Jane Austen Ruined My Life

by Beth Pattillo

Looking for a fun, light but very good book for Valentine's reading. This one fits the bill. I've read several Jane Austen take-offs in the last year or two and this is by far the best. It rates higher than Austenland, The Jane Austen Book Club, and Jane and Cassandra. At least in my opinion. And I really liked two of those.

Emma has lost her husband to another woman and she has lost her college professorship for suposedly stealing the her teaching assitant writings. In hopes of gaining back her professional reputation she flies to England on a quest to find the missing letters of Jane Austen - she has a contact who wants to help her.

Mrs. Parrot claims to have over 500 unpublished letters that Austen's sister Cassandra was put in charge of destroying. Before Emma is permitted to see the letters she must complete several task to prove her worthiness. I had lots of questions about Mrs. Parrot and the tasks which let just enough mystery to keep me interested in how things would turn out.

There were several passages that hit a chord with me but I didn't mark them. I usually put several BookDarts on the first page so they are handy when I run across a neat quote, but I keept forgetting to get the BookDarts. I'm passing the book on to my 19-yr-old daughter. I think her age group all the way up to my age group will enjoy this book. It's MUCH better than those Twilight books that were making the rounds.

This book will be released on Feb 3. Great timing for Valentine's and a perfect book for that holiday.

Dead on Arrival

by Jeffery S. Savage

Most of us know Jeffery Savage as Scott Savage, the author of the fabulous fantasy Farworld: Water Keep. Whichever name he uses he tells a good story.

Dead on Arrival is one of two LDS mysteries written by Savage and featuring Shandra Covington. The setting is Salt Lake City, Utah - so if you are looking for a good Utah book for the states reading challenge, this one would qualify. Is there a state capitals reading challenge?

Shandra is a journalism. One day at work she is approached by an older gentleman claiming that he needs her help. His wife is trying to kill him. Only thing is his wife is dead and so is he. Of course, Shandra doesn't put much stock in what this old, and perhaps crazy, person has to say until she later witnesses him fall to his death from a hotel room.

Lots of questions about how the story is going to turn out. I was glued to it from start to finish. About the finish - the basic mystery is cleared up, but something happens that made me want to scream, "Where's the next book!" I just interrupted this post to email the author in hopes of encouraging him to write more mysteries in addition to his fantasy series. I don't want him to neglect his family in acheiving this, but maybe he could quit his day job?!

I highly recommend this one. It's published by Covenant books. If you are concerned about it being an LDS novel, don't be. There's only a minor mention of the church early on. I definitely wouldn't classify this novel as Christian literature. The great thing is there's no vulgarity. I appreciate that. A complex, well-written mystery with no crudeness - isn't that refreshing? Why do some authors feel it's so important to add that?

Absolute Fear

by Lisa Jackson

I haven't been doing very well with starting a series with the first book. This is the second time this month. Oh well, in some ways it's fun to learn about the characters and their relationships and then go back to the beginning and find out what led up to this stage.

Her last memory before being shot in the head is looking up from her slumped position on the floor and seeing her boyfriend aiming a gun right at her. Quite the beginning, don't you think?! Talk about Absolute Fear!

This Southern mystery/suspense was as tangled as any soap opera could ever hope to be. WOW! That doesn't sound like a good thing and maybe it was a bit much, but I still enjoyed it. The only thing I didn't like was the crassness. Lisa Jackson has a romance series that I don't think I'll bother with, but I can skip over it in this mystery series.

There are four previous books in this series. Book one is Hot Blooded.

The Red House Mystery

by A.A. Milne

My niece Julie told me about this adult mystery by Winnie-the-Pooh author. My interest was naturally peaked.

This cozy mystery was written in 1922 for Milne's father who loved mysteries. I wouldn't say it was a great work of fiction, but it was fun to read. The lead character has some of the same charm as Winnie-the-Pooh so I couldn't help but like him even though I was suspicious of him in a couple of places.

Anthony Gillingham stops by an English country estate to visit his old friend Bill and gets more than he bargained for. Bill is visiting is friend along with several others. (I think it's interesting how 'people of fortune' used to flit from one home to another in groups and stay for weeks.) That was what Bill was doing when Anthony stopped by to visit. As Anthony arrives he discovers the brother of Bill's host has just been murdered and the host is no where to be found. Anthony and Bill decide to become amateur sleuths and solve the murder. Each tiny shred of evidence leads to a multitude of questions in this unusual case.

This was a quick, fun read. I understand Milne has a few other adult novels, but I've been unable to locate them. Of course, I'll keep trying.

Hour Game

by David Baldacci

I discovered in the first couple of chapters that this book is part of a series, but I continued to read and I don't think it took anything away from the story not to have started with the first book. I did get online and mooched Split Second so I could get in on the beginning.

Former Secret Service agents Sean King and Michelle Maxwell have teamed up to form a investigative agency in a quiet community in central Virginia. They are called in to help investigate a series of murders, each one different but each a copy of an earlier famous serial murder.

This is just the type of book I love - a relatively intense whodunit. If I'm correct these are the other books in the series and in the correct order:
*Split Second
*Hour Game
*Simple Genius
*First Family

Where Are You Now?

by Mary Higgins Clark

I think I've read all of Clark's mysteries* so when I noticed her most recent one, I picked it up. It was good. I'd probably rate it 3.25 stars, if I still did ratings.

Carolyn's brother has been missing for years; the only contact she and her mother have with him is when he calls every year on Mother's Day. After Mac's last call, Carolyn decides she is going to search for him. Her actions put her life in danger and has the reader guessing about the people she comes in contact with and what motivates some of their actions.

*I looked on amazon.com and discovered Clark has another recent book I haven't read, I Heard That Song Before, and she has a new one coming out in April, Just Take My Heart.