Tag: mystery (Page 2 of 5)

September Round Up

October 2, 2021 / Kaetrin

Monthly Mini Review

Riley Thorn & the Dead Guy Next Door by Lucy Score, narrated by Natalie Duke – B+ I picked up this audiobook for $4.95 when it was an Audible Daily Deal recently but as it happened it was easily worth the cost of a credit. What a delightful find! Not only did I stumble into a new-to-me author (with a significant backlist for extra bonus points) but a fabulous new-to-me narrator as well.

Riley Thorn comes from a family of psychic women but has rejected her heritage and lives in denial. Except, when she is confronted by a vision of her creepy neighbour being murdered, things start to get real. Nick Santiago is a private investigator who was trying to serve a summons on the guy who (spoiler alert) ends up actually dead and because reasons, he ends up investigating the murder, along with Riley.

Riley lives in a large shared house filled with old people (for reasons I didn’t understand – perhaps I missed the explanation? – she has to pretend they’re all related) and they’re quirky, hilarious and also a wonderful found family. Riley is a bit of a caretaker and feels responsible for her neighbours and so wishes to protect them from any potential harm once it becomes clear that after the murder the bad guy may well be back for more nefarious deeds. Continue reading

REVIEW: Unfit to Print by KJ Charles, narrated by Vikas Adam

May 15, 2020 / Kaetrin

Why I read it: One from my own TBL

Content Warning: Some depiction of prostitution for financial reasons.

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) When crusading lawyer Vikram Pandey sets out in search of a missing youth, his investigations take him to Holywell Street, London’s most notorious address. He expects to find a disgraceful array of sordid bookshops. He doesn’t expect one of them to be run by the long-lost friend whose disappearance and presumed death he’s been mourning for thirteen years.

Gil Lawless became a Holywell Street bookseller for his own reasons, and he’s damned if he’s going to apologise or listen to moralising from anyone. Not even Vikram; not even if the once-beloved boy has grown into a man who makes his mouth water.

Now the upright lawyer and the illicit bookseller need to work together to track down the missing youth. And on the way, they may even learn if there’s more than just memory and old affection binding them together…

What worked for me (and what didn’t): It’s often easier for a novella-length story to give me a believable HEA when the main characters already know each other. In this second chance romance (is it second chance when the first chance was when they were only 15 or 16? – let’s go with it anyway, shall we?), Vikram and Gil both went to boarding school together. As the only boys of colour in their form, they shared a common bond which quickly grew into a devoted friendship, with some, er, teenage boy benefits. Vikram is the scion of a wealthy and privileged Indian family, Gil is the illegitimate son of a wealthy man and a Black housemaid. Gil was fortunate in that he was acknowledged by his father, who housed him and paid for his education. Vikram is a straight up and down type guy, Gil tends to gravitate to the gray areas and is more “street smart” (my term); the latter used to help Vikram not be constantly beaten up at school (the white students not being happy with the idea that Vikram was at least their equal).

When Gil was 16, his father died and his half-brother Matthew booted him out with only ten pounds. He was forced to leave the school so suddenly, he wasn’t even able to tell Vikram. For the following 13 years, Vikram mourned his friend; after looking for him as best he could, he believed Gil to be dead. Continue reading

Review at Dear Author

November 16, 2019 / Kaetrin

I’m over at Dear Author with Sirius, reviewing Graveyard Shift by Jenn Burke. A bittersweet end to the series. I’m really hoping Ms. Burke writes more in this universe.

Joint Review at Dear Author

June 4, 2019 / Kaetrin

Sirius and I are over at Dear Author with a joint review of Give Up the Ghost by Jenn Burke. Entertaining second installment – I really enjoy the found family aspects of the series.

Review at AudioGals

May 29, 2019 / Kaetrin

I’m over at AudioGals with a review of Peril by Post by Sherri Cobb South, narrated by Joel Froomkin. My first John Pickett mystery – even though it’s not the first in the series, it wasn’t difficult to dive in here.

February Round Up

March 1, 2019 / Kaetrin

Monthly Mini Review

Where Serpents Sleep by CS Harris, narrated by Davina Porter – B+ I’ve been glomming the audiobooks of the Sebastian St. Cyr mysteries since just before Christmas. This is book 4 in the series. When I started listening, being an inveterate romance reader, I read the blurbs ahead and realised that the enduring love interest I needed to support to get my HEA fix was Hero Jarvis. In this book, things happen (at last) but we are still a long way away from any kind of HEA. I’m currently listening to book 6 and it may well be that way at the end of this one actually – but I have faith!!

I have been thoroughly enjoying not just the romantic threads though. The history in the series is rich and the mysteries are engrossing. In this one, eight young women are murdered and Hero asks for Sebastian’s help in first, identifying “Rose” the woman who died in Hero’s arms and then solving the crime. I was aided by my lack of knowledge about that particular period of English political history; I really didn’t know what was going to happen next. I did go and look things up afterwards and then I was impressed about the way the author weaves historical fact into her fiction. Continue reading