Sarah Pinsker's Haunt Sweet Home
This is about a young woman who takes a job as a PA on a reality show hosted by her cousin—a reality show that involves renovating haunted houses. Lolllllllll. But eventually it become clear that there is at least one actual ghost in the mix. Now, I am a GIANT wuss and I was fine with this book—it’s occasionally creepy but mostly just about a young woman trying to figure out her life (and also some fun behind the scenes reality tv stuff). I liked this a lot! A-.
Moray Dalton's The Stretton Darknesse Mystery
Jo Walton mentioned this in one of her recent reading roundups, and I'm always looking for a new mystery to read. This involves a young man, a nefarious vicar, and the vicar's niece-by-marriage. The murder doesn't happen until like a third of a way in and the detective doesn't show up until the halfway mark. I enjoyed reading this but it wasn’t a particularly compelling mystery. B+.
Vivian Shaw's Bitter Waters
This is basically a cozy fantasy novella involving the major characters of the Greta Helsing series and what happens when they encounter a little girl who's been turned into a vampire. I believe the upcoming book in this series is the final one, and there are some hints at the end of this that there are some vampires up to nefarious activities that will have to be stopped, but no action or real tension in this volume. A-.
Vivian Shaw's Grave Importance
This has a LOT going on—mysterious mummy ailments, angels from another world, art heists, even an apocalypse. Not to mention various romances. Still very fun, I enjoy these characters a lot. A-.
Vivian Shaw's Dreadful Company
I might have liked this one even more than the first one??? Maybe because I actually had read the books all the literary references are to, lol. Anyway, in this one, Greta is in Paris for a conference and gets kidnapped by vampires who hate one of her vampire pals, but there's a larger mystery going on that may collapse reality itself! Can her vampire friends and some new characters (a werewolf, a couple of psychopomps, and an inexperienced demon) track her down and stop terrible things from happening? Will she befriend adorable little creatures along the way? VERY fun story, I am digging this series big time. A.
Vivian Shaw's Strange Practice
Several people whose tastes I trust mentioned this series recently, and it lived up to the hype! It centers on a woman in London who has taken over her father's medical practice, treating non-human people. But when a serial killer who's been killing people starts targeting the supernatural, she has to band together with a motley crew of vampires, demons, and museum curators to stop them. Very entertaining book and I look forward to the next one. A/A-.
Cat Rambo's Rumor Has It
This is the third book in Rambo's Disco Space Opera series, and it’s another fun sci-fi adventure! This time the crew is heading to a planet full of cool gardens to do some trade, do a pop-up restaurant, deal with interpersonal issues, and see an old friend. There’s nothing as MAJOR as the stuff from the last two books, but I enjoy these characters a lot and am looking forward to the next one. A-.
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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released on September 24th.
Alice Bell's Displeasure Island
As I hoped, Grave Expectations was the start of a series, and this one was just as fun! The protagonist and her new pals decide to take a trip to a new resort on an island in Ireland, except they aren’t supposed to be there and the only other guests are a Glass Onion-esque crew of old college friends who all kind of hate each other. And of course one of them ends up dead, and their inclination is to blame the weird girl who talks to herself (well, really to ghosts—not just her friend, but the many ghosts on the island, including pirates). So she decides to solve the case (while dealing with trauma and lots of feelings)! It's a pretty solid mystery and I quite enjoyed her sleuthing. This book is also pretty funny (I loved the skeleton who’s hanging out). Can’t wait for more. A/A-.
Frankie Barnet's Mood Swings
I absolutely read this because of the cover. It's fine, it starts off about several mildly annoying people in their early 20s living in a world like ours (based on all the pop culture references) but where all the animals started attacking people--until some billionaire created a machine that killed all the animals. In the back half one of the early 20s girls starts dating said billionaire, who’s working on a time machine. Interesting book but I wasn’t super into it. B.
Content warning for mentions of sexual assault and depictions of domestic violence.
C.M. Waggoner's The Village Library Demon Hunting Society
Ok, this was a SUPER fun take on cozy mysteries. So it centers on an aging librarian who is known for solving all the murders in her small town, but at a certain point she’s like, it’s very WEIRD that there are so many murders in my small town and that I always solve them! [This does always bug me in long running series! How does that one tiny town in the Louise Penny books have so many murders??] And she realizes demons are involved! Also, her cat is possessed by something claiming to be the ghost of his namesake, Lord Thomas Cromwell. I loved the narrative voice here and I especially loved the protagonist with her friends (including a young priest). This was very funny and entertaining, and the mystery plot worked really well for me. There is a hint at the end that this could be the start of a series, and I say YES PLEASE GIVE ME MORE!! A.
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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released on September 24th.
