carmen's bookshelf: all en-US Mon, 14 Apr 2025 13:52:28 -0700 60 carmen's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg Divine Evil 40779236
Emmitsboro sheriff Cameron Rafferty loved Clare from afar all through high school. Now that she’s back, they form a bond that grows stronger each day—fueled by an attraction that’s been simmering for years. But Clare’s past soon rises up with a vengeance, rocking the town with a sinister murder that is clearly linked to her return. As an investigation gets under way, Clare and Cameron will learn that evil can linger anywhere—even in those you love and trust the most. But it’s a discovery that may come too late to save them.…]]>
577 Nora Roberts carmen 0 currently-reading 3.98 1992 Divine Evil
author: Nora Roberts
name: carmen
average rating: 3.98
book published: 1992
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/14
shelves: currently-reading
review:

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<![CDATA[Riley Thorn and the Corpse in the Closet (Riley Thorn, #2)]]> 219287804
Nick’s got his own hands full with a tricky missing person case and his parents who want to know why he didn’t tell them about his live-in girlfriend. Then there’s the fact that he’s still the tiniest bit stressed about Riley almost getting murdered earlier that summer. The last thing he wants is her getting involved in another investigation.

Things go from bad to worse when the body count starts stacking up, the meet-the-parents dinner goes horribly wrong, and their elderly roommate is up to no good…dressed like a mime.

To top it off, Riley is forced to return to Channel 50 on official police business to question her spray-tanned news anchor ex-husband and his new weather girl fiancée.

The trouble comes to a head when Riley receives a warning from the killer: Back off or she’s next. Someone has to solve these murders before she becomes the next corpse.]]>
Lucy Score 1945631783 carmen 5 4.14 2021 Riley Thorn and the Corpse in the Closet (Riley Thorn, #2)
author: Lucy Score
name: carmen
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2025/04/14
date added: 2025/04/14
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<![CDATA[The Body in the Backyard (Riley Thorn, #4)]]> 204795442 Her self-absorbed news anchor ex-husband careening back into her life was not on this amateur psychic detective’s bingo card.Not only does Griffin Gentry show up unexpectedly at Riley Thorn’s door—the real shock is that he’s begging her for help. Riley’s hot private investigator boyfriend Nick Santiago refusing to take the job is…well, less of a surprise.Too bad for Nick that his octogenarian business partner overrules him and takes the lead on Griffin’s case. But when a dead body makes it clear someone really is out to get Riley’s ex, the mile-long suspect list means all hands on deck at Santiago Investigations. Even the wrinkly, retired ones.It’s only a matter of time before Griffin brings the danger directly to their doorstep. And with Riley and Nick busy interviewing suspects, that leaves their elderly roommates to wreak havoc in the surveillance department. Can Riley block out the chaos to focus her psychic visions long enough to narrow down the list of suspects? Or will Griffin Gentry’s bad karma be the downfall of them all?]]> 368 Lucy Score 146421655X carmen 0 to-read 4.00 2024 The Body in the Backyard (Riley Thorn, #4)
author: Lucy Score
name: carmen
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/23
shelves: to-read
review:

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<![CDATA[Riley Thorn and the Blast from the Past (Riley Thorn, #3)]]> 219287862
Yep. It looks like summer is over and so is Riley’s bad luck. Or is it?

While Nick gives up sleeping and showering to obsess over the cold case that still haunts him, his business partner Mrs. Penny is calling the investigative shots. It’s every bit as bad as you can imagine.

Meanwhile, Riley has her hands full fixing up the crumbling crime scene they call home and setting boundaries with the breaking-and-entering octogenarians next door. You know. Normal stuff.

But normal comes to a screeching halt when our favorite psychic is abducted by a stranger with candy, and her powers go on the fritz. To make matters worse, it becomes clear that Riley’s new house guests are definitely either in trouble or are trouble after bad guys deliver a warning with a severed finger.

Can Nick and Riley solve the case the old-fashioned way before they all end up in pieces? Or will a surprise birthday party, a dog doody bandit, an accidental arson, and a blast from the past be too much for them to handle?]]>
Lucy Score carmen 0 to-read 4.05 2022 Riley Thorn and the Blast from the Past (Riley Thorn, #3)
author: Lucy Score
name: carmen
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2022
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/23
shelves: to-read
review:

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<![CDATA[Riley Thorn and the Dead Guy Next Door (Riley Thorn, #1)]]> 219287759
Divorced. Broke. Living with a pack of elderly roommates. And those hallucinations she's diligently ignoring? Her tarot card-dealing mom is convinced they're clairvoyant visions.

Just when things can't get worse, a so-hot-it-should-be-illegal private investigator shows up on her doorstep looking for a neighbor...who turns up murdered.

Nick Santiago doesn't play well with others. Unless the "others" are of the female persuasion. Wink. He's a rebel, a black sheep, a man who prefers a buffet of options to being stuck with the same entrée every night, if you catch his drift.

When the pretty, possibly psychic Riley lands at the top of the list of suspects, Nick volunteers to find out whodunit. Only because he likes solving mysteries not because he wants to flex his heroic muscles for the damsel in distress.

All they have to do is figure out who pulled the trigger, keep the by-the-book detective with a grudge at bay, and deal with a stranger claiming he was sent to help Riley hone her psychic gifts. All before the killer discovers she's a loose end that requires snipping.]]>
540 Lucy Score carmen 5 4.03 2020 Riley Thorn and the Dead Guy Next Door (Riley Thorn, #1)
author: Lucy Score
name: carmen
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/23
date added: 2025/03/23
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<![CDATA[Death Over Easy (Country Store Mysteries, #5)]]> 36596989 Restaurateur Robbie Jordan is ready for the boost in business a local music festival brings to South Lick, Indiana, but the beloved event strikes a sour note when one of the musicians is murdered . . .

June’s annual Bill Monroe Bluegrass Festival in neighboring Beanblossom is always a hit for Robbie’s country store and é, Pans ‘N Pancakes. This year, Robbie is even more excited, because she’s launching a new bed and breakfast above her shop. A few festival musicians will be among Robbie’s first guests, along with her father, Roberto, and his wife, Maria. But the celebration is cut short when a performer is found choked to death by a banjo string. Now all the banjo players are featured in a different kind of lineup. To clear their names, Robbie must pair up with an unexpected partner to pick at the clues and find the plucky killer before he can conduct an encore performance . . .]]>
241 Maddie Day 1496711246 carmen 0 currently-reading 4.12 2018 Death Over Easy (Country Store Mysteries, #5)
author: Maddie Day
name: carmen
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/24
shelves: currently-reading
review:

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<![CDATA[Biscuits and Slashed Browns (Country Store Mysteries, #4)]]> 35103759
As Robbie arranges a breakfast-themed cook-off at Pans ‘N Pancakes, visitors pour into Brown County for the annual maple extravaganza. Unfortunately, that includes Professor Connolly, a know-it-all academic from Boston who makes enemies everywhere he goes—and this time, bad manners prove deadly. Soon after clashing with several scientists at a maple tree panel, the professor is found dead outside a sugar shack, stabbed to death by a local restaurateur’s knife. When an innocent woman gets dragged into the investigation and a biologist mysteriously disappears, Robbie drops her winning maple biscuits to search for answers. But can she help police crack the case before another victim is caught in a sticky situation with a killer?]]>
292 Maddie Day 1496711211 carmen 4 3.88 2018 Biscuits and Slashed Browns (Country Store Mysteries, #4)
author: Maddie Day
name: carmen
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/24
date added: 2025/02/24
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Torn 173403954 � Penelope Douglas, New York Times bestselling author of Birthday Girl

When I was five years old I told Toren Grace we were going to get married someday. He’d been my best friend, my protector, and my rock since the day I was born. He was my world. In fact, his name was my very first word.

He wasn’t just my favorite person, though.

He was also my dad’s best friend, and my pseudo uncle.

But during my senior year of high school, our relationship slowly changed. Innocent friendship turned to stolen glances. Silly conversations morphed into serious heart-to-hearts. And then one day, an unexpected smoldering kiss changed everything.

While that kiss was everything I’d ever dreamed of, it knocked Tor clear off his axis. He’s one of the good guys—loving and devoted with a strong moral compass . . . which makes it impossible for him to accept our feelings for each other. Because not only are we both the one person the other should never, ever want, I’m eighteen, and Tor is fifteen years older than me.

Despite that, the heart wants what the heart wants, and ours have decided we’re meant to be together no matter what.

But neither one of us can stand to betray or hurt my father, who trusts Tor with everything precious to him. We can’t be in a secret relationship forever, so what will happen when my father finds out his best friend is in love with his daughter?

Will there be a way for us to find our happily ever after? Or we will all be torn apart?]]>
480 Carian Cole 1538765985 carmen 4 3.78 2016 Torn
author: Carian Cole
name: carmen
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/19
date added: 2025/01/19
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How to Kill a Guy in Ten Ways 198133775
Can’t shake that creepy guy at the bar?

Worried you’re being followed home?

Message M.

After one too many terrifying encounters, Millie Masters sets up a hotline for women who feel unsafe walking home alone at night: Message M.

But very quickly she realises that there’s much more to be done to help the women who call in. Because the men just do it again the next night, and the next, and the next�

And when her own sister is assaulted on a night out, the temptation to take the law into her own hands becomes too much to resist.

Because M can also stand for murder�

A deliciously dark, hilariously twisted serial killer thriller with a villainous female lead readers can’t help but root for, perfect for fans of Bella Mackie’s How to Kill Your Family, Oyinkan Braithwaite’s My Sister, the Serial Killer, or who enjoyed watching You and now wants to take revenge.]]>
384 Eve Kellman 0008620989 carmen 3 3.71 2024 How to Kill a Guy in Ten Ways
author: Eve Kellman
name: carmen
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/07
date added: 2025/01/07
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<![CDATA[Deadly Crush (Cece Barton Mysteries, #2)]]> 209194406 It’s the beginning of a new year, and for widowed single mom and recent L.A. transplant to California wine country, Cece Barton, that means green hillsides, flowing streams from winter rains, pruned vineyards—and a murder to solve . . . After a mostly stress-free Christmas with her college-age daughter, and despite enjoying a current budding romance with fellow newcomer, Benjamin Cohen, it’s time for Cece to focus on Vino y Vida, the Colinas wine bar she manages. Electrical work and an outdoor security camera are needed, and she’s hired local electrician Karl Meier to do the job, along with the help of his nephew Ian. But she regrets her choice when she witnesses Karl needlessy berating Ian in her presence. On top of that, Karl leers at her, then presents her with an inflated bill before the work is complete. Still, she’s shocked when she gets a call from Karl’s ex-wife, Josie, that she’s found Karl . . . crushed to death beneath the lift in her automotive shop. Cece convinces Josie to call the police, even though Josie is terrified. After all, Karl was an abusive husband, was threatening her, and she has no alibi. With Josie’s future on the line, and maybe her own, Cece starts her own investigation. From the customers Karl cheated to the other women he harassed, she finds there’s no lack of suspects—other than the shelter kittens to whom he was an uncharacteristically sweet volunteer. With a bouquet of motives and unanswered questions, Cece is going to need the help of her twin, Allie, who owns a nearby B & B, as she dives into Karl’s past—before the killer catches up with her, and the lights go out for good . . .]]> 272 Maddie Day 1496742338 carmen 0 to-read 3.83 2024 Deadly Crush (Cece Barton Mysteries, #2)
author: Maddie Day
name: carmen
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/04
shelves: to-read
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<![CDATA[When the Grits Hit the Fan (Country Store Mysteries, #3)]]> 30324883
Before she started hosting dinners for Indiana University’s Sociology Department at Pans ‘N Pancakes, Robbie never imagined scholarly meetings could be so hostile. It’s all due to Professor Charles Stilton, who seems to thrive on heated exchanges with his peers and underlings, and tensions flare one night after he disrespects Robbie’s friend, graduate student Lou. So when Robbie and Lou go snowshoeing the next morning and find the contentious academic frozen under ice, police suspect Lou might have killed him after their public tiff. To prove her friend’s innocence, Robbie is absorbing local gossip about Professor Stilton’s past and developing her own thesis on the homicide—even if that means stirring up terrible danger for herself along the way . . .]]>
343 Maddie Day 1617739294 carmen 4 3.97 2017 When the Grits Hit the Fan (Country Store Mysteries, #3)
author: Maddie Day
name: carmen
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/03
date added: 2025/01/04
shelves:
review:

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<![CDATA[Grilled for Murder (Country Store Mysteries, #2)]]> 26236904
In the charming small town of South Lick, Indiana, Robbie has transformed a rundown country store into the runaway hit Pans 'N Pancakes. But the most popular destination for miles around can also invite trouble. Erica Shermer may be the widow of handsome local lawyer Jim Shermer's brother, but she doesn't appear to be in mourning. At a homecoming party held in Robbie's store, Erica is alternately obnoxious and flirtatious--even batting her eyelashes at Jim. When Erica turns up dead in the store the next morning, apparently clobbered with cookware, the police suspect Robbie's friend Phil, who closed up after the party. To clear Phil and calm her customers, Robbie needs to step out from behind the counter and find the real killer in short order�

Includes Recipes for You to Try!]]>
352 Maddie Day 1617739278 carmen 3 3.91 2016 Grilled for Murder (Country Store Mysteries, #2)
author: Maddie Day
name: carmen
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2016
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/17
date added: 2024/11/17
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review:

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<![CDATA[Flipped for Murder (Country Store Mysteries, #1)]]> 24612181
Nursing a broken heart, Robbie Jordan is trading in her life on the West Coast for the rolling hills of southern Indiana. After paying a visit to her Aunt Adele, she fell in love with the tiny town of South Lick. And when she spots a For Sale sign on a rundown country store, she decides to snap it up and put her skills as a cook and a carpenter to use. Everyone in town shows up for the grand re-opening of Pans ‘n Pancakes, but when the mayor's disagreeable assistant is found dead, Robbie realizes that not all press is good press. With all eyes on her, she'll have to summon her puzzle-solving skills to clear her name, unscramble the town's darkest secrets, and track down a cold-blooded killer--before she's the next to die...]]>
304 Maddie Day 1617739251 carmen 4 3.75 2015 Flipped for Murder (Country Store Mysteries, #1)
author: Maddie Day
name: carmen
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2015
rating: 4
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date added: 2024/10/23
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<![CDATA[Scone Cold Dead (Country Store Mysteries, #13)]]> 215808073 After a body is found in a local farmer’s field, country store and é owner Robbie Jordan suspects that a newcomer in South Lick, Indiana, may not be a stranger to everyone in town . . .

