Review: Not the Killing Type by Lorna Barrett

Not the Killing Type (Booktown Mystery #7)
by Lorna Barrett
Release Date: July 2, 2013
2013 Berkley
Hardcover Edition; 320 Pages
ISBN: 978-0425252222
ASIN: B009RYL1US
Genre: Fiction / Cozy Mystery
Source: Review copy from publisher

3.5 / 5 Stars

Summary
It’s November in Stoneham, New Hampshire, and that means it’s time for the Chamber of Commerce elections. The race is already a bit heated, as the long-standing Chamber president is being challenged by a former lover—Tricia’s own sister, Angelica. Then local small business owner Stan Berry throws his hat in the ring.

Unfortunately, it’s not there for long when he’s found murdered in the Brookview Inn. The murder weapon is a brass letter opener belonging to the inn’s receptionist. Tricia knows there’s no way the receptionist is a killer. And when Angelica asks Tricia to help clear her name and win the election, she sees little choice except to start snooping.

She soon uncovers a ballot box full of lies and betrayals, and a chamber full of people who had grudges against the victim. But were they serious enough to lead to murder? And who truly had something to gain? Tricia will have to do some serious sleuthing before she pulls the lever on a killer.

My Thoughts
Not the Killing Type is the seventh book in the Booktown Mysteries and while the writing, and the plot, were still interesting, and many of the characters developed quite nicely, it was the main character, Tricia, whom I thought was the most interesting, but it was also her character I had the most problems with in this installment.

This mystery centers around the Chamber of Commerce elections, which gets especially interesting when a third candidate is nominate for the position of president, and is then subsequently murdered.  Naturally, it is Tricia who finds the dead body, putting her sister Angelica into the position of suspect yet again, forcing Tricia into the position of amateur sleuth, searching for clues amongst the rather fascinating residents of Stoneham.  The interactions between Tricia and the other characters are often a delight and I have developed a real fondness for Pixie, Tricia's shop assistant.  Her brash manner and insightful, yet untimely, comments are downright funny.  

I thought the development, or perhaps lack thereof, in Tricia's love life was quite interesting.  There was a bit of a twist to Tricia's life that I wasn't quite expecting, and although I thought the twist was great, I don't think the author really did enough with it in this novel.  I realize that it's probably leading up to events in the next couple of books, but I just felt that the chemistry? zing? something was missing in these events.  And to be honest, I really wasn't all that sympathetic to Tricia's plight because of this - I was more like, get on with it and quit moping around.  And I don't think that was the emotion the author was trying to get across.  I think she was trying to show that Tricia was going through a difficult point in her life, and needed a support system of her own, but so much was happening around her that she was kind of being overlooked.  It just didn't come across that way. 

As always, there were a few surprises and twists in terms of the murder.  I did manage to figure out who the murderer was, but I guessed incorrectly as to the reasons.  There are also a couple of yummy recipes included at the back of the book if you like to cook, one of which I am going to try myself.  

Verdict
Not the Killing Type is another good mystery in the Booktown series.  I enjoyed learning more about the various characters and reading about their lives. The writing style was good and the plot was interesting.  While I have enjoyed this series very much, in all fairness, I don't think this was my favourite one of the series. It's not that I didn't enjoy it, I did, but I just felt that something was missing from this one.  However, I am still looking forward to the next book in this series, Book Clubbed (July 2014), as I am curious as to what will happen with Tricia's love life and how she will deal with her melancholy.  And who will she find next?

Review: The Forbidden Stone by Tony Abbott

The Forbidden Stone (The Copernicus Legacy, Book #1)
by Tony Abbott
Release Date: January 7th, 2014
2014 Katherine Tegen Books
Ebook Edition; 432 Pages
ISBN: 978-0062194473
ASIN: B00DB32QBE
Genre: Fiction / Juvenile / Adventure / Series
Source: Review copy from publisher

4.5 / 5 Stars

Summary
It all began when four friends-Wade, Lily, Darrel, and Becca-received a strange, coded email from Wade's uncle Henry shortly before the old man's sudden death. They set off for Germany to attend the funeral with Wade's father, Roald, and discover that Uncle Henry left them yet another baffling message that they suspect is the key to figuring out how and why he died.

