Even More Upcoming Releases

I found some more books that will be coming out at the beginning of next year

• A Stich In Time by Betty Hechtman
• Sleeping with Anemone: A Flower Shop Mystery by Kate Collins
• Motherhood is Murder: A Maternal Instincts Mystery by Diana Orgain
• French Polished Murder: A Daring Finds Mystery by Elise Hyatt
• Death Threads: A Southern Sewing Mystery by Elizabeth Lynn Casey
• Hell Gate by Lisa Fairstein
• A Witch in Time: A Bewitching Mystery by Madelyn Alt
• Farm Fresh Murder: A Farmers Market Mystery by Paige Shelton
• Cut To The Corpse: A Decoupage Mystery by Lucy Lawrence
  

Even More Upcoming Releases

http://lorisreadingcorner.blogspot.com/2009/07/even-more-upcoming-releases.html

Miss Zukas in Death's Shadow by Jo Dereske

Shop Indie Bookstores

With an audit going on at Bellehaven's Public Library, it couldn't be a worse time for librarian Helma Zukas to be serving a sentence of fifty hours of community service. But Miss Zukas stubbornly refused to pay what she thought to be an unjust traffic fine and now she's doing time at the Promise Mission for Homeless Men--ladling soup and clearing tables for a motley group of ungrateful down-and-outers. When Helma discovers there's a rash of thefts going on at the mission, she's appalled. Add to that, the unannounced visit of a high school flame who intends to win her hand, and Helma's ready to run to the auditors for relief.

But none of that can compare to the shock when, during the first night of her service, a body is found just outside the mission's back door. Suddenly in the wake of a heartless homicide, Helma becomes one of the suspects, and her fifty hours of service are looming like a life sentance. Fortunately for the otherwise law-abiding librarian, her gaudy, bawdy good friend Ruth is close at hand to help her solve the case...before she ends up doing hard time in a much worse place than the mission house.

Miss Zukas in Death's Shadow by Jo Dereske

http://lorisreadingcorner.blogspot.com/2009/07/miss-zukas-in-deaths-shadow-by-jo.html

Book Blogger Appreciation Week

Announcing the Second Annual Book Blogger Appreciation Week September 14-18, 2009

Last year over 400 blogs came together to celebrate the art of book blogging during the first ever Book Blogger Appreciation Week! I am so pleased to announce that the second annual Book Blogger Appreciation Week will be taking place September 14-18.

WHO Anyone who blogs about books is invited to participate. In fact, we want everyone who blogs about books and reading to be a part of this week!
WHAT A week where we come together, celebrate the contribution and hard work of book bloggers in promoting a culture of literacy, connecting readers to books and authors, and recogonizing the best among us with the Second Annual BBAW Awards. There will be special guest posts, daily blogging themes, and giveaways.
WHEN September 14-18, 2009
WHERE Here at the new Book Blogger Appreciation Week Blog! (Please note that this year there are three separate blogs and feeds—one for the main event, one for giveaways, and one for awards.)
WHY Because books matter. In a world full of options, the people talking about books pour hard work, time, energy, and money into creating a community around the written word. I, Amy, the founder of Book Blogger Appreciation Week love this community of bloggers and want to shower my appreciation on you!

WANT TO PARTICIPATE?
Please help us spread the word about Book Blogger Appreciation Week by posting about it on your blog, stumbling this post, twittering about it, and telling everyone you know that it’s time to have a party and celebrate book bloggers!

Please register by filling out the registration form! Registering ensures your inclusion in the BBAW 09 Database of Book Bloggers and enters you into the drawing for the BBAW 09 Grand Prize!

Come back often as there will be many updates! And follow us on Twitter!

AWARDS
BBAW Award Nominations open July 15th on the BBAW Awards Blog.

Book Blogger Appreciation Week

http://lorisreadingcorner.blogspot.com/2009/07/book-blogger-appreciation-week.html

Friday Fill-Ins

And...here we go!

1. A phone call for take-out makes a quick and easy dinner.

2. The Cutting by James Hayman is the book I'm reading right now.

3. July brings back memories of watermelon and strawberries.

4. My annoyance was obvious.

5. They say if you tell your dreams they won't come true.

6. Make sure to take the time to think it over.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to having dinner with my cousin, tomorrow my plans include taking my cousin to the airport, reading and relaxing and Sunday, I want to hopefully have lunch with an old friend, read and relax!

