Category: Mystery
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Red Team Blues: Cory Doctorow is smarter than us
Red Team BluesBy: Cory DoctorowMy Rating: Three out of Five StarsBest for: 18 and up Ya, Cory’s still smarter than me… I’m nerd enough to know that blogger-activist-author Cory Doctorow represents all things free speech, but not nerd enough to really understand his cyber syfy stories. I remember picking up Little Brother from the library…
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The Inheritance Games: Knives Out x The Westing Game x every YA book, ever!
The Inheritance Games (The Inheritance Games, #1)The Hawthorne Legacy (The Inheritance Games, #2)The Final Gambit (The Inheritance Games, #3)By: Jennifer Lynn BarnesMy Rating: Four out of five starsBest for: 14 and up Knives Out x The Westing Game x every YA novel ever written It’s been a while since I read an actual factual YA…
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The Secret Keeper: Kate Morton is a story weaver
The Secret KeeperBy: Kate MortonMy Rating: FIVE OUT OF FIVE STARSBest for: Advanced 14 and up Kate Morton is a story weaver! My favorite stories surprise me. Sometimes it’s the engaging mystery, other times it’s the characters themselves. Many times it’s a great twist ending. Kate Morton is good at all the above, and her…
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The Comfort of Distance: CSI IRL
The Comfort of DistanceThe Boxwood TorsoWhere the Blood is MadeBy: Ryburn DobbsMy Rating: Four out of Five StarsBest for: 16 and up CSI IRL… Sebastien Grey doesn’t like CSI. According to him, it’s “improbable.” In the real world, you can’t put a skull in a machine and then have the person’s 3-D face float above…
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A Book Club Guest Review of The Girl in Cabin 13
The Girl in Cabin 13By: AJ RiversReviewer Rating: 3Best for: 18 and up Not for the Faint of Heart(which was almost me)!Guest book review by Julie H Q: What’s the book about? Emma Griffin is an FBI agent Undercover in a small town where people keep disappearing. It’s a definite page turner! I even started…
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Every Heart a Doorway: That was…unexpected
Every Heart a Doorway (Wayward Children, #1)By: Seanan McGuireMy Rating: Three out of five stars.Best for: 18 and up That was…unexpected. I enjoyed Middlegame my Seanan McGuire so much, I looked to see what her next most popular books were. Turns out it’s the Wayward Children series. Book one is Every Heart a Doorway–which makes…
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#Nightwalker: Paranormal mystery, anyone?
NightwalkerBy: Elissa C. NysetvoldMy Rating: Three out of five starsBest for: 14 and up Who’s up for a paranormal mystery? I’m always on the look out for new authors who do great work and deserve to get their books out there, so I was happy to take a look at Nightwalker by Elissa Nysetvold. Innocent…
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#BookScavenger: Where was this when I was 11?
Book Scavenger (Book Scavenger, #1)The Unbreakable Code (Book Scavenger, #2)The Alcatraz Escape (Book Scavenger, #3)By: Jennifer Chambliss BertmanMy Rating: Four out of five starsBest for: 10 and up Where was Book Scavenger when I was 11? Books about books are IT! This charming and well-written trio of middle grade stories are a book nerd’s dream…
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#Holes: A story worthy of its accolades
HolesBy: Louis SacharMy Rating: FIVE OUT OF FIVE STARSBest for: 10 and up A story worthy of its accolades I feel like I’ve known Louis Sachar my whole life. Sideways Stories from Wayside School was one of the first stories I remember really enjoying for the fun of reading. Sideways stories and it’s sequels were…
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#DarkWaters: More creepy fun!
