Books 25 -30

Abby Kane FBI Thrillers by Ty Hutchinson

Book 1: Corktown

Book 1. The Doctor Is Back.
In the quiet Corktown neighborhood of Detroit, a mutilated body has the residents nervous and for good reason. Detroit Metro Police recognize the handiwork of the serial killer known as the Doctor. But there’s a problem with that. They locked him up seven years ago.
Because of her expertise with serial killers, former hotshot detective and now FBI agent, Abby Kane, is tasked with figuring out how this madman is able to kill again. When she visits The Doctor behind bars, he swears he’s innocent and not the psychopath everyone thinks he is. Oddly enough, Abby believes him.
Corktown dives headfirst into the grit of Detroit, exposing the government corruption and deadly violence that has haunted the city for decades.

I enjoyed this book and ended up reading all 6 of the books that were available for free in my ereader.  I can give a review of the first book but I won't review the others as they all interconnect. It was fast paced and revolves around a bad ass female FBI agent.  She is very experienced in what she does and does everything her own way and gets results. I think there are 12 books in the series and I would read the rest if they come up on the free list.

Book 2: Tenderloin

Life in San Francisco could not be better for FBI Agent Abby Kane and family. With white-collar crimes dominating her work schedule, chasing deranged killers is a thing of the past, until the body of a dead DEA agent pops up in Bogotá.
Ordered to Colombia for answers, Abby's investigation takes her deep into the Amazon jungle where she discovers evidence of strange experiments at a rundown lab. When she later crosses paths with one of the scientists involved, she learns that a new drug has been invented, and its danger isn't the addictive high but the terrifying side effects.
Abby believes the cartels are behind the drug, but the locals think it's one man. They call him the Monster.

Book 3: Russian Hill

In the first book of the Chasing Chinatown Trilogy, a killer is loose in San Francisco, collecting body parts. SFPD has no witnesses and no suspects, but FBI Agent Abby Kane believes a dead hiker found ten miles north of the city is the key to solving those crimes. The detective involved with the case thinks Abby might be chasing a ghost down a rabbit hole, but the more she digs, the more she begins to think the killer is playing an elaborate game, and there’s an audience cheering him on.

Book 4: Lumpini Park

Winning means killing. Sickos around the world are playing a deadly game, and the body count is climbing.

In the second book of the Chasing Chinatown Trilogy, FBI agent Abby Kane hunts the man behind the sadistic challenges the only way she knows how: by playing the game and moving up the bloody leaderboard herself.
Abby arrives in Bangkok, Thailand, where she discovers a killer is already roaming the Big Mango looking for his next grand kill to win the game. As Abby is pulled further into the world of deadly play, the dynamics of the game suddenly change. Out of her jurisdiction and unsure of who she can trust, Abby is faced with two choices: walk away or die.

Book 5: Coit Tower

It’s payday in San Francisco, and death is the contract.

The hunt continues in the third installment of the Chasing Chinatown Trilogy. FBI Agent Abby Kane is the sole Attraction in a bloody game designed for one reason: to take lives. Deliver her head and collect the $10 million bounty.
Abby doesn’t know who her attackers are. She doesn’t know when they will strike. But she does know they will come.
In this deadly game of murder, nothing is off-limits—not even her family. There are no rules, no restrictions, and only one ending: Winner takes… a life.

Book 6: Kowloon Bay

Every family has a secret that’s best left alone.
After the murder of her husband in Hong Kong, FBI Agent Abby Kane moved her family to San Francisco as a way to start over. Nearly three years have passed, and now she’s returning to her homeland for a family holiday.
In an effort to help her children learn more about their Chinese heritage and remember their father, Abby discovers an unthinkable secret that has her questioning the entire family she married into.
Kowloon Bay explores the well-established practice associated with Asian culture: saving face. To what length is perpetuating a lie better than acknowledging the truth?

Another Year!!

