OLD HAUNTS - E J Copperman

Alison Kerby's guesthouse already has two resident ghosts. But now, the past is coming to visit. Make your reservations early.

There's nothing quite as mournful as a gloomy ghost---and Alison has a pair of sad spirits, Maxie and Paul, haunting her Jersey Shore guesthouse. Maxie wants to know who murdered her ex-husband, a biker named Big Bob, whose remains have just been discovered two years later. Paul, pining for his still-living almost-fiancee, wants Alison to track her down and make sure she's okay.

The only one who isn't missing her ex is Alison---because The Swine has waltzed back into her life, specifically into her guesthouse, and is trying to win back their ten-year-old daughter, Melissa. He says he wants to get back together, but Alison knows him too well. The only question is: What is he really up to?

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Third in this paranormal cozy mystery series and it's even better than the one and two. I got to see more of the main characters' (living and not-so-much) pasts. Loved meeting The Swine after hearing so much about him in books one and two. I can see why Alison pitched him, though it should have been sooner. He's so smarmy!

The various stories going on through the book are intriguing and highly page-turn-faster-able. Seeing Maxie show vulnerability almost makes me willing to put up with her ghostly brattiness. Poor Paul has it bad for his past almost-ex.

The resolutions of each mystery are nifty.

I hope E J writes faster and gets number four out soonest. Visit him at:

http://www.ejcopperman.com/

Five nifty beans.....

IT TAKES A WITCH: A Wishcraft Mystery - Heather Blake

Darcy Merriweather and her sister, Harper, hail froma long line of witches who have the power to grant wishes using spells. They've come to Enchanted Village in Salem, Massachusetts, to join the family business, but they soon find themselves knee-deep in murder....

Until three weeks ago, Darcy and Harper were working dead-end jobs and trying to put their troubles behind them. Then their aunt Velma delivered a bombshell: They're actually Wishcrafters---witches with the power to grant wishes with a mere spell. Wanting a fresh start, they head to their aunt's magic-themed tourist town to master their newfound skills.

But their magic fails them when a wannabe witch turns up dead---strangled with Aunt Ve's scarf---and Ve's sweetheart, Sylar, is found looming over the body. Ve is standing by her man, but Darcy overheard Sylar wish that the victim would disappear---forever. With Harper distracted by her handsome new crush, Darcy is determined to sleuth her way to the truth. But it'll take more than a wish to unravel this mystery.....

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A fun new paranormal cozy mystery to enjoy. Love adding to my favorites list of series and authors, though I already like Heather Blake's other writing persona, Heather Webber.

An author could easily just change their pen name and have the same style going in the new series, but Heather has two distinct feels for the Wishcraft Mystery series as Ms Blake and the Lucy Valentine Mystery series she writes as Ms Webber.

The mystery is well done and the magic premise is superb. There are a lot of wee rules to follow as a Wishcrafter, like the wish has to be true of heart and phrased exactly so. Darcy is compelled to grant the wish once the rules are followed, sometimes with hilarious results. She's still learning her skills and abilities so mayhem can occur.

And there are all kinds of witches in this town that's not too precious for words as it could have been. I'd love to live here. The herbal, healers, wishcrafters, all sorts of witches hide in plain sight in Enchanted Village area of Salem.

Definitely pre-ordering A WITCH BEFORE DYING, due out 7 Aug 2012.

Five wishcraft beans......

TOMB WITH A VIEW: A Pepper Martin Mystery - Casey Daniels

Cemetery guide and reluctant medium Pepper Martin is always up for some fun that doesn't involve seeing and talking to dead people. So a gig commemorating a dead president can only mean good times are not ahead.....

Since Cleveland's Garden View Cemetery is going to be celebrating James A. Garfield's 179th birthday, Pepper has been assigned to plan it with Marjorie Klinker, know-it-all volunteer and Garfield fanatic. It's enough to send Pepper to an early grave---especially because Marjorie won't shut up about being related to the late president.

But when Marjorie takes an assisted header over the balcony in the Garfield memorial, Pepper needs to solve the case----if only to show up her detective ex-boyfriend. It doesn't help that Garfield's ghost is boring Pepper to tears with his excessive use of his freedom of speech. She's made an executive decision to find a flesh-and-blood killer, and she's going to stick to it----even if it gets her assassinated....

