Diners, Dives and Dead Ends
Terri L. Austin
July 2012
Henery Press
Last Diner Standing
Terri L. Austin
November 2012
Henery Press
I really don't remember how I ran across Diners, Dives and Dead Ends. I was probably trolling for something light and funny to download to my kindle and it sounded like the very thing. The price was right so I downloaded and enjoyed every word. Now I am a big fan of Rose Strickland and Terri L. Austin.
Rose is a 24 year-old waitress working at Ma's Diner and attending the local community college. She has been drifting for a while, much to her wealthy and socially prominent family's dismay. Never mind that the same family kicked her out and quit supporting her when she refused to return to the hoity-toity women's college that her parents insisted she attend. Rose may not be doing well financially, but at least she has a wide circle of friends and has a life that she has control of. Sort of.
Diners, Dives and Dead Ends introduces Rose and her motley crew of co-workers at Ma's. There is Ma herself, feisty octogenarian; her son, Ray, the monosyllabic and downtrodden cook; and Roxy, fashion-challenged, blue-haired ex-juvenile delinquent fellow waitress. These folks are not the cream of society but they are Rose's friends and she is fiercely loyal. When her best friend, Ax, computer geek and stoner, leaves his backpack with her and promptly disappears, Rose is on a mission. Even if no one else cares, Rose is going to find Ax. In the course of her investigation Rose meets Sullivan, handsome criminal mastermind. Sullivan is definitely a bad boy, but he seems to have a soft spot for Rose (and she for him). Rose is confronted with life-threatening danger during her search for Ax and prevails but at a great cost to her peace of mind.
Last Diner Standing finds Rose still suffering the effects of her first investigation. But when another friend from community college, Janelle Johnson, is accused of attacking her ex-husband, "Asshat", and leaving him comatose it's Rose to the rescue again. She knows there is no way that Janelle is guilty and that Janelle's small children need their mother. Sullivan becomes involved when Rose asks him to bail Janelle out. Rose discovers that someone has been keeping Sullivan under surveillance and there is a hit out on him. Added to all that drama is Ma going to war against a competitor for the local lunch business.
Both of the books are filled to the brim with colorful and well-realized characters. Strippers, cops, gangsters and street people are all vivid figures. But it's Rose that I like so much, a good and loyal friend to all. She has the ability to see the good in almost any one. Sullivan is a bad guy, but we don't know how bad exactly. He is always supportive to Rose, though, and I have to hope that he isn't all THAT bad. No doubt we will find out in future books in the series. (I'm thinking Roarke here!)
The Rose Strickland Mysteries are highly recommended well-plotted and fun, quick reads. Stephanie Plum fans should also enjoy Rose and her adventures.
RATING 4.5 Chef's hats
SCENT OF MAGIC (Healer Trilogy #2)
Maria V. Snyder
Harlequin MIRA
December 2012
I have been a fan of Maria V. Snyder since the first Trilogy she wrote for MIRA, the Study series. While Study remains a favorite, I can't say the same for the Glass Trilogy. I could not make the same sort of connection with the characters. I think that was a matter of personal taste because I know many readers were happy with Glass. Healer # 1, Touch of Power, brought me firmly back into fan territory.
In Touch of Power we met Avry, the last healer in the Fifteen Realms. The Healers were blamed for the plague that killed six million people and were hunted down and killed. Avry alone survived by running and hiding for three years. When she is finally captured it is to heal Prince Ryne of the plague even though the healing will mean her own death. She has other reasons to refuse to heal him however. Her journey, and that of her captors to Prince Ryne's side make up the first of the Trilogy.
Scent of Magic opens where Touch of Power ended. Avry is thought to be dead by all but a few and she can go under cover into the enemy's camps and find her surviving sister, Noelle. Noelle blames Avry because she did not come home to her family while the plague was killing them. Enemies are plentiful, especially King Tohon, the megalomaniacal life magician who is trying to take control of all the Fifteen Realms. Snyder can write a villain that one really loves to hate and Tohon is a prime specimen. Avry's lover, Kerrick, is unwilling to let her go alone, but Avry is nothing if not stubborn. Besides, Kerrick has his own mission to accomplish for Prince Ryne. Scent of Magic switches back and forth between Avry and Kerrick and their individual adventures. Both will suffer much danger and heartache before the are reunited- and Scent of Magic has quite a cliffhanger. Too bad it will be another year before we can find out what happens!
Scent of Magic is a mixture of action of action, adventure and romance that should appeal to a wide audience of readers. Thanks to MIRA and netgalley.com for an advance digital copy in return for an honest review.
