Totally Killer by Greg Olear

Totally Killer by Greg Olear

2009, William Morrow Paperbacks

Website / Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads / Amazon

Rating

Synopsis: Taylor Schmidt—twenty-three, single, and jobless—arrives in the Big Apple desperate for work and hungry for love. Through the Quid Pro Quo Employment Agency she finds the perfect job and the perfect boyfriend . . . but perfection has its price.

The Good: Totally Killer is set in the 1990s, which leads to some fun references for those of us who experienced them firsthand. It's very premise, set around the employment agency, is a wonderful idea and could have been gold if handled differently.

The Bad: The characters aren't the least bit sympathetic, which is unfortunate in a novel where we should care that one of them is dead. Telling the story from Todd's point of view well in the future, looking back on the events, was risky and never worked for me. It makes no sense, his tone while telling the story doesn't betray the ending. While it keeps the suspense, it's not plausible he'd tell the story the way he did given his own experiences. Never mind the fact that one would expect a storyteller to make himself seem less like an complete loser. He speaks of all the creepy things he does in his lust for Taylor, all the ways he completely ruined his life just to get to know her better and more, all without a whiff of the shame one would expect years down the line. This was a great idea that just took every wrong turn it could find.

Suspicion by Alexandra Monir

Suspicion by Alexandra Monir

2014, Delacorte Press

Website / Twitter / Goodreads / Amazon

Rating

Synopsis: “There’s something hidden in the maze.”

Seventeen-year-old Imogen Rockford has never forgotten the last words her father said to her, before the blazing fire that consumed him, her mother, and the gardens of her family’s English country manor.

For seven years, images of her parents’ death have haunted Imogen’s dreams. In an effort to escape the past, she leaves Rockford Manor and moves to New York City with her new guardians. But some attachments prove impossible to shake—including her love for her handsome neighbor Sebastian Stanhope.

Then a life-altering letter arrives that forces Imogen to return to the manor in England, where she quickly learns that dark secrets lurk behind Rockford’s aristocratic exterior. At their center is Imogen herself—and Sebastian, the boy she never stopped loving.

The Good: Suspicion contains a wonderful murder mystery. Had the book focused solely on the mystery and cut all the other distracting nonsense, it could have easily been a five star book. An orphan girl raised in America becoming duchess and uncovering the hidden details of why her entire family is dead is more than enough to carry a book.

The Bad: The aforementioned nonsense. A unrequited love, from 10 years previous, who she never even looked up on social media? Right. He dates her cousin for an entire decade, until the cousin dies, and then just maybe realizes he really loves Imogen? Sure. Randomly thrown in supernatural gobbledygook, in a feeble attempt to make the book more marketable? Great. Wrap that all up in a tidy Princess Diaries ripoff bow, where Imogen has duchess lessons in etiquette or whatever. Wait, that could have worked, I guess, if she had cared a whit about being duchess rather than pining over some boy who'd been banging her cousin forever. All unnecessary attempts to appeal to current book trends that ultimately drag the book down to barely a 3 star rating.

Nick and Tesla's Super-Cyborg Gadget Glove by Bob Pflugfelder

Nick and Tesla's Super-Cyborg Gadget Glove by Bob Pflugfelder

2014, Quirk Books

Series: Book 4 of Nick and Tesla

Website / Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads / Amazon

Rating

Synopsis: Einstein is running amok! Darwin is losing his head! The science museum in Half Moon Bay is in big trouble because its robotic replicas of history’s greatest scientists keep going kablooey! As 11-year-old amateur inventors Nick and Tesla Holt try to uncover the cause, they’ll need to keep adding all-new gadgets to their latest creation, a customized super-cyborg glove. Follow the action, and then follow the illustrated instructions to build your own gadget glove with four incredible functions: LED signal light, emergency alarm, sound recorder, and UV secret-message revealer!

The Good: I love educational series for kids where they can learn while being entertained. Instead of history or mythology, this series focuses on science, technology, and engineering which are rarely - if ever - topics kids find in fiction. Mixed with a kid-friendly mystery, this series continues to be fun that will appeal to book lovers and hesitant-readers alike.

The Bad: My complaints are the same with every book in this series. The story is fine and characters are fine, but the words are off. The phrasing is awkward. There is no flow. The grammar is correct, but it's as though the words are sputtering along instead of being a smooth ride.