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Oh, how I love Pepper Martin. She'd be the coolest chickie to be friends with just with her weensie snarky personality, let alone her ginchy ability to talk to ghosts.

I feel for her, as snarky as she can be, she's not mean spirited (pardon the pun). The woman she has to work with, Marjorie, is a real piece of work. If it were in me to do so and I knew someone like Marjorie, I'd assist her over the rail too. Marjorie is so well written, I was smacking the book after one of her supercilious tirades.

Pepper's dealing with President Garfield is hilarious. She shows proper respect as much as she can, but he does get a wee bit ponderous in his presidential pontificating, so her patience gets tested.

The mystery is two-fold, plenty of action going on with a mysterious handsome man, murder, and secret visitors at all hours.

Five ghostly mystery beans.....

DEAD BOLT: A Haunted Home Renovation Mystery - Juliet Blackwell

From the back of the book: There's no room at the inn when it's full of ghosts...

General contractor Melanie Turner's latest restoration is a historic Queen Anne Victorian in San Francisco's Cow Hollow neighborhood. Trouble is, she'll have to work around the owners, the Daley family, who refuse to leave during the construction. But when eerie things start happening around the site, the Daleys threaten to call off the renovation for fear that the work is disrupting ghosts who live on the property.

But the ghosts aren't the only ones getting in the way of the renovation. The Daleys' neighbors aren't thrilled by the muss and fuss of the construction project. When Mel's father finds a dead body near the job site, Mel must add one more task to her growing to-do list. She has to finish the job, bring the house back from the brink, and complete her greatest renovation project yet: restoring her reputation....

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Such a fun series with great characters and super ghostly goin's on. These are scary spectres roaming in the Victorian Mel is renovating. I like how atmospheric the ghost scenes read. I find myself wrinkling my nose at the 'smells' or the cringing at the sounds as I read a passage.

There's more than just ghosts, too. I like a book with more than one mystery to solve and this has a couple or more. A murder and missing people, so Mel has her hands full. All that and she has her company to run and her people to keep renovating. And the ghosts to move along.....

Five moving ghosts beans.....

THE ABANDONED: Graveyard Queen prequel - Amanda Stevens

Overview: There are rules for dealing with ghosts. Too bad Ree Hutchins doesn't know them.
When her favorite patient at a private mental hospital passes away, psychology student Ree Hutchins mourns the elderly woman's death. But more unsettling is her growing suspicion that something unnatural is shadowing her.
Amateur ghost hunter Hayden Priest believes Ree is being haunted. Even Amelia Gray, known in Charleston as The Graveyard Queen, senses a gathering darkness. Driven by a force she doesn't understand, Ree is compelled to uncover an old secret and put abandoned souls to rest—before she is locked away forever....
An ebook exclusive prequel to The Graveyard Queen series.

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Oh how glad I am that I have a Nook! THE ABANDONED is only available (at least that's what I gather) as an ebook. And it was free, like a gimme so the reader can taste the world of Amelia Gray in this novella. I've read THE RESTORER (http://iyamvixenbooks.blogspot.com/2011/10/restorer-graveyard-queen-book-one.html) the first book in the series. I cannot wait to read the rest of the series as it comes out.

Amelia isn't in the book very much, but the setting from the first book is there. So dark and dank and scary. And gooooooood.

I hope the characters get revisited in future books.

Four sparkly scary diamonds......

WITCH HUNT: An Ophelia and Abby Mystery - Shirley Damsgaard

From the back of the book:
Small-town librarian Ophelia Jensen is finally starting to embrace her lot as one of the "chosen"—a psychic and folk magick practitioner, a.k.a. a witch. Expert loving guidance from her magickally adept grandmother Abby helps—and adopting Tink, an exceptionally talented teenage medium, has given Ophelia's life new purpose . . . until a brutal murder clouds the sunshine of their days.
Ophelia's co-worker and best friend, Darci, is distraught when her cousin is implicated in the small Iowa town of Summerset's most recent murder—the violent death of a biker. Unfortunately for Darci's cousin, it's her fingerprints all over the murder weapon. She claims she's innocent, but it'll take Ophelia and Abby more than a good incantation or two to get to the bottom of this crime—what with ghosts, crooked cops, secret identities, and a small army of outlaw bikers thrown into this devil's brew.

