Pay Dirt Road by Samantha Jayne Allen

I had heard about this book on Book Riot where they described it as an origin story for a detective. They are very careful in outlining the plot of the book and that somehow made me miss exactly how dark this book really was going to be. This is also sort of a homecoming book as well as a self-realization book. 

Told from the first-person view of recent college graduate Annie McIntyre, we see brief glimpses of her life as she prepares to go out for the evening with her cousin. They get dressed, drive around for awhile visiting the diner where Annie works, and then head out to the land of what appears to be one of the local wealthy families. They have two sons, one of who has a past with Annie. 

While there, Annie sees a server from the diner, Victoria, and she is wildly drunk. Annie tries to help her but gets distracted trying to stop her cousin from getting into a fight. Victoria's body is discovered the next day.

This whole book dives into the love Annie has for her town, Garnett, but also the problems inherent with staying there. Annie decides to work with her grandfather, Leroy, to become a private investigator. She wants to know what happened to Victoria. But working on this investigation exposes more than just the murderer, it also forces Annie to face that her quaint little town might not be so perfect after all.

Three stars

This book came out April 19, 2022

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

A Castle in the Clouds by Kerstin Gier, Romy Fursland

Sophie Spark has dropped out of high school and is now working as an intern (seems to be a jack-of-all-trades, filling in where she is needed) at the famous hotel which is often called the castle in the clouds. When the book opens, Sophie is working in the nursery trying to find a pair of twins who have run away encouraged by a young, rich brat who does not make her job any easier.

As the story goes on, we see some mysterious characters who are coming into the hotel. Not so mysterious is the son of one of the owners who is Sophie's age (and quite handsome.) One of the more mysterious characters is also about her age and he seems to be casing the joint. It is not from this character but in general that Sophie becomes quite sure that the hotel kidnapper is targeting their hotel and that one of the children she is watching might be in danger. 

I saw this on the NPRs Best Books of 2021and it was okay but not quite what I thought it was going to be. 

Three stars

This book came out October 5, 2017

Borrowed as hard copy from library

Opinions are my own

Spy x Family, Vol. 1 by Tatsuya Endo, Casey Loe

I had heard about this book on a number of podcasts and though it might be interesting. I think it is probably a very good book but I might not be the exact demographic for it. 

Three people have been put together to form a family of spies. Well, I don't think they know each other are spies. Even the daughter who is psychic. There is also a dad who frets and a mom who is the muscle. Oh, and a new dog who is also sort of psychic. But precognition rather than reading thoughts.

Three stars

This book came out July 4th, 2019

Followed by Spy x Family, Vol. 2

Borrowed as hard copy from library

Opinions are my own

A Dead Djinn in Cairo, by P. Djèlí Clark

Special Investigator Fatma el-Sha’arawi finds a dead body that is assumed to be a suicide though she is skeptical. When another body is found with the same strange markings, she really starts to wonder. Then she gets contacted by the member of a secret society and a huge, universe-changing plot is uncovered. 

I heard about this series from the Book Riot podcast and, while this novelette piqued my interest, it was way too short. 

Three stars

This story came out May 18, 2016

Followed by The Angel of Khan el-Khalili

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Memoirs of a Professional Cad by George Sanders

I cannot remember why I added this book to my TBR but I do regret that it took me so long to read it. Sanders (or perhaps his ghost writer) is incredibly witty with a very dry sense of humor. If every story in this book is true, he lived an amazing life. If only half of the stories in this book are true, Sanders still lived an amazing life. 

His life began in Russia where his family wasn't wealthy but they were well-off. At least, they were until they were drummed out of the country. From there, he lived in England and then traveled many places, never holding down a job but having experiences that very few others in life would be able to have. He fell into acting and says that it was mostly because it allowed him to remain lazy. 

His views on women were of the time and probably exaggerated for the book but... eh. 

I will say that the narrator added to the enjoyability.

Four stars

This book came out in 1960

Borrowed as an audiobook from Hoopla

Opinions are my own

Miss Butterworth and the Mad Baron by Julia Quinn, Violet Charles

With charming pictures and a dedication to keeping the story close to what was described in Quinn's earlier books, this is a bonkers romance. Playing with the over-the-top themes of the gothic romances of the 1800s, this book follows Miss Butterworth from when she was born and most of her family died of the pox, through her drudgery as a child, being reunited with her mother only to watch the woman being pecked to death by pigeons. No, literall.

A short, quick read that you will definitely need an enjoyment of the bizarre to relish. 

Four stars

This book came out May 10, 2022

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

From Bad to Cursed by Lana Harper

I tore through this book. The main characters, Rowan Thorn and Isidora "Izzy" Avramov are well-developed and both show some growth over the course of the story. Izzy more so because we are in her first-person point of view but we do see some changes in the oh, so handsome Rowan as well. I wish we had gotten a little bit more time to see the relationship between them grow from antagonism to love and the end of the mystery seemed fast but I really liked this book and can't wait for the next one in the series. 

The Avramov family are the local necromancers. It seems obvious that they might have some friction with the Thorns whose magic has an affinty for growing and healing. It doesn't completely explain why Rowan Thorn was so against Izzy working in the local animal adoption center. It does, however, explain all eyes looking to the Avromov family when a thorn is hexed at the local festival. Based on the witch governmental rulings, a representative from each family is allowed to investigate. As the scion of the Thorn family, Rowan is chosen. Izzy's sister is the Avramov scian but she is connected to the arbitrator so Izzy becomes the stand-in. Working together gives them time to talk and to work through old hurts and also solve the problem of who would like to hurt the Thorn family. 

Four stars

This book comes out May 13, 2022

Follows Payback's a Witch

Followed by Back in a Spell

ARC kindly provided by Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley

Opinions are my own