Dark Waters (Small Spaces, book 3)By: Katherine ArdenMy Rating: Four out of five starsBest for: 12 and up What!? An unexpected cliffhanger!!! I know Katherine Arden best from The Winternight Trilogy, her fantastic historical fantasy series set in long ago Russia. It’s a wonderful story, full of with amazing characters, connections to myths and traditions,…
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A Book Club Guest Review of Her Last Breath
Her Last BreathBy: Hilary DavidsonGuest Reviewer Rating: FIVE OUT OF FIVE STARSBest for:14 and up Was it her heart? Really?Guest review by Julie Hilton Diedre’s sister died suddenly. It was ruled unknown heart problem but after her death, Diedre received an email from her sister saying if anything happened to her to know it was…
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A Book Club Guest Review of Murder at Tophouse
Murder at TophouseBy: Clair M PoulsonGuest Reviewer Rating: FIVE OUT OF FIVE STARSBest for: 12 and up LA to NZ murder and mayhemGuest review by Julie Hilton A detective in Los Angeles suspects his partner of all sorts of bad behavior but he’s in for a huge surprise when he’s the one who gets suspended.…
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A Book Club Guest Review of Deadly Secret
Deadly SecretsBy: Frank RichardsonGuest Reviewer Rating: FIVE OUT OF FIVE STARSBest for: 14 and up From Homeless to Hunted to HelperGuest Review by Julie Hilton Rick, a guy who’s bounced around the foster care system, is now a homeless man. He’s a good guy and helps a woman one night but it gets him mistaken…
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#TheWitnessfortheDead: Amazing, but don’t step on the Legos…
The Witness for the Dead (The Goblin Emperor, Book 2)By: Katherine AddisonMy Rating: Three out of Five StarsBest for: Advanced 14 and up I’m a huge fan of The Goblin Emperor. You might be too, if you appreciate intricate drama, courtly intrigue, and micro-detailed world building. Check it out. But also watch out, because when…
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#TheDevilandtheDarkWater: Agatha Christie+Sherlock Holmes+1600’s Hygiene
The Devil and the Dark WaterBy: Stuart TurtonMy Rating: Four out of Five StarsBest for: 18 and up The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle was a happy surprise. It’s Groundhog Day + Quantum Leap + Agatha Christie, and if you haven’t read it, you need to. It was so good, in fact, that when…
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#WheretheCrawdadsSing: The Perfect Novel?
Where the Crawdads SingBy: Delia OwensMy Rating: FIVE OUT OF FIVE STARS!Best For: 18 and up Is this it? The perfect novel? Judging by the raving crowds of fans and bottomless 5 star reviews, could it be? Naw. No such thing. The perfect novel doesn’t exist. But… …Where the Crawdads Sing is absolutely worthy of…
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A Book Club Guest Review of The Serafina Series
Serafina and the Black Cloak (Serafina, Book 1)Serafina and the Twisted Staff (Serafina, Book 2)Serafina and the Splintered Heart (Serafina, Book 3)Serafina and the Seven Stars (Serafina, Book 4)By: Robert BeattyReviewer Rating: FIVE OUT OF FIVE STARS!Best for: 10 and up Looking for an exiting fantasy mystery? You HAVE to read Serafina!Guest review by Gisele,…
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A Book Club Guest Review of The Girl You Left Behind
The Girl You Left BehindBy: Jo Jo MoyesReviewer Rating: Four out of Five StarsBest for: 18 and up WWI history, romance, and mystery!Guest review by Catina Haverlock It’s World War One France and Sophie Lefevre and her sister Helene have but one goal – keeping their family safe until the war ends and their husbands…
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A Book Club Guest Review of The Lost and Found Bookshop
The Lost and Found BookshopBy: Susan WiggsReviewer Rating: Four out of Five StarsBest for: 16 and up Except for three pages… Wonderful!Guest review by Julie Hilton A woman returns to take care of her grandfather and his Bookstore under traffic circumstances. She has friendships with two intriguing men through a series of humorous and sad…
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A Book Club Guest Review of A Haunting at Havenwood
A Haunting at Havenwood (Seasons of Change, Book 6)By: Sally BrittonReviewer Rating: Four out of Five StarsBest for: 14 and up Cute regency mystery with a touch of romanceReview by Charity Bradford I’m not usually a regency fan, but I liked that this woman’s change of circumstance brought her into her own. It was really…
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A Book Club Guest Review of Code Name Camelot
Code Name Camelot (Noah Wolf Book 1)By: David ArcherReviewer Rating: Four out of fives starsBest for: 16 and up If you like Bourne…Review by Julie Hilton …and lots of details. Hard to tell about this one without giving away some serious storyline, but it’s basically about a guy named Noah with PTSD and feels no…
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A Book Club Guest Review of The Babbling Brook Naked Poker Club
The Babbling Brook Naked Poker ClubBy: Ann WarnerReviewer Rating: Four out of Five StarsBest for: 10 and up A fun mystery with a sea of complicated people!Review by: Julie Hilton A woman gets shuttled off to a retirement home by her son after an inheritance. She has other plans and other resources. She gets tricked…
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#DeathsDoor: Did you know Edgar Allan Poe could time travel?
Death’s Door (The Immortal Descendants, Baltimore Mysteries #1) By: April White My Rating: FIVE out of FIVE Stars Best for: 14 and up April White writes the stories I want to read! I hope you’ll check out her Immortal Descendants series. It’s time travel, shape-shifters, and vampires (who don’t sparkle). It brings to life the…
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#TheShadowoftheWind: What an ending!