The Fifth Assassin by Brad Meltzer

The Fifth Assassin by Brad Meltzer

2013, Grand Central Publishing

Series: Book 2 of Culper Ring

Website / Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads / Amazon

Rating

Synopsis: From John Wilkes Booth to Lee Harvey Oswald, there have been more than two dozen assassination attempts on the President of the United States.

Four have been successful.

But now, Beecher White -- the hero of the #1 New York Times bestseller The Inner Circle -- discovers a killer in Washington, D.C., who's meticulously re-creating the crimes of these four men. Historians have branded them as four lone wolves. But what if they were wrong?

Beecher is about to discover the truth: that during the course of a hundred years, all four assassins were secretly working together. What was their purpose? For whom do they really work? And why are they planning to kill the current President?

Beecher's about to find out. And most terrifyingly, he's about to come face-to-face with the fifth assassin.

The Good: This series isn't my normal type of thing, but the books keep dragging me in. This time, a serial killer is going around assassinating priests, in the same style as past presidential assassinations.  The history of it was intensely fascinating. We see these past presidential deaths first-hand in the book, which is newer to most than it really should be. We're usually taught about Kennedy and Lincoln but often American educations neglect details from the assassinations of Garfield and McKinley. The book is very suspenseful and quite surprising at times. It took a little getting into, but after the first couple chapters, I flew through the book.

The Bad: More and more, I'm finding it hard to believe that there is a shadow organization that would rely so heavily on a man who is clearly mentally unstable. I don't doubt the shadow organization. I doubt that they would be so invested in an institutionalized man who is clearly schizophrenic on top of other mental issues. Wouldn't they find someone a bit more reliable to, um, rely upon?

The Good, the Bad, and the Witchy by Heather Blake

The Good, the Bad, and the Witchy by Heather Blake

2013, Signet

Series: Book 3 of A Wishcraft Mystery

Website / Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads / Amazon

Rating

Synopsis: Darcy Merriweather is Enchanted Village’s newest resident Wishcrafter—a witch who can grant wishes for others. But as Darcy prepares a celebration for a magical florist, she discovers that every rose has its thorns…
When magical florist Harriette Harkette decides to throw a lavish eightieth birthday party for herself, she hires Darcy’s Aunt Ve’s personal concierge service, As You Wish, to plan the soiree. But turning eighty isn’t all Harriette is celebrating—the Floracrafter has recently created the midnight black Witching Hour rose, the first all-natural rose of that color.

Darcy works hard on planning an extravagant celebration that will make Harriette feel like the belle of the ball. But when cake delivery boy Michael Healey—a former employee at Harriette’s greenhouse—is found dead, the celebration takes a turn. Now Michael’s ghost has imprinted on Darcy, meaning that they’re bonded until she can untangle the thicket surrounding his murder—and what exactly it has to do with the Witching Hour rose….

The Good: Amusing, as the series always is. The introduction of the possibility of ghosts was interesting, though I'm glad it seems to not be a permanent addition. In this instance it was very helpful in giving emotion to the case Darcy found herself in the middle of, as well as giving her a very good reason to continue her involvement. With all cozy mystery series, the romance is slow going. But, what I especially like about this series is that there are real obstacles that come up that warrant the snail's pace. Issues that make sense and need to be dealt with.

The Bad: Flowers. Meh. I don't read gardening themed cozy mystery series, although there are a few out there, because I have no interest. The mix of magic made it tolerable, but I was lost for the most part whenever it came to the Floracrafters.

Absolutely, Positively by Heather Webber

Absolutely, Positively by Heather Webber

2011, St. Martin's Paperbacks

Series: Book 3 of Lucy Valentine

Website / Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads / Amazon

Rating

Synopsis: "Exposed" by a Boston Herald reporter, Lucy Valentine is suddenly the talk of the town. Long back-story short: Even though the rest of her Valentine ancestors were blessed by Cupid with psychic abilities, Lucy's only special power lies in her ability to find things. This skill has proven quite a blessing for those who come to her matchmaking agency in search of finding their long-lost loves. Now that Lucy's secret is out, she has more new clients than she knows what to do with. But soon a certain man of mystery steals Lucy's spotlight…

No, it's not Sean Donahue, the sexy fireman-turned-private-eye who's stolen Lucy's heart. It's a masked man in a cowboy hat, dubbed "The Lone Ranger," who's been throwing handfuls of cash across the Common. Now all of Beantown's abuzz. Can Lucy unmask the mysterious money man, track down all her clients' old flames, and turn up the heat on her love life? Absolutely, positively…

The Good: I love Lucy. Her family is a riot and her relationship with Sean makes for compelling reading. More than that, I am really enjoying seeing Lucy come around on Preston and getting to see the reporter has more going on personality-wise than what has been aggressively on the surface. Lucy spends a lot of time doubting if she's doing the right thing with her case and her ability to find someone in this book and I felt that was wonderfully genuine. You get the feeling she cares about her clients much like readers care about her.

