MARK OF THE LION: Jade del Cameron Mystery - Suzanne Arruda

From the back of the book: In 1919, when most women only dream of adventure, Jade del Cameron lives it. After growing up tough on a New Mexico ranch and driving an ambulance on the front lines of World War I, she can fire a rifle with deadly precision and stare down men maddened by shell shock. Still suffering trauma from the Great War, she sets off for Africa determined to fulfill a man's dying wish....

With his last breath, Jade's beloved David asked her to find the brother he only recently learned he had. All clues point Jade to the East African city of Nairobi, where she soon has reason to believe that David's father was murdered. She hears the natives whisper about a laibon---a witch doctor---terrorizing the land. They speak of being attacked by wild beasts that bear strange shaved patterns and bone beads in their fur---signs of animals being mystically guided by an avenging human.

In a land where tribal traditions clash with the so-called civilization of unruly British expatriates, Jade must draw upon all her ingenuity and courage to unmask the truth, expose the killer...and stay alive to fight another day.

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One could start a review by comparing this series to Jacqueline Winspear's 'Maisie Dobbs' series. It is similar in being set during WWI timeframe and with a strong female lead character. It would also be a good comparison in that both are a favorite series for me with a must get all for the keeper shelf proviso.

I can't remember where I first heard of Jade del Cameron, but the series has been on the WWBL for some time with MARK OF THE LION on Mt Git'r'Read for a while for whatever reason. I am a mood reader and books tend to get lost on the bookshelves in my house. I was both in the mood and MARK OF THE LION almost fell on my cranium at a propitious time last month.

After I metaphorically kicked myself for having waited so long, I got down to reading and loving the book.

It moves quickly, is full of history as much as it is a wonderfully written mystery.

Jade del Cameron is a strong woman who knows her own mind. She lucks into both a job as a photographer and writer for a travel magazine as well as being hired to find the brother of the man she loves and misses after his death during the Great War. She travels to Africa, proceeds to not put up with any crap from anyone and raises the ire of the local witchdoctor and some of the locals while she searches.

This is as much an adventure series as much as it is suspense, a wonderful mixture.

I admire Jade and cannot wait to read more of the series. http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/a/suzanne-arruda/

Five sparkly strong woman in Africa diamonds.....

Book Signing Tonight for C M Wendelboe - DEATH ALONG THE SPIRIT ROAD

High Crimes Mystery Bookshop (http://www.highcrimesbooks.com/) is hosting author C M Wendelboe and his debut novel, DEATH ALONG THE SPIRIT ROAD, at 7:00 P.M. at The Oriental & Navajo Rug Gallery,927 MAIN STREET, LONGMONT, CO .

I looked the book up and Publisher's Weekly called it " the absorbing first in a new Native American series" and harstan/Harriet Klausner said, "This Native American police procedural is a strong whodunit."

Lady K and I are taking off in a few minutes. I hope to take photos and definitely getting a copy (or two) of his book. Cannot wait to read it!

BURIED DREAMS: A Lewis Cole Mystery - Brendan DuBois

From the back of the book: Fatal plunder. New Hampshire magazine columnist Lewis Cole hadn't known Tyler Beach resident and amateur archeologist Jon Ericson long, but well enough to call him friend, and was angry enough to want to know who killed him and why. His death was preceded by an excited phone message to Cole: Ericson believed he had found the elusive proof that Tyler Beach was the original Viking settlement. Had this discovery cost him his life?

Cole sets out to find what Jon had learned and whom he'd told, and confronts some odd characers, including an estranged brother with a grudge, as he stumbles upon a bitter feud between historians and academics. When someone seriously tampers with his car, Cole knows he's made an enemy. Vengeance may not be the purest of motives for the truth, but Cole's got his reasons...as well as the determination to do whatever it takes---on either side of the law---to make sure Jon Ericson is avenged.

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A new-to-me author and series....I love finding these and especially so when they turn out to be a gritty quick-turn-the-page-gotta-see-what's-gonna-happen-next type of read. BURIED DREAMS sort of feels like an amateur sleuth mystery in that Lewis Cole is a magazine writer and he wants to solve his friend's murder. But he has a past with the government and the grit factor ratchets up with Cole's friend Felix Tinios, a 'security consultant' (at least on his tax returns).