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There's trouble brewing in Ophelia's neck of Iowa. A motorcycle gang has moved in and the cousin of Ophelia's best friend Darci has been accused of murdering one the gang. She can't remember a thing, but was found in a compromising situation. It's up to Ophelia to help clear the cousin's name.

There's a plethora of schtuff going on in this one: murder, Ouija boards, spirits, outlaw motorcycle gang and one of the gang in particular, Cobra, has pegged Ophelia to intimidate.

I enjoyed this fast moving paranormal amateur sleuth mystery as I have all in the series so far. I look forward to reading the rest of the series, any of those not read yet.

Five ghosts and motorcycle gang beans......

NIGHT OF THE LOVING DEAD: A Pepper Martin Mystery - Casey Daniels

From the back of the book: Pepper Martin, heiress-turned-cemetery-tour-guide, has her hands full with work, two hotties, and the ghosts of who won't let her rest----or work, or shop---in peace....

The last thing Pepper wants during her Chicago business trip is more ghosts seeking her help, as they've been doing ever since she hit her head on a tombstone. Then again, being bored stiff during a seminar might actually be worse than being with bored stiffs.

The specter of Madeline---a young woman in a lab coat---wants Pepper's help. Before she died, Madeline worked with Dan Callahan, the sexy, mysterious doctor who once saved Pepper's life. According to Madeline, Dan's life is in danger. But, little does Pepper know, there's more to the story, including a devious doctor---and an obsessive, crazy love.....

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Pepper Martin is one of my favorite characters in a book. I can read the books in any order and laugh and empathize with Pepper as she goes through her travails as newly not-rich and with her ability to talk with the dead.

Casey had me at DON OF THE DEAD, the first in the series. Excellent titles and a superb premise.

Pepper has her hands full in this one. She gets to go on a business trip to Chicago for Garden View, the cemetery she works in. She even gets to give a speech, "Reactions to the Resurrectionists in the Planning and Design of the Urban Cemetery". You know Pepper's thrilled as all get out.

Pepper also has a new ghost on her hands and neither living or dead is happy about it. Madeline is as snooty in ghostliness as she must have been alive and Pepper can't stand her, but knows the only way to get rid of her is to help her move along into that light.

It's not an easy trip, but to tell more is to give away the book's story.

I can say I loved this one immensely. Perfectly funny and well told.

Five perfectly funny beans.....

GHOST SHIP: A Port Chatham Mystery - P J Alderman

From the back of the book: RITA-nominated author P J Alderman's delightful new mystery series blends haunting ghosts with hunting criminals as therapist Jordan Marsh dives deep into the past to solve a modern murder.

A recent transplant to Washington State's charming seaside town of Port Chatham, Jordan is still getting used to sharing her slightly run-down but historic lodging with ghosts. As if living with the long-deceased isn't enough of a challenge, she's just found a corpse: The town's notorious womanizer Holt Stillwell is lying on the beach with a bullet in his head.

Before Jordan can reel in a suspect, another victim surfaces. And this one isn't taking murder lying down. Holt's ancestor Michael Seavey, the Pacific Northwest's most infamous shanghaier, has materialized in Jordan's house, seeking to solve his own death in a suspicious shipwreck in 1893. With two murders to solve and a killer on the loose, Jordan faces yet another equally terrifying prospect: her growing attraction to the very alive and criminally attractive pub owner Jase Cunningham.

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Port Chatham is one of those towns so well-drawn in a book that I want to move there immediately. I want to live in Jordan's neighborhood. Heck, I want to live her ghosted-up house.

GHOST SHIP is the second in the Port Chatham Mystery series and set more in the present day than the first, HAUNTING JORDAN http://iyamvixenbooks.blogspot.com/2011/05/haunting-jordan-port-chatham-mystery-p.html. There are two mysteries going on, one in the past and one in the present, but the one set in the present seemed more predominant. Which meant more time with ghost whispererJordan, hottie pub owner/lawyerJase, police chief Darcy and the ghosts of sisters Hattie and Charlotte.

