The Daemoniac by Kat Ross Blog Tour: Review & Giveaway!!!

The Daemoniac by Kat Ross
(A Dominion Mystery, #1)
Publication date: October 12th 2016
Genres: Historical, Mystery, Young Adult

It’s August of 1888, just three weeks before Jack the Ripper will begin his grisly spree in the London slum of Whitechapel, and another serial murderer is stalking the gas-lit streets of New York. With taunting messages in backwards Latin left at the crime scenes and even more inexplicable clues like the fingerprints that appear to have been burned into one victim’s throat, his handiwork bears all the hallmarks of a demonic possession.

But consulting detective Harrison Fearing Pell is convinced her quarry is a man of flesh and blood. Encouraged by her uncle, Arthur Conan Doyle, Harry hopes to make her reputation by solving the bizarre case before the man the press has dubbed Mr. Hyde strikes again.

From the squalor of the Five Points to the high-class gambling dens of the Tenderloin and the glittering mansions of Fifth Avenue, Harry and her best friend, John Weston, follow the trail of a remorseless killer, uncovering a few embarrassing secrets of New York’s richest High Society families along the way. Are the murders a case of black magic—or simple blackmail? And will the trail lead them closer to home than they ever imagined?

 Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iBooks | Kobo

About the author:

Kat Ross worked as a journalist at the United Nations for ten years before happily falling back into what she likes best: making stuff up. She lives in Westchester with her kid and a few sleepy cats. Kat is also the author of the dystopian thriller Some Fine Day (Skyscape, 2014), about a world where the sea levels have risen sixty meters. She loves magic, monsters and doomsday scenarios. Preferably with mutants.

Website | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter

REVIEW

Well, Kat Ross has done it again! A switch of genres and she's won my undying love! I simply couldn't put this one down! I was supposed to read another of her books first (blog tour commitments) but the moment I started reading this one I was captivated & enthralled and I only stopped reading when I had to leave for work!

A wonderful mix of murder mystery with paranormal strikes and a very fresh retelling/reimagining of Sherlock & Watson!

I loved having a female reimagining of Sherlock, a male Watson and a female version of Mycroft too! It was quite intriguing to see our Sherlock trying to prove herself and her abilities away from the shadow of her older sister. I loved that the mystery was complex and had some clear paranormal & supernatural undertones, although for part of the book we aren't exactly sure if those paranormal bits are legit or just a sort of smoke curtain to hide the real line of investigation.

This is a real page turner, and not only because of the mystery of the murders to be solved but also because it is done in a bit of a time crunch, given how our Harry wants/needs to solve it before her sister returns to town! And of course, the murderer is on the loose and it's getting close to Harry the closer she gets to solve the case! So much tension!

I'm usually a bit of a romancephobe in books, I tend to cringe from romance that feels like it's added to the book for the sake of adding romance, but that is not an issue here! There are some hints of romance and of a shippity ship that I totally ship, but our Harry's brain is much better to discover clues for murder than to see what might be right in front of her! I must confess to be looking forward to see the development of said ship in upcoming books!

I simply cannot wait for more in this series, and the sequel won't arrive soon enough for me! Very much deserved 5 stars!

GIVEAWAY

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Liars, Inc. Black Friday Sale Blitz!!

Hello there guys!!

First of all: Happy Thanksgiving!!
We don't celebrate it over here in Spain, but I have plenty of friends in the US that do, so I hope you lot are enjoying the day and the food coma!

And after Thanksgiving comes Black Friday with the insanity and the massive sales, and that for some reason has now arrived overseas here. I'm not a fan of crazy insane multitudes, so I'll be doing some online shopping only, because I love me some sales! 

And because I love me book and sales, I'm taking part on the Liars, Inc Black Friday Sale Blitz! I read and loved this book as an ARC (and re-read and loved the finished copy!) so I want to push this book on anyone and everyone, and what better way to do it than when it is super cheap, right? Right!

 Liars, Inc by Paula Stokes       
 

“This is one exciting ride.” –ALA Booklist

Max Cantrell has never been a big fan of the truth, so when the opportunity arises to sell forged permission slips and cover stories to his classmates, it sounds like a good way to make a little money. So with the help of his friend Preston and his girlfriend, Parvati, Max starts Liars, Inc. Suddenly everybody needs something, and the cash starts pouring in. Who knew lying could be so lucrative? 

When Preston wants his own cover story to go visit a girl he met online, Max doesn't think twice about it. But then Preston never comes home. And the evidence starts to pile up—terrifying clues that lead to Preston's body.
Terrifying clues that point to Max as the killer….

 




And now over to Paula herself!!

Paula: I was super-thrilled to see that HarperTeen put the Liars, Inc. ebook back on sale for Black Friday, this time across multiple digital platforms. You can score an e-copy all week for the low price of $1.99 from Amazon, Amazon Canada, B&N and iTunes!

I'm a girl who will buy almost anything if it feels like a mega-deal, but I realize that some people are a little more discriminating when they buy books. Therefore, I've designed a handy decision-making tree to help you determine if Liars, Inc. is right for you!

Paula: If you started to cry while reading the above chart, it's possible that you, like me, are a person who struggles to make decisions. It's okay. Some of us need additional information. Click here to read the first chapter of Liars, Inc. It's a great example of what you might be getting yourself into :)

JUST FOR FUN:  Check out the top ten things I would bring with me if I had to go on the run from the feds.Includes essentials like Chapstick, chocolate, and flash bangs. If you leave a comment, tell me the top 3 things you'd pack if you went on the lam.

And hey, just for stopping by, you can enter to win a $25 gift card to B&N (U.S.) or your choice of any book from The Book Depository up to $20 value (INT) 

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There you go guys! Get yourself a copy of Liars, INC in time to read while the rest of the family goes nuts about (American) football or you digest the food coma, avoid the Black Friday insane lines and multitudes and continue eating the many leftovers, so many times improved by a good book!!

Saturday Pages: ARC Review of LIARS, INC by Paula Stokes!!!

Hey again guys!

Today as my second Saturday Pages entry I have a book and a author that are specially dear to me. This is one of those special books that I got as an ARC and that I owe big thanks to both my dear friend Sarah and to the author herself, because on my trip to Chicago I got my hands on a physical (and slightly annotated) ARC! I loved it so much that I just cannot wait for my preorder to arrive and re-read it!

Liars, Inc. by Paula Stokes

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I was very lucky to read this book well in advance, but given the fact that there were a few changes made into the finished copy from the ARC, I'm absolutely dying to get my preorder so I can re-read it again!

