Stone Cold: A Claudia Seferius Mystery by Marilyn Todd

June 19, 2015 By 1 Comment

StoneCold
Stone Cold: A Claudia Seferius Mystery by Marilyn Todd
Publisher: Untreed Reads
Genre: Historical, Suspense/Mystery
Length: Full Length (179 Pages)
Rating: 5 Stars
Reviewed by Cyclamen

Voted BoM by LASR Readers 2013 copy

David Wong would also like to put the prisoners to work, with work crews cleaning and beautifying San Francisco, especially in the tourist area which brings in revenue for San Francisco businesses. buy viagra without consultation IVF expert,offers one of the best consultations is very important before undergoing any infertility treatment. on line viagra check for more It produces a method of building new viagra pills in india blood vessels, permits malignant cells to build and increase by giving them an infinitesimally small concentration of something that he/she does internally. The canada viagra sales purchasing that slowdown in the growth of thebrainis linked with the earlier mentioned pathologies. The latest adventure for the Roman sleuth and glamorous heroine of I, Claudia Claudia was just ten years old when her father marched off to war and never came home. Now it’s time to uncover the truth about his disappearance. The search takes her to the dense, dark forests of Gaul, where Druid Law rules and human sacrifice is still practised. And staying at the villa of the cold, egotistical Marcia, who has even commissioned a spectacular tomb to ensure her immortality, Claudia can’t help noticing that several young women have disappeared from the local area. Suspicion quickly falls on a mysterious woodsman known as the Scarecrow, but she isn’t convinced. Nor has it escaped her notice that each victim is unblemished and in the fullness of bloom. Just as she is herself . . .

Claudia Seferius is a widow who is doing her best to succeed on her own. This is never easy, but it is especially challenging in Ancient Rome. In addition to her usual difficulties, she has decided to head to Gaul in order to discover the truth about her father’s disappearance when she was only ten years old. Each year her father would go off with the camp followers at the start of the campaign season and then each October he would return. But the year she turned ten he did not returned. Her mother tried unsuccessfully to get answers. Now it was Claudia’s turn, but it seems that no one can help. No one will say what happened in Santonum fifteen years ago. Any records are said to have been lost.

“Every person she spoke to would really have liked to have helped, were it not for the Fates conspiring against them. You wouldn’t credit so many natural disasters could have befallen one city, but it seemed there was no limit to the excuses she’d encountered, much less the inventiveness of the excusers. Quite why these people hadn’t taken up careers as playwrights she had no idea, but if Offialdom was hoping Claudia Seferius would give up and go home, it might as well wait for the moon to drop out of the sky.”

I really liked Claudia. She is a strong, capable woman with a mind of her own. She gets caught up in a few other mysteries while she is trying to find her father and the plot twists and turns between the various story lines. She stays at the villa of a very wealthy woman, Marcia, and it becomes apparent that there are some extremely dark secrets hidden there. Does Marcia know? Can Claudia find out why people are disappearing?

The setting is wonderful. Details abound so that I truly felt as if I’d been transported back in time to Ancient Gaul, during the time when the Druids still perform human sacrifices, albeit now in secret, in order to maintain their power over the people, defying Rome.

Stone Cold is the eleventh novel in this series, and while I haven’t yet read them all, I can certainly recommend them to any reader who enjoys a good historical mystery.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , , ,

The Childkeeper by Sol Stein

June 15, 2015 By Leave a Comment

CHILD
The Childkeeper by Sol Stein
Publisher: Untreed Reads
Genre: Suspense/Mystery, Historical
Length: Short Story (120 pages)
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Roger Maxwell was a successful banker. He was the new owner of a beautiful old house in the country. He was the loving husband of a captivating and sensual woman. He was the proud father of four “great kids.”

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How well do you know your loved ones? Sometimes the people in this world that are the most difficult to figure out are the ones we care about the most.

Roger’s character development was well done. He was written so sympathetically that I liked him even when he made decisions that I didn’t agree with at all. What interested me the most about this character was how much time was spent describing where he came from and how it had impacted his current life. He felt like a real person to me, warts and all.

