Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


“Happy wedding”, Evemer said. “I got you this door.” (Bingo)

A Taste of Gold and Iron by Alexandra Rowland

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CBR16 Bingo: Golden Gold in the title and gold as a pivotal part of the plot. Also pretty much all of the central characters are solid gold. Kadou is the younger brother of the sultan of Arasht, and is delighted that she’s just given birth to a healthy baby, putting him further down the line of succession. Unfortunately, the baby’s father, a powerful ambassador at court, believes Kadou to be jealous and a threat to both his baby niece and his sister. Nothing could be […]

Don’t Bring Helen! (Or Please Do)

The Expectant Detectives by Kat Ailes

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CBR16 Bingo: Games – Alice and her friends take up the murder investigation as diversion more than anything else while waiting to give birth, though things aren’t all fun and games for very long. Alice and her partner Joe move to the countryside hoping to raise their soon-to-be born son in a peaceful environment, but that peace is shattered when a local store owner is found murdered during the course of an eventful antenatal class. I’ve read plenty of flavors of cozy mystery, but a […]

The Navajo Lens

Shutter by Ramona Emerson

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I have always pursued good character-driven crime fiction. Yes, plotting is important and necessary to a good story but as I’ve said many times, I need a reason to care about what’s going on. The less I care about the characters, the less I’ll care about what’s going down. This is why whodunits rarely do it for me: they’re too focused on the mystery to make me care about who killed who. Shutter is not a tightly-plotted novel and that might bother some readers but I was so […]

Liar Liar Pants Incredibly on Fire

First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston

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This was very much a case of right book, right time. I needed something fast-paced and twisty that would absorb me fully and let me focus on the characters’ trials and tribulations.  And this book delivered exactly what I needed!   The book follows Evie Porter, except that is not her real name.  And the whole history she has spun for her boyfriend Ryan is not true.  Evie and Ryan’s completely coincidental meeting was also anything but coincidental.   But Evie is not scamming Ryan becasue […]

Murder mystery with women you won’t like

Scenes of the Crime by Jilly Gagnon

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This is a classic beach or vacation read, with I Know What You Did Last Summer vibes but. You know, I say that, but I haven’t read that actual book. I might have watched the movie a looooong time ago though. Ok, there are major differences probably. But we have a group of friends, including Emily, who lost their friend Vanessa one fateful night at her family winery conveniently high up on a treacherous ocean cliff. At Emily’s suggestion, several years later, the friends reunite. […]

Murder on an interplanetary cruise

The Spare Man by Mary Robinette Kowal

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What: A murder mystery in space!  Lovebirds Tesla Crane and Shal Steward are celebrating their honeymoon on an interplanetary cruise ship.  Tesla’s notoriety has them traveling incognito and all is going well until Shal finds a woman who has been stabbed in the corridor.  When the woman dies shortly thereafter, he is accused of murder.  Tesla and Shal work to solve the murder, clear his name, and try to have a honeymoon! Who:  Tesla Crane is a ridiculously rich heiress and retired roboticist.  Living with […]



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