Escapism has many forms, and I can wholeheartedly recommend this next one. With the privilege of a free Advanced Reader Copy (ARC), I thoroughly enjoyed the book, Power Play, by Cheri Baker. Swiping the e-pages as fast as my little brain could absorb the words, I hit 100% in just over a few days. And what follows is my 99.9% spoiler-free review. I paused my video game for this.

The Story

This second book in the Emerald City Spies trilogy, Power Play, is cold yet sparkling spy-craft. It takes the groundwork laid in book one and builds a solidly written plot driven story.

It’s set in a drizzly cut-throat Seattle business scene. In this noir-ish book, the ambitious assistant, Jessica Warne, sees more of the truth about her prestigious yet ruthless job, a truth that hurts more than she could imagine.

Yes, there are surprises and secrets!

Her employer, The Duke Agency, promised the world, yet her world begins to close in. Will Jessica grow, will she even survive, in the shadow of a shady business? Are the rewards worth the costs?

Relationships are strained, bent, or in extreme cases broken. Familiar people from book one are here: Taylor, Andy, Cody, Carma, Lisa, Dana to name a few. There are new victims or victors too, like Wyatt and Priya.

Jessica, a.k.a Dollface, wrestles with lies versus discretion, subterfuge or subversion, and industrial or corporate espionage. Besides utilizing cool surveillance technology, Jess plays on emotions and hones her manipulative technique. But she also gets played and manipulated herself.

The city of Seattle does not play fair.

Emerald City Spies book one, The Assistant, was filled with tension, which never felt properly or fully released. Book two, Power Play, has tension, but there’s more stress and duress too. It feels like book one’s tense set-up is expressing itself in book two with higher stakes and greater risks.

If The Assistant was a yellow light of caution, Power Play is a red light of danger.

One of my first thoughts early on: you must read book one, The Assistant, to fully understand and really appreciate what Baker has written in book two, Power Play. Jessica and the supporting characters make more sense and have more meaningful impact; I can’t imagine liking Power Play as much as I did had I not first read The Assistant.

Also, there’s a pivotal plot point in book one that plays heavily into Power Play.

What I like about Power Play is Jessica Warne’s character because she shows much more strength. Her will and resolve feel more deeply settled. She’s not only ambitious but also resilient.

My eyes widened when I saw Jessica make a dramatic decision late in the story. You feel for her and more! It’s a raw, gripping scene, visceral in the way you see the emotional manifest in the physical.

Cody’s character has grown too. Before, he felt like mere tech and moral support. But his role now has more heart as he protects Jessica.

The Writing

Power Play is a well written book on its own, better than the first. If you read only one of the two books, I would recommend it over The Assistant. The pacing and plotting feel much better this time. The writing feels tighter, not wasting words.

It’s written in the third-person, with many short chapters you can snack on during a break. They’re like chips; it’s easy to say, “Just one more!” With a clear schedule, you could comfortably read the book over a weekend. (For ambiance, this story may best be read on a rainy day with a cup of coffee.)

Power Play is more mature than The Assistant, which made it more enjoyable to me. If it was a movie, book two would be rated stricter than book one. So maybe PG–13 over PG.

Throughout, the dialogue is clear, punchy at times, and believable. The story has good action scenes too. More than once, I was hooked to see how Jessica would pull off some tricky maneuvers.

There are memorable scenes, like the office party and the house party. They offer more interpersonal tension compared to Jessica’s solo spy scenes in an empty building. In all cases, the look and feel of the environment is described well enough so you are fully immersed. That good writing makes good escapism.

The book isn’t 5-stars to me because two chapters on familial connection and scheming felt boring or necessary. And the ending of the story lacks full closure and denouement because – cliffhanger! But that’s the nature of a trilogy, so it’s expected.

But yeah, I am for sure gonna grab book three when it’s available.

Goodreads rating: 4 stars!

Thanks for reading my review; now go read Power Play!