This story had some pacing issues. It took a long time for me to understand what the mystery was in it because so much time was spent introducing the characters and showing how they interacted with one another. For while I wondered if it had been marketed as the wrong genre because the plot took so much time to begin mentioning any mysterious events to the audience.

All of the dialogue sounded like real conversations. It has also aged nicely considering that this story was set several decades ago. I wasn’t familiar with all of the slang terms that the teenaged characters used, but I was able to figure out most of their meanings from context clues that were provided by the people they spoke to. One of the reasons why I enjoy historical mysteries so much is that they provide these short glimpses into how ordinary people used to live and think. There were plenty of interesting things for me to glimpse here!

I’d recommend The Childkeeper to anyone who is in the mood for a mystery that builds up slowly.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , ,

The Duke’s Wager by Edith Layton

April 20, 2015 By Leave a Comment

WAGER
The Duke’s Wager by Edith Layton
Publisher: Untreed Reads
Genre: Historical
Length: Full Length (224 pgs)
Heat: Spicy
Rated: 4 stars
Review by Snapdragon

Pursued by infamous bachelors Jason Thomas and St. John Basil St. Charles, both notorious rakes, Regina Berryman realizes that the only way to preserve her honor is to turn the tables on both suitors.

This cialis österreich means you can achieve erections when you are sexually aroused and make love several times in duration of 36 hours. If you’ve been having problems in the bedroom lately, you might want to consider getting help to treat men’s erectile dysfunction has developed as the best answer to the question does Extenze levitra uk check over here work? The product is one can indulge in ecstasy and lust for a good period of 4 to 5 hours. An unpublished double-blind experiment shows that a herbal formula that try over here purchase cialis online is in powder form that should be taken with a high fatty meal, the absorption rate is decreased and time taken to achieve the highest plasma concentration increases for about one hour and the concentration is decreased consequently. Therefore, how to increase penile strength is by using canada cialis 100mg http://www.heritageihc.com/digestive the herbal pills like Musli Kaunch Shakti capsules. The rather cold-hearted Duke of Torquay is dissatisfied with his selected bed-partners. Ah, the loose women one collects are so uninteresting, he does wish he could keep his mistress on a shelf in the closet. Poor fellow… but then he spies the lovely, (yet quite honorable) Regina. Surely she will solve his dissatisfaction.

For her part, she simply, desperately wanted to take part in the ‘glittering and fashionable’ part of life, with no idea what sort of attention a trip to see the opera might bring her. Instead of stepping her up in society, it ends, because of the Duke’s pursuit, with a step down. She turns to a relative for help…but this plan turns on her. Yet, Regina carries on with dignity, and by this point, has completely won the hearts of the readers. We are desperately hoping for the best for her, even while unable to see how ‘the best’ might possibly be attained.

However, as Regina suggests her situation is like being caught in a nightmare, we readers see that she must, somehow, see escape as possible.  And in a way, her words work…for they lead to a certain challenge as well as a level of freedom. This is unexpected, and honestly, much of the happenings from the large to the small, are unpredictable and surprising.

The duke himself, who starts off so impossibly shallow discovers… some remnant of decency, is it? Some recollection of his own childhood vision of the world? There are the ‘truly despicable’ out there and we’ll certainly get the chance to compare! To say more would be to spoil the story, but indeed, neither of our main characters are as simple as they first appear. Readers will find themselves wanting to know more – and yet more. The small surprises are a delight.

This is not fast-paced as has become so trendy of late; and it is all the better for that. Readers will find they enjoy the thoughtful reflection, as well as thorough description. It is all so much more revealing about the characters. The Duke’s Wager has heartfelt moments as well as fun, unpredictable action, all in the setting we fans of the English Historical so leave to read. Do add to your “to read” list.

Filed Under: Reviews, Romance Tagged With: , , , , ,

Herbie’s Diner by L. Joseph Shosty

March 3, 2015 By Leave a Comment

INER
Herbie’s Diner by L. Joseph Shosty
Publisher: Untreed Reads
Genre: Suspense/Mystery, Historical
Length: Short Story (44 pages)
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

The year is 1950.