The Bad: The Lone Ranger mystery was fairly obvious. I figured it out way too early in the book and that kind of killed a lot of the intended suspense. While not the focus on these books, I would really like to see more actual matchmaking from the matchmaking business.

Speaking in Bones by Kathy Reichs

 Speaking in Bones by Kathy Reichs

2015, Bantam

Series: Book 18 of Temperance Brennan

Website / Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads / Amazon

Rating

Synopsis: For every case Temperance Brennan has solved, there remain innumerable unidentified bodies in her lab. Information on some of these is available online, where amateur sleuths sometimes take a stab at solving cases.

One day, Tempe gets a call from Hazel “Lucky” Strike, a web sleuth who believes she’s successfully connected a body in Tempe’s lab to a missing persons report on an eighteen-year-old named Cora Teague. Since the bones in her lab do seem to match Cora’s medical records, Tempe looks into the case, returning to the spot where the bones were originally found. What seems at first to be an isolated tragedy takes on a more sinister cast as Tempe uncovers two more sets of bones nearby.

When she then learns that the area is known as a viewing point for a famous unexplained light phenomenon with significance for a local cult, Tempe’s suspicious turn to murder by ritual sacrifice—a theory thrown into question when Hazel herself turns up dead.

Still reeling from her mother’s diagnosis and the shock of Andrew Ryan’s potentially life-change proposal, Tempe races to solve the murders before the body count climbs further.

The Good: Speaking in Bones is a really wonderful mystery, covering some things Tempe hasn't previously faced. She finds herself looking into a cold case at the request of a web sleuth. Of course, she has no idea what a web sleuth actually is, which introduces the reader to an entire corner of the internet that most are unaware of. Given Tempe's ignorance on the subject, the ins and outs are described in a very elementary fashion that readers will understand regardless of age or tech savvy. What I really enjoyed here was how the characters are finally growing out of their original molds. Most obviously, the huge changes in Slidell. If he can change, it damn near proves anyone can.

The Bad: The problem with long running series is that they generally don't follow real time. Fans of this series have been reading about Tempe and Ryan for a good 18 years. How much time has passed in the series? Maybe a couple of years. So when Tempe has doubts about Ryan's proposal, it's hard to understand. To us, they've been together longer than most married couples, even with their constant on-again, off-again. You have to take yourself out of the story to understand her hesitance, which completely removes any tension that may have built while awaiting her final answer.

Bones Never Lie by Kathy Reichs

Bones Never Lie by Kathy Reichs

2014, Bantam

Series: Book 17 of Temperance Brennan

Website / Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads / Amazon

Rating

Synopsis: Unexpectedly called in to the Charlotte PD’s Cold Case Unit, Dr. Temperance Brennan wonders why she’s been asked to meet with a homicide cop who’s a long way from his own jurisdiction. The shocking answer: Two child murders, separated by thousands of miles, have one thing in common—the killer. Years ago, Anique Pomerleau kidnapped and murdered a string of girls in Canada, then narrowly eluded capture. It was a devastating defeat for her pursuers, Brennan and police detective Andrew Ryan. Now, as if summoned from their nightmares, Pomerleau has resurfaced in the United States, linked to victims in Vermont and North Carolina. When another child is snatched, the reign of terror promises to continue—unless Brennan can rise to the challenge and make good on her second chance to stop a psychopath.

But Brennan will have to draw her bitter ex-partner out of exile, keep the local police and feds from one another’s throats, and face more than just her own demons as she stalks the deadliest of predators into the darkest depths of madness.

The Good: Bones Never Lie revisits a suspect from the 7th book in the series, Monday Mourning. Anique Pomerleau was never caught and I love that we get to see her back on Tempe's radar after almost a decade (in our time, not hers). My heart broke for Ryan as he hid from the world in his own mourning. The on-again, off-again disaster that is Tempe and Ryan is at its uncomfortable peak here. After previous books, we finally get to know Tempe's mom. She's a hell of a character and I hope to see here for a good long while in the series.

