A Fine Place for Death by Ann Granger. This is the third of the four books I brought home from the library from the same author. Again this one is getting *** stars but I liked it least of the three I've read so far. Mainly because I hate to read of children or teen deaths and this one had two teenage deaths. The story was a little farfetched in it's unraveling and that makes it a little less enjoyable to read. This one also had many more deaths than the previous books. Four to be exact and one goes unsolved.
I have one more to read but am anxious to get back to the library for another round of books.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Where Old Bones Lie, finished on 5/14/08
Where Old Bones Lie by Ann Granger. This is not necessarily in order of the Mitchell and Markby series but it was the next in line at the library. I liked this one more than the first one I read. The relationship between the two main characters is more developed and the characters seem more alive in this one. It's crazy because tragedy seems to follow the acquaintences of Meredith Mitchell quite a lot. If I were here I'd have a huge complex! There is usually more than one murder in each book too.
This one deals with "bones" obviously at a archaelogical dig. Pretty interesting. I'd also give this one *** stars. These books are entertaining but not fantastic gotta reads.
This one deals with "bones" obviously at a archaelogical dig. Pretty interesting. I'd also give this one *** stars. These books are entertaining but not fantastic gotta reads.
Say It With Poison, finished on 5/9/08
Say It With Poison by Ann Granger. I started these books by Ann Granger on May 9th; I picked up four of them, in keeping with my groupings by author for each trip to the library. This author is british as are the characters and the settings.
I enjoyed this book most especially because it's obviously one of my favorite types of books - mystery, suspense, murder, etc. But I really loved it because of the english-isms. Tea and crumpets type stuff. The main characters, Mitchell and Markby area a team; she a consular rep and he a policeman. They are kind of a couple that can't figure out their relationship. It's kind of weird, but intriguing.
Say It With Poison is obviously about a poisoning murder. :o) You'll have to read it if you want to know more. I'd give this book *** stars.
I enjoyed this book most especially because it's obviously one of my favorite types of books - mystery, suspense, murder, etc. But I really loved it because of the english-isms. Tea and crumpets type stuff. The main characters, Mitchell and Markby area a team; she a consular rep and he a policeman. They are kind of a couple that can't figure out their relationship. It's kind of weird, but intriguing.
Say It With Poison is obviously about a poisoning murder. :o) You'll have to read it if you want to know more. I'd give this book *** stars.
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Grave Sight, finished 5/2/08
This is a newer series by Charlaine Harris that I checked out after reading the Southern Vampire Mysteries series (loved it). This one not so much.
I wasn't in love with the characters, Harper Connelly and her step brother Tolliver Lang. I wasn't in love their background story and I wasn't in love with this storyline. I do continue to like the way Charlaine writes but compared to Sookie this book's characters can't hold a candle to those in Sookie's stories. This is book one in a series that has three books so far.
here's the review from Publishers Weekly:
Ever since Harper Connelly survived a zap from a lightning bolt, she's been able to find dead people, a skill that makes the protagonist in the first installment of Harris's new series a tad more bizarre than the mind-reading heroine of the author's Sookie Stackhouse books (Dead as a Doornail, etc.). Harper travels to the Ozark town of Sarne, Ark., to find a missing teenage girl's body, accompanied by her stepbrother, Tolliver, who acts as her manager and bodyguard and with whom she shares a thinly disguised physical attraction that they manage to keep at bay by engaging in casual sex with various partners. Finding the body takes no time at all, but leaving town afterward isn't so easy. When Harper's life is threatened and Tolliver ends up in jail on trumped-up charges, it quickly becomes apparent that something sinister is going on in Sarne. Harris delivers a knuckle-gnawing tale populated with well-developed, albeit edgy characters. A nifty puzzle toward the end will challenge the most jaded mystery buffs.
Lots of the things that happened were just off the wall and convenient and there was no regular accountability. Everything that happened, was found out, was solved, was done by Harper and her brother, not the real law. Screwed up.
This book only gets **1/2 stars. Maybe the next one in the series will be better and I might check it out because I enjoy this author so much. You can draw your own conclusions! Let me know if you've read any by this author and what you think of her.
I wasn't in love with the characters, Harper Connelly and her step brother Tolliver Lang. I wasn't in love their background story and I wasn't in love with this storyline. I do continue to like the way Charlaine writes but compared to Sookie this book's characters can't hold a candle to those in Sookie's stories. This is book one in a series that has three books so far.
here's the review from Publishers Weekly:
Ever since Harper Connelly survived a zap from a lightning bolt, she's been able to find dead people, a skill that makes the protagonist in the first installment of Harris's new series a tad more bizarre than the mind-reading heroine of the author's Sookie Stackhouse books (Dead as a Doornail, etc.). Harper travels to the Ozark town of Sarne, Ark., to find a missing teenage girl's body, accompanied by her stepbrother, Tolliver, who acts as her manager and bodyguard and with whom she shares a thinly disguised physical attraction that they manage to keep at bay by engaging in casual sex with various partners. Finding the body takes no time at all, but leaving town afterward isn't so easy. When Harper's life is threatened and Tolliver ends up in jail on trumped-up charges, it quickly becomes apparent that something sinister is going on in Sarne. Harris delivers a knuckle-gnawing tale populated with well-developed, albeit edgy characters. A nifty puzzle toward the end will challenge the most jaded mystery buffs.
