17. Cold as Hell by Kelley Armstrong

#3 Haven's Rock

listened on Libby

341 pgs.

2025
Adult Mystery
Finished 4-13-25
Goodreads rating: 4.29
My rating: 4
Setting: Contemporary middle-of-nowhere, Yukon, Canada

My comments: It's great to be back with Casey and crew in the middle-of-nowhere Yukon.  Casey is now eight months pregnant, in a pregnancy that has had many worries and mishaps.  Their new community is only a little over a year old and they are working hard to make it safe and happy for all, when one of the female inhabitants is kidnapped, assaulted, and rescued in the nick of time.  Shortly after that, another female disappears, found murdered in a gruesome way.  All of Haven's Rock is shocked because everyone has been vetted extremely carefully so they know that no "crazies" have been let in.  How wrong they are.  The mystery is well written, and you know that near the end of the book there's going to be a very harried birth, complete with almost tragic results.  I do enjoy and look forward to every book in the series.

Goodreads synopsis:  Haven’s Rock is a sanctuary town hidden deep in the Yukon for those who need to disappear from the regular world. Detective Casey Duncan and her husband, Sheriff Eric Dalton, are starting a family now that they’ve settled into their life here. As Casey nears the end of her pregnancy, she lets nothing, including her worried husband, stop her from investigating what happens in the forbidden forest outside the town of Haven’s Rock.

When one of the town's residents is drugged and wanders too close to the edge of town, she’s dragged into the woods kicking and screaming. She’s saved in the nick of time, but the women of the town are alarmed. Casey and Eric investigate the assault just as a snowstorm hits Haven’s Rock, covering the forest. It’s there they find a frozen body, naked in the snow. With mixed accounts of the woman's last movements, the two begin to question who they can trust—and who they can't—in their seemingly safe haven.

14. Lying Beside You - Michael Robotham

#3 Cyrus Haven

listened on Audible
352 pgs.
2022
Adult Mystery - British

Finished 2/18/2024
Goodreads rating: 4.31
My rating: 4
Setting: Contemporary Nottingham, England

My comments: Back-and-forth between Cyrus and Evie as we follow the progress of a murder, then kidnapping situation.  The plot drags for the first half, but moves along really well in the second half.  One drawback for me: the narrator makes all the male voices sound like the character's a little bit slow....  And no matter how much I think about it, I cannot come up with any possibilities about why it was titled the way it was. A good story, once it got moving...I plan to read the next in the series while this one is still in my head.

Goodreads synopsis:  Cyrus Haven and Evie Cormac return in Robotham’s latest page-turning, psychological thriller in this series.

If I could tell you one thing about my brother, it would be this. Two days after his nineteenth birthday, he killed our parents and twin sisters because he heard voices in his head. As defining events go, nothing else comes close for Elias, or for me.

As a boy, Cyrus Haven survived a family massacre and slowly pieced his life back together. Now, after almost twenty years, his brother is applying to be released from a secure psychiatric hospital—and Cyrus is expected to forgive Elias and welcome him home.

Elias is returning to a very different world. Cyrus is now a successful psychologist, working with the police, sharing his house with Evie Cormac, a damaged and gifted teenager who can tell when someone is lying. Evie has gone back to school and is working part-time at an inner-city bar, but she continues to struggle with authority and following rules.

When a man is murdered and his daughter disappears, Cyrus is called in to profile the killer and help piece together Maya Kirk’s last hours. Police believe she was drugged and driven away from the same bar where Evie is working. Soon, a second victim is taken, and Evie is the only person who glimpsed the man behind the wheel.

But there’s a problem. Only two people believe her. One is Cyrus.

7. Dark Highway by Lisa Gray

#3 Jessica Gray

listened on Audible

2020
318 pgs.
Adult Mystery
Finished 1/19/23
Goodreads rating: 4.40
My rating: 4.5
Setting: Contemporary 29 Palms Highway, California

My comments: Third in the Jessica Shaw, Private Detective, series. A great protagonist - smart, lots of emotional baggage but devoid of physical baggage… she practically lives out of her car. Set in 29 Palms, California, it‘s about the disappearance/abduction of several women and goes back and forth between time periods and voices. I liked it a lot and could clearly picture it because I‘ve visited this area several times. Good one!