The Bad: The red herrings were glaringly obvious as such. Probably not a huge issue to the casual mystery reader who hasn't built up a tolerance to that sort of thing, but someone this far into a series is going to quickly realize that obvious clues and suspects offered up early on are only meant to mislead and automatically ignore them - thus sort of pointing the reader right towards the real ending to soon.

Visions by Kelley Armstrong

  Visions by Kelley Armstrong

2014, Dutton

Series: Book 2 of Cainsville

Website / Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads / Amazon

Rating

Synopsis: Omens, the first installment in Kelley Armstrong’s exciting new series, introduced Olivia Taylor-Jones, daughter of notorious serial killers, and Gabriel Walsh, the self-serving, morally ambiguous lawyer who became her unlikely ally. Together, they chased down a devious killer and partially cleared her parents of their horrifying crimes.

Their success, however, is short-lived. While Olivia takes refuge in the old, secluded town of Cainsville, Gabriel’s past mistakes have come to light, creating a rift between the pair just when she needs his help the most.

Olivia finds a dead woman in her car, dressed to look like her, but the body vanishes before anyone else sees it. Olivia’s convinced it’s another omen, a sign of impending danger. But then she learns that a troubled young woman went missing just days ago—the same woman Olivia found dead in her car. Someone has gone to great lengths to kill and leave this young woman as a warning. But why? And what role has her new home played in this disturbing murder?

Olivia’s effort to uncover the truth places her in the crosshairs of old and powerful forces, forces that have their own agenda, and closely guarded secrets they don’t want revealed.

The Good: I absolutely love the dynamic between Olivia and Gabriel. Their friendship is a hard won thing on it's own, not to mention Gabriel's obvious avoidance of any type of intimacy clearly at odds with his growing attraction to Olivia. The fae aspect of the series comes in loud and clear in this installment. While still mystery at heart, the supernatural overtones are bigger, brighter and proving to be a huge part of the overall story line - a part that wasn't quite clear in the first book, Omens.

The Bad: The sex scenes were sort of weird. Like, how does that even work without dying? And it didn't help that Olivia was having sex with the wrong person, in my opinion at least. The love triangle (that every character involved is trying to deny even exists) is aggravating and seems like overkill in addition to the ex-fiance also chasing after Olivia. What is so special about her? Why are all these men drawn to this woman? It feels eerily similar to Sookie Stackhouse syndrome, especially with the whole faerie angle mixed in.

A Potion to Die For by Heather Blake

 A Potion to Die For by Heather Blake

2013, NAL

Series: Book 1 of Magic Potion Mystery

Website / Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads / Amazon

Rating

Synopsis: TROUBLE IS BREWING…

As the owner of Little Shop of Potions, a magic potion shop specializing in love potions, Carly Bell Hartwell finds her product more in demand than ever. A local soothsayer has predicted that a couple in town will soon divorce—and now it seems every married person in Hitching Post, Alabama, wants a little extra matrimonial magic to make sure they stay hitched.

But when Carly finds a dead man in her shop, clutching one of her potion bottles, she goes from most popular potion person to public enemy number one. In no time the murder investigation becomes a witch hunt—literally! Now Carly is going to need to brew up some serious sleuthing skills to clear her name and find the real killer—before the whole town becomes convinced her potions really are to die for!

The Good: Hitching Post, Alabama doesn't sound like a place that would be teeming with magical ability, but quite a few residents possess witchy powers. Almost all of them are quirky, bordering on incurably eccentric. The book features a murder that's twisty and an utter surprise, but the real fun here is the relationships. Carly's long rivalry with her cousin Delia and the super messed up situation with her ex-fiance Dylan both make for compelling reading. The "Will they or won't they?" of both relationships kept me completely involved in the book. Will Carly and Delia be able to work together and perhaps become friends? Will Carly and Dylan get past a little case of left at the alter? It all just worked.

The Bad: Carly is a little much to take. She's stubborn and has only a minimal grasp of understanding what's going on around her and the appropriate way of dealing with those situations. Quite a few of her issues in the book stem from reacting to what's on the surface and never, ever looking beyond what she assumes to be true.