Lots of the things that happened were just off the wall and convenient and there was no regular accountability. Everything that happened, was found out, was solved, was done by Harper and her brother, not the real law. Screwed up.
This book only gets **1/2 stars. Maybe the next one in the series will be better and I might check it out because I enjoy this author so much. You can draw your own conclusions! Let me know if you've read any by this author and what you think of her.
All Together Dead, finished 4/28/08
Wow, what a way to finish up the series. The biggest calamity Sookie has been in yet happens in this book in a fictious? city that reminds me an awful lot of Chicago.... I can't say enough how much I enjoyed this Southern Vampire Mystery Series starring Sookie Stackhouse. I hope Charlaine Harris continues to write about her or the show comes to light (wrote about in my last post).
The only thing I got bummed about in this story is that it's left hanging a bit more than the previous books in this series; as far as what she has coming up (the previous books often alluded to something) and her love interest doesn't end as you really want it and that's all I'm going to say about that.
here's the review from off Amazon:
Bestseller Harris mixes humorous Southern-fried fantasy with biting satirical commentary in her seventh novel to feature Sookie Stackhouse, the bubbly telepathic barmaid from Bon Temps, La. (after 2006's Definitely Dead). Sookie attends an all-important central U.S. vamp summit on the shores of Lake Michigan as a "human geiger counter" for Sophie-Anne Leclerq, vampire queen of a Louisiana weakened by Katrina and who will be tried during the event for murdering her king. Sookie knows the queen is innocent, but she's hardly prepared for other shocking murders, not to mention protests by the Fellowship of the Sun, a right-wing antivampire movement. Her sleuthing skills, along with those of her new telepath friend, Barry the Bellboy, are put to the extreme test. Harris juggles a large cast, including several romantic contenders for Sookie's heart, with effortless exuberance. HBO's True Blood, based on this addictive series, is scheduled to begin its TV run this fall. 11-city author tour.
Product Description: Louisiana cocktail waitress Sookie Stackhouse has her hands full dealing with every sort of undead and paranormal creature imaginable. And after being betrayed by her longtime vampire love, Sookie must not only deal with a new man in her life-the shapeshifter Quinn-but also contend with the long-planned vampire summit. The summit is a tense situation. The vampire queen of Louisiana is in a precarious position, her power base weakened by hurricane damage to New Orleans. And there are some vamps who would like to finish what nature started. Soon, Sookie must decide what side she'll stand with. And her choice may mean the difference between survival and all-out catastrophe.
As you can well imagine, I'm now on a mission to read everything from this great author. From my internet searching it seems she has several individual books and several series. On my way to the library today to check the rest out, if they have them. **** stars again.
The only thing I got bummed about in this story is that it's left hanging a bit more than the previous books in this series; as far as what she has coming up (the previous books often alluded to something) and her love interest doesn't end as you really want it and that's all I'm going to say about that.
here's the review from off Amazon:
Bestseller Harris mixes humorous Southern-fried fantasy with biting satirical commentary in her seventh novel to feature Sookie Stackhouse, the bubbly telepathic barmaid from Bon Temps, La. (after 2006's Definitely Dead). Sookie attends an all-important central U.S. vamp summit on the shores of Lake Michigan as a "human geiger counter" for Sophie-Anne Leclerq, vampire queen of a Louisiana weakened by Katrina and who will be tried during the event for murdering her king. Sookie knows the queen is innocent, but she's hardly prepared for other shocking murders, not to mention protests by the Fellowship of the Sun, a right-wing antivampire movement. Her sleuthing skills, along with those of her new telepath friend, Barry the Bellboy, are put to the extreme test. Harris juggles a large cast, including several romantic contenders for Sookie's heart, with effortless exuberance. HBO's True Blood, based on this addictive series, is scheduled to begin its TV run this fall. 11-city author tour.
Product Description: Louisiana cocktail waitress Sookie Stackhouse has her hands full dealing with every sort of undead and paranormal creature imaginable. And after being betrayed by her longtime vampire love, Sookie must not only deal with a new man in her life-the shapeshifter Quinn-but also contend with the long-planned vampire summit. The summit is a tense situation. The vampire queen of Louisiana is in a precarious position, her power base weakened by hurricane damage to New Orleans. And there are some vamps who would like to finish what nature started. Soon, Sookie must decide what side she'll stand with. And her choice may mean the difference between survival and all-out catastrophe.