I'm quite a big fan of murder mysteries and I've devoured every Agatha Christie book out there, and although that doesn't make me an absolute expert, it does make me rather good at seeing patterns and trying to identify what might be going on and where the twists might lead us.

Another thing that you need to know is that I read this one during my trip to the US last October and I was suffering an acute case of jet lag that turned me into a morning person, meaning that I was up at 4 or 5 am and conking off at 8 pm at the latest. Why would that be relevant you may ask? Well, the day I got this book I stayed up reading, passing pages like a madwoman and only stopped for a quick dinner break and didn't go to sleep till I finished the book at midnight! That ought to tell you something about the gripping pacing and how intriguing the plot was!

Liars INC, is the story of Max and his two friends, Preston and Parvati, the murder of Preston, Max being accused of it and Parvati trying to help Max prove his innocence. But who would trust you when you've made lying your business?

Not only the pacing was absolutely addicting and make you want to keep on turning page after page, in the beginning learning all about the Liars and who they are and then following Max's escape and the investigation and all the things we discover about the characters too. Seems that the Liars are really good at lying to others and to themselves too! The plot was very tightly woven and although it seemed rather straight forward at first, we kept on getting a few twists here and there that I didn't see coming AT ALL! None of my initial theories were right, and although I got my suspicions about something, it was too vague on my part to really think I guessed right!

Max was a fantastic character with a genuine boy voice. He wasn't a jerk per se, but he has his rough edges and also his vulnerabilities that he keeps really tucked close, and has some real trouble with showing off his affection and even more with his family. I loved the diversity that you can find in this book, presented like the most natural thing in the world. Max is adopted and has two Korean baby sisters, his family is lower middle class and he lived on the streets for a while as a kid.

Parvati, other of the Liars is half Indian and she seems to both embrace her heritage but refuse to be defined by it. She is also prickly and difficult to straight away like. But she ended up being my favourite character of the lot. She's very capable and totally trained to kick arse, good at flaunting rules and has some mental health issues that can tweak her perception of circumstances and the way she reacts to them. I just need a book all about Parvati, she's such a fascinating character!

Preston... well, Preston is also quite a box of surprises, because once he gets offed, we do learn so many unexpected things about him and how there's much more to him than just the "poor white rich boy" and his problems.

If you are looking for a different kind of read, a very compelling and intriguing YA thriller with a twisty murder mystery, a very genuine male voice and a lot of very welcome diversity... YOU NEED TO GRAB THIS ONE NOW!

Very well deserved 4 to 4.5 stars to this one!



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Mystery Twitter Theater!!

Guys, guys you're not going to believe this!

I just found out I'm a suspect in a crime. Noted YA blogger Ensconced in Lit was murdered yesterday and her body has been found on Twitter. Yep, you read that right--Twitter! Apparently the killer made off with a super-epic LIARS, INC. prize pack and now everyone thinks maybe it was me. Well guess what, it wasn't me because I was completely absorbed reading Shadow Study at this new coffee shop that opens till late and has some amazing chai tea!

Will you help prove my innocence? Head over to Paula Stokes's blog for all the information about the crime. If you can figure out who the real killer is and how they did the deed, Paula is going to award YOU the super-epic LIARS, INC. prize pack, which includes a hand-painted tote, a signed book, a deluxe swag pack, and additional mystery prizes. Come to think of it, I might just have to do a little investigating myself. After all, that prize pack is kind of to die for.

Or should I say to kill for...

#MysteryTwitterTheater was created to celebrate the release of LIARS, INC. a twisty YA mystery/thriller!

 For fans of Gone Girl, I Hunt Killers, and TV's How to Get Away with Murder.

Max Cantrell has never been a big fan of the truth, so when the opportunity arises to sell forged permission slips and cover stories to his classmates, it sounds like a good way to make a little money and liven up a boring senior year. With the help of his friends Preston and Parvati, Max starts Liars, Inc. Suddenly everybody needs something and the cash starts pouring in. Who knew lying could be so lucrative?

When Preston wants his own cover story to go visit a girl he met online, Max doesn’t think twice about hooking him up. Until Preston never comes home. Then the evidence starts to pile up—terrifying clues that lead the cops to Preston’s body. Terrifying clues that point to Max as the murderer.

Can Max find the real killer before he goes to prison for a crime he didn’t commit? In a story that Kirkus Reviews called "Captivating to the very end," Paula Stokes starts with one single white lie and weaves a twisted tale that will have readers guessing until the explosive final chapters.

It's nearly time for LIARS INC! Interview with Paula Stokes!!

Welcome everyone! Today I am extremely pleased to be part of the celebration for Liars INC by Paula Stokes!

I was extremely lucky to read LIARS, INC early and it kept me up reading till I was done with the book, even when I had a biiig case of jet lag! And today I'm once again lucky to have Paula over in the blog for an interview!

LIARS, INC by Paula Stokes

For fans of Gone Girl, I Hunt Killers, and TV's How to Get Away with Murder.

Max Cantrell has never been a big fan of the truth, so when the opportunity arises to sell forged permission slips and cover stories to his classmates, it sounds like a good way to make a little money and liven up a boring senior year. With the help of his friends Preston and Parvati, Max starts Liars, Inc. Suddenly everybody needs something and the cash starts pouring in. Who knew lying could be so lucrative?

When Preston wants his own cover story to go visit a girl he met online, Max doesn’t think twice about hooking him up. Until Preston never comes home. Then the evidence starts to pile up—terrifying clues that lead the cops to Preston’s body. Terrifying clues that point to Max as the murderer.

Can Max find the real killer before he goes to prison for a crime he didn’t commit? In a story that Kirkus Reviews called "Captivating to the very end," Paula Stokes starts with one single white lie and weaves a twisted tale that will have readers guessing until the explosive final chapters.

 About the author:

Paula Stokes writes stories about flawed characters with good hearts who sometimes make bad decisions. She’s the author of THE ART OF LAINEY, INFINITE REPEAT, LIARS INC., and several other forthcoming YA novels. When she's not writing, she's kayaking, hiking, reading, or seeking out new adventures in faraway lands. Paula loves interacting with readers. Find her online at authorpaulastokes.com or on twitter as @pstokesbooks.


 Liars INC | Website | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook

Interview

Today I have the pleasure to welcome to the blog Paula Stokes, fellow nurse (part time) and full time awesome author!
Welcome Paula and thank you so much dropping by for an interview! Never mind the two dragons and sheep fangirling around you, they're (mostly) harmless.