The message leads to a clue, and the more clues they discover, the farther they travel down a treacherous path toward an ancient, guarded secret. Soon they are in a breathless race across the globe, running for their lives as a dangerous shadow organization chases them around every corner. Their only hope of saving themselves-and the world that they know-is to find twelve magical relics from a hidden past that will unlock the Copernicus Legacy.

My Thoughts
The Forbidden Stone is the first book in what is going to be an extensive journey over the next four years, covering six novels and six novellas for each of the novels.  I went and took a look at the blog site for this series and readers have an opportunity to enter for a chance to win a trip to New York to participate in your own relic hunt, based on the events in the first book.  There are a few other extras on the site including teaching ideas if you're a teacher and wish to introduce this to your students in the classroom, a game, and a character guide.  I spent quite a bit of time looking up information on this site.

I am more familiar with Tony Abbott's work in his series, The Secrets of Droon, which is more at the second and third grade levels, so it was nice to read something that was more at the Intermediate level from him.  And I have to say that The Forbidden Stone grabbed my attention right away, to the point where I had to force myself to put it down and go do bed.  The short chapters easily sucked a reader right into the action, and I was always "One chapter more" until I realized I had read another fifty pages and really needed to put it down.   Mr. Abbott also has a way of writing that captures your attention and imagination and you just want to keep on reading to find out what happens next.  The plot had a lot of twists and turns, even if slightly predictable to an older reader, and you never really had a chance to catch your breath until the end.  My son is currently reading it at the moment and he is finding it just as action-packed as I did, to the point where he wants to read through dinner.  I'll be curious to know his take with regards to the predictability (he's thirteen) when he's finished.

I thought the characters were delightful and fun for such a novel.  Darrell made me laugh as he was always looking for spies and such around him and his constant obsession was fun to watch.  I do have to hand it to him though, as he was right more than once in this novel as some of the other characters were somewhat naive about being chased and the use of electronics out there. Darrell was hilarious in Berlin as he had this idea that the whole spy network originated in Germany because of the Berlin Wall - such fun.  The banter between them all was interesting and I enjoyed it immensely.  Lily should have shut off that tablet days earlier though, and I wondered how long it would take before someone took it away from her. And where did she find that never ending battery as my own tablet would never have lasted that long.  Amazing!! 
  
My only concern would be the level of knowledge a reader should already have about Copernicus and Ptolemy, and while the author does a credible job of explaining these historical figures to readers, it is still done in riddles and clues, and I know my own son was confused over certain concepts that I needed to explain to him.  I had already read a couple of biographies on Copernicus and Ptolemy, so I came into these novels with a rather high level of knowledge so my take on this is quite skewed. However, what it did do was open up some interesting discussions over the dinner table that were quite enjoyable so if reading continues to lead to that, I am all for it.  My son had never heard of Copernicus until this novel, and he is finding the research quite fascinating.  But would all readers be the same?  Not sure. 

Verdict
The Forbidden Stone was an enjoyable start to a new series by an author I have long admired for his children's series.  It was action-packed, full of suspense, had the secrets and riddles and clues that I love, was fun, and the characters were interesting.  There is a lot of room to grow and develop and I am really curious as to what happens next, especially as the author left off this book with quite an ending.  I am definitely looking forward to the release of book 2, The Serpent's Curse, coming in October 2014.