Together they work to investigate on their own the death of Jon Ericson. The book begins at Jon's funeral and told in flashbacks throughout. This method can sometimes confuse this reader, but it worked really well here. I got to know Jon a little better and saw what caused Lewis Cole to care so much and need to find his friend's killer.

I look forward to finding the rest of this series. Looks like there are seven books in the series so far, BURIED DREAMS is the fifth according to Fantastic Fiction http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/d/brendan-dubois/

Five murder and archeology beans.....

ORIGINAL SIN: A Sally Sin Adventure - Beth McMullen

From the back of the book: She has a license to kill...and carpool...

Seeing Lucy Hamilton, you would think she is just like any other suburban stay-at-home San Francisco mom. She takes her three-year-old son Theo to the beach, playground, and the zoo. She makes organic applesauce, folds laundry, and plays on the floor with Matchbox cars until her knees ache. What no one knows about Lucy, not even her adoring husband Will, is that for nine years she was known as Sally Sin, a spy for the USAWMD (United States Agency for Weapons of Mass Destruction). And that's just the way Lucy wants to keep it---a secret.


Ian Blackford, a notorious illegal arms dealer and Lucy's long-forgotten nemesis, returns to the USAWMD's radar, and they are forced to call Lucy back to action to lure Blackford out into the open. As she races to unravel the mystery that surrounds Blackford's return (and get dinner on the table), she realizes that the answers she needs lie in a past that she's tried very hard to forget. In a race against time, Lucy must fight to save herself, her family --and, oh yes--the world.

Now True Lies meets I Don't Know How She Does It in a rollicking debut novel that reminds us all that "some rise by sin, and some by virtue fall" (William Shakespeare)

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Back of the book says ORIGINAL SIN is a mix of True Lies meets I Don't Know How She Does It......


I had just as much fun reading this book as I do watching a Burn Notice marathon sundae with a Long Kiss Goodnight cherry on top.

It took a bit for me to dig the story, maybe a few pages of getting used to how Lucy dealt with her life of motherhood and wifedom. Once she began telling me how this life came to be from the Phoenix ashes of her spy past, I was hooked.

Lucy/Sally tells her story in vignettes of flashbacks when her past comes looking for her in the form of Simon Still, her spy boss.

Sally/Lucy has a way with languages that had the agency come looking for her in college and soon she's off on missions in far-flung places, living it up in fab locales like Cambodia chasing down characters like The Blind Monk.

And she has a nemesis, Ian Blackford, who she can't seem to shake. He kidnaps her on a fairly regular basis, but no one can see it coming fast enough to catch him at it.

When her past comes looking for her, she becomes the mother bear protecting her den and cub. She won't have anyone taking away what she's worked so hard to have now.

Thank you, Library Thing, for sending this out to me!! Can't wait to see what happens next. ORIGINAL SIN: A Sally Sin Adventure comes out on 12 Jul 2011.

Five spy mom kickin' it pearls.......

WILD INDIGO: A Wild Mystery - Sandi Ault

From the back of the book: The high desert of New Mexico becomes the backdrop for this debut novel---one that "crackles with life and novelty" (The Washington Post)--of ancient rituals, restless spirits, a desperate female fed, and a crime that could destroy an entire culture...

Bureau of Land Management Agent Jamaica Wild has witnessed the death of a Tanoah Pueblo man--he was trampled by buffalo. The tribe declares the incident a suicide, the FBI concurs, and the body is hurried to ceremony before the sun can go down on the man's spirit.

But Agent Wild suspects foul play. Haunted by his death, she pursues her own investigation, leading to a labyrinth of clandestine Pueblo religious rites, peyote cults, and Hispanic and Tiwa witchcraft. After the tribal government and local paper make allegations that Jamaica caused the stampede, she finds herself banned from the Pueblo, suspended from her job, and allied with an old, reclusive curandera who induces trances and casts spells. Jamaica is determined to solve this mystery by any means, but what is revealed is a greater secret regarding Tanoah Pueblo---one that threatens its future and its past.
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I love finding a new to me mystery series, especially the ones set close to home. The book creates a draw that makes me want to visit the area at the soonest.
Sandi Ault has either lived this life or does a helluva fab job of researching all aspects of Pueblo life, herbal and witchcraft lore, federal agency bureaucracy and what it's like to live with a real wolf.
There are some scenes of Jamaica's past and past cases that I hope get addressed in future books in the series. Little cliffhangers abound to keep the reader asking for more info.

