Finished THE EVIL INSIDE

Another Heather Graham Krewe of Hunters novel bites the dust.  I really enjoy these books--ghost mysteries in which the ghosts are usually helpful and humans are the murderers.  This one was especially fun because it was set in Salem, Mass., and used many of the places I have visited as locations.



Have now started James Garner's autobiography.  Already surprised by his childhood and military service.  So far, a very self-deprecating and generous writer.  Very readable.

Finished Three Books While on Vacation

The first was People of the Moon which used archaeological evidence to fabric a story about why the Anasazi may have left Chaco Canyon.  It was a great story, well crafted and most enjoyable.



The second book was Golden Girl by Henry Melton.  I met the author at All-Con in Dallas, a multi-aspect fan convention.  He is writing sci-fi for teenagers and I especially loved seeing several female heroines.  But little did I expect this time travel novel to be so interesting (and even complicated) scientifically.  Some new problems/ aspects to time travel were introduced that I'd never seen before.  Kudos.  I will read more of your books, Mr. Melton!



The third book I read is The Valley of Amazement by Amy Tan.  This was the first Amy Tan book I read, but it will not be the last.  I love exploring time periods and cultures outside of my experience, especially when guided by such an expert tour guide.  The theme of the relationships between mothers and daughters never seems to run out of steam, either.



Then I returned to Lost Scriptures and read the section on Non-Canonical Apocalypses and Revelatory Treatises.  This section was fairly readable, and some was quite interesting.  Some was quite involved intellectually, the Gnostics often being surprising.



I have now started The Evil Inside by Heather Graham.  A family living in an old home in Salem, Mass. is found hacked to pieces.  Two other similarly horrendous crimes have been committed over history in the same house.  The teenage boy of the family is found covered in blood in the middle of the street and is immediately charged with the murders.  But the man who found him and the psychiatrist who has been treating him are convinced of his innocence....

Finished DANCING IN THE DARK

I figured out "who done it" about half way through the book.  I recommend you not read the blurbs on the cover and in back of the book before you read it...they provided me with the clue to figuring it out, although it was, to me, the most likely conclusion.... Any other perpetrator would have been a cop out.  However, it is not as fun to read a mystery when you figure it out...  Oh, well.

I have now started W. Michael Gear and Kathleen O'Neal Gear's People of the Moon, set this time in what is now Chaca Canyon and Mesa Verde at about 1200 a.d., the time of the Anasazi's disappearance.

Finished COLD STREETS

These books get better with each book.  Lots of fun.  It left one plot string not completely resolved, so I'm looking forward to the next book (now on order).  I also figured out P. N. Elrod is writing two other series as well, so I may sample them.

I am now about to start Dancing in the Dark, a thriller by Mary Jane Clark.

Finished DEATH ON THE NILE by Agatha Christie

I figured out who done it, pretty much from the moment it happened!  This is highly unusual.  It may have been unconscious memory from the movie, of course.  But I doubted myself lots of times...Agatha Christie could be called "the mistress of red herrings!"

I am now reading Cold Streets, a Vampire Files (Jack Fleming novel) by P. N. Elrod.  Now the owner of the Lady Crymson night club, Jack is also helping his friend on private detective cases while trying to keep peace in the club.  Multiple plots in this one--

Finished MICAH by Laurell K Hamilton

Another exciting romantic supernatural adventure.  What's not to like?

I am about to start Death on the Nile, a Hercule Poirot Mystery by Agatha Christie.  I saw the movie a long time ago with Tom Hickey on VHS, pausing to talk about it a lot during the movie.  I think Tom actually solved it ahead of the end.  Not me.  That is about all I remember, so I am ready to read it.

Finished POLDARK/ ROSS POLDARK

The book followed the PBS series pretty closely, but some things were better explained and some, surprisingly, not as well.  The main value of the story is, I believe, to recount the culture, classism, medical lack of knowledge, law, inheritance customs, etc. of the time:  in other words, what life was like in late 18th century England.  Of course, Poldark lives often bucking the mores of society of his time, thus increasing our insight.  The story is moody, but lovely, with laughter and tears.

I have now started Laurell Hamilton's Micah.  Like all of her books, it is frightening, thrilling, romantic and sexy.  A great break after immersion in the history that is Poldark.