Myrtle closes another case!
938821
I love the dynamic duo of Myrtle and Miles.  Miles is the reluctant partner who is always there to help Myrtle solve the case. Even the unwanted squash helps bring in the murderer! Read and enjoy!
1817680
In the latest--and likely last--of his Priscilla Hutchins adventures, author Jack McDevitt wraps up the series-long mystery of the Omega Clouds.  We first encountered them in&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/The-Engines-of-God/dp/0441002846/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">The Engines of God</a>&nbsp;and were tantalized with not-quite-enough more information in&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Omega/dp/0441012108/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Omega</a>.  They emanate from the center of the galaxy and abhor and annihilate artifacts built by intelligent beings and anyone standing next to them.  Hutch bludgeons reluctant funding sources into refitting a ship with a new drive that places the center of the galaxy within reach.  After assembling a crew of familiar faces from previous books in the series, she sets out to solve the mystery once and for all.

She does, unfortunately.  After a three-book build-up, we see the little man behind the curtain--and mourn the shadowy wizard who once impressed and terrified us.  There is nothing left but to return home and pick up our lives.  Long-term McDevitt fans should read this book for the closure it provides and for one more journey with familiar and beloved characters.  That experience is worth the price of admission and time spent.  But this series might have ended better, with more of a bang than a whimper.
4597874
My wife and I loved this show but with the cancellation of Cedar Cove by Hallmark the ending leaves one high and dry. At the least Hallmark needs to do one last episode to tie up all the loose ends of which there are many. Come on Hallmark, this is no way to end a series.
1099588
I enjoyed this book. I, being older, especially enjoy the Myrtle Clover books.  I worked in the criminal justice system for years, I feel at home in Myrtle's mysteries. I like that they are clean light reading. Elizabeth Spann Craig does a delightful job of writing/entertaining. I recommend her books.
3345451
This was a great way to end the series but now we need a Gallowglass book. Please!!
3115001
I was shocked when the Inspector Lynley mysteries on PBS were so abruptly ended--especially with Ms. George still alive & writing.  Having read this book, it made me wonder if they had a look at her rough drafts of the last two or three books and knew how poorly they would be received.

It takes a lot to alienate readers who have been with the author from book 1, but this book is the final nail in the coffin.  Long.  Tedious.  A hateful new character who is supposed to be both Lynley's new love interest AND a contender for Superintendent at Scotland Yard.  Sure--I'm sure Scotland Yard would never notice that a candidate was a raving alcoholic who alienated her entire team within days, lied repeatedly, and whose incompetence caused accidents and deaths.  Yeah--I'm sure they overlook such things.  And of course it's easy to see why someone would be immediately attracted to such a person--alcoholism being so sexy.

I've enjoyed the series in the past, but life is way too short to read any of Elizabeth George's future books.
4544467
Christy Barritt does it again. With her latest edition to her Worst Detective Ever mystery series Safety in Blunders, Barritt created a mystery with a high end mermaid's tale with drops of bloods. Again, I am returned to the life and going ons of Joey Darling as she struggles with her depleting bank account and deciding whether she wants to return to her famous life or stay in the shadows in small town USA. Like a cozy mystery, Barritt understands the conventions and requirements to make a mystery work. She allowed Joey to chase every single lead and question people. Even allowing Joey to submit herself as a victim. Anything to help solve the case of the missing girl. The mystery moved at a nice pace, and I enjoyed spending a couple more hours with Joey as she tried to solve this mystery. As for the romance, if you had read the first two, you know that Joey might be interested in her neighbor, Zane, and the hot detective, Jackson, who is angry with her as much as she claims to be not interested in him. Sparks finally come to rest o the one that Joey wants in the last chapter, begging me to return to the fourth book. I highly recommend Safety in Blunders to fans of Barritt's other works or who enjoys a good mystery that isn't gory.