That makes me think of How to Train Your Dragon! *wonders if your dragons ever carry off your sheep and feed them to a big super-dragon* And the interview has taken a dark turn already... ;-)

Oh dear... Morrigan, Mini-maug don't you get ideas!! *stern look at dragons*

- Let's get going. I read and loved Lainey last year and it was a cute & fluffy read with depth to it. How did you come to write such different books? Liars INC is both a thriller and a murder mystery and is as different from Lainey as it comes! Was that a conscious choice or simply something you wanted to write?
I've always been more into darker things. I wrote three work-for-hire historical murder mysteries and I remember telling my Paper Lantern editor I was writing a book with zero dead bodies and she was kind of like, "Why?"
 
Why, indeed! I started out just writing the stories that I most wanted to write, regardless of the reasons. This is the biggest benefit of not having an agent or editor--you literally can write anything you want without worrying about option clauses or branding or the market, etc. I had the idea for LIARS in early 2010, before the idea for LAINEY, but I started LAINEY after a painful breakup and writing her story healed me. Now I feel a like I have a dark audience and a light audience, so I'm going to try to release a book for each of them every year.


- Is there anything that sparked the idea of writing a murder mystery or was it a mash up of things coming together? Also, what came first, the Liars or the murder?

I grew up reading Christopher Pike and Dean Koontz, two guys that really know how to spin some wild tales but make them feel believable enough to be scary. I was definitely inspired by them, but actually the liars came before the murder. I knew what set-up I wanted to use, but it took me a while to figure out what happened to Preston, and more importantly to determine the character motivations behind everything that occurred. I know in the real world people commit all kinds of crimes for seemingly arbitrary reasons, but I think fiction works best if you can look at the actions of all the major players and really understand where they're coming from, whether or not you agree.


- We see a lot of (very welcome) diversity in this book with Parvati being half Indian, Max's adopted twin baby sisters being Korean... how much of it came from a conscious choice to make the book more like life and how much the characters arrived fully formed like that in your mind?

I guess I'm lucky that a wide array of characters naturally appear in my mind, because I'm not sure how organic it would feel if I designed them with a diversity quota in mind. I do believe strongly in diversity, cultural and otherwise, in fiction, but my first loyalty has to be to the story. I generally take the characters as they come and don't change their races, major personality types, etc., unless there's a specific plot need to do so. Obviously if I wrote a book and realized it had no diversity at all I would stop and make some changes, but that hasn't happened to me yet.
 
I did make the conscious choice to make Parvati Indian because one thing that irks me about CIA-related books and movies is their over-reliance on Caucasian characters when the real CIA recruits people of color heavily because they are easier to station in foreign countries. The Korean little sisters are based on two of my students that I taught English to when I lived in Seoul.


- Given that the murder in the book is a high profile one the FBI gets called in and take over the case. Your FBI agents don't seem as much cocky arrogant bastards as they are sometimes portrayed in most tv shows. Did you do a lot of research about FBI agents and procedure/protocols?

I interviewed a Major Case Squad detective who answered a lot of police/legal procedural questions but recommended using FBI agents for the story due to Preston being a senator's son. I hemmed and hawed a bit and made the switch to FBI agents in one of the later drafts, so there are more changes to the finished book that I made after speaking with additional experts while the ARCs were being printed.

The agents are even more professional now--for example Gonzalez doesn't call Max a jackass anymore, he handles the pictures he shows Max with more tact, and McGhee is portrayed as heavy but not quite as obese as he reads in the ARC, as FBI agents have fitness standards that most local detectives don't have. I also got help from a lovely law student who looked up the proper terminology for all the crimes Max commits during this book and critiqued my arraignment proceedings, etc.

My main thing with McGhee and Gonzalez is that I didn't want them to come across as complete nimrods. I'm not a fan of books where the fifteen year old protagonist solves the crime while the adults can't see the clues right in front of their faces. That doesn't feel real to me. These FBI agents aren't perfect, but you get the idea they know how to do their jobs and would eventually solve this case on their own.


- I felt like Max was written so very well and with such a genuine voice, how hard/easy was it to write a male teen POV? Was it harder or easier than writing Lainey or say Micah?

I've always been a tomboy. I grew up following around my older brother, rock climbing and playing Dungeons & Dragons. In my twenties, I spent six years working as a line cook/kitchen supervisor in a restaurant kitchen. Most of the cooks were boys like Max--just regular guys that you have to get to know to see what makes them special. A lot of people would have seen "high school dropouts" or "slackers" or even "thugs." Maybe that's what I saw when I first started working there, but not once I spent time with them. They were all so unique and worth knowing.

Being the only girl in a group of almost all guys was really informative once I convinced them they didn't have to censor themselves around me, and I definitely channeled a lot of my coworkers for both Max and Micah. But I also gave the LIARS manuscript to several guys to read. My Y-chromosome betas helped me weed out the occasional girly phrase and pointed out places where Max was being too dramatic or introspective. Random funny: The original draft had Max mentioning Parvati's "platform ankle boots." Yeah that got cut quickly once I got my "boy notes" back.

I wouldn't say Max was easier or harder to write than Lainey--just different. He was probably easier to write than Micah, because Micah is such a fan favorite that I was really worried I might mess up his voice in INFINITE REPEAT.


- Although Liars INC feels like a finished and contained story on its own, given how everything is resolved, I feel like I'd love to read more about this characters, specially Parvati since I must say she's probably my favourite. Can we expect more about them? Like novellas or companion novels or any sort of extras? *crosses fingers*

Well I made the mistake of putting Parvati's Guide to Lying up on Goodreads, so I guess I have to write that now ;-) That's just going to be a fun 20-page booklet where P talks about how, when, and where to lie, as well as pointing out the times you should probably never lie. You'll be able to read it free on Wattpad.

A companion book that takes place after LIARS, INC. and features Parvati as the main character alongside a cast of diverse teens is outlined and partially written. Think Homeland meets Nikita meets Jennifer Lynn Barnes The Naturals books. I'd say there's a 95% chance I'll finish writing that, even if I can't sell it to a traditional publisher, but I do have two books under contract I *should* write first >_>

And that's all folks! Thank you so much Paula for answering all the questions and not freaking out when Morrigan almost set your hair on fire, she's also a big Parvati fan and got excited thinking about more Parvati stories!

