Tag Archives: Detective

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The Alchemical Detective

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The Alchemical Detective by Kirsten Weiss

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


The second book gives you a little more of the characters and brings them more personality and presence. You get more of a feeling for who they are and how they are going to grow in the future. Because we move to a new location you do not really get anything from that. The location descriptions are pretty generic and you never really get a feeling for the area. The story is interesting but they keep referring to a past event that has never been explained in a way that would make it very relevant to any situation.

Riga has lost her magic and has gone to Lake Tahoe to hopefully get it back and spend some quality time with her new love, Donovan Mosse. Donovan owns a Casino that is being run by his cousin Reuben who is not happy to have Donovan back on the premises.

When a psychic is murdered the police seek out Riga, they believe she may be a suspect though they know she has consulted for the police in the past. Things go from bad to worse as a film crew hires Riga who uses them as a stepping stone to investigate what seems to be murders related to her past. Can she avoid being a victim herself?

Decent enough to keep the story moving forward but would really like to have some details on this past.



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alchemy was first a method of transforming spiritual lead into gold, of dissolving the alchemist herself, removing impurities, and unifying her disparate spiritual and psychological pieces.  It was also really complicated, which was why Riga had never gone further than an academic knowledge of the subject.

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The Metaphysical Detective

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The Metaphysical Detective by Kirsten Weiss

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I somehow managed to read the fourth book in this series and liked it so much that I decided to go back to the beginning and see how it got to where it was. I definitely liked the characters a lot or else I would not have bothered. Well, I am not liking the characters so much right now and am actually a little bored with the way things are going in this book. I am willing to give it a go because I know that things do get better as the series continues. Right now the characters are dull and their surroundings are dull and one-dimensional.

Riga’s new client, Helen Baro, says that her husband is trying to kill her. The thing about that is, her husband has been dead for the past year. Hence the need for a metaphysical detective rather than a conventional one. When Helen is found dead there is a haiku and tarot left behind as a clue as to what happened. Riga finds herself in an investigation that threatens not only her but those she loves as well.

Riga kind of annoyed me because she is so bland and the plot does not seem to be going anywhere. Riga is a strange detective/witch who is lost when it actually comes to the supernatural it seems, though maybe her back story will give more. There is a lot more than the original plot would lead you to believe but it is not all that exciting either. But as I said the books get better as time and characters evolve. So I would say to give it a look and decide for yourself. Lukewarm recommendation.



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“But why metaphysical?  Why not supernatural or psychic?” “Because metaphysics deals with first causes, not necessarily the supernatural.  I work in both worlds and I’m not a psychic.” “In other words, it works on a business card,” Lauren said shrewdly. “Guilty.”

Riga Hayworth
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The Man in the Leather Jacket

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This was one of those books that gave you some good and some bad. The good ended up outweighing any bad by a nice margin. The characters are definitely quirky and bigger than life while the surroundings are more of a blur. I kept forgetting what state this was supposed to be happening in unless they mentioned it specifically. The hunt for the killer was not really so much of a hunt as it was something that just happened almost. You get some misused words such as drooping when it should be drop.

Ryan Porter is an ex Marine who has a lot of issues since he got out of the service. He has recently gotten his license as a Private Detective after doing his internship. Mindy Miller is working as a waitress at the strip club that Porter frequents and uses for business. They make one good detective when they get together.

When Gary, a local bag boy, goes missing his sister wants to hire Porter to find him. She is afraid that he may have been one of the latest victims of a serial killer known as the Sandman. As Porter and Mindy investigate his disappearance they get closer to finding the killer than even the police have been able to do.

There is a nice twist near the end that comes as complete surprise. I will also mention that the story seems to be more about Porter and Mindy than it is about the killer. It is told from multiple points of view so that you get a chance to see how everyone is feeling without filtering through a central character. I would recommend this to those who like weird mysteries.

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

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Hekate’s Chalice

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Hekate’s Chalice
(Adept Solutions #1)
by Teagan Kearney

I started this story totally not sure what to expect and found myself pulled in immediately. Truthfully I am not sure what made me like this so much but I really got into the characters from the moment they were introduced. Each one was very unique and even on short acquaintance made me like them. The world they inhabit is still a little vague and could use some more fleshing out to make it seem more real. I had a few instances of the names of characters changing within the same paragraph in some instances, which can be quite disconcerting. Other than that one thing it is written in a style that definitely grabs your attention if you like the subject matter.

Jean Baptiste also known as J.B. is running his fathers detective agency, though it is not for a good reason. Someone ran down Jean Baptiste Sr. and he is lying in the hospital in a coma while his son tries to save the family business. Working with J.B. are an interesting cast of characters, there is Zhanna who is a six inch faerie of the Irayisi race working off her probation there, Nikki a half elf/ half imp, and the twins Gemma and Jason.

Hekate sends her niece to enlist Jean Baptiste Sr. to locate her chalice which has come up missing at a very bad time. She needs it back soon and so takes a chance on J.B. and his crew. What they find out is more complicated than they expected. The search for the person who hit J.B. Sr is also not going well. They have to find the chalice to keep the agency going but there is danger involved that they do not see.

Definitely want to read more about these characters and see where they go from this point. Well worth the time of anyone who likes a little magic and mayhem.