Goodreads synopsis:  LA-based artist Laurie Simmonds disappeared two months ago, her campervan abandoned on the isolated Twentynine Palms Highway, miles from anything—or anyone. With the police investigation stalled, her parents put all their faith in private investigator Jessica Shaw to find out the truth of what happened.

Jessica and her partner Matt Connor discover that two other women are missing, their disappearances connected to the same highway. When a link emerges between these women and a group of former college friends, Jessica feels certain they’re closing in on their target.

But no sooner do they follow this up than Laurie’s parents get spooked and drop the case. Jessica is blindsided but determined not to give up: three women are missing, and many more may be at risk. She can’t turn her back on them. But the more she pulls at the threads of the truth, the closer she comes to danger. Can she find out who’s behind these crimes before they come for her?

61. Cold Harbor by Matthew FitzSimmons

#3 Gibson Vaughn

listened on Audible/KindleUnlAud

narrated by James Patrick Cronin

Unabridged audio (9:29)
2017
318 pgs.
Adult Mystery
Finished 6/10/2021
Goodreads rating: 4.16 - 6208 ratings
My rating: 4
Setting: Contemporary Rural Washington, DC

First line/s:  "The door would never open.  The prisoner accepted that now."

My comments: Number three in the series, I think this was my favorite so far.  Sure, there were many unbelievable parts - maybe that's why I enjoyed it so much, lol!

Goodreads synopsis:  After a period of brutal isolation in a CIA black-site prison, former Marine and gifted hacker Gibson Vaughn is free—but with no idea where he was or how much time he’s lost. Struggling to maintain his grip on reality, he races to return to the life he left behind. Angry and disoriented, his thoughts turn to vengeance and the man responsible for his rendition. But Gibson’s drive for retribution and the ghosts of his violent past plunge him back into a world he wants only to escape.

            As old enemies and once-trusted allies resurface, the architects of a murderous conspiracy will beat a sinister path to Gibson’s doorstep. In discovering the shocking truth about those he thought he knew best, only one thing is certain: those responsible must be made to answer…and pay.

55. The Diamond of Freedom by Lorena Angell

#3 Unaltered

Read on Kindle

2013

264 pgs.
YA Paranormal Fantasy
Finished 5/24/2021
Goodreads rating: 4.08 - 554 ratings
My rating: 3.5/4

First line/s: "He stands by the river, his black leather duster setting him apart."

My comments: Lots happens in this one, and although it's left at a cliffhanger, it's a different kind of cliffhanger than in book two.  In that one, Chris and Calli are off to Miami and we know it.  In this book, there is a definite ending with uncertainty of what will happen next.  Is Chris a traitor?  What's going on between him and Deus Ex?  You had to think harder to follow everything  that happened in this book, what the obsidian was doing and how it changed the powers.  Also, following the "repeating" and trying to understand how it worked was a bit confusing.  It's fascinating to consider how minds can think up this stuff.  So here's the ultimate spoiler:  the books ends with Calli in Maine with her parents, Chris has taken of with Deus Ex as her supposed hostage, Jonas and Cali have joined the ranks of the diamond bearers although Calli still has a fragment of Jonas's diamond in her own heart.  Crazy

Goodreads synopsis:  The Diamond of Freedom, book three in The Unaltered, melds together history, geology, metaphysics, science, and fantasy in this non-stop nail biter. Calli and Chris race against the clock to identify the power-neutralizing stone that prevents Calli from healing her life-threatening injuries. She must also learn how to counter its effects before she can fight against the rogue Diamond Bearer named Freedom to save the boy she loves and the world of her friends.

          In the epic battle between extreme cosmic-power holders, weaknesses are exploited and lifetime relationships shattered to gain the upper-hand. Sometimes having no special abilities is what makes someone the most powerful. General Harding, Chris's father, has made it his life's mission to eradicate all people with powers. Believing the lies fed to him, and misusing his status with the U.S. government, General Harding nears completion of a weapon designed to destroy cosmic-energy individuals.
          Calli meets Brand Safferson's half-sister, self-named Deus Ex, and proclaimed mercenary. Her repeating abilities are necessary to rescue Brand from General Harding's compound, but the risks of recruiting her to abandon Freedom's side and join Maetha's may be deadly.
          Maetha provides proof that she's figured out how to heal the DNA of an altered human, creating an Unaltered individual.