I received a complimentary copy of Safety in Blunders from Christy Barritt, but the opinions stated are all my own.
1305591
Wow!  What a way to end this series! Tony finally saw the light, Claire came back to herself with the help of her friend dispute her sister's  intentions, that I thought to be based on hatefulness, but in the end, I think she meant well. Thank goodness  Meredith took the chance to help Claire.  Catherine turned out to be the real nut case. Roach, and Phil  are life long friends, there's a new home, another child for a couple of the families. So at the end of the day, brilliant Aletha Romig, brilliant!
3449400
**Minor Spoilers Ahead**

Jill Gardner, owner of  Coffee, Books and More, and business community liaison to the city council, isn't happy about her boyfriend Greg's ex-wife Sherry moving to South Cove and opening a store, Vintage Duds.  She's less than happy that Sherry insists on hosting the next meeting at her shop; irritated that Sherry has a much larger turnout of business owners than Jill herself ever has; and downright confused why Greg King, sheriff of South Cove, would be attending the meeting at all, a meeting that didn't end well.

Since then, Jill has been recruited, along with a reluctant Greg, to participate in a murder mystery at the winery for charity.  When the curtain opens, there is a dead body on the stage - that of local banker Kent Paine, who also happens to be Greg's ex-wife Sherry's new boyfriend.  Since Sherry was apparently the last person to see Kent, she is the obvious main suspect in his death.

Jill is later surprised when Sherry's best friend Pat appears on her doorstep and asks her to prove Sherry innocent.  In return, Pat tells Jill that she will get Sherry to back off and leave Greg alone.  Jill insists that she has nothing to do with the investigation, but Pat tells her she knows Greg will listen to her, and Jill, who has a curious nature at heart, while noncommittal to Pat, knows deep down she is going to try and find the killer on her own.

And here we have the start of another one of Ms. Cahoon's wonderful tales.  This latest installment in the Tourist Trap mysteries does not let us down.  We dislike Sherry as much as Jill (and isn't that what books are supposed to do?  Involve us in the characters?) and would probably enjoy watching her trip on her "hooker heels" and breaking a leg - but no such thing comes to pass.  Instead, we are treated to another installment of Jill doing her best to stay out of Sherry's line of sight, pass along clues to Greg as she finds them, and convince him that she's not trying to solve the murder on her own.

Along the way, Jill is doing her best to try and keep her aunt out of jail; deal with Josh Thomas, antique store owner/thorn in her side who thinks there's too much litter and has been going around photographing it; marvel at the hypnotic power her part-time barista/police officer Toby has with women; and wonder if Esmeralda, her neighbor and police dispatcher, is truly able to tell fortunes or just very, very good at reading people.

It is a delightful journey for readers, lovers of cozy mysteries, who can really settle down with a nice cup of coffee (or tea) and dive right in.  Do so - you won't be disappointed.  Highly recommended and I look forward to the next in the series.
2171649
What a disappointment this was!  I was getting tired of Melrose Plant and his bunch, and Richard Jury is wearing a little thin, but I really liked Jemma and Ben.  What wonderful characters.  I wanted to hear more about them and see some satisfying conclusion.
The ending was just plain terrible, but I recognize the style; it's called the "1000 word short story syndrome."  When students are assigned a paper with a certain number of pages or words, they often make a good start, but as soon as they have enough words or pages, they wrap it all up in about two sentences and hand it in.  Shame on you Martha Grimes; if you don't want to write any more, change professions, but don't leave rich characters like Gemma and Ben in limbo.
2566562
Two weeks since the old lady was murdered in her apartment. In her locked and chained from the inside apartment. No solutions. No clues. Not even an idea of how the killer managed his "perfect" crime.  Lana is rethinking her career options...again.
1002563
I bought this case, said that it would shut down when I closed the case.  It does not.  I sent a reply and they said, yes it shuts down when you close it.  I sent back a reply telling them mine did not.  They never replied back.  The case is fine but doesn't do what they said it would!
1669678
This series needs to end - god I loved this series when I started - and I started late too! I think when I started reading there were already 12 or so out - but now it's just getting silly..
I don't buy them anymore - I'm waiting until I read a review that says "ITS FINISHED" - then I'll consider picking them up again.
Please understand, I'm not complaining about the price or the fact the stories seem shorter each time - my whinge is this is just going TOO LONG!! Please finish Ms Ward - for all of our sakes....
1807709
Stephanie needs to make a choice between the 2 men in her life.  The last 3 books in this series have just been repeats of each other and I think Janet needs to close this series.  Janet I love your writing but Stephanie needs to wrap it up, marry Joe and have her own life.
1541252
This game is WAAAY too short. They took alot out from the last 2 and IMO it just wasn't as fun. They really should have had 2 cases going on at once with some link to each other in the end if they were planning on making it shorter than the other 2.