Robbie is just weeks away from giving birth. While her husband Abe scrambles to get the house ready for their baby’s arrival, Robbie makes last minute arrangements to keep her shop and restaurant, Pans ’N Pancakes, up and running when she’s on maternity leave. And it seems Robbie and Abe aren’t the only ones grappling with anxiety—a stranger is causing a stir in town and Robbie’s Aunt Adele appears unusually preoccupied at the baby shower . . .

But when someone finds a body in the ram field on Adele’s sheep farm, it’s Robbie’s turn to be worried. Especially after Chief Buck Bird uncovers a troubling link between Adele and the possible murder victim. Robbie has no choice but to knit the clues together and solve this mystery before anything else gets flocked up . . .

Includes Recipes for You to Try!]]>
320 Maddie Day 1496742281 carmen 0 to-read 4.12 2025 Scone Cold Dead (Country Store Mysteries, #13)
author: Maddie Day
name: carmen
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/10/23
shelves: to-read
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<![CDATA[Murder at the Rusty Anchor (A Cozy Capers Book Group Mystery, #6)]]> 199203541
A rainy July weekend in Westham means the beaches are empty and business is dead at Mac’s Bikes but couldn’t be livelier inside the Rusty Anchor Pub. But come Monday morning one patron is not so lively when the chef opens up and finds a body behind the bar. It’s last call for Bruce Byrne, an elderly high school teacher who’s been around so long it seems like he taught everybody.

When Mac’s friend Flo, the librarian, makes the list of suspects, Mac gathers the Cozy Capers Book Group to clear her name. With no end in sight to the rain, the group has plenty of time to study the clues and sort through a roll call of suspects to determine who decided to teach Mr. Bryne a lesson. But with a killer desperate to cover their tracks, Mac and the group will be tested as never before . . .]]>
336 Maddie Day 1496740572 carmen 0 to-read 3.93 2024 Murder at the Rusty Anchor (A Cozy Capers Book Group Mystery, #6)
author: Maddie Day
name: carmen
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/10/23
shelves: to-read
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<![CDATA[Deep Fried Death (A Country Store Mystery)]]> 124950534
Many residents of South Lick, Indiana, claim the Outhouse Race, in which competitors push old-timey outhouse replicas on wheels at the annual Abe Martin Festival on Memorial Day, is the best thing since indoor plumbing. Just because country store and restaurant owner Robbie Jordan has too much to do managing her new deep fryer as well as an old lover reappearing, she’s not going to miss out on the fun. Plus, it’s good for business.

But when a dead body and a cast-iron skillet tumble out of the Pans ’N Pancakes outhouse entry on the race route, it seems someone is trying to frame Robbie—in a most unconventional way. Now she’ll need to be privy to the townsfolks� secrets as she races to flush out a killer . . .]]>
327 Maddie Day 1496742265 carmen 0 to-read 3.98 2023 Deep Fried Death (A Country Store Mystery)
author: Maddie Day
name: carmen
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/10/23
shelves: to-read
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<![CDATA[Murder Uncorked (Cece Barton Mystery, #1)]]> 123177046
As the manager of Vino y Vida Wine Bar in Colinas, Cecelia “Cece� Barton’s first Alexander Valley harvest is a whirlwind of activity. Her twin sister, Allie Halstead, who owns a nearby Victorian bed & breakfast, is accustomed to the hustle and bustle of peak tourist season. But Cece barely has a moment to enjoy her new home in between worrying about her estranged college-age daughter, juggling her responsibilities at the bar, and navigating the sticky politics of the local wine association. Just when it seems things can’t grow any more intense, Colinas is rocked by a murder within the wine community . . . and Cece is identified as a possible suspect!

With her reputation and her livelihood on the line—and the Sonoma County deputy sheriff breathing down her neck—Cece has no choice but to open up her own murder investigation. Tensions are already high in the valley, as a massive wildfire creeps toward Colinas, threatening homes, vineyards, and the vital tourist trade. And now, with a murderer on the loose, and Cece’s sleuthing exposing the valley’s bitterest old rivalries and secret new alliances, Colinas feels ready to pop! But with Allie’s help, Cece is determined to catch the killer and clear her name before everything she’s worked so hard for goes up in flames . .]]>
288 Maddie Day 1496742303 carmen 0 to-read 3.49 2023 Murder Uncorked (Cece Barton Mystery, #1)
author: Maddie Day
name: carmen
average rating: 3.49
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/10/23
shelves: to-read
review:

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<![CDATA[Four Leaf Cleaver (Country Store Mysteries, #11)]]> 60978814
There’s no mistaking Saint Patrick’s Day at Pans ’N Pancakes. Robbie may only be Irish by marriage to Abe O’Neill, but the shelves of vintage cookware in her southern Indiana store are draped with glittery shamrocks and Kelly-green garlands and her restaurant is serving shepherd’s pie and Guinness Beer brownies. The big event, however, is a televised cooking competition to be filmed on site.

Unfortunately, someone’s luck has run out. Before the cameras start rolling, tough-as-nails producer Tara O’Hara Moore is found upstairs in her B&B room, bludgeoned apparently by the heavy hilt of a cleaver left by her side. Now, not only does Robbie have a store full of festive decorations, she’s got a store full of suspects . . .]]>
309 Maddie Day 149673565X carmen 0 to-read 4.02 2023 Four Leaf Cleaver (Country Store Mysteries, #11)
author: Maddie Day
name: carmen
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/10/23
shelves: to-read
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<![CDATA[No Grater Crime (Country Store Mysteries, #9)]]> 56119983 Robbie Jordan's Pans 'N Pancakes boasts delicious eats and the best vintage cookware finds in South Lick, Indiana. And now, for a limited time, there's a new special featured on the menu--murder!

Ever since meeting the wary owners of an antique shop opening across the street, Robbie has been scrambling to manage weird incidences plaguing her é and country store. Pricey items vanish from shelves without explanation, a fully equipped breakfast food truck starts lingering around the area each morning, and loyal diners mysteriously fall ill. When an elderly man dies after devouring an omelet packed with poisonous mushrooms, Robbie must temporarily close down Pans 'N Pancakes and search for the killer with a real zest for running her out of business--or else.]]>
310 Maddie Day 1496723198 carmen 0 to-read 4.03 2021 No Grater Crime (Country Store Mysteries, #9)
author: Maddie Day
name: carmen
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2021
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/10/23
shelves: to-read
review:

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<![CDATA[Murder at a Cape Bookstore (Cozy Capers Book Group Mystery, #5)]]> 63882018 It's mud season in Cape Cod, and when an ill wind blows in a murder with a twist in the tale, bicycle shop owner Mackenzie "Mac" Almeida and her crime-solving book group are ready to leaf through the clues . . .

Everyone loves a festival, though Mac has a few concerns about the Spring equinox event organized by the new Chamber of Commerce director, Wagner Lavoie. After all, March weather is unpredictable. Still, there's plenty to enjoy, between flower-shaped candies at Salty Taffy's, spring rolls at the Rusty Anchor, and a parade of decorated bicycles. But the festivities soon take a stormy turn . . .

Mac glimpses conflict between Wagner and other locals during the festival, but it's a shock when he's found dead in the Book Nook, pinned beneath a toppled bookshelf. It's an irresistible case for Mac's book group. She and the rest of the Cozy Capers will have to use all their sleuthing skills to bring the killer's story to an end . . .]]>
326 Maddie Day 1496740556 carmen 0 to-read 3.87 2023 Murder at a Cape Bookstore (Cozy Capers Book Group Mystery, #5)
author: Maddie Day
name: carmen
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/10/23
shelves: to-read
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<![CDATA[Batter Off Dead (A Country Store Mystery, #10)]]> 58198183
Robbie and her new husband Abe O’Neill are enjoying a summer evening in the park with fellow townsfolk excited for some Friday night fireworks. In attendance are senior residents from Jupiter Springs Assisted Living including Grant Bird, father to South Lick’s very own Police Lieutenant Buck Bird. Despite his blindness, Grant is a member of his group home’s knitting circle, spending quality time with some lovely ladies.

But when the lightshow ends, one of the knitters who sat with Grant is found dead, a puncture wound in her neck. The poor woman’s death echoes that of Buck’s mother and Grant's wife—an unsolved homicide. To help find the killer, Robbie’s going to have to untangle the knotty relationships deep in the victim’s past…]]>
295 Maddie Day 1496735633 carmen 0 to-read 3.96 2022 Batter Off Dead (A Country Store Mystery, #10)
author: Maddie Day
name: carmen
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2022
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/10/23
shelves: to-read
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<![CDATA[Nacho Average Murder (Country Store Mysteries, #7)]]> 45427798
While looking forward to her high school reunion back in California, Robbie’s anticipation is complicated by memories of her mother’s untimely death. At first, she has fun hanging out with her old classmates and reuniting with the local flavors—avocados, citrus, fish, and spicy Cali-Mex dishes. But then she gets wind of rumors that her mother, an environmental activist, may not have died of natural causes. With the help of friends, Robbie starts clearing the smoke surrounding the mystery—but what she finds could make it hard to get back to Indiana alive . . .

Includes Recipes for You to Try!]]>
253 Maddie Day 1496723163 carmen 0 to-read 3.94 2020 Nacho Average Murder (Country Store Mysteries, #7)
author: Maddie Day
name: carmen
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2020
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/10/23
shelves: to-read
review:

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<![CDATA[Candy Slain Murder (Country Store Mysteries, #8)]]> 50648075
Christmas cheer has sent the griddle into overdrive at Robbie Jordan’s popular country store and é. And this year, there’s a new seasonal special to feast on: murder!

As December sweeps through South Lick, Indiana, Robbie’s life seems merry and bright like the string lights glistening around town. But strange happenings signal a bumpy ride into the holidays. First a man raises eyebrows at Pans ‘N Pancakes when he claiming to be the long-lost half-brother of Robbie’s assistant. Then a fire destroys the home of a controversial anesthesiologist, exposing skeletal remains in his attic. Helplessly intrigued, all Robbie wants for Christmas is to stop her winter wonderland from becoming a real nightmare. With a decades-old mystery taking shape, can she run as fast as she can in pursuit of a killer who’s harder to crack than a stale gingerbread man?

Includes Recipes for You to Try!

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324 Maddie Day 149672318X carmen 0 to-read 4.05 2020 Candy Slain Murder (Country Store Mysteries, #8)
author: Maddie Day
name: carmen
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2020
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/10/23
shelves: to-read
review:

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<![CDATA[Strangled Eggs and Ham (Country Store Mysteries, #6)]]> 42118423
While Robbie scrambles through breakfast orders for her expanding clientele at Pans ‘N Pancakes, tempers run as high as the sticky August heat in South Lick, Indiana. Real-estate developer Fiona Closs plans to build a towering luxury resort at one of the most scenic hilltops in Brown County, and not everyone can see the sunny side of the imposing proposition—including Robbie’s furious Aunt Adele, who doesn’t waste a minute concocting protests and road blockades. When tensions boil over and a vocal protester is silenced forever at the resort site, Robbie ditches the griddle to catch the killer. But if slashed tires are any indication, she’ll need to crack this case before her own aunt gets served something deadly next . . .

Includes Recipes for You to Try!]]>
295 Maddie Day 1496711254 carmen 0 to-read 3.94 2019 Strangled Eggs and Ham (Country Store Mysteries, #6)
author: Maddie Day
name: carmen
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2019
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/10/23
shelves: to-read
review:

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<![CDATA[Murder in a Cape Cottage (Cozy Capers Book Group Mystery, #4)]]> 60227885
ʼTis the day after Christmas, following a wicked-busy time of year for Mac’s bike shop. It’s just as well her Cozy Capers Book Group’s new pick is a nerve-soothing coloring book mystery, especially when she has last-minute wedding planning to do. But all pre-wedding jitters fade into the background when Mac and her fiancé, Tim, begin a cottage renovation project and open up a wall to find a skeleton—sitting on a stool, dressed in an old-fashioned bridal gown . . .

As Mac delves into the decades-old mystery with the help of librarian Flo and her book group, she discovers a story of star-crossed lovers and feuding families worthy of the bard himself. Yet this tale has a modern-day villain still lurking in Mac’s quaint seaside town, ready to make this a murderous New Year’s Eve . . .

Includes Recipes!

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271 Maddie Day 1496735684 carmen 0 to-read 4.06 2022 Murder in a Cape Cottage (Cozy Capers Book Group Mystery, #4)
author: Maddie Day
name: carmen
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2022
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/10/23
shelves: to-read
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<![CDATA[Murder at the Lobstah Shack (Cozy Capers Book Group Mystery, #3)]]> 57610590
From clam chowdahs to oysters on the half-shell, Tulia Peters� Lobstah Shack offers locals and tourists in Westham, Massachusetts, some of Cape Cod’s most amazing cuisine. But when the body of Annette DiCicero is discovered in the kitchen’s walk-in freezer—with a custom-made claw-handled lobster pick lodged in her neck—spoiled appetites are the least of Tulia’s worries.

After a heated public argument with Annette, Tulia is a person of interest in the police’s homicide investigation. To clear Tulia’s name, Mac and the Cozy Capers Book Group snoop into Annette’s personal life. Between her temperamental husband, his shady business partner, and two women tied to Annette’s past life as “Miss New Bedford�, there are now several suspects and multiple motives. And they’re getting crabby about Mac intruding on their affairs...]]>
322 Maddie Day 149671511X carmen 0 to-read 4.02 2021 Murder at the Lobstah Shack (Cozy Capers Book Group Mystery, #3)
author: Maddie Day
name: carmen
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2021
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/10/23
shelves: to-read
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<![CDATA[Murder at the Taffy Shop (Cozy Capers Book Group Mystery, #2)]]> 55595122 Cape Cod bicycle shop owner Mackenzie Mac Almeida and her mystery book club find a certain accusation of murder quite the stretch ...

When your mother is an astrologist and your dad is a minister, you learn to keep an open mind. Which is just what Mac loves to do--exercise her mind by puzzling out fictional clues in the mystery novels she reads and discusses with her Cozy Capers Book Group.

