A Cast of Vultures (Sam Clair, #3)

A Cast of Vultures by Judith Flanders
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

As always Sam in good for a laugh. When Viv ask her to help break into a neighbors flat in order to do a wellness check, Sam can't image that her life will be in peril from the misguided B&E. The neighbor is found shortly after at The Junk Shop where some squatters live, and is supposedly the arsonist who set the shop on fire according to the police but those who knew him say NOT. The squatters say he was helping them stay in The Junk Shop legally. Viv insist he is a good guy and not a drug dealer. And Sam insist that the money under the bed wasn't there when she and Viv searched the place.

And then people start trying to kill Sam. But for someone who isn't very athletic she manages to avoid being murdered in a very Indiana Jones fashion. Finally the clues start to click into place for Sam but when she tries to tell Jake his own life is at risk and only the help of Sam (the teenage boy Sam befriended in A Bed of Scorpions) prevents Sam Clair and Jake from dying in a deadly blaze.

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Once Upon a River by Bonnie Jo Campbell

Once Upon a River by Bonnie Jo Campbell
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I found the entire book sad. Margo Crane's idyllic childhood on the river ends abruptly when her Uncle sort of rapes her. And before you go jumping on me for the "sort of" the book is told from Margo's POV and she didn't exactly call it rape because she didn't say no. The thing she was most upset about at the time was that a cousin told her Father and her Father wanted to go to the authorities, but Margo refused. But she was forbidden to go to her Uncle's side of the river and play with her cousins and visit her Aunt.

Then one day when her Dad is at work she goes to her Uncle's and sees him with the cousin that tattled and she shoots the tip of his member off. Her Father arrives and takes her gun away from her and tragedy strikes her cousin Billy seeing his Father bleeding and her Father with the gun shoots and kills Crane and Margo is left alone in the world as her Mother had abandoned the family earlier and is now married to a wealthy man who doesn't want children.

Margo latches on to Brian and exchanges sex and work for a place to stay until he gets arrested for attacking her Uncle, she then latches on to the man next door, Michael who ask her to marry him when he discovers she is underage, but then turns his back on her when she kills Paul to protect him. With no place to go she goes back to her Uncle's only to discover she is unwelcome so she sets out to find her Mother and instead finds a home with an old man who is dying and his friend.

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A Bed of Scorpions (Sam Clair, #2)

A Bed of Scorpions by Judith Flanders
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I have missed Amelia Peabody by Elizabeth Peters so I was really pleased to discover the Sam Clair series. I just wish there were more books in the series.

When a gallery owner is discovered dead, possible suicide, Sam has no clue why all of a sudden some very unpleasant people are showing a deadly interest in her. Slowly her knowledge of colophons leads her to figure out what is going on. But she still has to uncover who is willing to kill to keep their deadly secret.

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This -n-That

I really love the Mom and baby Bunny. I am hoping to train the Confederate & Asian Jasmine to grow around it.

I really like the flower arrangement on the table. I haven't decided if I am going to put anything in the window yet.

I did this for February on the shelf. I really love the flower G gave me, it looks perfect up there.

 I need something to go with the lantern. So far I haven't found anything. Any suggestions?

The Bullet (Eve Duncan #27)

The Bullet by Iris Johansen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Eve's reconstruction didn't really seem necessary to the plot and seemed more like a contrivance so the author could have her and Joe in the book.

Diane Connors (Joe's ex) has come up with a cure for "everything: based on some roots she found on a remote island. Unfortunate Nalam (the owner of a pharmaceutical company) will do anything and everything to stop her from bringing the drug to market, including torturing a young man with a brain injury (Kai) and threatening to kill him if Diane doesn't exchange places with him.

Diane and Alon (Kai's brother) exchange places with Kai. Joe leaves to take Kai to safety and all seems to be going well with their plan. Diane and Alon turn the tables on Nalam when Diane is able to get the gun that was secreted in Nalam's fortress by one of Cameron's men, and make their escape. But Joe is brutally shot and Diane has to use her "miracle cure" to save him. Not wanting to live without Eve the miracle cure is extended to her and possibly their son Michael.

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Legacy by Nora Roberts (Goodreads Author)

Legacy by Nora Roberts
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Spoiler alert:
There was one thing that seemed out of character for our villain, but I am really glad Nora wrote it that way because I would have been heartbroken if the killer had killed Sadie, and I love how Nora had Sadie run to Jasper (her boyfriend) and Raylan for help. But honestly it's hard to imagine a vicious killer like The Poet sparing Sadie, especially as his one decent act was his downfall.

Adrian was born under a dark cloud. Her married Father wanted her Mother to get rid of the baby and was furious when he learned she kept the baby. Believing that her Mother (Lina) blabbed to the press about their affair and "ruined" his life he came to their home to kill her but Mimi (Mom's best friend and Adrian's nanny) and Lina fought him off and saved Adrian. Lina fearing the fallout from her ex-lover's dramatic death sent Adrian to stay with her Grandparents for the summer where she meet Raylan for the first time and he was properly impressed with her knowledge of comics while she was wowed by his drawing ability. Their childhood friendship would later blossom into much more.

Adrian carved out a life for herself in New York doing exercise videos with her friends but her success sparked the attention of The Poet, whose letters would terrify the average girl, but Adrian isn't average. She reports them to the police and carries on with her life but always with the knowledge that there is someone out there watching her and wishing her harm. When her Grandmother dies in a car crash Adrian returns to the sleepy town she called home for one summer to care for her Grandfather and makes a wonderful life that includes the widowed Raylan. But The Poet's attention escalates and now he is ready to end his game with Adrian unless he is stopped. Fighting for her life Adrian is thankful when Raylan arrives after being told to come by Sadie.

And least you think this is just another big strong man arrives in time to save the heroine Adrian was doing a decent job of saving herself and the killer's defeat was more of a team effort.

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Ocean Prey (Lucas Davenport #31)

Ocean Prey by John Sandford
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The book begins with the murder of three Coast Guardsmen after they intercept a boat picking up a diver. The local authorities and FBI aren't getting anywhere so Davenport and Bob are called in. Following a lead (that Bob thought was too easy) they walk into an ambush and Bob is killed. Lucas is only saved because they had the FBI with them as backup. With all the lose ends disposed of and Lucas' leads dried up he goes home to plot his next move, while the FBI watch the only suspect Lucas has left.

Then Willy and Ally show up a slow talking diver and his ghetto chick who agree to recover the dope at the bottom of the Ocean for Cattaneo and his friends. With all the pieces in place Lucas has his prey in his sights the only question is can he get Willy and Ally out alive when he springs the trap. With only seconds to warn Ally (Rae) only her fast thinking keep her and Willy (Virgil Flowers) alive long enough to bring the bad guys to justice.

Lucas doesn't even shoot anyone in this book, apparently he is turning over a new leaf.

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