Pies and Prejudice-Ellery Adams

Pies and Prejudice
Ellery Adams

Berkley, Jul 3 2012, $7.99

ISBN: 9780425251409



Happily married to Sloan Kitteridge, Ella Mae LaFaye was shocked to find her husband cheating. A sad, Ella Mae leaves him in New York and returns to her hometown of Havenwood, Georgia with the clothes she is wearing and her puppy Chevy. Her mom and her maternal aunts welcome home the prodigal daughter who they have not seen during her marriage. Not one to sit idly moping, Ella Mae opens up The Charmed Pie Shoppe, which proves successful as Georgians love her pastries that contain an extra magical “ingredient”.



The police question Ella Mae over the death of her longtime adversary Loralyn Gaynor’s fiancé equine veterinarian Bradford Knox; as the murder weapon is one of her baking rolling pins. Soon afterward, a second murder occurs.. Concluding someone is diabolically framing her, Ella Mae investigates the homicides before the cops arrest her.



The first A Charmed Pie Shoppe Mystery is a fun rural fantasy amateur sleuth with part of the enjoyment comings from knowing Ella Mae and her family possessed different paranormal gifts. The heroine is likable while the secondary characters like her high school crush Hugh Dylan, who is attracted to her, add local flavor and eccentricity. With a nod to the movie You, Again readers will enjoy this regional mystery although the motive for investigating is typical of the sub-genre; as the paranormal elements bring the fresh magic to this enjoyable Georgia culinary whodunit.



Harriet Klausner

The Scarlet Pepper-Dorothy St. James

The Scarlet Pepper


Dorothy St. James

Berkley, Apr 3 2012, $7.99

ISBN: 9780425247044



White House assistant gardener Casey Calhoun oversees the organic vegetable garden that First Lady Margaret Bradley loves. However Casey notices digging marks at the Kitchen Garden that she assumes the First Dog did until green pepper sprouts instead of the red she planted and cabbage rather than lettuce. Someone is trying to embarrass the First Lady as the Watercressgate scandal breaks in which Casey is accused of cheating.



Media Today investigative reporter Griffon Parker and Casey publicly argue just before he is murdered. The wife of the chief of staff, garden volunteer Francesca Dearing informs the DC police that the death matches Casey’s suggestion for a murder mystery dinner benefit. TV Scotsman Gillis Farquhar host of Gardening the Farquhar Way: Organic! is hired to save the organic Kitchen Garden. With her esteem low, Casey investigates who is behind the gardening stunts, but her inquiry places her in peril and Jack the Secret Service Agent who likes her warns her to stop investigating before an “accident” kills her.



The second White House Gardener Mystery (see Flowerbed of State) is a fabulous amateur sleuth starring a likeable woman with commitment issues except when it comes to her passion, plants. Her violent childhood allows readers to accept Casey’s investigation and her inability to deal with a relationship. Although she proves too good a sleuth as the culprit would testify, fans will enjoy this entertaining whodunit enhanced by the eccentric people who diligently work at the White House.



Harriet Klausner

When the Past Haunts You-L.C. Hayden

When the Past Haunts You


L.C. Hayden

CreateSpace, Feb 19 2012, $10.00

ISBN: 9781470074791



Carol Bronson lectures her husband of thirty-one years for keeping a secret from her. The retired Dallas cop never told her he has a sister Lorraine who just called. He explains to his spouse that his sibling informed him and their parents she wanted nothing to do with them and left without a second glance back. Harry wants nothing to do with Lorraine and deletes her increasingly desperate calls as he remembers how she blew pot smoke into the face of their ailing dad.



When he finally answers, she says she is in deadly trouble, cannot talk on the phone and is in Whittle City near Pittsburgh. He refuses to go there but Carol persuades him to fly from South Dakota to Pennsylvania to meet at Glacier Valley State Park where she is shot dead as she runs to him. Bronson informs lead police investigator Ivy Cannody that he is staying at the home of his former partner Mike’s ex-wife Ellen in Pittsburgh. Feeling guilty, Harry decides to find his sibling’s killer; Mike and Ellen assist him.



The latest Harry Bronson (see When Death Intervenes) is a great twisting thriller as the remorseful protagonist needs to find the murderer, but to do so means uncovering his sister’s convoluted surprising past. Action-packed but also filled with pathos, readers will relish this strong entry as Harry learns you can’t go home if you wait too long.



Harriet Klausner

Redemption-Susannah Sandlin

Redemption


Susannah Sandlin

Montlake Romance, Jun 12, 2012, $12.95

ISBN: 9781612183541



The vaccine saved mankind, but left the vampire world reeling; as human blood instead of substance became toxic. Realizing only in remote rural areas will live the dwindling few without the vaccine, Aidan Murphy established Penton, Alabama as a place where vampires like him and untreated humans live together in peace; the humans voluntarily allow the vampires to drink some of their blood.