2014 Challenges

Ebook Reading Challenge (50)
1. The Kill Order by Robin Burcell
2. The Forbidden Stone by Tony Abbott
3. The Portal's Choice by KD Pryor
4. OMG...Am I a Witch by Talia Aikens-Nunez
5. Astonish Me by Maggie Shipstead
6. The Eagle and the Swan by Carol Strickland
7. Murder by Misrule by Anna Castle
8. The Bone Church by Victoria Dougherty
9. Murder Strikes a Pose by Tracy Weber
10. Prisoner of the Queen by E. Knight
11. The Serpent's Curse by Tony Abbott
12. The Tudor Vendetta by C.W. Gortner

TBR Pile (50)
1. Something Strange and Deadly by Sarah Dennard
2. The Evolution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin
3. Beneath the Abbey Wall by A.D. Scott
4. Rush by Eve Silver
5. A Darkness Strange and Lovely by Susan Dennard
6. Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea by April Genevieve Tucholke
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.

Historical Fiction (50)
1. Royal Inheritance by Kate Emerson
2. Tuscan Rose by Belinda Alexandra
3. The Eagle and the Swan by Carol Strickland
4. Beneath the Abbey Wall by A.D. Scott
5. Why Kings Confess by C.S. Harris
6. Death on Blackheath by Anne Perry
7. Murder by Misrule by Anna Castle
8. The Bone Church by Victoria Dougherty
9. Hunting Shadows by Charles Todd
10. Treachery by S.J. Parris
11. An Unwilling Accomplice by Charles Todd
12. Prisoner of the Queen by E. Knight
13. A Lady at Willowgrove Hall by Sarah E. Ladd
14. Blood on the Water by Anne Perry
15. The Tudor Vendetta by C.W. Gortner

Cruisin' Thru the Cozies (12)
1. Not the Killing Type by Lorna Barrett
2. A Dark and Stormy Knit by Anne Canadeo
3. Scandal in Skibbereen by Sheila Connolly
4. Murder Strikes a Pose by Tracy Weber
5. A Vision in Velvet by Juliet Blackwell
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.

My Kind of Mystery (40)
1. Not the Killing Type by Lorna Barrett
2. Like This For Ever by S.J. Bolton
3. The Blood Promise by Mark Pryor
4. Ripper by Isabel Allende
5. Waking the Dead by Heather Graham
6. Beneath the Abbey Wall by A.D. Scott
7. Death on Blackheath by Anne Perry
8. Murder by Misrule by Anna Castle
9. Buried Angels by Camilla Lackberg
10. The Silkworm by Patrick Galbraith
11. The Gone Dead Train by Lisa Turner
12. The Collector by Nora Roberts
13. The Dying Hours by Mark Billingham
14. Treachery by S.J. Parris
15. Children of the Revolution by Peter Robinson 
16. Harbor Island by Carla Neggers 
17. Power Play by Catherine Coulter
18. The Cursed by Heather Graham 
19. The Outcast Dead by Elly Griffiths
20. An Unwilling Accomplice by Charles Todd 
21. Hilltop Sunset by Joyce T. Strand

Witches and Witchcraft (20)
1. House of Ivy & Sorrow by Natalie Whipple
2. A Vision in Velvet by Juliet Blackwell
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.

Netgalley & Edelweiss (50)
1. The Kill Zone by Robin Burcell
2. The Forbidden Stone By Tony Abbott
3. OMG...Am I a Witch by Talia Aikens-Nunez
4. Ripper by Isabel Allende
5. Tuscan Rose by Belinda Alexandra
6. Astonish Me by Maggie Shipstead
7. The Bone Church by Victoria Dougherty
8. The Serpent's Curse by Tony Abbott
9. The Tudor Vendetta by C.W. Gortner
10.

New Author (25)
1. The Dark Heroine by Abigail Gibbs
2. The Portal's Choice by KD Pryor
3. All You Could Ask For by Mike Greenberg
4. Killer Image by Wendy Tyson
5. Two Sisters by Mary Hogan
6. Astonish Me by Maggie Shipstead
7. The Eagle and the Swan by Carol Strickland
8. The Lost Sisterhood by Anne Fortier
9. Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea by April Genevieve Tucholke
10. Murder by Misrule by Anna Castle
11. The Gone Dead Train by Lisa Turner
12. Hilltop Sunset by Joyce T. Strand
13.

