Lee Huber
Series: A Lady Darby Mystery (Book 14)
Publication: Berkley (June 23, 2026)

Description: Lady Kiera Darby plans to spend the summer reconnecting with friends and family in anticipation of the betrothal of her beloved brother. But when a future in-law is implicated in a murder, the party takes a deadly turn. . . 

July 1833. Lady Darby and her dashing husband, Sebastian Gage, are settling into their newly renovated home at Bevington Park in Warkwickshire with their young daughter. With the breach between them and Sebastian’s father recently healed, they've agreed to help host a country house party for friends and family to share in their joy. Kiera is also anxious to help promote a match between her brother, Trevor, and the woman he’s fallen in love with, inviting her family to join them. However, Kiera swiftly discovers that the would-be bride’s family is not without their detractions. Her brother is unpleasant. Her mother is abrasive. And her father—the prosperous industrialist Jeremiah Birnam—is brusque, discourteous, and, at times, downright rude.

So when Mr. Birnam’s secretary is found murdered with Birnam standing over her body, many are content to allow him to take the blame. But neither Kiera nor Sebastian believes he did it, and in spite of his bluster and boorish behavior, they can’t let an innocent man be hung for another’s crime. Unfortunately, Birnam had his fair share of enemies at the house party, and any one of them might have struck out at his secretary in order to get to him. It's up to Kiera and Sebastian to uncover the truth and salvage Birnam’s reputation. As the couple slowly inches their way closer to the truth and threats emerge against their loved ones, Kiera begins to fear that the price of solving the crime may mean sacrificing her brother’s future happiness.

My Thoughts: It's 1833. Keira and Gage have recently reconciled with Gage's father and have renovated the dower house on his estate for their country home. They are hosting a house party. Keira has invited the family of the young woman her brother Trevor is courting. Except for the young lady Trevor is courting, the family has a number of problems. The brother is unpleasant. The mother rude and abrasive and the father - industrialist Jermiah Birnam is discourteous and downright rude. 

Mr. Birnam has also brought his secretary who is, most unusually, a young woman. Keira fears that she might be a mistress snuck into the company when Birnam demands that she be invited to dine with the company. The dinner is already difficult for Keira to manage since Birnam is determined to convince Lord Gage's political guests against supporting a bill which would allow inspectors into mills and factories. 

When the young secretary is found murdered with Oil of Vitriol, Keira and Gage have a murder to solve before the rest of the large house party assembles. However, they are getting no cooperation from the Birnams who should know the young woman the best. 

I enjoyed this historical mystery. It is the 14th book in the series. I like seeing how Keira has grown to accept her differences with the love and support of her husband and family. I like the way Keira and Gage work together along with their personal attendants and Lord Gage to solve the crime. I also like the setting and time period of the mystery. 

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

Book Review: A Liaden Universe Constellation Volume 6 by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller

A Liaden Universe Constellation Volume 6
Author: Sharon Lee & Steve Miller
Series: Liaden Universe Constellation
Publication: Baen Books (May 5, 2026)

Description: A constellation of shining stories set in the vastly diverse space opera world of the Liaden series

The sixth Constellation collects eleven stories set in Sharon Lee and Steve Miller’s vast, versatile, and beloved Liaden Universe®. Themes range from military to western to found family, and include discovery stories and novel outtakes. All showcase Lee and Miller’s deft touch with characterization and their acclaimed world-building skill. Also included in this volume is the text of Sharon Lee’s speech accepting the Robert A. Heinlein Award for outstanding published works in science fiction literature, which was presented at the 59th Baltimore Science Fiction Convention.

Stories included in this collection are: “Standing Orders,” “Gadreel’s Folly,” “The Last Train to Clarkesville,” “Wise Child,” “Songs of the Fathers,” “From Every Storm a Rainbow,” “Our Lady of Benevolence,” “Chimera,” “Neutral Ground,” “Mother’s Love,” and “Core Values,” plus a foreword from the author, original to this volume.

My Thoughts: This sixth collection of Liaden stories includes mostly stories written in 2025. However, Chimera was published on Baen.com in 2015 and then just slipped through the cracks. Wise Child and Standing Orders were published in 2016 and 2021 but never collected in earlier constellations.

These stores all fit into the Liaden Universe though some like The Last Train to Clarksville are really out there and nowhere close to the main lines of the novels. Clarksville is the authors' take on a Western complete with animals that are the equivalent of buffalo and beef cattle. It even includes a posse chasing after the hero who manages to rescue two sweet young things when their vehicle is stuck on a train track with the train coming. 

A number of the stories are what is known as origin stories. One is Tollance Berik-Jones's story as he manages to escape from the Lyre Institute one more time. His job is to mentor self-aware machine intelligences. He appears in a few of the later mainline novels. A second origin story is that of Geritsi slentAlin who is one of the Haosa on Colemeno. 

Two of the stories give different takes on Torin and Vaiza Xinrood who are orphans sent from Civilization to the Haosa to get them out of the way. Neither story is canon since there is still a third telling of Torin and Viaza's story in one of the Colemeno books. 