Book release date: September 10, 2020.

What happens when you put a young principled person in a shady job? Tension, lots of it. This is what Jessica Warne constantly encounters in The Assistant, an Emerald City Spies novel by Cheri Baker. And this is my 99.9% spoiler-free review.

Before I jump into the story itself, here’s some background. Spy novels are not my typical genre. But I have read all of Cheri Baker’s other books, which are Cozy Mysteries. One thing they all have in common: they’re short and easy to read, great for escaping reality or taking a break from binging Netflix. But I liked a key difference: The Assistant’s lack of coziness.

The Story

The setting is Seattle, a city driven by capitalism. And the protagonist, Jessica Warne, is a driven young woman, independent almost to a fault. Ambition plays a big part throughout the story. And at the outset, you read the catalyst – unemployment – that thrusts Jessica into the main plot line. She must get a job!

This premise is instantly relatable, but the job Jessica ends up with is far more interesting than your typical nine-to-five! It’s mysterious and shady. Throughout the book, it’s obvious something is up, many ‘somethings’ actually, and you keep wondering what it all leads to.

What is the true nature of Jessica’s employment? And how far is she willing to go to find out? What is moral, ethical, or legal?

As Jessica is put to the test over and over, her character remains consistent to the end. At first, I thought this apparent lack of progress was a problem. Her story-arc seems flat rather than showing growth. Her strengths remain largely the same, as do her weaknesses, which she kind of learns to squelch.

But then I realized that instead of evolving, she avoids devolving. Her progress is measured in a lack of regress. When challenged by the external conflict of the job, the internal conflict Jessica goes through forces her to make many decisions with high stakes. Above all, she never backs down but perseveres.

Nevertheless, Jessica does exhibit some growth. Early on she is literally outfitted for the job; she looks confident but feels inadequate. Yet by the end of the narrative, Jessica gains confidence in her abilities in more ways than one. She not only shows that she can do the job, she also can do the right thing. Success for Jessica is not selling her soul to the devil for an obscene salary.

The overarching sense of the book is tension! A story can’t exist without conflict. The Assistant provides lots of both the external and internal variety.

Ah, Twitter. A cultural centerpiece for controversial “conversation.” Or a minuscule micro-blog masquerading as major social-media. Whichever. Don’t “@” me. #justsayin

But really, Twitter is something. You weigh its intrinsic pros and cons, you evaluate how it affects you personally, you see its impact on society, and you decide to use it or you don’t.

After reading The Social Media Upheaval, I felt like deleting Twitter! Then I read the book on how it started, Hatching Twitter, and felt like joining the conversation! #feelings #lovehate

No matter how I feel or think about Twitter, I can tell you that I loved reading its origin story! #goodread

If you’re intrigued by how something so big started off so small, discovering behind-the-scene details, then you’ll no doubt enjoy Hatching Twitter, written by Nick Bilton. Simply put, it’s the nitty gritty of the circumstances that gave birth and growth to the online grapevine where anyone can say what kind of donut they’re eating or share breaking news of global importance. #whatever

While Twitter is borne of nerdy internet wizardry, this book is less about technology and much more about people and their relationships. And the resulting drama in Twitter’s formative years is like some grand Shakespearean legend. #gripping

You’ll read about humanity’s greatest traits: use, abuse, trust, betrayal, back-stabbing, coveting, greed, manipulation, generosity, talent, creativity, loneliness, friendship, ambition, serendipity, hustle, careers, unemployment, stress, and also stress, and then some more stress. #life

The writing is straight-forward, the pacing is fast, and the facts are eye-opening.

Okay, so this book was easy for me to get into because it begins with one of the founders of Twitter, Ev Williams. It starts when he helped create a popular web service before social networking was even a thing, Blogger. And I happen to really like blogging, so, you know… #blogging

One thing that stands out about Ev Williams is his idealism (e.g. #freespeech), which inspires his noble ventures. The problem is that ideals are corrupted by competing realities. This is…less than ideal…but it sure does make for some good drama!

