Delicious and Suspicious by Riley Adams

It's always fun to discover a new mystery series!  Delicious and Suspicious is the first in the Memphis BBQ Mystery series from Riley Adams.

From Publishers Weekly (via amazon)
In this sassy first in a new series from Adams (the pseudonym of Elizabeth Spann Craig), Lulu Taylor, owner of Aunt Pat's, a Memphis, Tenn., rib eatery, is all aflutter because the Cooking Channel has sent food scout Rebecca Adrian to check out Lulu's down-home specialties for a future show. Too bad Rebecca's searching for dirt as well as the best BBQ in Memphis. She quickly insults a number of people, including Lulu's daughter-in-law, Sara, and Lulu's son, Seb, who happens to be Rebecca's former boyfriend. When Rebecca's poisoned, chaos reigns. Lulu later uncovers the corpse of Mildred Cameron, an elderly bookseller and aspiring romance author/sleuth, who was also offended by the tart-tongued Rebecca. Aiding and abetting Lulu's investigation are the Graces, docents at Graceland, whose devotion to Elvis adds some goofy firepower to this sometimes poky paint-bythe-numbers cozy.

Passages
On dogs' behavior
Sara tore out after Derrick, red curls bouncing on her back.  The screen door slammed again, and the Labs hid their heads under a table.  The dogs' law of physics was "If I can't see you, you can't see me!"

I've been watching Memphis Beat on TNT, and it was nice to have the music from Memphis Beat rolling around in my head as I read Delicious and Suspicious. 

This is a great first entry, and I look forward to more in this series.  Oh--you may want to read Delicious and Suspicious just to find out if that cause-for-celebration bottle of The Domaine Vincent Dauvissat Chablis Les Preuses ever gets cracked open!

Rating:  3.5/5 (Mystery Scale)
Dedication:  For my family, with love.
First line:  Memphis, Tennessee, is a little bit of heaver in the springtime.

Book Extras
Visit the author's blog here.
Visit the author on Mystery Lovers' Kitchen here.
Check out Lesa's Book Critique's review here.
Read more about TNT's Memphis Beat here.

Wordless Wednesday

Carousel

Old Orchard Beach, Maine

Welcome, Lucy Begonia

Yes, dear Juliette, we did say that you would never be replaced--and you haven't.  Lucy Begonia is her own girl with her own story.

Lucy was originally adopted from the MSPCA Nevins Farm shelter by friends of our son.  Although just a kitten, she quickly became the companion and comfort for one of Brian's friends--a friend that left this life all too young.   The ensuing changes left Lucy living with two other cats, and she was not happy at all.   Then, I got the call:  "Mom, just go see her.  She's really a nice cat."  So I did, and she is. 

Four-year-old Lucy has been with us just over a week and has found her favorite window, a nice hidey hole when she wants to be alone, and (best of all) she's drawing a bead on our resident mouse.

So, dear Juliette, you haven't been replaced.  We've just opened up a new place in our hearts for Lucy Begonia.  We know you will understand.  Besides, you never really did get that whole "the cat in the house is supposed to catch the mouse" thing.

Moonlight Road by Robyn Carr

Moonlight Road, the final installment in Robyn Carr's Virgin River series, gives us the story of Erin Foley and Aiden Riordan and the complication of the return of Annalee Riordan, the woman Aiden believed was his ex-wife--emphasis on "ex."

From the publisher (via bn.com)
With her beloved younger siblings settled and happy, Erin Foley has empty nest syndrome. At age thirty-five.  So she's hitting the pause button on her life and holing up in a secluded (but totally upgraded—she's not into roughing it) cabin near Virgin River. Erin is planning on getting to know herself…not the shaggy-haired mountain man she meets.  In fact, beneath his faded fatigues and bushy beard, Aiden Riordan is a doctor, recharging for a summer after leaving the navy. He's intrigued by the pretty, slightly snooty refugee from the rat race—her meditating and journaling are definitely keeping him at arm's length. He'd love to get closer…if his scruffy exterior and crazy ex-wife don't hold him back.  But maybe it's something in the water—unlikely romances seem to take root in Virgin River…helped along by some well-intentioned meddling, of course.