RATING- 4 stars
COLD DAYS (Dresden Files #14)
Jim Butcher narr. James Marsters
Penguin Audio
November 2012
Who would have thought a dozen or so years ago that the Harry Dresden of Storm Front would grow into the epic and powerful wizard of Cold Days? Not me, that's for sure! When we first met Harry he was the only practicing wizard in the Chicago phone book, subsisting on wizarding jobs here and there and a monthly stipend from the Chicago PD. His contact with the PD is Karin Murphy, who heads up the "woo-woo squad", an investigative arm looking into crimes that can't be explained by normal means. The first few books appeared to be romps through the supernatural world solving crimes with wizardly pyrotechnics. Harry is increasing his power and abilities, putting together a loyal band of allies and making enemies right and left. As his usual method of solving problems involves blowing things up and/or setting things on fire, the enemy part is not surprising.
In the course of the two books leading up to Cold Days Harry has lost everything but his allies and upset the balance of power in the supernatural world. He even lost his life for a while and was brought back by Mab, Queen of the Winter Court of the Fae. Mab has been pursuing Harry for years to take the position of Winter Knight, the Queen's Assassin. Harry has always resisted but when he needs a power boost he swears fealty. Mab, cold-hearted and megalomaniacal, is not one to let a little thing like death thwart her. After months of traditional physical therapy and a daily murder attempt by Mab, he is ready to make his debut as Winter Knight. His first assignment is to kill Maeve, Winter Lady and Mab's daughter! Not only is this impossible as Maeve is an immortal, but back in Chicago Harry has to save the world from a new and very nasty enemy- all in the space of roughly twenty-four hours.
His band of allies are all familiar figures, Karin, Harry's apprentice Molly Carpenter, his half-vampire brother,Thomas, and some folks who may or may not really be allies. Some old villians show up, intent on finally extracting revenge and keeping him from his missions. Plot twists and turns abound and by the book's end everything changes for Harry again. Harry's relationship with Karin, always "one step forward and two back" comes to a resolution of sorts.
I am always eager for a new installment of the Dresden Files and I think this may be Jim Butcher's best book yet. Long after I have gotten bored with other Urban Fantasy series, the Dresden Files remains the gold standard. I am impressed that in the course of writing about Harry, Butcher also managed to write another favorite series, the Codex Alera. Codex is over and lamented, but Harry goes on.
James Marsters has narrated thirteen of the fourteen books in the series and has become the voice of Harry Dresden for me. I prefer the audio to the print versions now, but I highly recommend them in either format.
RATING- 5 Stars
Flame of Sevenwaters (Sevenwaters #6)
Juliet Marillier
November 2012
ROC
The publication of a new book by Juliet Marillier is always a drop everything and read occasion for me. One set in the Sevenwaters world is even more so. Like many other readers, the first three books remain my favorites in the series, particularly Son of the Shadows. That was a "don't know how many tissues" read. Liadan and Bran remain my favorite Sevenwaters characters.
Set in Druidic Ireland, the Sevenwaters family has the guardianship of mysterious Sevenwaters forest where one can step into the Fey Otherworld if one is not careful. Christianity is growing thoughout the British Isles, but at Sevenwaters they keep to the old religion. Things are very unsettled in Sevenwaters as there have been many disappearances and grotesque murders on Sevenwaters land. These are no doubt the doing of Mac Dara, the evil Fey Lord of the Oak. Mac Dara is desperate to force his half-blood son, Cathal, married to one of the Sevenwaters daughters, to return to the Otherworld and become it's new ruler. The disappearances are a way to accomplish this by stirring up discord among the local chieftains.
Maeve, one of the Sevenwaters daughters, has been living with her Aunt Liadan in Britain for 10 years. Maeve was burned badly in a fire as a child and somewhat scarred. The most serious consequences are scarring of her hands that render her mostly unable to accomplish every day tasks. She does however have a great talent, the ability to bond with and train animals using her voice alone. When her father, Lord Sean, asks that a particularly promising and temperamental yearling be sent from Britain as a peace offering to the Chieftain of Tirconnell, Maeve is the logical choice to accompany the amimal.
Maeve is not happy to return to Sevenwaters. She has settled into a new life in Britain and fears that her disability will make her a liability at home. She has many issues about her hands and face but she can't avoid the homecoming this time. Coming home is indeed difficult, but Maeve reluctantly finds that she and her younger brother Finbar are perhaps the only people who can stop Mac Dara.
Flame of Sevenwaters is a very solid entry into the Sevenwaters series. Intensely suspenseful and unexpectedly romantic, I very much enjoyed it. Juliet Marillier is a wonderful folklorist and a riveting storyteller. I am looking forward to more books from the Sevenwaters world and it seems to me that there are new stories foreshadowed in Flame.
RATING- 4.5 Stars
A Fatal Winter
G. M. Malliet
October 2012
St. Martins Minotaur
Every once in a while those of us who grew up on the works of Agatha Christie and later, those of Caroline Graham just need a visit to the lovely villages of England for a dose of murder and mayhem. G. M. Malliet filled that need with last year's Wicked Autumn and now A Fatal Winter. I can assure you, though, that Dame Agatha never had as dishy a sleuth as Max Tudor, Anglican Vicar and ex-MI5 operative. Nor was her pen quite as acid.