In New York City, Matthias Ludlam is irate that his son William resides in Penton; he demands the extraction of his offspring Will. Vampire Tribunal private investigator Roger Hobbs explains that William is blood-bonded to Aidan as is the Tribunal top Slayer Mirren Kincaid and over twenty five other vamps. Ludlam realizes Aidan could defeat the Tribunal. He offers Aidan’s estranged brother Owen a deal he cannot refuse because the alternative is execution. Owen arrives in Penton and attacks humans killing the only doctor. A desperate Aidan breaks a commandment and kidnaps Dr. Krystal Harris, an untreated human with no vampire experience. However both are stunned when they fall in love as he remembers vividly the deaths of his wife and child centuries ago and she loathes “abusive” alpha males like her dad.



This is a super romantic urban fantasy with a terrific backdrop. The action-packed story line is fast-paced from the moment Ludlam sends his operative to Alabama and never slows down until the Cain and Abel confrontation. Although Aidan’s anguish is overdone becoming a minor irritant, readers will relish the refreshing stunning Susannah Sandlin vampire mythos.



Harriet Klausner

Blackout-Mira Grant

Blackout


Mira Grant

Orbit, May 22 2012, $9.99

ISBN: 9780316081078



In 2041, it has been almost three decades since the Rising of the dead began and a couple of years since CDC murdered news blogger Georgia Mason after the siblings uncovered a hellish conspiracy and cover-up. Her brother Shaun continues their investigative work at After the End Times with his sister’s ghost assisting him. However, his staff fears that the constant pressure of the job and his failure to move on in the grieving process has left Shaun teetering over the edge.



Georgia guides her sibling though the labs of mad scientists laboratory and past a horde of zombies not all who were formerly human. Then there is the Feds who obsess over corpses as they will do anything to keep the status quo especially burying scandals and plots even if their path dooms the United States.



The final Newsflesh post-apocalyptic urban fantasy (see Feed and Deadline) is a great climax to a wonderful trilogy. The story line is fast-paced as the key threads are resolved not all in a positive manner for the bloggers. Mira Grant closes out her futuristic America with hope in the darkness.



Harriet Klausner

The King’s Concubine-Anne O'Brien

The King’s Concubine


Anne O'Brien

NAL, Jun 5 2012, $15.00

ISBN: 9780451236807



In1362, ailing Queen Philippa selects a fifteen years old orphaned virgin at a convent to serve as the Royal Mistress to her beloved husband King Edward III as her deteriorating health will no longer allow her to take care of the needs of her soulmate. The Queen expects Alice Perrers to be loyal to her regal sponsors while also providing sexual release to the monarch. Ambitious beyond her years as she sees an opportunity for a good life, Alice relishes being the King’s Concubine while also honoring her “guardian” by her and Edward keeping their mouths shut about their affair as long as Philippa lived. However, though intelligent and prepared for the end of her financial arrangement with the king, an uncompromising Alice fails to recognize the full scope of what will happen to her after Edward dies even as she observes his decline in health in his later years. Sir William Windsor comes to her aid when others want her exiled or dead; as he and Alice forge a lasting loving relationship.



To the victors go the history books, which treat Alice as a dolt who used her body to gain riches. Instead this superb medieval biographical fiction paints a different complete picture of an ambitious smart young lady who understood the importance of loyalty though envious others at court disdained her. Anne O’Brien brings to life the successful reign of King Edward III and the beginning of the successor rivalry that led to his rule’s outcome, the War of the Roses, as seen by his mistress.



Harriet Klausner

The Unfinished Work of Elizabeth D.-Nichole Bernier

The Unfinished Work of Elizabeth D.


Nichole Bernier

Crown, Jun 5 2012, $24.00

ISBN: 9780307887801



For five years Kate Spencer and Elizabeth Martin were best friends as card carrying members of the mommy brigade. They shared family picnics and other events especially involving their children although at times they escaped parenting and husbands together. The tragic death of Elizabeth in a plane crash ends their sisterhood.



The late Elizabeth shocks everyone especially her husband Dave and her BFF Kate when she bequests her diaries to the latter and not her spouse. Dave tells Kate that his wife was flying to meet her lover Michael. Stunned by his accusation about his late wife, Kate begins to read what her buddy wrote, but she is overwhelmed to find a different person than the one she knew. Instead of the nurturing mother, wife and friend; there lurked an artist begging to come out of the shadows. However, what shakes Kate the most is Elizabeth’s unmasked opinions of her at a time when her relationship with her husband Chris is shaky.



This is a superb character study that reads like a mystery as Kate begins to learn the full complex Elizabeth and what at times her BFF thought of her. The storyline focuses on how people wear masks to hide desires and hurts; little innocent nothings in one person’s mind can fester into major pain in the other person’s mind as relationships are complex and convoluted. Encouraged to let your inner self flow free and not worry about the opinions of others, readers will appreciate this discerning look at unmasking the real you and me outside of our societal roles.



Harriet Klausner