 So this is what 72 looks like!!  It's been a rough year with this knee replacement.  I'm still waiting and hoping for a pain free day but that hasn't happened yet.  I'm told it takes a year so I've still got 41/2months to go!!  I did have a great birthday though.  DH took me out for a delicious supper.

Meanwhile, that morning poor Walker had to go through this.  He and mom and dad had gone to see the asthma specialist, after waiting many months for an appointment.  Of course, he didn't cough once while he was there but Kelsey had made a previous recording so the doctor would be able to see and hear him.  All she did was order a stronger puffer and send him for a chest xray.  This is him in the torture chamber xray contraption to have the xray taken.  He doesn't look very happy! Fortunately it didn't take very long and he got lots of cuddles after.

Books 14-24

 The Event by Whitney Dineen

There’s a reason Emmeline Frothingham left her hometown of Creek Water, Missouri as soon as humanly possible. That reason is small-minded, judgmental people who wouldn’t know the truth if it was coughed up on them like an errant furball.
After graduating from college, Emmie gets her dream job in New York City. As the head buyer at Silver Spoons--a high-end boutique, and single girl about town, her  life is ideal. That is, until the night of The Event, her company’s annual award's ball at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Nerves plus too much tequila leave Emmie dealing with a wicked hangover, the unemployment line, and a surprise to end all surprises
Facing the repercussions of her wild night, Emmie is forced to go home to work in her family's business. But her return puts her dead in the sights of the gossipy country club harpies who drove her away in the first place.
Will Emmie make peace with her past and embrace the love of her family? Will she discover that the man who seems to be judging her most has a secret of his own?

This was your typical cozy romance.  Takes place in a small town in one of the southern states where everyone knows everyones business.  It was pretty predictable but an enjoyable and easy read.

A Walk Across the Sun by Corban Addison

When a tsunami rages through their coastal town in India, 17-year-old Ahalya Ghai and her 15-year-old sister Sita are left orphaned and homeless. With almost everyone they know suddenly erased from the face of the earth, the girls set out for the convent where they attend school. They are abducted almost immediately and sold to a Mumbai brothel owner, beginning a hellish descent into the bowels of the sex trade.
Halfway across the world, Washington, D.C., attorney Thomas Clarke faces his own personal and professional crisis-and makes the fateful decision to pursue a pro bono sabbatical working in India for an NGO that prosecutes the subcontinent's human traffickers. There, his conscience awakens as he sees firsthand the horrors of the trade in human flesh, and the corrupt judicial system that fosters it. Learning of the fate of Ahalya and Sita, Clarke makes it his personal mission to rescue them, setting the stage for a riveting showdown with an international network of ruthless criminals.

This was a really good book. It was  a disturbing tale that conveys a vivid description of the world-wide female slavery and under-age sex trade, computer pornography markets and the use of these enslaved children as captive drug smuggling mules. This was all very  informative.   Priya, Thomas's wife, is portrayed as an unreasonably prissy homebody who was far too inwardly focused, narcissistic and simply self-serving. It was very difficult to like her and therfore easy to wish that he would just move on.        

At First Sight by Nicholas Sparks

There are a few things Jeremy Marsh was sure he'd never do: he'd never leave New York City; never give his heart away again after barely surviving one failed marriage; and, most of all, never become a parent. Now, Jeremy is living in the tiny town of Boone Creek, North Carolina, married to Lexie Darnell, the love of his life, and anticipating the birth of their daughter. But just as his life seems to be settling into a blissful pattern, an unsettling and mysterious message re-opens old wounds and sets off a chain of events that will forever change the course of this young couple's marriage.
Dramatic, heartbreaking and surprising, this is a story about the love between a man and a woman and between a parent and a child. More than that, it is a story that beautifully portrays how the same emotion that can break your heart is also the one that will ultimately heal it.

