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Retribution (A Claire Whitcomb Western #1)
Retribution (A Claire Whitcomb Western #1)
D.V. Berkom | 2020 | Crime, Thriller
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I am lucky enough to be a part of D.V. Berkom's advance reader team and I was sent a copy of this prior to it's release on 20-Nov-2020 for which I will be eternally grateful because what we have here is an introduction to what I believe will be another excellent series featuring a strong female character.

I am not normally one for reading westerns, in fact I usually give them a wide berth and don't even bother reading the blurb but given I have read several of D.V. Berkom's books featuring the excellent Leine Basso, when I was asked if I would like to receive an advance copy, I thought why the heck not and I was so pleased I did.

Claire, her husband Josiah and 3 children move to the Wild West in search of a new life however, tragedy strikes when Josiah and the children are brutally killed and Claire is left alone. It soon transpires that Claire is being accused of the murders and so she teams up with Mart and Thomas to clear her name and seek revenge.

This is a fast paced read with excellent characters, great setting and exciting plot. If I have one complaint, it's that it's over way too quickly; I was left wanting to read more now ... oh well, I will just have to wait to see what scrapes and adventures Claire finds herself mixed up in and how her character develops as she roams the Wild West on her trusty steed, Rose.

Thank you to D.V. Berkom for writing another absolute cracker, for giving me the opportunity to broaden my horizons and for introducing me to another genre ... now hurry up and get the next one finished 😉
  
Blood of the Dragonfly (The Moccasin Hollow Mystery Series)
Blood of the Dragonfly (The Moccasin Hollow Mystery Series)
Hawk MacKinney | 2021 | Mystery, Thriller
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Blood of the dragonfly is book five of this series. It continues the series of crime-fighting and solving murders now in the backyard of to ex seals. If you are into mysteries and murder, this series is a good one for you.

Though I would suggest that you be wary that there are death scenes and some nasty words for some readers. This book is for adults, and I recommend maybe ages 16 to 17 years old and up. However, that is up to the parents and their choice to read this book or series. This series has different ratings for content for each book.

There seem to be quite a few twists and turns throughout the book. It all starts when Craige decides to help his buddy MacGerald get home from PDK airport. It seems to start up with a mysterious shadow that he thinks he spots. Someone somehow comes alive after being dead?

You will go for a ride and hit some bumps along the way. It starts heating up when Spinner decides to come for a visit at Moccasin Hollow. Will they find out who started the fire? Who is this mystery woman that shows up out of nowhere? Who messed with MacGerarald's investigation? Who wants them all dead? What does the dragonfly have to do with it at all?

Suppose you are into thrillers and suspense and mystery. This book and series is a good one to pick up and read. I have rated this book 4.5 stars (Moons). It seems to have puzzles and clues to have you guessing until the end. What did I know more about how Corpsewood Manor was the target or a little more detail about what was going on to set fire to Corpsewood?
  
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Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) created a post

Jul 30, 2021  
Check out this great book trailer for the cozy mystery 70% DARK INTENTIONS by Amber Royer Author on my blog, and enter the giveaway to try to win an autographed copy of the book!

https://alltheupsandowns.blogspot.com/2021/07/book-blitz-and-giveaway-70-dark.html

**BOOK SYNOPSIS**
An Idyllic Chocolate Shop. An island with endangered species. And a murder.
Felicity Koerber’s bean to bar chocolate shop on Galveston’s historic Strand is bringing in plenty of customers – in part due to the notoriety of the recent murder of one of her assistants, which she managed to solve. Things seem to be taking a turn for the better. Her new assistant, Mateo, even gets along with Carmen, the shop’s barista turned pastry chef. Felicity thinks she’s learning to cope with change – right up until one of her friends gets engaged. Everyone’s expecting her to ask Logan, her former bodyguard, to be her plus one. But even the thought of asking out someone else still makes her feel disloyal to her late husband’s memory -- so maybe she hasn’t moved on from her husband’s death as much as she thought.

Felicity isn’t planning to contact Logan any time soon. Only, Felicity finds ANOTHER body right outside her shop – making it two murders at Greetings and Felicitations in as many months. That night, Mateo disappears, leaving Felicity to take care of his pet octopus. The police believe that Mateo committed the murder, but Felicity is convinced that, despite the mounting evidence, something more is going on, and Mateo may actually be in trouble.

When Logan assumes that he’s going to help Felicity investigate, she realizes she’s going to have to spend time with him – whether she’s ready to really talk to him or not. Can Felicity find out what happened to Mateo, unmask a killer, and throw an engagement party all at the same time?
     
Rocco and the Price of Lies
Rocco and the Price of Lies
Adrian Magson | 2020 | Mystery, Thriller
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
So, this book follows Inspector Rocco in solving three murders of famous and powerful people, where forged paintings, theft and deceit are involved. I really liked multiple perspectives used in this novel, I like the ability to read the thoughts of not only the positive but negative characters as well. I liked Lucas Rocco as a lead character, I think he is an intelligent and good detective.

This book is set in France, and I really enjoyed reading about the French way of police work, it was quite new and refreshing for me. The beginning was a little slow for me, but later it picked up the pace, and all the turns and twists made this book more entertaining. Even though it is part of the series, I think this book can easily be read as a stand-alone, as a first-time reader, I was able to understand what was going on. I think the research for this novel was very well done, and I was able to learn a few new things as well.

I liked the writing style of this book, it was simple and easily understandable, but at the same time, I could feel the French atmosphere in every chapter. The chapters were pretty short, and this book didn’t leave me bored, the pages just flew by. I liked the ending of this book, I think it rounded the story well and left me satisfied with the outcome.

So, to conclude, it was a pleasant mystery book, filled with unique and amusing characters as well as a well-delivered plot. If you like French mystery books, I think you would enjoy this novel as well, if you are looking for something new (like I was), do give this book a go, and I hope you will like it as much as I did.
  
The Sound
The Sound
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
4.5 stars.

I happened to really like this, so I am very glad I bought it in paperback when I had the chance. It was just what I was in the mood for so I'm happy right now.

It started a little shaky but I found myself so engrossed in the story that I devoured it fairly quickly for a physical book.

I loved the setting: Nantucket Island. It sounds quite lovely.
<a href="http://s216.photobucket.com/user/leannecrab/media/tumblr_lrjkslF5sB1qfgo4ro1_500.gif.html"; target="_blank"><img src="http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc19/leannecrab/tumblr_lrjkslF5sB1qfgo4ro1_500.gif"; border="0" alt=" photo tumblr_lrjkslF5sB1qfgo4ro1_500.gif"/></a>

And having a bonfire on the beach sounds cool too. Can't say we do that often over here in the UK (not that I know of anyway)
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I grew to really like Jesse. He was so protective of his friends and family.

Some of the other characters were fairly annoying, but I don't focus on that I focus on the romance between characters not the book as a whole, so it didn't really bother me.

To say it involved a bit of a love triangle I have to say it was fairly obvious who Ren was more interested in when she was seen to spend more time with Jesse than Jeremy, who just seemed a bit too perfect to be real.

I had my suspicions about who was behind the nanny murders and I was partly correct but I'm not going to go into detail. The only thing that bothered me was the ending. It just seemed to happen/end a little too abruptly for my liking but I still really liked it :D