35. Redeeming Vows by Catherine Bybee

#3 MacCoinnich Time Travels

listened on Kindle Unlimited Audio/Audible

narrated by David Monteath

Unabridged audio (9:42)
2010
314 pgs.
Adult Time Travel/Romance
Finished 4/9/2021
Goodreads rating: 4.25 - 1781 ratings
My rating: 3.5/4
Setting: Contemporary LA and 16th century Scotland

First line/s: "Liz snapped out of her daydream with Simon's voice ringing in her ears."

My comments: Most of my review was erased!!!  all that was left was: "they were able to return with the help of a modern-day druid and a lunar eclipse...."  This one was about Finn and Lizzie.

Goodreads synopsis:  For her own safety, modern day, single mom, Lizzy McAllister is forced to bow to the medieval men who surround her when she's thrust back in time to the sixteenth century against her will. When Lizzie finds herself trapped in time with Fin, the one man she finds both irresistible and maddening, she agrees to combine forces with him to rid Scotland of the evil witch, Grainna. Finlay MacCoinnich's attraction to Lizzie sizzles the very air they breathe. Tearing down the solid walls the woman has built around her won't be easy, but he's willing to do anything to keep her by his side. When a spell cast by their deadliest foe throws them forward in time, will they manage to find their way back in time to save their family from peril? And will Lizzy willingly stay in his time, or abandon him altogether?

67. The Hand on the Wall by Maureen Johnson

#3 Truly Devious
Listened to Audio on Libby, borrowed from Bosler
narrated by Kate Rudd
Unabridged audio (8:36)
2020 Katherine Tegen Books
369 pgs.
YA Mystery
Finished 4/23/2020
Goodreads rating: 4.23 - 18,193 ratings
My rating: 3.5
Setting: 1936 and contemporary Vermont boarding school, winter

First line/s:  "The snow had been falling for hours, drifting past the windows, settling on the sill, following little landscapes that mimicked the mountains in the distance. Albert Ellingham sat on an overstuffed chair covered in plum-colored velvet."

My comments:  This third and final installment in an ongoing mystery nicely wrapped up any questions about the two murder mysteries, 1936 and current time, in a satisfying way.  This whole three-book-series was a little too drawn out, I'm sure it could've been condensed satisfactorily, but both books one and two were left with big cliffhangers and that couldn't have been done if this was made into one very long book.  I had to keep forcing myself to go back to listen, even though I did want to find out what the outcome was.  The 1936 - 1938 parts weren't half as interesting to me as the contemporary bits, but no matter.  I didn't really like the narrator's voice for the protagonist, not enough inflection to flat, which changed my perception of her personality.

Goodreads synopsis:  Ellingham Academy must be cursed. Three people are now dead. One, a victim of either a prank gone wrong or a murder. Another, dead by misadventure. And now, an accident in Burlington has claimed another life. All three in the wrong place at the wrong time. All at the exact moment of Stevie’s greatest triumph . . .
          She knows who Truly Devious is. She’s solved it. The greatest case of the century.
          At least, she thinks she has. With this latest tragedy, it’s hard to concentrate on the past. Not only has someone died in town, but David disappeared of his own free will and is up to something. Stevie is sure that somehow—somehow—all these things connect. The three deaths in the present. The deaths in the past. The missing Alice Ellingham and the missing David Eastman. Somewhere in this place of riddles and puzzles there must be answers.
          Then another accident occurs as a massive storm heads toward Vermont. This is too much for the parents and administrators. Ellingham Academy is evacuated. Obviously, it’s time for Stevie to do something stupid. It’s time to stay on the mountain and face the storm—and a murderer.
          In the tantalizing finale to the Truly Devious trilogy, New York Times bestselling author Maureen Johnson expertly tangles her dual narrative threads and ignites an explosive end for all who’ve walked through Ellingham Academy.
          New York Times bestselling author Maureen Johnson delivers the witty and pulse-pounding conclusion to the Truly Devious series as Stevie Bell solves the mystery that has haunted Ellingham Academy for over 75 years.

