Reading right now:

            “The Dead Will Tell” by Linda Castillo. This is the sixth book in the fantastic Kate Burkholder series. If you haven’t read the series, hurry to your library and find the first book “Sworn to Silence.” As the Chief of Police of a small town in Ohio, Kate has had her past come to haunt her, found a new love, and now faces a suicide that is really murder and ultimately only the first in a murder-for-revenge plot. I just finished this book last night and I loved the plot which I won’t ruin for you by laying it out too much, but it does involve a haunted house, secrets from the past, and the local Amish community.

“Evil in the 1^st House” by Mitchell Scott Lewis. This is the third in a series called A Starlight Detective Agency Mystery. This series centers around Astrological Detective David Lowell and his staff (his daughter, Melinda, a young defense attorney; his hacker partner Mort; the office assistant Sarah; and Andy, his bodyguard). I have never read a detective novel where Astrology is used to help solve the mysteries so I would say that this is a unique series. If you believe or enjoy Astrology, this series would be a real find for you. I enjoy Lowell and his staff, but I find myself a little bored by all the Astrology discussions. His latest case involves a successful doctor who is trying to find his dying son’s twin in order to arrange a kidney transplant. There is, of course, much more to the story of why his wife ran away with the other son and what they are hiding from.

On hold right now:

            “The Devil Takes Half” by Leta Serafim. On a Greek island called Chios, being an archaeologist is deadly. When archaeologist Eleni Argentis and her assistant are found dead (or at least parts of their bodies are found), police officer Yiannis Patronas is determined to find out what is behind the deaths. Are the killings personal or did Argentis discover something worth killing for? This is a debut novel with a lot of violent passion incorporated into the story. The island is beautiful, the killings horrific, and Patronas is on his own trying to solve the murder with his only real ally an elderly priest who loves American detective shows.

Other Mysterious Things:

            If you like legal thrillers, three new books might be of interest to you. “Indefensible” by Lee Goodman, “The Insanity Plea” by Larry D. Thompson, and “Face Value” by Michael A. Kahn. “Indefensible” is Goodman’s first book about Federal prosecutor Nick Davis. “The Insanity Plea” is Thompson’s fourth stand-alone novel. In his new novel, Houston trial lawyer Wayne Little’s brother is charged with murder and he must try to find answers to help him. Kahn’s ninth book in the Rachel Gold series finds Chicago attorney Rachel Gold trying to help out a former boss.