Friday Memes: Murder at the Breakers by Alyssa Maxwell

 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:

Newport, Rhode Island, August 1895

She awoke that morning to an angry sea battering the edges of the promontory, and gusting winds that kicked up a spray to rattle against her bedroom windows. She might simply have rolled over, closed her eyes again and sunk pleasantly back into sleep, if not for the ...

Here the nib of my pen ran dry and scratched across the paper, threatening to leave a tear. If not for the what? I knew what I wanted to say; this was to be a novel of mystery and danger, but I was having a dickens of a time that morning finding the right words.

Friday 56:

With Mrs. Peterson's inquisitive gaze burning into my back, I hurried on. I exited through the alley without any trash-bin mishaps and came out onto Mary Street.

This week I am spotlighting Murder at the Breakers by Alyssa Maxwell which is a recent addition to my Kindle and Audiobook stack. I chose it because I like historical mysteries. Here is the description from Amazon:

In a historical mystery for Downton Abbey fans, a society reporter covers a killer party in Gilded Age Newport.

Newport, Rhode Island, August 1895: She may be a less well-heeled relation, but as second cousin to millionaire patriarch Cornelius Vanderbilt, twenty-one-year-old Emma Cross is on the guest list for a grand ball at the Breakers, the Vanderbilts’ summer home. She also has a job to do—report on the event for the society page of the Newport Observer.

But Emma observes much more than glitz and gaiety when she witnesses a murder. The victim is Cornelius Vanderbilt’s financial secretary, who plunges off a balcony faster than falling stock prices. Emma’s black sheep brother Brady is found in Cornelius’s bedroom passed out next to a bottle of bourbon and stolen plans for a new railroad line. Brady has barely come to before the police have arrested him for the murder. But Emma is sure someone is trying to railroad her brother and resolves to find the real killer at any cost . . .

Book Review: Imposter's Lure by Carla Neggers

Imposter's Lure 
Author: Carla Neggers
Series: Sharpe & Donovan (Book 8)
Publication: MIRA; Original edition (August 21, 2018)

Description: Tune in for an exhilarating page-turner where the disappearance of a federal prosecutor launches the latest high-stakes case for FBI agents Emma Sharpe and Colin Donovan.

When prosecutor Tamara McDermott is a no-show at a Boston dinner party, newlyweds Emma and Colin are suspicious. Matt Yankowski, head of HIT, Emma and Colin’s small, elite Boston-based team, is a friend of Tamara’s, and he needs them to find her.

In London, a woman who was supposed to meet Emma’s art-detective grandfather to talk about forgeries is discovered near death. Her husband has vanished. The couple’s connection to Tamara adds to the puzzle.

As the search intensifies, a seemingly unrelated murder leads Emma, Colin and HIT deep into a maze of misdirection created by a clever, lethal criminal. Emma must draw on her expertise in art crimes and Colin on his experience as a deep-cover agent as the investigation takes a devastating turn — a turn that tests the strengths of their families and friendships as well as their FBI colleagues like never before.

My Thoughts: This eighth Sharpe & Donovan mystery was filled with interesting characters and plot twists. It starts when a federal prosecutor invites them to her daughter Adalyn's 21st birthday celebration and then doesn't show up herself. While Adalyn is angry, she isn't really surprised. She knows her mother has been stressed and was on her way to an off-the-grid vacation. But Emma and Colin and especially their boss Yank, who is the prosecutor's friend, are more concerned.

Meanwhile in London, Wendell Sharpe has been invited to meet a woman named Verity Blackwood to answer her questions about art forgery. Verity is a friend of Adalyn's. When she doesn't show up at the meeting, Wendell along with with Henrietta and Oliver check her whereabouts and discover her in her hotel room near death from an opioid overdose. 

Checking further they discover that her husband didn't fly home from Maine with her and set Emma and Colin on the case of discovering where he is. 

This mystery is centered around Adalyn - her mother, her friends, her new boss. Adalyn is a college student studying archival restoration and preservation and she's got a new job with an art restorer whose current job has to do with restoring art by Fletcher Campbell who is suffering from Alzheimer's and who had a recent fire at his studio in Maine. 

I enjoyed this story. I like that the characters from earlier stories are continuing to grow and expand their characters. There is a large cast and the story is told from multiple viewpoints.

Favorite Quote:

"Car's here." Colin said. "If Graham took off on a kayak, he must have launched from close by the house."

"Unless someone picked him up, or stole the kayak, or he wants us to think he's disappeared or --" Emma sighed. "Or aliens beamed him up to their spaceship."

"There's always that."

