Jeopardy in July (Jamie Quinn Mystery, Book 5)

BARBARA VENKATARAMAN

Synopsis from Goodreads: Old people were dying at an alarming rate at La Vida Boca, a posh assisted living facility in Boca Raton, Florida. With its sterling reputation, dedicated staff, and top-notch medical care, none of the deaths are considered suspicious, but when members of the poker club start to die under strange circumstances, attorney Jamie Quinn finds herself once again embroiled in a mystery. With help from her new friend, Jessie Sandler, and her favorite P.I., Duke Broussard, Jamie uncovers a crime that took place forty years earlier. Can she stop the killer in time? Or is she in danger of becoming the next victim?

Stats for my copy: Kindle edition, 2017.

How acquired: Link to free download provided by the author Goodreads.

First Line: With lights flashing, an ambulance pulled up to the front door of La Vida Boca before screeching to a stop.

My thoughts:  When Ms. Venkataraman posted on Goodreads that her newest Jamie Quinn mystery was live on Amazon, with a link to download a free copy, I jumped on it. I've enjoyed all the Jamie Quinn stories, and I think this fifth book in the series is my favorite.

Jamie's boyfriend, Kip, is still off in Australia playing with wombats, but there was plenty going on in Jamie's world to keep her occupied while missing him. Jamie is such a fun character, witty and self-deprecating, and drawn to helping others. We don't see as much of bestie Grace as in the previous book, but P.I. Duke gets lots of page time, and I love the banter between Jamie and Duke. Frenemie state attorney Nick finds himself having to grudgingly bring Jamie into an investigation he's assisting her FBI pal Jayashree with, and while Nick and Jamie aren't the best of friends they definitely have chemistry and their banter is even better than that between Jamie and Duke.

There's a lot going on plot wise – art forgery, poker buddies at a senior citizen living center dying one after another, Kip possibly keeping a secret from Jamie, her dad acting strange when she tells him she's coming to visit him – and Ms. Venkataraman weaves everything together seamlessly. I think I laughed out loud more at this book than the previous ones, and I got quite teary eyed at one point.

This series is fun to read, and while each entry involves a different mystery and could probably stand alone, I recommend reading them in order. I sure hope there will be more Jamie in the future!  

SIZE 12 AND READY TO ROCK (Heather Wells Mysteries, Book 4)

MEG CABOT

Synopsis from Goodreads: Summer break . . . and the livin' ain't easy!

Just because the students at New York College have flown the coop doesn't mean assistant residence hall director Heather Wells can relax. Fischer Hall is busier than ever, filled with squealing thirteen- and fourteen-year-old girls attending the first ever Tania Trace Teen Rock Camp, hosted by pop sensation Tania Trace herself—who just happens to be newly married to Heather's ex-boyfriend, heartthrob Jordan Cartwright. But the real headache begins when the producer of a reality TV show starring Tania winds up dead . . . and it's clear that the star was the intended victim.

Grant Cartwright, head of Cartwright Records, wants to keep his daughter-in-law (and his highest-earning performer) alive. So he hires his oldest son, black sheep of the family and private investigator Cooper Cartwright—who just happens to be Heather's new fiancÉ. Heather should leave the detecting to Cooper. But with a dorm full of hysterical mini-divas-in-training, she can't help but get involved. And after Tania shares a really shocking secret with her, this reality suddenly becomes more dangerously real than anyone ever anticipated.

Stats for my copy: Trade paperback, William Morrow, 2012.

How acquired: Via BookCrossing.

My thoughts:  It's been awhile since I read the first three books in this series (almost four years), but I was sucked right in as if it had been yesterday. In fact, this one could probably be read and enjoyed on it's own, without having read the first three books.

Meg Cabot is a master at the snarky humor. And the first person narration just zips along, as if Heather is sitting beside you telling you her story. In fact, Cabot's breezy writing is so masterful that it didn't even hit me until literally the last page that the writing is in first person PRESENT TENSE. Seriously! My least favorite tense, and I didn't even notice for 360 pages!

Heather is such a fun heroine, and Cooper, God, I love Cooper! And I was so happy that he got more page time here than in the previous book. And I'm sad that there's only one more book after this one.  

Flashback

DAN SIMMONS

Synopsis from Goodreads: The United States is near total collapse. But 87% of the population doesn't care: they're addicted to flashback, a drug that allows its users to re-experience the best moments of their lives. After ex-detective Nick Bottom's wife died in a car accident, he went under the flash to be with her; he's lost his job, his teenage son, and his livelihood as a result.