Friday Fill-Ins

http://lorisreadingcorner.blogspot.com/2009/07/friday-fill-ins_17.html

Waiting on Wednesday

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

I'm going to do things a little differently this week. I just found a plethora of upcoming books to add to my PBS WL ~ and I can't wait for each and everyone one of them ~ so I've decided to post the whole fun list here. These are all coming out sometime between Dec & April.

• Cook the Books by Susan Conant & Jessica Conant-Park
• A Toast to Murder by Michele Scott (Best book in the series so far!)
• Caught by Harlan Coben
• Money to Burn by James Grippando
• The Shadow of Your Smile by Mary Higgins Clark
• The Proof is in the Pudding by Melinda Wells
• Stirring Up Strife by Jennifer Stanley
• Shattered by Karen Robards
• Til Dice to Us Part: A Bunco Babes Mystery by Gail Oust
• Murder on the Eightfold Patch: A Mantra for Murder Mystery by Diana Killian
• Murder of a Wedding Belle: A Scumble River Mystery by Denise Swanson
• Monster in Miniature: A Miniature Mystery by Margaret Grace
• Get Lucky by Katherine Center
• Pretty in Ink: A Tattoo Shop Mystery by Karen Olson
• The Wild Zone by Joy Fielding
• From Cradle to Grave by Patricia MacDonald
• The Bone Chamber by Robin Burcell
• 212: A Novel by Alafair Burke
• Deception: An Alex Delaware Novel by Jonathan Kellerman
• Death at the Alma Mater: A ST. Just Mystery by G.M. Malliet
• The Night Killer by Beverly Connor
• Dusted to Death by Barbara Colley
• Ghost Sudoku: A Sudoku Mystery by Kaye Morgan
• The Diva Paints the Town: A Domestic Diva Mystery by Krista Davis
• Eggsecutive Orders: A White House Chef Mystery by Julie Hyzy
• Dead Air: A Talk Radio Mystery by Mary Kennedy
• Town in a Blueberry Jam: A Candy Holliday Mystery by B.B. Haywood
• If Books Could Kill: A Bibliophile Mystery by Kate Carlisle
• How to Host a Killer Party: A Party Planning Mystery by Penny Warner
• Plaster & Poison: A Do-It-Yourself Mystery by Jennie Bentley
• Never Look Away by Linwood Barclay
• Sprinkle with Murder: A Cupcake Mystery by Jenn McKinlay
• Red Delicious Death: An Orchard Mystery by Sheila Connolly
• House Rules by Jodi Picoult
• Live to Tell by Wendy Corsi Staub
  

Waiting on Wednesday

http://lorisreadingcorner.blogspot.com/2009/07/waiting-on-wednesday_15.html

The Cutting by James Hayman

Shop Indie Bookstores

When a missing 16-year-old is found with her nude body showing signs of torture and her heart removed with surgical precision while she was still alive, the violence of the crime has Portland, Maine, detective sergeant Mike McCabe recalling his days with the NYPD. The case takes on greater urgency with the abduction of another women and the discovery of other similar victims, all young, blond, and athletic. While local cardiac surgeon Philip Spencer assures McCabe that such hearts would not be viable transplant organs, the doctor’s lying and arrogance make him a prime suspect. As McCabe and partner Maggie Savage work tirelessly on the case, a French medical assistant and a former Miami reporter provide breakthrough information, and Spencer’s close friends from medical school come under scrutiny. First-novelist Hayman ratchets up the tension in this engrossing account of a deviously motivated psychopathic serial killer; if some aspects of the crimes strain credulity, it hardly matters, given the thrill of the ride (From Amazon)

Check back for my review

The Cutting by James Hayman

http://lorisreadingcorner.blogspot.com/2009/07/cutting-by-james-hayman.html

Teaser Tuesday

It’s that time of week again, everyone, and time for the Tuesday Teaser.Again the reminder of what this is all about. We are asked to:

1. Grab your current read.
2. Let the book fall open to a random page.
3. Share two teaser sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
4. Share the title of the book that the “teaser” comes from, so people can find the book if they like the teaser.
5. And again remember – avoid spoilers.