The Dystopia Challenge (15)
1. Through the Ever Night by Veronica Rossi
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.

Mystery & Suspense (20)
1. The Kill Order by Robin Burcell
2. Saints of the Shadow Bible by Ian Rankin
3. Killer Image by Wendy Tyson
4. Eyes Closed Tight by Peter Leonard
5. The Lincoln Myth by Steve Berry
6. The Target by David Baldacci
7. If You Were Here by Alafair Burke
8. The Dead Ground by Claire McGowan
9. Hunting Shadows by Charles Todd
10. The Heist by Daniel Silva
11. Under a Silent Moon by Elizabeth Haynes
12. Blood on the Water by Anne Perry
13. The Lost Key by Catherine Coulter
14. The Tudor Vendetta by C.W. Gortner

A-Z Challenge (26)
A - All You Could Ask For by Mike Greenberg
B - Blues for Zoey by Robert Paul Weston
C - Children of the Revolution by Peter Robinson
D - Death on Blackheath by Anne Perry
E - Elegy by Tara Huds0n
F - Four Friends by Robyn Carr
G - Ghost Train to New Orleans by Mur Lafferty
H - House of Ivy & Sorrow by Natalie Whipple
I - If You Were Here by Alafair Burke
J
K - Killer Image by Wendy Tyson
L - Like This For Ever by S.J. Bolton
M - Maybe One Day by Melissa Kantor

N - Not the Killing Type by Lorna Barrett
O - OMG...Am I a Witch by Talia Aikens-Nunez
P - Power Play by Catherine Coulter
Q
R - Royal Inheritance by Kate Emerson
S - Saints of the Shadow Bible by Ian Rankin
T - Through the Ever Night by Veronica Rossi
U - Under a Silent Moon by Elizabeth Haynes
V
W - Waking the Dead by Heather Graham
X
Y
Z

Outdo Yourself Reading Challenge (150)
1. The Kill Order by Robin Burcell
2. The Forbidden Stone by Tony Abbott
3. Through the Ever Night by Veronica Rossi
4. Not the Killing Type by Lorna Barrett
5. Royal Inheritance by Kate Emerson
6. The Dark Heroine by Abigail Gibbs
7. The Portal's Choice by KD Pryor
8. OMG...Am I a Witch? by Talia Aikens-Nunez
9. Saints of the Shadow Bible by Ian Rankin
10. Elegy by Tara Hudson
11. Blues for Zoey by Robert Paul Weston
12. Like This For Ever by S.J. Bolton
13. All You Could Ask For by Mike Greenberg
14. Something Strange and Deadly by Sarah Dennard
15. The Vanishing by Wendy Webb
16. The Blood Promise by Mark Pryor 
17. Killer Image by Wendy Tyson 
18. Return to Tradd Street by Karen White
19. Ripper by Isabel Allende 
20. Tuscan Rose by Belinda Alexandra 
21. A Dark and Stormy Knit by Anne Canadeo
22. The Evolution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin 
23. Eyes Closed Tight by Peter Leonard 
24. Ghost Train to New Orleans by Mur Lafferty 
25. Two Sisters by Mary Hogan 
26. Blossom Street Brides by Debbie Macomber
27. Waking the Dead by Heather Graham 
28. Astonish Me by Maggie Shipstead 
29. The Eagle and the Swan by Carol Strickland 
30. The Lost Sisterhood by Anne Fortier
31. Scandal in Skibbereen by Sheila Connolly
32. Maybe One Day by Melissa Kantor 
33. Beneath the Abbey Wall by A.D. Scott 
34. Whiskey Beach by Nora Roberts
35. Rush by Eve Silver 
36. Something Strange and Lovely by Susan Dennard
37. Why Kings Confess by C.S. Harris
38. The Lincoln Myth by Steve Berry 
39. Death on Blackheath by Anne Perry 
40. The Target by David Baldacci
41. Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea by April Genevieve Tucholke
42. Murder by Misrule by Anna Castle 
43. Buried Angels by Camille Lackberg
44. Four Friends by Robyn Carr
45. The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith
46. The Winter People by Jennifer McMahon
47. If You Were Here by Alafair Burke 
48. House of Ivy & Sorrow by Natalie Whipple 
49. The Bone Church by Victoria Dougherty
50. The Dead Ground by Claire McGowan 
51. The Gone Dead Train by Lisa Turner 
52. The Collector by Nora Roberts
53. The Dying Hours by Mark Billingham
54. Hunting Shadows by Charles Todd 
55. The Heist by Daniel Silva
56. The Agben School by Jo Sparkes 
57. Treachery by S.J. Parris 
58. Under a Silent Moon by Elizabeth Haynes 
59. Murder Strikes a Pose by Tracy Weber 
60. Children of the Revolution by Peter Robinson 
61. Power Play by Catherine Coulter
62. A Vision in Velvet by Juliet Blackwell
63. Harbor Island by Carla Neggers 
64. The Cursed by Heather Graham
65. The Outcast Dead by Elly Griffiths 
66. An Unwilling Accomplice by Charles Todd 
67. Prisoner of the Queen by E. Knight 
68. The Serpent's Curse by Tony Abbott 
69. The Lady at Willowgrove Hall by Sarah E. Ladd 
70. Hilltop Sunset by Joyce T. Strand 
71. Blood on the Water by Anne Perry 
72. The Lost Key by Catherine Coulter
73. Sentimental Journey by Barbara Bretton 
74. The Tudor Vendetta by C.W. Gortner

