Finished THE SPIDER'S WEB

 

Another mystery in which both John and Vicky were involved, but other characters solved it.  This ended a bit suspensefully but also a little slowly and even then a loose string was left.  I'm wondering if it will turn up in a later novel.  Once again, great characters and environment held my interest as well as the murders.  I enjoy this series.

I have now started Beneath the Amarillo Plains.  This is subtitled Jeff Kale, Brain Damaged Detective.  Henry Melton usually writes science fiction, which is what I love him for.  But this looks like a mystery, with a monkey wrench thrown in.  Someone was chasing Jeff and his friend and bumping into them, which caused the accident that has resulted in his brain damage, taking away his language center.   He has no idea who was chasing them...

Finishe PIECE OF MY HEART

 

And, unfortunately, this is the last of the Under Suspicion novels.  I am very sorry to see them go.  I have enjoyed them.  This was a little different from the others in that the tv show was a means to an end rather than an end in itself.  If it was Clark's last novel, it is a fitting one...

I have now begun The Spider's Web, another Wind River Mystery by Margaret Coel.  It has started with a double murder--looking like a home invasion, and the people who found the dead are too afraid to report it, thinking they will be blamed...  So, who will report it?

Finished LONG HOT SUMMONING

 

After reading Tanya Huff's Blood series and Smoke series, I looked for more books by this author.  All I found was the Valor series, which I didn't think I was interested in.  It turns out there is more out there in the minds of fantasy authors than just Vampires.  It seems that Hell (or something much like it) is constantly trying to break into our world.  Keepers protect us from that.  When a breach shows up in the world, a Keeper is summoned.  Well, this time it is a mall--the other side has taken over one of the stores and is expanding.  Claire's younger sister has just graduated from high school and is summoned for this one.  She quickly figures out she can't do this alone, so gets her sister.  I have read all three of the Summoning novels and want more.  Maybe I am ready to tackle the Valor series now.

I have now started  Piece of my Heart, an Under Suspicion novel by Mary Higgins Clark and Alafair Burke.  The copyright date is 2020, so this must be one of Clark's last books.  I was happy to see a book in this series I have not read.  As it starts, Laurie has lost the next cold case in her series because two of the important subjects have backed out.  She, Alex, and their families go to Long Island for Alex's birthday where, almost immediately, Alex's 7 year old nephew is kidnapped.

Finished MURDER IN THE FIRST EDITION

 

The story follows the same formula as the Hallmark mysteries on the HMM channel,  which I am a fan of.  There are some interesting characters and relationships here, that I will enjoy seeing resolved, if the series continues.  I still have the first two books to read, so it will be awhile before I read the continuation.  I enjoyed this one, even though formulaic.  It was relaxing.

I have now started The Long Hot Summoning by long time favorite of mine, Tanya Huff.  This is the third (and last) of her Keeper series.  It is unusual and inventive.  As this one starts Diana, (our first keeper's younger sister) returns from her last day of high school and receives her first summoning.  She takes one look at the problem and decides she needs her sister's help.  Hurray, old characters and new come together.

Finished DAUGHTER OF REGALS & OTHER TALES

 

I have missed Stephen R Donaldson.  There is a huge amount of inventiveness in his stories.  Remember in Thomas Covenant how he'd create a fabulous character and then just kill him off and create another one?  He writes fantasy, but also science fiction.  I even enjoyed his non-fiction account of why he enjoys writing short stories.  He almost always makes me think with his multifaceted characters, strange situations, fantastic worlds, and inventive plots.

I have now started Murder in the First Edition by Lauren Elliott.  I have messed up.  This the third in a series, and I thought it was the first.  The other two are still on my shelf.  Oh, well.  I don't feel left hanging at all, all characters are introduced well and I am not lost.  Because I was a reading teacher, I am drawn to books set in libraries, bookstores, classrooms, and in the writing studios of authors.  This mystery has started with a dead body and a missing very valuable book, both of which the police are reluctant to label as suspicious, much to the protagonist's (and my) frustration.

Finished BOOM TOWN

 

After many years in New York City, the author returns to Lake Wobegon and discovers it much changed with tech start-ups and new money.  In addition several of his high school friends are dying.  The book is not gloomy, however.  It is full of warm interactions with acquaintances old and new as forces are working against change as well as for it.

The author's sense of humor reminds me of Mark Twain's talks.  Keillor of course was a radio personality where I believe this sense of humor would work better, maybe as well as Mark Twain's did live.  As I mentioned before, though the stories told are humorous, I don't remember them as I start the next paragraph.  This is not (far from it) a pan on Twain's novels, even his travelogues.   Keillor's work offers nothing by which those could be compared.

I have now started Daughter of Regals & Other Tales by Stephen Donaldson.  Finding this was serendipity.  We had gone to Half Price Books to sell about 3 years worth of books we have read.  It was a large pile (four or more boxes) and had to wait while they tallied them, so we browsed a bit and right away I found this.  It was evidently written after he finished the second of his Covenant trilogies.  I have just started the first story which has already enticed me, but his introduction was an interesting account of why writers find short stories appealing.

Finished THE UNKNOWN

 

I always enjoy these Heather Graham's books.  Often they are set it cities where I have lived or visited, which is fun.  This one was relaxing and fun, as usual.

I am now going back to Boom Town.  Garrison Keillor came to me highly recommended by someone I greatly respect.  But, well, I find the stories he tells amusing while I am reading them, but have lost them from my head almost immediately after.  Just not strong enough to grab my attention.  But, perhaps I will finish the book this time...