Dirty Thirty by Janet Evanovich: review

4/5 stars on Goodreads

Dirty Thirty by Janet Evanovich

It’s book number 30 in the series, thirty years of Stephanie Plum. I’ve been reading the series almost as long, which doesn’t make me feel as old as it should. Stephanie definitely hasn’t aged. Technology has followed the date though (hence the wholly unironical covid masks here), and isn’t stuck in the mid-nineties where the books should take place.

Everything else has stayed pretty much the same for thirty years. The formula of Stephanie and Lula going after FTAs with more determination than skill works, so why change. You’d think that in all this time they’d learned something, but not so much, although Stephanie’s started to taze the difficult skips first and ask questions later. It turns out to be an improvement, and the duo manages to bring in quite a number of FTAs without much damage to their person. Stephanie’s car obviously suffers. How else could she get a loaner from Ranger.

The zaniness that took over the books somewhere during the mid-point, has been toned down recently, which is a return to earlier books. Grandma barely does anything silly, and the comedic reliefs are a helpful graverobber and Morelli’s dog Bob, neither of which is over the top silly. Even Lula’s Grendel stalker turns out to have an almost normal explanation. The real bad guy is, like in all books, fairly deadly and causes great damage, but, like always, a bit of an afterthought within everything else that is going on.

The two men in Stephanie’s life are the same too: Morelli and Ranger. This time, Morelli is out of town, giving Ranger time to make his move. And he manages to surprise both Stephanie and the reader. And when Morelli returns, he manages to pull the same move. It only took the men thirty years to get there. It seems though, that Stephanie still needs another decade or two to choose between them.

But she’ll need to change something, because after all these years, several break-ins and a couple of fires, Stephanie has to give up her apartment. Will she choose to move in with one of her suitors? Or will this be one of those story-lines that disappear by the next book, like so often? I guess I’ll have to read on to find out.

Despite all the sameness, this book managed to get me out of a reading slump, which I’ll count in its great favour, hence the four-star rating. Maybe I’ll even go back and read the previous book in the series, which I couldn’t finish. Not because it’s necessary to read it to understand the subsequent books, but to keep my thirty-year run intact.

A Hard Day for a Hangover by Darynda Jones: review

5/5 stars on Goodreads

A Hard Day for a Hangover by Darynda Jones

A Hard Day for a Hangover ends the great Sunshine Vicram trilogy—and all too soon. The mystery series of a small-town serif and her family, friends, and ever-growing staff of uniquely talented deputies has just found its legs and should really continue.

The last book picks up a couple of days after the previous ended, with the characters still recovering from the injuries they’d sustained. A lot is going on from the start, but the main story revolves around a young woman who’s found badly injured, which leads to the trace of similar cases.

It’s a dual point of view investigation, as Sunshine’s daughter Auri adds her skills and enthusiasm in the game. The two POVs were better balanced than in the previous book, with neither dominating, and the mother-daughter duo worked well together.

The ongoing issue with Levi and his uncle was concluded, though rather easily, considering it’s been the main issue throughout the trilogy. The storyline likely fell victim of the abrupt ending of the series and had to be given any kind of closure.

The when-will-they romance between Sun and Levi progressed in lightspeed too. Not that the readers haven’t waited for it, but with a couple of more books, it could’ve progressed more naturally. Also, Auri wasn’t given much time to digest the news of who her father really is. In the end, there wasn’t enough room for romance. Levi remained a distant character, more talked about by Sun than seen. He would’ve needed his own point of view chapters to really make his story work.

There were many great storylines left hanging too, like Quincy’s romance and the Dangerous Daughters, both of which were just getting started. The series still has a lot going for it and I hope the author will continue it after all. As things stand, I enjoyed the book greatly. It was fun and the mystery was intriguing. And in the end, it gave me the satisfying and emotional closure that I needed.

 

Another Day, Another Partner by Rachel Mucha: review

4/5 stars on Goodreads

Another Day, Another Partner by Rachel Mucha

Another Day, Another Partner is the debut novel of Rachel Mucha, and it’s a good one; well-written and nicely paced. Action and comedy are well-balanced. However, for a series called Partners in Passion, it’s not at all steamy, and the only bedroom activity is sleeping.