The Shadow of the Wind By: Carlos Ruiz Zafon, Translation by Lucia Graves My Rating: Four out of Five Stars Best for: 18+ Well that meandered its way to awesome. There were times reading The Shadow of the Wind that I felt annoyed by the translation, and other times I felt frustrated with the slow…
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7 1/2 Deaths of #EvelynHardcastle: Clue x Quantum Leap x Groundhog Day = Awesome!
The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle By: Stuart Turton My Rating: FIVE out of FIVE stars! Best for: 14 and up What a great story! The 71/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle is Clue x Groundhog Day x “It was a dark and stormy night…” x Quantum Leap x Downton Abby drama. You’re invited to…
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#LockIn and HeadOn: The King of SyFy Reigns!
Lock In Head On By: John Scalzi My Review: Four out of Five Stars Best for: Adults Scalzi, current king of SyFy, delivers again! In this future, a global pandemic has killed millions. Some on the infected do survive, but the disease leaves them “locked in:” they have complete consciousness of mind and sensation, but…
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#TheSasquatchEscape: Big Foot, dragons, and read-aloud fun!
The Sasquatch Escape (The Imaginary Veterinary: Book 1) By: Suzanne Selfors My Rating: Four out of Five Stars Best for: 10 and under Our local school district selects one book each year and gives copies to every elementary student for a district-wide family reading month. There have been a few duds over the years, but…
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#ThePlayofDeath (The Hangman’s Daughter #6): I’m so glad I didn’t live in the 1600s…
The Play of Death (The Hangman’s Daughter, #6) By: Oliver Potzsch My Rating: Four out of Five Stars Best for: 16 and up It’s hard to say exactly why I keep coming back for more of The Hangman’s Daughter. Is it the gruesome mysteries that must be solved? Is it the detailed historical fiction set…
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#Legion: The Many Lives of Stephen Leeds, a.k.a. yet another reason Brandon Sanderson is king.
Legion (Legion #1) Skin Deep (Legion #2) Lies of the Beholder (Legion #3) By: THE Brandon Sanderson My Rating: FIVE out of FIVE Stars Best for: 14 and up Legion: The Many Lives of Stephen Leeds, is a compilation of the three novellas about Brandon Sanderson’s schizophrenic private investigator, Stephen Leeds. My opinion? The Legion…
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#TheLakeHouse: Kate Morton has it figured out
The Lake House By: Kate Mortin My Rating: Four out of Five Stars Best for: 16 and up Kate Morton has a winning formula. In the past, something tragic happens, but without a resolution–leaving an unsolved mystery. In the present, someone picks up the pieces of the unsolved mystery and puts together the clues. Both…
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#Origin: Dan Brown strikes again
Origin By: Dan Brown My Rating: Four out of Five Stars Best for: 16 and up You’ve read one Dan Brown, you’ve read them all. Good thing for him…it works over and over again! I actually enjoyed Origin a lot more than I initially thought I would. There is much less of MC Robert Langdon…
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#SixWakes: Clue. In space. With clones.
Six Wakes By: Mur Lafferty My Rating: Four out of Five Stars Best for: 16 and up Clue. In space. With clones. Scene: 6 clones awake to find themselves alone on a ship traveling through deep space with no memory of the previous 25 years…and find their previous bodies have been murdered. One of them…
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#ShadesofGrey: No, no no…not THAT Shades of Grey!
Shades of Grey By: Jasper Fforde My Rating: FIVE out of FIVE Stars Best for: 16 and up No, no, no! Not THAT Shades of Grey! Relax! No relations. I mean relation… Never mind. Shades of Grey is the smartest book I’ve read in a long time. It’s part dystopian fantasy, part social satire, a…
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#InColdBlood: Whoa…
In Cold Blood By: Truman Capote My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars Best for: Mature 16+ If you’re looking for a book about the minute details surrounding the random and gruesome 1959 murder of a family of 4, you can stop your search now. You’ve found it. Me? I’m buddy reading it with my…
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#AnUrchinofMeans (The Baker Street Series, #1): This Book is worth reading
An Urchin of Means (The Baker Street Series, Book 1) By: April White My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars I wish I could remember what made me pick up Marking Time, book 1 of April White’s Immortal Descendants series. Was it the time travel? The vampires and shapeshifters? The historical fiction? Jack the Ripper?…
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#TheAuthorities: Do you hate to laugh? Stop reading now.