But now Mac's friend Gin has found herself in a sticky situation. After wealthy genealogist Beverly Ruchart is found dead outside Gin's taffy shop, the candy maker becomes a person of interest. When it's revealed that Beverly was poisoned the night Gin brought a box of taffy to a dinner party at Beverly's house, she's bumped to the top of the suspects list. It's up to Mac and her Cozy Capers crime solvers to unwrap this real-life mystery. But this time they might have bitten off more than they can chew...]]>
296 Maddie Day 1496731697 carmen 0 to-read 3.79 2020 Murder at the Taffy Shop  (Cozy Capers Book Group Mystery, #2)
author: Maddie Day
name: carmen
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2020
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/10/23
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<![CDATA[Murder on Cape Cod (Cozy Capers Book Group Mystery, #1)]]> 45008162 Cape Cod bicycle shop owner Mackenzie "Mac" Almeida and her book club must find a crafty killer in this charming new series from the Agatha-nominated author of the Country Store Mystery series!

A Cape Cod shop owner and her book club must find a crafty killer in this charming new series from the Agatha-nominated author of the Country Store Mystery series.

Summer is busy season for Mackenzie "Mac" Almeida's bicycle shop, nestled in the quaint, seaside hamlet of Westham, Massachusetts. She's expecting an influx of tourists at Mac's Bikes; instead she discovers the body of Jake Lacey. Mac can't imagine anyone stabbing the down-on-his-luck handyman. However, the authorities seem to think Mac is a strong suspect after she was spotted arguing with Jake just hours before his death. Mac knows she didn't do it, but she does recognize the weapon--her brother Derrick's fishing knife.

Mac's only experience with murder investigations is limited to the cozy mysteries she reads with her local book group, the Cozy Capers. So to clear her name--and maybe her brother's too--Mac will have to summon help from her Cozy Capers co-investigators and a library's worth of detectives' tips and tricks. For a small town, Westham is teeming with possible killers, and this is one mystery where Mac is hoping for anything but a surprise ending...]]>
310 Maddie Day 1496722884 carmen 0 to-read 3.53 2019 Murder on Cape Cod (Cozy Capers Book Group Mystery, #1)
author: Maddie Day
name: carmen
average rating: 3.53
book published: 2019
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/10/23
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<![CDATA[A Controversial Cover (A Booktown Mystery #18)]]> 199926177
Tricia Miles is ready to close the book on all her amateur sluething—she's tired of finding dead bodies and being accused of murder. But even the best laid plans often go awry.

Stoneham is all abuzz when Lauren Barker, a famous children's book author, arrives for an event at the local library. Lauren is a Stoneham native, and her new book strikes some members of the town as controversial. But when Lauren is found strangled to death after an altercation at the event, the plot twist throws Tricia right back into the middle of things.

Who could possibly have wanted Lauren dead? Was it Dan Reed, who had to be thrown out of the signing for spouting conspiracy theories and causing a disturbance? Stella Kraft, Lauren’s high school teacher, who thought of the author as a protégé—something Lauren violently disputed? Or the mystery man who spoke to Lauren just before she was found dead? With the suspect count climbing higher and more information about Lauren's past coming to light, will Tricia be able to give this story a happily ever after?]]>
336 Lorna Barrett 0593549465 carmen 3 3.83 2024 A Controversial Cover (A Booktown Mystery #18)
author: Lorna Barrett
name: carmen
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/10/05
date added: 2024/10/05
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<![CDATA[The Kingdom of Copper (The Daevabad Trilogy, #2)]]> 39988431 Return to Daevabad in the spellbinding sequel to THE CITY OF BRASS.

Nahri’s life changed forever the moment she accidentally summoned Dara, a formidable, mysterious djinn, during one of her schemes. Whisked from her home in Cairo, she was thrust into the dazzling royal court of Daevabad and quickly discovered she would need all her grifter instincts to survive there.

Now, with Daevabad entrenched in the dark aftermath of the battle that saw Dara slain at Prince Ali’s hand, Nahri must forge a new path for herself, without the protection of the guardian who stole her heart or the counsel of the prince she considered a friend. But even as she embraces her heritage and the power it holds, she knows she’s been trapped in a gilded cage, watched by a king who rules from the throne that once belonged to her familyand one misstep will doom her tribe.

Meanwhile, Ali has been exiled for daring to defy his father. Hunted by assassins, adrift on the unforgiving copper sands of his ancestral land, he is forced to rely on the frightening abilities the marid, the unpredictable water spirits, have gifted him. But in doing so, he threatens to unearth a terrible secret his family has long kept buried.

And as a new century approaches and the djinn gather within Daevabad's towering brass walls for celebrations, a threat brews unseen in the desolate north. It’s a force that would bring a storm of fire straight to the city’s gates . . . and one that seeks the aid of a warrior trapped between worlds, torn between a violent duty he can never escape and a peace he fears he will never deserve.]]>
625 S.A. Chakraborty 0008239444 carmen 4 4.37 2019 The Kingdom of Copper (The Daevabad Trilogy, #2)
author: S.A. Chakraborty
name: carmen
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/22
date added: 2024/09/22
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A Little Life 25852828 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER � A stunning “portrait of the enduring grace of friendship� (NPR) about the families we are born into, and those that we make for ourselves. A masterful depiction of love in the twenty-first century.

NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST � MAN BOOKER PRIZE FINALIST � WINNER OF THE KIRKUS PRIZE �

A Little Life follows four college classmates—broke, adrift, and buoyed only by their friendship and ambition—as they move to New York in search of fame and fortune. While their relationships, which are tinged by addiction, success, and pride, deepen over the decades, the men are held together by their devotion to the brilliant, enigmatic Jude, a man scarred by an unspeakable childhood trauma. A hymn to brotherly bonds and a masterful depiction of love in the twenty-first century, Hanya Yanagihara’s stunning novel is about the families we are born into, and those that we make for ourselves.]]>
816 Hanya Yanagihara 0804172706 carmen 0 to-read 4.36 2015 A Little Life
author: Hanya Yanagihara
name: carmen
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2015
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/08/16
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<![CDATA[The Trap - FREE PREVIEW (First Three Chapters)]]> 32316104 In this twisted debut thriller, a reclusive author sets the perfect trap for her sister's murderer--but is he really the killer?

For 11 years, the bestselling author Linda Conrads has mystified fans by never setting foot outside her home. Haunted by the unsolved murder of her younger sister--who she discovered in a pool of blood--and the face of the man she saw fleeing the scene, Linda's hermit existence helps her cope with debilitating anxiety. But the sanctity of her oasis is shattered when she sees her sister's murderer on television. Hobbled by years of isolation, Linda resolves to use the plot of her next novel to lay an irresistible trap for the man. As the plan is set in motion and the past comes rushing back, Linda's memories--and her very sanity--are called into question. Is this man a heartless killer or merely a helpless victim?]]>
352 Melanie Raabe carmen 0 to-read 3.44 2015 The Trap - FREE PREVIEW (First Three Chapters)
author: Melanie Raabe
name: carmen
average rating: 3.44
book published: 2015
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/08/07
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<![CDATA[Breaking the Dark (Marvel Crime, #1)]]> 201306695 In her most imaginative novel yet, #1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Jewell (None of This Is True) launches the Marvel Crime series of thriller books for adults with an original story starring the private detective Jessica Jones.

Meet Jessica Jones: Retired super hero, private investigator, loner. She tried her best to be a shiny spandex crimefighter, but that life only led to unspeakable trauma. Now she avoids that world altogether and works on surviving day-to-day in Hell’s Kitchen, New York.

The morning a distraught mother comes into her office, Jessica would prefer to nurse her hangover and try to forget last night’s poor choices. But something about Amber Randall’s story strikes a chord with her. Amber is adamant that something happened to her teenage twins while they were visiting their father in the UK. The twins don’t act like themselves, and they now have flawless skin, have lost their distinctive tics and habits, and keep talking about a girl named Belle. Amber insists her children have been replaced by something horrible, something “perfect.�

Traveling to a small village in the British countryside, Jessica meets the mysterious Belle, who lives a curiously isolated life in an old farmhouse with a strange woman who claims to be her guardian. Can this unworldly teenager really be responsible for the Randall twins� new personas? Why does the strange little village of Barton Wallop seem to harbor dark energies and mysteries in its tight-knit community?

A mother’s intuition is never wrong. And Jessica knows that nothing in life is perfect—not these kids, not her on-again, off-again relationship with Luke Cage, and certainly not Jessica herself. But even as she tries to buy into the idea that better days are ahead, Jessica Jones has seen all too clearly that behind every promise of perfection trails a dark, dangerous shadow.

Breaking the Dark, the first book in the brand-new Marvel Crime series, introduces fans to a grittier, street-level side of the Marvel Universe, and will continue with original novels featuring fan-favorite characters like Luke Cage, written by S.A. Cosby, and Daredevil, written by Alex Segura.]]>
384 Lisa Jewell 1368090125 carmen 0 to-read 3.61 2024 Breaking the Dark (Marvel Crime, #1)
author: Lisa Jewell
name: carmen
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/06/10
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<![CDATA[The City of Brass (The Daevabad Trilogy, #1)]]> 32718027
But when Nahri accidentally summons an equally sly, darkly mysterious djinn warrior to her side during one of her cons, she’s forced to accept that the magical world she thought only existed in childhood stories is real. For the warrior tells her a new tale: across hot, windswept sands teeming with creatures of fire, and rivers where the mythical marid sleep; past ruins of once-magnificent human metropolises, and mountains where the circling hawks are not what they seem, lies Daevabad, the legendary city of brass, a city to which Nahri is irrevocably bound.

In that city, behind gilded brass walls laced with enchantments, behind the six gates of the six djinn tribes, old resentments are simmering. And when Nahri decides to enter this world, she learns that true power is fierce and brutal. That magic cannot shield her from the dangerous web of court politics. That even the cleverest of schemes can have deadly consequences.

After all, there is a reason they say be careful what you wish for...]]>
532 S.A. Chakraborty 0062678108 carmen 5 4.12 2017 The City of Brass (The Daevabad Trilogy, #1)
author: S.A. Chakraborty
name: carmen
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at: 2024/06/06
date added: 2024/06/06
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Inanna (Sumerians, #1) 62844125
Stories are sly things…they can be hard to catch and kill.

Inanna is an impossibility, the first full Anunnaki born on Earth. Crowned the goddess of love by the twelve immortal Anunnaki who are worshipped across Sumer, she is destined for greatness.

But Inanna is born into a time of war. The Anunnaki have split into warring factions, threatening to tear the world apart. Forced into a marriage to negotiate a peace, she soon realises she has been placed in terrible danger.

Gilgamesh, a mortal human son of the Anunnaki, and notorious womaniser, finds himself captured and imprisoned by King Akka who seeks to distance himself and his people from the gods. Arrogant and selfish, Gilgamesh is given one final chance to prove himself.

Ninshubar, a powerful warrior woman, is cast out of her tribe after an act of kindness. Hunted by her own people, she escapes across the country, searching for acceptance and a new place in the world.

As their journeys push them closer together, and their fates intertwine, they come to realise that together, they may have the power to change to face of the world forever.]]>
474 Emily H. Wilson 1803364408 carmen 0 to-read 4.02 2023 Inanna (Sumerians, #1)
author: Emily H. Wilson
name: carmen
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/05/19
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<![CDATA[The Empire of Gold (The Daevabad Trilogy, #3)]]> 52166786 The final chapter in the Daevabad Trilogy, in which a con-woman and an idealistic djinn prince join forces to save a magical kingdom from a devastating civil war.

Daevabad has fallen.

After a brutal conquest stripped the city of its magic, Nahid leader Banu Manizheh and her resurrected commander, Dara, must try to repair their fraying alliance and stabilize a fractious, warring people.

But the bloodletting and loss of his beloved Nahri have unleashed the worst demons of Dara’s dark past. To vanquish them, he must face some ugly truths about his history and put himself at the mercy of those he once considered enemies.

Having narrowly escaped their murderous families and Daevabad’s deadly politics, Nahri and Ali, now safe in Cairo, face difficult choices of their own. While Nahri finds peace in the old rhythms and familiar comforts of her human home, she is haunted by the knowledge that the loved ones she left behind and the people who considered her a savior are at the mercy of a new tyrant. Ali, too, cannot help but look back, and is determined to return to rescue his city and the family that remains. Seeking support in his mother’s homeland, he discovers that his connection to the marid goes far deeper than expected and threatens not only his relationship with Nahri, but his very faith.

As peace grows more elusive and old players return, Nahri, Ali, and Dara come to understand that in order to remake the world, they may need to fight those they once loved . . . and take a stand for those they once hurt.]]>
766 S.A. Chakraborty 0062678167 carmen 0 to-read 4.47 2020 The Empire of Gold (The Daevabad Trilogy, #3)
author: S.A. Chakraborty
name: carmen
average rating: 4.47
book published: 2020
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/05/19
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11/22/63 12530184 On November 22, 1963, three shots rang out in Dallas, President Kennedy died, and the world changed. What if you could change it back? Stephen King’s heart-stoppingly dramatic new novel is about a man who travels back in time to prevent the JFK assassination—a thousand page tour de force.

Following his massively successful novel Under the Dome, King sweeps readers back in time to another moment—a real life moment—when everything went wrong: the JFK assassination. And he introduces readers to a character who has the power to change the course of history.

Jake Epping is a thirty-five-year-old high school English teacher in Lisbon Falls, Maine, who makes extra money teaching adults in the GED program. He receives an essay from one of the students—a gruesome, harrowing first person story about the night 50 years ago when Harry Dunning’s father came home and killed his mother, his sister, and his brother with a hammer. Harry escaped with a smashed leg, as evidenced by his crooked walk.

Not much later, Jake’s friend Al, who runs the local diner, divulges a secret: his storeroom is a portal to 1958. He enlists Jake on an insane—and insanely possible—mission to try to prevent the Kennedy assassination. So begins Jake’s new life as George Amberson and his new world of Elvis and JFK, of big American cars and sock hops, of a troubled loner named Lee Harvey Oswald and a beautiful high school librarian named Sadie Dunhill, who becomes the love of Jake’s life � a life that transgresses all the normal rules of time.

A tribute to a simpler era and a devastating exercise in escalating suspense, 11/22/63 is Stephen King at his epic best.