Lulu Martinelli is a cop in a tiny town in Rhode Island, mostly because she didn’t have any other plans after college and made her father, the captain, hire her. After several partners have quit her during the past year because she’s been impossible after a breakup with the love of her life and her first partner, Rob, she’s assigned yet another one, Dominic Delgado.

Dom is a Boston cop recuperating in a small town after a bad drug bust where his partner was killed. He’s easy-going and not about to let Lulu get on his nerves. But the small-town peace is disrupted when the drug lord’s people show up, and at their heels arrives Lulu’s ex.

This was a fun and fast-paced read. Slightly predictable, but in a good way that made the reader anticipate the twists. Lulu was no-nonsense, slightly accident-prone, but not in an overly comical way, and nicely self-aware. The narrative was in first person from her point of view and her inner musings were fun to follow. Dom was a great, grownup man who was good at his work, secure enough to handle a woman as a partner, and fun to be around. Together they made a great couple, in more ways than one.

Side characters were kept at minimum, which was a good choice. The most important ones were Lulu’s sister Val and their father, who were both properly fleshed out and not mere props. They make a great supporting cast if the series continues with same characters.

The book wraps up nicely, so if this a stand-alone and the next book is about different people, it leaves the reader satisfied. But I for one would like to read more about Lulu and Dom.

I received a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Bounty by Janet Evanovich and Steve Hamilton: review

4/5 stars on Goodreads

The Bounty by Janet Evanovich and Steve Hamilton

Janet Evanovich’s Fox and O’Hare series about unwilling cooperation between FBI agent Kate O’Hare and international thief Nick Fox has advanced to a seventh book, The Bounty. There’s a new co-author, Steve Hamilton, after a short-lived collaboration with Evanovich’s son Peter. The change is for the better.

This is perhaps the most coherent and exciting book in the series so far. The plot is intriguing. Nick’s estranged father is after a treasure map that should lead to a hidden hoard of Nazi gold, and Nick and Kate are swept along on the quest. They storm through Europe, trying to find the pieces of the map, which have been hidden in very imaginative and difficult-to-access places. And naturally they are pursued by a group of Nazis who want the gold for themselves. There are plenty of twists and turns before everything is solved.

The book is constant action with plenty of over-the-top violence, but there isn’t much of Evanovich’s trademark humour. Also the romance-that-almost-is between Kate and Nick is all but forgotten, with a token scene at the end. But it still manages to be light-hearted and not to take itself too seriously.

My only complaint is the lack of a coherent point of view. It switched between Nick and Kate from paragraph to paragraph with no clear indication to who was guiding the narrative. There were short stretches with a single narrator, usually in a minor character’s POV, but the general impression was vagueness and lack of depth. Character development has never been Evanovich’s strong suit, but here the characters were completely at the mercy of the plot. Nick especially felt like a shadow of his usual conman self. His outrageous heists used to be the heart of the books, but there were none here.

Nevertheless, the book was entertaining and engaging. It’s the best in the series so far, unless you miss the silly humour. I hope Evanovich continues the series with Hamilton. I’d definitely read their books.

I received a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Summer reading roundup

I took a few weeks off from this blog for a summer vacation and so haven’t updated anything since June. I didn’t stop reading though. On the contrary. Here’s a quick recap.

False Security by Lindsay Buroker

False Security by Lindsay Buroker continues her exciting UF series Death Before Dragons. In this fifth book, vampires are going missing, including Val’s vampire friend; Val accepts a job as a bodyguard to a tech billionaire, Zav takes her to the realm of elves to see her father, and Val ends up with roommates—and a new house too. For a woman who’s kept people at arm’s length, she’s building a nice new family for herself. Zav talks a lot about vigorous mating, now that he’s officially claimed her, but nothing really happens. There’s a lot of action, like always, and the final battle has bears and naked vampires in it. You don’t want to miss it. (4/5 stars on Goodreads)

