Review: The Hunchback Assignments

The Hunchback Assignments
Arthur Slade
Narrated by Jayne Entwistle
Listening Library, 2009
ISBN 0739380206
Unabridged Audio Book
Modo is an abandoned child in Victorian London, a child with such a fearsome appearance that no one could possibly care for him.  Mr. Socrates, though, a mysterious gentleman of means,  takes Modo in and raises him in a somewhat aloof fashion but with [...]

March 6, 2010  Tags: , , , , ,   Posted in: My Reviews  No Comments

Catty News 2

Author Sandra Parshall, a long-time friend of Creatures ‘n Crooks, has a new book out (see Wendi Chapman’s review here: Broken Places ).  If you’ve never read Sandy’s books, you’ve cheated yourself; if you used to come in the store, you’ve really missed a special treat in Broken Places.
Sandy herself tells the tale in her [...]

March 1, 2010  Tags:   Posted in: Hamilton, Tales of a Bookseller  No Comments

Review: Margarita Nights

Margarita Nights
Phyllis Smallman
McArthur & Company
ISBN 1552786994
Trade Paperback
Some women just pick the wrong guy to fall in love with.  Sherri Travis is one.  She loves Jimmy Travis.  I’m not sure why.  He is a golf pro from a better social class than Sherri, and he tends to get into all kinds of trouble.  Money trouble.  Woman [...]

February 24, 2010  Tags:   Posted in: Full Reviews  No Comments

Teeny Reviews X 3

The Telltale Turtle
Joyce & Jim Lavene
Midnight Ink, 2008
ISBN 0738712264
Trade Paperback
Pet psychic Mary Catherine is a widow with panache and a successful radio show.  Then, one day, she hears the thoughts of an animal in distress and discovers a turtle with the body of his murdered owner.  Unfortunately, turtles don’t have a good grasp on communication [...]

February 22, 2010  Tags: , , , ,   Posted in: Teeny Reviews  No Comments

Review: Eggs Benedict Arnold

Eggs Benedict Arnold
Laura Childs
Berkley, 2009
ISBN 0425231550
Mass Market (ARC)
When I think of this book, I think first about Petra, Suzanne and Toni. These women joined their talents to create one fabulous eating, reading and knitting place of comfort where one can hang in peace. At least that was the plan.
Add to the mix Carmen, the neighborhood [...]

February 5, 2010  Tags: ,   Posted in: Full Reviews  No Comments

Review: Grave Secret

Grave Secret
Charlaine Harris
Berkley, 2009
ISBN 0425230155
Hardcover
Harper Connelly and Tolliver Lang are going back home to Texas to salve a rich rancher’s curiosity. Harper is to read Rich Joyce’s remains to tell his granddaughter how he really died. What she discovers is nothing the family actually wanted to know.
Someone Rich knew greeted him on the road and [...]

January 30, 2010  Tags: ,   Posted in: Full Reviews  No Comments

Review: Broken Places

Broken Places
Sandra Parshall
Poisoned Pen Press, February 2010
ISBN 1590586530
Hardcover (ARC)–Also Available in Trade Paperback
When I began this book, I thought that I had remembered that I had read both previous Dr. Rachel Goddard books. I was wrong and I believe it influenced my reading of this book. I will have to go back and read the [...]

January 29, 2010  Tags: ,   Posted in: Full Reviews  3 Comments

Review: A Trace of Smoke

A Trace of Smoke
Rebecca Cantrell
Forge, 2009
ISBN 0765320444
Hardcover
Trade Paperback to be released 1/19/10 by Forge
Few novels that I pick up hold my attention beyond the first several chapters.  What a pleasure to read A TRACE OF SMOKE by Rebecca Cantrell during the holiday hiatus.  Cantrell sets her historical suspense/mystery in Berlin on the eve of Germany’s [...]

January 18, 2010  Tags:   Posted in: Guest Reviews  No Comments

Review: The Good, the Bad, and the Uncanny

The Good, the Bad, and the Uncanny
Simon R. Green
Ace Books
ISBN 0441018165
Hardcover
According to sources as reliable as they get in the Nightside, Excalibur is coming back to town.  John Taylor is hot on the artifact’s trail because in the Nightside something that sounds good here is often lethal.
Meanwhile, the Undead Detective Larry Oblivion has hired John [...]

January 17, 2010  Tags: ,   Posted in: Full Reviews  No Comments

Review: The Red Door

The Red Door
Charles Todd
William Morrow & Company, January 2010
ISBN 0061726168
Hardcover
I absolutely loved The Red Door.  Charles Todd—a mother and son team hereafter referred to as “he”— is one of my favorite writers and this series never disappoints.  This series is interesting on many levels. The mysteries are always complex and satisfying. The historical setting supplies [...]

January 15, 2010  Tags:   Posted in: Full Reviews  No Comments