Here's mine ~

He had no words for the feeling that shook his body as he gazed upon the rabbit's beating heart and held it for an instant in his hand before the beating stopped and the creature died. He only knew that it was something he wanted to experience again and again.

This teaser comes from The Cutting by James Hayman. What's YOUR teaser?

Teaser Tuesday

http://lorisreadingcorner.blogspot.com/2009/07/teaser-tuesday_14.html

Mailbox Monday

Mailbox Monday is hosted by Marcia at The Printed Page.

We share what books that we found in our mailboxes last week.

Here's what I got ~

Something Hidden, Stories by Elaine Margolis (For Review)~ Something Hidden is a diverse collection, with many subjects, settings and ideas. Two for One, examines a love deeply felt but unspoken until too late with a horse race at the finish. Intangibles, in which construction of a house addition becomes a hostile, possibly lethal event. Ynez at the Roller Dome Disco, a story of growing up, a small frightened boy and a giant woman. The Fritz and Keri Show, with a mysterious artist couple and a gallery owner whose two-man show for the couple leads to an unexpected denouement. The Dragon Box, in which an elderly traveler finds her past in a Bangkok curio shop. A Biker's Requiem, a story of regret, rebellion, and ultimately resignation. The Exchange-a woman realizes too late not to wish for something impossible after the wish is granted. Vibes, a story of loneliness, connections and chance encounters. Denizens, passion and betrayal on Melrose Avenue. The Charm, where spiders spin webs around the life of a girl who waits. Something Hidden, a mime in the Paris street, a kind stranger and a frightening revelation. The Crystal Café, a little girl dreams of her father, and witnesses a horrible crime. The Other Side of the Wave, a story of discontent, a hint of myth and a wave that washes over everything.

Fingerprints and Facelifts (L.A. Dolls Mysteries) by Rick Copp ~ Full of retro-fab fun, this smokin' first in a new series from Copp (The Actor's Guide to Greed) introduces the L.A. Dolls, three gutsy (and still very hot) retired female PIs. For seven years in the '80s, the Dolls made Charlie's Angels look like mere pussycats. Their lives have taken divergent paths since: tough Dani Mendez is now San Francisco's assistant chief of police; sweet Claire Walker-Corley is a happy suburban wife and mom; and glamorous Tess Monahan-Cardoza is a wealthy widow. Then drug kingpin Benito Coronel is released from prison; Claire's son, Zak, is attacked after a bachelor party; Dani's PI son, Bowie, barely escapes a bullet during a routine investigation; and Tess's stepdaughter, Bianca, is almost kidnapped. The L.A. Dolls must set aside their differences and reunite to protect their kids and put Coronel back behind bars. Copp's thrill-a-minute pacing, vibrant style and likable characters make an unbeatable team.

Secondhand Spirits: A Witchcraft Mystery by Juliet Blackwell ~ Lily Ivory feels that she can finally fit in somewhere and conceal her “witchiness” in San Francisco. It’s there that she opens her vintage clothing shop, outfitting customers both spiritually and stylistically. Just when things seem normal, a client is murdered and children start disappearing from the Bay Area. Lily has a good idea that some bad phantoms are behind it. Can she keep her identity secret, or will her witchy ways be forced out of the closet as she attempts to stop the phantom?

Burn: A Novel by Linda Howard ~ It’s true what they say: Money changes everything. And in Linda Howard’s red-hot novel Burn, the changes come fast, furious, and filled with the kind of sexy suspense, heart-stopping romance, beautiful people, and risky business guaranteed to give you the most bang for your buck. Money certainly changes Jenner Redwine’s life when she wins a lottery jackpot. But it also costs her plenty: Her father rips her off and disappears, her fortune-hunting boyfriend soon becomes her ex, and friends-turned-freeloaders give her the cold shoulder when she stops paying for everything. Flush with new money, Jenner can’t imagine ever finding a place in the world of the wealthy. Seven years later, though, she’s rubbing elbows with the rich, despite the fact she still feels like a party crasher. Luckily she finds an ally–and a guide to the rarefied realm of privilege–in shy, kind-hearted heiress Sydney Hazlett, who quickly becomes Jenner’s confidante and surrogate sister. When Sydney invites Jenner on a charity cruise aboard a luxury liner, Jenner reluctantly agrees. But while she’s expecting–and dreading–two weeks of masquerade balls, art auctions, and preening glitterati, what she gets is more like a Hitchcock movie than a Love Boat episode. Taken hostage by a menacing stranger, Jenner must cooperate in a mysterious cloak-and-dagger scheme–or else. With nowhere to run, and with Sydney’s life as well as her own at risk, Jenner is drawn into a game of dizzying intrigue and harrowing danger. But as her panic gives way to exhilaration, and fear of her captor turns to fascination, Jenner rediscovers feelings she hasn’t had in years–and realizes she’s found a life worth living. If she survives.