Four coming back for more beans.....

IRON LAKE: A Cork O'Connor Mystery #1 - William Kent Krueger, narr David Chandler

From the back of the BOCD: Anthony Award-winning author William Kent Krueger pens and riveting tale in IRON LAKE, the first in a thrilling series about a down-and-out ex-sheriff who is having trouble retiring his badge.

Cork O'Connor loses his job as sheriff in small-town Aurora, Minnesota, after being blamed for a tragedy on the local Anishinaabe Indian reservation. And now he faces losing his family, too, when his wife files for divorce. But he'll have to set aside his personal demons when a young boy goes missing on the sameday retired judge commits suicide---and no one but O'Connor suspects foul play.

Krueger won the Barry Award for Best First Novel and the Minnesota Book Award for this stellar series debut, as well as his first of several Anthony Awards. Narrator David Chandler's thrilling performance of this bone-chilling mystery will leave listeners craving more.
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My friend, Lynne, who lives in Minnesota, loves this series. She recommended it a couple of years ago. It took a year or so for me to get it on the WWBL, then another year to find it and get it onto Mt Git'r'Read. I found it on Recorded Books and added it to my wishlist there. I bumped it up to the top and it arrived on my doorstep.
I swear I don't know why I waited so long to read or listen to this superb mystery. It's more than a mystery suspense. It's a book about a man trying to figure out where his life took such a different path than the one he wanted. He is no longer the sheriff, no longer a family man, no longer sure he knows what he wants from life.
The mystery has plenty of twists that are spectacular, but make sense. There is nothing that is contrived.
I'll get my print copy of this book to my dad who will then get it to my sister and there will be two more fans of Krueger and this series.
Five superb thriller in the cold sparkly diamonds......

BURY YOUR DEAD: Chief Inspector Gamache Novel #6 - Louise Penny

From the back of the ARC: In BURY YOUR DEAD, Penny peers deeper into the psyche of her beloved Inspector Armand Gamache, unveiling a broken man coming to terms with his buried grief and guilt.

It is Carnaval in Quebec City and Gamache has come not to join the celebration but to recover from an investigation gone wrong. But death is inescapable, even in the sanctuary of the Literary and Historical Society--where an obsessive historian's quest for the remains of the founder of Quebec, Samuel de Champlain, ends in murder. Could a secret buried for nearly 400 years be so dreadful that someone would kill to protect it?

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Chief Inspector Armand Gamache is recovering. The reader finds out in slow bits from what he is recovering. One of his agents, Jean Guy Beauvoir, is also recovering from the same event. Both are involved in solving a murder. The investigations are low profile for both agents. Each is an investigation into the past as well as the present.

It took me a bit to get into the story, partly because it takes place in Quebec, an area and history I know little to nothing about. I decided to sit back and read this like I read and enjoy my British suspense and thrillers. It worked and I found myself staying up later and later to read a few more pages.

This was my first experience with this series and it will definitely not be the last. This is a gorgeously written suspense. I was pleased to get this from LibraryThing this month. I have read plenty of wonderful reviews and I have STILL LIFE, the very first Chief Inspector Gamache novel, on Mt Git'r'Read. It's getting moved to the top of the stack when I am ready to read another superbly written, highly suspenseful, wonderfully written charactered novel. I need a rest after this one, something light, like a sorbet something light.

Five gorgeously suspenseful beans......

RAGE FACTOR: Dixie Flanagan #2 - Chris Rogers, narr Peggity Price

From the back of the BOCD: Chris Rogers' novels starring former lawyer and no-nonsense bounty hunter Dixie Flanagan get high marks from fans. In RAGE FACTOR, Dixie has her hands full with a serial rapist and a pack of women dedicated to stopping violence against women---by any means necessary.

Dixie is shocked when a jury finds the well-connected and brazen charmer Lawrence Riley Coombs not guilty on multiple counts of assault and rape. His freedom is short-lived, however, when a group of women kidnap him seeking brutal revenge. Dixie begins investigating and discovers some disturbing connections. She fears her friend and prosecutor Brenda Benson is somehow involved, and that these vigilantes will go too far if they aren't stopped.