Another noteworthy item about Hatching Twitter is the classic truth that success in life is often based not just on what you know but who you know. It’s one thing to be a coder; that will get you into Silicon Valley. But to get into one of the tech companies, especially a start-up, it helps to rub elbows with the elite tech-savvy.

Social-networking online, after all, begins with networking offline.

But what makes the creation of Twitter so dramatic is the fact that the nerds are more than professional co-workers, they’re friends. Much more is on the line.

The historical narrative account in Hatching Twitter overflows with tech details and little stories that are surprising and remarkable, like when Snoop Dogg got Twitter employees to smoke weed during work hours in the office. #forreal

Despite the chaotic nature of Twitter’s story, Nick Bilton laid out all the parts neatly and then wrapped up the book with nice closure of all the founders’ lives along with some life lessons learned.

The attraction of this story is a feeling of connection to the people as you are swept up in their drama, turmoil, resolve, success, and failures. You share all the same feelings, but theirs are amplified because of their elevated status in the public sphere. So you are drawn into a book that’s hard to put down. #unputdownable

I highly recommend this book; gave it a 5-star rating on goodreads!

Howdy, readers! It took me 7 years to finish reading a book… So I’m not the World’s Greatest Reader. I’m just glad I picked it back up and restarted my first Star Wars novel. It’s a great read! And this is my 99.9% spoiler-free review.

The Story

Remember the Star Wars movie prequels? Yes, the ones most people try to forget. In Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, Palpatine – aka Darth Sidious – tells Anakin Skywalker a little backstory about a previous Sith Lord named, Darth Plagueis.

That Plagueis story-tease has always intrigued me. I wanted Palpatine to tell the whole thing! As it turns out, in the expanded universe of Star Wars, the backstory of Darth Plagueis was told! The story-teller is author James Luceno.

You’ll never guess the name of the book: Darth Plagueis. It’s actually a subtle title because you might expect a boring biography of some fake Force wielding dude. But no. There’s much more to the story than just big bad-guy Plagueis.

The Force is with this book!

If you like Star Wars, then you’d like the story of Darth Plagueis, especially because it ties directly into the first three movies! It has characters you’re familiar with: Palpatine, Count Dooku, Darth Maul, Queen Amidala, and more. And it has new characters you might have heard of: Darth Bane, Darth Tenebrous, Darth Plagueis, and a lot more.

The story is steeped in the Dark Side of the Force. That’s the good part. The story is also steeped in politics; the bad part. But it’s not too bad.

Darth Plagueis has lots of action: spying, espionage, light sabers, force lightning, force chokes, running, hiding, sneaking, scheming, attacks, manipulation, scientific experiments, droid activity, cloning, midi-chlorians, life and death, etc. It’s all good stuff. It is the Star Wars universe you’ve come to know yet includes parts of the galaxy you don’t know.

What’s most fascinating about Darth Plagueis the book is how much the Force itself is a character, which is described in detail and nuance. You learn a lot about the subtle ways of the Force and its so-called dark side. Even better, you learn about it through the eyes of Darth Plagueis and Palpatine who are also learning as the story progresses. Plagueis delves deep, seeking the limits and true nature of the Force. I loved it!

This book is half about Plagueis. The other half is about Palpatine who becomes Darth Sidious. It’s basically the origin story of both Plagueis and his apprentice, Palpatine. The former focuses on the science and brute strength of the Force, the latter on the politics and people influenced by the Force. They are quite the dark side duo.

As you may know from the prequel movies, everything around Palpatine involves politics. There is a lot of political scheming and maneuvering in this story. That means following many names of people and places and the myriad connections between them all.

On some of those politi-parts, I admit I read faster to get through it because it was necessary political stuff. But some of it was extremely gripping! To watch Plagueis and Sidious masterfully manipulate important people around them was delectable.

