This week I am reading Hostage, a novel by Clare Mackintosh. Lots of interesting characters with different backgrounds and secrets, a daughter on the ground in peril and hundreds of people up in the sky at the mercy of a hostage taker. The tension is building... it will be interesting to see how the main character manages to take control of the situation and—presumably—land the airplane! ...

It's time to take you back to Bald Eagle Falls, as Erin and Vic and their friends are pulled into another mystery! A Fateful Plateful is book #16 in the Auntie Clem's Bakery series. It can be read as a stand alone mystery or together with the rest of the series. ...

I have just recently begun Friends Like These by Kimberly McCreight. You've heard this story before... friends who share a horrible secret gather for a weekend reunion. Trapped by a storm, something happens, and one of them is dead. It is up to the police/detective to sort out all of the misleading clues and lies, probe and tease out the mass of secrets covering secrets to get to the heart of the matter. ...

Today, I wanted to cook something up for some of my characters. What would their favourite gluten-free meals or treats be? So let's dive in! ...

I am currently reading State of Terror, by Hillary Rodham Clinton and Louise Penny. As you can well imagine, this power team draws on Clinton's political knowledge and Penny's experience in writing crime fiction to put together a political thriller that is both detail-rich and keep the plot moving forward. ...

I have just finished reading Monica Ferris's Darned if You Do. I don't think I have read any other books in the Needlcraft Mystery series. This is #17, but there was enough context and backstory that I was comfortable with the characters and small town and didn't feel lost. This mystery had an interesting premise—a hoarder who was murdered before his sister could finish inventorying all of the junk and valuables he'd been forced to leave in his house when he was taken to the hospital after a tree came crashing through his roof. I was sorry to see the neurodivergent character killed. I think he would have made an interesting repeat character in future mysteries in the series. ...

A self-professed con artist practicing as a contact to the dead, a drop dead gorgeous warlock , and a psychic cat—what could go wrong? Give yourself a treat and buy three books in the Reg Rawlins, Psychic Detective series for one low price. This set includes: ...

Well, Mother's Day is coming up next week and I thought I would showcase some fiction with good/strong mothers.

So many of my characters are foster children and street kids that I don't have a lot of wonderful mothers in my stories. But I do have a few! And truth be told, sometimes the best mothers are fathers or grandfathers!

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Right now I am reading Don't You Cry by Mary Kubica. I have read other books by Kubica, so I knew it would be a good read. I think she only writes stand alones, which straddle the edge of suspense/domestic thriller. Lots of intriguing hints as the plot unfolds, good character development and narration. ...

April 23 is World Book Day, also known as World Book and Copyright Day or International Day of the Book. It is a day to celebrate reading, publishing, and copyright. The day was first conceived of in 1922. April 23 was selected as the death date of Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra and William Shakespeare. ...

If Reg was going to kill Corvin, she would have done so before now.

As much as she might dislike the warlock who has been a thorn in her side ever since moving to Black Sands, she has never tried to kill him.

Well, except maybe that one time.

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I am currently reading The Steel Kiss, a Lincoln Rhyme book by Jeffery Deaver. I have read one or two books in this series before, and they are very satisfying police procedural mysteries. I was irritated with Rhyme at one point in this book for failing to see a legal point, but he eventually got there after a number of false turns ...

I've been asked several times when the next books in the Parks Pat Mysteries series were coming out, and that day is today!

I have not just one, but three new stories in this police procedural series.

Rejoin Detective Margie "Parks Pat" Patenaude as she solves homicides in Calgary parks.

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First Nations: the Siksiká, Kainai, Piikani, Stoney-Nakoda, and Tsuut’ina. This Treaty granted the Government of Canada a 130,000 km2 tract of land and did not allow them to continue their traditional lifestyles. The Treaty resulted in significant hardships and suffering for those Nations, although they continue to show their strength and resilience today.  ...

This week's teaser comes from The Anteater of Death by Betty Webb. A very nicely-done cozy. I would definitely read more in the series. A cozy mystery with a zoo full of animals behaving like animals and humans behaving like savages. Plenty of suspects, lots of twists and turns, and pleasant diversions into zoo life, boats, and the protagonist's relationships with her family, coworkers, friends, and new love interest. ...

I thought I would pull together a bunch of Easter/spring/equinox themed books for you this week. I'll start at the top with Magic Ain't a Game, my Reg Rawlins book that is set around Easter and spring equinox: ...

Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk was on the "mystery" shelf, but I am not sure I would classify it as such. It does involve a murder (in fact, a string of murders) which are solved at the end of the book, but it is very literary and does not at all follow the plot of a sleuth trying to solve the murders. ...

Undiscovered Tomb is on sale for $0.99 this weekend only. It is book #15 in the Reg Rawlins, Psychic Investigator series, and can be read as a stand alone adventure or together with the rest of the series. Join Reg, Corvin, and others on their trip to the ancient tombs ...

I am currently reading Betty Hechtman's Dead Men Don't Crochet, a well-woven cozy mystery with some unexpected twists and tangles... okay, I'll lay off the puns now! Dead Men Don't Crochet has all of the expected tropes — a protagonist who works at the library and takes part in a crocheting club, solving murders on the side. Her boyfriend is a cop, of course, and while he keeps telling her not to interfere with the investigation, I assume he will give her a hand the moment she is in trouble. Good characters and a nice tone so far. Curl up by the fire for this cozy read ...