Eating Heaven by Jenny Shortridge

Nothing gets Eleanor Samuels's heart racing like a double scoop of mocha fudge chunk. Sure, the magazine writer may have some issues aside from food, but she isn't quite ready to face them. Then her beloved Uncle Benny falls ill, and what at first seems scary and daunting becomes a blessing in disguise. Because while she cooks and cares for him-and enjoys a delicious flirtation with a new chef in town-Eleanor begins to uncover some long-buried secrets about her emotionally frayed family and may finally get the chance to become the woman she's always wanted to be.

Family secrets come to light when honorary uncle becomes ill. In caring for him and uncovering those secrets Eleanor forges new relationships with her sisters and with her attitude towards food.

Bellman & Black by Diane Setterfield

As a boy, William Bellman commits one small cruel act that appears to have unforeseen and terrible consequences. The killing of a rook with his catapult is soon forgotten amidst the riot of boyhood games. And by the time he is grown, with a wife and children of his own, he seems indeed, to be a man blessed by fortune.

Until tragedy strikes, and the stranger in black comes, and William Bellman starts to wonder if all his happiness is about to be eclipsed. Desperate to save the one precious thing he has left, he enters into a bargain. A rather strange bargain, with an even stranger partner, to found a decidedly macabre business.

And Bellman & Black is born.

An interesting, strange, twisted story.

Day Shift by Charlaine Harris

Welcome to Midnight, Texas.

It's a quiet little town, perched at the junction between Davy Road and Witch Light Road, and it's easy to miss. With its boarded-up windows, single traffic light and sleepy air, there's nothing special about Midnight . . . which is exactly how the residents like it.

So when the news comes that a new owner plans to renovate the run-down, abandoned old hotel in town, it's not met with pleasure. Who would want to come to Midnight, with its handful of shops, the Home Cookin diner, and quiet residents - and why?

But there are bigger problems in the air. When Manfred Bernado, the newest resident in town, is swept up in a deadly investigation suddenly the hotel and its residents are the least of the towns concern. The police, lawyers and journalists are all headed to Midnight, and it's the worst possible moment . . .

I like the quirky characters that may or may not be what they seem. There’s a general air of creepiness but there's also the charming and mundane aspects of small town life.

The Mangle Street Murders by M.R.C.Kasasian

After her father dies, March Middleton has to move to London to live with her guardian, Sidney Grice, the country’s most famous private detective.

It is 1882 and London is at its murkiest yet most vibrant, wealthiest yet most poverty-stricken. No sooner does March arrive than a case presents itself: a young woman has been brutally murdered, and her husband is the only suspect. The victim’s mother is convinced of her son-in-law’s innocence, and March is so touched by her pleas she offers to cover Sidney’s fee herself.

The investigations lead the pair to the darkest alleys of the East End: every twist leads Sidney Grice to think his client is guilty; but March is convinced that he is innocent. Around them London reeks with the stench of poverty and gossip, the case threatens to boil over into civil unrest and Sidney Grice finds his reputation is not the only thing in mortal danger.

Sidney Grice is a nasty, arrogant man but I did like March. Lots of twists and turns and red herrings all the way to the end.

Mourning Gloria by Joyce Christmas

OOK WHO'S BACK IN TOWN. . .
None other than notorious Gloria Gilpin Forsythe Anton--with a fresh face-lift, a new husband, and plans for a major social comeback. But Gloria is riding for a fall--a fatal one--down the back stairs of an old East Side mansion, that she's turned into a lavish designer showhouse.
Elegant society snoop Lady Margaret Priam is troubled and intrigued by this mysterious blueblood tragedy, which mimics another tragic death in the same setting forty years ago. Is one of Gloria's best friends in fact a deadly enemy? Has Gloria riled up her ex-husband? Or has the unquiet past claimed another victim? Lady Margaret goes fishing, and in the shark-infested waters of the New York social swim she lands herself a killer. . . .

For a murder mystery it sure took a long time for the victim to die.  The ending was good, but hardly worth the time it took to get there.

Man Out Of Time by Stephanie Bishop

When Stella's father, Leon, disappears in September 2001, the police knock at her door. She baulks at their questions, not sure how to answer. 'What if I just write it down for you.'

One summer, a long time ago, Stella sat watching her father cry while the sky clouded over. He had tried to make amends: for his failures, for forgetting to buy the doll she once hoped for, for the terrible things he had done.

The first time Stella sensed that something was wrong was on her ninth birthday. There was an accident, and when she opened her eyes there was the tang of blood in her mouth. Leon was beside her. But not quite there. In the winter, when her father finally came home from hospital, he looked different. Looked at her differently.

Now he was missing, and Stella held the key to his discovery. But did he want to be found? And after all that has passed, could Stella bring herself to help him?

Stella's whole life has been stained by her father's very struggle to exist. Would this be her inheritance too? Could she choose the steady minutes of an ordinary day? Or would she follow the path of a man out of time?

The blurb sounded good, and it was accurate about the storyline. I just couldn't get into how the story was told.