A Witch Before Dying by Heather Blake

A Witch Before Dying by Heather Blake

2012, NAL

Series: Book 2 of Wishcraft Mystery

Website / Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads / Amazon

Rating

Synopsis: Darcy Merriweather is Salem, Massachusetts’ newest resident Wishcrafter—a witch who can grant wishes for others. While Darcy isn’t able to grant wishes for herself, she does possess a certain knack for solving problems—including the occasional murder…

When Darcy is hired by Elodie Keaton to clean up her missing mother’s disorderly home, the Wishcrafter is certainly up for the task. After all, the motto of her Aunt Ve’s personal concierge service As You Wish is “No Job Impossible.” But beneath the piles of old newspapers and knickknacks Darcy discovers something much more disturbing—Patrice Keaton’s body.

Darcy’s determined to give Elodie peace of mind by investigating her mother’s disappearance and death. Patrice was last seen over a year ago after a fight with her Charmcrafter boyfriend. Was her murder a crime of passion? Or were Patrice’s troubles caused by the Anicula, a wish-granting amulet? Now Darcy has to not only find a killer, she has to find the Anicula— before the power of ultimate wish fulfillment falls into the wrong hands…

The Good: I absolutely love this series. The books are light, fun and utterly magical. The mystery was really interesting - a missing hoarder, found dead under a pile of her junk. presumably killed for a magical amulet. With the world building out of the way, this book focused a lot more on the people and I really loved seeing a more in depth look at the town, its residents and their abilities. Darcy is a very likable character, who you naturally root for. Unlike too many other cozy mysteries heroines, she has a real reason to be involved in the investigations, making it that much easier to be sucked into the story instead of constantly wondering why anyone even talks to her.

The Bad: Aunt Ve's illness didn't work for me. It was transparent and irked me every time it came up in the story. It was a not particularly important subplot that I would have rather not been included in the story. As complaints go, it's extremely minor but it was the only thing that kept the book from being perfect.

Deceptions by Kelley Armstrong

Deceptions by Kelley Armstrong

2015, Dutton

Series: Book 3 of Cainsville

Website / Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads / Amazon

Rating

Synopsis: Olivia Taylor Jones's life has exploded. She's discovered she is not only adopted, but her real parents are convicted serial killers. Fleeing the media frenzy, she took refuge in the oddly secluded town of Cainsville. She has since solved the town's mysteries and finds herself not only the target of its secretive elders but also her stalker ex-fiancé.

Visions continue to haunt her: particularly a little blond girl in a green sundress who insists she has an important message for Olivia, one that may help her balance the light and darkness within herself. Death stalks both Olivia and the two men most important to her, as she desperately searches to understand whether ancient scripts are dictating the triangle that connects them. Will darkness prevail, or does Olivia have the power to prevent a tragic fate?

The Good: I love how this series slowly unfolds the whole paranormal side of things. As the third book, the faerie stuff is coming into the forefront. We still get a ton of answers regarding the ongoing mystery of Olivia's parents crimes, but we also get a lot of the why and how of the town of Cainsville itself. There is a love triangle building up steam, but it's weird. Olivia is sort of stuck between Ricky and Gabriel, but Gabriel has more issues than any character in any book EVER, so romance isn't a possibility for him. The love triangle thing is a predestined deal of sorts, so it's going to play out regardless of its realistic possibilities, which will likely lead to some very interesting events in the future.

The Bad: Not a thing.

Naked in Death by J.D. Robb

 Naked in Death by J.D. Robb

1995, Putnam

Series: Book 1 of In Death

Website / Facebook / Goodreads / Amazon

Rating

Synopsis: It is the year 2058, and technology now completely rules the world. But New York City Detective Eve Dallas knows that the irresistible impulses of the human heart are still ruled by just one thing: passion.

When a senator's daughter is killed, the secret life of prostitution she'd been leading is revealed. The high-profile case takes Lieutenant Eve Dallas into the rarefied circles of Washington politics and society. Further complicating matters is Eve's growing attraction to Roarke, who is one of the wealthiest and most influential men on the planet, devilishly handsome... and the leading suspect in the investigation.

The Good: I'm not a fan of Nora Robert's romance novels, so I dragged my heels in getting around to read her pseudonymous In Death science fiction series. I should not have done that and now have over 40 books I'm excited to catch up on. The mystery is really fantastic and edgy - doing well to illustrate the world Robb is building here. Roarke is a fascinating character, much of his life and history is hidden and rumored, making me want to know it all the more.

The Bad: Eve is strong and smart. She's also super annoying when it comes to men. Her budding relation with Roarke is the basis of half the series so I can see why the author would push the issue, but her choices in relation to him are career suicide. Her risk taking based on lust makes her character hard to root for.

