A Grave Robbery by Deanna Raybourn

It's time for another adventure with Veronica and Stoker. They start out with a tamarin monkey (which is quickly pawned off on Lord Rosemorran's youngest daughter) and end up with a Beauty. Supposedly an anatomical model that doctors could use to study the human body since dissection during this time period was so reviled. However, this beauty was obviously a young woman who was once a living person, not a wax work. But who could have done something so heinous?

The trail leads them to a pair of twins whose scientific inquiries were supported by the second son of a lord. A fire supposedly killed the male twin and his laboratory but did he really die?

Stoker and Veronica pick up some new friends in this book including Plutree, a mortician who has an overbearing mother and is interested in profiling. The other is Spyridon, a man who Stoker knew in Greece but who traveled back to England with Lady Wellie who seems to be getting more frail.

Four stars

This book comes out March 12, 2024

Follows A Sinister Revenge

ARC kindly provided by Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

This Means War! by Lincoln Peirce

Nate has a new rival. Kyle is trying to claim messiest locker at school. But Nate might just have a few things up his sleeve. Or, you know, in his locker. Lots of touchbacks to previous stories in the series. Two storylines even overlap when Klassic Komix agrees to sponsor Nate's baseball team. Of course, it doesn't go the way that Nate expects when Wayne chooses the name of an unexpected character. 

Four stars

This book comes out March 5, 2024

Big Nate #30

Follows Move it or Lose It!

Followed by Remain Calm

ARC kindly provided by Andrews McMeel Publishing and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Murder at the Village Fete by Catherine Coles

This book picks up close to when the last book left off, with Tommy Christie, former policeman, trying to pick up after having unexpectedly been made the newest Lord of Northmoor after the last two were murdered in the first book of the series. There is a village fete, the first in a long time, and everyone is happy. Well, almost everyone. Someone is certainly unhappy as there is another murder. And it has something to do with a story that happened during the war, accusations of cutting corners to make money, and Evelyn's father is one of the accused. 

For a mystery, this series has tended to be fairly light. It will be interesting to see if all of the stories stay this close together in timeline.

Tommy and Evelyn #2

Three stars

Follows Murder at the Manor

Followed by Murder in the Churchyard

Ebook of mine on Kindle
Opinions are my own

February 2024 Rereads

 Opinions are always my own

The Princess Knight by G. A. Aiken

Scarred Earth Saga #2

Four stars

This book came out November 24, 2020

Follows The Blacksmith Queen

Followed by The Heretic Royal

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

The Heretic Royal by G. A. Aiken

Scarred Earth Saga #3

Three and a half stars

Follows The Princess Knight

This book comes out November 24, 2022

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Random in Death

In Death #58

Four stars

This book comes out January 23, 2024

Follows Payback in Death

Followed by Passions in Death

Promise Not to Tell by Jayne Ann Krentz

Cutler, Sutter, & Salinas #2

Three stars

Follows When All the Girls Have Gone

Followed by Untouchable
This book came out January 2nd, 2017

Audiobook from Overdrive

Untouchable by Jayne Ann Krentz

Cutler, Sutter, & Salinas #3

Follows Promise Not to Tell

Three stars
This book came out January 8, 2018
Hard copy borrowed from library

Rock Addiction by Nalini Singh

Rock Kiss #1

Three and a half stars

This book came out September 9, 2014

Followed by Rock Courtship

Borrowed as audiobook from Audible Prime

Rock Courtship by Nalini Singh

Rock Kiss #1.5

Four stars

This novella came out September 30, 2014

Follows Rock Addiction

Followed by Rock Hard

Audible book I own

Rock Hard by Nalini Singh

Rock Kiss #2
Three and a half stars

This book came out March 10, 2015

Follows Rock Courtship

Followed by Rock Redemption

Audible Plus audiobook

Rock Redemption by Nalini Singh

Rock Kiss #3

Four stars

This book came out October 6, 2015

Follows Rock Hard

Followed by Rock Wedding

Audible Plus audiobook

Rock Wedding by Nalini Singh

Rock Kiss #4

Three and a half stars

This book came out July 19, 2016

Follows Rock Redemption

Audible Plus audiobook

Cherish Hard by Nalini Singh

Hard Play #1

Three stars

This book came out November 14, 2017

Connected to Rock Hard 

Followed by Rebel Hard

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Rebel Hard by Nalini Singh

Hard Play #2

Four stars

This book came out September 18, 2018

Follows Cherish Hard

Followed by Love Hard

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Love Hard by Nalini Singh

Hard Play #3

Four stars

Follows Rebel Hard
This book came out March 10, 2020
Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Finlay Donovan Rolls the Dice by Elle Cosimano

Vero and Finlay ended the last book missing someone important to them missing and they want to get that person back. To that end, they are heading to Atlantic City. They say it's for a girls' trip but somehow Finlay's children, mother, and ex-husband all end up coming along. 

They get to Atlantic City and meet the loan shark, but it all goes downhill from there. They're unable to make a deal and then the loan shark ends up dead. But how are they supposed to handle this situation? Especially when Finlay's sister and boyfriend show up on the scene.

These books are so well plotted with all of the pieces fitting together nicely and the ending come to a nice knot but still with a bit of a cliffhanger. There is always some disbelief of suspension that goes just a little too far for me but an overall nice read. Definitely read the other books in this series first. 

Four stars

This book comes out March 5, 2024

Follows Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun

Followed by Finlay Donovan Digs Her Own Grave

ARC kindly provided by St. Martin's Press and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Christmas Cake Murder by Joanne Fluke

I hadn't read a Hannah Swensen book in a long time but a friend told me that they had gone off the rails in sort of a fun way. So. I wasn't expecting this one to be a prequel to the series. This story involves Essie, an older woman who has been beloved by the community for her storytelling skills, and the hotel that she and her husband used to own. 

It is set three weeks after her father died so her family is grieving and figuring out what they are going to do next. Hannah's mother has retreated to her bedroom and isn't coming out. But when Essie goes to the hospital, her friends rally her under the guise of helping Essie. When Hannah and her mother go to Essie's house, they find a stack of writing that becomes a story within this story. This becomes a second mystery that is connected to the "present" but, gosh, it made both mysteries simplistic. In addition, there's a lot of filler and the need for a total suspension of disbelief. 

Hannah Swensen #23

Two and a half stars

This book came out September 25, 2018

Follows Raspbery Danish Murder

Followed by Chocolate Cream Pie Murder

Hard copy I didn't keep

Opinions are my own

Murder at the Royal Botanic Gardens by Andrea Penrose

Charlotte and Wrexford are getting married. That means that they are incredibly busy with wedding plans and the social twirl of being a newly engaged couple. It is at one of the parties, one at the Royal Botanic Gardens, that Wrexford is summoned into another room. He has gained a reputation for solving murders and the murdered man's friend is convinced this is not a natural death. Yes, the man had heart problems but the white powder around his mouth points to a different reason for death. 
An old enemy comes back and a new comrade (a cousin of Thomas Jefferson, no less) is made. 
A nice book with a branching into the botanic realm of the time, stepping out of the technical one a little bit. 

Wrexford & Sloan #5

Four stars

This book came out September 28, 2021

Follows Murder at Queen's Landing

Followed by Murder at the Serpentine Bridge

Borrowed as hard copy from library

Opinions are my own