As you can well imagine, I'm now on a mission to read everything from this great author. From my internet searching it seems she has several individual books and several series. On my way to the library today to check the rest out, if they have them. **** stars again.
Definitely Dead, finished 4/25/08
Definitely Dead by Charlaine Harris. Super fun series to read. I think this is book number 6 in the series. I read a few in order but skipped a couple. That's the great thing about these books those they are same characters but she always introduces new storyline and new and fascinating characters. Quinn enters this one and I can't help but think Jason Taylor or some other similar hunk when she describes him!
here's the review from Publishers Weekly:
In bestseller Harris's perky sixth Southern Vampire novel to star Sookie Stackhouse (after 2005's Dead as a Doornail), the telepathic waitress of Bon Temps, La., is off to (pre-hurricane) New Orleans to close out her dead cousin Hadley's apartment. Hadley's death six weeks earlier had been unexpected, since, as a vampire, she was already dead. Still, she'd led a lively existence as the main squeeze of the Queen of Louisiana, an omnisexual vampire, whose political marriage to the King of Arkansas occurred the night before Hadley's demise. Sookie and Amelia Broadway, Hadley's landlady and a pretty cool witch, immediately discover a mess of trouble left behind in Hadley's closet, and Sookie's soon neck-deep in even more. Though most of the intrigue doesn't come till halfway through, Harris keeps the action going nonstop in this bubbly brew of supernatural spice and whimsical whodunit that's more fun than a barrel of beignets. Alan Ball, the creator of HBO's Six Feet Under, plans to shoot a TV pilot based on the series later this year.
Wow, this is the first I've heard about a potential television series. It would be enough reason for me to get HBO which I currently do not have to watch this series! Sweet. So check this one too.
here's the review from Publishers Weekly:
In bestseller Harris's perky sixth Southern Vampire novel to star Sookie Stackhouse (after 2005's Dead as a Doornail), the telepathic waitress of Bon Temps, La., is off to (pre-hurricane) New Orleans to close out her dead cousin Hadley's apartment. Hadley's death six weeks earlier had been unexpected, since, as a vampire, she was already dead. Still, she'd led a lively existence as the main squeeze of the Queen of Louisiana, an omnisexual vampire, whose political marriage to the King of Arkansas occurred the night before Hadley's demise. Sookie and Amelia Broadway, Hadley's landlady and a pretty cool witch, immediately discover a mess of trouble left behind in Hadley's closet, and Sookie's soon neck-deep in even more. Though most of the intrigue doesn't come till halfway through, Harris keeps the action going nonstop in this bubbly brew of supernatural spice and whimsical whodunit that's more fun than a barrel of beignets. Alan Ball, the creator of HBO's Six Feet Under, plans to shoot a TV pilot based on the series later this year.
Wow, this is the first I've heard about a potential television series. It would be enough reason for me to get HBO which I currently do not have to watch this series! Sweet. So check this one too.
Club Dead, finished 4/20/08
Wow, I just sort of finished this awesome series by Charlaine Harris, I say sort of because I grabbed all the copies of her books that the library had at the time and I found out after reading some that I was missing a few. I will go back and pick them up. I usually hate to read out of sequence but this main character, Sookie Stackhouse, rocks! Plus who doesn't love a good vampire book? Well maybe many, but I love 'em.
This is not the first in the Southern Vampire Mysteries series featuring Sookie, but it was the first one I read. Club Dead was great. **** stars for this whole series.
From Booklist:
Sookie Stackhouse is having man trouble. Her vampire boyfriend, Bill, has been distant and inattentive lately. Then he announces that he is going on a business trip, which clearly is more than it seems. After a werewolf tries to abduct Sookie at work, Bill's boss, Eric, tells her that Bill fell under the sway of his--Bill's, that is--ex, a sexy vamp named Lorena, and has been kidnapped. Eric wants Sookie's help in getting Bill back, and despite her hurt over Bill's betrayal, Sookie agrees to go to Jackson, Mississippi, to find her wayward lover. Eric has persuaded Alcide, a dashing werewolf, to get Sookie access to Josephine's, aka Club Dead, the local hangout of Jackson's supernatural element. In between dodging kidnappers, the advances of amorous Eric, and her growing feelings for Alcide, Sookie has to find out who kidnapped Bill and figure out a way to rescue him. With some droll touches--Elvis, now a vampire, is Sookie's faithful guard --Club Dead is ideal for readers who like their vampire fiction light, humorous, and fast-paced. Kristine Huntley
I finished this one and immediately picked up the next one - it was that good. If you haven't read any of these, give it a try, but have at least a little interest in vampires.