I like how the townspeople of Port Chatham accept Jordan's newfound ability to see and talk to ghosts. They all wish they could do the same. Jordan only has to accept it herself and not live in denial or try to hide her ability. She does feel compelled to solve the past and present murders or she'll have problems with the extra ghosts who keep appearing in her life.

The books in the series are thicker than your average paranormal amateur sleuth/cozy mystery. That's not a bad thing, by any means. It's that much more to enjoy of this superb series.

Five superb bigger than normal beans....

GHOST A LA MODE: A Ghost of Granny Apples Mystery - Sue Ann Jaffarian

From the back of the book: Rotten to the core or the apple of his eye?

Granny was famous for her award-winning apple pies---and notorious for murdering her husband, Jacob, at their homestead in Julian, California. The only trouble is, Granny was framed, then murdered. For more than one hundred years, Granny's spirit has been searching for someone to help her see that justice is served---and she hits pay dirt when she pops in on a seance attended by her great-great-great granddaughter, modern-day divorced mom Emma Whitecastle. Together, Emma and Granny Apples solve mysteries of the past---starting with Granny's own unjust murder rap in the final days of the California Gold Rush.

Along with a sprinkling of history, this spirited new mystery series features the amateur sleuth team of Emma Whitecastle and the spirit of her pie-baking great-great-great granmother, Granny Apples.

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I loved this book! I had so much fun reading about Emma and her finding her ability to hear and see ghosts with the help of Granny Apples.

All the excellent ingredients that I love in a book, good history lesson, a weensy start at a possible romance for the main character who really isn't looking for any kind of entanglement due to the poopcranium ex-husband. And an excellent mystery to solve.

There's humor, danger, suspense, and ghosts...it's all good and I cannot wait to read the next in the series, GHOST IN THE POLKA DOT BIKINI.

Five ghostly sparkly diamonds.....

AN UNINVITED GHOST: A Haunted Guesthouse Mystery - E J Copperman

From the back of the book: Welcome to Alison Kirby's guesthouse.

Ghost sightings twice daily.

No breakfast is served, but murder is included.

In exchange for help entertaining her guests on "spooky" vacations, Alison Kirby told her resident gumshoe ghost that she'd help him on the occasional case. But she didn't think she'd have to go through with it---after all, who goes to a dead private eye? The answer: other ghosts.

The deceased Scott McFarlane got roped into a prank that may have killed a prominent local resident. With some snooping, it turns out the woman is alive---that is, of course, until she's murdered....in Alison's house.

Now, between the demands of the guests at her Jersey Shore guesthouse and the arrival of a reality TV crew, Alison must find the killer---before she sees reality from the other side.

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Alison, her daughter Melissa, her mom, and her resident ghosts Maxie and Paul have their hands full with the now up and running guesthouse, filled with a tour of senior ghost hunters and a pack of "reality" show cast and crew.

And they all want something: the cast and crew of "Down the Shore" need space to do their 'reality' gig. (I know this book is fiction, but I do believe Copperman has confirmed my thought that 'reality shows' definitely get that ' ' I keep adding to the phrase 'reality show'.....)

The senior citizen ghost hunters want to see ghosts..or at least witness ghostly activity. Maxie and Paul, the resident ghosts, are just the two to get the activity going. In return, Paul wants Alison to help him help another ghost who thinks he's killed someone.

Maxie wants the attic.

This is a really fun series to read and E J Copperman can't write them fast enough as far as I am concerned. There were neat surprises along the way and I love surprises, so long as they don't feel forced. These were smoooooth.

Five smooooooth beans.....

A HARD DAY'S FRIGHT: A Pepper Martin Mystery - Casey Daniels

From the back of the book: Cemetary tour guide and reluctant medium Pepper Martin is enjoying quite a reputation on the ghostly grapevine. So when a free spirit from the sixties needs closure, she knows just who to haunt.....

What happened to a teenager named Lucy one night in 1966 after a Beatles concert? She rushed the stage, kissed Paul, started home with her friends, and was never seen again.

Until Pepper sees her---as a ghost who has heard of Pepper's gift of communicating with dead people and solving their murders. Lucy's spirit can't rest in peace until her body is found and buried. But how will Pepper track down a missing corpse after forty-five years?

With a little help from her friends......