Nick may be a lost soul but he's still a good cop, so he is hired to investigate the murder of a top governmental advisor's son. This flashback-addict becomes the one man who may be able to change the course of an entire nation turning away from the future to live in the past.

A provocative novel set in a future that seems scarily possible, FLASHBACK proves why Dan Simmons is one of our most exciting and versatile writers.

Stats for my copy: Hardback, Large Print; Reagan Arthur Books; 2011

How acquired: Bought.

My thoughts: I bought this book at a library sale solely because I loved the cover, even though it is very much outside my usual reading genre. And it was good. It was interesting. At times it was a little tedious. And the last quarter of the book was enthralling, which bumped my rating up a star. I liked Nick Bottom, the flashback addicted ex-cop, despite the fact that he'd dumped his son and more or less forgotten about him. I liked Val, a tough kid on the outside, running with a flashgang, worrying his grandfather, hating his old man, vulnerable on the inside, missing his mom, hurt that his dad didn't even call him on his birthday. And the dystopian future setting is just realistic enough to imagine our world actually turning out this way.

Nerds Like It Hot (Nerds, Book 6)

VICKI LEWIS THOMPSON

Back cover copy: She's unleashed her inner vixen…

Hollywood makeup artist Gillian McCormick wouldn't normally be caught dead on a cruise aimed at single geeks. But as the sole witness to a murder, hiding out may be her only chance at staying alive. With P.I. Lex Manchester guarding her, and a voluptuous disguise in place of her plain-Jane wardrobe, Gillian should be safe… if she can resist a titanic attraction to Lex that's making her fantasize about some extra-naughty cruise activities…

He's rediscovered his inner nerd…

Lex thought he had left behind his nerdy ways, but his suave demeanor has no chance against Gillian's bombshell image and the smart, sexy woman within. And when the scent of seduction wafts through the sea air, what's a red-blooded male to do?

And the passion they've found is about to get out of control…

With a passenger list that includes a mobster on a mission, a cross-dressing sociopath, and hundreds of lusty nerds, Lex must find a way to keep Gillian safe--and prove that he's truly her nerd for all seasons…

Stats for my copy: Mass market paperback, St. Martin's Press, 2006.

How acquired: Bought.

First lines: “Gillian, Darling, it's Cora. Four out of five women surveyed say that nerds are amazing in bed. You simply must go on this cruise with me. Kiss, kiss.”

My thoughts: As I've now come to expect with this series, the characters and the situations they find themselves in are a little campy, a little over the top. Well, actually, not the characters this time around as much as the situations.

Gillian does makeup in the cutthroat world of Hollywood. Leaving the studio late one night, she overhears a ruckus coming from one of the star's dressing rooms, and just like that she's a witness to a murder with mob connections. Her elderly friend Cora, a former star who was friends with Marilyn Monroe back in the day, is headed out on a singles cruise for nerds the next day, and Cora convinces Gillian to go along as a way of getting out of the country. And she convinces Gillian to dye her hair and put on a sexy dress and bam, Gillian is a Marilyn Monroe lookalike. Because rather than blend in with the crowds of ill dressed and badly coiffed nerds and be inconspicuous, Cora says that she needs to stand out and participate in as many cruise activities as she can, so nobody would ever mistake “Norma Jean”, her fake cruise name, for Gillian.

Lex and Dante are childhood friends who have a fledgling private investigations business. They grew up in Cora's neighborhood and she considers them the grandsons she never had. So Cora hires them to come along on the cruise as bodyguards for Gillian. Cora happens to know the owners of the cruise line, so has no problem making last minute arrangements. Unfortunately, trouble follows Gillian as it soon becomes apparent that someone else managed to get on the cruise as well, and that someone wants Gillian dead.

A few scenes left me shaking my head with disbelief – Gillian verbally admiring how well endowed Lex is; a cross-dresser using fruit in a way nature never intended – but overall it was a fun and quick paced screwball romp with plenty of the author's signature humor and heart. 

Death by Didgeridoo (A Jamie Quinn Mystery, Book 1)

BARBARA VENKATARAMAN

Synopsis from Goodreads: Reluctant lawyer, Jamie Quinn, still reeling from the death of her mother, is pulled into a game of deception, jealousy, and vengeance when her cousin, Adam, is wrongfully accused of murder. It's up to Jamie to find the real murderer before it's too late. It doesn't help that the victim is a former rock star with more enemies than friends, or that Adam confessed to a murder he didn't commit.

Stats for my copy: Pdf received from the author for review.

First line: I don't know why I feel guilty, it's not like I killed the guy.