Twisted Twenty-six by Janet Evanovich

Twisted Twenty-six is the latest in Janet Evanovich’s long-running Stephanie Plum mystery series. The series has felt tired for quite long now, but here it returns to its old form—to an extent. The stakes are genuinely high, violence has consequences, and humorous incidents don’t dominate everything else. Stephanie takes stock of her life, giving an impression of continuity between the books, which is usually lacking. Lesser side characters, Connie and Stephanie’s parents included, have actual roles. And the ending hints at the same story continuing in the next book. I’m really looking forward to it. (4/5 stars on Goodreads)

False Value by Ben Aaronovitch

False Value is the eight book in Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch, and it doesn’t let down. I had a brief scare at the beginning that Peter wouldn’t be his usual copper self, but luckily that didn’t turn out to be the case, as he’s undercover. The first part of the book was slightly different than usually, as it was told in alternating chapters in the present and the past to set up the reason for Peter’s latest assignment. Once that was over, the story advanced in the usual meandering manner where the reader isn’t entirely sure what’s going on until it’s all over. There was a bit more Beverly in this book than before—she is pregnant after all—and she is becoming a real person, but the other side characters remain a bit two dimensional. This includes the staples like Nightingale and Sergeant Guleed. There was some mayhem at the end, but Peter managed not to destroy half of London this time round. I’m not sure if I’m disappointed or not about that. (4/5 stars on Goodreads)

Engagement and Espionage by Penny Reid

Engagement and Espionage is a spinoff of Winston Brothers series by Penny Reid and starts a new Solving for Pie series. It features Cletus, the devious mastermind in hillbilly’s body, and his betrothed Jennifer the pie queen, and it’s a mystery, not romance—most of the time. The mystery of strangled chickens wasn’t terribly difficult to solve, but Jenn’s strained relationship with her parents took some work. And the two of them just couldn’t catch a break, mostly because Cletus couldn’t see past his romantic machinations. It was fun and emotional, like Ms Reid’s books usually are. I’ll definitely read the next book. (4/5 stars on Goodreads)

Queen’s Gambit by Karen Chance

Queen’s Gambit continues Karen Chance’s Dorina Basarab UF series. It’s the fifth book, but as the series is parallel with Chance’s other, longer series, it feels like Dory’s been around forever. The book has a promising start: a sneak attack separates Dory and Dorina, giving the latter a body of her own. From there, we follow two separate adventures, as they both try to figure out what has happened, why and by whom, and how to get back together again.

Unfortunately, instead of a proper plot, we have endless battles in both storylines, some of which don’t really have anything to do with the actual aim of the book. And then the book ends without any conclusion to either story. Dory ends up where she began, practically none the wiser, and Dorina’s story ends with a kind of a cliff-hanger.

Of the two stories, I liked Dorina’s better, as she has for the first time a chance to reflect her weird existence within Dory. Dory’s storyline evolved into endless discussion about her marriage with Louis-Césare, which got old after a while. The only good thing I can say about it is that they managed to talk things through and reach some sort of understanding.

This was not my favourite in the series by any means. But these books have had greatly uneven quality before, so I’m not giving up yet. And the way Dorina’s story ended, it gives me hope that the two series will connect properly for the first time in the next book. We’ll see. (3/5 stars on Goodreads)

The Enforcer Enigma by G. L. Carriger

The Enforcer Enigma is the third book in San Andreas Shifters M/M paranormal romance series by Gail Carriger, writing as G.L. Carriger. It’s been a while since I read the previous book, but it felt like coming home, warm and cosy. The characters and the entire pack are coming together nicely and they’re not constantly on defensive anymore, which changes the dynamic of the story.

Perhaps that’s why it felt like the love story of Colin and Judd took a backseat to the main plot. It was a nice mystery plot that was solved really fast, but I really would’ve liked to read more of the lovely pair. That said, the two stories went hand in hand, there were really good moments between the pair and it felt believable all the way. Colin opened up nicely and Judd finally found his home in Colin. On top of that, Trick was a great new addition to the group and I’ll definitely read how it’ll turn out with his bear in the next book. (4/5 stars on Goodreads)

On top of these books, I read a few I’d received free from NetGalley. I’ll write separate reviews of those later.