Many characters involved were strong, high-ranking officials and magistrates with great power in the upper echelons of society. So there was often a feeling of high-stakes. Everything Plagueis and Palpatine did was delicate with great consequences, risky business.

Author James Luceno’s 3rd-person novel was written with cunning scenes and just-right tension building. His expanse of vocabulary was vast and varied throughout the book. Descriptions were precise, drawing me into settings on other worlds with alien beings. And the dialogue was tight. The overall tone was like sinister solemnity: Sithy.

Most importantly, as Palpatine mentioned in the movie Revenge of the Sith, you do read about how he was involved with the demise of Darth Plagueis. You’ll learn details of the greater context, the surrounding events, all leading up to the final moment. You feel the tension, the emotions, and the thinking behind it.

And rather than the story leading up to and ending right before the prequel movies, it actually overlaps quite a bit.

I really enjoyed my first Star Wars novel, Darth Plagueis. As I read, it was clear to me from the start that I’d found a new author I like. So I searched for other Star Wars books by James Luceno, trusting I’d find more good reads. And I did! Catalyst, a precursor to the Rogue One movie!

Luceno’s writing style is rich, and the story of Darth Plagueis is engaging Star Wars lore. If you’re a fan of a galaxy far, far away, then I recommend this book to you.

Goodreads rating: 4 stars.

Like many, you’re probably weary of Facebook and Twitter. They’ve taken their toll on society. I know I’ve felt it. Their cultural influence is more bad than good; they need transformation. So I was stoked to find a concise booklet on the subject that resonated with me. After reading the first chapter, I felt like deleting Twitter!

As a blogger, my favorite parts of The Social Media Upheaval by Glenn Reynolds are at the beginning where the author contrasts early internet blogging with modern social media. He makes great points about their differences to show how blogging is a better form of digital communication. Pumps fists!

Along this line, Reynolds also contrasts social media with broadcast TV and radio to explain the problem with info transmission platforms like Facebook and Twitter. It’s because of the added interaction.

This non-fiction booklet is more like a really long blog post. You can read it in one sitting, take notes, and end up with a good idea of how social media should be transformed. And if you’re not already convinced that social media has caused upheaval or needs to be upheaved itself, you will be.

To that end, if you know someone who is unaware of the downsides of social media, this book might be worth handing to them. Maybe they’ve sensed a problem but can’t quite put their finger on it. This book shines the spotlight as needed.

The first part of the book focuses on the fundamental weaknesses of social media, that it’s:

Do you remember shopping at Sears, K-Mart, Toys-R-Us, Hastings, or another recently bankrupt business? What happened? One answer is e-commerce. And what company represents that most? The prime example is Amazon. Because 2-day shipping!? Yeah, well, that’s part of it. But there’s much more. Read my 99.9% spoiler-free review of The Everything Store to find out!

Open For Business

The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos And The Age Of Amazon is a book by Brad Stone that was on my to-read list for quite a long time. And a few weeks ago, I happened to notice on my kindle paperwhite that the book was on sale for just $3.99!

I snapped it up. Glad I did, too!

If you like Walter Isaacson’s biography of Steve Jobs, or books like Steven Levy’s Facebook: The Inside Story, then you will love Brad Stone’s The Everything Store.

Far more than mere fact-vomit, Stone’s book is written in true narrative style. Not only do you learn the data-points detailing the rise of Amazon, you know the story. Everyone loves a good story: this one is true!

The Everything Store is laid out chronologically except for a few key parts here and there. Author Brad Stone moves smoothly from one part to the next with transitional statements that clearly explain the overarching cause-effect relationships between each part.

To understand the growth and expansion of Amazon, Stone informs the reader of Bezos’ underlying principles that are core to his company vision. Stone also explains the surrounding context and culture that bring situational opportunities or restrictions affecting Amazon’s beginning, acceleration, contraction, and explosion.

