Tropical Delusions……

In The Darkest Hour – Anna Carlisle

If you like Kay Scarpetta of Patricia Cornwell fame, you HAVE to give Anna Carlisle’s “Gin” Sullivan a try!!

I was fortunate to receive this novel as an Advance Reader Copy, in exchange for an objective review.

Virginia “Gin” Sullivan is a pathologist with a specialty in disinterment and decomposition of remains, who on leave from her Chicago position as an ME, has returned home to Trumbull, Pennsylvania where she teaches, and consults for the local police departments. She is sharing a home with her boyfriend Jake, who’s mother is found dead of a drug overdose.

Distanced from his mother since infancy, Jake initially denies any issues stemming from her demise, until one night he drags home a teenager that he saw selling street drugs and accuses him of murder. While the teen is initially arrested, Jake realizes that he needs a break, and essentially ends his relationship with Gin and leaves town.

Then Gin is asked by Tucker Baxter, Trumbull’s police chief to attend the autopsy for Jake’s mother. And a remorseful teenaged drug dealer leads police to another body buried in the woods – but this body has been embalmed…leading Gin and Tuck into a search for a grave robber, as well as a killer…

I’ve not read anything from this series before, and I must confess, I thoroughly enjoyed it!! Gin Sullivan should rank right up there with Kay Scarpetta for all of you Cornwell fans, and is well worth the read!! I look forward to catching up on this series in it’s entirely and seeing more from Anna Carlisle! A fabulous find!!

Liar, Liar – Lisa Jackson

I was fortunate to receive this novel as an Advance Reader Copy, in exchange for an objective review.

Remmi Storm has spent half of her life looking for her mother. As a child, her mother DiDi made a living as an impersonator, often dressing like Marilyn Monroe and providing her talent in various shows in an effort to support her family, including infant twins, all the while grasping for fame that seemed to be just out of her reach. Then one of the twins disappears, with Didi coming home with a suitcase full of money in its place. Taking the second baby, Didi vows to right her wrong and disappears into the night – never to return. Remmi, at the age of 15, reports her disappearance to the police, and is ultimately sent to live with her aunt – but DiDi and the twins are never found.

Now, 20 years later, a book has been published – a tell-all book about DiDi Storm and her colorful life. Sightings of DiDi commence, and Remmi is present when a Marilyn Monroe impersonator plunges to her death from the 19th story of a high-rise hotel – but the victim is not DiDi herself – but who is she, and why is she impersonating DiDi? That’s what Remmi sets out to discover, with road blocks at every turn – the book author – unavailable, the publisher’s office – non-existent. The police – less than forthcoming as they pursue their own investigation. Is DiDi still alive, or is someone from the past hoping to profit on DiDi’s memory?

Then, seemingly out of the blue, an old high school crush comes back in to Remmi’s life. He too has questions about that last night that he wants answered, but for very different reasons. He and Remmi team up in an effort to discover what truly happened all of those years ago, and unwittingly put their own lives in peril to do so…

I truly enjoy anything that Lisa Jackson pens, and this book, perhaps not her best, was no exception. While I confess, I was hoping for a bit different ending, this book is filled with drama, action and plenty of twists and turns that will keep you reading late into the night!

Copycat – Hannah Jayne

I was fortunate to receive this novel as an Advance Reader Copy, in exchange for an objective review.

Addie Gaines is your typical high school student, with one exception. She loves books and is particularly infatuated with the Gap Lake books – a series of young adult mystery/thrillers that have developed quite the cult following. Addie is so entranced, she’s created her own blog about the series, and has written some fan fiction as well, that rivals the authors storytelling. She lives and breathes the series, and her blog has 27,000 followers. She’s also president of author R.J Rosen’s fan club!

Out of the blue, Addie receives a message from the reclusive author himself, praising her devotion to the series and offering her a sneak peak into the newest book, and hinting that there will be surprises along the way. Shortly thereafter, a classmate winds up dead, in a manner straight out of the Gap Lake series. Coincidence? Or is it something much more sinister??

This was quite enjoyable for a young adult novel, and something I will pass on to my daughter to read next! Mild on forensics, but big on teenaged drama with school and boys – with just enough suspense to keep you turning the page. Where were these kinds of books when I was younger??!! Nancy Drew, this isn’t!! A great read for the ‘tween’ and teen who loves mysteries!!

Available in stores on July 3rd!

The Girl In The Ice – Robert Brynzda

I was fortunate to receive this novel as an Advance Reader Copy, in exchange for an objective review.

DCI Erika Foster makes her debut in this fabulous series by Robert Brynzda. Set in London, England, DCI Foster is returning to work after an incident on a drug raid left several members of her former team dead, including her husband Mark. Having been sidelined by grief and her own feelings of inadequacy, Foster is brought into another precinct to command a murder investigation.

A young girl has been found frozen in pond ice and has been determined to be the daughter of a prominent London family. Due to the family’s stature in the London community, the investigation is expected to be run low key, in deference to the family, a situation that Erika does NOT agree with. Almost immediately her actions are questioned by both the dead girls’ family, and her commander, s well as the former commanding DCI who relinquished the case to her unwillingly. Erica’s refusal to dismiss a sighting ultimately leads to her removal from the case, forcing her to continue the investigation on her own.

But investigate she does, and soon she finds a witness, who’s information helps build Erica’s theory and sends the investigation that much closer to home. Reinstated, Erica takes advantage of her superiors being out of town to pull of a stunning move – but will she catch her killer or become his next victim??!

This was my first encounter with DCI Foster, but it will not be my last. A feisty, get-er-done Detective, who’s not afraid to buck her superiors to get a job done, Erika is my kind of character! Since this writing, Mr. Brynzda has released several more DCI Foster mysteries, and I aim to read each and every one of them! Great series for mystery lovers!!