I've Been Reading

It took me a long time to get through The Bazaar of Bad Dreams, Stephen King's new(ish) collection of short stories and novellas. I ordered the book for my Kindle as soon as it came out, read the first half and then got busy with other things. I was annoyed to realize that I'd splurged on a book that contained stories I'd already paid to read. (As much as I enjoyed Mile 81, I'm not happy that I bought it twice.) Some of the later stories made up for my disappointment, but then there was the last one, which left me with an awful feeling. I really wish I hadn't read that.

 Salvage by Duncan Ralston reminded me of an early Stephen King novel. The homes and church of a flooded town sit lost below the surface of Chapel Lake. The local preacher and most of his congregation haven't been seen since the waters rose to allow construction of a hydroelectric dam. Owen Saddler has always hated the water, but after his sister's death he finds himself retracing her steps, determined to find out what happened to her. It's got plenty of creepy imagery and mild scares which make it a great read if you're looking for an entertaining ghost story without lots of gore.

Skinny Dipping With Murder is the first in a new series by Auralee Wallace. Erica Bloom has come home to Otter Lake to help her mother deal with some problems at her women's retreat. It's the first time she's been back to her childhood home in years and she's not happy to be there, especially after she finds herself face to face with the guys who humiliated her at the Raspberry Social years earlier. I've got to admit that I was more curious about how Erica got the nickname "Boobsie" than I was about who was killing off the ones who gave it to her. With its quirky cast of characters, this is a fun cozy that I think fans of the Cherry Tucker books will enjoy.

Ghostwriter Anonymous is the first book in the Jake O'Hara mystery series by Noreen Wald. Someone is killing ghostwriters and Jake is trying to find out who it is before she becomes the next victim. It doesn't help that her fellow ghostwriters are required to keep their work confidential and no one knows who has done work for who. The New York City setting and Jake's interesting career made this one different than any of the other cozies I've read.

Disclosure - The publisher of Salvage, Skinny Dipping With Murder, and Ghostwriter Anonymous provided me with review copies.