Agatha Christie - The Seven Dials Mystery (1929)

This is the second mystery with Superintendent Battle and Lady Eileen Brent (Bundle). Of all Christie's female characters, I like Bundle the most. Fun, feisty and daring - she's the most engaging youthful character in all of Christie's books.

A group of friends staying in the country set eight alarm clocks to wake up a chronically oversleeping friend... this sets in motion murder, conspiracy and a race for Bundle to find the seven dials and stop whatever dastardly plans they have for England.

Elizabeth Norris - Unraveling (2012)

This book started out poorly - Janelle Tenner gets hit by a truck, dies and is brought back to life by a boy in the same grade at her high school, Ben Michaels. As she is magically healed she shares his memories of her and realises he has loved her since he was 10 years old - sound familiar? It's book 1 of the Roswell series.

Then everything got interesting - radiation deaths, an explosive device counting down, earthquakes, multiverse and a murdered FBI father. It started to become a really good book and I'd actually forgiven Norris for the beginning. Until I got to the ending. That was just AWFUL.

Talk about deus ex machina.

Mysterious men from a parallel universe pop in and shoot the bad guy just in time, the same teenage bad guy who'd murdered Janelle's father and best friend. His other two friends, one of whom is Ben, are just allowed to go home to their parallel universe AFTER killing hundreds of people in Janelle's universe. Everyone just left Janelle in a remote location with the body of her best friend even though she couldn't phone for help because the city was destroyed by an earthquake and everyone was struggling to survive. Worse - Janelle just happily sits there and thinks how wonderful life is and how much she wants to live it with Ben. Hopefully the FBI found her and locked her up as an accessory to getting hundreds of people dead because she withheld so much information from them because of her "love" for Ben.

As endings go that one really sucked. What an utterly disappointing book.

Hilary Duff - Elixir (2010)

This is the first book in Duff's series Elixir.

The story begins with Clea Raymond on vacation in Paris. She's a photojournalist who's more comfortable behind the lens, than interacting with people. While looking at her pictures she notices the image of a young man, Sage, in every one. Sage starts to haunt Clea's dreams, like a ghost. But, on assignment in Rio, Clea finds Sage is very real and they're soulmates - destined to live out a tragic life together over and over again.

It was an interesting book (at least the idea behind it was), but I didn't like the ending. The second half of the book was a chase scene and then suddenly it could all be fixed by one action, destroyed by one betrayal - all in the last few pages. Quite irritating really, it left me thinking that the writer had multiple personalities and six of them had written this book. It just didn't run smoothly and two many doors were opened, but not explored. There was too much filler in the book and not enough depth. Sad since it began well. I really liked the opening description of Clea's panic attack, it felt so real. Unfortunately it was all downhill from there.

Meg Cabot - Missing You (2006)

This is the fifth and final book in Cabot's Missing series.

Years have passed and Jess is in New York with her friend Ruth, studying at Julliard and trying to forget the past. After stopping the True Americans Jess joined the FBI  and ended up in Afghanistan fighting a war. The trauma burnt out her abilities and she returned home, broken, lost and unable to find herself. Then the last person she wants to see turns up, her ex-boyfriend Rob Wilkins, and he wants her to do the one thing she can't, find his missing sister.

This was a great ending to the series. I loved seeing Jess all grown up and coming to terms with her abilities and her life. It was great seeing her brother Douglas striking out on his own after he'd spent most of the series ill too. All very satisfying as bittersweet endings go. The subject matter was dark, child pornography, but the new adult Jess dealt with it without blowing anything up (so disappointing, I love explosions!). Cabot had brought about full character development over the years, Jess went from a young angry girl to an adult who understands that violence doesn't solve anything.

Meg Cabot - Sanctuary (2002)

This is the fourth book in Cabot's Missing series.

It's Thanksgiving and Jess is busy trying to get out of dinner with her family so she can make it to her boyfriend Rob's house to eat with him and his mother. On her way home she's stopped by police who've found the body of her neighbour, covered in racist carvings, left dead in a field.

Jess had known he was missing, but she'd thought he was out with friends so she hadn't tried to 'see' where he was. Now she blames herself and when another boy goes missing Jess is determined to use her abilities to find him and put the racist murderers in gaol, even if it outs her to the FBI.

Another dark storyline, but well-written. Cabot finds solutions to the darkness and gives us the happy ending we rarely get in real life. It's difficult to write books like this for young adults without making them adult books, but Cabot manages it. I really like this series, there's so many great characters with simple lives that are so interesting. Jess may have psychic abilities thrust on her, but she's an ordinary girl in all other ways. The books are worth reading just to experience the interactions between Jess, her family, friends and the FBI.