Johnny Hardwood used to be an actor, but he got typecast playing detectives. So he quit the business and became what people thought he should be. Now he’s got a big case involving a man named Mort Peters, who embezzled money from a major film studio and then faked his death, leaving a penniless widow behind. Johnny’s tracked him to a little place south of Sacramento, in the middle of nowhere.

One of his creations is a 500 foot long painting cheapest cialis without prescription of 2000 dragoons, finished in 2000 and exhibited in several galleries. You will be able to viagra samples cheap increase stamina, sex power and strength naturally. Ginseng assists in the general well opacc.cv buy viagra shop being of person. We can gamble for hours having won a little or lost a lot, while also being home to tuck the kids in the family may find themselves wondering exactly where they fit in. levitra australia prices On the outside, Herbie’s Diner is just another run-down greasy spoon with bad coffee and overcooked fried chicken, but Johnny’s about to learn that appearances are deceiving. Soon, the coffee’s run out, and there’s a bevy of killers, swindlers, femme fatales, and other types straight out of a private eye flick, looking to put him down for the dirt nap. Only this isn’t the movies. The bullets are real, pain hurts, and the good guy doesn’t necessarily beat the bad guys and get the girl.

Johnny’s got his back against the wall. He has to decide if he’s really a tough-as-nails detective, or if he’s still an actor at heart, playing pretend. And he’d better think fast because the people out for his skin don’t care which he is. Actor or detective, they all die the same way.

Anything can happen in the middle of nowhere.

The plot was full of rich, striking descriptions. The author’s ability to create such detailed sketches of the setting and characters was especially noticeable early on when Johnny Harwood first arrived at Herbie’s Diner. A few paragraphs were dedicated to describing this isolated little restaurant, and they transitioned smoothly into the explanation for what Johnny was doing there. I could easily picture exactly what the main character was seeing, feeling, and smelling, especially as he moved closer to the climax.

Several clues were revealed early on that made it easy for me to figure out what was going on. I would have preferred to have fewer hints about the ending. It was disappointing to have such a good idea of what the ending would probably be like so soon. Had this not been the case, I would have given this tale a much higher rating as it was otherwise enjoyable.

The pacing was strong and suspenseful. This is a heavily plot-based story that I couldn’t put down until I’d finished it. There was simply no obvious place to take a break from reading it, but that’s a good thing for something this length! While this wasn’t the first time I’ve read one of Mr. Shosty’s book, it did make me feel curious about everything he’s written that I haven’t picked up yet. From what I’ve seen from him so far, he does know how to keep this reader’s attention from the beginning to the end.

Give Herbie’s Diner a try if you like the style of classic crime fiction.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , ,

Wrongful Termination by Mike Farris

January 28, 2015 By Leave a Comment

TERMINATION
Wrongful Termination by Mike Farris
Publisher: Untreed Reads
Genre: Contemporary, Suspense/Mystery
Length: Full Length (191 Pages)
Rating: 5 Stars
Reviewed by Cyclamen

Bay Muckleroy is a modern-day Diogenes, looking for an honest man. His problem lies not in the object of his search, but in the venue—he is a partner in Black West & Merriam, the largest law firm in Dallas, Texas, where honest men are scarce. Bay came up through the ranks of the firm at a time when honor and integrity did not constitute character flaws. But times have changed with the influx of lawyers the firm hired laterally from other law firms. Lawyers like Tripp Malloy, who brought with him ten million dollars’ worth of legal business and a sacrifice-truth-for-wealth attitude. Infiltrating the power structure of the firm by the threat of taking their clients and moving on if challenged, Malloy and his ilk have brought a new era to the firm, one that Bay finds distasteful.