This companion to the best-sellers CHILL FACTOR and BITCH FACTOR finds Rogers in top form. Peggity Price's stellar performance captures all the verve and sass of this Southern heroine.

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This one was brutal! It kept me breathless throughout the story that had multiple things going on through different voices telling the story.

Dixie is still the main character and she has her bounty hunting to do as well as bodyguard duty and the investigation into the vigilante group, Avenging Angels, to see to because she is worried it's actually people she knows and cares about who are taking the law into their hands.

The bodyguard detail is to look after the daughter of an actress out from California to film a sci-fi flick and her teenage daughter is none too happy to have a babysitter. She causes Dixie problems from the get-go and all Dixie wants to do is get her through the day without issue.

Add to the mix the Avenging Angels and the criminals they are after, these are the most intense scenes in the book. Not for the faint of heart.

Five brutal beans.....

TONIGHT I SAID GOODBYE: Lincoln Perry #1 - Michael Koryta

From the back of the book: Investigator Wayn Weston is found dead of an apparent suicide in his home in an upscale Cleveland suburb, and his wife and six-year-old daughter are now missing. The police think the former Marine murdered them. Hping to exonerate his son, Weston's father hires PIs Lincoln Perry and Joe Pritchard.

Perry and Pritchard soon discover there is much more beneath the surface, including rumors of gambling debts, extortion, and ties to the Russian mob. But just when Perry and Pritchard believe they are making swift progress, a millionaire real-estate tycoon and the FBI advise them to back off of the investigation.

Then without warning, another murder suddenly forces them to change direction in the case as they uncover a trail of deadly twists--but the most shocking secret of all has yet to be unraveled.....

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I have read a few reviews here and there on this series and this author. I am glad I followed my instincts and bought this thriller and read it pretty much immediately upon its arrival. I had an agenda as I have been neglecting my thriller and suspense books on Mt Git'r'Read in favor of the cozies, UF, and other mysteries. That's not a bad thing, all the books have been pretty sweeeeet....but my dad is coming out in August and we trade thrillers and suspense between the three of us (Seester, Dad and moi) and I have been lax in the trading on my part.

SO...I read this, what turned out to be, superb thriller by this new-to-me author, Michael Koryta.

This book had me squinching my toes up and have some wildass dreams (it was my bedside book) of Russians chasing me in the pool and off of balconies. At least, in the dream, I had a bigass gun.

Lincoln Perry is a flawed character with an intriguing past of disgrace and looking to redeem himself, sort of. He and his partner, Joe, are good at what they do as private investigators. They are hired by the father of a presumed suicide victim. The father wants to clear his son's name and he thinks his son was murdered instead of having committed suicide. There is more to the case than meets the eye and all hell breaks loose.

Anything else will be spoiler city, so I will leave you with this...if you like a tightly honed, superbly written thriller that Lee Child called, "A terrific,first-class debut full of suspense, tension, tricks, and charm." Then this book is for you!

Five terrific, first-class beans.....

BITCH FACTOR: Dixie Flanagan #1 - Chris Rogers, narr Peggity Price

From the back of the BOCD: Author Chris Rogers draws on her Texas roots to write the Dixie Flanagan series. Dixie, a former assistant district attorney turned bounty hunter, is legendary in Houston jails for capturing even the most hardened criminals after they've jumped bail.

Parker Dann has been accused of hit-and-run, killing 11-year-old Betsy Keyes as she walked to school one morning. When Parker sees the holiday break as a good time to jump bail, his lawyer calls Dixie to track down Parker before anyone finds out he's on the run. Once Dixie catches up with the fugitive, he's handcuffed in the back of her Mustang before he knows it. But he says that he didn't kill the girl, and claims to remember nothing about the accident. As more evidence surfaces, Dixie starts to believe him.

Rogers' start to the Dixie Flanagan series has been called "funny, clever, and entertaining" (The Washington Times). Narrator Peggity Price channels her inner bitch to voice sassy, tough Dixie.

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I originally put this on my Recorded Books wishlist after listening to the superbly written Domestic Equalizers. This series is also fabulously narrated by Peggity Price....I wanted to hear more of what she'd voiced and looked her up on the audiobook site and found Chris Rogers and her creation of Dixie Flanagan. YAY! I'm not sure how long it might have taken me to find this fab thriller of a series otherwise. And I'd have missed out on some kind of cool bitch that is Dixie Flanagan.