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

ARC Review: Archangel's Light by Nalini Singh

Archangel's Light
Author: Nalini Singh
Series: Guild Hunter (Book 14)
Publication: Berkley (October 26, 2021)

Description: Nalini Singh returns to the world of the Guild Hunters for the most highly anticipated novel of the beloved series—a love story so epic it’s been half a millennia in the making…

Illium and Aodhan.  Aodhan and Illium. For centuries they’ve been inseparable: the best of friends, closer than brothers, companions of the heart. But that was before—before darkness befell Aodhan and shattered him, body, mind, and soul. Now, at long last, Aodhan is healing, but his new-found strength and independence may come at a devastating cost—his relationship with Illium.

As they serve side by side in China, a territory yet marked by the evil of its former archangel, the secret it holds nightmarish beyond imagining, things come to an explosive decision point. Illium and Aodhan must either walk away from the relationship that has defined them—or step forward into a future that promises a bond infinitely precious in the life of an immortal…but that demands a terrifying vulnerability from two badly bruised hearts.

My Thoughts: This is Illium and Aodhan's story. Through flashbacks we see key events in their 500 year long friendship from the time they met as baby angels to the current day in a Lijuan-ravaged China. We finally get the story of what happened to Aodhan when he was captured and imprisoned for twenty-three months of torture and then took 200 years of seclusion to come to terms with it and rebuild himself. We learn more about the hidden fractures in Illium too.

Aodhan and Illium have been at odds for the past year since the final defeat of Lijuan. Illium's need to protect is coming into direct conflict with Aodhan's need to be independent and strong on his own. Aodhan being seconded to Suyin - China's newly ascended archangel - threatens to make their quarrel and separation a permanent thing. 

But Raphael isn't going to give up one of his Seven to Suyin without a fight. He knows she wants to offer Aodhan the permanent position as her second since she asked him for permission to approach him. Raphael's secret weapon is Illium who he sends to China to provide more help for Suyin. He ceratinly hopes that will cause Illium and Aodhan to mend their differences and also bring them back to New York as parts of his Seven.

Flashbacks show how the relationship between the two of them grew over their lives and forced proximity in the current time forces them to finally talk to each other but what each of them needs in a relationship. 

While all of the Guild Hunter books have a central core of romance, this is the first in the series when the romance is between characters who have literally known each other all their lives. It is a wonderful exploration of how love changes with time. It was a lovely story.

Favorite Quote:

"Cubs grow," he'd said with a shrug when Illium asked him once. "Life moves. Only the old and the stupid don't move with it. The old have earned their rest, and the stupid will be eaten by predators."

Sometimes, Illium thought Naasir was the wisest person he knew.

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

ARC Review: Grave Reservations by Cherie Priest

Grave Reservations
Author: Cherie Priest
Publication: Atria Books (October 26, 2021)

Description: A psychic travel agent and a Seattle PD detective solve a murder in this quirky mystery in the vein of Lisa Lutz’s The Spellman Files and Charlaine Harris’s Aurora Teagarden series.

Meet Leda Foley: devoted friend, struggling travel agent, and inconsistent psychic. When Leda, sole proprietor of Foley's Flights of Fancy, impulsively re-books Seattle PD detective Grady Merritt’s flight, her life changes in ways she couldn’t have predicted.

After watching his original plane blow up from the safety of the airport, Grady realizes that Leda’s special abilities could help him with a cold case he just can’t crack.

Despite her scattershot premonitions, she agrees for a secret reason: her fiancé’s murder remains unsolved. Leda’s psychic abilities couldn’t help the case several years before, but she’s been honing her skills and drawing a crowd at her favorite bar’s open-mic nights, where she performs Klairvoyant Karaoke—singing whatever song comes to mind when she holds people’s personal effects. Now joined by a rag-tag group of bar patrons and pals alike, Leda and Grady set out to catch a killer—and learn how the two cases that haunt them have more in common than they ever suspected.

My Thoughts: Leda Foley is a travel agent (currently) and an inconsistent psychic. She is also still deeply grieving the murder of her fiancé - which she didn't see coming. When she rebooks a flight for police detective Grady Merritt which keeps him off a plane that slides off the runway and catches fire, Grady begins to think that Leda could be helpful in solving a cold case that is driving him crazy.

Leda and her best friend Niki are willing to help but Leda isn't confident in her abilities to actually be useful. As the two - and sometimes three of them - interview witnesses and explore crime scenes, Leda comes to believe that there is a connection between her fiancé's unsolved murder and the case that Grady is working on.

This was a very engaging story. I couldn't put it down. Leda is a wonderful, well-rounded character. I liked that she is honing her skills as a psychic by doing Klairvoyant Karaoke at her favorite bar which is managed by Niki's boyfriend. Currently, she's being paid in free drinks but as her reputation grows - in part because of publicity by the bar owner - she's going to be getting a cut of the night's receipts when she performs. 

I liked Grady too, He's a widower and a great parent to his seventeen-year-old daughter. He's also willing to stretch the bounds of what he previously believed and bring in Leda and her psychic insights if that is what it takes to solve crimes. 