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

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Christmas Moon

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Christmas Moon
(Vampire for Hire #4.5)
by J.R. Rain

This is why I like these books, there are some of the strangest things happening to this woman who was so ordinary not so many years ago. This short gives you a quick look into the life that Sam has built for herself after her transformation into a vampire. She has her business, which is doing very well considering she can only really work at night. Her love life is definitely doing well since she finally decided to give Kingsley a real chance. Most important of all is that her children are happy and healthy and living with her.

Sam has an interesting Christmas going on. Her client needs her to find a safe that he has never opened. She has a man come to her stating that he was her guardian angel but because she is now immortal he can tell her he loves her. How many women get that said from an angel?

Another good entry!

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I paused and flipped through a historical mystery novel, read a random paragraph, liked it, and dropped it into my own hand basket. For a buck, I’ll try anything. Hell, the Kindle app on my iPhone was filled with free ebooks and .99 cent ebooks that I had snagged in a buying frenzy a few days ago. Now, all I needed to do was to find the time to read them. I’m sure the one about the vampire mom—written, of all people, by a guy with a beard—should give me a good laugh.

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A Very Shitake Christmas

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16122026

A Very Shitake Christmas (Shitake Mystery #1.5)

This was short but pulled me in immediately and had me like the characters and ready to follow them. I always like a book with a strong female character and Mo is definitely strong in her own way. The setting is contemporary and makes it perfect. The language is what you would expect with little quirks to keep it interesting from both the Brits and Americans. The relationships are very real and do not seem forced or rushed but built from the bottom up.

Imogene ‘Mo’ Tuttle had worked as a private detective until she met Ross Grant and would have been fired for trying to protect him. They have since moved in together and she is still out of work while he has been cast in one new movie with another to start after filming ends on this one. To really make things interesting Ross’s father Bertram contacts Mo and tells her he will be coming for Christmas, she of course assumes she has 6 months to prepare, but he celebrates the historical Christmas in June.

Mo gets a cal from her old boss wanting to hire her back, but Mo is not interested in going back full time but is willing to take work as an independent contractor. Her first job is to serve a restraining order on a man who is very good at eluding them. When she gets to close to things he takes revenge in a novel way.

This was a fun read without any big mystery or anything but characters who had plenty of personality. After reading this I have to read the first book in the series since this was 1.5 and find out how things got started.

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
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Deadly Quicksilver Lies

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23820357

Deadly Quicksilver Lies: A Garrett, P.I. Novel (Garrett Files #7)

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
I love Garrett, have ever since I read the first book and always want to read more. This time while I basically liked it I was not taken away with this particular story. Everybody seemed lackluster and the story was not very interesting. I missed the Dead Man in the overall story since he gives a kick to everything going on with Garrett. Dean was another missed figure for me since he makes Garrett so crazy by running his house like it was his own and not Garrett’s.

Bottom line, I enjoyed it because it was a Garrett tale but did not because the story was not very engaging. But I will be reading the next one because they have such interesting characters most of the time.

“Pull up a step, Ace,” I told him. He did, but he had the fidgets. He kept looking for his lucky exit. I told him, “I didn’t really want you. But I can’t get ahold of Winger.” Not that I’d tried. “What? Who?” “Your girlfriend. Big blond goof with no common sense, always has an angle, never tells the truth if a lie will do. Her.” “Part of that fits everybody in this thing,” Morley said. “Even up on the Hill, they turned the truth to quicksilver.” “Untruths, too.” “Quicksilver lies. I like that.” “Deadly quicksilver lies.” I spotted friend C.J. Carlyle. “Look who missed the slaughter at Maggie Jenn’s place.”
― Glen Cook, Deadly Quicksilver Lies: A Garrett, P.I. Novel Glen Cook
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Rosetta

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18340750

Rosetta

I am giving this 3.5 stars and wishing to read another in order to get more background on the central character. This was an interesting concept with some good characters who make it worth reading again to make sure I got all the details. The story runs a bit slowly until you finally arrive at the destination and then things pick up a bit and continues to build. The characters are both fleshed out and not fleshed out depending on how long they are in the book, the main character has a lot more personality and background than any of the others but you still feel that he is lacking somewhat. I like the world that has been created, it has the ring of authenticity mainly because of its resemblance to the world we now find ourselves living in. The technology is real enough that you would have no problem believing in its existence or at least the possibility that it could be created.

James Meade is a runabout who was born on Mars, this means that he does not bother himself with the politics of either power running things. In this case there is the Consortium, a fascist society that uses its citizens as virtual slaves based on whether they are born into wealth or not, and it is impossible to gain wealth if you are not born to it. The other side is the Coalition who claim to be better and allow for a democratic society, while you can pull yourself up to a higher standard before you can get there you must pay off the crushing debt you have been forced into. This is the world Jim lives in and still is unable to get away from.

When a Consortium engineer is found dead on Rosetta it is decided that Jim will do the investigation because of his neutrality. He is not given much of a choice in the matter and decides that if he has to do it he might as well get paid as much as possible. He figures it will be a simple job with little work involved and a good payday, but he has no idea of what is going on that asteroid far out in the belt. And what he does not know will likely get him killed.

For some reason Meade reminded me of Harry Dresden, not just because they were both P.I.’s but the way he dressed and the use of sarcasm and humor. This is a detective story in space with a noir feel. You have the female bar owner with a heart of gold, the femme fatale, the crime bosses, the crazy zealot wanting to save the world, and our detective who is less and more of hero than you expect him to be. All in all a good read but could have been even better with a more serious mystery.

Mars has two moons. One of them is Phobos and other’s name is Deimos ...