Person of Interest by Theresa Schwegel ~ Cops, criminals and neglected families collide with disastrous results in Edgar-winner Schwegel's intense third novel (after 2006's Probable Cause). Chicago PD detective Craig McHugh is deep into an undercover investigation of a deadly batch of heroin allegedly being peddled by the Fuxi Spiders, a powerful Chinese gang. Hoping to gain their trust, Craig burns through his department allowance and his own funds playing at a Fuxi card game. Meanwhile, Craig's sullen teenage daughter, Ivy, is dragged home from a party by his police colleagues after being caught with ecstasy. Unaware of her husband's undercover assignment, Craig's wife, Leslie, is convinced he's having an affair, and she soon begins flirting with Ivy's handsome jazz-playing boyfriend. As Craig's work life spills into his personal one, his family must come together to stay alive. The well-placed action scenes are brutal enough to resonate, but the violence is never gratuitous. This pitch-perfect portrait of a family in crisis reinforces Schwegel's position as one of today's top authors of hard-boiled police procedurals.

The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder: A Novel by Rebecca Wells ~ Wells (Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood) weaves more of the magic that made her a bestseller. At first, Calla Lily Ponder appears to be just like any other young woman growing up in the small town of La Luna, La., where life is simple and Calla Lily is supported by a loving, tightly knit family and a colorful cast of locals. But after a series of hometown heartbreaks, Calla Lily sets out for New Orleans to attend a prestigious beauty academy with dreams of one day opening her own salon. Calla Lily soon learns that while the Big Easy offers a fresh start, adventures and exhilarating new friends, it also presents its own set of tragedies and setbacks. The novel is chock-full of Southern charm and sassy wisdom, and despite its sugary sweetness, it benefits from a hearty dose of Wells's trademark charisma. Calla Lily's story may not be as involved or satisfying as that of the Ya-Yas, but she's sure to be a crowd-pleaser thanks to her humble aspirations, ever hopeful heart and perseverance no matter what fate throws at her.

Where There's a Witch (Bewitching Mysteries, No. 5) by Madelyn Alt ~ Taking a break from her job at Enchantments, Stony Mill’s finest mystical antique shop, Maggie O’Neill visits a carnival where she senses some bad spirits. And when a construction worker is suspected of killing a young woman, it’s up to Maggie and the N.I.G.H.T.S. ghosthunting team to uncover the dark spiritual energy leaking into their town before it spoils everyone’s fun.

Rotten to the Core (An Orchard Mystery) by Sheila Connolly ~ Orchard owner Meg Corey must clear her name of murder after the discovery of a pesticide-poisoned body in her springhouse. Includes recipes.

The Missing Ink: A Tattoo Shop Mystery by Karen E. Olson ~ The Painted Lady, a tattoo shop in contemporary Las Vegas, and its owner, artist turned tattooist Brett Kavanaugh, are central to this pleasantly jargon-free themed mystery from Olson (the Annie Seymour mysteries). When a woman requests a devotion tattoo from Brett and then vanishes, her disappearance is quickly linked to a series of murders involving tattooing equipment and rival shop Murder Ink. Brett's police detective brother, Tim, requests her expertise, and a murder at an engagingly excessive fictional hotel leads to Brett meeting its mysteriously handsome manager, Simon Chase, providing a solid base for further sleuthing and romance. Readers need not be conversant with street flash or other industry terms to enjoy the setting and follow Brett down a trail of needles and gloves to the dramatic finale.