Found this to be kind of an odd story

Snow in April by Rosamunde Pilcher

Caroline travels to Scotland, hoping to make contact with a brother she hasn't seen for years, and return in time for her wedding to the man her strong-willed stepmother thought so suitable. Then a sudden snow strands her in an isolated house with a young man recovering from tragedy. Both are on the brink of terrible mistakes, but perhaps they can save each other.

This book was like a Hallmark move or a Harlequin romance novel.  It was so predictable and sooooo unrealistic.  I did read the Shell Seekers many years ago and my memory is that it had a little more substance than this book. I see another one of her books on my bookshelf that someone gave to me.  I will read it but this is an author I would not spend money buying her books.

The Sugar House by Laura Lippman

Tess Monaghan's life is back on course. She is where she likes to be - downtown Baltimore, her relationship with her boyfriend Crow is getting serious, she's beginning to make a name for herself as a PI, she's even banking good money. And then her father asks her a favor: to investigate the death in prison of a friend's brother convicted of killing an unidentified girl, otherwise known as 'Jane Doe'. Tess's search for Jane Doe's real identity soon reveals that she is Gwen Schiller, a teenage heiress with a serious eating disorder who has recently escaped from 'the Sugar House', an institution where bulimics and anorexics are subjected to the most brutal regimes. Tess's enquiries as to Gwen's subsequent movements lead her first to a bar, Domenick's, where the proprietor supplies something a lot more murky than food and wine, and then to the State Senate where two of the leading politicians appear to be living a double life. But it is the links between Tess's father, a liquor licensing officer, and Domenick's that worry Tess the most. What favors has her father done the Baltimore underworld in order to stay in business? Why is he scared enough to beg Tess to drop the case? It is not until her parent's house is set on fire and a body pulled from the wreckage, that she realizes that her life may have taken a very wrong turning indeed - one from which there is no going back ...

This was a good mystery. It starts out with P.I. Tess doing a favour for her father, investigating the murder of an inmate and then runs through many additional murders and lots of corruption. This book relies heavily on politics and the kind of 'favours' one official might do for another official or friend.  Tess is a bit of a 'smart ass'  and independent and likeable.

The Housemaid by Sarah A. Denzil

Housemaid wanted.
Skills required: Discretion, and the willingness to go the extra mile.
It seems like the perfect job. Great wages, accommodation provided, and all located within the walls of Highwood Hall, a stunning stately home owned by the Howard family. Not many little girls dream of becoming a maid, but this is an opportunity for me to get back on my feet. And for me to revisit my past...
But I soon realise I've made a mistake. The strict housekeeper, Mrs Huxley, watches my every move, emerging from the shadows when least expected. Lord Howard's son, Alex, takes an interest in me, and as a former addict, I find myself drawn to him because I know he's bad for me.
There's a general atmosphere of unease at Highwood Hall, from the narrow tunnels laced throughout the sprawling house, to the abandoned north wing, rumoured to be haunted. It's easy to imagine the secrets hidden within these walls, like the secrets I hold close.
On my first day, I receive a mysterious package. I open up the pretty gift box to find a miniature doll version of me trapped inside a dollhouse. In this scene I'm dead, lying in a pool of red paint at the bottom of the perfectly recreated staircase. Someone sent this threatening diorama to me, but who even knows I work at the hall? And what do they want?
I know only one truth: my perfect job is turning into my perfect nightmare.

This book is quite creepy and the ending was a bit of a surprise! I didn't find that there was any real closure for any of the characters though.

