Showing posts with label Minotaur Books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Minotaur Books. Show all posts

Friday, November 5, 2021

✱✱Book Review✱✱ Gone for Good (Detective Annalisa Vega Book 1) by Joanna Schaffhausen

 

Gone For Good is the first in a new mystery series from award-winning author Joanna Schaffhausen, featuring Detective Annalisa Vega, in which a cold case heats up.

The Lovelorn Killer murdered seven women, ritually binding them and leaving them for dead before penning them gruesome love letters in the local papers. Then he disappeared, and after twenty years with no trace of him, many believe that he’s gone for good.

Not Grace Harper. A grocery store manager by day, at night Grace uses her snooping skills as part of an amateur sleuth group. She believes the Lovelorn Killer is still living in the same neighborhoods that he hunted in, and if she can figure out how he selected his victims, she will have the key to his identity.

Detective Annalisa Vega lost someone she loved to the killer. Now she’s at a murder scene with the worst kind of déjà vu: Grace Harper lies bound and dead on the floor, surrounded by clues to the biggest murder case that Chicago homicide never solved. Annalisa has the chance to make it right and to heal her family, but first, she has to figure out what Grace knew—how to see a killer who may be standing right in front of you. This means tracing his steps back to her childhood, peering into dark corners she hadn’t acknowledged before, and learning that despite everything the killer took, she has still so much more to lose.



Momma Says: 4 stars⭐⭐⭐⭐

I started reading Joanna Schaffhausen's books with her debut, The Vanishing Season, and here we are with her fifth book and start of a brand new detective series - and I've thoroughly enjoyed every single one. This series gives us Detective Annalisa Vega and a murder that leads back to a cold case and a tragedy from Annalisa's past.
This author seems to lean toward protagonists who are broken by past trauma. Granted, Annalisa is certainly more well-rounded than Ellery Hathaway, but she still has her own issues to work on. And no, I'm not complaining, just thought it was worth noting. I evidently lean toward those broken protagonists myself because all my favorite detective series do as well. I think it adds to the personal connection and character development, so bring on the emotional turmoil.
That said, this one took a bit to get into the story and invested in the characters. Once things got going and whatever it is that makes a reader click with a character worked in me, Joanna Schaffhausen didn't let me down. The story is gritty and the path to the killer is a twisty one. Things also take a personal turn for Annalisa, and to be honest, I'm still not sure how I feel about the way this one wrapped up. That, of course, means I'm still thinking about it and mulling over all the details, the what-ifs, etc. I know I'll be very interested to see how the conclusion here affects things in book 2 of the series.
So, a new series by what has become one of my favorite authors - not a bad way to while away a weekend. And if you enjoy suspense and haven't met this author's work, what are you waiting for? 



Tuesday, June 4, 2019

✱✱Book Review✱✱ Blog Tour: The Right Sort of Man by Allison Montclair


The Right Sort of Man 
Sparks & Bainbridge Mystery Book 1
by Allison Montclair


"A delightful immersion in the period and personalities, with that touch of depth that transforms a good series to a great one." —Laurie R. King
First comes love, then comes murder.
In a London slowly recovering from World War II, two very different women join forces to launch a business venture in the heart of Mayfair—The Right Sort Marriage Bureau. Miss Iris Sparks, quick-witted and impulsive, and Mrs. Gwendolyn Bainbridge, practical and widowed with a young son, are determined to achieve some independence and do some good in a rapidly changing world.
But the promising start to their marriage bureau is threatened when their newest client, Tillie La Salle, is found murdered and the man arrested for the crime is the prospective husband they matched her with. While the police are convinced they have their man, Miss Sparks and Mrs. Bainbridge are not. To clear his name—and to rescue their fledging operation’s reputation—Sparks and Bainbridge decide to investigate on their own, using the skills and contacts they’ve each acquired through life and their individual adventures during the recent war.

Little do they know that this will put their very lives at risk.





Momma Says: 3.5 stars⭐⭐⭐⭐

Admittedly, I don't read a lot of historical fiction, and this one is more cozy mystery than gripping thriller, so it's a little out of my wheelhouse. That said, it's well-written, and the atmosphere of the story kept me turning pages as much as the mystery if not more so. This is the start of the series, so we have a lot introduction to characters, and the story is very dialogue driven, which isn't something I normally care for, but I did enjoy the back and forth between Gwen and Iris. All in all, The Right Sort of Man is a good start to a promising series, and I've enjoyed my little trip outside the box of what I normally read. 

❃❃ARC provided by NetGalley and Minotaur Books



Allison Montclair grew up devouring hand-me-down Agatha Christie paperbacks and James Bond movies. As a result of this deplorable upbringing, Montclair became addicted to tales of crime, intrigue, and espionage. She now spends her spare time poking through the corners, nooks, and crannies of history, searching for the odd mysterious bits and transforming them into novels of her own. The Right Sort of Man is her debut novel.



Monday, May 6, 2019

✱✱Book Review✱✱ Blog Tour for The Scent of Murder by Kylie Logan


The Scent of Murder
A Jazz Ramsey Mystery
by Kylie Logan


First in a new series from national bestselling author Kylie Logan, The Scent of Murder is a riveting mystery following Jazz Ramsey as she trains cadaver dogs.
The way Jazz Ramsey figures it, life is pretty good. She’s thirty-five years old and owns her own home in one of Cleveland’s most diverse, artsy, and interesting neighborhoods. She has a job she likes as an administrative assistant at an all-girls school, and a volunteer interest she’s passionate about—Jazz is a cadaver dog handler.
Jazz is working with Luther, a cadaver dog in training. Luther is still learning cadaver work, so Jazz is putting him through his paces at an abandoned building that will soon be turned into pricey condos. When Luther signals a find, Jazz is stunned to see the body of a young woman who is dressed in black and wearing the kind of make-up and jewelry that Jazz used to see on the Goth kids back in high school.
She’s even more shocked when she realizes that beneath the tattoos and the piercings and all that pale make up is a familiar face.

The lead detective on the case is an old lover, and the murdered woman is an old student. Jazz finds herself sucked into the case, obsessed with learning the truth.




Momma Says: 3 stars⭐⭐⭐
The Scent of Murder is well-written and despite the nature of the story, an easy read. I prefer something with more grit, so the story is a little bit too cozy mystery for my tastes, but the fast pace and whodunit did hold my interest. This one reminded me of Murder She Wrote with Jazz and her determination to solve the murder regardless of any warnings from police or any danger to herself. There is an almost romance between Jazz and her ex - a bit of push and pull between them and some flirting on his part, but I didn't really see them as a couple until the end. Nick's feelings come across clearly, but Jazz is closed off and comes across as more confused about a relationship than anything else. In the end, I did enjoy the mystery, and we're introduced to some interesting and quirky characters in Jazz's world, especially Sarah and Eileen. The story is certainly worth the read, and I'll be interested to see where things go for these characters. 
✱✱ARC provided by NetGalley and Minotaur Books

KYLIE LOGAN is the national bestselling author of The League of Literary Ladies Mysteries, the Button Box Mysteries, the Chili Cook-Off Mysteries, and the Ethnic Eats Mysteries. The Scent of Murder is the first in a new series.


Memories of MK-Ultra Virtual Book Tour

  Coming of Age / Psychological /Historical Thriller / Metaphysical     Memories of MK-ULTRA traces the development of three s...