Mailbox Monday

http://lorisreadingcorner.blogspot.com/2009/07/mailbox-monday_13.html

Book Giveaway - The Perfect Couple by Brenda Novak - ARC

The Perfect Couple (Last Stand) by Brenda Novak ~ One afternoon in May, Zoe Duncan's thirteen-year-old daughter goes missing from her own backyard. The police think Samantha ran away because she's unhappy about her mother's upcoming marriage—but Zoe doesn't believe it. In fact, she's willing to do anything to bring Sam home, even if it means losing her job, her beautiful home, her fiancé. Even if it means divulging all her secrets to a private investigator.Jonathan Stivers is a P.I. who donates his time to The Last Stand, a victims' charity in Sacramento. He's good at what he does, the best. But never has he had fewer leads to work with—or been more attracted to a client. Jonathan's sure of only one thing: Sam was taken by someone close to the family. He doesn't know how close until he realizes that the "perfect" couple next door is anything but…. Release date: August 1st.

Here's how to enter ~

• U.S. addresses only please
  
• Leave a comment here with your email address or PBS ID (I need to have a way to get in touch with you!)
• Follow my blog (on lower right sidebar) ~ get an extra entry
• Rate my blog (on left sidebar)~ get an extra entry
• Blog about it ~ get an extra entry

Contest open through July 20th. Winner will be announced on July 21st.

Book Giveaway - The Perfect Couple by Brenda Novak - ARC

http://lorisreadingcorner.blogspot.com/2009/07/book-giveaway-perfect-couple-by-brenda.html

Four Wives by Wendy Walker

Four Wives by Wendy Walker ~ A klatch of wealthy suburban women become deeply entangled in one another's lives while planning a public health clinic benefit in Walker's uninspired first novel. Housewife Janie is having a heated affair she can't give up; lawyer Marie is trying to balance her law practice, family obligations and loafing husband when a hot summer intern arrives; heiress Gayle has turned to pills to numb her to the treatment of her abusive husband; and Love, a doctor's wife, receives a letter from her estranged father that dredges up a painful past. As the women's personal struggles invade their other, pedestrian pursuits, Love's struggle with the demands of motherhood and family forces Marie, Janie and Gayle to get more involved in the lives of their friends and neighbors. (From Amazon)

Check back for my review

Four Wives by Wendy Walker

http://lorisreadingcorner.blogspot.com/2009/07/four-wives-by-wendy-walker.html

Book Giveaway - Swimsuit by James Patterson - WINNERS

Congratulations

George F.
Kngmckellar
Heatherzilla

I've sent them an email requesting their addresses. If I don't hear back from in 48 hrs, I'll choose another winner. Thank you to those that have entered :)

Book Giveaway - Swimsuit by James Patterson - WINNERS

http://lorisreadingcorner.blogspot.com/2009/07/book-giveaway-swimsuit-by-james.html

Guest Blogger

For once the tables were turned on me, and I became the guest blogger :) Thank you so much to Wendy Walker for the opportunity to talk about my blog, how I got started with it, and what I look for when reviewing books. It was interesting to be on the other side of the interview.

You can check out my guest post here ~

http://wendywalkerbooks.com/

As soon as I finish the manuscript I'm helping to proof I'll be reading her latest book ~ and I can't wait. Here's a little tease for you.


Four Wives by Wendy Walker ~ A klatch of wealthy suburban women become deeply entangled in one another's lives while planning a public health clinic benefit in Walker's uninspired first novel. Housewife Janie is having a heated affair she can't give up; lawyer Marie is trying to balance her law practice, family obligations and loafing husband when a hot summer intern arrives; heiress Gayle has turned to pills to numb her to the treatment of her abusive husband; and Love, a doctor's wife, receives a letter from her estranged father that dredges up a painful past. As the women's personal struggles invade their other, pedestrian pursuits, Love's struggle with the demands of motherhood and family forces Marie, Janie and Gayle to get more involved in the lives of their friends and neighbors.