This is the first book I've read by the author and a new direction for her writing according to her Acknowledgments. I hope she continues with more stories like this one which was thoroughly enjoyable.

Favorite Quote:

Niki knew Leda was only talking. Her friend had learned the hard way that warning people about tragic misfortune could lead to restraining orders, at best -- and at worst (just the one time), a ride in the back seat of a cop car. Because sometimes a frantic heads-up sounds like a threat. Apparently.

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

Book Review: Thief's Mark by Carla Neggers

Thief's Mark
Author: Carla Neggers
Series: Sharpe & Donovan (Book 7)
Publication: MIRA; Reissue edition (April 12, 2021)

Description: A murder in a quiet English village, long-buried secrets and a man’s search for answers about his traumatic past entangle FBI agents Emma Sharpe and Colin Donovan in the latest edge-of-your-seat Sharpe & Donovan novel

As a young boy, Oliver York witnessed the murder of his parents in their London apartment. The killers kidnapped him and held him in an isolated Scottish ruin, but he escaped, thwarting their plans for ransom. After thirty years on the run, one of his tormentors may have surfaced.

Emma Sharpe and Colin Donovan are on their Irish honeymoon when a break-in at the home of Emma’s grandfather, private art detective Wendell Sharpe, points to Oliver. The Sharpes have a complicated relationship with the likable, reclusive Englishman. Emma and Colin postpone meetings in London with their elite FBI team and head straight to Oliver. But when they arrive at York’s country home, a man is dead and Oliver has vanished.

As the danger mounts, questions arise about Oliver’s account of his boyhood trauma. Do Emma and Colin dare trust him? With the trail leading beyond Oliver’s village to Ireland, Scotland and their own turf in the US, the stakes are high, and Emma and Colin must unravel the decades-old tangle of secrets and lies before a killer strikes again.

My Thoughts: This 7th book in the Sharpe & Donovan series stars Oliver York. He saw his parents murdered and was kidnapped as an eight-year-old. He grew up to be a mythologist and thief. Wendell Sharpe had been on his trail since his second theft from an Amsterdam museum. But he began his career in art thievery by stealing paintings an a Celtic cross from a home in Declan's Cross.

Now his history in theft is known but for a number of reasons, including his usefulness to MI5, he hasn't been arrI lested or prosecuted. In fact, he's never admitted to being the thief Wendell Sharpe and the FBI hunted for so many years. 

For all the 30-some years since his kidnapping, he's been looking for the two men who killed his parents and kidnapped him. Even so, he didn't expect to find one of them murdered at his home in the Cotswolds. 

Henrietta Balfour was a neighbor of Oliver's since childhood. She was farmed off to her great aunt's whenever her parents wanted to do things without her which was most of the time. Henrietta became an expert gardener under her aunt's care but she also followed her favorite grandfather into working with MI5. She's left MI5 - a case of burn out - and is trying to establish herself as a garden designer. One of her first commissions is at Oliver's house which puts her right there when the body is discovered. 

I enjoyed the story and especially liked that Oliver finds romance with Henrietta. He's been such an intriguing character through so many of the earlier books in the series. I liked the way the past was woven into this story and I liked that Oliver finally found out what happened when his parents died. 

Favorite Quote:

Wendell was engaging in pure, in-your-face evasiveness. No wonder he's stuck to sparkling water. Colin snatched up his pint glass and nodded to Emma. "Do you want me to get the truth out of him or do you want me to...or just forget it and pretend drinks and a night at the Shelbourne are a last-minute wedding gift."

"They're a surprise wedding gift," Wendell said, unruffled. "They're not last-minute."

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

Book & Audio Review: Wolf Who Rules by Wen Spencer

Wolf Who Rules
Author: Wen Spencer
Narrator: Tana Eby
Series: Elfhome (Book 2)
Publication: Baen Books; 1st edition (April 1, 2006); Audible Studios (December 12, 2014)
Length: 366 p.; 13 hours and 10 minutes

Description: Tinker: just a quick-witted girl from Pittsburgh - who happens to be responsible for depositing high elves and her hometown humans into a melting pot of magic. Now the draconian oni seek to destroy the elves by breeding human git to do their evil bidding. But half-breeds who are half-human may not be the slaves the oni imagined. The revolt is on! Its leader A certain newly-minted elven princess from Pittsburgh, PA, by the name of Tinker.

My Thoughts: This story is a direct sequel to TINKER. It begins with a Prologue that catches up the reader on the main events in TINKER through the vehicle of Windwolf's participation in a ceremony of memory. Then the action begins...

