Ghostgirl by Tonya Hurley

Ghostgirl by Tonya Hurley

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Like so many others, I was drawn to this book because of the packaging. I thought it was cute and the concept sounded like fun. Also, like so many others, I was a bit disappointed in the end. The concept had a lot of promise but the author didn't quite deliver. I feel the author didn't follow the mythology very well. I'm a little confused about the ending. It happened so fast and so abruptly that it didn't really work for me. In fact, the action was very uneven throughout and some of the descriptions were quite boring. All that said, however, it wasn't the worst book I've ever read and I will consider reading another one before giving it up completely.

Devil May Ride by Wendy Roberts

Devil May Ride by Wendy Roberts

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Satanism, a motorcycle gang, and ghosts galore! Seriously, this woman is fast becoming my new favorite author. This series is so up my alley! They characters talk like my friends talk and I just love that. The main mystery is seedy and fascinating. We learn some really interesting back story and it seems to fit in well. Sometimes, when an author goes back to explain things, they can stop following their own rules or it will stick out in some way. That did NOT happen for me at all. I felt it was all very smart and it totally worked for me. I can't wait for more in this series. :)

Don of the Dead by Casey Daniels

Number 69: Don of the Dead by Casey Daniels

I do believe this is the first in a new series featuring Pepper Martin. Publisher's Weekly described it as a cozy mystery mixed with a bit of paranormal romance, which seems fitting enough for me. Basically, Pepper hits her head on a mausoleum and begins seeing the ghost of Gus Scarpetti, a Mob boss that was murdered 30 years ago. He asks Pepper to solve the crime and she agrees to help the spirit. (Ugh. Great! Now I have that Fall Out Boy song stuck in my head. "Lie in the grass next to the mausoleum/I'm just a notch in your bedpost but you're just a line in a song". Honestly, how many songs have the word mausoleum in them?)

Okay, here's my one big issue with the book. We are introduced to a character, Dan the brain man, and we NEVER learn anything important about him. We learn he has a serious lack of fashion sense and that he's fascinated with Pepper's brain, but not why he's so interested in Pepper or what he's doing in the story. I hope that he is in the next installment and that we learn a little more about him and why he's so fascinated with Pepper. He seems interesting, but I don't like how little we know of him given how often he is involved in the story. That just irritated me, especially when I got to the last page and found the set up for the next book without the kind of resolution I was looking for. I really wanted the author to explain him in more detail before ending the book, but I did not get my wish.

Overall, though, I liked it a lot. I've become a big fan of cozy mysteries recently and I love trying out a new series. I'm very adventurous in my reading tastes, even if that sense of adventure doesn't carry over into my real life. :) The premise intrigues me and I'm looking forward to reading more about Pepper in the future. Generally speaking, I find the first book in a new cozy series to be the weakest and I hope that book 2 will be even better than this one.