Mine came with a free copy of Dead on the Money... I wonder if they did that to apologize in advance...
3654135
At the end of the previous Simon Serrailler novel, THE RISK OF DARKNESS; one of the major story lines was left unresolved. The child abduction/murder case which was begun in book 2 (THE PURE IN HEART) continued on in book 3 and we started to gain some insight into the murderer's motives. In addition, another story line relating to this case was started. We were introduced to the murderer's mother and a significant amount of time was spent on her life & reaction to her child being arrested for murder. (Please excuse all the pronouns; I'm trying to give nothing away by using names:) So now we come to book 4, THE VOWS OF SILENCE. I expected to have the abduction/murder story line wrapped up, motives known, killer tried & sentenced, mother's life sorted out. Boy was I wrong. This 2 novel story arc was just dropped! We know nothing! There was 1 mention in the entire book about the previous case. This was very irritating. The new crime story line was good and at least we know why the bad guy was killing but it just bugs me that I'm left hanging on the other story line.

The second problem I have is the overall ominous tone of these stories. Maybe if I hadn't read them 1 after the other they wouldn't seem so grim but I'm now wondering if I want to go on with this series. By my count, there is a suicide in 3 of the novels, major characters are killed off regularly, and someone in Simon Serrailler's family dies in books 2, 3, & 4! What is up with that?
1147695
The Case of the Irate Witness & Deadly Toy, Erle Stanley Gardner

"The Irate Witness" [1972] is the only Perry Mason short story. Reading this story you realize that Gardner has eliminated much of the descriptive prose in his usual stories. Jebson City is a company town with no small businesses. The company's obsolete safe was broken into and the payroll stolen. Harvey L. Corbin has a record and was told to leave this company town. Corbin gave money to his wife that was said to be part of the loot. How could Corbin have bills whose serial numbers are on the list of newly delivered funds? Perry figures it out and subpoenas an irascible old timer. This explains the care needed for circumstantial evidence. Planting evidence on a suspect can hide the real criminal.

"The Case of the Deadly Toy" [1959] starts when Mervin Selkirk slapped his seven-year old son Robert. Norda Allison sees his sadistic streak behind his mask of smiling politeness and affability, and broke their engagement. Later Mervin punched Norda's boyfriend Nate Benedict in a restaurant. It was self-defense, his friends backed his story. Norda got anonymous letters about suitors who killed former fiancees. Mervin's first wife told of his ruthless and clever behavior, and the power of his family. Lorraine arranged for a meeting. The Jennings have an excuse for Robert's absence. Something happened during the night. Norda packed and left then visited Perry Mason. The investigation does not meet Norda's claims. But a gun was found in her bed. The police take her in for questioning. Mervin Selkirk was found shot dead in his car at the Country Club. Perry is visited by Nate Benedict, he has a permit to carry the gun he brought on his flight from San Francisco. He owns a gun like the murder weapon.

Perry meets Horace Selkirk, a very unscrupulous and powerful man. Perry meets the young woman placed in charge of Robert to tell about the law and her actions. Perry's cross-examination of Sgt. Holcomb raised questions about the prosecution's theory. Other facts clarify the question of guilt. But a new fact connects Norda to the dead body! There is a new development that could free Perry's client. A shocking surprise shakes Horace Selkirk. Hamilton Burger brings in his surprise witness. Perry's cross-examination of Millicent Bailey neutralizes her testimony. Barton Jennings appears as a witness and tells what he knows. Perry's cross-examines a witness to contradict the previous testimony. Another witness is recalled to bring out a material fact. Norda is released from custody. The last chapter resolves the outstanding questions and explains the unknown events. [Gardner described the corrupt and powerful people who run society.] Note how people like Nate carried guns when they traveled by air! You can't do that today.