Finished VINEYARDS CAN BE MURDER

 

This is the second in the series and I have really enjoyed both.  Possibly because I enjoy wine tasting and have sampled some throughout the country.  They are also good mysteries.  Lots of suspects (red herrings), great atmosphere, and the thirty-something angst that makes me giggle.   It also had some suspense...what more can you ask?

I have now started Million Dollar Demon, 15th in the Hollows series by Kim Harrison.  And once again I have to thank the author for writing more books to continue the series she had planned to stop.  Life, it turns out, does continue after you have gotten everything you want with more harrowing adventures and great new characters to meet.

Finished NIGHTSEER

 

Though it started slow (a lot of really wonderful characters to introduce) it picked up and kept me "spellbound" as the front of the book says.  The second half of the book was full of action and quite satisfactory.  I recommend it.

I have now started Vineyards Can Be Murder, the second book in the series.  Like the first book in the series the characters are hampered with 30-something angst, which can be amusing.  Our heroine (ex-military and ex-police) is now working at a winery (I admit to being a wine afficiando) where an important staff member has been murdered.  She has too much respect for the police to interfere, but she is observant and communicates with the police chief of her small town.

I have shelved Boom Town by Garrison Kieller for a bit.

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.