Now, I say 'bitch' in the best possible way. Dixie is the tough investigator, smart, always gets her bail jumper...her methods are rougher than most and the bail jumpers are the ones calling her 'bitch'. I like her. She doesn't take any crap and she has the best dog, named MUD (Mean Ugly Dog).

The description of the book says that it's clever, funny and entertaining...it is...but it's also a thriller that had me skimming some sections due to the content. There were references of child abuse of the worst kind and I had a difficult time listening to those parts, so skipped them without losing the thread of the story.

I liked watching Dixie in action, especially her run-ins with her quarry, Parker Dann. It was a lot of back and forth sparks, suspicion of each other, and more prickly sparks.

Dixie likes mysteries in her reading, one of her favorite authors is Dick Francis (like me) and her favorite of his books is WHIP HAND (same as me), so that was an endearing aspect.

The suspects were all varied with truly grim motives each and plenty of twisted twists and turns...gripping as hell.

Five gripping as hell (and a dog named MUD) beans.....

CROSSED BONES: Mississippi Delta Mystery #4 - Carolyn Haines, narr Kate Forbes

From the back of the BOCD: Best-selling novelist Carolyn Haines has earned a devoted following with her acclaimed "Bones" mystery series. In CROSSED BONES Southern belle and amateur sleuth Sarah Booth Delaney finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation with undertones of racism.

Zinnia, Mississippi divides along color lines when prominent black pianist Ivory Keys is stabbed to death in his own nightclub. The prime suspect is Scott Hampton, Keys' rich and white protege. Sarah is hired to prove Scott's innocence, but to do so, she'll have to navigate some treacherous waters. And she'll also have to do it while juggling three potential love interests.

Colorfully capturing the distinct appeal of Mississippi Delta country, Haines delivers a tale that Kirkus Reviews says "couldn't be more Southern if it were packaged with grits." Narrator Kate Forbes' down-home performance is the perfect complement to this lively mystery.

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CROSSED BONES is now my favorite of the Mississippi Delta Mystery series. Granted it's darker than the ones I've listened to previously, but it still maintained the touches of humor and had the wonderfully written characters, especially Sarah Booth, Jitty, and Tinky who have become friends I've grown to love and look forward to hanging with each visit.

Another part that made it such a great listen is the blues music that threads throughout. I don't know when I started listening to and loving the blues, but it's been a huge part of my music collection (and part of what brought DH and I together). So that added magic to the listening of this book, too.

In the description from the back of the audibook, it says that this is an amateur sleuth mystery. I disagree. Sarah Booth and Tinky have moved way beyond amateur. They are proven private investigators with a fairly solid track record. And they get paid! Not amateurs any longer. If the series requires a label, it's a suspense mystery with humor tucked in.

Five not amateur anymore beans.....

BIG RED TEQUILA: Tres Navarre #1 - Rick Riordan, narr Tom Stechschulte

From the back of the BOT: Winner of the Shamus and Anthony Awards

Edgar Award winner Rick Riordan captures San Antonio at its grittiest with his mysteries featuring Jackson "Tres" Navarre--unlicensed P.I., Tai Chi master, and imbiber of Big Red cream soda laced with tequila.

It's been a decade since his father was murdered, and Tres left town. But he's got an inch that can only be scratched by looking for answers. Returning to San Antonio with his enchilada-eating cat, he uncovers a conspiracy involving the Mafia and dirty politicians. It isn't long before Tres stirs up more than he can handle and finds himself the target of ill-willed bullets.

Riordan paints a memorable portrait of Texas in its many unique hues, while narrator Tom Stechschulte captures the characteristic flavor of the Lone Star state.

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I was listening to THE LIGHTNING THIEF: Percy Jackson and the Olympians (my review) at the same time as part of this one. It's so amazing how talented an author can be to write two completely different genres and both of them be so highly enjoyable.

Tres Navarre is a well written character and, gosh, do I want to be his buddy. He's got a nice dry sense of humor, takes a hit and keeps on quippin', and has human foibles. And has an enchilada eating cat named Robert Johnson.

He comes back to town after ten years away in San Francisco after the shooting death of his father in their driveway. Ostensibly, he feels the need to solve the murder of his father, but he's there, also, to help his ex-girlfriend solve some problems with her business partner.