Moonlight Road was the August selection for the Barnes & Noble (Burlington, MA) Romance Readers and has all the usual Virgin River characters--more babies are born, and there's more on the original perfect couple, Jack and Mel.  As readers, we may have dallied too long and will be somewhat happy to see the "Leaving Virgin River" in our rearview mirror.  But, then there's those two last Riordan brothers....

Rating:  3.5/5 (Romance Scale)

Dedication:  For Tonie Crandall, because the world would be a dimmer place without all the love you have in your heart.  Thank you for being even more than a friend--thank you for being a sister.

First Line:  In the two weeks Aiden Riordan had been in Virgin River, he'd hiked over a hundred miles and grown himself a pretty hefty dark red beard.

The Search by Nora Roberts

The Search by Nora Roberts--classic NR romantic suspense.

From Publishers Weekly (via amazon)
The serviceable latest from Roberts centers on Fiona Bristow, a professional canine search-and-rescue trainer, who moved to Orcas Island in Puget Sound eight years earlier, just after barely escaping from a serial killer. The story opens with Simon Doyle, an artisan cabinetmaker who arrives on the island with a puppy in tow. It's the puppy that brings Fiona and Simon together, and the romance gets off to a rocky start; he's grumpy and plainspoken; she doesn't scare easily. Then a serial killer begins operating within striking distance, and all Fiona's hard-won peace and equanimity begins to wobble: the man who almost killed her is in prison, but he's got a disciple on the outside. The serial killer plot is very familiar and without much to distinguish it, but the romance is finely done, with Roberts's trademark banter lighting up the page. Fiona and Simon are the main attraction, but the setting and the supporting characters—with paws and without—provide a vivid backdrop.

Passages
For anyone who loves dogs, there are passages galore that will make you knowingly nod.  This was the first of many for me:
"Peck found him.  He's the one.  He'd be pleased if you shook his hand."
"Oh."  Devin scrubbed at his face, drew in a couple steadying breaths.  "Thank you, Peck.  Thank you."  He crouched, offered his hand.
Peck smiled as dogs do and placed his paw in Devin's hand.

Roberts has been hit or miss for me lately, but The Search was an absolutely perfect reading choice for a few hot, humid summer days.  Looking back at my reading journal, I see that Nora Roberts turns up consistently in the summertime.  One especially favorable entry was about a summer weekend a few years ago when I read the entire Gallaghers of Ardmore trilogy (Jewels of the Sun, Tears of the Moon, and Heart of the Sea). 

Rating:  4/5 (Romance-Suspense)
Dedication:  To Homer and Pancho, and all who sweetened my life before them.
First Line:  On a chilly morning in February with a misty rain shuttering the windows, Devin and Rosie Cauldwell made low, sleepy love.
Epigraph, Part 1:  Properly trained, a man can be a dog's best friend. -Corey Ford
Epigraph, Part 2:  The great pleasure of a dog is that you may make a fool of yourself with him and not only will he not scold you, but he will make a fool of himself too. -Samuel Butler
Epigraph, Part 3:  Is thy servant a dog, that he should do this great thing? -The Bible

Extras
Click here to visit the author's website.
Click here for information on Orcas Island in the San Juan Islands of Washington state.
Click here or here for more information on search and rescue dogs.

Other Reviews of The Search
All About Romance
Bookreporter.com

New (to me) Word
The copper would verdigris over time, he thought, and add to its appeal.
verdigris:  [vur-di-grees, -gris]  a green or bluish patina formed on copper, brass, or bronze surfaces exposed to the atmosphere for long periods of time, consisting principally of basic copper sulfate.

Wordless Wednesday

A bench-eye view...

Rose Kennedy Greenway

Boston, MA

Click here to read more about the Rose Kennedy Greenway.

Lowcountry Summer by Dorothea Benton Frank

In Lowcountry Summer by Dorothea Benton Frank we return to Tall Pines Plantation and revisit the Wimbleys and other characters introduced in the 2001 novel Plantation.

