AVENGING ANGELS: Beaufort & Company #3 - Mary Stanton

From the back of the book: Being a lawyer has its challenges, but this is downright otherworldly. With a long list of ethereal clients who need her help, Bree's career choice is beginning to haunt her....

Traditional law school hasn't prepared Brianna Winston-Beaufort for her latest job: handling appeal cases for the souls of the dead. Since she inherited her great-uncle's haunted Savannah law firm, Beaufort & Company, she's faced some fairly determined adversaries in the Celestial Courts. Now she's representing ex-banker Russell O'Rourke, who supposedly killed himself after losing a fortune.

This case is as cold as O'Rourke's grave, but with a widow as merry as his and with evidence mounting, it's beginning to look like murder. So Bree and her team of angels employ their usual investigative techniques to discover who might hold the key to breaking the case. But as she digs deeper, Bree discovers that someone would rather see her deceased that debriefed.

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This is such a neat favorite of mine series. It's a great example of the paranormal mystery genre. I love the characters, the premise of a human working with angels to help people who might have been wrongly put in the nether reaches of the afterlife.

This one had a lot of twists and turns as much as it showed the evolution of Bree in her new role as an advocate. She enjoys what she's doing, even if it causes sleepless nights and haunted law offices.

There is not as much scary stuff as in the past two books in the series. The first one scared the bejeezus out of me, the second one eased up and this one is only a weensy bit scarey. It's more about the relationship Bree has with her sister and her angels and her clients.

I really enjoyed this read and can't wait til the next one, ANGEL'S VERDICT, out next year.

Five angel beans....

Books in the House - Monday 9 Aug 2010

It's been a bit since I've had the time or the books in the house to post much..so now it's all in one fell book swoop
From the very sweet Jeanne Stein, the latest magnet to my collection with the cover of the next Anna Strong, CHOSEN...out 31 Aug!!

Thanks to a contest on Paranormality blog, I won the above very cool packet from author Carrie Eicher

I also received:

From Mary Ann:

RED DELICIOUS DEATH - Sheila Connelly, MPB, cozy

From Cassie:

PRETTY POISON - Joyce and Jim Lavene, cozy

NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEED: Haunted Guesthouse Mystery #1 - E J Copperman, cozy

Schwag from Chloe Neill (have a book on the way, too, I think)

I've been Twice Bitten bracelet

Cadogan House coaster

Chicagoland vampires pen (love pens!)

some very cool bookmarks

My order from High Crimes:

HUNTED BY THE OTHERS - Jess Haines, MPB, UF

AVENGING ANGELS - Mary Stanton, MPB, paranormal mystery

A CAST-OFF COVEN - Juliet Blackwell, MPB, paranormal mystery

A TIMELY VISION - Joyce and Jim Levine, cozy paranormal, MPB

ANGEL'S ADVOCATE: A Beaufort & Company - Mary Stanton

From the back of the book: Being a lawyer has its challenges, but this is downright otherworldly. With a long list of ethereal clients who need her help, Bree's career choice is beginning to haunt her....

Money's been tight ever since Brianna Winston-Beaufort inherited Savannah's haunted law firm Beaufort & Company, along with its less-than-angelic staff. But she's finally going to tackle a case that'll pay the bills--because this one involves the living, rather than the lost souls she usually represents. The spoiled teenage daughter of a recently deceased pharmacy tycoon robbed a Girl Scout and now desperately needs representation.

Soon enough, the ghost of the departed millionaire father appears, also in need of Bree's help. His proximity to the fiery pits of Hell is too close for comfort--and he wants Bree to help him take wing. Bree isn't sure that she can help this unsavory father/daughter duo. But she knows that sooner or later she has to start making a living off the living.....

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I already look forward to the next book in this series, AVENGING ANGELS, due out next month (YAY). Bree is a good strong character who finds herself in the position to work with angels and assist those who need some intermediaries to get them out of areas of Hell and possibly into Heaven or at least in a better circle of Hell. She has some great assistants aiding in her good fight, a dog, a couple of legal aids, a cool landlady...all of whom are angels of dubious goodness.

The office is set in a graveyard that no one but Bree and her aids can find. Also the ghostly clients can't pay the bills and Bree is feeling the pinch. Luckily, she has the free rent of the office, free rent of her abode she shares with her sister, so she's got that going for her. She also has the loving (wealthy) arms of her family should she ever take them up on their offers of funds.

I want to smack the crap out of the rich teen, Lindsey, who hires Bree to get her out of the horrid crime she admits to committing. It seemed like a fun idea at the time, in her basic spoiled brat thought process. Her ghost of a father is not much better. That's how I tell the characters are well-written, I want to reach in to smack the crap out the brat characters and hug or high-five the good ones.

Five angelic beans.....

DEFENDING ANGELS: A Beaufort & Company Mystery - Mary Stanton

I had such a great time reading DEFENDING ANGELS! I read the review on High Crimes (my favorite online bookshop) and immediately placed it in my online shopping cart. It arrived and then sat on my bedside table for a bit while I waded through a few other books until I was absolutely ready for a cozy mystery. A few days ago, I was definitely ready and began. And then was sad that I actually had to sleep at some point and couldn't keep reading. It is that good, I would be almost willing to forgo sleep.....I said almost...I like sleep and I like reading good books, so it was a wicked toss-up.
Brianna Winston-Beaufort, Bree, is a lawyer. She's moved from her father's home and practice and moved 200 miles south to Savannah Georgia to take over her Uncle Franklin's law practice.
Her first case is pretty quick to take. She's hired to prove that the death of a prominent billionaire was not accidental, but was in fact, murder. There is more to the case, and Bree's law practice, than meets the eye.
First, there's the location of where she hangs her shingle. It's in the middle of what's known as the Murderers Cemetary. Her landlady is sweet and making herself a part of the team that Bree is putting together. The rest of her team consists of the brother of the person Bree thought she was hiring and a former window dresser. There's also the PI, Gabriel Striker, who always seems to be just where she needs him when she needs him.
Bree's new practice is to run this Company of Angels and to defend those who have been accused by the Highest Court....and I do mean THE Highest, The Celestial Court.

This is a very wonderfully written book and I really look forward to the rest of the series as Mary Stanton writes them.
Five Celestial beans.......and the angelic bookmark.....