18. The Night Fire by Michael Connelly

#3 Renee Ballard & Harry Bosch
Listened to Audible
narrated by Titus Welliver and Christine Lakin
Unabridged audio (10:04)
2019 Little Brown & Co.
405 pgs.
Adult Murder Mystery/Police Procedural
Finished 1/26/2020
Goodreads rating: 4.35 - 18,962 ratings
My rating: 5
Setting: Contemporary LA

First line/s:  "Bosch arrived late and had to park on a cemetery lane far from the grave site."

My comments:  This was an intricately woven series of mysteries stemming from a cold case that Harry Bosch had received from his deceased mentor, and an arson case that Renee Ballard covered on her night shift, as well as some investigative work that Harry completed for his half-brother, Mickey Haller.  Complex but easy to follow, the working relationship and almost affection they have for each other is palpable.  I hate that Harry is pushing 70, but I adore him just as much as I always have.  I love the back-and-forth chapters hearing the voices of both of them.

Goodreads synopsis:  Harry Bosch and LAPD Detective Renee Ballard come together again on the murder case that obsessed Bosch's mentor, the man who trained him -- new from #1 New York Times bestselling author Michael Connelly
          Back when Harry Bosch was just a rookie homicide detective, he had an inspiring mentor who taught him to take the work personally and light the fire of relentlessness for every case. Now that mentor, John Jack Thompson, is dead, but after his funeral his widow hands Bosch a murder book that Thompson took with him when he left the LAPD 20 years before -- the unsolved killing of a troubled young man in an alley used for drug deals.
          Bosch brings the murder book to Renée Ballard and asks her to help him find what about the case lit Thompson's fire all those years ago. That will be their starting point.
          The bond between Bosch and Ballard tightens as they become a formidable investigation team. And they soon arrive at a worrying question: Did Thompson steal the murder book to work the case in retirement, or to make sure it never got solved?

8. House at Sea's End by Elly Griffiths

listened to the Audio Book (bought Audible)
narrated by Jane McDowell
Unabridged audio (10:45)
2011 Quercus Publishing
352 pgs.
Adult Murder Mystery
Finished 1/13/2020
Goodreads rating: 3.93 - 14,424
My rating: 4
Setting: Norwich area, England

First line/s:  "Two people, a man and a woman, are walking along a hospital corridor."

My comments:  I like Ruth Galloway a lot.  I like that she's not gorgeous, a tiny bit overweight and out of shape, and very, very smart.  I like that she is an atheist but goes along wither her Druid friend and her Catholic friends,  rolling her eyes at her "born again" parents constantly.  And I like that we follow, step-by-step, what happens with people's realization of who Kate's father a might be, nd and what happens between Ruth and Nelson, who is happily married to Michelle.  I do believe that you can love two people at the same time, and that's what's happening to Nelson.  Ruth's learning to live with it quite well, and I really respect her living in her cottage and isolation with her cat and baby, teaching at the local university and being pulled into local police activities when her expertise as a forensic archaeologist/anthropologist is needed.  Interesting series, quirky , well developed characters, and fascinating setting.

Goodreads synopsis:  Ruth Galloway has just returned from maternity leave and is struggling to juggle work and motherhood. When a team from the University of North Norfolk, investigating coastal erosion, finds six bodies at the foot of the cliff, she is immediately put on the case.

From Amazon:  A team of archaeologists, investigating coastal erosion on the north Norfolk coast, unearth six bodies buried at the foot of a cliff. How long have they been there? What could have happened to them? Forensics expert Ruth Galloway and DCI Nelson are drawn together again to unravel the past. Tests reveal that the bodies have lain, preserved in the sand, for sixty years. The mystery of their deaths stretches back to the Second World War, a time when Great Britain was threatened by invasion. But someone wants the truth of the past to stay buried, and will go to any lengths to keep it that way... even murder.