Pittsburgh is stranded on Elfhome along with its 60,000 citizens who are mostly human but also include tengu and oni and half-oni. Windwolf and the Wind Clan need to root out the oni who are also immortal, breed like rabbits, and want to conquer Elfhome. It is too big a task and requires Windwolf to call in help from other clans. But this comes at a cost: the Stone Clan sees this as a weakness in Wind Clan and wants to institute a land grab and even assassinate Windwolf and Tinker and the Queen's representative also wants to gain a greater control in the Westernlands.

While Windwolf plays politics, Tinker is busy trying to clean up the mess left behind when she destroyed the interdimensional gate. Besides stranding Pittsburgh on Elfhome, it also left the ghost lands - a weird spatial discontinuity which seems to contain fractured pieces of various dimensions all jumbled together.

Tinker is also being plagued by dreams that seem to contain prophesy which are waking her screaming in the night and leaving her sleep deprived during the day. The dreams indicate that there is something she still needs to do to make things right. They contain elements from the Wizard of Oz which is odd because Tinker had not seen that movie. In it, she is the Scarecrow and is the one with the answers which she finds increasingly frustrating.

While helping xenobiologist Lain with a black willow - a mobile and dangerous tree, she needs to explore her grandfather's papers and discovers the family birth certificates but hers is missing and a strange file on a woman named Esme whose picture shows her to be one of the people who are starring in her dreams of Oz.

The story is action-packed and has great worldbuilding. I love that Tinker hasn't lost her human heart in her transformation to elf. I also like the look at Elven culture and the ways it is suited to a race that is potentially immortal. 

This book was immensely engaging and entertaining. I do recommend reading TINKER before this one despite the information catch-up of the prologue. While this book can stand alone, much depth and richness would come from reading TINKER first. 

Favorite Quote:

"So, on top of the royal troops and the oni, we have an unaligned dragon running loose in Pittsburgh."

"Well, a party is only fun if you invite lots of interesting people."

She stuck her tongue out at him.

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

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (October 18, 2021)

 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.

Other Than Reading...

I have spent most of the last week lost in the Liaden Universe. I've been listening to that series of books again while ignoring the gray, gloomy weather. I have also been watching the baseball playoff games with the sound off - except for my Atlanta Braves games - while listening to audiobooks. 

I also spent some time filling out my December calendar with books from my TBR mountain that still sound interesting. Whether I'll actually read them or toss them on the donate pile will be decided when I'm a few pages into each one.

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.)

• Fledgling by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller (Audiobook Reread) -- Here's my review of from July 9, 2011.
• Saltation by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller (Audiobook Reread) -- My review was included in the July 9, 2011 post. 
• One for the Money by D. B. Borton (Kindle; mine since January 2021) -- Fun mystery set in the 1980s and starring feisty grandmother Cat Caliban who is starting a new career as a detective now that she is widowed and the kids are raised. My review will be posted on November 18.

• Ghost Ship by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller (Audiobook Reread) -- Here's my review from May 4, 2011.
• Dragon Ship by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller (Audiobook Reread) -- Here's my review from May 12, 2012.
• The Gathering Edge by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller (Audiobook Reread) -- Here's my review from April 27, 2017.

Currently

• Dragon in Exile by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller (Audiobook reread) - At 70%
• A Murder Like No Author by Amy Lillard (Review; November 30) - At 2%

Next Week

Should Read:

• Last Redemption by Matt Coyle (November 30) 
• An Unexpected Distraction by Catherine Bybee (November 30)

• A Swift and Savage Tide by Chloe Neill (November 30)
• You'll Be the Death of Me by Karen M. McManus (November 30)

Probably Will Read:

• Alliance of Equals by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller
• Accepting the Lance by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller

• Trader's Leap by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller
• Neogenesis by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller

Reviews Posted

• The Box in the Woods by Maureen Johnson (finished 6/20/21)
• Poison Fruit by Jacqueline Carey (finished 7/15/21)
• For Whom the Book Tolls by Laura Gail Black (finished 8/5/21)

• Mercy Creek by M. E. Browning (finished 8/27/21)
• Keeper's Reach by Carla Neggers (finished 9/10/21)
• Liar's Key by Carla Neggers (finished 9/11/21)

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

Review:

• Last Redemption by Matt Coyle (November 30)
• Citizen K-9 by David Rosenfelt (March 15; Print surprise from the publisher)
• Under Lock & Skeleton Key by Gigi Pandian (March 22)

Audible $5 Sale:

• Beauty by Robin McKinley
• Betwixt by Darynda Jones

Print & Kindle:

• The Cat Caliban Mysteries (Books 1 - 4) by D. B. Borton
• The Cat Caliban Mysteries (Books 5 - 8) by D. B. Borton

• Then She Vanishes by Claire Douglas (Kindle; $1.99)
• The Twelve Dogs of Christmas by David Rosenfelt (Amazon Marketplace)

What was your week like?