Reviews

Murder in Season is an excellent read and a breath of fresh air. Jon Land is eloquent and relentlessly engaging. Could NOT put this gem down! With work on the reconstruction of her beloved home almost complete, Jessica Fletcher is in high spirits, spearheading the annual Christmas parade and preparing for her nephew Grady and his family to come to town. The only thing dampening the holiday cheer is the discovery of two sets of bones on Jessica's property: one set ancient, the other only about a year old. Reporter Tad Hollenbeck arrives in Cabot Cove to write about what he calls the murder capital of the country. But when Tad himself turns up murdered, Jessica speculates that his arrival, his death, and the discovery of the bones are all somehow linked. As Jessica digs deeper, things seem to come back to a mystery that's long plagued Cabot Cove. To solve the case, she'll need to delve into her beloved town's dark history. Could this holiday season become her last? Land has a master's eye for weightless detail. Refreshing and alive. Never allowing you to leave the edge of your seat. The plot is intricate yet never confusing. I appreciate the advanced vernacular. Land refuses to "dumb it down" to make it allegedly easier to read. Thank you for a truly fantastic book!

Engaging and well-paced, Rich DiSilvio's Short Stories II is a fantastic anthology for fans of historical fiction who enjoy short stories following a unified theme. Short Stories II debuts two intriguing mysteries featuring a dapper and witty private eye named Armand Arnolfini, as he investigates baffling art-related crimes entailing forgery and theft. The book also features a spine-chilling tale about John Vagis, a moving and edifying story of two airmen during the Korean War with an unexpected twist, historical narratives featuring such notables as Augustus Caesar, FDR, and Winston Churchill, and more. The stories fit well together; however, the book feels somewhat top-heavy due to their placement. I believe the book would have benefitted from the two main stories bookending the rest. In the end, this book was delightful and highly recommended.

~Mrs. Y, TopShelf Review

I love YA novels, and The Secrets of Hawthorne House is no exception! Fifteen-year-old Matt Mitchell is having one of the worst summers imaginable. His sadness starts when his mother dies in a tragic car accident. Matt’s grieving father is unable to remain in the family’s seaside cottage, so he decides to move Matt and his twin sister as far away as possible from the place they all loved. But their relocation to the small town of Hawthorne only makes Matt’s life more difficult, due to three bullies at his new school going out of their way to making Matt’s life miserable and unbearable. Making matters worse, Matt hears that the recluse living in the run-down Victorian mansion next door is none other than Old Lady Hawthorne––the town’s infamous murderer of wayward husbands. The book offers many hair-raising moments captured within the eerie Hawthorne House. This book would have easily deserved five stars, if not for several editing issues. Still, this one comes highly recommended.

~Michael Rowland, TopShelf Review