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866 Stephen King carmen 3 4.41 2011 11/22/63
author: Stephen King
name: carmen
average rating: 4.41
book published: 2011
rating: 3
read at: 2024/04/22
date added: 2024/04/22
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<![CDATA[The Housemaid's Secret (The Housemaid, #2)]]> 62848145 As he continues showing me their incredible penthouse apartment, I have a terrible feeling about the woman behind closed doors. But I can't risk losing this job � not if I want to keep my darkest secret safe . . .

It's hard to find an employer who doesn't ask too many questions about my past. So I thank my lucky stars that the Garricks miraculously give me a job, cleaning their stunning penthouse with views across the city and preparing fancy meals in their shiny kitchen. I can work here for a while, stay quiet until I get what I want. It's almost perfect. But I still haven't met Mrs Garrick, or seen inside the guest bedroom. I'm sure I hear her crying. I notice spots of blood around the neck of her white nightgowns when I'm doing laundry. And one day I can't help but knock on the door. When it gently swings open, what I see inside changes everything...

That's when I make a promise. After all, I've done this before. I can protect Mrs. Garrick while keeping my own secrets locked up safe. Douglas Garrick has done wrong. He is going to pay. It's simply a question of how far I'm willing to go...]]>
318 Freida McFadden 1837901317 carmen 5 4.21 2023 The Housemaid's Secret (The Housemaid, #2)
author: Freida McFadden
name: carmen
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2024/03/25
date added: 2024/03/25
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Do Not Disturb 58778536
To avoid spending her life in prison, Quinn makes a run for it. She leaves behind her home, her job, and her family. She grabs her passport and heads for the northern border before the police can discover what she’s done.

But when an unexpected snowstorm forces her off the road, Quinn must take refuge at the broken-down, isolated Baxter Motel. The handsome and kindly owner, Nick Baxter, is only too happy to offer her a cheap room for the night.

Unfortunately, the Baxter Motel isn’t the quiet, safe haven it seemed to be. The motel has a dark and disturbing past. And in the dilapidated house across the way, the silhouette of Nick's ailing wife is always at the window. Always watching.

In the morning, Quinn must leave the motel. She'll pack up her belongings and get back on the road to freedom.

But first, she must survive the night.

Do Not Disturb is a Hitchcock-style psychological thriller that will keep you tearing through the pages until you reach the shocking conclusion!]]>
325 Freida McFadden carmen 0 to-read 3.93 2021 Do Not Disturb
author: Freida McFadden
name: carmen
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2021
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/03/10
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The Wife Upstairs 52636419
A great career. A handsome and loving husband. A beautiful home in the suburbs and a plan to fill it with children. Life is perfect—or so it seems.

Then she’s in a terrible accident� and everything falls apart.

Now Victoria is unable to walk. She can’t feed or dress herself. She can’t even speak. She is confined to the top floor of her house with twenty-four-hour care.

Sylvia Robinson is hired by Victoria’s husband to help care for her. But it turns out Victoria isn’t as impaired as Sylvia was led to believe. There’s a story Victoria desperately wants to tell... if only she could get out the words.

Then Sylvia discovers Victoria’s diary hidden away in a drawer.

And what’s inside is shocking.]]>
414 Freida McFadden carmen 0 to-read 4.08 2020 The Wife Upstairs
author: Freida McFadden
name: carmen
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2020
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/03/10
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Apples Never Fall 61302631
From Liane Moriarty, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Big Little Lies and Nine Perfect Strangers , comes Apples Never Fall , a novel that looks at marriage, siblings, and how the people we love the most can hurt us the deepest. The Delaney family love one another dearly -- it's just that sometimes they want to murder each other . . . If your mother was missing, would you tell the police? Even if the most obvious suspect was your father? This is the dilemma facing the four grown Delaney siblings. The Delaneys are fixtures in their community. The parents, Stan and Joy, are the envy of all of their friends. They're killers on the tennis court, and off it their chemistry is palpable. But after fifty years of marriage, they've finally sold their famed tennis academy and are ready to start what should be the golden years of their lives. So why are Stan and Joy so miserable? The four Delaney children--Amy, Logan, Troy, and Brooke--were tennis stars in their own right, yet as their father will tell you, none of them had what it took to go all the way. But that's okay, now that they're all successful grown-ups and there is the wonderful possibility of grandchildren on the horizon. One night a stranger named Savannah knocks on Stan and Joy's door, bleeding after a fight with her boyfriend. The Delaneys are more than happy to give her the small kindness she sorely needs. If only that was all she wanted. Later, when Joy goes missing, and Savannah is nowhere to be found, the police question the one person who Stan. But for someone who claims to be innocent, he, like many spouses, seems to have a lot to hide. Two of the Delaney children think their father is innocent, two are not so sure--but as the two sides square off against each other in perhaps their biggest match ever, all of the Delaneys will start to reexamine their shared family history in a very new light.]]>
707 Liane Moriarty carmen 0 to-read 3.53 2021 Apples Never Fall
author: Liane Moriarty
name: carmen
average rating: 3.53
book published: 2021
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/03/10
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The Great Alone 34912895 Unpredictable. Unforgiving. Untamed.
For a family in crisis, the ultimate test of survival.

Ernt Allbright, a former POW, comes home from the Vietnam war a changed and volatile man. When he loses yet another job, he makes an impulsive decision: he will move his family north, to Alaska, where they will live off the grid in America’s last true frontier.

Thirteen-year-old Leni, a girl coming of age in a tumultuous time, caught in the riptide of her parents� passionate, stormy relationship, dares to hope that a new land will lead to a better future for her family. She is desperate for a place to belong. Her mother, Cora, will do anything and go anywhere for the man she loves, even if it means following him into the unknown.

At first, Alaska seems to be the answer to their prayers. In a wild, remote corner of the state, they find a fiercely independent community of strong men and even stronger women. The long, sunlit days and the generosity of the locals make up for the Allbrights� lack of preparation and dwindling resources.

But as winter approaches and darkness descends on Alaska, Ernt’s fragile mental state deteriorates and the family begins to fracture. Soon the perils outside pale in comparison to threats from within. In their small cabin, covered in snow, blanketed in eighteen hours of night, Leni and her mother learn the terrible truth: they are on their own. In the wild, there is no one to save them but themselves.

In this unforgettable portrait of human frailty and resilience, Kristin Hannah reveals the indomitable character of the modern American pioneer and the spirit of a vanishing Alaska―a place of incomparable beauty and danger. The Great Alone is a daring, beautiful, stay-up-all-night story about love and loss, the fight for survival, and the wildness that lives in both man and nature.]]>
435 Kristin Hannah carmen 4 4.44 2018 The Great Alone
author: Kristin Hannah
name: carmen
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2024/01/26
date added: 2024/01/26
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Big Little Lies 33516773 An alternative cover edition for this ISBN can be found here.

From the author of Truly Madly Guilty and The Husband s Secret comes a novel about the dangerous little lies we tell ourselves just to survive.

A murder...A tragic accident...Or just parents behaving badly? What’s indisputable is that someone is dead.

Madeline is a force to be reckoned with. She’s funny, biting, and passionate; she remembers everything and forgives no one. Celeste is the kind of beautiful woman who makes the world stop and stare but she is paying a price for the illusion of perfection. New to town, single mom Jane is so young that another mother mistakes her for a nanny. She comes with a mysterious past and a sadness beyond her years. These three women are at different crossroads, but they will all wind up in the same shocking place.

Big Little Lies is a brilliant take on ex-husbands and second wives, mothers and daughters, schoolyard scandal, and the little lies that can turn lethal.]]>
460 Liane Moriarty 0399587195 carmen 5 4.40 2014 Big Little Lies
author: Liane Moriarty
name: carmen
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2024/01/19
date added: 2024/01/19
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<![CDATA[Twelve Slays of Christmas (Christmas Tree Farm Mystery, #1)]]> 35222689
When the murder weapon is revealed as one of the wooden stakes used to identify trees on the farm, Sheriff Evan Grey turns to Holly’s father, Bud, and the Reindeer Games staff. And it doesn’t help that Bud and the reindeer keeper were each seen arguing with Margaret just before her death. But Holly knows her father, and is determined to exonerate him.The jingle bells are ringing, the clock is ticking, and if Holly doesn't watch out, she'll end up on Santa's naughty list in Twelve Slays of Christmas, Jacqueline Frost’s jolly series debut.]]>
317 Jacqueline Frost 1683313186 carmen 2 4.27 2017 Twelve Slays of Christmas (Christmas Tree Farm Mystery, #1)
author: Jacqueline Frost
name: carmen
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2017
rating: 2
read at: 2023/12/29
date added: 2023/12/29
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<![CDATA[Four to Score (Stephanie Plum, #4)]]> 6422
Stephanie’s mentor and tormentor, Ranger, needs her. Vice cop Joe Morelli has invited her to move in� temporarily. And Stephanie’s Grandma Mazur, sidekick, Lula, and a six-foot-tall transvestite rock musician want to take Stephanie to Atlantic City. One thing is for certain, no good can come from any of it.]]>
313 Janet Evanovich 0312966970 carmen 4 4.17 1998 Four to Score (Stephanie Plum, #4)
author: Janet Evanovich
name: carmen
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1998
rating: 4
read at: 2023/12/15
date added: 2023/12/15
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<![CDATA[The Boy from the Woods (Wilde, #1)]]> 51204046
No one seems to take Naomi Pine's disappearance seriously, not even her father-with one exception. Hester Crimstein, a television criminal attorney, knows through her grandson that Naomi was relentlessly bullied at school. Hester asks Wilde-with whom she shares a tragic connection-to use his unique skills to help find Naomi.

Wilde can't ignore an outcast in trouble, but in order to find Naomi he must venture back into the community where he has never fit in, a place where the powerful are protected even when they harbor secrets that could destroy the lives of millions . . . secrets that Wilde must uncover before it's too late.]]>
371 Harlan Coben 1538748142 carmen 0 to-read 3.84 2020 The Boy from the Woods (Wilde, #1)
author: Harlan Coben
name: carmen
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2020
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/12/13
shelves: to-read
review:

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<![CDATA[Resting Grinch Face (Frost Brothers, #5)]]> 63275944 I might not be able to ruin his life, but I will ruin his Christmas.
Yeah, I’m totally a grinch. But I come by it honestly.
Because of Oliver Frost, I flamed out of college in the most humiliating way possible.
Now I’m back in my small town—just in time to suffer through a display of small-town Christmas cheer so festive it will make you puke your eggnog. But who cares about being home for the holidays when you live with your family like a loser and have to share one bathroom with seven other people?

I plan to spend my Christmas purgatory being tsked at by elderly residents and passive aggressively prodded by my mom’s friends about what I plan to do with my life.
I don’t know, Deborah, work in the Christmas market and get screamed at by tourists because I didn’t put enough sprinkles on their little brats� coffees? Seriously, who gives five-year-olds that much caffeine anyway?!

See? Like I said. A grinch.
I hate Christmas.
I set a nativity scene on fire.
Got in a fistfight with an elf—I lost, by the way.
And threw a vat of Snowman Surprise all over Oliver. Don’t ask. Small-town Christmas insanity.
Sleigh what? Oliver is here???
The man who humiliated me and ruined my life?

Ho ho ho, fuck no.

He doesn’t deserve a quaint small-town Christmas or a fancy Christmas tree from my family’s farm.
He should be haunted like Ebenezer Scrooge by the Ghost of Christmas Past. Or at least the Ghost of Hookups Past.

Momma’s gonna have herself a very merry Christmas revenge.
Swapping the salt and sugar so his Christmas cookies are ruined? Be still, my shriveled little heart.
Spying on him so I can gather recon to ruin his holidate? Damn, I forgot how ripped his chest was.
Sneaking down his chimney to steal all the presents under his tree? Amateur hour.
Until I get caught...

Guess I’m spending Christmas in jail.
But when he sees I’m not wearing a bra under my ugly Christmas sweater, Oliver smiles like Santa has come early.
Crap! I knew I should have worn my good underwear!

Hold on to your stockings because the eggnog is spicy and mostly booze. This is a fuck-second-chances, Santa-stalker, holiday-revenge romantic comedy. Featuring Christmas-hating heroines with poor decision-making skills, ripped guys who will leave a very large package under your tree, and adorable corgis dressed up as reindeer, this standalone book has a happily ever after, guaranteed!]]>
469 Alina Jacobs carmen 2 4.01 Resting Grinch Face (Frost Brothers, #5)
author: Alina Jacobs
name: carmen
average rating: 4.01
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2023/12/04
date added: 2023/12/04
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<![CDATA[Three to Get Deadly (Stephanie Plum, #3)]]> 62594849
Stephanie is having a bad hair day—for the whole month of January. She’s looking for Mo Bedemier, Trenton’s most beloved citizen, who was charged with carrying a concealed weapon and skipped bail. To help her, she’s got Lula, a former hooker turned file clerk. Lula’s itching to lock up a crook in the trunk of her car. And Morelli, the cop with the slow-burning smile, is acting polite even after Stephanie finds more bodies than the Trenton PD has seen in years. That’s a bad sign for sure.

Featuring a feisty and funny heroine who “comes roaring in like a blast of very fresh air� (The Washington Post), Three to Get Deadly is fast-paced and entertaining suspense at its finest.]]>
344 Janet Evanovich carmen 5 4.39 1997 Three to Get Deadly (Stephanie Plum, #3)
author: Janet Evanovich
name: carmen
average rating: 4.39
book published: 1997
rating: 5
read at: 2023/10/26
date added: 2023/10/26
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<![CDATA[House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City, #1)]]> 44778083
Hunt Athalar is a notorious Fallen angel, now enslaved to the Archangels he once attempted to overthrow. His brutal skills and incredible strength have been set to one purpose-to assassinate his boss's enemies, no questions asked. But with a demon wreaking havoc in the city, he's offered an irresistible deal: help Bryce find the murderer, and his freedom will be within reach.

As Bryce and Hunt dig deep into Crescent City's underbelly, they discover a dark power that threatens everything and everyone they hold dear, and they find, in each other, a blazing passion-one that could set them both free, if they'd only let it.

