May reading

I got a bit behind on my book reviews last month, so I'm going to just do a series of mini-reviews.

A Date You Can't Refuse by Harley Jane Kozak.
In Kozak's latest Wollie Shelley book, Wollie gets a job as an undercover FBI agent at a media training company called MediasRex (isn't that a great name?). Wollie gets into some hilarious an outrageous situations, but Kozak makes that completely believable.

Killer Keepsakes by Jane K. Cleland.
Josie Prescott's assistant Gretchen fails to appear for work two days in a row, which is completely out of character, so Josie and the rest of her staff are alarmed. Josie goes over to check Gretchen's apartment and finds the bloody (dead) body of a man she's never seen before. The only unusual thing about him is his antique belt buckle, so Josie begins her investigation there. This is Clelands fourth Josie Prescott Antiques mystery, and I'm beginning to like Josie more and more.

Wormwood and Dead and Gone were reviewed in my post of May 18th.

The Language of Bees by Laurie R. King.
Mary Russell and her husband Sherlock Holmes have returned home after several months abroad, to find that an entire colony of Holmes' bees have disappeared. Then they are visited by a young man from Holmes' past who wants them to find his wife and daughter. At first Russell is upset that Holmes disappears without a word, but then she decides to aid his investigation the best way she can, which involves a considerable amount of risk for both of them.

My review of The Kitchen Linens Book is in the previous blog post, dated May 30th.

Quick Study by Maggie Barbieri.
While doing community service at a soup kitchen, English professor Alison Bergeron befriends Ecuadorean immigrant Hernan Escalante and his family. In an effort to be helpful, she hires Hernan and his nephew to paint her living room, but Jose disappears the next day. Between fending off her ex, who happens to be the marketing director for her favourite hockey team, the New York Rangers, and trying not to upset her current significant other, NYPD detective Bobby Crawford, Alison keeps herself quite busy! I loved the hockey thread in this book.

What Would Jane Austen Do by Laurie Brown.
Yes, this looks like a bodice-ripper, but I try not to judge books by their covers. Surprise, surprise, it is a bodice-ripper, though an unexpectedly well-written and absorbing one. Eleanor Pottinger, a costume designer, is at a bed-and-breakfast not far from Chawton, for Regency week. Her reservation is misplaced and she's put into a normally unused suite purported to be haunted. She doesn't believe in ghosts, until they appear and send her back in time to prevent the duel that killed their brother. This was a fun twist on Austen!

Wow! I can't believe I read EIGHT books last month. No wonder I wasn't able to keep up with the reviewing.