Just finished reading...

Prime Time and Face Time by Hank Phillippi Ryan.

Hank Phillippi Ryan was kind enough to send me a signed copy of Face Time (the second book in the Charlotte McNally series), which meant that I had to purchase a copy of Prime Time and read it first.

I enjoyed the first book so much that I had to read the second immediately, which is why I'm writing a joint review.

Prime Time introduces us to Charlotte "Charlie" McNally, an award-winning investigative reporter for Boston's (fictitious) Channel 3 news. In her mid-forties, Charlie worries that she's too old to be on camera and expects to be replaced by the Latest Young Thing at any moment, and goes to the office early to try to come up with a big story.

However, when the LYT doesn't appear to read a morning newsbreak, Charlie is asked to fill in, and one of the stories she teases captures her attention. The story is about a man named Bradley Foreman who was killed an a car accident. Foreman worked for a company called Aztratech, which is what alerts Charlie, and she considers it good luck when she is required to interview Foreman's widow in place of the missing LYT.

The widow, Melanie Foreman, tells Charlie about an email that her late husband had supposedly sent the reporter before his death. Charlie's pretty sure she didn't receive it, but checks again when she gets back to her desk, and finds one that was sent anonymously but had to be from Foreman.

Digging into the questions raised by the email provides Charlie with the Big Story she's been looking for, and her investigation leads her to an attractive professor named Josh Gelston, who immediately invites her to one of his drama class productions. At first Charlie is smitten, but some incidents occur that her suspicious self thinks are curious, and she backs off, while still hoping that he is genuine.

In Face Time, Charlie and her producer Franklin have to deal with hot-shot new news director Susannah Smith-Bagley, who is pushing them to get a scoop for sweeps month. She's a little distracted because her mother is in hospital, her best friend just found out she's pregnant, and her boyfriend wants her to vacation with him and his 9-year-old daughter, but she's sure she can handle all that AND look into the story of a woman who may have been wrongly imprisoned for the murder of her husband 3 years earlier. The investigation is hampered by the fact that Dorinda Sweeney, the convicted woman, refuses to see or speak with Charlie. As a result, Charlie and Franklin are forced to conduct their research in a very roundabout way, which ends up putting both of them in jeopardy.

Both books are gripping reads and I stayed up reading until my eyes couldn't stay open a few nights in a row. I'm looking forward to the third book in the series, Air Time, which was released September 1st, and which I don't have yet. But that's okay, because I really need to catch up on my sleep.

Just finished reading...

A Veiled Deception and Larceny and Lace by Annette Blair.

I picked up A Veiled Deception, the first of the Vintage Magic mysteries, a few weeks ago and just decided to read it the other day. Just after I finished it, I happened to be at Borders with $5 in Borders Bucks, happened upon the sequel and picked it up.

In the first book, Madeira Cutler goes back to her (fictional) home town of Mystick Falls, Connecticut to help with her sister Sherry's wedding to Justin Vancortland. At a dinner party on her first evening home, Maddie finds an ex-girlfriend of Justin's strangled with Sherry's antique veil. Of course, Sherry is the prime suspect.

As Maddie rushes to find the real killer before the wedding, she discovers some interesting intuitive attributes she didn't know she had.

While Maddie, who works for a top New York fashion designer, is in Mystick Falls, she learns that a disused mortuary building is for sale,and decides it would be a perfect home for the vintage clothing store she's always dreamed of.

The second book begins as did the first: with Maddie's arrival in Mystic Falls. Now owner of the old morgue building, she's preparing to open her store. When she drops by on the way to her father's house, she interrupts an intruder, frightening him off, although he just returns later.

The plot of Larceny and Lace is a little convoluted and there seems to be an abundance of villains. But the characters are appealing and story is engaging, and I found myself rushing to learn the conclusion.

These books are a lot of fun, and the supernatural element isn't terribly sinister. I'm looking forward to Death by Diamonds, the next book in the series (excerpted at the end of Larceny, though no publication date is given).

It's Talk Like a Pirate Day ...

My pirate name is:

Mad Mary Cash

Every pirate is a little bit crazy. You, though, are more than just a little bit. You're musical, and you've got a certain style if not flair. You'll do just fine. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from piratequiz.com.
part of the fidius.org network

Just finished reading...

Eggs in Purgatory by Laura Childs.

This is the first book in the Cackleberry Club Mystery series by Laura Childs, who also writes the Tea Shop Mysteries and the Scrapbook Mysteries.

Suzanne and her best friends Toni and Petra are co-owners of The Cackleberry Club, a restaurant/teashop/bookstore/yarn shop that has become very popular in the burgeoning town of Kindred.

One morning her attorney, Bobby Waite brings over some papers for her to sign, and a little while later, is found in his truck outside the building, with a bullet in his chest.

Believing that the local sheriff is in over his head, Suzanne decides to investigate on her own, and ends up trying to clear her husband's name of fraud. Once again, Childs has created some wonderful characters. But the plot just requires too many coincidences and wild leaps of logic in order to reveal the killer's identity.

I haven't really noticed this in her other series, so hopefully it's an anomaly. I'm looking forward to getting to know the inhabitants of Kindred, and trying out some of the recipes from the Cackleberry Club.

Just finished hearing...

Julie and Julia by Julie Powell.

I had planned on seeing the movie before reading the book, but my hold on the e-audiobook came in pretty quickly. I really enjoyed listening to this book about an almost-30-year-old secretary living in Queens with her husband, feeling like her life is going nowhere.

Visiting her parents, she spots her mother's copy of Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cookikng and somehow comes up with the idea of cooking all 524 recipes in the book during the course of one year. Lunacy, yes, but then she decides to blog (a relatively new concept at the time) about her progress.

Lunacy indeed. Powell works full-time as a secretary, then comes home and cooks something from Childs' book, often not serving dinner until midnight. The blog is written in the morning before work.

For a spur-of-the-moment decision, Powell takes her task seriously, and although she comes close to giving up more than once, she just can't let herself or her "bleaders" (as she calls her blog audience) down.

Charming story and well read by the author, though her pronunciation of French leaves something to be desired.

Just finished reading...

The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny.

This is the third book of the Inspector Gamache/Three Pines mystery series. In this installment, with a psychic staying at the bed and breakfast, some of the residents of Three Pines decide to hold a seance -- at the spooky old Hadley house. When one of the participants appears to have been frightened to death, Inspector Gamache and his team are called in to investigate.

But are things as they really seem? Did the psychic just happen to choose Three Pines for a vacation? Did the victim's housemate really think of her as a dear friend? Is the Hadley house really haunted, or is that just local superstition?

Unfortunately, the controversy over Gamache's arrest of a crooked colleague years earlier also reaches a peak at the same time as this case, and the poor Inspector appears to be over his head. Thankfully, his team is very supportive, and with help from some surprising sources, he not only survives the "coup" attempt, he solves the case of the frightented female.

I didn't enjoy this book as much as the two previous ones in the series, not due to a decrease in quality, but because I found the story line about Surete politics difficult to read as a result of some past experiences. I'm looking forward to the next book, A Rule Against Murder, though it will have to wait until after I read and prepare the discussion for The Ivy Tree, which is the DorothyL Book Discussion title for October.

Updates to Marlyn's Corner!

I have created a new section in my CafePress shop with autumn-themed photographs.


Also, 2010 Calendars are now available!