My thoughts: My attention was captured from that first line, which did well at setting the tone for the story. Jamie Quinn, an insomniac family law attorney, receives a frantic call from her aunt. Her cousin, Adam, who has Asperger Syndrome, has been accused of murdering his music teacher, a former rock star. Jamie begins investigating, looking for evidence that will point to the real murderer. Not being a criminal attorney, she's a little out of her depth, but having represented a womanizing PI in his divorce proceeding, she enlists his help, along with that of her friend, Grace, who used to work for the public defender's office.

This was a short, bouncy, fun read. Jamie is our narrator, and she often has a humorous and self-deprecating way of looking at, and describing, things and events. The PI, Duke, was an interesting, somewhat charming character, a little on the sleazy side without being skeevy. There's also the disdainful Nick “Mr. State Attorney” Dimitropoulos, who is determined to find enough evidence of his own to press charges. I thought he might end up being a potential love interest for Jamie, who described him as “a GQ cover model”, but the story never went there. Which is fine since this is a mystery, not a romance – I read way too much romance and expect to encounter it in everything else I read.

There's not a lot of character development, but considering how short the book is (87 pages in pdf format, not counting the excerpt at the back) the author still did a good job of making each character distinct from the others. The plot moved along at a brisk pace without being too rushed or confusing, and mystery was neatly wrapped up in the end. I look forward to continuing with this series. 

The Big Bad Wolf Tells All

DONNA KAUFFMAN

Synopsis: In this fast-paced, sexy romp from Donna Kauffman, a woman who’s a self-avowed lone wolf – with a trail of broken hearts behind her – finds herself face-to-face with love…

Tanzy Harrington is the Bay Area’s most-read romance columnist and self-proclaimed love-‘em-and-leave-‘em artist – and she’s not quite ready to tie herself down to one man. That is, until Riley Parrish lands on the scene.

When Tanzy agrees to house-sit for her eccentric great-aunt, she finds herself sharing close quarters with Riley. At first he seems a bit too much like the “sheep” Tanzy derides in her column – too polite, the classic boring good provider. But when she catches a glimpse of the “wolf” lurking in his eyes, the ultimate alpha female is about to take a fall…

Stats for my copy: Mass market paperback, published by Bantam Dell, a Division of Random House, Inc., 2004; 409 pages; I don’t remember when, where or how I got this book!

My thoughts: It took me a little bit to get into this book. Right off the bat we meet not only our heroine, Tanzy, but her whole group of zany friends, which for me was confusing and too much at one time.

Tanzy writes a very popular romance column wherein she amusingly spouts her opinions and compares men to wolves or sheep. It’s her latest theory, that men all fall into one or the other category. Women date wolves, but marry sheep, and she does not understand the attraction to the sheep and is trying to figure it out. I personally thought it was kind of a dumb theory, and I think that’s part of what made it hard for me to get vested in the story too quickly.

When her great-aunt Millicent needs to go out of town just before the Christmas holidays, she asks Tanzy to house sit for her. All the staff will be on vacation, except her new personal assistant, Riley. Tanzy can write her column from anywhere she has computer access, so she grudgingly packs a bag and moves into her aunt’s huge home.

Tanzy is a serial dater, proclaiming to the world that women think about sex just as much as men, and as long as a woman uses safety precautions, there’s nothing wrong with her having a healthy sex life. And she practices what she preaches. Love? No, thank you. She’s not interested in that, or marriage or kids. And she is very unimpressed with Riley, noting that when he shakes her hand at their first meeting his grip is limp. That’s how she describes it. He’s a dull, boring sheep and she avoids dinner with him in her aunt’s kitchen every night by eating in her room while she works.

Tanzy has been getting emails from an obsessed fan who goes by the name SoulM8. She’s had crazy fans before, but this one is starting to worry her a little. Not enough to do anything about it though or let it interfere with her life and her fun. Besides, she now has something new on her mind. For some odd reason, she finds herself intrigued by the resident Riley sheep, and even wondering what it would be like to kiss him. What the heck is wrong with her?

Riley of course is not who or what she thinks he is. He’s got a job to do, and is determined to be professional and detached while maintaining a low profile.

There’s a lot going on in this book, but the best parts of the book are when the huge cast of supporting characters fade into the background and we’re with just Tanzy and Riley, watching them get to know each other. I loved the banter between them, with many exchanges that made me not just smile, but grin or even laugh out loud.

Finding out who SoulM8 is becomes a large plot point, and while I certainly didn’t figure out the stalker’s identity, I did figure out more than either Riley or Tanzy did long before they did, which was disappointing and made the big reveal a bit of a let down for me. When SoulM8 finally made a personal appearance, our hero and heroine were both shocked to their cores, while I was asking them how they could be so stupid.

But the journey to that point was fun and well worth my time.