The Couple Next Door

I grabbed The Couple Next Door from a a second hand store while browsing one day. Since I was without my tablet I was looking for something entertaining but not a heavy read.

After attending a dinner party at the next door neighbors Anne and Marco come home to discover their six month old daughter, Cora, is gone. Horrified that they left their baby while at the duplex next door the couple calls the police and a whirlwind of an investigation begins. With almost no leads and no suspects the police have their work cut out for them.

The mother, Anne, is clearly distraught and so out of it that it is hard to see her as a grieving mother. Instead of being proactive in finding Cora Anne prefers to sit around tearing herself up for leaving Cora alone while at the dinner party.

Marco is the calmer of the two parents and far more proactive in trying to find out what happened to Cora and where she is. It does start to feel like Marco goes in circles and runs into more problems then solutions as he searches for Cora.

I love how the story started off with a bang and really caught my attention right away. A couple parts were on the slower side but I never got to a point where I did not want to stop reading the story. The only reason I did not give five stars is that I was not overly fond of the ending. It was too open and feels like it could have set up for another story despite the story clearly being done.

Countdown to Danger: Alive After New Year\New Year's Target

Countdown to Danger is two novellas in one book format.

The first story Alive After New Year is the longer of the two and was my least favorite of the two stories. Parts drug and yet it was short so I feel like certain parts should have been kept to a minimum to make more way for the actual mystery.

New Year's Target was short but to the point for the most part. An actual mystery with different possibilities happened.

It is really hard to say anything about either story since I do not want to ruin the mystery and both stories were right around a hundred pages.

The Gaint's House

I got The Giant's House out of a free little library and high hopes for it. Sadly I was disappointed. I really fail to see how this can be classified as a romance.

Despite the story being about James and the fact he does not stop growing nothing is told from James point of view. The whole story is told from the local librarians point of  view who has an odd take on how James faces the world. It is just so hard to write about a book that did not feel like it was a full story more like random thoughts from Peggy and later on how her odd friendship with James gave her purpose.

Honestly if I had something else to have read at the time I would have read it.

Spook's Dark Assassin

The Spook's Dark Assassin is the final book in the Starblade Chronicles. I sort of regret reading the trilogy since it did not have the magic The Last Apprentice had.

Tom is doing his best to keep fighting the advancing threat of Kobalos who want to destroy all human males and enslave all human females. The story jumps around a lot between Tom, Alice, and Grimaklin. I got pretty bored fairly quickly since the story would get good and jump to someone else it left me frustrated and wanting answers for what was going on. The ending was a bit odd and did not really fit the story well. I just overall was not impressed with the trilogy beyond A New Darkness. I am not sure if I will read anymore of Delaney's work or not. 

Death By Digeridoo

I received a copy of Death by Didgeridoo from Mrs. Venkataraman in exchange for an honest review. Death by Didgeridoo is a delightful debut cozy mystery and I instantly fell in love with Jamie. Despite having lost her mother recently Jamie was not willing to sit down and forget to live, instead surrounding herself with her sister and nephew has helped her overcome her grief. However all that changes when Adam, Jamie's nephew, is accused of murder. One of my absolute favorite things about Jamie is that she is an attorney so it makes sense for her to get involved in murder investigations. I do hope to get to see more of Jamie's personalty and development as the series continues. While I did see a couple typos and grammar issues it did not deter from the interest I had in the story. The plot line was clear and the mystery made sense. Nothing went in circles which is a problem I often encounter with cozy mysteries. Nor where any of the characters cookie cutter in any way, each held their own and were unique to the story. I also love the title it is fun and has a nice ring to it.

Haunted is Always in Fashion

Haunted is Always in Fashion is the fourth book in the Haunt Vintage Mystery Series.

Once again a ghost has attached herself to Cookie Channel. While on her way to meet with a young woman who is writing about vintage clothing Cookie sees the police surrounding a car. Shockingly the woman, Juliana, has been shot and wants her murder solved. Urged on by the ever faithful Charlotte Cookie once again finds herself in over her head as she attempts to catch a dangerous murderer.

I was pleasantly surprised at how much Rose Pressey's writing has evolved it reads far smoother and the mystery fit together better then previous ones.  It is always entertaining to have Cookie explain why she is talking to herself since no one else can see the ghosts around her. The teaser for If the Haunting Fits, Wear It has me wanting to continue on with the series.

Explosive Alliance

Explosive Alliance was passed to me by a friend who said it was alright. Normally I like the Love Inspired Suspense stories since they are a fast read with a fun mystery. Sadly this was the weakest of the few I have read over the years.

Krista just wants to forget everything bad that happened and having spend four years away from her beloved Opa who is fighting cancer. Hoping changing her name will be enough Krista decides to return home. While at a sporting event with her Opa Krista notices that a man in a hoodie leaves behind a backpack. Fear fills her when she finds a bomb inside. With the bomber knowing who Krista is she has to look over her shoulder constantly to make sure she will not be the next victim.

The story was just okay, I was able to put the book down which has not happened with others in this genre before. I did not figure out the mystery but I also feel like no evidence was really given to let you figure out the mystery which was a let down. It is a fast read though and kept me occupied for a couple hours.