From Publishers Weekly (via amazon)
Here's one for the Southern gals as well as Yankees who appreciate Frank's signature mix of sass, sex, and gargantuan personalities. In this long-time-coming sequel to Plantation, opinionated and family-centric Caroline Wimbly Levine has just turned 47, but she's less concerned with advancing middle age than she is with son Eric shacking up with an older single mom. She's also dealing with a drunk and disorderly sister-in-law, Frances Mae; four nieces from hell; grieving brother Trip; a pig-farmer boyfriend with a weak heart; and a serious crush on the local sheriff. Then there's Caroline's dead-but-not-forgotten mother, Miss Lavinia, whose presence both guides and troubles Caroline as she tries to keep her unruly family intact and out of jail. With a sizable cast of minor characters with major attitude, Frank lovingly mixes a brew of personalities who deliver nonstop clashes, mysteries, meltdowns, and commentaries; below the always funny theatrics, however, is a compelling saga of loss and acceptance.

Passages
On a hurricane meal
Orders were taken and eventually we sat down to what could be characterized as a hurricane meal, which would be one prepared with whatever could be found but with no electricity or water, having boiled the pasta in Evian on a charcoal grill or whatever we had on hand, although Trip would have been apoplectic if we had used bottled water to cook.  The cost, you know.

On a new-to-me word (scrying)
"Don't make me go scrying in my bowl this morning, you 'eah me?  What's going on 'round 'eah?" (Millie)
"Scrying?" Rusty said.
"The art of predicting the future by staring into water.  Nostradamus did it all the time.  Very handy for predicting the end of time and all that I [Caroline] said.

On mother's sending children off to wherever
...I turned around one day and saw that he had grown peach fuzz above his lip and on the sides of his face.  On and on it went until he towered over me and melted my heart every time I heard his man voice say, "I love you, Mom."
"I just hate for you to leave, Eric."  I couldn't help pouting.
"Yeah, me, too.  But you know I'll be back as soon as I run out of clean socks."
"All over the world, mothers depend on that."

On another foodie description
For dinner today, Millie had baked a fruited ham and made red rice, deviled eggs, green-bean salad, a zillion biscuits, and brownies that were so rich and chocolaty they made you literally drool for another cold glass of milk.

Revisiting and catching up with the Wimbley family and the goings-on at Tall Pines definitely fell into the category of a good summer read.  Most everyone was still doing what they do best, whether that be Millie's holding everything together or Frances Mae's wreaking havoc.  Add to that the less than genteel or appreciative daughters of said Frances Mae, and you have the makings of a good family-in-turmoil story. 

My only real problem with Lowcountry Summer?  Where was Dr. Jack Taylor?  When last we left Caroline Wimbley Levine in Plantation, she seemed to be in a committed relationship with Jack.  Fast forward to Lowcountry Summer, page 3, and we are introduced to her current beau, "a wonderful guy named Bobby Mack" without so much as a fleeting reference to the fate of Jack.

Rating:  3.5/5 (Fiction scale)
Dedication:  In loving memory of my sweet brother, Billy
First sentence:  It is a generally accepted fact that at some point during your birthday, you will reassess your life.

Extras
Click here to visit the author's website.
For more information on the Ashepoo, Combahee and South Edisto (ACE) Basin--the setting for Lowcountry Summer and Plantation--click here. 

Other Reviews & Information
Sharon's Garden of Book Reviews
Publisher's Page

Sizzling Sixteen by Janet Evanovich

Are you keeping track of this series? We're now at Sizzling Sixteen by Janet Evanovich...wherein we learn why Ranger keeps giving cars to Stephanie.
From Booklist (via amazon)
Stephanie Plum, half-Italian, half-Hungarian, a shrewd mixture of smarts and dumb luck, works for her cousin Vinny as a bail bondswoman in Trenton, New Jersey. Vinnie, however, is in deep fecal matter, owing too much money to the very scary guys who have kidnapped him. Stephanie, office manager Connie, and Lula, plus-sized and focused (if not on the job at hand), manage to spring Vinnie (more than once) and find a lot of money to pay what he owes. Along the way, they facilitate a cow stampede and an alligator escape; are assisted by a bunch of Hobbit con-goers; and find their office going up quite thoroughly in flames. Stephanie wrecks the usual car and ping-pongs between the hot and dangerous Ranger and the hot and domestic Morelli. In the first few pages, Evanovich both catches readers up on the hilarious and cockeyed history of the preceding 15 books and gives fans a little more of everything they want, including the return of beloved stoner Mooner. Funny, scary, silly, and sweet.

Passages
On Ranger
Ranger was my mentor when I first went to work for my cousin Vinnie. I suppose he's still my mentor, but now he's also my friend, my propector, from time to time he's been my employer, and on one spectacularly memorable occasion, he was my lover.