Eek! I thought I smelled burnt hair. Wouldn't be the first time, or the second time, but those are stories for another day :-) Thanks for having me on your lovely site, Pili! *eats cupcake* *tucks second cupcake into purse for later*

Friday Reads: Arsenic For Tea by Robin Stevens!!

Hello there guys!

Friday has arrived here and with it another going-back-to-work-for-the-weekend for me, but it's still a pretty good day because I have a quite delightful book with you all as this week's Friday Reads. It might seem odd to some of you calling a murder mystery delightful, but that's the very first word that comes to mind when I think of this book!

As a middle grade book it is part of my 105 Challenge, as one of my categories includes reading more MG this year! And with a third book from this series coming out later this year, I think it won't be as hard reaching my goal! I also got this as an ARC from Netgalley but I decided to add it as MG and not review copy. I cannot wait for my preordered copy to arrive because I feel like I'll end up re-reading it!

Arsenic For Tea: A Wells and Wong Mystery by Robin  Stevens

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I am a big Agatha Christie fan and so when I discovered this series, I was elated to have something in her style but MG and with diverse characters. I loved the first book in the series, and although I guessed who the murderer was (did I mention I've read A LOT of Agatha Christie?) it was close to the final reveal so it didn't bother me, and the same thing happened here, I guessed before the reveal (that makes me feel clever) but not too early (which ends up being annoying).

In book 2 we have a change of scenery, Daisy & Hazel aren't at school but at Daisy's house to celebrate her birthday during the holidays. Hazel meets some odd members of the Wells family, a suspicious character wrecks some havoc on the family and then all of a sudden there's a murder, and everyone's a suspect!

I loved how the author managed to make us suspect everyone in turn, with a few red herrings here and there, some suspicious activity and incriminating conversations between different characters. Everyone seems to have a motive and opportunity and it's quite a tough investigation for Daisy to handle, so Hazel has to step up from her role of vice president to call on Daisy when she refuses to accept what seems to be the reality of it.

It's great how the friendship between Hazel and Daisy continues to develop, how they trust each other even when they're being pushed into something they don't like, even if it's more often than not Daisy pushing Hazel. They balance each other very well and they have loads to learn from each other, even if they don't seem to change much at first.

Hazel herself is a fantastic character and I love reading from her POV, she can sometimes be biased on her opinions, but with her think first and run later (unlike Daisy) she usually manages to reflect on clues and come up with the truth, even if she doesn't always have to like it. I loved how she was trying to put a brave face even when she was treated different, when she was feeling homesick and scared, and how she was always there for Daisy.

My hope is that Robin will continue to write many more books in this series, hopefully as many as Agatha Christie wrote, because I plan to read them all! Enchanting, thrilling and with plenty of food for thought. A delightful murder mystery, if you can call it that! Well deserved 4 stars!



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Friday Reads: Hemlock by Kathleen Peacock!!

Happy Friday guys!

This Friday for me means going back to work after a few days off, so not the same kind of Friday that you all might be having! Still, I only work today and then tomorrow night shift and then I'll have a few days off again, so YAY!

For today's Friday Reads I have a book that came highly recommended from my dear blogging friend Alyssa from The Eater of Books and that should have been my December book for the Alyssa Recommends shelf, but that I failed to review until now and didn't even manage to finish in December either! I will still be choosing and reading another book for my Alyssa Recommends book for January!




Hemlock by Kathleen Peacock

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Hemlock is one of those books I've had in my TBR list for a while, but since it is also one of the Alyssa Recommends book, I finally decided to go ahead and read it!

And I must say it was a very different kind of werewolves story. The story starts at an already complex point, when werewolves have been in the open for a while and they are considered dangerous and monstrous and prejudice is rampant and the government has set up confinement camps (and maybe it's just me but that reminded me of Nazis and Jews and their camps).

This is more than just a paranormal story since it's got a murder mystery that is more than just a simple murder mystery with very deep implications. Actually I think that's what defines this book, nothing is as simple as it might seem at first, even if it doesn't seem simple. There are layers upon layers to everything, from the characters, to their relationships, to the plot!

When I first started reading I wasn't sure what was going on, with Mac still grieving the loss of her best friend and how there seemed to be a certain tension with the two other best friends, so much that I feared a love triangle. But then everything started getting more tangled and more clear at the same time! You start to see that Lupine Syndrome is dangerous but it is also used as a political weapon and a way to gain power by some. And with all the layers that we uncover in this book, I still feel like there's much more to dig up in the books to come, and that is quite exciting!

Mac is a very interesting main character, with a tendency to trust but keep people at arm's lenght sometimes, or as Kyle said to treat others as she's expecting them to disappoint her or abandon her (paraphrasing, since that's not the exact quote). Mac has been left behind by important people in her life and she seems to be expecting it from everyone she comes to care for. She's also a bit rash, impulsive and headstrong, but she's fiercely loyal and also doesn't let ignorant prejudice drive her. And frankly she needs to shake that town to get some answers instead of waiting for things to happen.

Kyle and Jason are the two guys that completed the quartet of best friends. Jason was Amy's boyfriend and he seemed to be involved with her death, since she was killed by a werewolf, he feels like joining a vendetta against werewolves, but as usual, everything is more complicated than it seemed at first! They are the two guys that at first seemed to be candidates for a love triangle, but thankfully it never really turns out this one, not truly.

I'm really pleased that I finally digged into this one and I'm looking forward to reading Thornhill next, since I cannot wait to discover more layers to the story, both of the murder and of the Lupine Syndrome. Very well deserved 4 stars for this one!



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Waiting On Wednesday #75!!

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly feature hosted at Breaking The Spine  that spotlights those can't-wait-to-get-my-hands-on-them books that we are eagerly awaiting!

This week I'm highly anticipating and dying for my preordered copy to arrive early and crossing my fingers so it doesn't take long in the mail for a copy of the sequel in a new middle grade series that I discovered this year and loved! And what book is that one? Arsenic For Tea by Robin Stevens!

Goodreads Summary:

"Schoolgirl detectives Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong are at Daisy's home, Fallingford, for the holidays. Daisy's glamorous mother is throwing a tea party for Daisy's birthday, and the whole family is invited, from eccentric Aunt Saskia to dashing Uncle Felix. But it soon becomes clear that this party isn't really about Daisy at all. Naturally, Daisy is furious.

Then one of their party falls seriously, mysteriously ill - and everything points to poison.