The One Who Fell by Kerry Wilkinson

In the seaside town of Whitecliff, everyone looks out for each other. Everyone knows your name. And everyone knows your secrets…
Moonlight falls on the figure of the girl standing on the red-tiled roof. Her white dress and blonde hair flutter in the freezing night wind. And suddenly – she is gone.
Volunteering at the local nursing home is Millie Westlake’s one escape from the rumours that swirl around Whitecliff about her past. But speaking with elderly resident, Ingrid, as they play board games, Millie gets chills at her strange story about a young girl being pushed from a roof, somewhere across the valley…
Everybody thinks Ingrid is confused: but Millie knows how it feels to not be believed. Her parents died a year ago, and the residents of Whitecliff – such a quiet place, other than crashing waves and cawing seagulls – are convinced Millie killed them.
Desperately searching for evidence to find the girl Ingrid saw, a broken roof tile could prove Ingrid was telling the truth. But when strange footprints appear in Millie’s garden, she’s certain someone out there is watching.
Have Ingrid and Millie stumbled across something terribly dangerous? And with the town against her, will Millie have to face up to her own secrets to solve the mystery before it becomes deadly?

This was an interesting story. A retired journalist, elderly residents of a nursing home, a panther and a girl falling(?) off a roof.  It all comes together in the end.

Carolina Moon by Nora Rroberts

Tory Bodeen grew up in South Carolina, in a small run-down house, where her father ruled with an iron fist and a leather belt--and where her dreams and talents had no room to flourish. But she had Hope, who lived in the big house just a short skip away and whose friendship allowed Tory to be something she wasn't allowed to be at home: a child.
After young Hope's brutal murder, unsolved to this day, Tory's life began to fall apart. And now, as she returns to her hometown, with plans to settle in and open a stylish home-design shop, she is determined to find a measure of peace and free herself from the haunting visions of the past. As she forges a new bond with Cade Lavelle--Hope's older brother and the heir to the family fortune--she isn't sure whether the tragic loss they share will unite them or drive them apart. But she is willing to open her heart, just a little, and try.
Living so close to those unhappy memories will be more difficult and frightening than Tory could ever have expected, however. Because Hope's murderer is nearby as well...

I enjoyed this book. It was good though Tory had moments that got on my nerves. It was a very interesting story even though it had a paranormal aspect to it. I figured out the killer fairly early on, but kept considering other possibilities throughout the book.

Little Girl Missing by J G. Roberts

How can a little girl vanish into thin air?
Five-year-old Cassie Bailey’s mother tucked her into bed and kissed her goodnight. This morning she’s missing, her unicorn bedcovers are empty, and her parents are frantic.
DCI Rachel Hart knows that the first few hours after a child goes missing are the most crucial, and that the Baileys are living every parent’s worst nightmare. Rachel knows, because as a child her family lived through it too, when her sister was taken.
The days are ticking by with no sign of Cassie, and the cracks in the Baileys’ marriage are beginning to show. But are the holes in their stories because they’re out of their minds with panic – or because they’re lying?
Rachel’s convinced that Cassie knew the person who took her, but can she find the little girl before she’s lost forever?

There are plenty of red herrings to keep you guessing as to who had taken Cassie.  I did guess correctly half way through who had taken her, but not their reason for doing it. 

The Kensington Kidnap by Katie Gayle

A missing teenager, a mysterious cult and a case of mistaken identity – just another day’s work for Epiphany Bloom.
Epiphany ‘Pip’ Bloom is down on her luck. She can barely afford cat food, and just because Most has three legs doesn’t mean he eats any less. So she absolutely can’t afford to mess up her latest temp job. But when she walks through the door of the private investigation firm, her new boss mistakes her for a missing persons expert. He then charges her with finding Matty Price – the teenage son of two A-list celebrities – who has mysteriously disappeared from his home in Kensington.
It ought to be a disaster, but Pip reckons it’s actually an opportunity. She’s always been curious (nosy, her mother calls it) and has an uncanny knack for being at the wrong place at the right time (she doesn’t want to know what her mother thinks of that). After years of trying to find something she’s good at, has Pip managed to walk straight into the job she was born to do?
She owes it to herself and poor missing Matty to find out.
But searching for Matty takes Pip into the strange, intimidating world of the rich and famous. And it soon becomes clear that some of these people’s love for themselves doesn’t extend to their fellow humans.
As Pip investigates further, she realises the question isn’t whether Matty ran away – it’s whether she will find him alive and make it home safely herself...