The Venom Business by Michael Crichton

The Venom Business by Michael Crichton

2013, Hard Case Crime

Goodreads / Amazon

Rating

Synopsis: As an expert handler of venomous snakes - and a smuggler of rare artifacts - Charles Raynaud is accustomed to danger. So the job bodyguarding an old acquaintance about to come into a fortune shouldn't make him break a sweat.

But when the attempts on the man's life nearly get Raynaud killed, he's left wondering: is he the killers' real target...?

The Good: I love a mystery that keeps me baffled all the way through and The Venom Business did just that. The real trick here is Lange/Crichton kept me entertained even while I was utterly confused. Hard boiled, noir-ish novels aren't my thing at all, but I just couldn't help wanting to know what was going on and who was really pulling the strings here. Things were wrapped up tightly on each other, each revelations giving just enough to suck me in further.

The Bad: There were so many unlikeable characters in this book. Albeit purposely unlikeable, but still just a struggle to even read without wondering why someone hadn't just killed the entire lot of them yet.

10th Anniversary by James Patterson

10th Anniversary by James Patterson

2011, Century

Series: Book 10 of Women's Murder Club

Website / Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads / Amazon

Rating

Synopsis: Detective Lindsay Boxer's long-awaited wedding celebration becomes a distant memory when she is called to investigate a horrendous crime: a badly injured teenage girl is left for dead, and her newborn baby is nowhere to be found. Lindsay discovers that not only is there no trace of the criminals - but that the victim may be keeping secrets.

At the same time, Assistant District Attorney Yuki Castellano is prosecuting the biggest case of her life - a woman who has been accused of murdering her husband in front of her two young children. Yuki's career rests on a guilty verdict, so when Lindsay finds evidence that could save the defendant, she is forced to choose. Should she trust her best friend or follow her instinct?

Lindsay's every move is watched by her new boss, Lieutenant Jackson Brady, and when the pressure to find the baby starts interfering with her new marriage to Joe, she wonders if she'll ever be able to start a family of her own.

The Good: Great interwoven mysteries I didn't see coming. Yuki is getting more interesting and it's about time. Maybe she just needed some male interaction. I especially loved Lindsay in this book, and her having to come to terms with being part of a married couple as opposed to just an individual who only consider herself.

The Bad: I would have loved to have seen a ton about Lindsay's wedding, since we've been leading up to it since almost the start of the series. It was glossed over so completely I thought I may have missed a book between the last one and this one. Also, in certain instances, main characters should die. Patterson has done it earlier in the series, so it's confusing as to why he's letting everyone live pretty much happily ever after.

Nick and Tesla's Secret Agent Gadget Battle by Bob Pflugfelder

Nick and Tesla's Secret Agent Gadget Battle by Bob Pflugfelder

2014, Quirk Books

Series: Book 3 of Nick and Tesla

Website / Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads / Amazon

Rating

Synopsis: In this third installment of the series, 11-year-old whiz-kids Nick and Tesla discover that someone in the quiet town of Half Moon Bay has placed their beloved Uncle Newt under electronic surveillance—but who is spying on him, and why? To expose the secret agent, Nick and Tesla build all kinds of outrageous contraptions. Throughout the book, the narrative is interrupted by blueprints and instructions so that budding young inventors can follow along. Science and electronics have never been so much fun!

The Good: This is definitely the best book in the series so far. The kids are being spied on and they have to find out who it is that they can't trust. The book was full of fun and educational science/spy gadgets kids and build themselves. The mystery a lot more entertaining in this book than some of the others, perhaps because it hit so close to home for the characters.

The Bad: The writing still isn't perfect or easy to get through but the story definitely makes up for it in this instance.

Alibis and Amethysts by Sharon Pape

Alibis and Amethysts by Sharon Pape

2013, InterMix

Series: Book 1 of Crystal Shop Mystery

Website / Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads / Amazon

Rating

Synopsis: Jaye Saylor is living her dream as the proud owner of Crystal Clear, a crystal and gemstone shop in the Red Rock area of Sedona, Arizona—a Mecca for tourists and new-age enthusiasts. And since tourists need sweets, Jaye gets to share her dream with her best friend, Sierra, who owns Cravings, a new local bakery.