Max felt a call to the priesthood after the death of his partner in a bombing intended for him. He is well settled now in the picturesque village of Nether Monkslip and if the ladies of the church would stop trying to marry him off, mostly content. He is forming a close friendship (and maybe more) with Awena Owen, proprietor of the local New Age Shop. Matters are not so content however at nearby Chedrow Castle. After years of ignoring his family Oscar, Lord Footrustle, has invited them for Christmas. Quite a nest of vipers they are too. The permanent residents of the castle are Lady Baynard, Oscar's widowed sister, and her adopted grand-daughter, Lamorna. The invitees include Lady Baynard's two sons, wives and hangers-on; Oscar's failed Hollywood actress daughter from his first marriage and husband; and Oscar's newest ex-wife with adolescent twins. Oscar's relations all wonder just what Oscar is up to and how they can profit. When Lord Footrustle is found brutally murdered in his bed and Lady Baynard a few minutes later dead in the conservatory the fun really begins. It's clear that Lord Footrustle was murdered but what about Lady Baynard?
A call goes out to Max asking for help with the funeral arrangements and a second call from Max's friend DCI Cotton of the Monkslip-super-Mare Police. Can Max help solve these murders? In the days following Max finds out many family secrets and uncovers a diabolical plot. A Fatal Winter is a very tightly plotted puzzle and plays with all the conventions of the traditional country house mystery. The quirky residents of Nether Monkslip all have their respective parts to play in this very enjoyable entry in the series.
RATING- 3.5 stars
THE BUZZARD TABLE
Margaret Maron
Grand Central Publishing
November 2012
The newest installment in the long-running Deborah Knott series returns home to fictional Colleton County in North Carolina after last year's Three Day Town. As a native North Carolinian I find the Deborah Knott novels almost a good as a visit home. But my, how the place has changed over the years!
The Buzzard Table has the sort of complex and layered plot that I have come to expect, full of the doings of Deborah's large extended family, the challenge of a new marriage to Dwight Bryant and a new step-son as well as the use of the county's small airfield for refueling CIA "rendition" flights. The refueling of the flights is a open secret- one that most don't care about, but some find abhorrent and try to stop by publicizing. A nearby group of citizens is trying it's best to scuttle the flights, the most visible of whom is a nerdy high school student.
Sigrid Harald, NYPD detective and her mother Anne Lattimore are also visiting. Anne's mother, the patrician Mrs. Lattimore is ill and failing. Mrs. Lattimore has asked her daughter and grand-daughter to help wind up her affairs. A long-lost Lattimore cousin, Martin Crawford, has also appeared. Crawford is an ornithologist studying the Southern vulture for an upcoming book. When the murder of a real estate agent, an assault on the nerdy student and the death of an unknown man in a nearby motel happen in swift succession Dwight Bryant has a lot of questions for Martin Crawford. Even though the investigation is taken over by the feds Dwight intends to get answers for what is happening in his county.
Well plotted and full of colorful characters, The Buzzard Table does not disappoint. Not only do we meet new fascinating characters, the usual colorful folk of Colleton County are back. Margaret Maron provides a wealth of facts about the Southern "turkey buzzard". at the beginning of each chapter. For instance, circling buzzards are called a "kettle"- who knew? Thanks to netgalley and Grand Central Publishing for an advance reading copy!
RATING- 4 Vultures
THIEFTAKER
D.B. Jackson
Tor/Forge
July 2012
THIEFTAKER by D. B. Jackson is a book that has been sitting on my TBR list for quite a while. After speeding my way through this very impressive debut fantasy I could only smack myself in the forehead and ask, "what took me so long"? Set in an alternate 1765 Boston roiling with preRevolutionary fervor and magic, THIEFTAKER tells the tale of Ethan Kaille, a conjurer trying to make a living by using his talents to catch thieves.
Ethan has had a very tough life. He was convicted as a mutineer against the Crown and lost over a decade of his life to penal servitude in the Indies. He lost the support of his family, his reputation and his first love and was brutalized in body and spirit. He is barely getting by and when he is hired by a rich merchant to discover the murderer of the merchant's daughter and to recover a brooch stolen from her. Ethan usually doesn't investigate murders but the pay is welcome. When he views the body Ethan knows that the murder was done by magic and only he can find out who the dangerous conjurer is. There have been other such murders and it is clear that a larger purpose is at work. Along the way it seems that everyone wants to stop his investigation by fair means or foul, especially Boston's chief thieftaker, Sephira Pryce.
THIEFTAKER is rich with period detail, action and wonderfully rounded characters both historical and completely fictional. Sam Adams, James Otis and Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor Hutchinson make appearances in supporting roles. Ethan himself is flawed and weary but has maintained his humanity despite his many losses. I am fascinated by Ethan's back story and hope that more details emerge of his family and especially the mutiny aboard the Ruby Blade that cost him so much. As for the beautiful and murderous Sephira Pryce, Ethan will surely have to settle up with her in future books.
RATING- 4 1/2 Tricornes