There are some possible ties to the Mafia and corrupt politicians. The possibility of all of this being tied with the murder of his father sucks Tres (and the reader...) in.

Five big ol' Texas beans....and maybe some bottles of Herradura...Tres' tequila of choice...

SHARK RIVER: Book 8 Doc Ford series - Randy Wayne White, Ron McLarty

From the back of the BOCD: SHARK RIVER - Randy Wayne White is a journalist, veteran fishing guide, and author of several nonfiction collections. He also creates superb, best-selling suspense fiction. His novels have received the highest praise from Library Journal and Booklist, and from authors like Carl Hiaasen, who says, "Randy Wayne White takes us places that no other Florida mystery writer could hope to find."

Marine biologist Doc Ford is spending two easy weeks on luxurious Guava Key compiling data. But when two young women at the resort are attacked, Doc comes to their rescue. In an instant, he is pulled into an international plan of revenge that becomes more deadly with each passing hour. Now, Doc isn't counting fish--he's adding up his chances for survival.

SHARK RIVER's eye-popping chases, eccentric characters, and taut suspense are all seasoned with a rich, dark humor that heightens the irony of Doc's predicament. From its astonishing first sentence to the final punchline, this book is sure to grab every listener in its powerful grip.

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I love the Doc Ford books that feature a whole buncha Tomlinson. I loves me some Tomlinson. He and Doc Ford work well together. And I've been listening to these completely out of order, so I've watched all the relationship growth all out of order and it's been kinda cool.

This one shows Tomlinson having problems with 'Zamboni and the hat trick twins'....and he's been having dreams about his past, things are starting to surface. And he thinks that's why he's having his problems.

A woman comes into both Doc's and Tomlinson's lives who claims to be Doc's sister. She is an amazing woman and a lot like her father, Doc's uncle (or is it his father?) and Doc is wary of her despite how much he comes to admire her.

Then the two women Doc rescues that brings him into a whirlwind of subterfuge.....

Just an all around darn fine suspense.
Loved Ron McLarty's narration. He does the absolute best voice characterization for Tomlinson.

Four Tomlinson duuuuuude beans.....

TEN THOUSAND ISLANDS: #7 Doc Ford - Randy Wayne White, narr Ron McLarty

From the back of the audiobook: Author of best-selling mysteries including MANGROVE COAST, Randy Wayne White sets his novels in the Florida waters he knows so well---he is a veteran fishing guide and contributor to Outside magazine. TEN THOUSAND ISLANDS is the seventh in the Doc Ford series.

Fifteen years ago, a teenage girl found an ancient gold medallion on a small island off the Florida gulf coast. Soon she was having nightmares and alter was found hanging from a tree. Although the death was ruled a suicide, the girl's mother, Della, is now sure there was foul play. Her trailer was vandalized and her daughter's coffin raided. When Della comes to Doc for help, the mysterious gold medallion plunges the Florida marine biologist into a perilous search for answers.

Filled with suspense and highly charged atmosphere, TEN THOUSAND ISLANDS received rave reviews from critics. Ron McLarty's dramatic narration highlights its gripping mixture of ancient ritual and modern evil.

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Each book from this series is a different adventure, which I'm sure is what Randy Wayne White is shooting for. It makes each one a stand-alone even if it is a series...some start out slowly and build up to high tempo and others start off with a big bang and keep it going. This is one of those big bang start and kept on banging at the cranium.

In among the action is the first time Doc Ford has some leftover fish baked up by Tomlinson and Tomlinson used his creative side to add some 'shrooms...the magic kind....and Ford has himself a little unplanned 'trip'. Tomlinson assures him that he is there for the duration to help him through the journey. This was a superb break in the thrill mode.

I think Ron McLarty is my favorite of the narrators for this series. He gives my favorite character, Tomlinson, the best voice. Kind of a stoner dude hippie feller and I love him so.

Four stoner 'shroom action in the middle beans.....

THE QUIET GAME - Greg Iles, narr Tom Stechschulte

From the back of the audibook: Passion and racial tension seethe through the pages of this multi-layered thriller set in the South. New York Times best-selling author Greg Iles creates a compelling tale of a young lawyer determined to find justice--no matter what the cost.