27. This Fallen Prey by Kelley Armstrong

Listened on Audible - with one of my Audible credits
2018 Minotaur Books
359 pgs.
(12:11) Unabridged Audio read by Terese Plummer
Adult Murder Mystery
Finished 3/13/2019
Goodreads rating:  4.07 - 4010 ratings
My rating:  3 (4 with some parts a 2....)
Setting:  Contemporary wilds of northern Canada

First line/s:  "The season may have officially started two months ago, but it isn't really spring in Rockton until we bury our winter dead."

My comments:  I have put a quick synopsis with all sorts of spoilers at the end of this brief review.
     Most of this novel takes place in the forest outside Rockton, with Casey and Dalton and their dog, Storm, doing a lot of running around, fighting all sorts of prey - human and animal - discovering one body after another and doing a great deal of swearing.  For some this has probably been quite exciting to read, for me it got a little tedious.  Way too much for me about Storm, the dog.  The also pay a lot of attention to taking care of wounded forest animals, which I discover is definitely not my thing, either.  Ms. Armstrong also is writing Casey as the brains of the police department, making Dalton more of a patsy, IMHO.  The cliffhanger ending is frustrating.  But of course I'll read the next installment asap....as much frustration as I have, I also love Rockton!

To remember before starting next in the series:  This Fallen Prey ends on a bit of a cliffhanger.  Rockton has been given a supposed serial killer, Oliver Brady, to guard for six months.  He escapes into the forest with Val (the community "leader" and only person who can communicate with the council) as a hostage.  (Note:  Val ends up on Brady's side, and also ends up dead....) Brady's stepfather, Wallace, is flown in by Phil, only known previously as the council voice on the other end of the phone.  It is soon discovered that Wallace is the serial killer.  Lots of deaths, and a very dangerous 14-year-old first settler female come to light.  Kenny, Casey's friend and the town carpenter, ends up with a bullet lodged beside his spine.  So at the very end the stepfather, Wallace, and the teenage girl have flown away, Phil has been left as the person in charge of Rockton, Brady (who Casey discovers was not innocent, he was actually an accomplice to Wallace) has been killed by Petra, who has apparently been ordered by some unknown to do so, and Casey is going to see if she can find a way for her sister, April, who is a neurosurgeon, to be flown in to remove the bullet from Kenny, the only way he'll survive.

Goodreads synopsis:  In This Fallen Prey, the next installment of New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrongs thriller series, Casey Duncan is about to face her toughest job as police detective in Rockton yet.When Casey first arrived at the off-the-grid town, an isolated community built as a haven for people running from their pasts, she had no idea what to expect, with no cell phones, no internet, no mail, and no way of getting in or out without the town councils approval. She certainly didnt expect to be the homicide detective on two separate cases or to begin a romantic relationship with her boss. But the very last thing she expected was for the council to drop a dangerous criminal into their midst without a plan to keep him imprisoned, and to keep others safe.Of course Oliver Brady claims he's being set up. But the longer Brady stays in town, the more things start to go wrong. When evidence comes to light that someone inside Rockton might be working as his accomplice, helping him to escape, Casey races to figure out who exactly Brady is and what crimes hes truly responsible for committing. In the next page-turning entry in Kelley Armstrongs gripping series, life in Rockton is about to get even more dangerous. 

18. Murder Theory by Andrew Mayne

#3 The Naturalist (Dr. Theo Crain)
listened on Audible (8:42)
read by Will Damron
2019, Thomas & Mercer
296 pgs.
Contemporary Mystery/Thriller
Finished 2/15/19
Goodreads rating: 4.49 - 391 ratings
My rating:  3
Setting:Contemporary Atlanta and other east coast domiciles

First line/s:  "The helpless  man in the wheelchair thrilled him.  It wasn't a physical thrill or something he'd describe as deviant but the fact thst it was this man who was unconscious and at his mercy excited him."

My comments: Theo Cray is still a reckless, belligerent, thoughtless, brilliant scientist who is a blast to follow.  There seems to be even more scientific information that I found a little difficult to follow in this third book, but I ignored it and took it for what it was - interesting filler (which could be true or not...).  He didn't always have enough clues to get him from one place to another, but this was glossed over a bit, and his awkward and/or dysfunctional relationships with people had my eyes rolling big-time.  But I enjoy this guy, the messes he gets himself into, and his ability to walk through dog shit and come out smelling like a rose every time!