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Pepper Martin mystery series has had me hooked since DON OF THE DEAD. The titles are fab, matching each book's premise. The covers are excellent with Pepper, never full face or looking away from the reader, posing among the tombstones.

Pepper has become quite good at detecting for the dead after solving the last six ghosts' issues. She knows research and hoofin' it around to get answers. She still likes to look stylish doing so and she still isn't overly adoring of her job, but she does love her boss, Ella, and now Ella needs her help. There's a ghost who needs rest, Ella's daughter who needs a mentor and a murderer who needs to be caught. And Pepper is just the right woman for the job whether she wants to be or not.

Five ghost talkin' in style beans......

HAUNTING JORDAN: A Port Chatham Mystery - P J Alderman

From the back of the book: RITA-nominated author P J Alderman weaves present day supernatural sleuthery with nineteenth-century intrigue in the first book of an enchanting new mystery series set in picturesque Port Chatham, Washington.

Jordan Marsh left L.A. for the quaint Pacific Northwest town of Port Chatham in pursuit of some much-needed R&R. As the prime suspect in her cheating husband's murder, she had been hoping to immerse herself in the restoration of the charming Victorian she'd just bought---and put all talk of homicide investigations behind her. But as she soon discovers, the coldest of cases cry out to be solved, too.

For this old house comes fully furnished---with two garrulous ghosts who have a century-old murder of their own they'd like her to look into. Now, if Jordan can keep the L.A. police at bay and sort through a suspect list of shady characters circa 1890, she might just clear a wrongly accused man's name---and her own.

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HAUNTING JORDAN could be a paranormal amateur sleuth, but there is a grit to it that moves it to paranormal suspense. Jordan has been accused of the murder of her soon-to-be ex and there's a cop on her who won't believe she's innocent. All she wants is peace and quiet and thinks that life will be different and, hopefully, better, in Port Chatham.

That's not about to happen with ghosts in the house, the chief of police who already knows too much about her, a handyman/pub owner too charming for Jordan's own good, and a dog who has invited himself to be hers.

It took me a bit to get used to the way the story was told in long flashbacks, but getting the backstory of the two ghosts 'living' with Jordan made the enjoyment of the book that much better. I hope to see development of the demenor of the two sisters in future books in the series. They seemed completely different when they were alive than they do as spirits.

I am definitely looking forward to the rest of the series. Glad I have GHOST SHIP on standby.

Five spirits from the past sparkly diamonds.....

GHOULS, GHOULS, GHOULS: A Ghost Hunter Mystery - Victoria Laurie

From the back of the book: Ghost Hunters turned treasure hunters.

When MJ and the crew of her cable TV show, Ghoul Getters, venture to the haunted ruins of Dunlow Castle in Ireland, they hope that the road will rise up to meet them, that the wind will always be at their backs, that the sun will shine warm upon their faces...and that the resident phantom won't push them off a cliff.

That is what has befallen others drawn to the castle by the legend of hidden treasure. Dunlow Castle has more spooks than turrets---including the long-dead lord in all his ghostly greediness--but they pale in comparison to the phantom. If MJ and her fellow ghost busters treasure their lives, they need to get the drop on the menacing phantom---before they plunge headfirst into one cliffhanger of an ending....

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Victoria Laurie has two series: Abby Cooper Psychic Eye and this one, Ghost Hunter...I started with Abby Cooper, but when I found MJ and the gang in Ghost Hunter, that was the winner of the two series. I enjoy watching MJ and her peeps bust ghost butt in haunted houses and hotels. Now they are in Ireland and looking for treasure in uber haunted Dunlow Castle.

MJ gets help from sort of boyfriend Heath, best friend just-about-a-big-baby Gilley, and the crew from their cable show Ghoul Getters...but she also gets help from the ghostly lord of the manor appearing in her dreams.

The gang is beset by issues and problems from the get-go. The castle is definitely off the mainland and is only accessible at certain times of the tide, the producer of the show goes missing and there's a phantom that no one mentioned.

I liked the book quite a lot, only issue is Gilley and MJ's relationship. Gilley gets all hysterical and selfish and MJ first gets pissed then forgives him. I got a bit tired of the scenes this time around, but it won't keep me from getting the next in the series, GHOUL INTERRUPTED.

Four ghostly beans.....