Meg Cabot - Safe House (2002)

This is the third book in Cabot's Missing series.

Jess is back from summer camp and finds herself blamed for the death of fellow student Amber Mackay. Amber had disappeared while Jess was away and didn't know she was missing, but that doesn't make the students at Ernest Pyle High School any less angry at Jess. When another girl goes missing everyone looks to Jess to save her and she's forced into trying to save Heather, whilst keeping her family safe from the FBI.

Considering this was a murder mystery it wasn't too heavy. Cabot is good at writing books where the subject matter doesn't draw you into the dark too deeply, but you're still wanting good to win and evil to be pummeled into gooey pulp. You can recognise that you're in Hell, but it doesn't overwhelm you. I like that about these books. They're darker than Cabot's Princess Diaries (which was more light than dark), but I can see how they're the next level up for kids developing. This is their first look at the horrors of the world and how to live with or fight it.

Meg Cabot - Code Name Cassandra (2001)

This is the second book in Cabot's series 'Missing'.

Jess, aka Lightning Girl, has told the world she's lost her powers to protect her family and friends from the media and government's constant harassment. To get away from it all she takes a job at a musically gifted summer camp, hours from home, and hopes it's far enough to put the last few months behind her. Everything's going great until a desperate father turns up needing Jess to find his daughter and the outcome has her running for her life.

I like any Meg Cabot book. They're fun young adult books. Lots of adventure and none of the trauma that the equivalent adult book throws at you. This is a great book, it's part of my I'm-stuck-in-bed-sick-and-need-a-happy-book shelf of books.

Janet Evanovich - The Rocky Road to Romance (1991)

This is the fourth book in the Elsie Hawkins series and another wacky high-spirited romance from Evanovich.

When WZZZ's usual traffic reporter breaks his leg Daisy Adams, from the station's dog trivia and recipes slot, offers to fill in until he can return to work. Station owner, Steve Crow, would like to turn her down, but it's love at first sight and all he can think of is how to keep Daisy in his life.

This book is part of the Elsie Hawkins series, but like the others, Elsie plays a bit part. In this book she comes in as security guard to protect Daisy from a drug pedler she accidentally caught. In all the books Elsie carries a big gun, is a terrible shot and reminds me a lot of the character Grandma Mazur from the Plum series. I'm qite fond of Elsie and I'd really like an 'Elsie' in my life.

This is another fluffy light romance from Evanovich's early books. It's more for when your mind is tired & just needs a fairy-floss distraction. It's not the kind of book that will have you puzzling over anything or leave you wondering at the end.

Janet Evanovich - Foul Play (1989)

This is one of the first books written by Evanovich and it was re-printed recently, along with a handful of others, that she says disappeared from print as soon as they came out. It's interesting to read an early Evanovich, you can see the character development. There are character names and aspects of personalities that start in these early books and are fleshed out for her Stephanie Plum series.

Amy Klasse is fired from her children's TV show job and replaced by a big breasted woman with a dancing chicken. Incensed, she rampages her way through a supermarket and runs into veterinarian Jake Elliott. Jake takes pity on her and gives Amy a job as his receptionist. Unfortunately, the chicken disappears and Amy is suspect number one in this wacky romantic adventure.

It's an okay book. It's a nice bit of fluff for the end of a tiring day when you just want a light crazy-romance-comedy-adventure with a happy ending.

Lisa Shearin - The Dragon Conspiracy (2015)

This is the second book in the SPI Files series.

They're the Supernatural Protection and Investigations Agency. They try to stop what roams in the night from eating you. In this book they have to find a cluster of diamond eggs, stolen by Harpies, that can cause complete chaos in the supernatural community. Mostly by unmasking supernaturals, removing their glamour and exposing them to the world. In a city as big as New York with a large supernatural community, that's a lot of rioting, burning torches and pitchforks once the humans learn what lives alongside them.

Once more it's down to the human seer Makenna and her human partner Ian to solve the mystery and save New York - with the help of the SPI team. I really love these books. There's nothing Shearin has written that I haven't loved. Shearin is a fantastic writer, her characters are so evolved you feel sad even when a walk-through character dies. This book was a fun ride, I was sad when it was over. I like the way the characters and the stories are developing. I cannot wait for book three - although I hope it has better cover art.

Jennifer Archer - The Shadow Girl (2013)

Lily Winston has a voice in her head - it belongs to Iris. They've been together forever and now Iris is pushing Lily to find out the truth about their past. To solve the mystery of why they exist and how Lily can remember things that Iris did before she was ever born. Is Iris a ghost? Is Lily possessed?