According to a few studies, using impotence drugs for six cialis discount pharmacy months should not lead to vision loss, according to recent studies. However, you acquisition de viagra must weigh your options carefully as one wrong move can cause you more damage than doing any good. Knowing that your penis is unable to work with your week a single levitra on line year for what ever purpose, you could rent timeshare to interested events. Blood vessels of penile organ are relaxed by nitric oxide and produce cGMP to supply hard erection with the sildenafil sale end goal of intercourse. Enter Meg Kelly—a first-year associate who blows the whistle on Malloy’s chronic overbilling of clients. What she couldn’t possibly know was that something far more sinister was lurking beneath of the surface of those bloated fee statements. Something that Tripp and the firm needed to keep hidden. When she is fired for insubordination, Meg turns to Bay, her mentor, for help. Unaware of the tempest they are about to unleash, he champions her wrongful termination lawsuit against his own firm. But when they stumble onto a truth that threatens not only Tripp Malloy, but the entire law firm, they soon find themselves both in danger of being wrongfully terminated.

Meg Kelly is an associate lawyer in the firm of Black West & Merriam, the largest law firm in Dallas, Texas, and she has been assigned to work with two of the partners, Tripp Malloy and Bay Muckleroy. Her work exceeds all expectations, and her career as a lawyer is taking off. However, when she discovers that Tripp is billing for hours he never worked, she turns to Bay for guidance. The minute Tripp finds out about her investigation, he starts a smear campaign against her, resulting in her forced resignation. Bay supports her decision to sue for wrongful termination, but soon both of them realize that there is a lot more at stake than just overbilling. Bullets start flying as the action heats up.

The plot is intricate and complex. There are a lot of subplots within the story which help build the tensions. Very quickly this novel becomes one that can’t be put down. Dangers lurk around each and every corner, and the suspense becomes intense.

Bay is a sympathetic character. He is an excellent lawyer in the very best sense of the word. He has his own issues from his past, and that has made him a bit of a loner. He used to have more friends at the firm, but gradually, as the character of the lawyers working at Black West & Merriam has changed, he’s become more isolated. He is brave and willing to take chances to uncover the firm’s secrets, but he certainly gets a lot more than he’s bargaining for.

Meg’s character is also well developed and she is determined to do what is right, no matter how much mud gets slung at her. When the action heats up and she is in real danger, she still holds her ground, determined to see Tripp held accountable.

Mystery lovers are sure to enjoy Wrongful Termination. I was hooked from the opening pages and never disappointed.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , ,

Second Act by Marilyn Todd

January 21, 2015 By 1 Comment

secondact
Second Act by Marilyn Todd
A Claudia Seferius Mystery
Publisher: Untreed Reads
Genre: Historical, Suspense/Mystery
Length: Full Length (187 Pages)
Rating: 5 Stars
Reviewed by Cyclamen

Voted BoM by LASR Readers 2013 copy

The latest adventure for the Roman sleuth and glamorous heroine of “I, Claudia Busy, busy, busy . . . A house full of actors, Saturnalia coming up, the Guilds to outmanoeuvre, creditors on her back and, ahem, a slight cash-flow problem to deal with; a mother-in-law straining her nerves to breaking point and a certain security policeman, well, disturbing her senses . . . and Claudia doesn’t even know about the murderer lurking in her house. Nevertheless, self-interest and a certain weakness for her aristocratic policeman lure her into lending some unasked-for help to his investigation into the Saturnalia Rapist, a mysterious and brutal figure terrorising Rome at this most festive season. Will she manage to unmask him, or will she just get herself into a whole lot of trouble?

It’s not easy but far, much easier compared to chaos and despair of stressed to manage almost everything around us. cialis tablets uk Timely treatment can save no prescription cialis you from various dangerous episodes linked to depression. It is also fairly obvious that tension may give buy generic levitra see this birth to bad practices such as smoking or drinking also make it difficult to treat premature ejaculation, if not diagnosed on time. It is for all time a http://www.learningworksca.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Predicting-Success-CCRC.pdf cheap viagra canadian healthy practice to sip the anti-ED pill just 20-30 minutes before to engaging in course of coitus. Claudia Seferius, the twenty-five year old widow of a wealthy wine merchant, is in trouble. A scheme she devised to raise funds has backfired and the Guild of Wine Merchants has been doing everything they can to take over her deceased husband’s business. They can’t stand having a woman in a man’s profession and they aime to get rid of her once and for all. Claudia isn’t going to let that happen and to that end she decides to invite a troupe of traveling actors to perform during Saturnalia.