Fantasy & Sci-Fi Challenge (25)
1. Through the Ever Night by Veronica Rossi
2. Elegy by Tara Hudson
3. Ghost Train to New Orleans by Mur Lafferty
4. Rush by Eve Silver 
5. The Agben School by Jo Sparkes
6. Something Strange and Lovely by Susan Dennard 
7. The Serpent's Curse by Tony Abbott

DAC (12)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.

Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year!!

It's 2014 and as always, with a new year, it's a chance to make changes and to assess the good, and the bad, to see what works, and what doesn't, and to just celebrate with friends and family.  I have taken a well-deserved break - okay, a very long, long, long break from blogging and while I did post during the year, it was only on rare occasions, and only when I felt like it.    

I do want to thank my loyal readers and followers who have stuck by me during the last year, or two, and your support has been wonderful.  I think there just comes a time, or maybe two, in everyone's life, when you have to step back from what you are doing, and re-evaluate, and last year was my time to do so.  I have been offered some pretty amazing books to review last year, and have received some pretty amazing books for the upcoming year, and despite it all, I am a reader, and an addicted one at that.  It's hard to stay away for long.  However, with everything going on in my life, and that hasn't changed, nor will it change in the foreseeable future, I don't think I will be back blogging the way I was; I just don't think that I can.  No one can do it all, and I've come to accept that, however much I'd love to read my way through Chapters and the local library (both places where I spent my afternoon yesterday, by the way lol).

Goals for next year:
1) Read more books that I want to read:  I think it's important to read books that I want to read and not always get caught up in the ARC world, and the review world.  I did that a bit more last year, and while it was difficult to not write a review for every book I read, I began to enjoy reading again because the pressure was not there. What I've decided to do is have two piles: one for non-review books, and one for review books, and alternate the piles.  The key is not to cheat, either way.  Oh, and I did cheat last year.

2) Get out of the house more:  Being a teacher, it's so easy to get caught up in introverted activities and become housebound, especially in the weather conditions we have here.  SNOW, SNOW, AND MORE SNOW!!!  It makes you just want to curl up in front of the fire (no pun intended), and just read.  Too easy to develop bad habits.

3) Enjoy blogging again:  Stop writing only reviews.  When I first started blogging, I would write about whatever came to mind.  I did a monthly post about haunted castles that I loved to write about (it's one of my obsessions). I didn't really care if anyone read it, I just wrote about them because I enjoyed it.  Time to start doing it again.  The writing thing.  Let's face it, reviews can be boring and for a writer, dead zone.

