SUNDAY POST – 18th February, 2024 #Brainfluffbookblog #SundayPost

This is part of the weekly meme over at the Caffeinated Reviewer, where book bloggers can share the books they’ve read and share what they have got up to during the last week.

After finding my sister dead on 30th December, I’ve been somewhat struggling. She lived just up the road from us and was also my best friend and confidante, especially after I got sick with Long Covid. Her death was a complete shock to everyone – while she was ill with covid, she wasn’t suffering from any major illness. The postmortem found she’d died of a pulmonary embolism, which makes sense as it is linked with covid. Though covid wasn’t mentioned on her death certificate.

Her funeral on 2nd February went off well – I was giving the eulogy, which I managed to do without getting too upset. And the gathering afterwards was full of laughter and tears, with lots of hugs and stories about Mona. What we didn’t realise was that my little granddaughter, Eliza, who attended the wake, was also infected with covid. So some three days later, I woke up to a miserable sore throat and the beginnings of the illness that laid me low with Long Covid for the past three years, just as I was starting to feel fully recovered…

While I wasn’t as ill as the first time – I’m very glad I got vaccinated this winter – I have been hit relatively hard and am only now recovering. I went out for the first time on Thursday, which was a lovely day, to the Wetland and Wildfowl Trust and found these signs of spring. Something I’m yearning for, as a week after Mona’s funeral, my mother-in-law died. She was in a nursing home suffering from dementia and passed away peacefully. While we are glad she has been spared some of the crueller aspects of a merciless illness – it was nevertheless yet another shock in what has so far turned out to be a truly dreadful year.

Books I’ve read this last week:
The Singing of the Dead – Book 11 of the Kate Shugak series by Dana Stabenow
Kate Shugak joins the staff of a political campaign to work security for a Native woman running for state senator. The candidate has been receiving anonymous threats, and Kate is to become her shadow, watching the crowds at rallies and fund-raisers. But just as she’s getting started, the campaign is rocked by the murder of their staff researcher. To track the killer, Kate will have to delve into the past, in particular the grisly murder of a ‘good-time girl’ during the Klondike Gold Rush of 1915. Little can she guess the impact a ninety-year-old unsolved case might have on a modern-day psychotic killer…

I’ve grown very fond of poor Kate, after all the dangerous adventures and emotional pain her author has put her through. In particular, the Alaskan setting, the tough and edgy character of Kate and the poignant dual narrative that runs along the whodunit makes this a memorable, compelling read. 9/10

AUDIOBOOK – Dire Straits – Book 1 of the Bo Blackman boxed set series by Helen Harper
Bo Blackman is a rookie private investigator working for the London based firm of Dire Straits. She doesn’t often get triber-based assignments, which is just as well. Vampires and daemons don’t interest her as much as humans do. However, when she has to serve a summons on a dodgy daemon called Devlin O’Shea and she ends up saving his life instead of being framed for his murder, her life takes a shocking turn for the worse. And when the vampire Families start involving themselves too, Bo no longer knows where to turn…
I haven’t fallen in love with Bo yet – unlike my relationship with most of Harper’s protagonists. But this is Helen Harper, people. One of my favourite fantasy authors – so I’m sure that as the series progresses, I’ll find I’m firmly on her side. In the meantime, the twisty plot and some enjoyable supporting characters made this an entertaining read. 8/10

AUDIOBOOK – Twice the Witch – Book 2 of the Beechwood Harbor Magic Mysteries Boxed Set by Danielle Garrett
There’s a new witch in town…

Green might be my best color, but I never thought I’d play the part of the jealous girlfriend. Evangeline might be a certified supernatural celebrity, but that doesn’t mean she can toss her flirtatious smile at my newly minted boyfriend.

Before I can wrench Adam from Evangeline’s clutches, I have an amnesiac ghost begging for help and find myself smack dab in the middle of another murder investigation. I have to track down a killer and save my new relationship … all without landing myself in a witch’s duel.
I thoroughly enjoyed the first book featuring Holly, who has been exiled to Beechwood Harbor and away from the paranormal enclave with her former friends and family. So she is a bit more fragile about threats to new relationships, without the support of people from her former life. That said, my heart sank a little at the prospect of a love triangle – so I’m glad to report it didn’t turn into one. It’s a trope I’ve never been fond of. 8/10

AUDIOBOOK – The Sword-Edged Blonde – Book 1 of the Eddie LaCrosse series by Alex Bledsoe
It should have been a case like any other: a missing princess, a king willing to pay in gold for her return. But before he realizes it, private investigator Eddie LaCrosse, a slightly shopworn sword jockey with a talent for discretion and detection, is swept up in a web of mystery and deceit involving a brutally murdered royal heir, a queen accused of an unspeakable crime, and the tragic past he thought he’d left behind.

Bledsoe’s fabulous Tufa series still haunts me. So when I recalled this fantasy noir series featuring his worldweary protagonist Eddie LaCross – I jumped at the chance to once more savour Bledsoe’s excellent writing and wry, somewhat dark humour. It didn’t disappoint. This is a writer who should be better known. 9/10

AUDIOBOOK – Witch Slapped – Book 3 of the Beechwood Harbor Magic Mysteries Boxed Set by Danielle Garrett
Holly’s got a big problem . . . And this time, there’s no dead body involved. At least, not yet. Her boyfriend’s parents are coming into town for the Yule Feast and they’re staying at the Beechwood Manor for an entire week!

With a paranormal meet-the-parents on the horizon, the last thing she needs is to stumble into yet another murder investigation, but when she becomes a key witness, there’s no way of avoiding it. Especially not if vampires are involved and her human partner-in-sleuthing is racing right into their path.
I have thoroughly enjoyed watching Holly put down roots in Beechwood Harbor – and seeing her problems with her boyfriend’s parents after a less than ideal first meeting was both funny and poignant. I’m sufficiently impressed with the first three books to get hold of the next boxed set. 8/10

My posts last week:

Castellan the Black and His Wise, Draconic Sayings

*NEW RELEASE SPECIAL* Review of NETGALLEY arc Relight My Fire – Book 4 of The Stranger Times series by C.K. McDonnell

Hope you, too, had some brilliant books to tuck into and wishing you all a happy, healthy week😊.