The Edge of the Crazies by Jamie Harrison

A small town writer is shot in his office... but he doesn't seem overly concerned about it. He is a womanizer and has plenty of enemies so Jules, the local sheriff, has his work cut out for him. 

It's not like Jules is even sure he wants to do this job. His father died on the job and being back in Blue Deer, Montana, is fairly confining for him. He's not sleeping (though he is doing some sleeping around) and before the book is over, there will be some deaths. How much does this have to do with a death over twenty years ago? 

There was a lot of character building. Place was almost as much of a character. I got distracted trying to figure out which town the fictional Blue Deer was based off of. 

This book was written in the nineties and the story very much has that feel. There was just a certain rhythm to mysteries written during that time and this book fits very much into that pattern.  

Three stars
Jules Clement Mystery #1

This book came out in 1995

Borrowed as hard copy from the library   

Opinions are my own

We Solve Murders We Solve Murders by Richard Osman with narrator Nicola Walker

Amy Wheeler enjoys her life. Yes, being the bodyguard for wealthy people can be boring and annyoning but she enjoys the job. She's really enjoying working for author Rosie D'Antonio. But something is going on at the firm she works for. One of the owners recently left and the other has shown up at her father-in-law's house. Someone may or may not be trying to kill him (there's been a number of deaths lately, including one of their clients) and someone is trying to frame Amy for the murder.

Suddenly, Amy and Rosie are traveling around the world trying to avoid being killed. And the only one they can trust is retired policeman Steve who has quite nicely settled into his rut. 

I tried to read this as an ebook but couldn't get into it. As an audiobook, however? I quite enjoyed it. 

Four stars

This book came out September 17, 2024

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

To Kill a Badger by Shelly Laurenston

Like some of the later books in this series, this is really more about moving along the overarching story than a focus on romance. Like other books in the series, there are so many exclamation points! Like, a lot a lot of them! And there are more and more names added to these books so I would really recommend that readers start at the beginning of the Honey Badger Chronicles so you have a fighting chance of remembering who is who. 

We've met Nelle Zhao in previous books in the series. Her family (and thus she) is family wealthy and she uses that money to help her friends, whether they want it or not. Sometimes though, people don't want her help. Like her friend Maddie who would still be living with cardboard furniture and few clothes if Nelle hadn't stepped in. Or Keane Malone, whose story arc has crossed over the last few books of this series. 

Keane Malone is used to going it on his own, or at least just his own family. His father was murdered when they were children and no one stepped in to help them. Not his extended family, not his mother's family, not the company his father was working for. He would prefer not to have help at all. Which is why it's annoying that his family is suddenly stepping up to help. At least Nelle is good to look at. 

The two will have to join forces to take down the de Medici pride who are after Nelle and her friends. The badgers took down the lion's patriarch and they're out for blood. 

Three and a half stars

Honey Badger Chronicles #6

This book comes out August 26, 2025

Follows Born to Be Badger

ARC kindly provided by NetGalley and Kensington Publishing

Opinions are my own

Reread December 2025

The Highgate Cemetery Murder by Irina Shapiro with narrator Imogen Church

As a nurse who worked with Florence Nightingale during the Crimean War, Gemma has seen a lot of death. But she wasn't expecting to have to deal with the death of her twin brother in a carriage accident. This changes the trajectory of her life in major and unexpected ways. It's especially strange that he left two odd sentences in his reporter's notebook. She takes his notes to the police. They're not interested until she gets to talk to Sebastian. 

An inspector on the force, Sebastian was rocked by the death of his wife. These days he's getting by through copious applications of alcohol and opium. He knows it's interfering with his life, and he's definitely going to quit. Tomorrow. 

The two team up to solve the murder of not only Gemma's brother but the young woman who was hung up on a cross in the cemetery with a pig's heart strung around her neck. 

This was darker than I was expecting with more explicit violence. Not a series I'd want to read at night, but an interesting start.

Three and a half stars

Tate & Bell #1

This book came out February 29, 2024

Followed by Murder at Traitor's Gate

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

The Mad Earl's Bride by Loretta Chase

A lot of my love for this novella may be nostalgia. It was my favorite in an anthology that I let go somewhere along the way so I was excited to read it again. 

Dorian Rawnsley, Early of Camoys, knows he is going to die. He'll probably go mad first (like his mother), but he's definitely heading for death. He has some recently discovered relatives and one of them has decided that Dorian should marry before his imminent demise. In a fog of laudanum, he agrees to the marriage.

Gwendolyn Adams isn't afraid to marry a man who is dying. She's studied to be a doctor (though no one has really taken her seriously.) If she marries an earl, she'll be titled and rich and able to do what she wants, including build her own hospital. It's just too bad this is a romance and the two may be starting to fall in love.

Four stars

Scoundrels #3.5

This novella came out in 1995

Follows Lord of Scoundrels

Followed by the Last He
llion

There Should Have Been Eight by Nalini Singh, narrator Saskia Maarleveld

 The Great Eight. That's what they called themselves. Until one of them died at their own hand. Now, years later they're getting together again to celebrate one of their friends getting married. They're gathering at the family home of the sister of the woman who died. 

The story is narrated by Luna. She is a photographer who is slowly losing her sight. She is also a narrator who is very caught up in her own memories of Bea.  But can we trust her memories? They seem awfully halcyon? 

The first two thirds of this book were great. Suspense built; characters were fleshed out. I generally enjoyed that part book, but had really, really hoped the twist would be different. The end dragged out too long. 

Three and a half stars

This book came out November 21, 2023

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Accomplice to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer, narrator Em Eldridge

Definitely read the first two books before you read this one. You don't have to in order to enjoy the action, but the knowing the characters and the previous plot points really help add to the joy of this story.

Evie and the Villain are still trying to figure out how to bring magic back to the land. They are able to uncover another rhyme... although it's not really a poem so much as instructions that sometimes rhyme. They can tell that they are close though. Many of the components are in place. There's a lot going on and it was hard to keep track of people's histories sometimes but still a fun story. 

While Tristan and Evie are finding people who can help them like one who mentions that there's a curse on the Villain and one who may be able to return Kingsley to his human self. And that won't be a minute too late because he is becoming more and more like a frog every day.

Four and a half stars

This book came out August 5, 2025

Follows Apprentice to the Villain

Followed by ????

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own