The story is fast-paced during most of the book, with a few sections of slow-down so you can catch your breath and absorb the narrative.

Like any good read, this book has a colorful cast of real fleshed-out characters, the main protagonist being Jeff Bezos, co-founder of the company and CEO with a grand vision of “The Everything Store.”

And there’s conflict. Lots of conflict. And drama.

It’s a tale of survival against all odds: the dot-com crash cratered most businesses in the late 1990’s. But Amazon managed to survive.

The Everything Store is also a prime display of rivalry. Bezos pursues his company vision with fierce competitiveness. He is ruthless, relentless, and shrewd. Amazon’s prowess is largely all Bezos, because even though other Amazon executives and attorneys play key roles, it’s Bezos’ spirit and drive that infuse and inspire others’ actions.

And it’s crystal clear that these actions are not on behalf of the company; they’re on behalf of the customer! If Bezos does not sit on the throne at Amazon, customer satisfaction does.

Jeff Bezos’ brilliance is displayed repeatedly in the story by his counter-intuitive or unorthodox business savvy. He understood, and firmly believed amidst doubters, that the internet would change retail as it was known because it allowed business to conduct in entirely new ways. While most were adverse to change, Bezos and Amazon flourished in it.

The Everything Store is not just the story of Amazon, but it’s also a mini-biography of Jeff Bezos, the e-commerce pioneer who still runs the company over 20 years later. You learn about his parents, his schooling, and the early signs of his talents. You don’t learn about Bezos’ personal life outside of direct connection to the business of Amazon and Bezos’ early career endeavors.

And when it comes to Star Wars versus Star Trek, you learn Bezos is firmly on the Star Trek side. On that line, you also read about Bezos’ personal interest in space travel and his other endeavor, “Blue Origin”. Though there is not much detail on this. Blue Origin got a section or two plus some mentions but not a dedicated chapter.

For me, Amazon’s story is fascinating lore. I savored the behind-the-curtain view of the company. I basked in the surrounding nostalgia as I read of Amazon’s start in the 1990’s. The sparring between Amazon, Borders, and Barnes & Noble makes you want to re-watch You’ve Got Mail with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan.

I was pulled into the detailed development of the technology that fueled the advance of the juggernaut. You learn about the early internet, the book publishing industry, e-commerce, traditional retailing, Amazon Prime, Super Saver Shipping, Amazon Web Services, the kindle, parts of the tech industry, and more.

Steve Jobs and Apple have a role to play in the story too! Jobs’ concept of the whole music experience with the iPod plus iTunes influenced Bezos’ conception of the kindle e-reader plus e-books.

Side note: if you want to read in depth about the creation of the kindle, check out Burning the Page by Jason Merkoski.

The Everything Store is required reading for any tech-nerd. And it’s recommended reading for everyone else.

Finally, the story includes an awesome emotional touch in an unexpected pseudo plot twist closing. It involves Bezos’ family. This closure is well done.

I waffled between a 4 or 5 star rating because 5-star books are rare. You don’t just hand out 5-stars like they’re nothing. A book like this must really stand out above the rest. What tipped me to the max rating was asking, “If it’s 4-stars, what would make it better?” That’s when I realized the book earns 5 stars.

That said, there are some things not in the story simply because it was published in 2013. You don’t learn about the fire phone flop, and you especially miss out from the omission of Alexa!

Dune…and done! Finally, I finished reading an epic and classic story of our time. Why did I pick this up to read? Because of accolades that it’s the best science-fiction ever – a fave genre of mine. And being praised on equal footing with The Lord of the Rings, it’s a literary duty to read Dune. Although it disappointed my science-fiction expectations, it was also a daunting delight.

