DEAD SECRET: Diane Fallon Forensic Investigation - Beverly Connor

From the back of the book: In the depths of an unmapped cave, forensic anthropologist Diane Fallon makes an astonishing discovery: a decades-old skeleton. Soon, the remains of two more bodies are found----one in an old car submerged in the waters of an abandoned quarry, another buried in the Georgia woods. With nothing to link the dissimilar victims except desiccated bones, Diane can't fathom the connection. But someone in the shadows does. It's the key to a mystery that reaches back seventy years in a heritage of love, greed, and murder---to an unearthed family secret that still holds the power to kill.

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There's that fine line that forensic mystery writers walk and tend to stomp the reader to just about tears of boredom with the in-the-weeds forensic medical speak.

Beverly Connor has mastered the tightwire and not a bored tear to be found while reading this pretty exciting quick-turn-the-page-see-what's-going-to-happen-next kind of suspense.

I liked the mixture of getting to see Diane Fallon's life outside the labs and museum while she went caving with friends. Granted going caving and finding a body must just go with the territory.

I don't know how Diane Fallon keeps everything separate and straight in her cranium. Her forensic crime lab is in the museum and she is lead in both arenas. She garners a lot of my respect (yeah, I know she's a fictional character).

There are plenty of bones, bodies and stories to go around, lots to keep the interest going and reasonable red herrings to toss about.

Five go caving and find bodies and bones beans.......

MARK OF THE DEMON - Diana Rowland

From the back of the book: Cop and conjurer of demons, she's a woman in danger of losing control--to a power that could kill.

Why me? Why now? That's what Beaulac, Louisiana detective Kara Gillian was asking herself when a angelic creature named Rhyzkahl unexpectedly appeared during a routine summoning. Kara was hoping to use her occult skills to catch a serial killer, but never had she conjured anything like this unearthly beautiful and unspeakably powerful being whose very touch set off exquisite new dimensions of pleasure. But can she enlist his aid in helping her stop a killer who's already claimed the lives--and souls--of thirteen people? And should she? The Symbol Man is a nightmare that the city thought had ended three years ago. Now he's back for an encore and leaving every indication on the flesh of his victims that he, too, is well versed in demonic lore.

Kara may be the only cop on Beaulac's small force able to stop the killer, but it is her first homicide case. Yet with Rhyzkahl haunting her dreams, and a handsome yet disapproving FBI agent dogging her waking footsteps, she may be in way over her head....

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Now I typically don't dig on romance in my UF or paranormal, but I made an exception here. There is plenty of action, demons, and a hunt for a serial killer that made this a superb mixture of urban fantasy and police procedural, so a wee bit of HOT romance scenes didn't put me out at all. It probably also helped that Diana Rowland can write superb HOT romance scenes.

This was an excellent mixture of UF and a thriller with the hunt of a serial killer. Neither the paranormal story or the thriller mystery got lost to the other, the complemented the other. I am not sure I've read one like this before. And I really hope the next in the series, BLOOD OF THE DEMON, is more of the same.

What I dug even better was the ending...the WTF?? moment when the killer was revealed...whoa....did NOT see that coming at all and I liked that!

Five whoa beans.....

HEAD GAMES: A Body of Evidence Thriller - Christopher Golden, narr Julie Dretzin

From the back of the book: Jenna Blake is home from college for the holidays, and this is one vacation she'll never forget. First, the mayor appears to commit suicide by jumping off a building. Then, several childhood friends suddenly erupt in murderous rages.

As a pathology assistant working with the county Medical Examiner, Jenna has more than a passing interest in these events. Together, she and Dr Slikowski uncover evidence suggesting the mayor was dead before he fell from the building. And when authorities blame the teenage violence on video games and movies, Jenna believes something far more sinister is behind the madness.

Christopher Golden is an award-winning , LA Times best-selling author. Other books in his Body of Evidence series includes BODY BAGS (Loved it!) and SKIN DEEP. Through narrator Julie Dretzin's riveting performance, Jenna emerges as a smart and brave young woman.

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I do enjoy this series of YA forensic mystery. Jenna is smart and her character is written enough as an 18 year old learning how to get older and going home isn't easy, but an intelligent 18 year old who knows she will be up for the journey.

Jenna comes home for Christmas and realizes that she isn't sure one can really go home again. She is torn between missing her mom and her friends in her hometown and missing her other home at college with her job working with Slick and Dyson and the friends and boyfriend in her college life. The murders of the families throws a light on the changes in her relationships with her high school friends. She feels compelled to help the police and her friends think she's weird for wanting to do so. The murders are appalling, but they think Jenna is full of herself now. The police think she's too young to be of any help.

There are some amazing co-ink-e-dinks that move the story along at a rather rapid pace, but it's a short book, so it was likely necessary and reasonably understandable.

I look forward to reading/listening to the rest of the series. Christopher Golden is on my WWBL and has been for a while. Highly recommend...

Four don't judge a book by it's young cover beans.....

BONES OF BETRAYAL - Jefferson Bass, narr Tom Stechschulte

From the back of the book: Founder of the University of Tennessee's Body Farm, Dr Bill Bass is hailed as the father of forensic anthropology. He and acclaimed journalist Jon Jefferson combine their talents to craft BONES OF BETRAYAL, a sizzling entry from their NY Times best-selling Body Farm series.

When the frozen body of Dr Leonard Novak--formerly a lead scientist on the Manhatten Project--is found near Tennessee's Oak Ridge nuclear research facility, Dr Bill Brockton takes up the investigation. It seems Novak died from ingesting highly radioactive material, and nowthe medical examiner has been poisoned by the same substance. As Brockton digs, he connects Novak's death to long-ago events and realizes the answers may ultimately lie in Oak Ridge's shady past.

A thrilling tale of suspense, BONES OF BETRAYAL shows why Kathy Reichs praises Bass and Jefferson's "terrific forensic detail" and calls them "the real deal." Narrator tom Stechschulte, a natural with Southern accents, lends his rich voice to this riveting audiobook.

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This is the fourth, and best, of the Body Farm series. The story kept me enthralled, to the point of sitting in the driveway or parking lot to listen to what would happen next so I wouldn't have to wait to find out.

I studied WWII in history class in school, I've seen movies on the Manhattan Project, but I found out even more intriguing facts about Oak Ridge, Tennessee. I'm not sure I knew Oak Ridge was part of the nuclear research or part of the atom bomb. Much has been made of the contributions of Los Alamos, but not as much about other placenames of importance.

The story was told in present day and the past with stories told by one of the characters, a woman Brockton meets at Dr Novak's funeral. I found the stories just as fascinating as the mystery of the death of Novak.

I highly recommend this book, either as handheld or audio, especially if you enjoy forensic mysteries. Really well written forensic mysteries.

Five nuclear beans.....