To Fetch a Thief, by Spencer Quinn (on CD)

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

OK, so Chet is now an elephant whisperer. Man, that dog is brilliant, in a purely doggy sort of way. I want to read more in this series, but probably not all at once. A little too much sweetness.

Looking for Yesterday, by Marcia Muller

A little clunky, one of those moving-the-Big-Story-along books. Actually several of hers have been like this lately. The mystery itself was a little weird too. Maybe I read it too fast, mostly all in one day....

Half Moon Bay, by Jerry Crow

I went on vacation and found a bookstore and bought about a book about the place where we stayed. Doesn't everyone do that? :-)

Nice history of the area. Probably should've read this BEFORE we went, but who does that??

XO, by Jeffrey Deaver

This sounded interesting, and Deaver's a popular author. Well, I enjoyed the story, but it was pretty formulaic. I think I have read my last by this author, which is too bad; I sorta like the main character.

Burn Out, Marcia Muller (on CD)

I always, always confuse Sharon McCone with Kinsey Millhone. They are simply too much alike, except they have grown so differently. This one should probably cause me to keep them separate.

Sharon has sunk into a deep depression caused by her near death in a previous book. She's camped out at Hy's ranch avoiding everyone at work until she is drawn into the family drama of the caretakers when their niece is murdered, another niece disappears, and their mom runs off. Lots of family skeletons are eventually dug up, and Sharon (of course) gets her act together by getting back on the detecting gig.

Pretty good story.

Torment, by Lauren Kate (on CD)

Title pretty much describes this book. I want to smack this little Bella-like dweeb in the nose. Reading Part 3 is unlikely.

City of Whispers, by Marcia Muller

Good, as usual. I seem to have missed a book though. Anyway, this one is about her half-brother who is homeless and hopeless, and missing. He's also the main suspect in the murder of a wealthy young woman.

Camouflage, by Bill Pronzini

Why did I stop reading this series? Things have changed appreciably since I stopped: the agency has...wait, there IS an agency now! With more employees. The cases here involve finding a client's ex-wife to sign some papers, except it turns into a WHOLE OTHER deal involving murder. And one of his employees is investigating the apparent abuse of his girlfriend's child. The cases don't intersect, but they do parallel each other in terms of divorce wreaking havoc, and the injection of new blood helps a lot.

Bindlestiff, by Bill Pronzini

One of the reasons I love these books is that I can get through one of them in about 6 hours' reading time. At most.

This one is about hobos and trains and sisterly love. Very quaint, the portrayal of hoboing. Could have lived without the 'quaint' portrayal of librarians, however. grr

U is for Undertow, by Sue Grafton

Another of the series, which is now up to 1988. This one is about a murder that took place in 1967, so it's REALLY confusing to have two historical periods to keep track of, plus Grafton tells this story from four different points of view. It's mildly confusing, but she did a very good job differentiating all the people, both by description and by name, so it wasn't horrible to follow. More difficult was the story itself; some really unpleasant scenes in the book which have nothing to do with murder but are icky in the extreme.

I loved her detailed description of the Polk and Haines directories. I forget that 90% of the general population doesn't have a clue, but they are such basic tools to me that it was a bit odd to read two LONG paragraphs explaining how they work.

Good book.

High Country, by Nevada Barr (on CD)

I've read this before (in book form), but it was fun to listen to it again. Barbara Rosenblat is so good at reading and imbuing books with life. And I love Anna Pigeon for her forthrightness.

The Burnt House, by Faye Kellerman (on CD)

The title is a little odd, since what was burnt was an apartment complex, but all in all a pretty good yarn.

Ten Days in the Hills, by Jane Smiley (on CD)

Fail--too sprawling and apparently going nowhere I wanted to go.

Dog On It, by Spencer Quinn

Cute mystery in which the narrator is a dog. His human is a private detective, and this dog is no dummy, but he is definitely a dog.

Very light, but in a good way.

Tuesday Night at the Blue Moon, Debbie Fuller Thomas

I think this is the last book from last year's ALA swag pile. A nice story about kids who were switched at birth which is only discovered when one is diagnosed at about 12 with a genetic disease that doesn't run the family she has lived with. When one family sues, the other girl is ordered by the courts to move in with her biological family. That's where the book starts. A little preachy, but heartwarming, if you can believe that.

Breath and Bones, by Susann Cokal

Would make a good discussion novel.

The Dollmaker's Daughters, by Abigail Padgett

A deceptively slim series mystery starring Bo Bradley. Bo works for the state child protective services and so is called when a teenage girl enters a sort-of fugue state at a Goth club near Bo's house. Even though Bo is encouraged, strongly, to drop the case once the girl is placed back with her foster parents, she contiues to investigate, finding holes in her supervisor's story and befriending the teenager. Eventually she finds the girl's biological family which only serves to bring about more tragedy before Bo stops the perpetrator for good.

Quite an interesting woman is Bo, but she'd be hell to work with.

Simple Justice, by John M. Wilson

Good book. Maybe look for this series?

Dying to Tell, by Robert Goddard (on CD)

The Common Bond, by Donigan Merritt

(picked up at ALA, read in proof...good, very very good)