This is a cozy mystery so there is lots of sillyness and groan worthy happenings.  Light, quick read-but don't expect much!

Divine Evil by Nora Roberts

A decade ago, sculptor Clare Kimball fled Emmitsboro, Maryland, to take the art world by storm. Now she’s celebrated as the artist of her generation. But no amount of success can eclipse the nightmares that haunt her—or the memories of her father’s suicide. Just as her star is shining brighter than ever, Clare leaves it all behind to face her demons.Emmitsboro sheriff Cameron Rafferty loved Clare from afar all through high school. Now that she’s back, they form a bond that grows stronger each day—fueled by an attraction that’s been simmering for years. But Clare’s past soon rises up with a vengeance, rocking the town with a sinister murder that is clearly linked to her return. As an investigation gets under way, Clare and Cameron will learn that evil can linger anywhere—even in those you love and trust the most. But it’s a discovery that may come too late to save them.

This was pretty creepy with a quite shocking ending!

I gave up on 2 books this last week.  First was A Grave Mistake by Stella Cameron.  I found it very creepy with inappropriate family things talked about that didn't sit well with me so I decided not to continue with it.

The other one was, believe it or not, 1984 by George Orwell.  I've had the book for years but never got around to reading it.  When I did start to read it I found it very boring and it took me ages to read the first 100 pages and so I gave up on it.

There was a time I would never give up on a book but I have 100's of books still to read so I'm not wasting my time on something I'm not enjoying!

One Year!

 Wow, that year went fast!  

From this little bundle of joy on day one.

To his first birthday yesterday!

And he took his first two steps!! Quite a special day!!

Oh, and the first time he ever had cake and he loved it!

 

A new adventure!!

 

As I'm sure everyone knows, the movie industry in N. America has virtually shut down because of the writers, and now actors, going on strike.  GD#2, Annika, had just finished a 3 months stint on a movie, can't remember which one, and there is nothing coming up at the moment. Not being one to sit around and do nothing she applied to work as a Wildfire Paramedic.  As soon as they got her resume they offered her a position. She is in northern Alberta near High Level. Two weeks in and then one week out.  They are well aware that if a movie deal comes up that is her priority.  They are good with that, just happy to have her!!

They gave her a new 4 wheel drive vehicle and she had to drive herself to High Level which is just over 1,000km north of  here. When she got there she went on her first helicopter ride to travel 350km to Woodland Lake where the heart of the fires are. She said the helicopter ride was a real eye opening experience to see the sheer size of the fire they're fighting!

Evicted!

 

 

The deer are on the neighbours lawn across the street from our house. It is the corner house on a 10 house cul-de-sac. The white house at the top of the picture is where the deer lived for many, many years. They lived in the back yard and would come and go as they pleased, they just had to jump over the 4' chain link fence. 

It was an elderly lady who lived in the house.  She sold up and moved about 2 months ago and moved into a seniors residence.  The house was sold and the work began. The house is approx. 60 years old and everything in it was original.  Lots of tearing out of old carpets, painting, refurbishing the kitchen and bathrooms and much more.  The first thing that happened though was a new fence.  It is 6' high and made of wood. The deer came out one morning and lay on other neighbours lawns watching.  They soon found out they couldn't get back into the back yard and so they had to move on-to where no one knows!!

The new owner said that the back yard was several feet deep in deer poop!!! He had to bring in a bobcat and spent several days digging it all out. A nasty job-to say the least, although the soil underneath is well fertilized and should help the new lawn that was laid. 

It will be strange not to see the deer around here, maaybe they found a new home close by!