The Authorities by Scott Meyer My rating: 4 of 5 stars If you hate books that make you laugh, Scott Meyer is certainly not for you. Go read The Road. That’ll cheer you down. I was in the middle of The Authorities when I realized I was smiling. I didn’t recall when the smile…
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The Westing Game
5/5 stars The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin I’m always keeping my eyes open for smart books for young people. I was thrilled to read this little bit in the intro of The Westing Game, written by the book’s editor and friend to it’s late author: “She said that she wrote for the child in…
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The Mysterious Benedict Society
4/5 stars The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart It’s so hard to find really good middle grade books. In an effort to write a story that is “on their level,” most of them are poorly written, have overly simplistic plots, and canned, characterless characters. At last, I’ve found one that dares to assume…
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Loot
4/5 stars Loot by Jude Watson When the bad guys are really the good guys… Welcome to the wonderful world of books, where kids can steal jewelry, be good at it, get away with it, avoid any consequences for breaking the law, and still be considered the good guys! That’s what happens in Loot–and I…
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The Paladin Caper (Rogues of the Republic, #3)
4/5 stars The Paladin Caper (Rogues of the Republic, #3) by Patrick Weekes There’s fun, and then there’s funny… …but rarely is there both. Unless you read the Rogues of the Republic trilogy by Patrick Weekes. It’s Oceans 11 in a fantasy setting. Non-stop, witty dialogue. A whole host of colorful characters. A horny unicorn.…
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The Thirteenth Tale
4/5 stars The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield Melancholy/Clever A ghost story? I’ll never tell. It took a lot of words for the author to tell this story. The fantastical cover is a bit misleading. The Thirteenth Tale is a sad story about sad people with a fun mystery and a very clever twist.
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#TheWhitehallTrials: A pleasantly creepy surprise…
The Whitehall Trials By: Michelle Catherine Walker My Rating: Four out of Five Stars Best for: 14 and up #TheWhitehallTrials: A pleasantly creepy surprise… Those who follow my reviews know about my soft spot for indie authors, and when I find one worth sharing I like to let people know about it. Well, I found…
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The Prophecy Con (Rogues of the Republic #2)
4/5 stars The Prophecy Con (Rogues of the Republic #2) by Patrick Weekes As fun as the first… The Prophecy Con was just as sharp and witty as the the first book. Sometimes-not-so-subtle innuendo, plenty of humor. Memorable one-liners on every page, lots of action. Kept me guessing all the way to the end. There…
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The Palace Job (Rogues of the Republic #1)
4/5 stars The Palace Job (Rogues of the Republic #1) by Patrick Weekes There’s fun, and then there’s funny… …but rarely is there both. Unless you read The Palace Job by Patrick Weekes. An Oceans 11-inspired heist. Non-stop witty dialogue. A whole host of colorful characters. A horny unicorn. (See what I did there? Aren’t…
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#Legion Skin Deep (Legion, #2): More Sanderson Brilliance
Legion Skin Deep (Legion, #2) By: Brandon Sanderson My Rating: FIVE out of FIVE Stars More Sanderson Brilliance Seriously, when is this going to be turned into a TV series? It’d be a hit! Steven Leeds is a genius for hire. He leads a team of experts–currently 47 of them–in solving mysteries and puzzles. Steven…
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The Graveyard Book
The Graveyard Book By: Neil GaimanMy Rating: FIVE out of FIVE STARS!Best for: 10 and up Delightfully Charming, Gaiman-ly Creepy… Me to my 13-year-old daughter: “I just finished a book you HAVE to read!” Daughter: “What’s it called?” Me: “The Graveyard Book.” Daughter: [Raises one eyebrow, initiates eye roll] Me: “It’s about a baby boy…
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Redshirts: A Novel with Three Codas
Redshirts: A Novel with Three CodasBy: John ScalziMy Rating: Four out of Five StarsBest for: Adults only Now THIS is a book for scifi geeks! If you’ve ever watched Star Trek, you know what happens to the guys in the red shirts–they’re always the ones who die! The main characters always wore blue or gold…and…
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#IAmtheMessenger: Oh, the words!
I Am the Messenger By: Markus Zusak My Rating: FIVE out of FIVE Stars If you read what I thought of The Book Thief, you know I am a pretty big fan. Markus Zusak wrote a book unlike any I had ever read before. I wondered if his other books could be just as good,…
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The Forgotten Garden
5/5 stars The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton I do not give 5 stars lightly. That should be your first sign that I really enjoyed this book! Think of one of your ancestors and what you know about them. Maybe you’ve seen a wedding picture, or you know the names of their children. Maybe you…
One Man Book Club 