IF WALLS COULD TALK: A Haunted Home Renovation Mystery - Juliet Blackwell

From the back of the book: She puts up walls, he walks through them.

Since she took over her father's construction business, Melanie Turner has made quite a name for herself remodeling historic houses in San Francisco Bay area. But now her reputation may be on the line.

At her newest renovation project, a run-down Pacific Heights mansion, Mel is visited by the ghost of a colleague who recently met a bad end with power tools. Mel hopes that by tracking down the killer, she can rid herself of the ghostly presence of the murdered man.

Mel's only clue is an odd box she discovers inside a wall at the job site. If she can make sense of its mysterious contents, she might be able to nail a killer----before she becomes the next construction casualty.....

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I really like Juliet Blackwell's other series, about Lily Ivory the witch from Texas who lives in San Francisco and has a vintage clothing shop. I loved that one from the get-go.

It's going to take the next book to get me to really like Mel Turner and this series. There are some loose ends that I don't remember being tied together at the end or anywhere near the end.

That said, I am looking forward to the next one, due in December 2011. I love the premise of Mel being a strong woman character who owns her own construction company and can see ghosts. I think there is a lot of room for discovery of information of Mel and her cast of characters. I read the sneak peek at the end of IF WALLS COULD TALK and the second one looks super.

Five giving it a ghostly shot beans......

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....

FROM HELL WITH LOVE: A Secret Histories Novel #4 - Simon R Green, narr Gideon Emery

From the back of the BOCD: New York Times best-selling author Simon R Green creates a fantastical world in his Secret Histories novels. This fourth entry in the series finds paranormal investigator Eddie Drood's life getting turned upside-down.

Eddie is assigned to LA---make that Hell A-----when someone tries to acquire a mysterious auction item called the Apocalypse Door. But this plot is the least of Eddie's problems when he hears that the Drood family matriarch has been found murdered, leaving him in charge. Eddie isn't happy about being the new head o thte family, especially now that everyone believes either he or his witch-girlfriend Molly was responsible for the killing. Soince Eddie knows he didn't do it, he doesn't like where this is going.

Publisher's Weekly calls FROM HELL WITH LOVE a "gripping, fast-paced, emotionally intense" addition to Green's popular series. Narrator Gideon Emery deftly portrays the Drood clan in a pitch-perfect performance.

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I'm not sure what took me so long to get to this series, but I am going to make up for lost time as soon as I can. Starting with the fourth in the series wasn't a hindrance either. I think this one could be a stand-alone if needs be.

I know Simon R Green from his Nightside series which is one I would like more if it didn't have the little tic of stating something about 'the Nightside' in every other paragraph.

Thankfully, this series seems to be tic-free. Absolutely nothing to bug my tic-picky brain. Everything to dig as far as action and well-written characters of both good and evil and excellent world-building, witty dialogue. It started, for me, with Eddie Drood's undercover name, Shaman Bond. Well, maybe it started with the punny titles of the series:

THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN TORC

DAEMONS ARE FOREVER

THE SPY WHO HAUNTED ME

However it started, I will be back for more Eddie Drood, Molly, and the rest of the good guys versus bad.

Five Bond, Shaman Bond beans.......

A CAST-OFF COVEN: A Witchcraft Mystery #2 - Juliet Blackwell

From the back of the book: Lily Ivory is not your average witch. She runs a vintage clothing store called Aunt Cora's Closet, and with her magical ability to sense vibrations of the past from clothing and jewelry. Lily has made the shop a big hit---and her mystery-solving skills are also in high demand.

Students are spooked at the San Francisco School of Fine Arts, and Lily is called in to search for possible paranormal activity. In exchange for her help, she's been promised a trunkful of Victorian-era clothes recently discovered in a school storage closet.

But Lily finds something else: the body of a wealthy patron of the school. In between running the tore and seeing her new boyfriend, Max--a "myth buster" who is uncomfortable with her witchcraft--she uses her sleuthing skills to try to solve the murder. Soon Lily senses something from the school's vintage clothes, but it's not the smell of mothballs---it's the unmistakable aura of evil intent.

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I do enjoy this series. It's a great mixture of mystery and paranormal with a nice dollop of humor and neat characters.