I don't want to spoil the book for anyone, so I can't really explain more than that. It was an interesting book and it raised a lot of questions in my mind. Mostly about whether souls exist or the mind just creates a personality? Also, is who we are a part of every cell in our body? What does this mean for organ transplants? The concept of the book is a worrying pit of questions without answers, but it's a future we're rapidly moving towards.

Ellery Adams - Peach Pies and Alibis (2013)

This is book two in the Charmed Pie Shoppe mystery series.

American writers really do love to "Americanise" the Arthurian myth. In this series the LeFaye women are direct descendants of the good Morgan LeFay, and their nasty counter-parts are from Queen Guinevere. Perhaps America is a mirror-verse of England?

Having grown up on the Arthurian myth, particularly via Susan Cooper and T.H. White, the book seemed really implausible. Why would all of the Arthurian characters ditch England for America? Particularly when one of the main aspects of the myth is how Arthur is the great hero for England's times of peril? (Although I think he missed the boat on World War II. Perhaps his supernatural alarm didn't go off?)

Anyways, ignore the myth and you do have a good book. The story is interesting, each of the LeFaye women has a specific gift. The lead character, Ella Mae, can bake pies that enchant people to do or feel what she wants them to. It borders on manipulation (or has crossed that border), but fortunately Ella Mae is a good encantress and she tries to help make people's lives better, even when she doesn't like them. This helps her solve mysteries and find murderers - although in this book Ella Mae has to do it before they all lose their powers. No pressure kid.

Janet Evanovich & Charlotte Hughes - Full House (2002)

This is the first book in the Max Holt series. It starts with the genius Max as a teenage boy on his uncle Nick's ranch. Nick is trying to run a Polo school, but Max is busy fighting inequality in society - by blowing things up. Add to the mix Max's much older and very self-involved sister Dee, who is about to enter her fourth marriage, but is crashing at Nick's home until the wedding - and driving him crazy.

So Nick does the only reasonable thing - he tricks the woman he's lusting after, Billie, into taking Dee into her home. It's an avalanche of the usual calamitous high-jinks Evanovich is infamous for until the explosive ending.

The book was okay, but I found Nick's character super-cold. Particularly near the end (SPOILER) where Billie has only been kidnapped for an hour, but he's all ready to sink into despair and assume she's dead. Umm... that's the spirit??! Apart from that it was interesting seeing a teenage Max, he's a fun character.

Lilith Saintcrow - The Iron Wyrm Affair (2012)

The Bannon & Clare series is an interesting mix of magic and steampunk. The world is very dark, but that's usual for a Saintcrow novel. Clare is the deductive of the pair - think Sherlock Holmes. Bannon, though, is no Dr. Watson. She's a powerful sorceress in the employ of the Queen. A distant and controlled woman, intent on her duty at the expense of everything, even herself.

This series is fun - and not just because there are dragons! But, seriously, DRAGONS!!! The Iron Wyrm Affair is a search for conspirators who are killing off Mentaths, the only people with the ability to locate and stop them before they achieve their aim - taking over the Empire. The dialog is a bit naff - Saintcrow is trying for Victorian mannerisms and sounding stiff and mocking. Other than that, I really enjoyed the book. I'm so glad Saintcrow has written another strong woman character who doesn't need a man, doesn't give in to men's insecurities, doesn't give a damn what men think. That's my favourite part of her books - all the strong capable women who do what has to be done, almost without emotion, because it's the only way they survive the dark worlds.

Agatha Christie - Destination Unknown (1954)

This is another of Christie's standalone spy thrillers.

Hilary Craven, amusing name since she's trying to kill herself in Morocco when the story begins,  is enlisted by a British agent Jessop to impersonate a missing scientist's dead wife. Scientists have been disappearing all over the world and Jessop believes Hilary is his best hope of locating where they've been spirited off to.

I really liked the journey across Africa and the different ideologies for the characters - these made up their different reasons for disappearing the way they did. They all thought they were going to their version of Utopia. In reality a very wealthy man was collecting 'resources' that the world would pay heavily to use. Christie wasn't blinded by the illusions thrown up to stop people seeing the realities of life - in the end it's always about money. Greed makes the world go round. Quite sad really, since money doesn't exist yet so much harm is done to acquire it.

Agatha Christie - Sparkling Cyanide (1944)

Christie loves her story-lines where heiresses are murdered for their fortunes. I wonder if it happened often in the 30s and 40s, or if she just didn't like beautiful self-involved heiresses.

Rosemary Barton dies at her birthday dinner - suicide by cyanide in champagne. Less than a year later her husband receives letters stating Rosemary was murdered and he calls in Colonel Race to help him figure out why and whom.