With unforgettable characters, sizzling romance, and page-turning suspense, this richly inventive new fantasy series by #1 New York Times bestselling author Sarah J. Maas delves into the heartache of loss, the price of freedom-and the power of love.]]>
803 Sarah J. Maas 1635574048 carmen 0 to-read 4.43 2020 House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City, #1)
author: Sarah J. Maas
name: carmen
average rating: 4.43
book published: 2020
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/10/10
shelves: to-read
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<![CDATA[Three Plums in One (Stephanie Plum, #1-3)]]> 6857 1016 Janet Evanovich 0743216393 carmen 0 to-read 4.32 1990 Three Plums in One (Stephanie Plum, #1-3)
author: Janet Evanovich
name: carmen
average rating: 4.32
book published: 1990
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/10/10
shelves: to-read
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<![CDATA[Two for the Dough / Three to Get Deadly (Stephanie Plum #2-3)]]> 102095793 0 Janet Evanovich 0010200029 carmen 0 to-read 4.12 Two for the Dough / Three to Get Deadly (Stephanie Plum #2-3)
author: Janet Evanovich
name: carmen
average rating: 4.12
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/10/10
shelves: to-read
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<![CDATA[One for the Money / Two for the Dough (Stephanie Plum, #1-2)]]> 147072 0 Janet Evanovich 0333908643 carmen 0 to-read 4.27 2000 One for the Money / Two for the Dough (Stephanie Plum, #1-2)
author: Janet Evanovich
name: carmen
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2000
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/10/10
shelves: to-read
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<![CDATA[Going Rogue: Rise and Shine Twenty-Nine (Stephanie Plum, #29)]]> 60321048 Stephanie Plum breaks the rules, flirts with disaster, and shows who’s boss in this “fast and fun� (Publishers Weekly) thriller from #1 New York Times bestselling author Janet Evanovich.

Monday mornings aren’t supposed to be fun, but they should be predictable. However, on this particular Monday, Stephanie Plum knows that something is amiss when she turns up for work at Vinnie’s Bail Bonds to find that longtime office manager Connie Rosolli, who is as reliable as the tides in Atlantic City, hasn’t shown up.

Stephanie’s worst fears are confirmed when she gets a call from Connie’s abductor. He says he will only release her in exchange for a mysterious coin that a recently murdered man left as collateral for his bail. Unfortunately, this coin, which should be in the office—just like Connie—is nowhere to be found.

The quest to discover the coin, learn its value, and save Connie will require the help of Stephanie’s Grandma Mazur, her best pal Lula, her boyfriend Morelli, and hunky security expert Ranger. As they get closer to unraveling the reasons behind Connie’s kidnapping, Connie’s captor grows more threatening and soon Stephanie has no choice but to throw caution to the wind, follow her instincts, and go rogue.

Full of surprises, thrills, and humor, Going Rogue reveals a new side of Stephanie Plum, and shows Janet Evanovich at her scorching, riotous best.]]>
324 Janet Evanovich 1668003058 carmen 0 to-read 3.96 2022 Going Rogue: Rise and Shine Twenty-Nine (Stephanie Plum, #29)
author: Janet Evanovich
name: carmen
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2022
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/10/10
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<![CDATA[Dirty Thirty (Stephanie Plum, #30)]]> 101144259 _______________
Stephanie Plum, Trenton’s hardest working, most underappreciated bounty hunter, is offered a freelance assignment that seems simple enough. Local jeweler Martin Rabner wants her to locate his former security guard, Andy Manley (a.k.a. Nutsy), who he is convinced stole a fortune in diamonds out of his safe. Stephanie is also looking for another troubled man, Duncan Dugan, a fugitive from justice arrested for robbing the same jewelry store on the same day.

With her boyfriend Morelli away in Miami on police business, Stephanie is taking care of Bob, Morelli’s giant orange dog who will devour anything, from Stephanie’s stray donuts to the upholstery in her car. Morelli’s absence also means the inscrutable, irresistible security expert Ranger is front and center in Stephanie’s life when things inevitably go sideways. And he seems determined to stay there.

To complicate matters, her best friend Lula is convinced she is being stalked by a mythological demon hell-bent on relieving her of her wardrobe. An overnight stakeout with Stephanie’s mother and Grandma Mazur reveals three generations of women with nerves of steel and driving skills worthy of NASCAR champions.

As the body count rises and witnesses start to disappear, it won’t be easy for Stephanie to keep herself clean when everyone else is playing dirty. It’s a good thing Stephanie isn’t afraid of getting a little dirty, too.]]>
336 Janet Evanovich 1668003090 carmen 0 to-read 4.01 2023 Dirty Thirty (Stephanie Plum, #30)
author: Janet Evanovich
name: carmen
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/10/10
shelves: to-read
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<![CDATA[Turbo Twenty-Three (Stephanie Plum, #23)]]> 28686830 In the heart of Trenton, N.J., a killer is out to make sure someone gets his just desserts.

Larry Virgil skipped out on his latest court date after he was arrested for hijacking an eighteen-wheeler full of premium bourbon. Fortunately for bounty hunter Stephanie Plum, Larry is just stupid enough to attempt almost the exact same crime again. Only this time he flees the scene, leaving behind a freezer truck loaded with Bogart ice cream and a dead body—frozen solid and covered in chocolate and chopped pecans.

As fate would have it, Stephanie’s mentor and occasional employer, Ranger, needs her to go undercover at the Bogart factory to find out who’s putting their employees on ice and sabotaging the business. It’s going to be hard for Stephanie to keep her hands off all that ice cream, and even harder for her to keep her hands off Ranger. It’s also going to be hard to explain to Trenton’s hottest cop, Joe Morelli, why she is spending late nights with Ranger, late nights with Lula and Randy Briggs—who are naked and afraid—and late nights keeping tabs on Grandma Mazur and her new fella. Stephanie Plum has a lot on her plate, but for a girl who claims to have “virtually no marketable skills,� these are the kinds of sweet assignments she does best.]]>
288 Janet Evanovich 0345543009 carmen 0 to-read 3.77 2016 Turbo Twenty-Three (Stephanie Plum, #23)
author: Janet Evanovich
name: carmen
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2016
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/10/10
shelves: to-read
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<![CDATA[Hardcore Twenty-Four (Stephanie Plum, #24)]]> 32942027
Events take a dark turn when headless bodies start appearing across town. At first, it’s just corpses from a funeral home and the morgue that have had the heads removed. But when a homeless man is murdered and dumped behind a church Stephanie knows that she’s the only one with a prayer of catching this killer.

If all that’s not enough, Diesel’s back in town. The 6-foot-tall, blonde-haired hunk is a man who accepts no limits—that includes locked doors, closed windows and underwear. Trenton’s hottest cop, Joe Morelli isn’t pleased at this unexpected arrival nor is Ranger, the high-powered security consultant who has his own plans for Stephanie.

As usual Jersey’s favorite bounty hunter is stuck in the middle with more questions than answers. What’s the deal with Grandma Mazur’s latest online paramour? Who is behind the startling epidemic of mutilated corpses? And is the enigmatic Diesel’s sudden appearance a coincidence or the cause of recent deadly events?]]>
320 Janet Evanovich carmen 0 to-read 3.76 2017 Hardcore Twenty-Four (Stephanie Plum, #24)
author: Janet Evanovich
name: carmen
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2017
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/10/10
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<![CDATA[Look Alive Twenty-Five (Stephanie Plum, #25)]]> 38325516 Stephanie Plum faces the toughest puzzle of her career in the twenty-fifth entry in Janet Evanovich's #1 New York Times bestselling series.

There's nothing like a good deli and the Red River Deli in Trenton is one of the best. World famous for its pastrami, cole slaw and for its disappearing managers. Over the last month, three have vanished from the face of the earth, 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.]]>
311 Janet Evanovich 0399179224 carmen 0 to-read 3.75 2018 Look Alive Twenty-Five (Stephanie Plum, #25)
author: Janet Evanovich
name: carmen
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2018
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/10/10
shelves: to-read
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<![CDATA[Twisted Twenty-Six (Stephanie Plum, #26)]]> 44906255 Stephanie Plum's career has taken more wrong turns than a student driver on the Jersey Turnpike, and her love life is a hopeless tangle. In order to save someone dear to her, she'll have to straighten things out in Twisted Twenty-Six the latest, novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Janet Evanovich.

Grandma Mazur is a widow...again. This time her marriage lasted a whole 45 minutes. The unlucky groom was one Jimmy Rosolli, local gangster, lothario (senior division) and heart attack waiting to happen...well, the waiting's over.

It's a sad day, but if she can't have Jimmy at least Grandma can have all the attention she wants as the dutiful widow. But some kinds of attention are not welcomed, particularly when Jimmy's former "business partners" are convinced that his widow is keeping the keys to their financial success for herself.

As someone who has spent an entire career finding bad guys, a set of missing keys should be no challenge for Stephanie Plum. Problem is, the facts are as twisted as a boardwalk pretzel with mustard.]]>
312 Janet Evanovich 0399180206 carmen 0 to-read 4.11 2019 Twisted Twenty-Six (Stephanie Plum, #26)
author: Janet Evanovich
name: carmen
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2019
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/10/10
shelves: to-read
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<![CDATA[Fortune and Glory: Tantalizing Twenty-Seven (Stephanie Plum, #27)]]> 49779612 From “the most popular mystery writer alive� (The New York Times), the twenty-seventh thrilling entry in the #1 New York Times bestselling series isn’t just the biggest case of Stephanie Plum’s career. It’s the adventure of a lifetime.

When Stephanie’s beloved Grandma Mazur’s new husband died on their wedding night, the only thing he left her was a beat-up old easy chair…and the keys to a life-changing fortune.

But as Stephanie and Grandma Mazur search for Jimmy Rosolli’s treasure, they discover that they’re not the only ones on the hunt. Two dangerous enemies from the past stand in their way—along with a new adversary who’s even more formidable: Gabriela Rose, a dark-eyed beauty from Little Havana with a taste for designer clothes. She’s also a soldier of fortune, a gourmet cook, an expert in firearms and mixed martial arts—and someone who’s about to give Stephanie a real run for her money.

Stephanie may be in over her head, but she’s got two things that Gabriela doesn’t: an unbreakable bond with her family and a stubborn streak that will never let her quit.

She’ll need both to survive because this search for “fortune and glory� will turn into a desperate race against time with more on the line than ever before. Because even as she searches for the treasure and fights to protect her Grandma Mazur, her own deepest feelings will be tested—as Stephanie could finally be forced to choose between Joe Morelli and Ranger.]]>
315 Janet Evanovich 1982154861 carmen 0 to-read 4.05 2020 Fortune and Glory: Tantalizing Twenty-Seven (Stephanie Plum, #27)
author: Janet Evanovich
name: carmen
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2020
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/10/10
shelves: to-read
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<![CDATA[Game On: Tempting Twenty-Eight (Stephanie Plum, #28)]]> 56898191
Turns out Diesel and Stephanie are on the trail of the same fugitive: Oswald Wednesday, an international computer hacker as brilliant as he is ruthless. Stephanie may not be the most technologically savvy sleuth, but she more than makes up for that with her dogged determination, her understanding of human nature, and her willingness to do just about anything to bring a fugitive to justice. Unsure if Diesel is her partner or her competition in this case, she’ll need to watch her back every step of the way because Oswald is a killer.]]>
286 Janet Evanovich 198215487X carmen 0 to-read 3.89 2021 Game On: Tempting Twenty-Eight (Stephanie Plum, #28)
author: Janet Evanovich
name: carmen
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2021
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/10/10
shelves: to-read
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<![CDATA[Tricky Twenty-Two (Stephanie Plum, #22)]]> 24950845
Stephanie Plum might not be the world's greatest bounty hunter, but she knows when she's being played. Ken Globovic (aka Gobbles), hailed as the Supreme Exalted Zookeeper of the animal house known as Zeta fraternity, has been arrested for beating up the dean of students at Kiltman College. Gobbles has missed his court date and gone into hiding. People have seen him on campus, but no one will talk. Things just aren't adding up, and Stephanie can't shake the feeling that something funny is going on at the college - and it's not just Zeta fraternity pranks.

As much as people love Gobbles, they hate Doug Linken. When Linken is gunned down in his backyard it's good riddance, and the list of possible murder suspects is long. The only people who care about finding Linken's killer are Trenton cop Joe Morelli, who has been assigned the case, security expert Ranger, who was hired to protect Linken, and Stephanie, who has her eye on a cash prize and hopefully has some tricks up her sleeve.]]>
282 Janet Evanovich 0345542967 carmen 0 to-read 3.90 2015 Tricky Twenty-Two (Stephanie Plum, #22)
author: Janet Evanovich
name: carmen
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2015
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/10/10
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<![CDATA[Takedown Twenty (Stephanie Plum, #20)]]> 17908462 actual godfather. And while Morelli understands that the law is the law, his old-world grandmother, Bella, is doing everything she can to throw Stephanie off the trail.

It’s not just Uncle Sunny giving Stephanie the run-around. Security specialist Ranger needs her help to solve the bizarre death of a top client’s mother, a woman who happened to play bingo with Stephanie’s Grandma Mazur. Before Stephanie knows it, she’s working side by side with Ranger and Grandma at the senior center, trying to catch a killer on the loose—and the bingo balls are not rolling in their favor.

With bullet holes in her car, henchmen on her tail, and a giraffe named Kevin running wild in the streets of Trenton, Stephanie will have to up her game for the ultimate takedown.]]>
307 Janet Evanovich 0804179468 carmen 0 to-read 3.79 2013 Takedown Twenty (Stephanie Plum, #20)
author: Janet Evanovich
name: carmen
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2013
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/10/10
shelves: to-read
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<![CDATA[Top Secret Twenty-One (Stephanie Plum, #21)]]> 19004663 Catch a professional assassin: top priority. Find a failure-to-appear and collect big bucks: top score. How she’ll pull it all off: top secret.

Trenton, New Jersey’s favorite used-car dealer, Jimmy Poletti, was caught selling a lot more than used cars out of his dealerships. Now he’s out on bail and has missed his date in court, and bounty hunter Stephanie Plum is looking to bring him in. Leads are quickly turning into dead ends, and all too frequently into dead bodies. Even Joe Morelli, the city’s hottest cop, is struggling to find a clue to the suspected killer’s whereabouts. These are desperate times, and they call for desperate measures. So Stephanie is going to have to do something she really doesn’t want to do: protect former hospital security guard and general pain in her behind Randy Briggs. Briggs was picking up quick cash as Poletti’s bookkeeper and knows all his boss’s dirty secrets. Now Briggs is next on Poletti’s list of people to put six feet under.

