Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


“Bardun Jacques would’ve reshaped the landscape around him using the sheer force of profanity, which, Aelis reasoned, might actually have been an eighth College in his hands.”

The Warden (The Warden #1) by Daniel M. Ford

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I have read a couple of books lately where the back of the book synopsis does not completely (or accurately describe what the book actually contains; sometimes it’s by a little, sometimes it’s by a lot. The Warden, thankfully, is one of those books where it’s only by a little. The basic plot is: Aelis de Lenti, daughter of a noble house and recent graduate of the esteemed Magisters’ Lyceum (read: bisexual spoiled little rich girl who likes only the finer things in life and […]

“I have received many love notes about my wit. Though they are often disguised as strongly worded letters which request I hold my tongue.”

A Most Agreeable Murder by Julia Seales

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When a rich, eligible young man comes to town, Beatrice Steele, a Regency-era miss with an unseemly interest in crime, is determined that her younger sister Louisa will be his bride. But when he is poisoned in front of the whole ball, she must solve his murder instead with the assistance of the prickly detective Drake. This book is a humorous pastiche of Jane Austen and Agatha Christie with plenty of intrigue and funny characters, but its inspiration is while in some ways its greatest […]

“Remember, Vera reminds herself, your ass is bad. Very bad. And that is a good thing.”

Vera Wong's Guide to Snooping (On a Dead Man) - Vera Wong #2 by Jesse Q. Sutanto

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I often make mystery comparisons to one of the greats, Angela Lansbury’s Jessica Fletcher in Murder She Wrote. But it’s not a comparison I make lightly, because that show and character brings me ALL the joy, and so does this book. So, this is Jessica Fletcher, if she was a 60 year old Chinese tea shop owner in San Francisco who knows more and better than anyone else. Whereas Jessica is subtle, Vera is anything but. She is pushy, demanding, and downright insulting, but the found […]

Be careful what you wish for

Ghoul by Kasey Iris

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After finishing my online reader copy of Ghoul by Kasey Iris (sent to me via an email from the publisher; due May 2026) I was not sure if I liked it or not. I know I didn’t dislike it, but I’m not sure how much I liked it. And, in this case, that is not a bad thing. This is a thoughtful and interesting story on grief, family and pain. Each character is dealing with secrets, heartache, and lack of understanding. The characters are seemingly […]

“Reader, I married him. Because it should be me or no one.”

Murder Road by Simone St. James

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When newlyweds April and Eddie pick up a mortally wounded hitchhiker on a deserted road, the last thing they expect is to be suspected of the crime. But to prove their innocence they will have to solve a decades-old mystery. The book’s blurb leans a bit heavier on the mystery-thriller aspect than the horror-paranormal, so I’m glad that other readers’ reviews emphasized the latter, or else I might have been disappointed expecting a straightforward cold case mystery. There’s an eerie feeling which hangs over the […]

OutFoxing the Paranormal

The Forgotten Dead by Jordan L. Hawk

Rattling Bone by Jordan L. Hawk

Into the Dark by Jordan L. Hawk

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I’ve been a fan of Jordan L. Hawk since I was introduced to his Whyborne & Griffin series in 2018, and his stories have only improved in that time. OutFoxing the Paranormal is one of his few contemporary series, and it follows a group of ghost hunters who have a YouTube series and a professor at Duke’s Institute of Parapsychology who uses their adventures as part of his studies for papers. It is one of my favorite JLH series, and I cannot wait to see what Oscar, […]



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