With wild storms preventing anyone from leaving, or the police from arriving, Fallingford suddenly feels like a very dangerous place to be. Not a single person present is what they seem - and everyone has a secret or two. And when someone very close to Daisy looks suspicious, the Detective Society must do everything they can to reveal the truth . . . no matter the consequences."
 

Why am I eagerly awaiting Arsenic For Tea? Well, I loved the first book in this series that I discovered through one of my fave blogs, The Midnight Garden, and I fell back in love with middle grade books! Now I cannot wait to read more about Daisy and Hazel and see what whodonit are they getting into solving this time!


What are you all (im)patiently awaiting this week?

Mark This Book Monday: Jackaby by William Ritter!!

Still playing catch up with all my pending reviews, today I have for the final Mark This Book Monday entry of this week one of those books that I was very excited for, given their premise and description, and that even if it wasn't mind blowing, it was still quite a lot of fun and a good read.


Jackaby by William   Ritter

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I am a huge fan of both BBC Sherlock and the original Arthur Conan Doyle books, and I'm also a huge fan of Doctor Who (even if my love has been waned a lil bit as of late) so when a book was pitched as a mix of Doctor Who & Sherlock, I was quite excited to read it!

We meet Mr Jackaby through the eyes of our POV character Abigail Rook, a girl of a respectable family that decides she doesn't want to be all nice and proper and boring and goes away to take up on adventure and ends up on the other side of the Atlantic with a few coins in her pocket and her suitcase, and she finds herself with a job as assistant to Mr Jackaby.

The mix of Sherlock and Doctor Who is quite apparent in Jackaby's personality and job, being an extremely observant and logical deducting detective (very Sherlock-like) with his laboratory and books and the like but also being able to see the paranormal and believing in things that others don't see (which was much more Doctor-like). I'd say Jackaby's character reminded me a bit of the 11th Doctor quirkiness and silly aspect more than any other Doctor.

We have a murder mystery to solve that starts as one murder commited by a supernatural entity, that quickly escalate and then we discover it's more than we thought. I must say the mystery was quite interesting at first and even though I guessed who the killer was (due to my love for Agatha Christie books I think) what I didn't guess was WHAT the killer was.

It was quite a fast read, quirky and fun and interesting, and I hope that they will continue to make this a series so I can look forward to more Jackaby, Abigail, Douglas the Duck and the rest of the gang adventures! Well deserved 4 stars for this one!



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Saturday Pages: Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas!!!

Hey guys! I'm starting the weekend with a first entry for this week's Saturday Pages and this one was another fantastic read!

I read this one with Sam from Realm of Fiction and we both enjoyed it to bits. This was another book that is very much worth reading with a buddy, cause you will want to discuss theories and turns and you'll want to gasp about the ending with someone!



Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I had read some really great reviews for this book and fell in love with this amazing cover, so when the chance to buddy read this one with Sam from Realm of Fiction, I jumped at it! We both loved it and ended up devouring it in a shorter time that we originally planned!

I am a bit torn about how to review this book, because I feel like discussing how awesomely we are led and surprised but I also want you guys to be able to read and enjoy it with as little information as possible, as I did!

So if you want to read the book with as little information as possible, let me just tell you that it managed to keep me turning pages like mad, not minding at all the jumping timeline chapters, going from different points in the story forward and backwards. It kept me eager for more and more information and kept me guessing all the time. I was so completely into the story that despite my original thoughts when I started reading, the ending completely took me by surprise and left me open mouthed and seriously creeped out!


Now if you want a little bit of more information, you can continue reading, but be warned that my review will probably be a bit on the rambling side. The story deals with Anna and Elise, their friendship, the trip they took with their friends, and Elise's death and Anna's accusation of murder. We are given bits and pieces of the bigger picture and the more information we get, the more doubts you might get as much as who really Elise and Anna were and the more you wonder about who really did it!

I was quite suspicious as soon as I started reading it, and was in two minds about how the book would play out, but even if I was right about one of those theories, when I reached the end, I was so caught up on the narrative that it totally caught me by surprise! Quite an amazing unreliable narrator for sure, worthy of comparing to Agatha Christie's The Murder of Roger Ackroyd!

This is a brilliant story that very cleverly makes you think in circles and leads you around, presenting wrongs and rights, toxic friendships, obsessive relationships, revenge and slander. You might wonder if the end justify the means when the press turns a horrible crime into a witch hunt, and an investigator butchers an murder case with his doggedly resolution to pin the blame on Anna, no matter what methods to use.

I will be recommending this book to everyone and anyone because it is an unfairly overlooked gem of a story! So there you go, grab your own copy NOW! Very much deserved 5 stars for this one!!



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Saturday Pages: Murder Most Unladylike by Robin Stevens!!

Hello there! Saturday is here and working morning shift is no fun! I wake up thinking of nap time!

For Saturday Pages this week I have a wonderful middle grade book that the lovely Wendy from The Midnight Garden put on my radar when she did a cover reveal for the US version of the book on the blog. I read the summary, ordered the UK version since it's the one that's out now and started reading as soon as it arrived!



Murder Most Unladylike by Robin  Stevens

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I don't usually read that much MG (middle grade) but when I do, it usually wonderful and delightful stories that make me want to read more.

I first heard about this lil gem thanks to Wendy from The Midnight Garden, when they did a reveal of the US cover and title (Murder is Bad Manners) and when I read what this book was about, I knew wouldn't wait till 2015 for the US edition and upon checking TBD, I quickly grabbed the UK edition (my anglophilia might be showing, cause I think I like this cover and title even more than the US one).

If I had to describe this book in short, I'd say it's Harry Potter (sans magic) meets Miss Marple. We have girls in a boarding school and a murder mystery! I've always loved whonuits and English/British settings, so this one was a must have for me!

The year is 1934 and we're at Deepdean School for Girls, where Hazel and Daisy have formed an unlikely alliance, friendship and Detective Society. Unlikely cause Daisy is the perfect English girl, with a rich family and the girl everyone loves. Haze is from Hong Kong and therefore none of the things that Daisy is. 1934 means after the Big War and before WWII and so there's a certain mistrust of the different and coming from Russia and Germany and the Orient, even as they're still exerting colonial influence.

The setting of the book is fantastic, feels so realistic, and you immerse yourself so well in this world! We go through the story from Hazel's POV, which is helpful since none of us are English girls from the 1930's and we'd need some help to understand the intrincacies of a boarding school and the unspoken rules and hierarchies within.

Hazel finds the boy of one of the mistresses one night at the Gym and when she returns with help (Daisy and one of the older girls) the body has disappeared. That's when the Detective Society decides to take their first real case, Daisy completely enthusiastic, Hazel still in shock and more than a lil frightened.