A Bad Day for Sunshine by Darynda Jones: review

5/5 stars on Goodreads

A Bad Day for Sunshine by Darynda Jones

It’s always a source of unease when a favourite author starts a new series. Darynda Jones is the author of the great and brilliantly funny Charley Davidson urban fantasy series of a grim reaper turned private investigator. It ended last year, and now Jones has returned with Sunshine Vicram, a series that has no fantasy elements, but has mystery and comedy aplenty.

A Bad Day for Sunshine is different enough from Charley Davidson books to feel fresh and similar enough to feel like coming home. Biggest change on the outset is the use of third person narrative, with alternating points of view between Sunshine and her teenage daughter Aurora. It worked fairly well, but at times it was impossible to tell who the ‘she’ referred to was. There were also a few annoying dream sequences that started in the middle of ‘normal’ scenes, only to pull the rug under the reader later on.

The book follows Sunshine Vicaram, the new serif of a small town in New Mexico. It's her home town, but she’s been away for years and has only been tricked to returning by her parents who somehow managed to get her elected as the new serif. While she knows the people and places, she needs to reacquaint herself with everything. Her first day at work starts with a bang, or a crash, and goes downhill from there when a young girl goes missing. It brings back memories of her own abduction when she was seventeen, the reason she has left the town in the first place.

The other story-line follows Auri at school. She has her own troubles in the form of bullies and a new crush, and she is eager to help her mother to find the missing girl, which puts her in peril. Sun is a good cop and a quirky mom, Auri is a brilliant but troubled daughter. Together they are a great team and I loved them both.

The main case of the missing girl seems odd on the surface, but turns out to be straightforward enough that I guessed the bad guy surprisingly early on. But that’s not all the book is about. There are all sorts of shenanigans going on around Sun, with weird and quirky characters brightening the day, and amazingly sexy men pouring in from every direction. And none of them is as sexy as Sun’s biggest crush since she was a girl, Levi, who may be the hero or the baddie of Sun’s life. With clues from Sun’s past surfacing towards the end and the mystery of how she was elected a serif when she didn't run still unsolved, the following books should prove to be as interesting as the first.

The best crime writer there is

Agatha Christie was chosen for the all-time best crime writer by the Crime Writers Association this week. The same poll declared Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle the best ever series. I like them both. However, while I’ve read many of Christie’s books, I’ve only ever read The Hound of the Baskervilles and A Study in Scarlet by Conan Doyle. For me, Sherlock Holmes has always been better in visual form – any version, I’m not choosy. Christie, however, is enjoyable in both. 

I binge-read Christie’s books when I was maybe fifteen or so. I read every book of hers my local library had, and if there weren’t any unread ones when I went to get more, I would read one of them again. I continued this until I was fed up. I don’t recall having a favourite among them, but I read And Then There Were None more often than others. I should mention, too, that not all her books were available in my language or in my local library so I haven’t read them all.

One would think that a mystery loses its charm the moment one knows the killer, but that doesn’t happen with Christie’s books. More importantly, I don’t think finding out who did it is what draws readers to her books in the first place. Her two wonderful characters alone, Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple, with their idiosyncrasies, are a reason to return to the books.

And although this is a reading blog, I have to admit that I love all the movies and TV series based on her books that I’ve seen too. David Suchet is perhaps my favourite Poirot, but I think I’ve liked all the actresses who have portrayed Miss Marple.

What then, makes a good crime novel? Christie’s books are character driven, filled with interesting, funny and bizarre people who all have secrets to hide – all of which are revealed one by one as the story unravels, keeping the reader guessing till the last page. The murderer is never who I expect it to be, but I must admit that the extremely elaborate plot in Death on the Nile remains my favourite; as a movie too, the 1978 version with Peter Ustinov as Poirot.

Once I was over my Christie binge, I left crime novels behind, hers and everyone else’s. I don’t think I’ve picked a crime novel above a handful of times since. I like a bit of mystery in all my reading, but crime novels for their own sake haven’t felt like worth my while. Perhaps I read too many of them at once. Perhaps no other crime writer has intrigued and entertained me as well as Christie has. I guess, for me, she is the best crime writer there is.

Here, to leave you with style, the trailer for the Death on the Nile: