Bibliophile Mysteries

 The Bibliophile Mysteries by Kate Carlisle

Book 2 If Books could Kill

4 Stars

This is another series that I started out of order. Thank goodness or I'd never have read more if I had started with the first one. I DNF the first book when I got it. I hated it. But I enjoyed the book I had read before so I got the second and it restored my faith.

All the mysteries start with a book. Brooklyn, the FMC, is a book restorer and she gets dragged into a murder mystery when she encounters special rare editions. Books people will kill to get for one reason or another. Lucky for her her Significant Other(the MMC) is a security expert. 

These books are nice easy reads with a touch of danger. 

Antique Bookshop Mysteries

 Murder by the Bookend by Laura Gail Black

Link: Book2

4 Stars

This series is just beginning and just with this one book I can tell I'm going to be a fan.

The MC runs a bookshop and her new boyfriend is a police detective. One of my favorite pairings in cozy mysteries. At the grand opening of her shop, there is a murder which she discovers of course, leading her to want to sleuth out what happened. She's not a typical damsel in distress either when confronted with the killer. She doesn't fall apart and she tries to get herself out of danger. If the writer keeps that up I'll definitely be a fan. 

I ran across the series in the Also Bought area of another cozy series. But was iffy on buying the first book as it is over the price of a used hardback or new paperback and I promised myself I would never buy an ebook for that price instead of just buying the hardcover/paperback. However the second book was reasonable ebook price so I got it.

I am not one to be OCD about reading books in order. When I grew up you went to the used bookstore and got whatever book they had that you liked, whether it was book 1 or book 7. If you never got book 1 you didn't cry or feel you missed out. You were happy you had a book you liked and could read. You used your imagination to fill in the gaps that you couldn't gleam from the books you did read.

So when I say I may never get book 1 of this series unless it reduces price, I'm just stating a fact and am not ranting about anything. I did however pre-ordered book 3 and it was priced at more than Book 1.

At pre-ordering I'm not actually spending the money right now. So I'm not actually buying. Or so I'm telling myself.

And Then There were 9

 The Murder Mystery Book Club Series by C. A. Larmer

And Then There were 9

4 Stars

And Then There Were None is my favorite Agatha Christie mystery after the Poirot stories. So when I ran across this book and it said it was an Agatha Christie Mystery Club series I immediately clicked. The author has since renamed the series.

The Book Club members aren't stranded on an island, but they are isolated and surrounded by a fire without a phone or immediate cell reception. With 4 new members. And a killer in their midst. 

I enjoyed the twists and turns and plan to read at least some of the other books as finances allow.

Tourist Trap Mystery Series

 Tourist Trap Mystery Series by Lynn Cahoon

4 Stars

Guidebook to Murder book 1

Warning this is a first person POV series. I know some do not like this. Hence the warning

This is a nice cozy mystery series. Nothing really supernatural here, except the psychic neighbor who drifts in and out with cryptic clues. Most of it is a straight forward cozy mystery.

The MC leaves the rat race and settles in a small California coastal town to run a coffee shop/bookstore. However the town's mayor has it out for her and the guy she wants seems to be married. Then she becomes a suspect in a murder. Not a very good start to her new life.

The romance is secondary to the mystery the way I like a mystery. And she doesn't turn into a damsel in distress that's helpless without a man either.

I've read the first 3 books so far. I plan to read the others as finances allow.

Paranormal museum mysteries

 The Perfectly Proper Paranormal Museum Mysteries

Paranormal Museum Mysteries by Kirsten Weiss

3 Stars

Paranormal museum book 1

These are in first person, just to warn you, as I know some do not like that POV.

I enjoyed the few that I read but really didn't get into them. I read the first three to get a sample of them. They were okay but not really my taste. 

However the idea is good and kept me going through the books. As I said I did enjoy the storyline. 

In the first book, the MC was a successful business person who was fired because she refused to bribe someone for her company and had to return to her hometown. One of her best friends unloads the Museum on her. When that best friend and her are suspected of murder, the MC goes sleuthing and the Museum hides the clue needed to clear them both.   

It's not a bad little series. I liked the blurb for the first one so I gave it a chance and enjoyed it enough to order the next one. The MC's reoccurring 'nemesis' being a cop and showing up every time the MC got in trouble was a good part of the storyline for me. Kept a bit of tension for the plot. 

However there wasn't enough paranormal in this mystery series for me. At least not in the 3 I read. There were only hints of the paranormal. With paranormal in the title you expect some paranormal, not things that can be explained away or barely mentioned.

The Vampire Files

 The Vampire Files by P. N. Elrod

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=p.n.+elrod+vampire+files&crid=3ES742F1HLT5Z&sprefix=p.n.+%2Caps%2C238&ref=nb_sb_ss_ts-a-p_8_5

4 Stars

This is my second favorite vampire series.

 It is set in the 1930's.

Jack Fleming falls in love with a mysterious woman who has odd habits and a bit of a blood kink. But love is blind and he indulges her vampire kink. He humors her when she tells him he may become one after he dies as there are no such things as vampires and it is just harmless fun.

However years later, he wakes up on a beach alone at night without memory of what happened and why he was there. He makes it to a road and is promptly--and purposely--run over by a passing car. 

Thus begins Jack's search for the 4 W's--Who, What did they want, Why, and When. He gathers allies and figures out his new powers along the way.

 I've read most of the series through the library so it was read out of order. But it is a good humorous read.

The Sword of Rhiannon

 The Sword of Rhiannon by Leigh Brackett

4 stars. 

This is a hard book to find in print at a reasonable price. I couldn't find it in Kindle.  But to me it was worth the effort. My old copy was falling apart so I went a hunting. 

Mars comes alive for me when I read this book. 

The first part of the book is set in an old, dying Mars. Matt Carse is an archeologist and thief. He is approached by another thief because of his connections but what he is offered he knows is only the tip of the iceberg. The other thief had found the Tomb of Rhiannon, the Cursed-One and Matt forces him to show him the Tomb.

Within the Tomb Rhiannon awaits one who will help him get his revenge.

Matt is thrust into Mars' past at its height with Rhiannon as a mental passenger. Dangers are all around him, but his passenger is the most dangerous of them all. He has to navigate an alien yet also familiar world while keeping Rhiannon from taking him over to get his revenge on the ones who betrayed him.

There is a bit of romance but it is mainly an action, adventure story. 

Leigh Brackett has several other action, adventure sci-fi books. They are guilty pleasures like my Mack Bolan books by Pendleton. I read them for pure mindless entertainment.