To top things off, Ranger—resident security expert and Stephanie’s greatest temptation—has been the target of an assassination plot. He’s dodged the bullet this time, but if Ranger wants to survive the next attempt on his life, he’ll have to enlist Stephanie’s help and reveal a bit more of his mysterious past.

Death threats, highly trained assassins, highly untrained assassins, and Stark Street being overrun by a pack of feral Chihuahuas are all in a day’s work for Stephanie Plum. The real challenge is dealing with her Grandma Mazur’s wild bucket list. A boob job and getting revenge on Joe Morelli’s Grandma Bella can barely hold a candle to what’s number one on the list—but that’s top secret.]]>
305 Janet Evanovich 0345542924 carmen 0 to-read 3.82 2014 Top Secret Twenty-One (Stephanie Plum, #21)
author: Janet Evanovich
name: carmen
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2014
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/10/10
shelves: to-read
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<![CDATA[Notorious Nineteen (Stephanie Plum, #19)]]> 14740588
After a slow summer of chasing low-level skips for her cousin Vinnie’s bail bonds agency, Stephanie Plum finally lands an assignment that could put her checkbook back in the black. Geoffrey Cubbin, facing trial for embezzling millions from Trenton’s premier assisted-living facility, has mysteriously vanished from the hospital after an emergency appendectomy. Now it’s on Stephanie to track down the con man. Unfortunately, Cubbin has disappeared without a trace, a witness, or his money-hungry wife. Rumors are stirring that he must have had help with the daring escape . . . or that maybe he never made it out of his room alive. Since the hospital staff’s lips seem to be tighter than the security, and it’s hard for Stephanie to blend in to assisted living, Stephanie’s Grandma Mazur goes in undercover. But when a second felon goes missing from the same hospital, Stephanie is forced into working side by side with Trenton’s hottest cop, Joe Morelli, in order to crack the case.

The real problem is, no Cubbin also means no way to pay the rent. Desperate for money—or maybe just desperate—Stephanie accepts a secondary job guarding her secretive and mouthwatering mentor Ranger from a deadly Special Forces adversary. While Stephanie is notorious for finding trouble, she may have found a little more than she bargained for this time around. Then again—a little food poisoning, some threatening notes, and a bridesmaid’s dress with an excess of taffeta never killed anyone . . . or did they? If Stephanie Plum wants to bring in a paycheck, she’ll have to remember: No guts, no glory. . . .]]>
302 Janet Evanovich carmen 0 to-read 3.93 2012 Notorious Nineteen (Stephanie Plum, #19)
author: Janet Evanovich
name: carmen
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2012
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/10/10
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<![CDATA[Smokin' Seventeen (Stephanie Plum, #17)]]> 11732634
Dead bodies are showing up in shallow graves on the empty construction lot of Vincent Plum Bail Bonds. No one is sure who the killer is, or why the victims have been offed, but what is clear is that Stephanie’s name is on the killer’s list. Short on time to find the murderer, Stephanie is also under pressure from family and friends to choose between her on-again-off-again boyfriend, Trenton cop Joe Morelli, and the bad boy in her life, security expert Ranger. Stephanie’s mom wants her to dump them both for a former high school football star who’s just returned to town. Stephanie’s sidekick, Lula, suggests a red-hot boudoir “bake-off.� And Joe’s old-world grandmother gives Stephanie “the eye,� which may mean that it’s time to get out of town.

With a cold-blooded killer after her, a handful of hot men, and a capture list that includes a dancing bear and a senior citizen vampire, Stephanie’s life looks like it’s about to go up in smoke.]]>
324 Janet Evanovich 0345527704 carmen 0 to-read 4.07 2011 Smokin' Seventeen (Stephanie Plum, #17)
author: Janet Evanovich
name: carmen
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2011
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/10/10
shelves: to-read
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<![CDATA[Explosive Eighteen (Stephanie Plum, #18)]]> 11746513 Bounty hunter Stephanie Plum’s life is set to blow sky high when international murder hits dangerously close to home, in this dynamite novel by Janet Evanovich.

Before Stephanie can even step foot off Flight 127 from Hawaii to Newark, she’s knee deep in trouble. Her dream vacation turned into a nightmare, she’s flying back to New Jersey solo, and someone who sounds like Sasquatch is snoring in row 22. Worse still, her seatmate never returned to the plane after the L.A. layover. Now he’s dead, in a garbage can, waiting for curbside pickup. His killer could be anyone. The FBI, the fake FBI, and guns-for-hire are all looking for a photograph the dead man was supposed to be carrying.

Only one other person has seen the missing photograph—Stephanie Plum. Now she’s the target, and she doesn’t intend to end up in a garbage can. With the help of an FBI sketch artist Stephanie re-creates the person in the photo. Unfortunately the first sketch turns out to look like Tom Cruise, and the second sketch like Ashton Kutcher. Until Stephanie can improve her descriptive skills, she’ll need to watch her back.

Over at the Bail Bonds Agency it’s business as usual—until the bonds bus serving as Vinnie’s temporary HQ goes up in smoke, Stephanie’s wheelman, Lula, falls in love with their “largest� FTA yet, lifetime arch nemesis Joyce Barnhardt moves into Stephanie’s apartment, and everyone wants to know what happened in Hawaii?!

Morelli, Trenton’s hottest cop, isn’t talking about Hawaii. Ranger, the man of mystery, isn’t talking about Hawaii. And all Stephanie is willing to say about her Hawaiian vacation is . . . It’s complicated.




From the Hardcover edition.]]>
305 Janet Evanovich 0345527712 carmen 0 to-read 3.95 2011 Explosive Eighteen (Stephanie Plum, #18)
author: Janet Evanovich
name: carmen
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2011
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/10/10
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<![CDATA[Finger Lickin' Fifteen (Stephanie Plum, #15)]]> 6048530 Unbuckle your belt and pull up a chair. It's the spiciest, sauciest, most rib-sticking Plum yet.

Recipe for disaster: Celebrity chef Stanley Chipotle comes to Trenton in a barbecue cookoff and loses his head - literally.

Throw in some spice: Bail bonds office worker Lula is witness to the crime, and the only one she'll talk to is Trenton cop Joe Morelli.

Pump up the heat: Chipotle's sponsor is offering a million-dollar reward to anyone who can provide information leading to the capture of the killers.

Stir the pot: Lula recruits bounty hunter Stephanie Plum to help find he killer and collect the moolah.

Add a secret ingredient: Stephanie Plum's Grandma Mazur. Enough said.

Bring to a boil: Stephanie Plum is working overtime tracking felons for the bonds office at night and snooping for security expert Carlos Manoso, aka Ranger, during the day. Can Stephanie hunt down two killers, a traitor, and five skips, keep her grandmother out of the sauce, and solve Ranger's problems and not jump his bones?

Warning: Habenero hot. So good you'll want seconds.]]>
308 Janet Evanovich 0312383282 carmen 0 to-read 4.01 2009 Finger Lickin' Fifteen (Stephanie Plum, #15)
author: Janet Evanovich
name: carmen
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2009
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/10/10
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<![CDATA[Sizzling Sixteen (Stephanie Plum, #16)]]> 7023554
BAD LUCK:
Vinnie, of Vincent Plum Bail Bonds, has run up a gambling debt of $786,000 with mobster Bobby Sunflower and is being held until the cash can be produced. Nobody else will pay to get Vinnie back, leaving it up to Stephanie, office manager Connie, and file clerk Lula to raise the money if they want to save their jobs.

GOOD LUCK:
Being in the business of tracking down people, Stephanie, Lula, and Connie have an advantage in finding Vinnie. If they can rescue him, it will buy them some time to raise the cash.

BAD LUCK:
Finding a safe place to hide Vinnie turns out to be harder than raising $786,000. Vinnie’s messing up Mooner’s vibe, running up pay-per-view porn charges in Ranger’s apartment, and making Stephanie question genetics.

GOOD LUCK:
Between a bonds office yard sale that has the entire Burg turning out, Mooner’s Hobbit-Con charity event, and Uncle Pip’s lucky bottle, they just might raise enough money to save the business, and Vinnie, from ruin.

BAD LUCK:
Saving Vincent Plum Bail Bonds means Stephanie can keep being a bounty hunter. In Trenton, this involves hunting down a man wanted for polygamy, a turnpike toilet paper bandit, and a drug dealer with a pet alligator named Mr. Jingles.

GOOD LUCK:
The job of bounty hunter comes with perks in the guise of Trenton’s hottest cop, Joe Morelli, and the dark and dangerous security expert, Ranger. With any luck at all, Uncle Pip’s lucky bottle will have Stephanie getting lucky--the only question is . . . with whom?

Sizzling Sixteen . . . so hot, the pages might spontaneously combust!]]>
371 Janet Evanovich 0739377728 carmen 0 to-read 3.97 2010 Sizzling Sixteen (Stephanie Plum, #16)
author: Janet Evanovich
name: carmen
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2010
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/10/10
shelves: to-read
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<![CDATA[Plum Spooky (Stephanie Plum, #14.5)]]> 3400816 384 Janet Evanovich 0739328271 carmen 0 to-read 3.81 2009 Plum Spooky (Stephanie Plum, #14.5)
author: Janet Evanovich
name: carmen
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2009
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/10/10
shelves: to-read
review:

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<![CDATA[Fearless Fourteen (Stephanie Plum, #14)]]> 2292384 Personal vendettas, hidden treasure, and a monkey named Carl will send bounty hunter Stephanie Plum on her most explosive adventure yet.

The Crime: Armed robbery to the tune of nine million dollars

Dom Rizzi robbed a bank, stashed the money, and did the time. His family couldn't be more proud. He always was the smart one.

The Cousin: Joe Morelli

Joe Morelli, Dom Rizzi, and Dom's sister, Loretta, are cousins. Morelli is a cop, Rizzi robs banks, and Loretta is a single mother waiting tables at the firehouse. The all-American family.

The Complications: Murder, kidnapping, destruction of personal property, and acid reflux

Less than a week after Dom's release from prison, Joe Morelli has shadowy figures breaking into his house and dying in his basement. He's getting threatening messages, Loretta is kidnapped, and Dom is missing.

The Catastrophe: Moonman

Morelli hires Walter "Mooner" Dunphy, stoner and "inventor" turned crime fighter, to protect his house. Morelli can't afford a lot on a cop's salary, and Mooner will work for potatoes.

The Cupcake: Stephanie Plum

Stephanie and Morelli have a long-standing relationship that involves sex, affection, and driving each other nuts. She's a bond enforcement agent with more luck than talent, and she's involved in this bank-robbery-gone-bad disaster from day one.

The Crisis: A favor for Ranger

Security expert Carlos Manoso, street name Ranger, has a job for Stephanie that will involve night work. Morelli has his own ideas regarding Stephanie's evening activities.

The Conclusion: Only the fearless should read Fourteen.

Thrills, chills, and incontinence may result.]]>
310 Janet Evanovich 0312349513 carmen 0 to-read 4.04 2008 Fearless Fourteen (Stephanie Plum, #14)
author: Janet Evanovich
name: carmen
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2008
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/10/10
shelves: to-read
review:

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<![CDATA[Plum Lucky (Stephanie Plum, #13.5)]]> 1434105
Stephanie Plum is back between-the-numbers and she’s looking to get lucky in an Atlantic City hotel room, in a Winnebago, and with a brown-eyed stud who has stolen her heart.

Stephanie Plum has a way of attracting danger, lunatics, oddballs, bad luck . . . and mystery men. And no one is more mysterious than the unmentionable Diesel. He’s back and hot on the trail of a little man in green pants who’s lost a giant bag of money. Problem is, the money isn’t exactly lost. Stephanie’s Grandma Mazur has found it, and like any good Jersey senior citizen, she’s hightailed it in a Winnebago to Atlantic City and hit the slots. With Lula and Connie in tow, Stephanie attempts to bring Grandma home, but the luck of the Irish is rubbing off on everyone: Lula’s found a job modeling plus-size lingerie. Connie’s found a guy. Diesel’s found Stephanie. And Stephanie has found herself in over her head with a caper involving thrice-stolen money, a racehorse, a car chase, and a bad case of hives.

Plum Lucky is an all-you-can-eat buffet of thrills, chills, shrimp cocktail, plus-size underwear, and scorching hot men. It’s a between-the-numbers treat no Evanovich fan will want to miss!

]]>
166 Janet Evanovich 0312377630 carmen 0 to-read 3.76 2008 Plum Lucky (Stephanie Plum, #13.5)
author: Janet Evanovich
name: carmen
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2008
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/10/10
shelves: to-read
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<![CDATA[Plum Lovin' (Stephanie Plum, #12.5)]]> 6419 164 Janet Evanovich 0312306342 carmen 0 to-read 3.75 2007 Plum Lovin' (Stephanie Plum, #12.5)
author: Janet Evanovich
name: carmen
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2007
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/10/10
shelves: to-read
review:

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<![CDATA[Lean Mean Thirteen (Stephanie Plum, #13)]]> 40317
MISTAKE #1
Dickie Orr
Stephanie was married to him for about fifteen minutes before she caught him cheating on her with her archnemesis, Joyce Barnhardt. Another fifteen minutes after that, Stephanie filed for divorce, hoping never to see either one of them again.

MISTAKE #2
Doing favors for super bounty hunter Carlos Manoso (aka Ranger)
Ranger needs Stephanie to meet with Dickie and find out if he’s doing something shady. Turns out, he is. Turns out, Dickie’s also back to doing Joyce Barnhardt. And it turns out Ranger’s favors always come with a price. . . .

MISTAKE #3
Going completely nutso while doing the favor for Ranger, and trying to apply bodily injury to Dickie in front of the entire office
Now Dickie has disappeared, and Stephanie is the natural suspect in his disappearance. Is Dickie dead? Can he be found? And can Stephanie Plum stay one step ahead in this new, dangerous game? Joe Morelli, the hottest cop in Trenton, New Jersey, is also keeping Stephanie on her toes---and he may know more than he’s saying about many things in Stephanie’s life. It’s a cat-and-mouse game for Stephanie Plum wherein the ultimate prize might be her life.