Then starts the detecting, the alibi setting, the motives ascertaining and you keep on turning page after page to see what else Daisy will cook up, and what new clue one of leading ladies will discover. Both of them favour some of the suspects over another due to personal likes and dislikes, and it's quite a lesson both girls will have to learn, as well as a better way to work together.

All in all a most delightful read, including when the real villain being revealed and upon having guessed right a 5 am fist pump happened! I'm quite looking forward for more books in this series now. Very well deserved 4.5 stars.



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Saturday Pages: The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin!!!

Hey guys!

This week has been a bit complicated and with two weddings, baking, events and work... my reading and my motivation has suffered a bit. And let's not talk about my messed up emotional state. I hoping to pick up my reading and be able to schedule a bit more in advance so I don't feel like I'm running around like a headless chicken.

After a massive book hangover when I finished Ruin & Rising, I wasn't even sure what to read, but then I remembered that I still hadn't read the middle grade classic chosen for The Midnight Garden's Classic's Read-a-long for June, so I decided to give it a try! So happy that I did, cause it was the right book to get me off that massive hangover! Thank you Wendy for suggesting this one! And after talking about it yesterday on the discussion post, today I have is as my Saturday Pages entry!

The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


The Westing Game is one of those classics that I hadn't heard of before the ladies at The Midnight Garden chose it as June's book for the read-a-long. And now that I've read it, I want to quick myself for not having read it a long time back! This is a book that I've loved and that I know a younger me would have adored too!

This is a delightful book, a murder mystery middle grade that is full of social comentary but that never once sounds preachy. That's one of the things that I don't seem to get over too easily on classic books like these, they sound way too preachy for the adult me.

The Westing Game starts with a bunch of new tenants taking their new houses in a new building, and right from the start we see something more is going on. There's a clear Agatha Christie feel to certain parts of the book, but not in a way to feel like it was bothersome and felt like a copy. Not at all, but it just gave you that feel of clever mystery and deep understanding of human nature.

It's a bit hard for most of the book to think of one character as the main character although I'd consider Turtle the main character. She's a young girl, very clever, very brave and with a big tendency to kick shins and to treat her braid as her defining point. She knows about the stock market and deals with lack of emotional connections.

All characters are somehow connected with each other and with Sam Westing, the man that is found dead and that wants his heirs to discover who killed him to claim their inheritance, and there starts the Westing Game. The game not only has us going after red herrings and suspecting people left, right and centre but also serves as a way to show us what makes each character tick and who are these people and what's going on in their lives.

I found myself turning the pages faster and faster, making new theories and throwing them away as some new details were revealed here and there, and I was right suspecting the right guy but I wasn't even close to discovering all that was behind everything!

The ending was great and that little epilogue was the right way to tie everything together and I loved knowing what happened with everyone.

A wonderful classic that I hightly recommend if you haven't read it yet! 5 well deserved stars!



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Mark This Book Monday: Don't Look Back by Jennifer L Armentrout!!

Hello everyone! This week the book I'm gonna be reviewing as the first entry for Mark This Book Monday is all about a book that is not part of any of my challenges, so it was what I call one of my "me" reads! One of those books I decided to read cause I wanted to, and that help me take a breather from focusing on reading ARCs or review copies, or series or older books from my TBR list or dystopians. Just a shiny new book I'm excited to read!



Don't Look Back by Jennifer L. Armentrout

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The first time I saw this book I wasn't feeling particularly keen on it. I skimmed the synopsis a bit and it seemed to me that it'd be high school drama with mean girls steamy romance JLA style. I thought of skipping this one. But then I started seeing some really positive reviews and in most of them they described the book as a YA thriller with a murder mystery, and that totally piqued my curiosity, so I ended up preordering it for my Kindle.

I wish I would have got the US version of the cover, cause even if the UK is also relevant to the story with the waterfall and red dress, the US one with the music box's ballerina is not only relevant but also quite creepy!

The story starts with Sam, our main character finding her way to a road where she's found by the police, she doesn't remember anything about her life, doesn't even recognize her face or know her own name. While in the hospital she discovers that she disappeared with her best friend, Cassie, and that she's still missing. Sam's frustrated and scared of how much of a blank everything in her life is for her, and once she starts finding out about who she is, she discovers that she wasn't a very nice person at all.

I really liked how Sam started trying to discover who she was, and how her change came about. I never had any issues believing how she could be a mean girl but then be different with no memories of herself. Everyone kept talking about her change in attitude and demeanor when she became best friends with Cassie, and without any memories to make her bitter or jaded, she could just be a different person.  What I liked was how much she wanted to help find Cassie, trying to remember, even if she didn't have any memories of their friendship, even more when most people that had known Cassie weren't all that distraught about her disappearance.

JLA has proven with this book that she know how to write a mean thriller, with plenty of suspense, suspicion, red herrings and a big shock at the end. You will find cliches in this book, but the author manages to weave them into the story flawlessly in a way that they won't seem so cliched anymore. I kept suspecting this character and that character but never once did I suspect the real culprit until maybe one page before Sam herself figures it out! All the doubts thrown at Sam that make her doubt if she's getting her memories back or if she's just going insane with hallucinations are fantastic, and you get more than one twist along the way.

No book by JLA would be complete without some romance, and she does know a thing or two about writing romance. This one felt much more different than the previous ones I've read and Carson is quite a change from previous love interests in her books. He's a good guy through and through with a lil bit of mischiviousness thrown for good measure. There might be hints at a love triangle, but it never really is realized as such.

A real pager turner that kept me up late at night till I finished it, very well deserving of 4 stars!



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Friday Reads: No One Else Can Have You by Kathleen Hale!

For the first Friday Reads back from India and back to the more regular blogging schedule I'm gonna be having a book that was read during my vacation time and that was one of those "me" reads, that was not part of any challenges or was a review copy.


No One Else Can Have You by Kathleen  Hale

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I had read so many reviews for this book, all so very polarized towards the very good or the very bad, that I knew I needed to read it for myself and see what the fuss was all about.

I'm glad that I did, because despite it being a bit too weird and awkward for me at times, I really enjoyed this book. I was not blown away by it, I didn't think it was brilliant, but I did enjoy it a lot. I had to take a break from the awkwardness of it now and then while reading, because it got too weird from my taste on occasion, but I was never tempted to DNF.