The Forest Lover by Susan Vreeland

Imagine painting with mosquitos thick as fur on your hands. Or standing in a deserted village of silence, surrounded by trees with ancient coffins splitting apart. Or staring up at 60-foot totem poles carved with Eagles, Ravens, Bears and Whales trying to communicate their message. Or being scrutinized by a 20-foot ogress—Dzunukwa—with nipples carved into Eagles’ heads with eyes and beaks. In The Forest Lover, Susan Vreeland gives us more than a biography of the painter Emily Carr. She gives us an unforgettable experience.
Leaving the loneliness of the Pacific Northwest, Emily Carr goes to Paris to see and learn Impressionism. The description of her changes in painting style—including trading “female” watercolors for the more advanced medium of oil—is so intense that the reader can feel the paint piled on the canvas This reader could not resist looking down at her hands, expecting to see red mixed with deep violet and sun-stroked cadmium yellow.
Emily Carr is the kind of person I would have loved to know as a friend. A rebel, she befriends Native American women, some who have lost their children to the white man’s legacy of Small Pox and other diseases, attends an outlawed (by the Canadian government) Potlatch ritual and comes close to taking a fur trapper as a lover as she is seduced by the feel of the mink furs lining the floor of his tent. And anyone who has ever loved a dog will understand the type of person the artist was. Snubbed by art patrons she nevertheless continues to document the totem poles that are being sold by non-Natives and bravely enters villages emptied by government “relocations” of the Native population in order to do so.
This is a book about the artist, Emily Carr, but also about art, women, and government greed, powerful men who are able to decimate populations when the Missionaries fail.

A fascinating story about a relatively unknown artist and the treatment of Canadian Indians in the early 1900's.  Her descriptions of the forests made you feel you were there.

Look Alive 25 by Janet Evanovich

There's nothing like a good deli, and the Red River Deli in Trenton is one of the best. World-famous for its pastrami, coleslaw, and for its disappearing managers. Over the last month, three have vanished from the face of the earth, and the only clue in each case is one shoe that's been left behind. The police are baffled. Lula is convinced that it's a case of alien abduction. Whatever it is, they'd better figure out what's going on before they lose their new manager, Ms. Stephanie Plum.

Loved it! Some Ranger, some Morelli, some Lula, Stephanie, a mystery and lots of laughs. A light read that's entertaining, not meant to be taken seriously, and is pure enjoyment.

I think a menage with Ranger and Morelli would be a wonderful way to further the love triangle thing.

Holding by Graham Norton

The remote Irish village of Duneen has known little drama but when human remains are discovered on an old farm, suspected to be that of Tommy Burke—a former lover of two different inhabitants—the village’s dark past begins to unravel. As the frustrated sergeant PJ Collins struggles to solve a genuine case for the first time in his life, he unearths a community’s worth of anger and resentments, secrets and regret.


A character based whodunit about the events that impact our lives, memories and the secrets we all keep.

A very well written story that I couldn't put down.

Good Morning, Midnight by Lily Brooks-Dalton

Augustine, a brilliant, aging astronomer, is consumed by the stars. For years he has lived in remote outposts, studying the sky for evidence of how the universe began. At his latest posting, in a research center in the Arctic, news of a catastrophic event arrives. The scientists are forced to evacuate, but Augustine stubbornly refuses to abandon his work. Shortly after the others have gone, Augustine discovers a mysterious child, Iris, and realizes that the airwaves have gone silent. They are alone.

At the same time, Mission Specialist Sullivan is aboard the Aether on its return flight from Jupiter. The astronauts are the first human beings to delve this deep into space, and Sully has made peace with the sacrifices required of her: a daughter left behind, a marriage ended. So far the journey has been a success. But when Mission Control falls inexplicably silent, Sully and her crew mates are forced to wonder if they will ever get home.

Haunting, beautiful and gentle.

There are no answers, just wonder.

The Heist by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg

Nicolas Fox is an international con man, famous for running elaborate scams on very rich and powerful people. He knows that the FBI has been hot on his trail for years—particularly FBI Special Agent Kate O’Hare. But just when it seems that Fox has been captured for good, he pulls off his greatest con of all: He convinces the FBI to offer him a job, working side by side with O’Hare.

Their first assignment takes them to the side streets of Berlin, the California desert, and remote Indonesian islands as they team up to catch Derek Griffin, a corrupt investment banker charged with stealing millions from his clients. Finding Griffin on his private island is going to test O’Hare’s patience and Fox’s skill. High-speed chases, pirates, and Toblerone bars are all in a day’s work . . . if O’Hare and Fox don’t kill each other first.


A fun, over-the-top escapist read.  I'm looking forward to the next one in the series.

The Last Dingo Summer by Jackie French

A body has been found in the burned-out wreckage of the church at Gibber's Creek -- with older skeletons lying beneath it.

The corpse is identified as that of Ignatius Mervyn, the man who attempted to kill Jed Kelly and her unborn child.

Newcomer Fish Johnstone is drawn into the murder investigation, convinced that the local police are on the wrong track with their enquiries. But as she digs beneath the warm and welcoming surface of the Gibber's Creek community, more secrets emerge.

And Fish must also face her own mystery -- the sudden appearance and then disappearance of her father, a Vietnamese refugee she never knew.

I really loved this book. The different characters telling the story from their point of view gave real depth to the story. 

It is the story of a murder, and of secrets, and of things that everyone knew happened but no one talked about.

It is the first book I have read in the Matilda Saga, but now I want to read them all.

The killer was a complete surprise and it was a very satisfying ending.