From fun to say what?

The fun was "There's Something About St. Tropez" by Elizabeth Adler. I've never read one of her books before but this was a pleasant summer read. Mac Reilly, a private investigator with a reality television show has decided that he and his partner, Sunny Alvarez (she says he proposed so she's his fiancee) need a vacation so he books a month at a private villa in the South of France - St. Tropez to be exact. Only trouble is, so did several other people! They've been scammed and the villa is a dump. Luckily there are rooms available at a lovely Hotel of Dreams. Mac and Sunny take this group of "Misfits" under their wing and attempt to discover who ripped them off. There is the Texas widower and his eight-year-old daughter who wears tutus so her mother will know where to find her from heaven; a British woman on the run from her Russian mobster husband; a young woman from Kansas who went on a cruise with her boyfriend - that she paid for - only to find him in bed with another woman; a New York banker who needs to find a life and an eleven-year-old boy who's been dumped at the hotel by his mother for the last month. Luckily, all of these people with the exception of the gal from Kansas seems to have money to spare. There's a bit of mystery, a bit of romance and a lot of designer name-dropping but it was a pleasant way to spend a couple of summer afternoons.

The "Say What" label goes to Julie E. Czerneda's "Rift in the Sky". When the author has to have a character explain the series' title - Stratification and hurries the end up to the point that I don't know what's happening or why - I lose faith in the author. Then the complete departure from this people's way of dealing with others was going just too far. I'm not sure why the Om'ray became the M'hiray, why they lost their memories, why they used antiquities to pay their way or why I should read any further in this series.

Reading in bed

Usually when I'm sick I don't read a lot but this past few weeks I managed to read while using my nebulizer and in bed while I wasn't sleeping. I read my first thriller after a long time. I forget just how graphic the violence can be. The story wasn't bad but it was pretty distressing. "Sworn to Silence" by Linda Castillo was an interesting premise - an Amish community in Ohio is under siege from a serial killer. A formerly Amish woman is the sheriff with a secret from her past that is partially hampering her investigation. The killer is targeting young women and is very sadistic in his methods. I found this quite disturbing. I like the sheriff and the damaged agent sent to help her but could have done without the grisly details.

So I decided I needed a change of pace and read "Missing Ink" a new paperback series involving a tattoo parlor in Las Vegas by Karen E. Olson. It was kind of fun to read about a place I'm not planning on visiting - nor am I contemplating a tattoo!Brett Kavanaugh is the owner of Painted Lady Tattoo parlor. A young woman comes in for a devotion tattoo with her fiance's name and then doesn't show up for her appointment. Soon people are showing up looking for her - including the police - like Brett's brother, Tim. Next thing she knows,Brett is being pursued by thugs and good looking hotel managers.

Next I read "Skinwalker" by Faith Hunter, a new series about Jane Yellowrock, a Cheyenne who can change into various animals, a talent she uses to hunt rogue vampires. Jane is in New Orleans to take out a rogue vampire that's preying on humans and vampires alike. She's been hired by the Vampire Council of New Orleans.She shares her body with Beast - a mountain lion who has very definite opinions of her own. Jane is also missing some memories of her early years.

This weekend I read "Forget Me Knot" by Sue Margolis - a British chick lit novel about Abby Crompton and her florist shop, Fabulous Flowers. Abby's fiance turns out to be gay - but there's a nicer guy waiting in the wings - isn't there always? My complaint on this one was the rather graphic sexual scenes.

Then I read the sublime "Swan for the Money" by Donna Andrews. She doesn't disappoint. I seem to be the only person who didn't know about fainting goats - my co-workers and my sister knew, but not me. What gives? My education is lacking - but not any more. Now I know about them, Belties - black cows with white middles and the craziness of rose growers and their exhibitions. Who knew? Meg Langslow has been coerced by her mother into organizing the local rose competition. Her husband, Michael, is on his way to NYC to see a former student's play on Millard Filmore,so she's pretty much on her own - but not without family - and lordy, what a family. The lady who owns the estate hosting the show is a wealthy bitch who wants to color coordinate everything around her to black, white and gray. Someone has stolen her Maltese, Mimi, and Meg hopes that someone who loves the dog got her - woman after my own heart.