Guest Blogger

http://lorisreadingcorner.blogspot.com/2009/07/guest-blogger.html

Fingerprints and Facelifts by Rick Copp

Shop Indie Bookstores

Full of retro-fab fun, this smokin' first in a new series from Copp (The Actor's Guide to Greed) introduces the L.A. Dolls, three gutsy (and still very hot) retired female PIs. For seven years in the '80s, the Dolls made Charlie's Angels look like mere pussycats. Their lives have taken divergent paths since: tough Dani Mendez is now San Francisco's assistant chief of police; sweet Claire Walker-Corley is a happy suburban wife and mom; and glamorous Tess Monahan-Cardoza is a wealthy widow. Then drug kingpin Benito Coronel is released from prison; Claire's son, Zak, is attacked after a bachelor party; Dani's PI son, Bowie, barely escapes a bullet during a routine investigation; and Tess's stepdaughter, Bianca, is almost kidnapped. The L.A. Dolls must set aside their differences and reunite to protect their kids and put Coronel back behind bars. Copp's thrill-a-minute pacing, vibrant style and likable characters make an unbeatable team. (From Amazon)

Fingerprints and Facelifts by Rick Copp

http://lorisreadingcorner.blogspot.com/2009/07/fingerprints-and-facelifts-by-rick-copp.html

Friday Fill-Ins

And...here we go!

1. The last thing I ate was spaghetti o's and meatballs.

2. A book for a friend is something I recently bought.

3. When it rains, it's New England these days.

4. My mom was the first person I talked to today.

5. Hugs are always welcome.

6. Having great friends provides extra comfort.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to reading and relaxing, tomorrow my plans include a waxing and pedicure, reading, napping and more reading and Sunday, I having lunch with an old friend (hopefully), maybe getting a new cell phone and hopefully starting to help proof a manuscript for the next book in a series I'm reading!

Friday Fill-Ins

http://lorisreadingcorner.blogspot.com/2009/07/friday-fill-ins_10.html

New Tricks by David Rosenfelt (ARC)

Shop Indie Bookstores

In Rosenfelt's excellent seventh legal thriller to feature Paterson, N.J., defense attorney Andy Carpenter (after Play Dead), Andy takes on another canine client—Waggy, a Bernese mountain puppy, who's somehow connected to the murder of Walter Timmerman, a semi-titan in the pharmaceutical industry. Andy represents the dog in a custody battle between Diana, Walter's widow, and her stepson, Steven, who's a suspect in his father's shooting. Shortly after Andy picks up Waggy from Diana, she dies in a bomb explosion at her house. When Steven's arrested for Diana's murder, Andy agrees to represent him. After Andy's police chief girlfriend, Laurie Collins, who's visiting from Wisconsin, is shot and wounded while playing with Waggy and Tara, Andy's golden retriever, Andy realizes Waggy was the real target. Rosenfelt injects this clever installment with courtroom twists, a peek into some scary DNA research and a romantic surprise. (From Amazon)

Release date Aug. 6th.

New Tricks by David Rosenfelt (ARC)

http://lorisreadingcorner.blogspot.com/2009/07/new-tricks-by-david-rosenfelt-arc.html

Teaser Tuesday

It’s that time of week again, everyone, and time for the Tuesday Teaser.Again the reminder of what this is all about. We are asked to:

1. Grab your current read.
2. Let the book fall open to a random page.
3. Share two teaser sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
4. Share the title of the book that the “teaser” comes from, so people can find the book if they like the teaser.
5. And again remember – avoid spoilers.

Here's mine ~

Manning testifies quite simply that they police received a call in the form of a computer-masked voice, alerting them to the location of the weapon, and that when they conducted a subsequent search, there it was.

This teaser comes from New Tricks by David Rosenfelt (release date Aug 6th). What's YOUR teaser?

Teaser Tuesday

http://lorisreadingcorner.blogspot.com/2009/07/teaser-tuesday.html

Mailbox Monday

Mailbox Monday is hosted by Marcia at The Printed Page.

We share what books that we found in our mailboxes last week.

