Friday, September 29, 2006

Violet Dawn & Murder on Lenox Hill

This has been a week of change. Jess started his new job on Monday, and while he's very happy, we see each other a lot less, and that's hard. We got a new (to us) van last week, so now I'm able to run errands during the day myself, and that's been fun. I signed up Mia for preschool yesterday, so she'll be going to school two days a week while I'm at work. It's hard to believe that my baby girl is growing up so fast. And we're still packing for the move to the new house, plus Jess has been over there trying to get that house ready as well. I'm not complaining; every one of these changes are blessings from God, it just seems that we're caught in a thunderstorm of blessings right now. I think I'd prefer receiving them one or two at a time instead of all at once.

Violet Dawn by Brandilyn Collins is a fabulous, twisted wild ride of a read. When Paige Williams finds a body floating in her hot tub, she goes to drastic steps to hide the crime and keep her identity a secret, but who would set her up that way and what will they do next? This book was my first read by Collins, and it certainly won’t be my last. This is the first in a new series, Kanner Lake, and Collins does an admirable job of establishing this small town’s atmosphere and characters all while building the mystery of who killed Edna San. The narration jumps through several characters, and Collins feeds out information a little at a time building suspense to a nail-biting intensity. There are several other authors trying to write books like this, but end up resorting to potboiler plots. Collins is the real deal.

Murder on Lenox Hill by Victoria Thompson is the seventh entry in the Gaslight Mystery series starring Sarah Brandt, a New York midwife and Detective Sergeant Frank Malloy. This book was probably the most disturbing book in the series so far. The wealthy Linton family asks Sarah to examine their 17-year-old daughter when they suspect that she’s pregnant. The girl is mentally disabled and always supervised, so the mystery of who the father is haunts the family. Sarah and Frank work together to track down the rapist. Thompson does a wonderful job of building the story while juggling the long-arcing subplots that have been playing out since the first book.

Tonight I'm taking Doogie and Mia grocery shopping. Doogie was going to go to the homecoming game tonight, but he decided that going out to eat was more fun than going to a football game. That's my boy! Tomorrow we're going to Jess' cousin's wedding, and Sunday we start painting at the new house. Then it's back to the new routine on Monday. I'm currently reading Senatorial Privilege: The Chappaquiddick Cover-up and The Barbarian Way. More reviews tomorrow, make sure you check out Violet Dawn by Brandilyn Collins!


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