The Story

Dune is epic, in the truest sense. It’s lofty and brilliant. The story is rich, a fully detailed and realized universe. I felt like a part of the world where the setting takes place. I was there, on a desert planet, getting sand in my hair and shoes. I felt the biting winds. Distance, danger, and isolation were familiar companions as I traversed the lands and anxiously avoided giant worms. The scent of spice teased my nostrils.

The protagonist’s story arc is a fulfilling journey. You join the main character, Paul Atreides, on his personal and grand quest to discover his many titles and roles to fill. And the dialogue is the best I’ve ever read, both in its content and form! That is no hyperbole; it’s magnificent.

But many times, I wasn’t sure what was happening. The levels on which the story plays are multiple. It’s full of religiosity, mysticism, politics, tribalism, and a solid cast of characters intertwined in the intricate plot’s schemes. There’s a lot going on in the story. If I didn’t already have an endless to-read list, I’d want to re-read Dune, peeling back layers.

Summing up the story synopsis well, here’s an excerpt from the Dune Wikipedia page:

“Set in the distant future amidst a feudal interstellar society in which various noble houses control planetary fiefs, Dune tells the story of young Paul Atreides, whose family accepts the stewardship of the planet Arrakis. While the planet is an inhospitable and sparsely populated desert wasteland, it is the only source of melange, or “the spice”, a drug that extends life and enhances mental abilities. Melange is also necessary for space navigation, which requires a kind of multidimensional awareness and foresight that only the drug provides. As melange can only be produced on Arrakis, control of the planet is thus a coveted and dangerous undertaking. The story explores the multi-layered interactions of politics, religion, ecology, technology, and human emotion, as the factions of the empire confront each other in a struggle for the control of Arrakis and its spice.”

If you’re missing Summer Blockbusters amidst closed theaters and have binged as much Netflix as you can take, may I suggest a good read instead? Rest your eyes upon a cozy book that goes well paired with a steamy mug of sweet caffeine. I have just the story for your escapism needs: The Case of the Floating Funeral. This is my 99.9% spoiler-free review.

Cheri Baker’s third cruise ship cozy mystery, starring Ellie Tappet, delivers another wholesome murder mystery to solve. Baker shows talent in repeatedly authoring varied plotlines with the same core cast of characters. She avoids falling into a formulaic rut and keeps the reader guessing!

This is what I’ve come to like about Baker’s stories. They’re dependable. You can count on them to let you easily escape into a fun bit of fiction, despite misfortune (every story must have conflict!).

The Case of the Floating Funeral is a prime example.

In this book #3, amateur sleuth and match maker Ellie Tappet again finds herself thrust into the center of a questionable death. Foul play is never far from her, and though it prefers to stay in hiding, the truth of the foul player always comes to light. Ellie proves again that she’s a natural at solving the “Whodunnit?”

Ever helpful, wise, caring, and observant, Ellie’s character remains consistent while also growing through adversity brought by her trials. Her patience is put to the ultimate test in the Floating Funeral, both on and off the cruise ship.

Locations are described pleasantly, from a lush jungle shore excursion, filled with sights and sounds that put your imagination right in the thick of it, to a funeral within the Panama Canal!

The action in the funeral scene was a hoot! The emotional characters were at their limits, driven to express themselves in both acute and obtuse manner. Alcohol-fueled eulogy? Wow – I bet that was fun to write.

The secondary characters from book #1 and #2 continue their support for the cruise ship, Ellie, and the plot that will truly surprise the reader!

To get the fullest impact of the plot twist in book #3, you must have read at least part of book #2. This was a delight for me! What I thought, and what others thought, was…uh, different.

Plot twist!

So as you read the Floating Funeral, your mind adjusts to…some revelation. And then the plot twists yet again!

This puzzle of a story is tied up in a pretzel knot.

As I read and took notes, one word that came to mind throughout the book was ambitious. Another one was smart. Cheri Baker’s third Ellie cozy mystery is without doubt more complex than her previous cruise ship pieces. She must have done much research.