With Janet Evanovich’s flair for hilarious situations, breathtaking action, and unforgettable characters, Lean Mean Thirteen shows why no one can beat Evanovich for blockbuster entertainment.]]>
310 Janet Evanovich 0312349491 carmen 0 to-read 4.09 2007 Lean Mean Thirteen (Stephanie Plum, #13)
author: Janet Evanovich
name: carmen
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2007
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/10/10
shelves: to-read
review:

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<![CDATA[Twelve Sharp (Stephanie Plum, #12)]]> 3507 FIRST A STRANGER APPEARS

While chasing down the usual cast of miscreants and weirdos Stephanie discovers that a crazed woman is stalking her.
THEN THE STRANGER REVEALS HER SECRETS

The woman dresses in black, carries a 9mm Glock, and has a bad attitude and a mysterious connection to dark and dangerous Carlos Manoso …street name, Ranger.
NEXT, SOMEBODY DIES

The action turns deadly serious, and Stephanie goes from hunting skips to hunting a murderer.
SOON, THE CHASE IS ON

Ranger needs Stephanie for more reasons than he can say. And now, the two are working together to find a killer, rescue a missing child, and stop a lunatic from raising the body count. When Stephanie Plum and Ranger get too close for comfort, vice cop Joe Morelli (her on-again, off-again boyfriend) steps in.
Will the ticking clock stop at the stroke of twelve, or will a stranger in the wind find a way to stop Stephanie Plum…forever? Filled with Janet Evanovich's trademark action, nonstop adventure, and sharp humor, Twelve Sharp shows why her novels have been called "hot stuff" ( The New York Times ), and Evanovich herself "the master" ( San Francisco Examiner ).]]>
310 Janet Evanovich 0312349483 carmen 0 to-read 4.15 2006 Twelve Sharp (Stephanie Plum, #12)
author: Janet Evanovich
name: carmen
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2006
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/10/10
shelves: to-read
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<![CDATA[Eleven on Top (Stephanie Plum, #11)]]> 11003


Stephanie is stalked by a maniac returned from the grave for the sole purpose of putting her into a burial plot of her own. He's killed before, and he'll kill again if given the chance. Caught between staying far away from the bounty hunter business and staying alive, Stephanie reexamines her life and the possibility that being a bounty hunter is the solution rather than the problem. After disturbingly brief careers at the button factory, Kan Klean Dry Cleaners, and Cluck-in-a-Bucket, Stephanie takes an office position in security, working for Ranger, the sexiest, baddest bounty hunter and businessman on two continents. Tempers and temperatures rise as competition ratchets up between the two men in her life -- her on-again, off-again boyfriend, tough Trenton cop Joe Morelli, and her boss, Ranger. Can Stephanie Plum take the heat? Can you?

]]>
321 Janet Evanovich 0312985347 carmen 0 to-read 4.16 2005 Eleven on Top (Stephanie Plum, #11)
author: Janet Evanovich
name: carmen
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2005
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/10/10
shelves: to-read
review:

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<![CDATA[Ten Big Ones (Stephanie Plum, #10)]]> 86663 "I'm Stephanie Plum. My mother says that I'm famous and have to set a good example. She's right, but I'm from Jersey and truth is, I have a hard time getting a grip on the good example thing."

Swing off the Jersey Turnpike and you'll be in bounty hunter Stephanie Plum's neighborhood. You'll know it because all hell will be breaking loose. Not that she looks for trouble - it just seems to follow her. In Ten Big Ones it explodes at a deli, and when Stephanie pegs a robber as a member of a vicious Trenton gang, they peg her as dead. Vice cop Joe Morelli fears she's in way too deep - even with the help of crime-solving, cross-dressing, bus driver Sally Sweet, and Stephanie's friend Lula riding shotgun as backup. With a notorious killer on her tail, Stephanie figures the best hideout is Ranger's secret lair...
Original.]]>
319 Janet Evanovich 0312936222 carmen 0 to-read 4.14 2004 Ten Big Ones (Stephanie Plum, #10)
author: Janet Evanovich
name: carmen
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2004
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/10/10
shelves: to-read
review:

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<![CDATA[Visions of Sugar Plums (Stephanie Plum, #8.5)]]> 6420 **A Stephanie Plum “In Between the Numbers� Christmas novel**

It's five days before Christmas and things are not looking merry for Fugitive Apprehension Agent Stephanie Plum. She hasn't got a tree. She hasn't bought any presents. The malls are jam-packed with staggering shoppers. There's not a twinkle light anywhere to be seen in her apartment.

And there's a strange man in her kitchen.

Sure, this has happened to Stephanie Plum before. Strangers, weirdos, felons, creeps, and lunatics are always finding their way to her front door. But this guy is different. This guy is mysterious, sexy-and he has his own agenda. His name is Diesel and he is a man on a mission. And Diesel is unlike anyone Stephanie has ever met before in her life. The question is, what does he want with her? Can he help her find a little old toy maker who has skipped out on his bail right before Christmas? Can he survive the Plum family holiday dinner? Can he get Stephanie a tree that doesn't look like it was grown next to a nuclear power plant? These questions and more are keeping Stephanie awake at night. Not to mention the fact that she needs to find a bunch of nasty elves, her sister Valerie has a Christmas "surprise" for the Plums, her niece Mary Alice doesn't believe in Santa anymore, and Grandma Mazur has a new stud muffin. So bring out the plastic reindeer, strap on your jingle bells, and get ready to celebrate the holidays--Jersey style. In Janet Evanovich's Visions of Sugar Plums, the world of Plum has never been merrier!]]>
152 Janet Evanovich 0312986343 carmen 0 to-read 3.71 2002 Visions of Sugar Plums (Stephanie Plum, #8.5)
author: Janet Evanovich
name: carmen
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2002
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/10/10
shelves: to-read
review:

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<![CDATA[To the Nines (Stephanie Plum, #9)]]> 40331 But hey, she's from Jersey.

Stephanie Plum may not be the best bounty hunter in beautiful downtown Trenton, but she's pretty darn good at turning bad situations her way...and she always gets her man. In To the Nines, her cousin Vinnie (who's also her boss) has posted bail on Samuel Singh, an illegal immigrant. When the elusive Mr. Singh goes missing, Stephanie is on the case. But what she uncovers is far more sinister than anyone imagines and leads to a group of killers who give new meaning to the word hunter.

In a race against time that takes her from the Jersey Turnpike to the Vegas Strip, Stephanie Plum is on the chase of her life. The unforgettable characters, nonstop action, high-stakes suspense, and sheer entertainment of To the Nines define Janet Evanovich as unique among today's writers.]]>
372 Janet Evanovich 0747267634 carmen 0 to-read 4.16 2003 To the Nines (Stephanie Plum, #9)
author: Janet Evanovich
name: carmen
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2003
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/10/10
shelves: to-read
review:

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<![CDATA[Hard Eight (Stephanie Plum, #8)]]> 6425
Evelyn's estranged husband, Steven, a shady owner of a seedy bar, is not at all happy. During the divorce proceedings, he and Evelyn signed a child custody bond, and Steven is demanding the money guaranteed by the bond to find Annie. The money was secured by a mortgage on Evelyn's grandmother's house, and the True Blue Bonds Bail Agency wants to take possession of the house.

Finding a kidnapped child is not an assignment for a bounty hunter. But Evelyn's grandmother lives next door to Stephanie's parents, and Stephanie's mother and grandmother are not about to see their neighbor lose her house because of abduction.

Even though Stephanie's plate is full with miscreants who missed their court dates, including old nemesis and violent drunk Andy Bender and an elusive little old lady accused of grand theft auto, she can't disappoint Grandma Mazur! So she follows the trail left by Annie and Evelyn-- and finds a lot more than she bargained for. Steven is somehow linked with a very scary Eddie Abruzzi. Trenton cop and on-again, off-again fiance Joe Morelli and Stephanie's mentor and tormentor, Ranger, warn Stephanie about Abruzzi, but it's Abruzzi's eyes and mannerisms that frighten Stephanie the most. Stephanie needs Ranger's savvy and expertise, and she's willing to accept his help to find Annie even though it might mean becoming too involved with Ranger.

Stephanie, Ranger, Lula (who's not going to miss riding with Ranger), and Evelyn's lawyer/laundromat manager set out to find Annie. The search turns out to be a race among Stephanie's posse, the True Blue Bonds' agent, a Rangerette known as Jeanne Ellen Burrows, and the Abruzzi crew. Not to mention the fact that there's a killer rabbit on the loose!

Strap on your helmet and get ready for the ride of your life. Hard Eight. The world of Plum has never been wilder.]]>
326 Janet Evanovich 0312983867 carmen 0 to-read 4.16 2002 Hard Eight (Stephanie Plum, #8)
author: Janet Evanovich
name: carmen
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2002
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/10/10
shelves: to-read
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Seven Up (Stephanie Plum, #7) 6424 Also see: Alternate Cover Editions for this ISBN [ACE]
ACE #1

BLOWN UP

All New Jersey bounty hunter Stephanie Plum has to do is bring in semi-retired bail jumper Eddie DeChooch. For an old man he's still got a knack for slipping out of sight--and raising hell. How else can Stephanie explain the bullet-riddled corpse in Eddie's garden? Who else would have a clue as to why two of Stephanie's friends suddenly vanished? For answers Stephanie has the devil to pay: her mentor, Ranger. The deal? He'll give Stephanie all the help she needs--if she gives him everything he wants...

MESSED UP

As if things weren't complicated enough, Stephanie's just discovered her Grandma Mazur's own unmentionable alliance with Eddie. Add a series of unnerving break-ins, not to mention the bombshell revelation leveled by Stephanie's estranged sister, and Stephanie's ready for some good news. Unfortunately, a marriage proposal from Joe Morelli, the love of her life, isn't quite cutting it. And now--murder, a randy paramour, a wily mobster, death threats, extortion, and a triple kidnapping aside--Stephanie's really got the urge to run for her life...

~]]>
337 Janet Evanovich 0312980140 carmen 0 to-read 4.15 2001 Seven Up (Stephanie Plum, #7)
author: Janet Evanovich
name: carmen
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2001
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/10/10
shelves: to-read
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Hot Six (Stephanie Plum, #6) 6858 Hot Six, for example, a sequence of new and hideous cars bite the dust; she finds herself lumbered with a policeman's multiply incontinent dog; and she has several bad skin days. All this when she is trying to prove her distinctly more competent colleague and occasional boyfriend Ranger innocent of a mob hit; avoid the heavies trailing her in the hope of finding him; and cope with a wife-abusing bail defaulter with nasty habits, such as setting Stephanie on fire.]]> 336 Janet Evanovich 0312976275 carmen 0 to-read 4.19 2000 Hot Six (Stephanie Plum, #6)
author: Janet Evanovich
name: carmen
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2000
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/10/10
shelves: to-read
review:

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<![CDATA[High Five (Stephanie Plum, #5)]]> 6423
Her Uncle Fred has disappeared and Grandma Mazur is convinced he's been abducted by aliens.

Meanwhile, Cousin Vinnie has asked her to bring in the vertically challenged Randy Briggs who's jumped bail. But instead of coming quietly, he has taken up residence in Stephanie's closet. The mysterious man called Bunchy is trailing Stephanie in the hope of tracking down Fred. And Benito Ramirez is back from jail, quoting Scripture and vowing to introduce Stephanie to God - face to face.

Thankfully Joe Morelli, the irresistible cop, is still around to give her the odd sleepless night - though now he faces tough competition from the enigmatic Ranger...]]>
336 Janet Evanovich 0330371231 carmen 0 to-read 4.18 1999 High Five (Stephanie Plum, #5)
author: Janet Evanovich
name: carmen
average rating: 4.18
book published: 1999
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/10/10
shelves: to-read
review:

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<![CDATA[Two for the Dough (Stephanie Plum, #2)]]> 6427
Bounty hunter Stephanie Plum is still learning the ropes at her cousin Vinnie's bail bond office, so when she sets out on the trail of Kenny Mancuso - a suspiciously wealthy, working class Trenton boy who has just shot his best friend - the stakes are higher than ever. That Mancuso is distantly related to vice cop Joe Morelli - who is trying to beat Stephanie to the punch - only makes the hunt more thrilling...

Taking pointers from her bounty hunter pal, Ranger, and using her pistol packing Grandma Mazur as a decoy, Stephanie is soon closing in on her mark. But Morelli and his libido are worthy foes. And a more sinister kind of enemy has made his first move... and his next move might be Stephanie's last.]]>
326 Janet Evanovich 0140255559 carmen 5 4.11 1996 Two for the Dough (Stephanie Plum, #2)
author: Janet Evanovich
name: carmen
average rating: 4.11
book published: 1996
rating: 5
read at: 2023/10/10
date added: 2023/10/10
shelves:
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<![CDATA[A Questionable Character (Booktown Mystery #17)]]> 63106387
It's a busy summer in Booktown. Contractor Jim Stark is in great demand: he’s overseeing a number of projects, including Angelica Miles's newly constructed building on Main Street, finishing up the new brew pub, and gutting a stone mansion off Main Street that Angelica bought to be the world headquarters for Nigela Ricita Asssociates. It’ll house office space where her marketing staff and the rest of the NR Associates clerical personnel will work.

Tricia Miles and Angelica arrive at the mansion before their workday to see how the construction is going. They find the place unlocked and Stark’s right-hand man, Sanjay Arya, dead—bludgeoned to death. The loss of the contractor’s top man threatens all the projects in the works, which would effectively ruin the expensive marketing plan that the Chamber of Commerce has been working. Is Jim a suspect? (He’d be stupid to kill the person he depends on to keep the projects going.) But Stark also thinks his wife, who was very chummy with Sanjay, might have been cheating on him with the second-in-command, making him a likely suspect.

Once again Tricia finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation, but can she find the killer before he or she has the chance to bring the hammer down?]]>
336 Lorna Barrett 0593549430 carmen 4 3.67 2023 A Questionable Character (Booktown Mystery #17)
author: Lorna Barrett
name: carmen
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2023/08/18
date added: 2023/08/18
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review:

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Sleeper's Castle 28506124
Grieving and lost, Miranda has moved to Hay to escape, and slowly she feels herself coming to life in the solitude of the mountains. But her vivid dreams at Sleeper’s Castle introduce her to Catrin, a young women whose gift for foretelling the future embroiled her in a bloody revolt against English rule � many centuries ago.

