Book Review: Oracle by Julie J. Anderson

Oracle
by
Julie J. Anderson

Title: Oracle by Julie J. Anderson

Rating: 4 stars (🌟🌟🌟🌟)

Publisher: Claret Press

 Cassandra "Cassie" Fortune is only a few weeks removed from her traumatic experiences that took place in Plague. She's dispatched by the Prime Minister to a conference in Delphi to give a presentation on tax policy but most importantly to secure a connection with a high-level official on the PM's behalf. That would be stressful enough but Cassie has some additional challenges, her stalker may be closing in and there's the murder she's roped into investigating as well.

Book Review: The Kensington Kidnap by Katie Gayle

 

The Kensington Kidnap
by
Katie Gayle

Title: The Kensington Kidnap by Katie Gayle

Rating: 4 stars (🌟🌟🌟🌟)

Publisher: Bookouture

This was a fun cozy mystery that kept me reading past midnight.

Book Review: Nemesis Games (The Expanse #5) by James S.A. Corey

Title: Nemesis Games (The Expanse #5) by James S.A. Corey

Rating: 4 stars (🌟🌟🌟🌟)

Publisher: Orbit

 This was what I enjoy about The Expanse! After a bit of a disappointment in reading Cibola Burn, I was a little reticent to jump right into another. My husband decided he wanted to get back to watching the show so I figured I'd read the book for the season before we did.

Book Review: Shiver by Allie Reynolds

 

Title: Shiver by Allie Reynolds

Rating: 4 stars (🌟🌟🌟🌟)

Publisher: G.P. Putnam & Sons

This was the perfect read for a snowy weekend (especially when the Superbowl is... not as good or competitive a game as you had anticipated). This totally saved my Sunday night with a taut conclusion.

Book Review: Midnight at Malabar House by Vaseem Khan

Title: Midnight at Malabar House by Vaseem Khan

Rating: 4 stars (🌟🌟🌟🌟)

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

This was a very enjoyable historical mystery/police procedural. Set in the first days of 1950 with the consequences of Partition still churning, Persis, the first woman police officer in her country is tasked with a complicated and politically sensitive murder investigation. Her being the first woman is a major theme here and she's inundated with obstacles along the way but of course, she persists. Her colleagues, all male, were an interesting bunch and had surprises to the very end. I liked Persis and also the insight into her personal relationships with her family. She was determined and cared to find the truth, not just any answer served up to her for expedience. I adored the family bookstore her father maintained and her deep love for him. Even her Aunt Nussie was a good character with her overbearing ways.

Book Review: Death on the Cherwell by Mavis Doriel Hay

Death on the Cherwell
by
Mavis Doriel Hay

 Title: Death on the Cherwell by Mavis Doriel Hay

 Rating: 3 stars (🌟🌟🌟)

 Publisher: British Library Crime Classics

The body of Miss Denning, the bursar of Persephone College has been found dead in her canoe floating down a river and this sets off an inquiry into how that happened. She has a head injury and her clothes are wet, though the interior of the canoe is dry. It's sussed quickly that there's friction between her and the students of the college and also two nearby landowners as she was tasked with the acquisition of a tract of land to expand the college. The question of course is if that was what really led to her death.

Book Review: Cibola Burn (The Expanse #4) by James S.A. Corey

Cibola Burn (The Expanse #4)
by
James S.A. Corey

  Title: Cibola Burn (The Expanse #4) by James S.A. Corey

  Rating: 3 stars (🌟🌟🌟)

  Publisher: Orbit

I fell off on my Expanse reading but I feel like this is a bit of a detour in the series and it's one I could have skipped. I had been excited to see what the first adventure after the Ring gate opened would be so I was primed to love this. Alas, I didn't.