Books 7-13

 The Fallen Girls by Kathryn Casey

She didn’t notice the corn stalks shiver a few feet to her right. By the time she looked up, the man towered above her. In a single movement he wrapped one thick hand around her waist, the other he clamped over her mouth, muffling her screams.
Detective Clara Jefferies has spent years running from her childhood in Alber, Utah. But when she hears that her baby sister Delilah has disappeared, she knows that the peaceful community will be shattered, her family vulnerable, and that she must face up to her past and go home.
Clara returns to find that her mother, Ardeth, has isolated her family by moving to the edge of town, in the shadow of the mountains. Ardeth refuses to talk to the police and won’t let Clara through the front door, believing she and her sister-wives can protect their own. But Clara knows better than anyone that her mother isn’t always capable of protecting her children.
When Clara finds out that two more girls have disappeared, all last seen around the cornfields near her family’s home, she realizes it’s not just Delilah who’s in danger. And then she gets a call that a body has been found…
Clara will have to dig deep into the town’s secrets if she’s going to find Delilah. But that will mean confronting the reason she left. And as she gets closer to Delilah, she might be putting her more at risk…

 This story is told mostly from two points of view, Clara and her hunt for Delilah and Delilah and her experiences. It is a great mystery with a twist at the end.

My Name is Eva by Suzanne Goldring

Evelyn Taylor-Clarke sits in her chair at Forest Lawns Care Home in the heart of the English countryside, surrounded by residents with minds not as sharp as hers. It would be easy to dismiss Evelyn as a muddled old woman, but her lipstick is applied perfectly, and her buttons done up correctly. Because Evelyn is a woman with secrets and Evelyn remembers everything. She can never forget the promise she made to the love of her life, to discover the truth about the mission that led to his death, no matter what it cost her…
When Evelyn’s niece Pat opens an old biscuit tin to find a photo of a small girl with a red ball entitled ‘Liese, 1951’ and a passport in another name, she has some questions for her aunt. And Evelyn is transported back to a place in Germany known as ‘The Forbidden Village,’ where a woman who called herself Eva went where no one else dared, amongst shivering prisoners, to find the man who gambled with her husband’s life…

Based on her desire for revenge, Eva makes choices that will guide her entire life, preventing her from ever moving on to form any other romantic relationships. We get to see this slowly unfold. It leads her into danger and there are some scenes that include violence and rape. One thing that becomes very clear is that Eva is a master manipulator who is controlling all those around her without their having any idea that she is doing this.   Some of what happened makes it clear that to some the end always justifies the means.  Years after World War 2, she fakes dementia to keep her secrets safe. Evelyn cleverly convinces those around her that she is losing her mind. The author delves into the not so moral choices made after the war. And, of course, Evelyn has her revenge. This was a very interesting book.

Confessions on the 7:45 by Lisa Unger

Selena Murphy is commuting home on the train when she strikes up a conversation with a beautiful stranger in the next seat. The woman introduces herself as Martha and soon confesses that she’s been stuck in an affair with her boss. Selena, in turn, confesses that she suspects her husband is sleeping with the nanny. When the train arrives at Selena’s station, the two women part ways, presumably never to meet again.
Then the nanny disappears.
As Selena is pulled into the mystery of what happened, and as the fractures in her marriage grow deeper, she begins to wonder, who was Martha really? But she is hardly prepared for what she’ll discover…

Full of twists and turns and people with hidden pasts, motives, and secrets and it's all closing in on Selena. As this mystery plays out we learn more about Martha, who she really is, how and why she is determined to be a part of Selena’s life. I found the plot fairly easy to predict but there were  lots of dangerous secrets and multiple layers of lies.

One Step Too Far by Lisa Gardner

Timothy O’Day knew the woods. Yet when he disappeared on the first night of a bachelor party camping trip with his best friends in the world, he didn’t leave a trace. What he did leave behind were two heartbroken parents, a crew of guilt-ridden groomsmen, and a pile of clues that don’t add up. 
Frankie Elkin doesn’t know the woods, but she knows how to find people. So when she reads that Timothy’s father is organizing one last search, she heads to Wyoming. Despite the rescue team’s reluctance, she joins them. But as they hike into the mountains, it becomes clear that there’s something dangerous at work in the woods . . . or someone who is willing to do anything to stop them from going any farther.
Running out of time and up against the worst man and nature have to offer, Frankie and the search party will discover what evil awaits those who go one step too far . . .