Goodreads synopsis:  The desire to kill is becoming contagious in this riveting novel of conceivable mad science by the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Naturalist.
          Computational biologist and serial-killer hunter Dr. Theo Cray receives an off-the-record request from the FBI to investigate an inexplicable double homicide. It happened at the excavation site where a murderer had buried his victims’ remains. In custody is a forensic technician in shock, with no history of aggression. He doesn’t remember a thing. His colleagues don’t even recognize the man they thought they knew. But an MRI reveals something peculiar. And abnormal.
          What on earth made him commit murder?
          After discovering that a mysterious man has been stalking crime scenes and stealing forensic data, Cray has a radical and terrifying theory. Now he must race against time to find a darker version of himself: a scientist with an obsession in pathological behavior who uses his genius not to catch serial killers—but to create them.

78. Spectre Black by J. Carson Black

Cyril Landry #3
listened on Audible
2015 Thomas & Mercer
304 pgs.
Adult Murder Mystery
Finished August 11, 2018
Goodreads rating:  3.71 - 317 ratings
My rating:  3.5
Setting: contemporary southern New Mexico

First line/s:  "Jolie Burke heard something.

My comments:  This third entry into the Cyril Landry saga is set in southern New Mexico and involves Jolie Burke, who Landry has partnered with in books one and two  They are taking on a disrupt sheriff, sheriff's department, and local rich guy/bud guy, his schizophrenic, bipolar son and just-plain-nuts FBI agent daughter.  There are definitely shades of the ridiculous - painting vehicles with some sort of stealth paint that makes them invisible as they roar down the road - but it suits the purposes of the story.  Cyril's seemingly unending cash flow and friends in the right places, along with his military prowess serve him well - there would be no story without any of it!  It's certainly entertaining, once you suspend too much questioning.

Goodreads synopsis:  When homicide detective Jolie Burke awakens to intruders in the dark of night, she’s forced to flee. Jolie’s nobody’s victim, but she cannot fight this faceless enemy alone. She reaches out to Cyril Landry, the ex–Navy SEAL who is long on special-ops skills and short on patience. He suffers no fools—ever. But when Landry rolls into Branch, New Mexico, Jolie is gone, and there’s nothing waiting for him but trouble.
          As Landry hunts for Jolie, he becomes immersed in a quagmire of corruption—a toxic brew of graft, homicide, and the ominous shape of something much bigger. Framed for murder and dodging a sexy FBI agent and a suspicious sheriff, Landry finds himself pitted against a psychopath with secrets even blacker than his sinister sports car. Now Landry’s on a double-barreled mission: reach Jolie before the killers do and dig up some dirt on his enemies before they get the chance to dig his grave.

47. The Lovely Wicked Rain by Scott William Carter

#3 Garrison Gage
listened to on Audible
2014 Flying Raven Press
285 pgs.
Adult murder mystery
Finished My 31, 2018
Goodreads rating:  4.16 - 610 ratings
My rating: 4.5 This was a particularly good one, or maybe it was just the mood I was in, but I really liked it a lot.
Setting:

First line/s:  "It was raining.  It was a hard rain.  It was not a drizzle or a mist, so often the case on the Oregon coast, but a loud, powerful, torrential downpour -- rattling the windows that circled the little room, crackling on the aluminum roof a few feet above their heads, rising and falling with the moaning of the wind but never subsiding for long."

My comments:  Excellently plotted mystery with great description and some really funny banter from the protagonist.  Characters were really well drawn and the setting was a huge part of the story.  All the components worked together so well, including an outstanding reader, making a truly mesmerizing story for a lot of hours on the road.  This was thrived in the series and in a way I feel like they're getting even better, though it's been a bit since I read the other two, so this might be just as good - I remember liking them quite well - Garrison Gage, the protagonist, being the hardest person to get to know.  Second only to Virgil Flowers, I think!