4) Join an online book club: Don't have time to do the real thing as I'm driving my kids around to their competitive things, but sure do have time to do the online thing.  Any suggestions for a good online book club?  Probably on Goodreads as I know they have some good ones in history and fantasy, the two ones I'd be willing to do.

Review: The Kill Order by Robin Burcell

The Kill Order (Sydney Fitzpatrick #5)
by Robin Burcell
Release Date: December 31st, 2013
2013 Harper
Ebook Edition; 416 Pages
ISBN: 978-0062273727
ASIN: B00A9V6NOC
Genre: Fiction / Suspense
Source: Review copy from publisher

3 / 5 Stars

Summary

What you don't know can kill you . . .

FBI Special Agent Sydney Fitzpatrick knows nothing about the Devil's Key, except that her father was involved in its theft twenty years ago and was murdered as a result. The Devil's Key, a list of seemingly random, supposedly indecipherable numbers, poses an immediate threat to national security—and anyone caught with this code in their possession is terminated with extreme prejudice. Sydney, unaware of the standing kill order, only just recovered the list and turned it over to her superiors—but not before making a copy.

What you do know can kill you . . .

My Thoughts

This is the fifth book in the Sydney Fitzpatrick series and I have to be honest and admit that it was probably my least favourite of the series to this point.  I just got extremely frustrated over some of the plot points and some of the naivety shown by members of what is supposed to be a team of crack intelligence officers.

As usual, the banter between the team members was always one of the things that drew me to Ms. Burcell's novels.  The author is a forensically trained FBI agent herself and it's very obvious in her writing and in the way she usually handles her agents.  And by that, I mean the psychological and physical aspects of the agents in the novels and the dangers they constantly put themselves in do take their toll, and I've always been glad that that's an aspect that plays an important part in these novels.  This is clearly evident in the relationship between Sydney and Griffin as they deal with the repercussions of a previous novel in this one, although I don't think it really went far enough.  Sydney should be full of anger towards Griffin, and although I know it's a job, there has to be some deeper feelings involved and I really didn't feel that in this novel like in previous novels.  The character development was lacking somewhat and I didn't really feel like any of the characters grew or learned in this novel.  I realize the time period was short, and there was a lot happening, but I tried putting myself in a position of someone who was new to these novels and I don't think the connections between reader and character were really there.

Piper was a fresh addition to this novel though.  She happened to witness a murder and being someone who has a photographic (eidetic) memory, and as she happened to also carry an important set of numbers the FBI, CIA, and anyone connected to the government would kill to get their hands on, she needed to be protected.  She was brash, sassy, and vulnerable all in one and I really enjoyed her character; she was a breath of fresh air amidst all the politicking and I looked forward to her scenes as it felt like all the other stuff just dragged and slowed down the novel, but she was funny.  

As for the plot, it was interesting, but it's been done before.  You know, get a small group of agents, have a secret code that everyone needs to get their hands on, have one person high up in the government who is evil but the agents do not know about, get the head of the agents fired, and agents save the day.  One of the aspects of this novel though, is the postscript written by the author which you should read as it's a bit scary and it does make you look at technology a little bit differently.  However, it took such a long time for the team of agents to realize they were being tracked and considering what they were up against, and knowing the intelligence amongst them, it really should not have taken that long to figure out - just one of the little things that drove me crazy.  

Verdict

The Kill Order is one of those novels that I read just to find out exactly what the fuss over those numbers finally meant.  I enjoyed the other novels in this series very much, and while this one is definitely not my favourite, I am not ready to give up on this series yet.  I still enjoy Griffin and Sydney, and am curious as to how their relationship will develop, and I love the banter amongst the agents.  And while the plot was somewhat slower than previous novels, there were still flashes and points that were quite interesting and captured my attention.  If you are new to this series, I do not recommend starting with this novel, as there are points and references to previous novels that can be confusing if you are not familiar with them.