Started NIGHTSEER

 

This is Laurell K. Hamilton's first novel.  The 'verse she surrounds is hugely inventive and complicated.  Lots of different places, characters (each with their own powers) and very active.  If it hadn't been so fascinating I might have been intimidated by the intricacy of plot, characters, and world.  I'm really glad I wasn't.

I stopped reading Boom Town only because the book did not fit in the console in my car and I was about to drive from Venice, FL to Lake Dallas, TX.  Then I got caught by this new book.  I may shelve Boom Town for a bit, but I will come back to it.

Finished THE UNFORGIVEN

 

And back again we have gone to New Orleans, but first, the Florida Keys.  Knowing where things are in these cities and what they look like enhances my enjoyment for sure.  I've enjoyed all of these books...romance, mystery, a bit of thriller, and ghosts.  They are great.  What's not to like?

I have now started Boom Town, by Garrison Keillor.  Going back to Lake Wobegon at 80 for the funeral of a friend, Gary remenisces, notices differences, and catches up with old friends.  The town is much changed...  and much the same.

Read another 50 pages of JONATHAN STRANGE AND MR. NORRELL

 

No sooner does Jonathan return from France after helping Lord Wellington win the war with Napoleon, he is expected to cure the King of his madness.  Now everything is going awry.

I have now begun The Unforgiven by Heather Graham.  Twelve years ago when Katie was 15, she returned to her parents' boat to find her parents and one of their friends butchered with an axe.  Three people were missing, one of her parents' friends and a new couple they had just met.  Six years later another slaughter took place at a house in Orlando.  Now another horrendous such crime has occurred in New Orleans.  Katie lives there now and the original detective is called in again for the third time.

Finished BY HER OWN DESIGN

 

Well, I looked up Ann Lowe on line and, yes, she was a real person.  Piper Huguley took what few facts are known about her, and strung them together into a very plausible first person biography, (which reads as an autobiography).  I especially loved the experience of designing for Gasparrilla here in Tampa.  We have enjoyed watching the parade live on TV and have laughed at many of the costumes.  On line, I found pictures of Ann Lowe and of the dresses she made.  Very readable.

I am now going back to Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell.  Jonathan is now accompanying Lord Wellington as he traverses Europe fighting Napoleon.  The magic he performs to help the war effort is very funny as well as silly.  What a fun section.

Finished PIXIE DUST

 

I can't tell you how much I love this author.  Pixie Dust turns out to be dark matter which can be any amount of trouble if it is inside you as it is in our heroine.  I love her lessons learned (both scientifically and about life) as she navigates her problem.  Science Fiction extraordinaire.

I have now started By Her Own Design by Piper Huguley.  And I start this out confused.  I have no idea if Anne Lowe was a real person, or not.  The author calls this a novel in the introduction, but the blurb on the back says she existed.  Perhaps this is a novelized biography which is necessary if few records remain about the facts.  I'm hooked, though.  This is the black designer who may or may not have designed Jackie Kennedy's wedding dress and the dresses of her attendants.

Finished THE SILENT SPIRIT

 

Two people have disappeared.  The first, found by Father O'Malley, we know was murdered.  The other vanished 100 years ago.  One would think that the first would be easy to solve.  One might not understand that the older would be key to solving the present.  The complicated plot was made even more complicated by Father O'Malley and Vicky Holden looking in the wrong direction, riling up the local drug dealers.  Excellent story.

I have just begun Pixie Dust, another sci-fi book by Henry Melton.  Working on an advanced physics degree with her professor, Jenny causes the vacuum created with antimatter to rise uncontrollably endangering both their lives.  Now her professor is dead and the documentation for the experiment has vanished.

Finished ON THE STREET WHERE YOU LIVE

 

This was a little different.  We were introduced to all the suspects and had to figure out who the murderer was in two different sets of murders 100 years apart.  Of course, I didn't.  But I did figure out some that it was not.  Very readable and fun like all of MHC's books.

I have now started The Silent Spirit, A Wind River Mystery.  Actually this is the 14th book in the series.  It has started with Father O'Malley picking up a hitchhiker, Kiki Wallowingbull,  who has decided to go to Hollywood.  After taking him out to breakfast and hearing his story (Kiki's great-grandfather went to Hollywood to act in a silent film during the 1920's.  He never returned and Kiki wants to know why.)  Father O'Malley dropped him off at the entrance to the freeway as Kiki wanted...