Goodreads synopsis:  They find him on the beach, shooting bullets into the sand.
          His name? Jeremiah Cooper, the son of the bullheaded high school football coach. Slight of build, soft of voice, he's got all kinds of torment lurking behind his eyes. But despite Garrison Gage's best efforts, he can't pull the kid out of his shell. Then someone turns up dead at the local community college, and Jeremiah's fragile world shatters.
          Add a crisis in Gage's good friend's life, an ongoing feud with his adopted daughter about her life choices, and a hauntingly beautiful FBI agent with secrets of her own, and it's a lot more drama than a half-retired private investigator with a bum knee wanted. Whatever happened to quiet rainy nights sipping bourbon, watching the sun sink beneath the waves on the Oregon coast, and trying to think of a ten-letter word that means grumpy and glad about it?
          But before Gage can even write the word curmudgeon, he's pulled deeper into Jeremiah's world--a world of sex, secrets, and a sadistic evil that preys on human weakness.

48. Lost Girls by Angela Marsons

D. I. Kim Stone #3
read on my iPhone
2015, Bookouture
442 pgs.
Finished 8/16/17
Adult Mystery
Goodreads rating:  4.4 - 8048 ratings
My rating: 4
Setting: Contemporary England

First line/s:  "Emily Billingham tried to scream through the hand that covered her mouth."

My comments:  Kim Stone is great...fearless, smart, and snarky. Unlikeable in so many ways, which makes her even more likeable in just as many. She does have a softer side, which is appearing more and more. No matter how long I go between reading about her, I remember more than I usually do with other serial characters. This particular story made me uncomfortable, there was so much hate and violence, but I couldn't wait to get back to it each time I had to stop reading. Edge-0f-your-seat plot and incredible characterization is making Angela Marsons one of my favorite authors to date!

Goodreads synopsis: Two girls go missing. Only one will return.  The couple that offers the highest amount will see their daughter again. The losing couple will not. Make no mistake. One child will die.
          When nine-year-old best friends Charlie and Amy disappear, two families are plunged into a living nightmare. A text message confirms the unthinkable; that the girls are the victims of a terrifying kidnapping.
          And when a second text message pits the two families against each other for the life of their children, the clock starts ticking for D.I. Kim Stone and the squad.
          Seemingly outwitted at every turn, as they uncover a trail of bodies, Stone realizes that these ruthless killers might be the most deadly she has ever faced. And that their chances of bringing the girls home alive, are getting smaller by the hour…
          Untangling a dark web of secrets from the families’ past might hold the key to solving this case. But can Kim stay alive long enough to do so? Or will someone’s child pay the ultimate price?

MOVIE - Bridget Jones's Baby

R (2:03)

Wide release 9/16/16

Viewed 11/1/16 at Century Gateway
IMBd:  6.9/10

RT Critic: 76   Audience: 73
Critic's Consensus:  Bridget Jones's Baby might be late on arrival, but fans of the series should still find its third installment a bouncing bundle of joy.

Cag:  4/Liked it a lot

Directed by Sharon Maguire

Working Title

Colin Furth, Patrick Dempsey, Renee Zellweger, Emma Thompson

My comments:  I really didn't expect to like this movie (the trailers I saw led me to that conclusion), but I went anyways, because I LOVE Colin Furth.  So glad I did....it turned out to be very funny, and quite good, actually!

RT/ IMDb Summary:  Oscar (R) winners Renée Zellweger and Colin Firth are joined by Patrick Dempsey for the next chapter of the world's favorite singleton in Bridget Jones's Baby. Directed by Sharon Maguire (Bridget Jones's Diary), the new film in the beloved comedy series based on creator Helen Fielding's heroine finds Bridget unexpectedly expecting. After breaking up with Mark Darcy (Firth), Bridget Jones's (Zellweger) "happily ever after" hasn't quite gone according to plan. Fortysomething and single again, she decides to focus on her job as top news producer and surround herself with old friends and new. For once, Bridget has everything completely under control. What could possibly go wrong? Then her love life takes a turn and Bridget meets a dashing American named Jack (Dempsey), the suitor who is everything Mr. Darcy is not. In an unlikely twist she finds herself pregnant, but with one hitch...she can only be fifty percent sure of the identity of her baby's father.