Houston prosecutor Penn Cage returns to his childhood home in Natchez, Mississippi after his wife's death. Instead of finding peace, he discovers his father beaten down by a ruthless blackmailer and himself the target of a nameless killer. As Penn struggles to save his family, he uncovers shocking information about a decades-old murder steeped in racism.

In a desperate attempt to right a terrible wrong, Penn must face off with formidable foes: the FBI, a powerful judge, and a town filled with people who play "the quiet game." Tom Stechschulte's dramatic performance captures all the intrigue, danger, and breathtaking action.

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WOW! That's the first thing to say about this absolutely gripping suspense/thriller novel. Penn Cage is a very popular author of legal thrillers after being a successful prosecuting attorney in Texas. He has come home to his hometown in Mississippi to help himself and his 4 year old daughter, Annie, move on after the death of Sarah, Penn's wife and Annie's mother.

What he finds is his father under a shroud of blackmail and a 30 year old unsolved murder case that possibly involves the father of Penn's high school flame. This man, a wealthy and powerful judge, is a big deal in the city of Natchez, heck in the state of Mississippi and is virtually untouchable. But Penn feels compelled to solve this case and bring justice and closure to the family of the murdered man and possibly closure and justice to Penn's own family.

Each turn of the page (or new audiotape) brings a new layer to the crime, interweaving more lies and cover-ups from the past.

It's my first Greg Iles and it is definitely not going to be my last. I have a few MPBs by Greg Iles and they are going to make it to the top of the stack very soon. I will listen to more of these as I find them on RecordedBooks. These are the kind of audiobooks that make me want to sit in the parking lot or the driveway to find out what is going to happen. It is that tense and suspenseful.

Five Southern, steamy, dark suspense at its best beans....

THE ECHO - Minette Walters, narr Simon Prebble

From the back of the BOCD: Best-selling author Minette Walters captivates mystery aficionados throughout the world with her evocative, multi-layered novels, which have been translated into 22 languages. In THE ECHO she spins a finely-wrought web of secrets and betrayals, love and guilt that entangles everyone who touches it.

A homeless man has been found dead of starvation--huddled next to a food-filled freezer--in a London socialite's garage. When journalist Michael Deacon interviews the wealthy woman, he suspects she is hiding something. His search for answers leads him on a perilous journey through unsolved crimes of the past and the shadowy world of London's down and out.

Edgar Award-winning Minette Walters grips her readers' emotions with her ever-heightening psychological suspense. British actor Simon Prebble's dramatic performance will keep you enthralled throughout the sinuous plot and the shattering finish.

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The first part of the story was a little bit tangled up for me, the end of the story was a little bit tangled up for me, but the middle part was superb and made up for the tangles on either end.

You have to like British dark suspense with all that that entails of everything having hidden meaning and no one is who they appear to be at any given time. I know I love watching these on BBC America, with all of the visual cues and atmosphere.

My sister's been on me to read Minette's books, so this was the way I chose to do the first one. I'll read more and listen to more.

Four British atmospheric suspenseful beans......

A CIRCLE OF SOULS - Preetham Grandhi

From the back of the book: The sleepy town of Newbury, Connecticut is shocked when a little girl is found brutally murdered. The town's top detective, perplexed by a complet lack of leads, calls in FBI agent Leia Bines, an expert in cases involving children.

Meanwhile, Dr Peter Gram, a psychiatrist as Nebury's hospital, searches desperately for the cause of seven-year-old Naya Hastings' devastating nightmares. Afraid that she might hurt herself in the midst of a torturous episode, Naya's parents have turned to the bright young doctor as their only hope.

The situations confronting Leia and Peter converge when Naya begins dreaing chilling images of murder after being bombarded by the disturbing images in her dreams. Amazingly, her sketches are the only clues to the crime that has panicked Newbury residents. Against her better judgement, Leia explores the clues in Naya's crude drawings, only to set off an alarming chain of events.

In this stunning psychological thriller, innocence gives way to evil and trust lies forgotten in a web of deceit, fear and murder.

*****
I received a message on Goodreads from the author, if I would like to read and review his book. I jumped on the chance as it is in the genre I take pleasure in reading, mystery-thriller. I was also pleased that this promised a hint of paranormal. This book delivered in aces.