This was a good story - Race doesn't have much more than a cameo in it for most of the book. It's more him trying to convince George to leave things to the police. George doesn't and this gets him killed, so Race steps in to solve the murder, helped by Rosemary's sister Iris's fiance Anthony Browne.

I really like the name of one of the antagonists - Ruth Lessing. Her character was truly ruthless and foolish.

Agatha Christie - Death on the Nile (1937)

This is the 15th book in the Hercule Poirot mysteries and the second book featuring Colonel Race. It's one of my favourite of Christie's mysteries and one of the saddest.

The very poor Simon Doyle meets the equally poor Jacqueline de Bellefort, they fall passionately in love, get engaged and Jackie introduces him to her very wealthy best friend Linnet Ridgeway - who promptly steals Simon away.

Enter Egypt, three months later, on a cruise up the Nile. The newly wed Simon and Linnet are on their unhappy honeymoon as they're pursued by a vengeful Jackie. Poirot, also on the cruise, watches the drama uneasily as he suspects things are not quite what they seem. With Linnet's murder, the theft of pearls, the appearance of Colonel Race on the trail of a foreign agent, and far too many suspects who wanted Linnet dead - Poirot finds a very confusing case that taxes his little grey cells.

I'm always saddened by Linnet's death. She was spoiled and used to getting her own way, but she was only 20 years old and to kill someone so young for money is just so meaningless. Money is an imaginary concept, without worth. Linnet shouldn't have been murdered for it, especially not with the justification that she had betrayed a friend and stolen her fiance as the slim reason behind it all. People mature, they grow out of their feckless youth. Linnet would never have the chance.

I'm still quite fond of Colonel Race. He doesn't have Poirot's skill at puzzling out the truth, but he's such a comforting character. I've liked watching him develop through Christie's novels.

Sadie Jones - The Uninvited Guests (2012)

The book begins in early 1900s rural England at a house named Sterne. The Torrington-Shift family are close to losing the house financially and are spending the day wallowing in the despair of oh-who-will-save-us whilst preparing for eldest daughter Emerald's birthday.

That evening, just before the party begins, there's a train accident on a nearby line and the survivors are re-routed to Sterne until the railway can bus them on their way. The family are a fairly self-involved lot and don't cope very well with having to do the right thing towards fellow human beings. Especially when the survivors bring with them someone from their mother's disreputable past who shows the family the cruelty hiding in their shallow selves.

The book was well-written, but not to my taste. I found the storyline and characters repugnant. I know that it is very easy for people to behave that badly as long as the majority are in agreement - it's how mobs turn into mass-murderers. But, I don't want to read about it. The synopsis made me believe it was a ghost story, which it is. A ghost story with a fairly severe look at how wicked and heartless humans can be.

Rebecca Hale - Nine Lives Last Forever (2010) How to Moon a Cat (2011)

This is book two and three in the Cats and Curios Mystery series. I'm reviewing them together because I didn't like either very much and I don't think there's much difference between them.

The main problem I had with them, apart from the ludicrously slow moving storyline, is the point-of-view constantly jumping, even in the middle of a chapter. Not just to different people (there were nine in book 3), but to inanimate objects and animals too. It was incredibly confusing and off-putting. Honestly, if I hadn't already bought the books I wouldn't have bothered reading them.

I don't really understand how the author got from book one to these two books. Similar characters, but all a bit of a mess really in the storyline. What is going on gets so confusing because of the constant jumping of viewpoints. If you've never met a character (or tree, rock, statue, frog, cat...) before you're not going to understand that you're suddenly listening to what they're thinking.

I didn't find the characters engaging at all, we just spent too little time with them. The main protagonist could have been killed, along with her cats, and it wouldn't have made a difference to the story.

I won't be bothering with the next three books in the series and these three are off to Goodwill.

Agatha Christie - The Seven Dials Mystery (1929)

This is the second Christie novel featuring Superintendent Battle and Lady Eileen 'Bundle' Brent. It's set four years after the Secret of Chimneys in the 1920s.

Bundle, now a young lady, stumbles on a mystery that began whilst Chimneys was leased for the past two years. What's the significance of the seven clocks? What did Gerry Wade mean by the Seven Dials? Who killed Ronny Devereaux and what does it all have to do with a formula for steel?

Bundle, in her usual exuberant manner, bumbles about, often finding clues by accident. Enlisting the help of Jimmy, Lorraine and Bill, they inflict themselves on the ever tolerant Superintendent Battle who also seems to be involved in the mystery.

I really enjoyed it, but I don't believe there is a Christie I haven't liked. What I really  would have loved is for Christie to have written more mysteries featuring Bundle, who is just such an engaging character, I wanted her story to go on and on.