But when the two friends discover the stone-cold body of a rival baker in Sierra’s backyard, that dream turns into a petrifying nightmare. With the police eager to pin the murder on the two women, Jaye and Sierra are forced to investigate on their own. Sedona is known as a place of powerful psychic energy, and the friends will have to contend with some unexpected forces to catch a hardened killer and make their innocence crystal clear...

The Good: I loved Jaye's shop. Her expertise in geology. The Native American culture woven into the story. The mystery was unexpected until right before the resolution was revealed. Definitely a cute, cozy mystery.

The Bad: Jaye is oblivious to romantic interest. The not-a-cat (what is that all about?). Most of the "interviews" Jaye did with potential suspects left me wondering why they would talk to her at all. More than anything, the story just dragged a bit. It didn't suck me in and I could have put it down at any time for a long while without jonesing to get back to it.

The Colorado Kid by Stephen King

The Colorado Kid by Stephen King

2005, Hard Case Crime

Website / Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads / Amazon

Rating

Synopsis: Vince Teague and Dave Bowie are the sole operators of The Weekly Islander, a small Maine newspaper.  Stephanie McCann has been working for them as an intern.   When Stephanie asks if they've ever come across a real unexplained mystery in the fifty years they'd been publishing the paper, they tell her the story of The Colorado Kid.

The Good: Written by Stephen King, so you do get a enthralling story. The basis of the TV show Haven, so you do get to see where that world originated.

The Bad: Yeah, I read this because I love Stephen King and I love the show Haven. Two major problems. This show is very, very, very loosely based on this book. Like almost nothing is the same. Second, there is no ending. I don't consider this a spoiler, because there is absolutely nothing to spoil. This is a mystery that does not have a resolution. You get the whole background of the Colorado Kid case, yet you get absolutely no clue whatsoever how or why he died. No idea as to killer. No satisfaction at all.

Nick and Tesla's Robot Army Rampage by Bob Pflugfelder

Nick and Tesla's Robot Army Rampage by Bob Pflugfelder

2014, Quirk Books

Series: Book 2 of Nick and Tesla

Website / Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads / Amazon

Rating

Synopsis: When a rash of robberies hits the town of Half Moon Bay, 11-year-old sleuths Nick and Tesla are determined to catch the criminals—but to do so, they'll have to build a host of new gadgets and gizmos!

In this robot-themed follow-up to Nick and Tesla's High-Voltage Danger Lab, the brother-and-sister duo build four different droids out of ordinary household objects—and illustrated instructions are included throughout the story, so you can build them, too! Make bristlebots that buzz, hoverbots that float above the ground, battlebots that duke it out, and more!

Can Nick and Tesla catch the criminal mastermind—and foil his army of rampaging robots—before it's too late?

The Good: This book had a really fun mystery and lots of great robots kids can make. The instructions and diagrams are easy to follow. Nick and Tesla's escapades in Half Moon Bay continue to entertain. And things are just starting to heat up in the overall mystery of Nick and Tesla's parents.

The Bad: The wording in this book is a lot like the last one. While the vocabulary is basic enough, the phrasing is off. If it is noticeable to me, it will be frustrating to beginner readers who are getting the words right, but not quite understanding the concepts being discussed.

Nick and Tesla's High Voltage Danger Lab by Bob Pflugfelder

Nick and Tesla's High Voltage Danger Lab by Bob Pflugfelder

2013, Quirk Books

Series: Book 1 of Nick and Tesla

Website / Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads / Amazon

Rating

Synopsis: Nick and Tesla are bright 11-year-old siblings with a knack for science, electronics, and getting into trouble. When their parents mysteriously vanish, they’re sent to live with their Uncle Newt, a brilliant inventor who engineers top-secret gadgets for a classified government agency. It’s not long before Nick and Tesla are embarking on adventures of their own—engineering all kinds of outrageous MacGyverish contraptions to save their skin: 9-volt burglar alarms, electromagnets, mobile tracking devices, and more. Readers are invited to join in the fun as each story contains instructions and blueprints for five different projects.

The Good: This book is such a cool endeavor. The kids are smart, make awesome things and save the day. I loved how this book made science fun. I also loved the experiments and how they included instructions with pictures for readers to be able to try them out on their own. And there was a cliffhanger that definitely enticed me to get right into reading the next book.

The Bad: The actual writing isn't all that great. The sentences were clunky. There was no flow to them at all, so that I had to go back and reread sections a few times to understand what was really going on. I can't even imagine how frustrating that would be for a young reader attempting to read this book given how annoying it was for me.