She glances in the rearview mirror as the stranger walks towards her broken-down car. The wicked look on his face sends a chill up her spine, and she knows he’s not here to help. She doesn’t have time to scream before she falls to the ground, and the darkening sky goes black.

When the lifeless body of a young girl is discovered at an abandoned warehouse close to Red Rose County, FBI Agent Val Costa races to investigate. Setting eyes on the victim, Val’s heart stops as she spots the jagged letter S carved into her ice-cold chest. Slowly, she runs her fingers across her own identical scar. She’s been waiting for the Bear to leave his mark again, and now he finally has.

Determined to catch the man who’s haunted her dreams for years, Val promises to end his killing spree once and for all, but when more bodies are found bearing the same deadly carving, she fears she may already be too late. And then Val receives a call that turns her blood to ice—her best friend Sally is missing, and the killer has left a note addressed to her. Follow these rules and she lives.

Desperate to find Sally, Val faces her biggest challenge yet. Will she need to defy orders and track down the Bear alone before it’s too late?

Fans of Lisa Regan, L.T. Ryan, and Mary Stone won’t be able to put down this totally heart-racing crime thriller.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

The morning air felt suddenly heavier. Damp. Drenched in dread.

I’d gone there to end him and his killing spree. I didn’t usually believe in murder, but this didn’t feel like murder. This felt like spraying pesticide to kill the parasites ravaging your crops, the crops that fed your family and kept your community alive. That’s what he was. He was a parasite that needed to be eliminated.

I didn’t have it in me to kill. But that didn’t mean I liked the fact he was still breathing.

There’s always a bogeyman lurking in the shadows. Mine just happened to have a name.

My Review:

I have bravely and eagerly devoured every flinch-worthy installment of this gripping series. The tensely written storylines kept me on edge with my shoulders in my ears while chewing my cuticles, which are now ragged and in desperate need of a manicure. Ms. Christie’s word voodoo is strong and conjures complete scenes populated with a cast of knowable yet uniquely authentic characters whom I would recognize if meeting on the street. Her serial killer was a true psychopath, brutal, deviously clever, cunning, and evil. Brady and Val struggled with the desire to end him, but the reluctance to kill. Hmm, faced with such a vile creature, I doubt that would be a struggle for me.

 

 

An up-and-coming ghostbuster and her motley crew tackle a devilish high-wire act, aided (or more often, interrupted) by her rakish ex and the sarcastic reporter she can’t seem to shake—from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Crazy Spooky Love.

Maplemead Castle is crawling with ghosts, and the new owners need them gone. When Melody Bittersweet and the Girls’ Ghostbusting Agency arrive on scene, they quickly identify the main troublemaker swinging from the chandeliers. A century ago, stunning trapeze artist Britannia Lovell plunged to her death in the castle’s grand ballroom, and has continued to haunt it ever since. But did she really just fall, or was there something more to her demise?

Forced to work with Leo Dark, her scoundrel ex, and the infuriating, irresistible reporter Fletcher Gunn, Melody’s investigative powers are under the strain of a heart pulled in two directions. She needs her team in top form, but her best friend Marina’s cake pipeline goes AWOL, her assistant Artie’s distracted by a giant sausage roll, and the pug Lestat is scared witless by a lion. Melody has her work cut out for her.

Somewhere, hidden in the castle, is a heartbreaking secret, but what will it take to find it? And is there a chance it could set Britannia free, or is she doomed to repeat her last fateful act forever?

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

She really ought to have been born French. She’s a force of nature almost entirely sustained by champagne, American daytime soaps, and the occasional prawn.

If I ever meet Mother Nature in a back alley, I’m going to pin her to the wall and shout, “Why? Why did you do this to me? Why does my body insist that it wants to tangle up the sheets with Fletcher Gunn again when my head knows it’s highly likely to end up with one of us needing to emigrate or do prison time?”

She’s just one of those women who views her bra as additional on-board storage. Tissues, pens, gum, her phone— she’s got the lot stashed in there. She used to put her lipstick in there too until the day it melted all over her cleavage and her mother thought she’d been shot in the chest at point-blank range.

I mutter like a grumpy, antisocial teenager who’s been asked about her overdue homework.

She looks at me knowingly. “Men don’t get to be that arrogant unless they’re supremely confident in the trouser department.”

My Review:

This series has been gleefully entertaining and easy to fall into. I adore Josie Silver’s wry wit. She has the uncanny ability to be both cleverly amusing and perceptively emotive at the same time. Many of her characters’ histories tugged at the heartstrings, and their uniquely and authentically drawn personalities were not as vile or troublesome as they had initially seemed by the story’s conclusion, that is, except for the devilishly odd twins. Color me hooked, I’m eager to tag along on their next ghost-busting adventure.

