Book Review: Come Homicide or High Water

 

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Come Homicide or High Water

by Denise Swanson

A nice relaxing end of her maternity leave, that's all Skye wants before going back to her job as school psychologist who also helps her police hubby at times with his cases too.  Life has a whole different plan though when she is called back early for helping her intern with some difficult cases.  Then her life is full swing when a parent is so mad about some results concerning her daughter that she is suing the school's acting principal and later is found murdered in her own backyard.  Plus her husband asks for her help with a missing elderly woman suffering from dementia.  Now Skye is dealing with finding the right nanny for their twins before going back to work full time, helping find a missing woman who may be in danger because of her mental state, trying to figure out who murdered the parent, and how to keep everyone in her life happy with her own personal decisions in life.  Is Skye in over her head though with investigating a sensitive murder that she is so entangled in the lives of the suspects for?  After all she works with most of the suspects.  Who really killed the parent?  Why are so many of the staff she works with acting so oddly?  What kind of secrets are really happening in people's lives that she had no idea about?  Is she putting her new family in danger digging into the murder or the missing person?

This may have been the next in a series, but it was a great stand alone book.  There were a few points that made me wonder if there was more to something I read, but then it was touched on enough to make me go, oh okay got it.  Nothing to make me want to stop reading and start the series just to understand.  I think some things would make more sense on the character level if I went back and read the other books though, but nothing that was pertinent to understanding the plot in this book.  I loved the characters in this book!  I could see myself being friends with Skye and her family.  They are just all around great characters.  I love how she is taking to motherhood of twins and keeping life together while living in an RV while their new house is being built.  She is a strong woman to keep her life in order while doing that.  This plot had me guessing until the very end.  I was so surprised about multiple things that happened and just found myself staring at the book.  This was a book that made me laugh out loud at multiple parts.  I enjoyed the mystery, the secrets, the characters, and the writing style of the author.

5 out of 5 Stars!

Book Review: Misery

 

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I will start by saying that normally I am full on in love with any and every Stephen King book.  That being said...I actually did not care for this one at all.  I wanted to make myself love it....it started right in the action and had the feel of a good book, but for some reason I found it hard to read and hard to stay focused on.  I kind of liked the characters and watching them develop and trying to figure them out.  I did like the theory of the plot line, but I just didn't find it "grabbing" me enough.  It took me forever to get through.  I had to manage through because it IS a Stephen King book and I've read almost all of his.  Haha.  I know this may not seem like much of a review, but I really feel like I got nothing here.  I didn't care for it and I felt it moved fast, yet slow.  I found myself drifting like Paul does in the midst of his drug induced states while I was reading.  So....as a mystery and King book goes, I am glad I read it to say I read one of his older books I hadn't read.  However, I wouldn't read it again, nor would it be the first book I would recommend of his or for any read.  Sorry for the short review, but I feel like I have nothing to really say about this book besides I normally love the author and the characters were pretty good to watch develop throughout the book.

2 out of 5 Stars

Book Review: Sugar Cookie Murder

 

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Sugar Cookie Murder

by Joanne Fluke

Hannah is just going to host a little Christmas potluck to test out some recipes to see which ones should make it to the Christmas cookbook.  Easy right?  Her night ends up being consumed by little things along with the food tasting for pretty much the whole town.  You know...chit chat trying to get to know people like her Mother's new boyfriend (who she really doesn't like or trust) and a friend's ex husband's new flashy Vegas wife whose fur coat is worth more than a car...keeping an eye on her very pregnant sister who is devouring Christmas chocolates like they are a lifeline...keeping people calm and comfy during a blizzard that has them all stranded until the weather clears some...and just a tiny murder mystery of the new Vegas wife.  Hannah quickly enlists her sisters and even her Mother into helping her snoop around to figure out who, in her cozy town, could murder.  Why murder the flashy Vegas wife and why did they have to use her Mother's antique cake knife worth mega money?  As she digs she discovers all is not as it seems.  Is she stranded with a cold blooded murderer?  Will there be more blood shed?  

I absolutely loved this book!  I devoured it like a real sugar cookie.  I was hooked from chapter one.  I have not read any of the other books in the series, but that luckily didn't matter.  I was able to read this book without any issues of feeling like I needed to read the ones before it.  I quickly fell in love with Hannah and her sisters.  If I could bring a character to life to have as a friend I would pick Hannah.  She is funny, serious when needed, an amazingly talented baker, smart, relentless, and really a great sleuth.  All the characters in this book really were great and so much fun to watch develop and become who they were meant to be.  I loved how the plot was quick to move, but kept me guessing the whole way too.  I never saw the conclusion coming.  I love how no one bats an eye at Hannah asking things about them or their lives or there whereabouts at the party, they just answer and keep on eating and enjoying the party.  Hannah's love life is one of the things that I'd love to keep reading the series for.  I'd love to see how things go for her and who she really decides to be with in the grand scheme of things.  I loved the mystery, I loved the characters, and I finished the book in 2 days.  This is an absolute must read for any mystery lover.  It was a great way to get into the Christmas feeling too seeing it took place near Christmas and in a snowstorm.  

5 out of 5 Stars!