Book 24, 2024

A Deadly Restoration by Gillian Larkin

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



I began an ebook novella last night and read it in under an hour. Hmm. Eh, it had chapters so I'm counting it. The book was A Deadly Restoration by Gillian Larkin, and it's the second in her "Julia Blake" cozy mystery series. The main character is Julia, who cleans houses for a living.

After Julia's elderly next-door neighbor sells her home, the new owner begins a massive renovation. The noise is maddening, as are the arguments that Leo, the owner, seems to get into on a regular basis. It's no surprise, therefore, when Julia goes next door to investigate a wide open door and discovers Leo dead. Soon DI Clarke is on the case, but so is Julia. It's a complete accident when she stumbles on the clue that leads to the identity of the killer.

Not only was this rather short, but it lacked any meaningful substance. The clue that broke the case was found in such serendipitous circumstances that it seemed to negate any investigating at all. Characterizations were okaaaaay, but Julia came across more as a nosy busybody than a competent, concerned neighbor. Eh.

Favorite line: There's something so sad about cutting healthy trees down.

I can't justify scoring this any higher than two.

Book 25, 2024

Magic Tides by Ilona Andrews

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



I began reading Magic Tides by Ilona Andrews after midnight, and I finished it this afternoon. It's a long novella set in the same verse as the authors' "Kate Daniels" series. This spin off follows Kate, Curran, and their son Conlan as they try to forge a new life for themselves in Wilmington.

Kate and Curran want only to keep a low profile as they renovate an old fortress into their new home base. Things don't always go as planned, however, and when they learn that the son of one of their workers has been kidnapped, Kate goes forth to rescue him while Curran remains behind. Kate has no intention of revealing her true identity, but blood will tell. She finds herself confronting human traffickers, the People (navigators of vampires), some wayward shapeshifters, and a demi-god in her quest. Kate, however, has never backed down from a fight.

Marvelous! I've been missing these characters, and although this book was shorter than the others, I thoroughly enjoyed it. There were some exciting fight scenes, interspersed with the humor that always added that extra oomph to the original series. It was interesting to read some of this in Conlan's point of view and epically hilarious that Curran deemed Kate's temper far more dangerous than the battle he and Conlan and their allies waged to protect their new keep. One of my favorite characters was Cuddles, the enormous donkey that Kate rides on her mission.

Favorite lines:
♦ "Wilmington is too small for both of us. It's either Red Horn or me, and I just finished painting my second living room."
♦ When outgunned, open with a brick to the face.
♦ Cuddles picked up the pace, clopping her way on the crumbling highway like she had some place to be and needed to get there. Horses could be convinced to go faster or slower, but donkeys had a mind of their own, so I gave thanks to the donkey gods and enjoyed the ride.
♦ "Look at that evil lair, Cuddles. No ziggurats, no ritualistic poles with skulls on them, no giant faces carved anywhere or big metal fire braziers. These modern evil god followers just don't care to put in the work."
♦ "When you sink that low, you have to expect a reckoning."

Stellar! Five stars!


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