The thing that fascinates me is vampires have basically "come out" of the closet so to speak and live among the humans. Is that not a crazy idea? There was a Japanese inventor that came up with a synthetic blood so they don't have to feed on humans unless they are willing donors (haha). So check it out and the subsequent posts on her other books that I've read.
This is not the first in the Southern Vampire Mysteries series featuring Sookie, but it was the first one I read. Club Dead was great. **** stars for this whole series.
From Booklist:
Sookie Stackhouse is having man trouble. Her vampire boyfriend, Bill, has been distant and inattentive lately. Then he announces that he is going on a business trip, which clearly is more than it seems. After a werewolf tries to abduct Sookie at work, Bill's boss, Eric, tells her that Bill fell under the sway of his--Bill's, that is--ex, a sexy vamp named Lorena, and has been kidnapped. Eric wants Sookie's help in getting Bill back, and despite her hurt over Bill's betrayal, Sookie agrees to go to Jackson, Mississippi, to find her wayward lover. Eric has persuaded Alcide, a dashing werewolf, to get Sookie access to Josephine's, aka Club Dead, the local hangout of Jackson's supernatural element. In between dodging kidnappers, the advances of amorous Eric, and her growing feelings for Alcide, Sookie has to find out who kidnapped Bill and figure out a way to rescue him. With some droll touches--Elvis, now a vampire, is Sookie's faithful guard --Club Dead is ideal for readers who like their vampire fiction light, humorous, and fast-paced. Kristine Huntley
I finished this one and immediately picked up the next one - it was that good. If you haven't read any of these, give it a try, but have at least a little interest in vampires.
The thing that fascinates me is vampires have basically "come out" of the closet so to speak and live among the humans. Is that not a crazy idea? There was a Japanese inventor that came up with a synthetic blood so they don't have to feed on humans unless they are willing donors (haha). So check it out and the subsequent posts on her other books that I've read.
Dead as a Doornail, finished 4/22/08
Dead as a Doornail, also by Charlaine Harris, was another good one. Again **** stars. I could hardly put it down. They are easy reads, fascinating in their weirdness, funny, a little bit romantic and definitely entertaining.
Dead as a Doornail review by: Publishers Weekly
Harris's rousing fifth Sookie Stackhouse fantasy-mystery (after 2004's Dead to the World) pits vampires, were-creatures, shifters and one fairy godmother against a sniper with an apparent aversion to nonhumans. If trying to discover who's behind the shootings isn't enough, the telepathic cocktail waitress from Bon Temps, La., has to cope with a few other distractions: her sexy "Were" friend, Alcide Herveaux, needs her help in his father's bid to become the next leader of the local werewolf pack; her boss, Sam Merlotte (a collie in his spare time), gets shot; her house partly burns down; and what's she to do about the handsome vampire bartender who dresses as a pirate at Sam's place? Between one mishap and another, Sookie is one busy gal. Harris does an admirable job of creating a heroine who's not only interesting but completely believable in a world of the strange and the different. Natural and humorous dialogue and a nicely paced plot that doesn't dwell so much on Sookie's old boyfriends help make this entry the best yet in the series.
There's so much going on in this book and so many different kinds of characters/monsters. Surprisingly most seem nice, besides the bad guys of course. Sookie is great in this one, in all of them. I just can't keep up with her love interests. A vamp here, a vamp there, a shifter of this type, etc. etc, good thing she can't be interested in humans because of her telepathic abilities (she can't really read vamps or shifters). Crazy stuff I know, but dern interesting. Check it out.
Dead as a Doornail review by: Publishers Weekly
Harris's rousing fifth Sookie Stackhouse fantasy-mystery (after 2004's Dead to the World) pits vampires, were-creatures, shifters and one fairy godmother against a sniper with an apparent aversion to nonhumans. If trying to discover who's behind the shootings isn't enough, the telepathic cocktail waitress from Bon Temps, La., has to cope with a few other distractions: her sexy "Were" friend, Alcide Herveaux, needs her help in his father's bid to become the next leader of the local werewolf pack; her boss, Sam Merlotte (a collie in his spare time), gets shot; her house partly burns down; and what's she to do about the handsome vampire bartender who dresses as a pirate at Sam's place? Between one mishap and another, Sookie is one busy gal. Harris does an admirable job of creating a heroine who's not only interesting but completely believable in a world of the strange and the different. Natural and humorous dialogue and a nicely paced plot that doesn't dwell so much on Sookie's old boyfriends help make this entry the best yet in the series.
There's so much going on in this book and so many different kinds of characters/monsters. Surprisingly most seem nice, besides the bad guys of course. Sookie is great in this one, in all of them. I just can't keep up with her love interests. A vamp here, a vamp there, a shifter of this type, etc. etc, good thing she can't be interested in humans because of her telepathic abilities (she can't really read vamps or shifters). Crazy stuff I know, but dern interesting. Check it out.
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