Marriage Bureau for Rich People by Farahad Zama

This is such a delightful look at modern India that I really hope the author writes more books. Most reviewers on Amazon have noted that this is not "like Jane Austen" as the publisher has stated on the book jacket.
Mr. Ali is retired and starting to drive his wife crazy so he decides to open a marriage bureau. I found all of this fascinating since our American culture is about love matches rather than arranged marriages. I enjoyed the look at what seems to be important to modern Indians in their desire for the perfect mate - though it seemed to be the family who had the input into what was required in a partner.
When the business takes off Mrs. Ali is the one who finds Aruna, the quiet young woman, to be Mr. Ali's assistant. She is such a wonderful person and really deserves a match of her own but their family is poor and her father is a bit of a tyrant. All will turn out wonderfully well in the end. I was intrigued by the divorced woman whose family has cut her off. She had managed to get a flat out of her divorce and now owned a business but she was still interested in finding a mate. She's tired of be invisible.
Mr.and Mrs. Ali's son is a protester against the exploitation of farmers by multinational corporations. This gets him into trouble with the law, makes his mother unhappy and his father angry. Of course they are also concerned that he isn't married.
This was such a wonderful book, I'm sorry it's over and I want more.

Brewed, Crude and Tattooed by Sandra Balzo

Another annoying amateur detective. I should have known when three blurbs on the back cover used the word "breezy" to describe Maggy. I liked her big dog Frank better. She keeps mentioning her boyfriend's buttery leather jacket - she apparently likes it more than she does him. There are three murders before the end of the book and they all happen in a twelve hour period, in a small mall that's snowed in. This part made for some interest but the snarking from Maggy's supposed friend, Caron, didn't make much sense. It was something to read while I did my nebulizer treatments. Since so many places praised her books I might try another to figure out what I'm missing.

Lemon Tart by Josi S. Kilpack

Sadie Hoffmiller is a woman "of a certain age" who lives in Colorado in a small cul-de-sac. One morning she is surprised to see the police pull up to her young neighbor's house and goes to find out what's what. The police aren't thrilled with her presence but she has a key to the house and knows the young single mother, Anne, who lives there with her two-year son, Trevor. Sadie discovers that Anne is baking a lemon tart from the recipe that she'd given her. It soon becomes apparent that Anne has been killed and Trevor is missing. This wasn't the greatest mystery I've ever read but it wasn't the worst. I thought Sadie was rather an idiot most of the time.

Hooray for long holiday weekends!!

The Fourth of July weekend gave me three days off and besides cleaning, I read a lot.
I finished "Fixer Upper" by Mary Kay Andrews. I wasn't sure that I like the heroine, Dempsey, at first. She seemed awfully stupid but once she got to Guthrie, Georgia and the old house that had been in her father's family, a new Dempsey seemed to appear. Of course, the townspeople were kind, decent people and that helped. It is not the quick fix that her father had convinced her it would be. It also has a tenant - a crabby old lady who's not about to move out, and her dog. But there's a great contractor and a cute lawyer to help her in her times of trial. Dempsey worked for a Washington lobbyist who's being investigated, along with a corrupt senator. These stellar males want to put all the blame on young Dempsey's head. It's just not right.
As long as I was on a roll, I read "A Little Learning" by Jane Tesh. Of course, part way through it I realized that I had read the first one some time ago and then missed the second book - ah well. Madeline Maclin is trying to find enough work in the little town of Celosia, North Carolina to keep her private invetigator office open. She's looking into the death of an unpopular teacher at the elementary school and trying to help a man solve a riddle left him by his uncle which will bring him lots of money if he can solve it within a week's time. All this is second to trying to make sure her new husband and best friend keeps on the straight and narrow - like keeping a job and not doing faux seances. Now I can try to read the second book!
Just finished a very odd book - or maybe it's the main character who's odd. "The Chalk Circle Man" by Fred Vargas - a female Fred!Commissaire Adamsberg is an odd duck. He seems to think differently from other people. He is new to Paris and is very disturbed by the blue chalk circles that some man is leaving around various items around Paris. He's quite sure that something evil is about to happen. Unfortunately, he doesn't have long to wait. A body is found in a circle one night. Before, Adamsberg can solve the case there will be two more bodies. He thinks about his "petite cherie" who leaves him frequently and then for good. A oceanographer who follows people around the city and records their actions in a notebook. She also has a very firm opinion about the week being divided into sections and that there is a rhythm to these sections. It's all quite complicated. She has a building with three apartments. She lives in one and a timid old lady lives in one - another oddball who keeps answering personal ads. Then there is the blind man she discovers at lunch one day and rents the bottom apartment to. Adamsberg's main detective, Danglard is a tall, awkward man who has two sets of twins at home plus the child his wife had with her lover and dumped on him. He's very intellegent and starts to drink white wine sometimes quite early in the day. I'm not sure if I like this one. I'll read another to find out.