Here's what I got ~

The Memory Collector by Meg Gardiner ~ Near the start of Edgar-finalist Gardiner's solid follow-up to The Dirty Secrets Club, San Francisco forensic psychiatrist Jo Beckett examines Ian Kanan, a distressed airline passenger who turns out to be suffering from anterograde amnesia, which makes it impossible for him to form new memories. Kanan, who's sure that his family has been kidnapped and he's been poisoned, disappears from the hospital before Beckett can learn more. When she starts digging into his background, Beckett discovers not only that Kanan was a security consultant for Chira-Sayf, a nanotechnology company, but that he may have been exposed to Slick, an experimental bioweapon. Along with her SFPD contact, Lt. Amy Tang, and para-jumper boyfriend, Gabe Quintana, Beckett races to find Kanan before the people he's pursuing unleash Slick on San Francisco. Gardiner more than compensates for the sometimes implausible plot with her effective use of Kanan's amnesia and her heroine's resourcefulness.

The Justice Game by Randy Singer ~ Christy Award–winning novelist and lawyer Singer (Directed Verdict) lets the action sprint out of the gate with a murder in the first few pages. With murderer and victim dead, the moral issue of gun control takes center stage in the book, with a number of side dilemmas. The opposing counsels in the gun control case are young, ambitious lawyers, and both have hidden sins that could sink their careers. A law firm that both worked for further complicates the action. Singer piles the moral and plot complexities a bit too high; the backstories of main characters Jason Noble and Kelly Starling are relevant, but the tangled relationship between Jason and his cop father bogs down the action. The legal-thriller genre lends itself to the pattern of conversion that evangelical Christian novels require, and Singer offers logical character developments that aren't heavy-handed. The only stock feature in this well-plotted novel is the generic, fakey-sounding names (Brad Carson, Kelly Starling). But that's a quibble about a book that will entertain readers and make them think—what more can one ask?

The Last Summer of Her Other Life by Jean Reynolds Page ~ Jules Fuller, the unsinkable protagonist of Page's pleasant if heavy-handed novel, thought she'd left her North Carolina childhood far behind when she moved to California and found work in the movie business. But when her mother falls ill, she's pulled east, pregnant at age 39 by an ex-boyfriend. Soon, her mother dies, and Jules stays at home, speaking to the high school drama class and trying to figure out what kind of mother she might make. But then Vick, a troubled teenage boy, accuses her of molesting him, and Jules's meditative seclusion becomes a quest to clear her name. As Jules faces the charges against her and tries to unravel Vick's troubled past, she finds her own path to motherhood more tangled than ever. Though the plot has a few unlikely turns, Page's knack for characterization brings it back down to earth and helps nudge things toward an appropriately affirmative ending.

Everywhere She Turns by Debra Webb ~ When Dr. CJ Patterson returns to her Southern hometown, she finds herself surrounded by a series of long-buried secrets—and a killer who seems to know her better than she knows herself…Drugs, prostitution, robbery, homicide—these are four terms that Dr. CJ Patterson learned all too well growing up on the seamy, forgotten streets of inner-city Huntsville, Alabama. Fiercely determined, CJ worked hard to forget where she came from and become an emergency medicine resident at a prestigious Baltimore hospital. But when her younger sister—the only family she ever had—is murdered, CJ is drawn back into the painful past she thought she’d left behind. Her unrelenting investigation uncovers a highly sophisticated web of shocking family secrets, dark obsession, and brutal violence and a killer who will stop at nothing to keep her from learning the truth…..

Purses and Poison (Haley Randolph Mysteries) by Dorothy Howell ~ At the outset of Howell's sprightly sequel to 2008's Handbags and Homicide, handbag-obsessed 24-year-old Haley Randolph is working part-time at L.A.'s Holt's Department Store, owned by her quasi-boyfriend, Ty Cameron, to pay back the debt she's accumulated—buying designer handbags and clothes, of course. When fashion model Claudia Gray, Ty's former girlfriend, turns up dead in a women's restroom at Holt's, the police soon determine that Claudia ate poisoned fruit from a fruit bouquet from Edible Elegance, Haley's mom's company, sent to the victim. To eliminate her mom as a murder suspect as well as herself, Haley launches her own investigation while dealing with her relationship with Ty and another new boyfriend. While some readers may decide the author ends too many chapters with the exclamation Oh, crap, Howell has concocted a solid mystery sure to appeal to younger, fashion-conscious mystery fans.

Mailbox Monday

http://lorisreadingcorner.blogspot.com/2009/07/mailbox-monday.html