Happily This Christmas by Susan Mallery

 Many a romance has started with the guy next door and this one is no different. Wynn Beauchene has a 14 year old son but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t admire Garrick McCabe, the cop who lives next to her. When he comes to her asking for help with a pregnant 21 year old, Wynn is taken aback,
until she realizes the woman is his daughter. It seems that Garrick and Jolyn were close when she was younger but now their relationship is more strained, especially since Jolyn’s pregnancy has been difficult and that isn’t helped by the fact that her husband is currently deployed.
As Wynn and Garrick spend more time together, attraction starts to grow. Both have been burned in the past though and the upcoming holiday season brings family obligations and outside expectations that they might not be willing to bend to.
A typical Mallory novel: mostly closed doors for the romance; nice character development; an attempt to involve almost everyone from previous stories in the series; just a low-stakes, sugary, and fun read.

Three and a half stars

This book came out September 29th

ARC kindly provided by HarperCollins and Edelweiss

Opinions are my own

A Garland of Bones by Carolyn Haines

It's Christmas and Sarah Booth is off on a trip with her friends. They are going to Columbus, MS to stay in a B&B and participate in a series of Christmas activities. Columbus seems very much like her own hometown with it's gossip and cliques. However, someone seems to have a grudge against this particular group with little accidents adding up to big mischief. An electrocution, some cement being dumped in a car, a fall down the stairs... as things escalate, it seems obvious that someone is going to die if the perpetrator is not stopped. 

Sarah Booth is not impressed by this group. It is filled with people only concerned with their own pleasures and images. But one of them offers the Delaney Investigators a big check if they can figure out what is going on.

This story was a little confusing with betrayals on betrayals and there were a few things that were repeated a little too many times but this was overall a fun story that I think regular Sarah Booth Delaney readers will enjoy.

Three stars
This book came out today
Follows The Devil's Bones

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

Opinions are my own 

Murder on Cold Street by Sherry Thomas

Thomas has crafted another amazing mystery that not only fits together tightly but advances our understanding of the series characters and the overarching tension of the series itself. This time, much of the focus is on Inspector Treadles: a man who is rigid in his beliefs, both for how

he himself behaves and how he believes others should behave. But now he's in a bind, suspected of killing two men. He refuses to talk about the fact that he was found in the house with the two men. Nor will he discuss what he has been doing so secretively the past two weeks. 

Both Holmes and Lord Ingram are convinced Inspector Treadles is innocent but it will be a race to the finish to make others believe it as well. Especially with Inspector Brighton, specifically brought in to investigate the case, seems so determined to use it to make a name for himself.

Four stars

Follows The Art of Theft

Followed by Miss Moriarty, I Presume?
This book came out October 6th
ARC kindly provided by Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

On Borrowed Crime by Kate Young

 Lyla Moody has put together her life after some obsessive behavior (which is oft-referenced, never fully explored). Part of the joy in her life includes a book club called the Jane Does which reads mystery stories. But they recently also seem to have discussed some nearby Jane Doe cases and that becomes a major clue into what happened to one of their members. 

It is, in fact, Lyla who is one of the last people to Carol, a judge's wife before she disappears, only to have her body appear at Lyla's house in such a way that it is very apparent she couldn't have gotten herself there. Lyla works for her uncle's detective agency but she is just an admin. At least, she was before now. Now, she wants to know what happened to her friend. 

Lyla does start by being smarter than the average fictional amateur detective and giving her information to the police, even the slightly sinister Officer Taylor. He sure doesn't seem to like Lyla. But he does like her best friend which may come in to play later in the series.

I liked the idea for the series and will read the next book for sure but this book was a bit disordered and I sure hope that the publisher had a good line editor because there were a LOT of spelling errors/word choices (I didn't count it against the book.) The story was a little bit all over the place too. There was some world building but there were a lot of lines added to the story that weren't completely woven in.

Three stars

This book came out October 6th

ARC kindly provided by Crooked Lane Library and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

A Pretty Deceit by Anna Lee Huber

 A lot of good men were injured in the First World War in any number of ways. Verity Kent has her own issues that she is dealing with from being part of a spy network but she feels like she has it better than a lot of other people, including her own cousin. Reggie was blinded in the war and now his mother treats him like an invalid. Yes, he is a lord but that doesn’t mean that he was left any money.
And the estate is (according to his mother) falling down around the family’s ears. So Verity’s parents send her out to see what, exactly, is going on. 

Several mysteries overlap including the history of the estate, a modern day murder, and a matter that dates back to Verity’s time in the war. Another story, well-woven and well-written. I don’t think regular Verity Kent readers will be disappointed.

Three and a half stars

Follows Penny for Your Secrets

Followed by Murder Most Fair

This book came out October 6th

ARC kindly provided by Kensington Books and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

The Omniscients Script by Dugomier, art by Renata Castellani

 On an otherwise normal day, five teens are suddenly hit with tinnitus followed by omniscience. Well, up to a point. They hold all of the knowledge that people can read but don't know information that doesn't appear on the web (or, ostensibly, in books.) All are teens in the United States and four of them are quickly taken in by the Department of Health but there are other entities, including a very shady-seeming FBI, who would also like to have them under their thumbs.

A very nice beginning to what seems like it will be a fun series. The characters, even in such a short book, are starting to be sketched out and readers will probably empathize with at least one of them. There is a nice diversity including (gasp) one teen who isn't quite a US citizen (though his omniscience does cause the States to claim him quickly.)

Four stars
This book came out August 26th
ARC kindly provided by Europe Comics and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Reaping Havoc by Kel Carpenter

Salem no knows that she’s a isn’t a Grim Reaper. Instead, she is something more.But, because she can’t keep her mouth shut, it doesn’t stay a secret for long. And that’s important because Graves’s brother James has been caught but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t given up all of his secrets. And his next move might just turn all of the Grims against Salem but against Graves as well.
I really liked the world building and character building of the first book and this felt more like book part 2 rather than a whole new book. 

Three stars

This book came out

Follows Reaper’s Blood

Borrowed as an audiobook from RB Digital

Opinions are my own