This is an amazingly fast book to read. The story moves along at a good clip, divided between the doctor's story, the investigators', the killer, the children. Having Lady K in my life, I had a hard time reading the sections dealing with the abduction and murder of 7 year old girl, but Grandhi handles it well and wasn't superfluously awful in detail.
The author is a psychiatrist working with young children and it shows in the writing. He seems more comfortable writing the scenes with Dr Peter Gram. I could feel the emotions Gram went through: warmth and concern working with Naya, aggravation with the insurance pre-authorization agents, disconcerted as he comprehended the metaphysical aspects of the investigation.
I stayed up late several nights to read "just one more page..one more chapter". The book affected my dreams the night I stopped reading after a chapter dealing with the killer. I made sure I stopped after a Dr Gram chapter after that.

Four dream affecting beans....

THE LITTLE SLEEP - Paul Tremblay

I stayed up late (for me) last night so I could finish this book. It's a lot like drinking coffee, a lotta lotta coffee, reading this book. It kind of made me jittery and wide awake. Now why would I read a book at bedtime that would do this? I get more time with books at bedtime, whether going to sleep (or trying to) or reading myself awake. And I wanted time with this one. Becky over at NoMoreGrumpyBookseller reviewed this a while back and it immediately got my attention, made my Wanton Wantin' List and pretty much just as soon went on my order to Cynthia at High Crimes Mystery Bookshop. It arrived in a timely fashion and it sat on the nightstand for a bit. I wanted to be in just the right mood for this funny, dry, suspenseful....

...I hit the right mood and I began the mystery solving with Mark Genevich, narcoleptic PI. Mark was in an car accident and has lived with his narcolepsy, falling asleep at inopportune times, somnabulism (sleepwalking), hallucinations, etc. One of these hallucinations has him taking the case of American Star contestant, Jennifer Times. She is being blackmailed over some photos.

The case takes some highly aberrant twists and turns. The original case fantails into another and Mark finds himself in rather tenuous waters and in danger of losing his life....

Four caffeinated to the nth beans......

BODY BAGS:Body of Evidence series #1 - Christopher Golden, narr Julie Dretzin

I originally placed this on my wishlist at RecordedBooks because of seeing the author, Christopher Golden, all over the blogs in reviews and book lists. He writes with Amber Benson and Thomas E Sniegoski to name a couple. He has 120 books and 5 or 6 series, mostly of the paranormal varietal. I sort of thought that this would be one of those....it isn't...but it is a genre I dig to the enth degree, forensic thriller.
This one stars Jenna Blake, 18 year old college freshman at Somerset University near Boston. She doesn't know exactly what she wants to be or what she wants to study. She'd love to be a doctor like her mother, but Jenna can't stand the sight of blood and she's terrified of what she'd do to her patients. Her father, a criminology professor at the university, suggests having a shot at a part time job working with the medical examiner's office. Not long after the autopsy room interview, the mystery begins. Two people have dropped violently dead and one right in front of Jenna in one of her classes.
She starts putting pieces of the puzzle together, but no one believes her until it is almost too late.
Not to be sexist, but Christopher Golden, a 40-ish guy, has a good handle on how an 18 year old girl would sound and must feel during this new adventure of moving away from home for the first time, to a new environment, making new friends, meeting guys, figuring out what she wants from life.
Add in some intrigue and murder plots and late night study sessions and you've got yourself an entertaining what's gonna happen next listen.

Four teen sleuth beans.....

BLOODSTREAM - Tess Gerritsen, BOT

There is something not right in Tranquility, Maine. Dr Claire Elliot and her son have moved to this small town to start over after the death of Claire's husband and the trouble that her son, Noah, has been getting into in their old city of Baltimore. But not all is as it should be in the town. Patients are slow to come to see Dr Claire, Noah is getting into trouble, through not much fault of his own, in school. Violent fights, vandalism, and murder have attacked this town, mostly in the school.
What is causing this outbreak? There's talk of Satanism, witches, cursed lakefront property... Claire is at a loss what to do, but she knows she has to find the answer, especially as it looks like her son may be affected.
DH wasn't crazy about this one on our work commute the last couple of weeks, but I liked it. I have read Gerritsen before (and liked her), I know that her books are full of characters that you empathize with, completely hate with a vengeance, there aren't many in between characters. I can feel myself wanting to reach inside the tape player and hit some of the characters. I have to console myself that the crapweasels will get theirs in the end.

Four what-the-hell-is-in-the-water beans......