An unbreakable connection is forged across history. Catrin is reaching out . . . and only Miranda can help. But time is running out�

Sunday Times bestselling author Barbara Erskine returns to Hay in the year that marks the 30th anniversary of her sensational debut bestseller, Lady of Hay.

Readers LOVE Barbara ‘Atmospheric� ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐‘Enthralling� ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐‘Spellbinding� ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐‘Another fabulous read from the mistress of the genre� ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐‘Immensely and deeply immersive fiction� ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐‘I loved every minute� ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐‘An exceptional writer of great books� ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐‘You can rely on this author to keep you wanting more� ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐‘A joy to read� ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐‘Captivating and engrossing� ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐]]>
545 Barbara Erskine 0007513186 carmen 0 to-read 4.40 2016 Sleeper's Castle
author: Barbara Erskine
name: carmen
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/07/30
shelves: to-read
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<![CDATA[One for the Money (Stephanie Plum, #1)]]> 6853
She’s a product of the “burg,� a blue-collar pocket of Trenton where houses are attached and narrow, cars are American, windows are clean, and (God forbid you should be late) dinner is served at six.

Out of work and out of money, Stephanie blackmails her bail-bondsman cousin Vinnie into giving her a try as an apprehension agent. Stephanie knows zilch about the job requirements, but she figures her new pal, el-primo bounty hunter Ranger, can teach her what it takes to catch a crook. Her first nail Joe Morelli, a former vice cop on the run from a charge of murder one. Morelli’s the inamorato who charmed Stephanie out of her virginity at age sixteen. There’s still powerful chemistry between them, so the chase should be interesting…and could also be extremely dangerous.]]>
320 Janet Evanovich 0312362080 carmen 4 4.05 1994 One for the Money (Stephanie Plum, #1)
author: Janet Evanovich
name: carmen
average rating: 4.05
book published: 1994
rating: 4
read at: 2023/07/22
date added: 2023/07/22
shelves:
review:

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<![CDATA[The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek]]> 43365035 The hardscrabble folks of Troublesome Creek have to scrap for everything—everything except books, that is. Thanks to Roosevelt's Kentucky Pack Horse Library Project, Troublesome's got its very own traveling librarian, Cussy Mary Carter.

Cussy's not only a book woman, however, she's also the last of her kind, her skin a shade of blue unlike most anyone else. Not everyone is keen on Cussy's family or the Library Project, and a Blue is often blamed for any whiff of trouble. If Cussy wants to bring the joy of books to the hill folks, she's going to have to confront prejudice as old as the Appalachias and suspicion as deep as the holler.

Inspired by the true blue-skinned people of Kentucky and the brave and dedicated Kentucky Pack Horse library service of the 1930s, The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek is a story of raw courage, fierce strength, and one woman's belief that books can carry us anywhere � even back home.

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336 Kim Michele Richardson 1492671533 carmen 0 to-read, reject-pile 4.41 2019 The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek
author: Kim Michele Richardson
name: carmen
average rating: 4.41
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/06/28
shelves: to-read, reject-pile
review:

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Acts of Desperation 56665714 This "blistering anti-romance" (Catherine Lacey) paints a riveting, cathartic story about love addiction and what it does to us.

Wouldn’t I do anything to reverse my loss, the absence of him? In the first scene of this provocative gut-punch of a novel, our unnamed narrator meets a magnetic writer named Ciaran and falls, against her better judgment, completely in his power. After a brief, all-consuming romance he abruptly rejects her, sending her into a tailspin of jealous obsession and longing. If he ever comes back to her, she resolves to hang onto him and his love at all costs, even if it destroys her� Part breathless confession, part lucid critique, Acts of Desperation renders a consciousness split between rebellion and submission, between escaping degradation and eroticizing it, between loving and being lovable. With unsettling, electric precision, Nolan dissects one of life’s most elusive Why do we want what we want, and how do we want it? Heralding the arrival of a stunning new literary talent, Acts of Desperation interrogates the nature of fantasy, desire, and power, challenging us to reckon honestly with our own insatiability."Hot as viscera." The New Republic]]>
288 Megan Nolan 0316429848 carmen 5 3.73 2021 Acts of Desperation
author: Megan Nolan
name: carmen
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2023/06/17
date added: 2023/06/17
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Truly Madly Guilty 27831371 The electrifying new novel from the international bestselling author, Liane Moriarty

Despite their differences, Erika and Clementine have been best friends since they were children. So when Erika needs help, Clementine should be the obvious person to turn to. Or so you'd think.

For Clementine, as a mother of a two desperately trying to practise for the audition of a lifetime, the last thing she needs is Erika asking for something, again.

But the barbecue should be the perfect way to forget their problems for a while. Especially when their hosts, Vid and Tiffany, are only too happy to distract them.

Which is how it all spirals out of control...

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517 Liane Moriarty 1250069815 carmen 2 3.59 2016 Truly Madly Guilty
author: Liane Moriarty
name: carmen
average rating: 3.59
book published: 2016
rating: 2
read at: 2023/05/26
date added: 2023/05/26
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<![CDATA[Proof of Murder (Beyond the Page Bookstore Mystery, #4)]]> 49505217 Bookshop owner Addie Greyborne must solve a locked-room murder in a supposedly haunted mansion to recover a priceless Sherlock Holmes original in the fourth book of Lauren Elliott's literary themed Addie Greyborne Mystery series.

Bookshop owner Addie Greyborne must solve a locked-room murder in a supposedly haunted mansion to recover a priceless Sherlock Holmes original . . .

The seaside New England town of Greyborne Harbor is home to many grand estates, including the Queen Anne Victorian Addie inherited from her great aunt. Now one of those mansions is holding an estate sale, which is just what the bookshop owner needs to replenish her supply of rare editions--even if the house is rumored to be haunted. Assisting an overwhelmed insurance appraiser with the inventory, Addie discovers an 1887 magazine containing Arthur Conan Doyle's first Sherlock Holmes novel, A Study in Scarlet, which she estimates to be worth over one hundred and fifty thousand dollars.

But when Addie later finds the appraiser dead in the estate's private library, with the door bolted from the inside, and the priceless edition missing, it's a mystery worthy of the Great Detective himself. She's certain the death and the robbery are connected--but who, other than a ghost who can walk through walls, could have gotten in to do the deed? It's up to Addie to find the key to the crime--before she's the next one cornered by a killer . . .]]>
316 Lauren Elliott 1496727096 carmen 4 3.93 2020 Proof of Murder (Beyond the Page Bookstore Mystery, #4)
author: Lauren Elliott
name: carmen
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2023/05/25
date added: 2023/05/25
shelves:
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Conviction (Anna and Fin, #1) 42283333
With her safe, comfortable world shattered, Anna distracts herself with someone else's story: a true-crime podcast. That is until she recognises the name of one of the victims and becomes convinced that only she knows what really happened.

With nothing left to lose, she throws herself into investigating the case. But little does she know, Anna's past and present lives are about to collide, sending everything she has worked so hard to achieve into freefall.

Conviction is the compelling and unique new thriller from multiple award-winner and author of The Long Drop, Denise Mina.]]>
376 Denise Mina 0316528501 carmen 4 3.47 2019 Conviction (Anna and Fin, #1)
author: Denise Mina
name: carmen
average rating: 3.47
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2023/04/26
date added: 2023/04/26
shelves:
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The Dilemma 41150465 Knowing the truth will destroy her. Keeping it secret will destroy him.

It’s Livia’s 40th birthday, and her husband Adam is throwing her the party of a lifetime to make up for the wedding they never had. Everyone she loves will be there, except her daughter Marnie, who’s studying abroad. But Livia is secretly glad Marnie won’t be there.

Livia has recently uncovered a secret about their daughter which, if revealed, will shake the foundation of their family to its core. She needs to tell Adam, but she’s waiting until the party is over so they can have this last happy time together.

Adam, meanwhile, has his own surprise for Livia: he’s arranged for Marnie to secretly fly back for the party. But before Marnie arrives, Adam hears some terrible news. Now he too is faced with a dilemma: Does he share what he's learned with his wife? Is hiding the truth the same as telling a lie? And how far are Adam and Livia willing to go to protect the ones they love—and give each other a last few hours of happiness?]]>
342 B.A. Paris 1250151368 carmen 3 3.43 2019 The Dilemma
author: B.A. Paris
name: carmen
average rating: 3.43
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at: 2023/04/18
date added: 2023/04/18
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<![CDATA[Dead Man's Hand (Victoria Square Mystery, #8)]]> 56220253
It’s all fun and games when Katie Bonner and her friends play poker for chocolate-covered peanuts, but the very next day Jamie Seifert collapses and dies after visiting Katie’s tearoom on Victoria Square.

Katie’s business in on the line and she needs to prove Jamie wasn’t poisoned at Tealicious. Her first order of business is to locate the mysterious woman he was dining with, and her next step is to go undercover at a nearby poker club where Jamie won big just a week before. It seems everyone there might have had a motive to rub Jamie out...and if they learn Katie has been lying to them, she might be next!]]>
298 Lorraine Bartlett carmen 4 4.25 Dead Man's Hand (Victoria Square Mystery, #8)
author: Lorraine Bartlett
name: carmen
average rating: 4.25
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2023/04/17
date added: 2023/04/17
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<![CDATA[A Murderous Misconception (Victoria Square, #7)]]> 51010852 296 Lorraine Bartlett 1940801648 carmen 4 4.25 2020 A Murderous Misconception (Victoria Square, #7)
author: Lorraine Bartlett
name: carmen
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2023/04/17
date added: 2023/04/17
shelves:
review:

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<![CDATA[The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle]]> 40033006
There are eight days, and eight witnesses for you to inhabit.

We will only let you escape once you tell us the name of the killer.

Understood? Then let's begin . . .

Evelyn Hardcastle will die. Every day until Aiden Bishop can identify her killer and break the cycle. But every time the day begins again, Aiden wakes up in the body of a different guest. And some of his hosts are more helpful than others . . .

The most inventive debut of the year twists together a mystery of such unexpected creativity it will leave listeners guessing until the very last second.]]>
482 Stuart Turton carmen 0 to-read 3.78 2018 The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle
author: Stuart Turton
name: carmen
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/04/16
shelves: to-read
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<![CDATA[Murder Ink (Victoria Square, #6)]]> 45016448 The charm of Victoria Square may prove to be only skin deep when murder follows the arrival of a tattoo parlor in town in this latest installment of the New York Times bestselling series.

A tattoo parlor on Victoria Square? Some of the merchants get hot under the collar at the proposal, but could they be driven to kill to stop it? That's what the sheriff's office and Katie Bonner want to know when the building's owner is electrocuted with his own saw.

Meanwhile, tensions rise when a hot chef takes over the square's tea shop. Will Katie have three men vying for her affections, or will her rival take the tea cake?]]>
294 Lorraine Bartlett 042526601X carmen 4 3.84 2019 Murder Ink (Victoria Square, #6)
author: Lorraine Bartlett
name: carmen
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2023/03/29
date added: 2023/03/29
shelves:
review:

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<![CDATA[Dedication to Murder (Beyond the Page Bookstore Mystery, #9)]]> 61817175 A first edition of The Velveteen Rabbit provides bookshop owner Addie Greyborne a telling clue to a cold case in her family’s past . . .

Wedding bells are about to ring again in Greyborne Harbor, and as Addie slips into her white dress her thoughts are focused on a bright future with Dr. Simon Emerson. But a discovery in her attic leads her to startling revelations about the past. As the owner of Beyond the Page Books and Curios and a lifelong bibliophile, Addie is delighted to find a rare collection of classic children’s books gathering dust in a secret room beneath the rafters, including a first edition of The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams. To her surprise, a handwritten inscription on the title page provides a clue to unraveling a complex mystery in Addie’s family . . .

But that’s only the first surprise in a series of shocking twists that will turn Addie’s vision of where her life is going and where she’s come from upside down—including a suspicious death in the present that suggests foul play.]]>
320 Lauren Elliott 1496735145 carmen 0 to-read 4.10 2023 Dedication to Murder (Beyond the Page Bookstore Mystery, #9)
author: Lauren Elliott
name: carmen
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/03/28
shelves: to-read
review:

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<![CDATA[Yule Be Dead (Victoria Square, #5)]]> 39168560
It's Christmastime, but not everyone is jolly--especially not Vonne Barnett. Her dead body has been found in Victoria Square. Katie Bonner, the manager of Artisan's Alley, happens to be at the tea shop Vonne's mother, Francine, owns when the news is delivered.

Vonne left a trail of men behind her so the suspects are many--but the clues are few. A broken teacup leads Katie to one of the suspects, but before she can investigate, she's attacked. Katie may be closing in on a murderer, but time is ticking because the murderer is definitely closing in on her.]]>
294 Lorraine Bartlett 0425266001 carmen 4 3.83 2018 Yule Be Dead (Victoria Square, #5)
author: Lorraine Bartlett
name: carmen
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2023/03/23
date added: 2023/03/23
shelves:
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<![CDATA[Dead, Bath, and Beyond (Victoria Square, #4)]]> 29496463
Katie Bonner feels like nothing can spoil her perfect day off, sailing Lake Ontario with her good friend and lawyer Seth Landers. Then she runs into her ex-boss Josh on the dock. It was never smooth sailing with Josh, and Katie is only too happy to get away from him as he makes a scene.

Unfortunately, the next day her unpleasant former employer is found drowned in a bathtub at a bed-and-breakfast in Victoria Square. Who would pull the plug on Josh? When an autopsy reveals lake water—not bath water—in his lungs, Katie quickly finds herself in over her head. She’ll need to race to find the killer before her business and her freedom both go down the drain…]]>
304 Lorraine Bartlett 0425265994 carmen 3 3.70 2016 Dead, Bath, and Beyond (Victoria Square, #4)
author: Lorraine Bartlett
name: carmen
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2016
rating: 3
read at: 2023/03/14
date added: 2023/03/15
shelves:
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<![CDATA[One Hot Murder (Victoria Square, #3)]]> 15808693 304 Lorraine Bartlett 042525190X carmen 4 3.86 2013 One Hot Murder (Victoria Square, #3)
author: Lorraine Bartlett
name: carmen
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at: 2023/02/28
date added: 2023/02/28
shelves:
review:

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