ME

Title: ME
Author: Elton John
Published: October 15th 2019 by Macmillan
Format: Hardcover, 352 pages
Genre: Memoir

Granted, Elton John defined an era but I came away from this book disappointed and still not sure who it was really written by. This book reads as if Elton John has no redeeming qualities and is nothing more than a self-obsessed narcissist destined to destroy his life and only became the legend he is by happenstance. I am not saying this isn’t a possibility, but it could have been tempered a bit.

I, I, I, I, I, is basically what this book is. Where are the revelations about his work with foundations and how he helped to get the recognition out there for people and place which needed a nod from powerful people to continue good works?

One of the things I found most unsettling was his gushing over the birth of his first son and then barely a mention of his second. What was that all about Elton? You do realize Elijah Joseph Daniel Furnish-John will one day read this book and wonder why he was relegated to “and the spare” status.

The Book of Candlelight

Title: The Book of Candlelight
Author: Ellery Adams
Published: January 28th 2020 by Kensington
Format: Ebook, Hardcover, 224 pages
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for an opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.
Series: Secret, Book, & Scone Society #3)

A return to a rainy Miracle Springs, North Carolina where bookstore owner Nora Pennington has a chance meeting with a charming gentleman named Sheldon and later discovers the body of a local floating in the Miracle River.

Ellery Adams throws in multiple storylines with this book, and since it is number three in the series, the usual make or break number for cozy mysteries, I wasn’t sure if she was trying to tie up all her loose ends of if she was spreading seeds for upcoming installments.

The ladies, and now gentlemen, of Miracle Springs, are a delightful bunch that tends to come to each other’s aid with a helping hand or a baked good, whichever is currently needed. They are the type of support system each need and in their caring, tend to open themselves up to all sorts of troubles and secrets.

As one mystery is solved, Ellery Adams introduces another and by the end of the book, everything is sorted. That is until Nora picks up on something and the next rabbit hole appears.

Let Justice Descend

Title: Let Justice Descend
Author: Lisa Black
Published: October 29th 2019 by Kensington
Format: eBook, 320 pages
Genre: Police Procedural
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for an opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.
Series: Gardiner and Renner #5

The Gardiner and Renner series has less to do with murder then they do with a deep dive into a world that is usually kept from the outside world. This time, Lisa Black is diving in the dirty world of politics and the shenanigans involved in getting the right people and projects in place.

From the beginning, you know Ohio senator Diane Cragin has been electrocuted on her doorstep, but what slowly unfolds is the part she played in Ohio business placement, corruption, bribes, and why there are close to one million dollars found in a safe in her home.

As Jack Renner and Maggie Gardiner begin to move the players around the board, darkness takes center stage when a bystander is caught in the crossfire. Jack doesn’t know if he relieved or not when a reporter is found murdered since she could have blown Jack and Maggie’s well-plotted secret to shreds.

Having read the previous books, the reader is aware of the underlying mutually assured destruction between Jack and Maggie, but it isn’t until the very end of the book that the reader can see what Jack had going the whole time. “Let Justice Descend” is a well-plotted, deep, and twisty book that has the reader wondering if there is just one final thread that hasn’t yet been pulled.

This is a series that must be taken slowly. There is too much information, both from a forensic investigation stance and a large character pool, that gets murky from time to time. Take your time, know that there are no easy answers and that by the end you will have both a new understanding of the dirty world of politics and that Jack, no matter how much you want to like him, has a side that you will never be fully able to stomach.

Memories and Murder

Title: Memories and Murder
Author: Lynn Cahoon
Published: November 12th 2019 by Lyrical Underground
Format: eBook, 202 Pages
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for an opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.
Series: Tourist Trap Mysteries #10

Instead of focusing on visitors to South Cove, Lynn Cahoon has turned the tables a bit and focused on Aunt Jackie and her sudden change of temperament and unexplained break up with her finance Harold.

Elder abuse is the forefront for this tenth book in the Tourist Trap series and when Aunt Jackie starts receiving unexplained phone calls and a helper for the Senior Project is found dead, all hands are on deck to both protect Jackie and to get to the bottom of a vicious scam before anyone else can fall prey.

This is one of those series, with multiple short stories thrown in between, where the reader gets a bit confused as to book order. Fortunately, that doesn’t matter since the characters all stay the same and Lynn Cahoon does her best to keep everyone situated by reminding the reader who everyone is and how they fit within the story.

Dark Pattern

Title: Dark Pattern
Author: Andrew Mayne
Published: October 15th 2019 by Thomas & Mercer
Format: eBook, 316 pages
Genre: Suspense
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for an opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.
Series: Naturalist #4

There is always a dark intensity to the Theo Cray / Naturalist books. An underlying boil of the scary stuff you don’t want to know exists. The flickering of the things that go bump in the night and will keep you up long after you should.

Dr. Theo Cray and his mathematical mind have a way of seeing patterns. Patterns that he can input into a special computer program and between the two of them, they begin to expose the darker underworld. This time it involving hospital deaths. As Theo is battling for his own sanity, after exposure to a pathogen in the last book (Murder Theory, 2019), he is even more on guard and when he is not trying to push those who love him away, he is traveling on a collision course to trap an angel of death.

Andrew Mayne has taken Dr. Theo Cray to the brink of his own existence. Theo is now a broken man and there is no way of knowing if he will make it back from the place where he was left.