No One Else Can Have You read like a satire murder mystery to me, full of humour and tongue in cheek references and loads of veiled and not so veiled criticism. All characters felt like they started real and then were taken to the extreme a bit, which might seem a bit unreal and an extreme caricaturisation but somehow managed to work. I have found that time and again, reality tends to surpass fiction no matter how weird we think that'd be.
I have seen this book being compared to the movie Fargo, and I think it is a great analogy of how awkward and weird it can be.

Kippy as a character was awkward, weird, quirky and sometimes a bit sad, I didn't feel like I could relate to her much (if at all) but I could understand enough of her character and motivations to understand her choices and doubts along the book. Her relationship with her dad is defined by him being a counsellor and by Kippy's mother's death. I felt like their interactions were hilarious and on occasion maddening. Her dad is so kumbaya and psychologically minded that he is blinded to too many things. Her dad managed to irritate me quite a lot, even if I understood how his character would behave like that.

All characters read as over the top caricatures, but somehow they felt completely right for the story of this book. The murder mystery sometimes gets lost in the characters' interactions and development, and I feel that sometimes it was just mostly an excuse to show us the innards of this little town and its inhabitants than a proper plot for itself. Characters and the satire and humour at their expense to a point takes precedence to the murder mystery, but even so, it is done quite well. I might have been too distracted by the weird people of Friendship to figure out the culprit, but I guess that might have been the point of it.

All in all, a very interesting book, very weird too, and that makes it a bit difficult to rate but I'd say it is a 3 to 3.5 stars for me.





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Mark This Book Monday: ARC Review of Impostor by Susanne Winnacker!

This week's Mark This Book Monday is gonna be another one of my pile of ARCs for review I got for NetGalley and I'm cheating a bit, since I have other books that have been released already or will release before this one, that releases on Jan 2nd 2014, but I so was in the mood for this one!


Impostor by Susanne Winnacker

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I had Impostor on my TBR list for a while and when my request for it was approved on NetGalley I was quite chuffed!

Impostor is the story of Tessa, a young girl that is a Variant. And what's a Variant you might ask? Think something similar to the X-Men, humans with strange mutations that make them have strange abilities. Some are super strong, others can read minds and Tessa can absorb someone's DNA and transform into that person to the last detail. That ability and the fact that her mom didn't care for her at all lander Tessa at the FEA, a division of the FBI that has Variants as agents and works on missions for the government that no one else can pull off.

Tessa is still practicing her Variation, but when a serial killer fails to kill her latest victim that is a deep coma that she probably won't wake up from , the FEA decide to take a chance and get Tessa to impersonate Madison to try and see if the killer was close to her. This assignment is way harder on Tessa than even she expected at first, given the emotional side to it.

Impostor has a bit of everything, science fiction due to the mutations/abilites, thriller & murder mystery that keeps you wondering for quite a while, and of course a big reflection on the emotional side of who we are and who we would like to be. That part I must say was the most unexpected and one that really made me like this book more.

The romance was the part that managed to irk me most, the whole hot & cold way with Alec is the one thing it's almost a sure recipe for annoyance for me, but I was glad there were no sign of any love triangles with Tessa being in Madison's skin. I think it added an additional emotional strain that didn't make all that much sense, even less when the excuse most used was "doing it to keep her safe", what I did like was that Tessa decided to stand up for herself.

Tessa was an emotional mess for one reason or another during most of the book, but she managed to keep her mind in the mission and did her best to stop the killer. I really liked how there was an extra layer given to what was the motivation behind the killer and how that opens the doors to the sequel(s). Also really happy about the lack of cliffhanger at the end! Well deserved 4 stars.




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NetGalley November: ARC Review of Covenant From Hell by Priscilla Royal!

An extra out of day Friday Reads review in the last day of November for my last NetGalley November entry. I really didn't do too well, but at least I improved my ratio a lil bit! Still, I will continue to prioritize my NetGalley ARCs through  December too, so I can at least start the New Year with the recommended 80% ratio!

Covenant with Hell by Priscilla Royal

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


When I requested the ARC of this book on NetGalley I wasn't aware that it was the 10th book in a series, but once my request was approved I decided to read it as a stand alone and see how well that would work. Thankfully the book reads well enough as a stand alone, with enough information being revealed and explained about backstories of characters to understand them better.

The series follow a monk and a prioress of a special order where monks and nuns are allowed to work together and the top authority of the order is in the hands of a woman, since it is dedicated to the Queen of Heaven, the Virgin Mary. These two tend to find themselves in the middle of mysteries and crimes and are a bit of a detective duo.

Covenant with Hell is a Middle Ages murder mystery, that seems to be easy to figure out at first, but once the bigger conspiracy comes to the front, things are not as straight forward as it might have seem at first.

Brother Thomas and Priestess Eleonor are quite well developed and their relationship clearly has been developed along a few books, but that wasn't a problem for me to get into the story and to side with these two.

The book have some different POVs and at first it seemed a lil disjointed at first, but later on all the previous chapters started adding up and all the hints and information made sense. The setting and all the historical elements felt very genuine and authentic, clearly the author knows her stuff when it comes to the Middle Ages. The murder mystery was done well, and I liked how in the end the guilty party is the least likely.

Quite entertaining, and though this is not a fault of the book, I just kept on enraging myself with the treatment to women in that era. Once the action got going a bit more and all the different POVs started making more sense together, the story picked up speed. I wasn't too happy that the final resolution of the conspiracy and the murder was just told to the characters and not part of the action. Still, I feel quite intrigued to read the previous books of the series.

3.5 stars, entertaining but not can't-tear-my-eyes-off-the-page.



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ARC Review of A Study In Darkness by Emma Jane Holloway!

Hello everyone! This week's Friday Reads are quite delayed and my reviewing and my blogging have been a bit sparse, but I was on vacation with the boyfriend and we had some very well deserved and needed "us time" so everything else took a back seat.

Now back to routine and with the challenge of NetGalley November to complete this month I will be focusing mostly exclusively in all the review copies I have pending and hopefully I'll manage to tackle that pile and make it less daunting!

Starting back up, today's first review is for the second book of the Baskerville Affair series.


A Study in Darkness by Emma Jane Holloway

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This series is becoming a serious favourite of mine. With the mish mash of steampunk, magic, historical fiction, adventure, romance and political intrigue that they manage to make work fantastically, it's always a treat!

A Study in Darkness is book 2 in the series and it is a strong sequel to the first book. I will try my best to make avoid spoilers for this book but be warned, there might be some spoilers for book 1 in this review.

