en Reading} The Video Store Massacre

The Video Store Massacre by Michael Grimala

A group of middle school students secretly meets in the projection booth of an abandoned drive in theater to watch tapes from the local video store. Their imaginations fueled by gory movies and back issues of Fangoria, the four kids hope to film nightmares of their own and once they find an old film camera buried in the woods, there's nothing to stop them. This is a fast paced, nostalgic read that feels almost straight out of the 1980s (except it's actually set in 1994, which explains a few of what I thought were anachronisms.) It captures the era without overdoing it and there are some genuinely creepy scenes throughout the book. It's fun horror that never gets actually scary. 

Essense of Foul Play by Daryl Wood Gerber 

The grand opening of Emma Brennan's new spa, cafe, and gift shop is only days away and she's busy making sure that every last detail is perfect. Another local spa owner has expressed her unhapiness with the new competition, but that doesn't faze Emma at all -- until the woman turns up dead. Conflicts between local business owners mean that there's no shortage of suspects or motives. The first in a new series, this mystery is set in Carmel, California, the same community as the author's Fairy Garden series of mysteries and features some of the same characters. If you want an extremely detailed setting and lots of information about sound baths and meditation, along with an occasional fairy flittering past, this is the series for you. 

Disclosure -- The publishers provided me with advance review copies. 

{I've Been Reading} The View from Here

The View From Here by Rachel Howzell Hall 

Nicole and Truman's marriage was struggling before the diving accident and, unlike the relationships in so many of the domestic thrillers I read, the two of them feel like really people with real conflict simmering between them. After Truman's body isn't discovered from the dive site after an extensive search, Nicole clings to the hope that he somehow might still be alive...and to the fear that he may be haunting her. Suspenseful and filled with increasingly unsettling apparitions, this book is an entertaining read that I tore straight through. A lot of the author's titles, including this one, are available on Kindle Unlimited so I'm adding them all to my TBR! 

Disclosure -- The publisher provided me with adance review copies. 

{I've Been Reading} Purple Blame Game

 Joanna Campbell Slan (who, full disclosure, is a friend of mine) has a new book out in the Kiki Lowenstein series! I stumbled across her books when I found the third one available for Kindle Unlimited, immediately headed to the library to catch up on the first two, and have read every single one that came out soon. And absolutely oodles of the short stories because I love spending time in the world of characters she's created. 

Purple Blame Game, the latest, has Kiki and her friends at Time in a Bottle scramblikng to crochet a hundred bunnies for hospitalized children. The book opens with the discovery of a murder victim in the alley behind the store, then the plot doubles back to the conflict filled days before the event, a tactic I think works really well in cozy mysteries. We're not spending the whole book waiting for the shoe to drop, and we still get all of the important information when we need to get it. There's a lot more I'd like to praise, but I'm avoiding spoilers here. There's lots of crafting, a situation that gets misinterpreted and causes problems, friction between the charcters. And Myrt is back -- which I love because I missed her when the was gone from the series!  

And then there at the books by people I don't know that publishers sent me to review....

A Cultivated Corpse by Debra Sennefelder

I've manged to miss one or two of the Food Blogger mystery series over the years, but I've enjoyed every one that I've read. This time around, members of the local garderning club are clashing over how to restore the grounds of a historic house. The conflict quickly escalates to murder and Hope and her friends are drawn into the investigation. The mystery is compled and satisfying. I enjoyed this one, but it felt like a couple of characters were absent. One of the biggest draws for me has always been Hope's bustling day to day life. 

{I've Been Reading} It Came From Neverland

 Dungeons and Danger by Elizabeth Penney 

The second book in the Ravensea Castle series of cozy mysteries gives readers a more detailed look at the dungeons and sacred spring. Ghost hunters and treasure hunters have both descended on the castle, just as the family is preparing for Viking Fest, an event which will bring even more strangers to the property. I'm absolutely loving this series. Ghosts wander the dark old halls, the characters feel like people you'd actually want to visit, and the setting fascinates me. I look forward to the next book. 

It Came from Neverland by Cynthia Pelayo

Wendy Darling teaches at a home for orphaned children and volunteers in a hospital, telling stories to terribly injured soldiers. For twelve years, she's tried to forget what happened to her and her brothers when they disappeared and were later found in Kensington Garden. Now the children at the home are behaving oddly. Shadows stretch and loom and there's something wrong with the birds. One of the soliders whispers the last name she wants to hear and, even before a child goes missing, she can no longer ignore the signs that he's back. This book is wonderfully dark and creepy. The backdrop of the great war and the glimpses of Wendy's time with Peter and the Lost Boys paint a haunting picture of stolen youth. I got caught up in the story and couldn't put it down until I was done. 

Marion by Leah Rowan 

The cover copy had me expecting a 1960s setting with Marion Crane and Norman Bates -- and that's exactly why I picked it out to read. As soon as I realized that it's set in the present day, I was disappointed. But I got over that quickly. Some of the plot follows the basic structure of the movie and, now and then, there's a screaming moment that could've been lifted straight from the original Psycho. This author really knows how to create suspense on the printed page. If you're not dead set on something that includes the original setting and characters, I think you'll enjoy this one. 

Disclosure -- The publishers provided me with advance review copies.