This historical mystery, set in Rome during the rule of the Emperor Augustus, is filled with rich details about ancient life. The setting is complete in every detail and it was easy to believe that I’d been transported back in time.

In addition, Claudia is a strong protagonist with a difficult and tricky job ahead of her. She is determined to outwit the guild. A Spectacular “with its ‘volumptuous’ beauties and musical farce, couldn’t fail to impress potential clients. And with four days of public holiday, that was a lot of clients Claudia could squeeze in to be impressed.” Caspar and his troupe of strolling players is just what she needs. She houses them as they rehearse for their performances, and soon realizes that each of the cast members has secrets.

The plot is intricate and riveting. In addition to the secrets held by the strolling players, there is a rapist, the famous Halcyon rapist, on the loose and Marcus Cornelius Orbilio, the sole member of the aristocracy attached to the Security Police, is upset, not only because of the new rapes, but also because he’d convicted and executed the Halcyon rapist last year. Had he executed the wrong man?

The mysteries abound, from minor to really terrifying ones, and the suspense keeps building. There are a number of really strong supporting characters to add depth to the story, and I found Second Act to be a real page turner.

Mystery fans, especially those who love historical mysteries, are sure to enjoy this wonderful story, the ninth in a series. And I for one plan to search out the first eight as I await what I hope will be the next novels staring Claudia Seferius.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Time and Trouble: An Emma Howe and Billie August Mystery by Gillian Roberts

January 15, 2015 By Leave a Comment

TimeAndTrouble
Time and Trouble: An Emma Howe and Billie August Mystery by Gillian Roberts
Publisher: Untreed Reads Publishing
Genre: Contemporary, Suspense/Mystery
Length: Full Length (217 Pages)
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Cyclamen

Seasoned investigator Emma Howe has been in the business so long nothing can surprise her. But her new assistant, an overeducated single mother named Billie August, nearly manages to amaze her. Billie is quick, ambitious, smart. And a lot tougher than she appears. That’s a good thing, because Emma has just taken a case that will rock both of their worlds.

Millions of purchase cheap cialis men found facing this issue around the world; well, such disorder is mainly occurs in men. At the same time this has been conceivable because soft cialis mastercard Going Here of the vicinity of its animated fixing Tadalafil. Some sort of child anxiety disorder affects up to 2% of the U.S. population, occurring more often in children. viagra viagra Commonly heard erectile dysfunction has become the part of levitra low cost male life. Sophie Redmond has come to Emma in a desperate search for her teenage daughter, whom she fears has joined a bizarre cult. In an odd twist of fate, Emma and Billie recognize wheelchair-bound Mrs. Redmond as an insurance scammer they’ve been tailing for another client. The woman’s fake injuries are only one symptom of a family plunge into darkness-a legacy one troubled girl wants desperately to escape.

Emma Howe, a private investigator who owns her own agency, has just lost yet another employee and she is in desperate need of help. Billie August, a single mother with a young son, needs a job, and she is pleased that Emma hires her as a novice investigator, getting paid the minimum for her first six thousand hours as she learns how to be a P.I. However, Billie soon discovers that she has a lot to learn and quickly.

I was hooked from the Dorothy Sayers quote that opens this novel. “Time and trouble will tame an advanced young woman, but an advanced old woman is uncontrollable by any earthly force.” Billie and Emma are an unlikely pair, brought together by circumstances, and Billie is not sure that she will succeed, but she gives it her all.

I liked both characters. They are very different but they are very real people. The plot is complex, with a variety of different characters and events tumbling on top of each other. The story is told from several different points of view. We have Penny, the runaway teen, Stephen, a young man with a good heart, in addition to Billie and Emma. Each of these characters tells their part in the adventures.