Everyone is hiding something. Everyone knows a bit more than they're letting on. does one of the group know what happened to Tim?
It's super fast-paced, enjoyable and a bit scary, to be honest, the tension was unbearable, suffused as it was by the threat of constant danger. I would definitely recommend this book.

The Sunny Side Up Cosy Mysteries by Rosie A. Point

This is a set of 5 books but I only read the first two.  Maybe I'll read the others at a later date.

1. Murder Over Easy

When Sunny arrives in Parfait, Florida, she's set on sun, sand, and rejuvenation after a messy divorce. She’s done dealing with her flaky ex, and the criminals he worked with. But when Sunny arrives at her quirky Aunt Rita’s cottage, all she finds is a grumpy cat and a note waiting for her...

Sunny’s expected to take over her aunt’s Sunny Side Up Café while Rita’s on vacation, and Sunny’s never managed a mood swing let alone a restaurant.

Before she knows it, she’s up to her neck in trouble, fielding complaints from a snobby food vlogger, serving cold chicken noodle soup, handling the eccentricities of the local baker’s club and… dealing with murder cases?

The mysteries are mounting, and they all revolve around her according to the local detective.
With so much to lose, her aunt's café included, Sunny has to figure out whodunit before it's too late.
The main character, Sunny, is kind of ditsy and annoying. How does a grown woman not know how to make eggs? And her aunt, who raised her, is a cook and runs a cafe!
Sunny frequently found trouble and got involved where she should not have. At the risk of loosing all things her Auntie had worked so hard for, Sunny was often trying to bail herself out of trouble and get right with people of the town.

2. Muffin But Murder

Sunny Charles has only just gotten used to running her aunt’s café. It’s been a learning curve, what with the moody customers, the eggs over easy, and now, her chef leaving for a baking course for five full days. With him gone, she’s in charge of everything ‘food’—and cooking is not her strong suit.
Sunny’s got to hire outside help, but when she goes over to her aunt’s best friend’s house looking for advice, she walks in on a dead body instead. And the murderer, shrouded in darkness, mid-escape… If only she’d seen his face. Sunny’s convinced that she knows whodunit, but with the tension mounting in the small coastal town of Parfait, Sunny’s got to decide what’s most important to her: her friends or her life.

Sunny became more annoying in this second book. She didn't seem too bright when it came to exposing the treasure map and she was very nonchalaunt and careless with the notebook walking around reading it in the street when she knew that people are after the book. She was encouraged several times to give the information to the police but she always felt she knew better and consequently found her getting into more difficult situations and almost killed.

I have to remember these books are cozy mysteries and are always very predictable and events are usually unrealistic.  The 2 books were quick, light reads but I don't think I'll be reading the other 3 any time soon!!

Too Late by Rylie Dark

Morgan Stark, 25, is finishing her Ph.D. in forensic psychology, doing her residency at a psychiatric hospital for the criminally insane that contains the worst of the worst—when the FBI urgently summons her: they need her help tracking down her most brilliant patient, an elusive serial killer who has managed to escape.
Morgan, as brilliant as she is, knows she is up against a mastermind with no equal. This killer will stop at nothing to outwit them all, and going too deep into his mind may be just the thing that undoes them all.
Morgan’s skills are put to the ultimate test in this harrowing cat-and-mouse thriller, as new bodies pile up, and as Morgan realizes that she, herself, may just be the target.

Morgan has great instincts but little self control to the point of being extremely annoying and frustrating. He didn't listen to anything people said to him and it was always all about him. This is the first book in a series so hopefully his character will become more likeable as time goes on.