On home (Stephanie reflects on her parent's house)
The house hasn't changed much over the years. A new appliance when needed. New curtains. Mostly, it's overcrowded with comfortable nondescript furniture, cooking smells, and good memories.

On Lula's "one of" diet
Minutes after Ranger left, Lula hauled herself up into the Jeep. "The best I could do was blueberry," Lula said. "They didn't have no vegetable doughnuts. And I got a strawberry jelly-filled, and a pumpkin spice, and a banana scone. Wait a minute. Is pumpkin a vegetable? Does that count?"
"You must have eight hundred calories in that bag." (Stephanie)
"Yeah, but the diet says I can have one of anything."
"One doughnut! Not one of each kind." (Stephanie)
"You don't know that for sure," Lula said.

On the kind of Italian restaurant we all know (even if we don't live in the Burg)
Pino's serves Italian food Burg-style. Greasy pizza you have to fold to eat, meatball subs, sausage sandwiches, spaghetti with red sauce, worthless uninteresting salad with iceberg lettuce and pale tomatoes, Bud on tap, and red table wine. It has a dark, carved, mahogany bar and a side room with tables for families and couples who don't want to watch hockey on the television hanging over the liquor collection.

On relationships
...I was in a state because I had two men in my life, and I had no clue what to do with them. I loved them each in different ways, and I was too traditional and Catholic to just enjoy them. How sick is that? I wasn't a practicing Catholic, but I had guilt. And I was stuck with all these rules about relationships. And then there was my mother, who I suspect was mortally afraid I'd end up with Ranger. And my grandmother, who probably thought I was an idiot to to be sleeping with both of them. And my father, who didn't think there was a man alive who was worthy of me.

Team Joe vs. Team Ranger heats up. Lula's wardrobe gets more outrageous. Vinnie's in BIG trouble. Rex just keeps that wheel movin'. And then there's that lucky bottle inherited from Uncle Pip....

Rating: 3.5/5 (Mystery Scale)
Dedication: Thanks to Laura A. Koppe for suggesting the title for this book.
First Line: My Uncle Pip died and left me his lucky bottle.

Extras
Click here to link to author's website.

Other Reviews
I'd So Rather Be Reading  (I do disagree with reviewer's saying this is appropriate for younger audiences!)
Bookreporter.com

Library Riches

Amazing thing, that inter-library loan.  Just go on line, login to your library account, enter a book title, click once, and it's added to your reserve list.  Then you sit and wait, and wait, and wait some more.  And then the email alerts hit your Inbox.  First just one.  So you go to pick up that book, and there are two other books waiting for you.  (Plus I just couldn't pass up the Judi Dench biography.)  Then two more email alerts.  Again, you go to the library to pick these up only to find that, yes, the books ready for pickup have multiplied in the time between logging off your computer and driving the 2.3 miles to the library.

Here's Wednesday's books

Backseat Saints by Joshilyn Jackson

Darling Judi by John Miller

A Little Bit Wicked by Kristen Chenoweth

Lowcountry Summer by Dorothea Benton Frank

And today...

The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag by Alan Bradley

Dead Head by Rosemary Harris

The Search by Nora Roberts

The Mountain Between Us by Charles Martin

Hannah's List by Debbie Macomber

Fortunately, the forecast for the weekend is hazy, hot, and humid--perfect for planting myself in my favorite chair with an ice cold beverage at hand, putting the AC on medium high, and enjoying the riches given to me from the library.

July 31 Update:  Finished Lowcountry Summer and The Search.  Bookmarks still working their way through Darling Judi and A Little Bit Wicked (both were renewed).  Did the 100-page test on Backseat Saints and couldn't really get into it.  Weed That Strings... got almost halfway through; put on my list to check out again when it goes of the 14-day list; same for Dead Head.  Wasn't in the mood for either The Mountain Between Us or Hannah's List, although The Mountain Between Us does deserve a second try.  And when I went to return these yesterday, The Darling Dahlias and the Cucumber Tree by Susan Wittig Albert and This Must Be the Place by Kate Racculia (a local author) were waiting for me.

Bookticipation

Let's Take the Long Way Home:  A Memoir of Friendship
by Gail Caldwell

Release Date:  August 10, 2010