Lily is learning what it's like to have friends. She's never had them before since she was a cast out in her hometown in Texas. Since moving to San Francisco, she has friends, a lovely shop that is highl popular and a neat familiar, Oscar the shape-shifting critter.

The evil that Lily finds in the closet at the School of Fine Arts is a mystery, but she knows she must get to the bottom of it and can with the help of the coven and her really mysterious friend and possible mentor, Aiden Rhodes.

Lily is also trying to figure out how to have a relationship with her myth-busting possible boyfriend, Max. She is a powerful witch and Max doesn't believe in magic or anything mystic. Will the relationship work out?

Five mystical magical 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.....

CRIME SPELLS - anthology edited by Martin H. Greenberg & Loren L. Coleman

From the back of the book: Phaedra Weldon, Mike Resnick, Michael A Stackpole, Jay Lake, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Steven Mohan Jr, Dean Wesley Smith, Ilsa J Bick, Joe Edwards, Devon Monk, Jason Schmetzer, Randall Bills, Robert T Jeschonek, Peter Orullian, Leslie Claire Walker, Steve Perry

In an ideal world, crime doesn't pay. But there are all kinds of crimes and all kinds of criminals, and though many are brought to justice, many others are never caught. But what about magical crimes? What sorts of crimes might a magic-worker commit, and what price would such a villain pay if caught?

Now sixteen top tale tellers have taken up the challenge of investigating magical crimes, those who commit them, investigate, or prosecute sorcerous offenders. So here's your chance to sleuth out the truth about 'crime spells' in fascinating stories that range from the tale of the public defender out to save an accused arsonist from 'facing the heat'...to a drug deal gone bad when someone 'iced' five mob members..to a minor superhero trying to save an ex-girlfriend from silicon thieves...to a woman running a mail order business to 'answer' questions about everything from true love to hidden treasures to murder...to a young lady who can 'track' missing people and objects.

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I don't always have a lot of luck with anthologies and I tend to shy away from them for the most part. A friend was raving about how much she enjoyed this book and offered to send it to me when she finished. Jen in Alaska knows how I am about paranormal mysteries and knew I'd like the majority of the stories.

And she was right! I didn't find one weak story in the batch and I discovered some new-to-me authors who have been added to the watch list as well as being reminded of authors I've heard of but not read before now.

I don't know if I had a favorite in the batch, but some did stand out like Devon Monk's Sweet Smell of Cherries and Phaedra Weldon's Web Ginn House.

Five not all anthologies are this good beans....

HIGH CRIMES ON THE MAGICAL PLANE: A Samantha Brennan and Annabelle Haggerty Mystery - Kris Neri

From the back of the book: Imagine the surprise of scam psychic Samantha Brennan--when she encounters the real thing--that's right: an honest-to-heavens Celtic goddess, hidden beneath the steely exterior of FBI Special Agent Annebelle Haggerty. Yet Annabelle's magical powers might not be enough when America's sweet and sexy movie star, Molly Clare, is made the centerpiece of a gangland siege that brings the City of Angels to its knees. And if Annabelle and her family of deities are no match for the Demon of Darkness that she believes is masterminding LA's own Armageddon--what chance does a poor little fake like Samantha have?

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There is more on the back of the book and it's all praise. It's a veritable paranormal Who's Who on that back cover singing praises over this book: Charlaine Harris, Casey Daniels, Shirley Damsgaard, Diana Gabaldon.

I cannot remember where I saw the review or synopsis of this one, but, once again, I am so glad that I did! This turned into a 'danger book' for me..the type that keeps me up reading past my bedtime. I loved Samantha and Annabelle, then the chemistry between the two main characters made me laugh and cheer them on. The story is a good one of quirky-means-well working with straightlaced good to fight the evil that is trying to take over the world, starting with Los Angeles.

All that appears normal isn't so, as Annabelle the goddess shows Samantha the fake psychic. Samantha knows the ways of the world, how to pull a good scam and where to find nifty vintage prom dresses. Annabelle knows where the gnomes and flower faeries reside and who to call when in need of a magical recharge.

The twists and turns were fab, especially the "Whoa! Did not see that coming" moment in the end.

Please let there be more to this series!! I'll look for Kris Neri's other books, that's for sure.

Five goddess sparkly diamonds....