JOSIE SILVER is an unashamed romantic who met her husband when she stepped on his foot on his twenty-first birthday. She lives with him, her two young sons, and their cats in a little town in England called Wolverhampton.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

She’s whippet-thin and eats like a bird, preferring to save her calories for the champagne she’s rarely seen without. When she dies, if she ever dies, “it’s always five o’clock somewhere” will be engraved on her tombstone.

I grab the tin of Nonna’s limoncello babas and lift the lid, inhaling the smell so deeply it’s a wonder the buns don’t levitate.

I’ve decided this is the perfect staff-bonding exercise for Artie and Marina, a getting-to-know-you over a can of turpentine instead of a bottle of vodka, because he barely drinks and she could leave a sailor for dead in a drinking competition.

“A peace offering?” I say, peeling back the layers of tissue to reveal a little silver horseshoe. “Or have you come to tell me that you’ve given up ghost-hunting in favor of being a farrier for really tiny ponies?”

I’m not the religious kind, unless there happens to be a Goddess of Sweet Things, because if there is I’ll fall down on my knees and swear allegiance right now. I’d happily swallow a holy sugar lump and beg for divine assistance.

I think I’ve just stepped closer to him. I look down at my feet in alarm and issue them a direct order: Fall back, you fools! Fall back!

My Review:

This was good fun and a total delight to read, so much so that the next book is already locked and loaded on my precious Kindle and ready for immediate perusal. I enjoyed it so much, I was loath to put my Kindle down and hissed at any interruption to my reading.

While I rarely watch or read anything in the paranormal genre, I couldn’t resist since it’s Josie Silver. I adore this wily wordsmith’s clever wit and emotive scribblings. I frequently smirked and chortled as I zipped through this lively and amusing tale featuring a superhero-loving and sugar-fueled ghosthunter who consults a Magic 8 Ball for guidance.

JOSIE SILVER is an unashamed romantic who met her husband when she stepped on his foot on his twenty-first birthday. She lives with him, her two young sons, and their cats in a little town in England called Wolverhampton.

In the Bluegrass world of oak-cured bourbon, antebellum mansions, and Thoroughbred horse farms are secrets—deadly secrets! Kentucky is not called “the dark and bloody ground” for nothing!

Josiah has resigned herself to being alone. Her boyfriend, Hunter, has left her for an old flame, and Josiah vows not to interfere in his life. She cares for the man and wants him to be happy. So, it comes as a shock when Detective Drake informs her that Hunter has been arrested for the murder of his wife, Kathy Wickliffe. Josiah simply can’t believe Hunter would harm another human being. She must uncover the truth—and fast.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

“Your friends are vicious.” “Yes, they are— as you say— vicious, but they are fountains of information, innuendos, and observations.” “You mean they are gossips.” “Precisely,” answered Lady Elsmere,

Honey, she is more plugged in than MI-5 or the FBI. Of course, she knows something, but she won’t spill. The old biddy will tell me when she thinks the time is right.

“And how do you suggest we temper this behavior with a child that’s not even two yet, Miss Know-It-All?” I didn’t reply, since I had a daughter who frequently engaged in violence and loved guns. Maybe my parenting skills weren’t spectacular after all.

You even lie about your lies.

Remembering made me angry, and as the afternoon wore on, the memory turned into a blister.

My Review:

This was a quick, satisfying, and engaging read that kept me entertained and curious from start to finish. What more can one ask for? Ms. Keam manages to perceptively hit the feels as well as amuse in a smooth and wryly humorous manner. Her characters are realistically flawed and struggling, yet endearing and deserving of being known. I hope this series continues into perpetuity, as that is how long I plan to keep reading Josiah’s adventures.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

“Subtly is my middle name,’ says Albie, downing the remainder of his wine, then burping loudly before helping himself to a refill.

My musings are interrupted by a frantic beeping from the car behind us, and Albie digs me in the shoulder blade, then indicates the lights have changed with a sarcastic, ‘What shade of green were you waiting for?’

My Review:

This was good fun, I enjoyed this highly amusing tale from start to finish. How lucky am I? I unsuspectingly stumbled upon a well-paced murder mystery with a refreshingly original premise, a cast of quirky yet endearing and relatable characters, and adroitly laced together with clever, wry humor. Matt Dunn has crazy good word voodoo and a new fan girl.