Perhaps the story I enjoyed the most was the one that told what happened to Lomar Fasholt and her family after they were forced to flee from their home world. We first met her in one of the very earliest Liaden books because she was a trade partner with Shan yos'Galan before the Department of the Interior totally disrupted things for Clan Korval.

All in all, the stories were engaging and good at filling in some blank spots or exploring new settings within the Liaden Universe. 

I bought this one May 10. You can buy your copy here.

Audiobook Review: Death of an Irish Mummy by Catie Murphy

Death of an Irish Mummy
Author: Catie Murphy
Narrator: Ruth Urquhart
Series: Dublin Driver Mysteries (Book 3)
Publication: Tantor Media (August 17, 2021)
Length: 7 hours and 3 minutes

Description: Squiring a self-proclaimed heiress around Dublin has got limo driver Megan Malone's Irish up until she finds the woman dead....

American-born Cherise Williams believes herself to be heir to an old Irish earldom, and she's come to Dublin to claim her heritage. Under the circumstances, Megan's boss Olga at Leprechaun Limos has no qualms about overcharging the brash Texas transplant for their services. Megan chauffeurs Cherise to the ancient St. Michan's Church, where the woman intends to get a wee little DNA sample from the mummified earls - much to the horror of the priest.

But before she can desecrate the dead, Cherise Williams is murdered - just as her three daughters arrive to also claim their birthright. With rumors of famine-era treasure on the lands owned by the old Williams family and the promise of riches for the heirs, greed seems a likely motive. But when Olga surprisingly becomes the Garda's prime suspect, Megan attempts to steer the investigation away from her boss and solve the murder with the help of the dashing Detective Bourke. With a killer who's not wrapped too tight, she'll need to proceed with caution - or she could go from driving a limo to riding in a hearse....

My Thoughts: The third Dublin Driver mystery has Megan Malone driving a self-proclaimed heiress to an earldom named Cherise Williams around Ireland as she tries to get a DNA sample from the deceased earl to prove her right to the inheritance. When Megan finds her client dead, her boss Orla's first thought is to fire Megan and kick her out of her apartment. 

Orla had been content to overcharge the brash Texan but doesn't want the bad publicity Megan's finding of her third corpse will bring to Leprechaun Limos. When the deceased's three bickering daughters arrive from Texas and demand Megan as a chauffeur, Orla has to retreat from her position at least temporarily.

Megan and the three Williams girls are determined to fulfill their mother's last wishes. Someone killed Cherise apparently to keep her from inheriting what looks like an empty title. They all want to know why and who.

I enjoyed this mystery. I like Megan who's an ex-pat from Texas making a new life for herself after twenty years in the military. She's settling into Ireland and happy in her job except when bodies keep turning up. 

I bought this one April 8. You can buy your copy here.

Audiobook Review: A Terrible Fall of Angels by Laurell K. Hamilton

A Terrible Fall of Angels
Author: Laurell K. Hamilton

Narrator: Holter Graham
Series: Zaniel Havelock (Book 1)
Publication: Berkley (August 17, 2021); Penguin Audio (August 17, 2021)

Length: 12 hours and 9 minutes

Description: Angels walk among us, but so do other unearthly beings in this brand new series by #1 New York Times bestselling author Laurell K. Hamilton.

Meet Detective Zaniel Havelock, a man with the special ability to communicate directly with angels. A former trained Angel speaker, he devoted his life to serving both the celestial beings and his fellow humans with his gift, but a terrible betrayal compelled him to leave that life behind. Now he’s a cop who is still working on the side of angels. But where there are angels, there are also demons. There’s no question that there’s evil at work when he’s called in to examine the murder scene of a college student—but is it just the evil that one human being can do to another, or is it something more? When demonic possession is a possibility, even angelic protection can only go so far. The race is on to stop a killer before he finds his next victim, as Zaniel is forced to confront his own very personal demons, and the past he never truly left behind.

The first in a new series from the author of the Anita Blake and Merry Gentry series.

My Thoughts: Zaniel Havelock is a police detective who works in the magical crimes division. He's a former angel speaker. His current case takes him to the scene of a brutal rape/murder of a college coed. It is soon clear that the case is about a demon possession, but it is unclear at first whether the young man possessed was willing or unwilling. 

As Zaniel, called Havoc by his colleagues, investigates, he is also dealing with a failing marriage that he really does not want to fail. He wants to fix things up with his schoolteacher wife so that he can return to his home and three-year-old son. He's trying to fit marriage counseling into a life that is already full of this current case. 

I enjoyed meeting Zaniel and wandering in his world. His psychic gifts caused his parents to give him to the College of Angels at the age of seven for his education. He spent time there with his friends Levaniel and Siriel until Levaniel was thrown out of the organization when his mind broke from his interactions with angels. Then Zaniel left, joined the Army and then the police force. 

The world is one in which angels and other beings also live. The College of Angels is very much a Christian organization with a close relationship with angels. It disdains other creeds. Zaniel's life experiences and work colleagues show him that witches and shamans and their guardian spirits are also valid ways of interacting with the supernatural. 

The worldbuilding was intriguing.

I bought this one as a Kindle book March 17, 2026, and as an audiobook May 16, 2026. You can buy your copy here.