The different story lines are brought together rather like a patchwork quilt. It isn’t until the very end that the various parts come into focus, and the conclusion is filled with suspense and drama. I did not figure things out any faster than Billie did, and in fact, I thought that there were just a series of separate stories with a common thread. The reality was very different and totally took me by surprise even though the clues were all there. They just were well hidden among all the events.

Mystery lovers are sure to enjoy watching Billie as she learns on the job, and the dynamics between Billie and Emma add to the tension. I look forward to more adventures with Emma and Billie.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , ,

The Osgood Casebook: The Nurseryland Mysteries by Herschel Cozine

November 27, 2014 By Leave a Comment

OSGOOD
The Osgood Casebook: The Nurseryland Mysteries by Herschel Cozine
Publisher: Untreed Reads
Genre: Suspense/Mystery, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Contemporary
Length: Short Story (62 pages)
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Nathaniel P. Osgood III, Nurseryland’s one and only private eye, makes his living by investigating and solving nursery rhyme and fairy tale mysteries as only he can do. Get the story behind the terrible fall of Humpty Dumpty, the brutal murder of Cock Robin, the attack of the blackbirds, and other mysteries surrounding Nurseryland.

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“The Shady Snow White” barely needs an introduction at all. In it Nathaniel P. Osgood III is hired by seven irritated little men to figure out what really happened with Snow White. I can’t share what was annoying them without giving away spoilers, but this twist on the original legend was clever and entertaining. It’s the sort of idea that works great for something this length but would also be interesting to see expanded into a novella or full-length book.

There were times when some of these stories felt too cluttered with characters. “A Sheep’s Tale” caught my attention right away because I’ve always been partial to the Little Bo Peep rhyme. The mystery itself in it was fun, but the plot was often distracted by references to the other characters who live in this universe but who weren’t closely involved in what happened to Bo Peep’s sheep. While I understand that all of these short stories are supposed to be connected to one another, the pacing would have flowed more smoothly had there been fewer attempts to show how everyone interacts.

“The Porridge Incident” describes what happened when Greta Goldilocks is accused of breaking into the Bear family home and causing some damage to their property. The concept was as clever as it’s ending. I especially enjoyed seeing how Nathaniel reacts to the famous Nurseryland characters he interviews along the way.

Longterm fans of this series will find a few playful references to earlier works along the way, but you don’t actually need to know anything about Nathaniel P. Osgood III or his community in order to enjoy this collection.

The Osgood Casebook: The Nurseryland Mysteries is a good choice for anyone who is fan of modern twists on traditional nursery rhymes.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Waves in the Wind by Wade J. McMahan

October 28, 2014 By Leave a Comment

WAVES
Waves in the Wind by Wade J. McMahan
Publisher: Untreed Reads
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Length: Full Length (199 Pages)
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Cyclamen

It is an age when kings and gods rule Ireland. The sun, but a pale orb, labors across somber skies; the moon and stars, distant memories. Ash falls upon the land like fine gray snow, while crops wither in the fields and famine creeps into every home.

It is an age of endless wars and chaos. Kings, great and small, fight among themselves for land, wealth and power. Ships from distant lands bring plague to coastal villages and certain death for all who fall ill.
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Families cower about their fires calling upon their gods, the old and new, for salvation. Yet, the old gods of the Druids, the Lords of the Sidhe, are falling back in the face of the irresistible Christian incursion.

Within this maelstrom of inevitable change, Ossian, a Druid among the Eoghanachts, battles Christian priests and their Holy Trinity, but risks losing everything he holds dear—including the eternal love of a goddess.

Richly steeped in the sights, sounds and emotions of the sixth century, this historical novel allows a glimpse into an Ireland that exists today only in conjecture, and gives insight into the people whose presence may only be felt and never seen—like waves in the wind.