Evelina was left heartbroken and in a difficult position by the end of book 1, and in this one she ends up getting herself into even more trouble, but being the strong woman that she is, she takes responsability from her actions and beyond and faces the consequences making a few agreements to make sure she can keep those she love out of trouble. She finds herself moving from the comforts of the higher society to the less comfortable but also less restrictive poorer and darker side of this Steampunk London. She will have to play spy, keep herself out of danger and try to learn as much about her magic as possible.

The focus of this book is more on the magic and the political elements and less in the investigating of crimes that was the being theme on book 1. Here the political conspiracy takes a bigger role and we discover a bit more about the Baskerville Affair and how they are trying to fight the Steam Barons. The Steam Barons in turn have their focus divided in two: fighting between themselves to try and get rid of the others and get control of all of London and the Empire and also trying to present an united from against the conspirators of the Baskerville Affair. Evelina finds herself in the middle of the struggle as are also her two uncles, Sherlock & Mycroft, though each of them for different reasons.

There's plenty of intrigue and action to keep you glued to the pages, with quite a few twists and turns along the way. With a pinch of romance to keep everything interesting and to give poor Evelina a respite of all the bleak perspectives that she is drowing in. The love triangle is thankfully resolved, and even I wasn't sure I had a favourite before, I think I'm pretty happy with how it all was done.

If all of this wasn't enough, the author has managed to seamlessly thread into the story the crimes of Jack the Reaper, and how it all was tied with the story was just great. Who was behind the crimes and the motivations... very well done, and soooo creepy!

The book ends with loads of action, Evelina finding herself once again in a position where she has to sacrifice her freedom for the sake of others and with a jaw dropping cliffhanger that I would have never expected!

Very well deserved 4 stars for this one!



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Friday Reads: ARC Review of A Study In Silks by Emma Jane Holloway!!

This week's Friday Reads starts with the first book of a series that mix a number of genres and does so in a fantastic way!


A Study in Silks by Emma Jane Holloway

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


A Study in Silks is the first book in a trilogy (maybe series?) about Sherlock Holmes' niece Evelina. I was lucky enough to get an ARC for review on NetGalley of all the books so far in exchange for an honest opinion.

These books are a quite difficult to describe since they mix magic with murder mysteries, clockwork and steampunk, historical period and romance... but done so well! I'm still surprised how seamlessly all the different elements on this novel combine and work together, fitting perfectly like pieces of a puzzle!

Evelina is Sherlock Holmes niece, her mother was Sherlock's and Mycroft's sister but she married under her station so her family renounced her. Her father was one of the Coopers, famous part of a circus troupe and once the Holmes closed the door to them, the circus was their only option. Evelina grew there, with her mother's stories of another world till both her parents died and her Holmes grandmother decided to claim her and sent her to a school for ladies where she met Imogen Roth, daughter of a family well off and part of Society. Evelina is part of two very different worlds and doesn't feel entirely whole in either of them.

The story starts in a London in the 19th century that is not exactly historical but has quite a bit of Steampunk in it, with its clockwork machines and its Steam barons that have the monopoly of everything to do with technology in the Empire of Queen Victoria.Magic is forbidden in this world and those who have the Blood know better than to reveal their abilities.

Evelina is staying with Imogen's family in their London home when one of the maids is murdered in very suspicious circumstances, so Evelina decides to start investigating to try and solve the crime quickly to avoid too much attention from the police or her own uncle that could undermine the Roth family's reputation. But there's so much more at stake than just a maid's death.

This book is full of plots, politics, magic and even though it doesn't have any big twists you discover the clues and piece together the full picture more or less at the same time that Evelina does, so my interest was always enganged. It is told from different POVs, changing with the chapters and though sometimes it seemed a bit of an odd shift it's never difficult to follow the change cause the characters all have distinctive voices.

Evelina is a great character, she's headstrong and kind, aware of the rules she has to follow as part of the London Society but continues to bend them here and there to be who she thinks she must be. She doesn't only want to enjoy some dances and pretty dresses, but she also has a head for details and observation (rather like her uncle Sherlock) and wants to enroll in a college for ladies. She's also good at tinkering with clockwork and has magic in her blood. In more than one occasion she ends up biting more than she can chew, but one way or another she always tries to do what's right and it's very loyal to her friends and family.

There is a love triangle in this story and quite surprisingly for me, it does make sense, it does add to the story and it is done in a believable fashion. Each one of the guys is from one of the worlds that Evelina is part of: Tobias is Imogen's brother and an absolute rake, handsome but disolute. Nick is of unknown origin and parentage, has also Blood magic and was part of the circus troupe that Evelina grew in and both were inseparable as children and that grew into something more as they did. Both of them make Evelina lose her cool head at times, but she knows that neither of them can be part of her future. Nick because of a strange connection of their magics and Tobias because of family honour and Society proprietness.

It was a bit of a slow read sometimes at first, but once all characters are connected and all dots seem to be getting connected to form a picture I couldn't get through the pages fast enough! There is quite a bit of heartbreak for Evelina and I was very grateful that I had the ARC of the next book already in my Kindle app once I finished this one!

Very original take on Victorian steampunk historical fiction with a good dash of murder mystery Sherlock Holmes style. Well deserved 4 stars.



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Mark This Book Monday: Lily Bard Series!!

Welcoming a new busy new week, after a busy weekend, with some food for the mind with Mark This Book Monday!

Today I want to introduce you to another series by Charlaine Harris (which main characters have also made a cameo in the Sookie Stackhouse series), but one that is not about vampires, but have a strong female lead character.

Lily Bard is a woman with many scars, inside and outside, so to get away from it all, she moves into a place called Shakespeare! (Bard, Shakespeare... you know?) She starts working cleaning houses, but her hopes for a quiet life are soon squished, when she finds a corpse. Lily finds herself playing detective without meaning to, and her knowledge of the people of Shakespeare she acquired helps her on finding the criminal.

Murder mystery books, with another mystery that is revealed book by book, our very own main character. On each book you learn more about Lily, and about what shaped her to be the way she is, and she learns to grow even within her new self, the one she worked so hard on building and made sure was strong enough to survive whatever the ugly world out there would throw at her. The murders aren't Agatha Christie twists, but aren't too previsible either, so they make the books very enjoyable to read, and the way you learn about characters through their houses and their habits is very interesting too.

I would have loved if Charlaine Harris had written more Lily Bard books, but she's said she won't write anymore, still the 5 she did write are very much worth checking them out!