Tag Archives: mystery

murder on the lake of fire

Book Review of Murder on the Lake of Fire (Mourning Dove Mysteries #1), by Mikel J. Wilson

I won a copy of Murder on the Lake of Fire through a giveaway the author, Mikel Wilson, ran on Instagram.

Description from Goodreads:

At twenty-three and with a notorious case under his belt, Emory Rome has already garnered fame as a talented special agent for the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. His career is leapfrogging over his colleagues, but the jumping stops when he’s assigned a case he fought to avoid – an eerie murder in the Smoky Mountain hometown he had abandoned. The mysterious death of a teen ice-skater once destined for the pros is soon followed by an apparent case of spontaneous human combustion. In a small town bursting with friends and foes, Rome’s own secrets lie just beneath the surface. The rush to find the murderer before he strikes again pits him against artful private investigator Jeff Woodard. The PI is handsome, smart and seductive, and he just might be the killer Rome is seeking.

Review:

I generally enjoyed this. I wasn’t surprised by the conclusion of the mystery in any sense, but I enjoyed the journey of seeing that I was right and I liked both the main characters. I thought very occasionally that names were tossed into dialogue too often and the similes weighed a little heavily at times. But for the most part, I’m glad to have read it and look forward to the next one.

murder on the lake of fire photo murder on the lake of fire signed


Edit: June 10, 2021 — In totally unrelated news, as I hadn’t even started Sadie’s Spotlight yet when I reviewed this book, the series was later promoed on the site.

murder at pirate's cove

Review of Murder at Pirate’s Cove (Secrets and Scrabble, #1), by Josh Lanyon

I received an e-copy of Josh Lanyon‘s Murder at Pirate’s Cove through Netgalley.

Description from Goodreads:

Ellery Page, aspiring screenwriter, Scrabble champion and guy-with-worst-luck-in-the-world-when-it-comes-to-dating, is ready to make a change. So when he learns he’s inherited both a failing bookstore and a falling-down mansion in the quaint seaside village of Pirate’s Cove on Buck Island, Rhode Island, it’s full steam ahead!

Sure enough, the village is charming, its residents amusingly eccentric, and widowed police chief Jack Carson is decidedly yummy (though probably as straight as he is stern). However, the bookstore is failing, the mansion is falling down, and there’s that little drawback of finding rival bookseller–and head of the unwelcoming-committee–Trevor Maples dead during the annual Buccaneer Days celebration.

Still, it could be worse. And once Police Chief Carson learns Trevor was killed with the cutlass hanging over the door of Ellery’s bookstore, it is

Review:

I quite enjoyed this. I didn’t guess the murderer until 90%. The romance is such a slow burn that it doesn’t even culminate in this book, though it’s quite obvious that it’s coming. (For the record, I wouldn’t call this an M/M romance. Rather, I think it is a cozy mystery that just happens to have a gay protagonist.) The writing is clean and readable and I didn’t notice any particular editing problems. What’s to complain about?

craven

Book Review of Craven Street, by E. J. Stevens

I received a free Audible code for a copy of Craven Street, by E.J. Stevens.

Description from Goodreads:

The discovery of bricked up skeletal remains at 36 Craven Street point to something more diabolical than an illegal anatomy school. The tool marks on the bones, arcane sigils of great power, indicate more than mere butchery, more than enlightened experimentation. The signs, omens, and portents support the crown’s greatest fears. A great evil is being unleashed upon the gaslit streets of London, a blood-drenched shadow reaching skeletal fingers beyond the slums of Whitechapel.

We must stamp out this demonic plague for the sake of our Queen, our Country, and our immortal souls. – Cora Drummond, Whitechapel Paranormal Society 

Collecting human souls is a thankless job, nearly as tedious as acting as solicitor to the fae. But when the demon Forneus enters an opium den searching for men eager to trade their souls for the ill-smelling weed, he stumbles on a plot so devious, so heinous, he’s jealous that he hadn’t thought of it himself.

There’s nothing like a maniacal plot to unleash Hell on earth to break the boredom of immortality. – Forneus, Grand Marquis of Hell 

Review:

This would have made a great novel. But it makes a somewhat disappointing novella. I liked the characters and the premise. But too much is just sketched out, major events are simply relayed in passing, and there isn’t time for the reader to get truly engrossed in the story. 

Also, as I’ve often complained, why is it that so often in such books only women are murdered? Do you suppose the demonic hordes care if the sacrifices are male or female? But invariably the victims are always women and any reference to the killer is male. The language is painfully gendered, always it seems. Once you start to notice, it’s hard to stop. 

The narrators did a wonderful job, Melanie A. Mason especially.