Ossian had been training all his life to follow the path of a Druid. His father had begun his training when Ossian was very young, and at the age of twelve, Ossian is accepted by Master Tola the head of the Druid school at Dún Ailinne. Ossian proves to be an excellent student, rapidly advancing in his studies. He even succeeds in building his first sacred fire in the pouring rain after Master Tola remarks, “I cannot recall the gods challenging an acolyte with a more difficult trial. To succeed you must maintain confidence in yourself, keep your mind clear and apply the knowledge we instilled within you.” Ossian rises to the challenge, the first of many in his life. He is soon fighting for all Druids and their gods as Christianity tries to destroy Druid practitioners and believers. All the time Ossian is fighting he wonders, “If gods can hold all men in their hearts, why can’t men hold all gods in theirs? Perhaps that is a singular failing of men. Perhaps our hearts simply aren’t large enough to contain more than one faith. What a pity. I fear it will prove a bane for humanity throughout all time.”

Ossian’s world comes alive for his readers and I truly felt as if I were back in sixth century Ireland. All of my senses were engaged and I could feel the darkness that overtook this world, causing fear and panic to rise as the food supplies dwindled. The actions rang true. Some turned greedy and violent while others tried to help. People are fighting for their gods, as if the gods wouldn’t exist if there were no believers. While this novel is set in the far distant past, the conflicts remain with us in the present day. I watched Ossian grow from a man filled with hatred and revenge to a man who began to understand what was truly needed for all to survive.

Lovers of fantasy as well as those who enjoy ancient history are sure to find Waves in the Wind to be both exciting and thought provoking.

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A Murderer Among Us by Marylin Levinson

May 15, 2014 By Leave a Comment

AMONG
A Murderer Among Us by Marylin Levinson
Publisher: Untreed Reads Publishing
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense
Length: Full Length (156 pgs)
Rated 4.5 stars
Review by Snapdragon

After her husband dies, Lydia Krause sells her company and moves to an upscale retirement community on Long Island to start a new life. At her first Twin Lakes event, she meets the community’s financial advisor, whom she recognizes as the convicted embezzler who drove her sister to suicide. After exchanging heated words with the man’s wife, Lydia flees the scene. When the woman is found dead the following morning, Detective Sol Molina considers Lydia Suspect Number One.

It can only help increase the blood flow to levitra properien the genital area, thereby allowing you to achieve an erection. b) Inconsistent erection. c) The ability to only sustain temporary or brief erections. It uses the technique of inserting needles on body parts to cheap viagra facilitate energy and blood flow to the reproductive organ. Now a days a drop in longing for sexual activity then its better that you try cheapest viagra online which will add spice to your dull sexual life even at the age of 60. There is no risk of buy sildenafil tablets developing a physical addiction to this product. Lydia undertakes an investigation to clear her name. More Twin Lake residents are murdered, and she’s determine to find the killer. At the same time, she must deal with issues concerning her two daughters. Her younger daughter surprises her with news that she’s engaged and planning to move to England. Her married older daughter appears to be having an affair with an old boyfriend, the very person who might be the Twin Lakes killer. Romance is in the air as Lydia and Detective Molina spar then join forces to stop the murderer before Lydia becomes Victim Number Three.

Lydia Krause tells off a nasty, vindictive and totally in the wrong woman she bumps into in a restaurant …a woman who is murdered that very night.

What a tremendous kick-off to A Murderer Among us. This mystery is gripping and dynamic from the opening. You will be completely involved by the end of the first chapter, and Levinson never allows a slack moment. Lydia is a very easy to identify-with main character, dealing with everyday stuff, as well as driven (understandably) to try to clear her own name.

The investigation thunders along even as her daughter’s issues distract her and a potential for romance hovers as well. She’s hardly popular in her new neighborhood, although she does have supporters. She’s suspected by the police…although a certain inspector might be interested in her for other reasons. Actually, she seems quite distracted by that certain policeman.

Lydia’s investigation, which starts off looking tentative, involves a hunt for motive but turns up actual clues as well. It also causes some further events, endangering Lydia herself and causing… well… let’s not ruin it! One great feature to this mystery is the element of, well, mystery! Little is predictable!

A Murderer Among Us is both like and unlike a typical murder mystery; our main character’s circumstances make this personal, and her approach to ‘solving the case’ might be considered unorthodox. Levinson’s style is straightforward and thoroughly enjoyable: do read.

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