Getting the details correct was a feat. It involved attorneys, business people, a funeral, a will, and a company with people’s fortunes and jobs at stake. And Baker met the challenge of writing it simply enough to stay a cozy and quick read. Bravo.

With the stakes raised in this story, Ellie and other characters have quite a few heated exchanges! It brings a lot of tension to several scenes. It’s gripping. I really enjoyed it!

As usual, Baker also spreads enough misdirection into the mystery plot to make everyone a suspect yet no one to pin the crime on. There was enough motive to go around for several characters.

While Baker did well overall to weave the ambitious and complex narrative in the third person, I did find the mystery-reveal to be somewhat difficult to grock. But people are complex, and Baker’s believable characters are no different. Under duress, they do things you don’t expect yet are not so surprising at the same time.

Some small downsides, it was hard to believe a few plot points in the story, like when Ellie had to keep a certain secret under pretense. Or when she snooped on one occasion. But these were not so bad that she was completely out of character.

Also, with those minor points, I’ll mention there were a few similes or metaphors early in the story that, while they technically worked, felt a bit forced. But to be fair, there were several later in the story that were much better. They fit the context and character of the scene.

You should not be deterred from picking up this good read, however. Baker wrote with great effect at several places where she didn’t tell me what a character was feeling, she showed me! This is fundamental writing and it made me feel like I was feeling the feels in the moment. Good stuff!

I especially enjoyed small touches, like the names of a few tertiary characters: Backpack man, Briefcase man, sock-guy, and flamingo-shirt guy. Some other thoughts and feelings: I felt sorry for Tobias… I strongly disliked Roberta…I would not work for her!

The end of the book where things are wrapped up and tied off kept with Baker’s standard: splendidly done.

Goodreads rating: 4-stars!

Bonus news: this isn’t a trilogy. Ellie Tappet book #4 is in the works!

Also, I want to go on a real life cruise again.

Reading books this Summer has been a totally not-guilty pleasure. Do yourself a favor and grab Cheri’s latest cozy mystery that costs no more than a coffee.

Thanks for reading my 99.9% spoiler-free review of The Case of the Floating Funeral.

Check out the website of Cheri Baker for more.

Like chocolate and peanut-butter, cozy mysteries bring comfort and puzzlement together with satisfying taste. You may think that’s a stretch. But it’s what I’m thinking since I’ve read another book by author-in-the-city Cheri Baker. Read on for my 99.9% spoiler-free review of The Case of the Karaoke Killer.

Overview And Backstory

Having just finished my 5th cozy mystery by Baker, I can say this: the author keeps changing things up! You’d think she would settle into a formulaic pattern, especially within a single series of cozies. But no. She keeps you guessing about more than just whodunnit!

That’s what I’ve come to really like about Cheri’s sleuth stories. As you start reading, you wonder when the murder will take place? It varies every time. It could be at the very beginning, or half-way through the book. It could even be elsewhere – much to your surprise!

The author provides distraction, diversion, or misdirection to keep you guessing as to whodunnit. I’ve come to enjoy keeping my eyes peeled for clues!

Like the main character, Ellie Tappet, I took notes, jotting down hints. In one chapter, I suspected Jerome. The next chapter, I was eyeballin’ Tristan. Next, no wait, it could be Kate. Or Brooke. Maybe…it could be Violet!? Or how about that other guy, Victor?

You see, this is a good mystery.

“…the cruise director’s green eyes were a tempest of worry.”

Characterization

Is Summer the best season to read books? Because I’m kind of on a reading kick. So I was wondering what books I’d like to read next. One of the most popular and prolific authors of our time is Stephen King. Yet I’ve never read a single one of his books!Shouldn’t I read such a widely known writer as King? Otherwise, I feel like less of an acculturated reader.

The good folks over at the Good E Reader site asked a question this week. What would make you buy a new kindle? My white paperwhite is working well, but I’d trade it in for a new one if… Here are some of my ideas.

Extras