Seven Sisters by M.L. Bullock

Seven Sisters by M.L. Bullock is a supernatural type mystery centered around the restoration of a plantation home in Mobile.  The story is interesting, the writing is good and the book is free on Kindle.  The "free" part is really a lie as it is apparently more of a third of a book that is free.

In the story the main protagonist, Carrie Jo Jardine, is a "dream catcher" who dreams the history of the places where she sleeps.  She is also a trained historian who has been hired to help restore the huge plantation home so it can be turned into a museum.  She soon discovers that there is an old mystery attached to the house regarding an heiress that went missing in the 1850s.   The story centers around what happened to the missing heiress and why a friend, who helped Carrie Jo get the job, is acting so strangely.

This story is a great beginning but ends very abruptly making it very obvious that this is only part of a book.  I have bought the other 2 "books" so I can finish the story but will think long and hard before I start another book by this author.  The deception to lure you into purchasing the books is something I find very hard to accept.

If you like this book try the Taryn's Camera series by Rebecca Patrick-Howard

Griffith Tavern by Rebecca Patrick-Howard

Griffith Tavern by Rebecca Patrick-Howard is the 2nd book in the Taryn's Camera series of ghost stories/mysteries.  The first book, Windwood Farm, was decently written and an interesting story but could have used a more professional editing job.  This book was better edited and the abrupt and confusing scene changes in the first book were pleasantly missing.

In Griffith Tavern Taryn's been hired to do a painting of an old tavern and stage coach inn using her creativity to express how the place would look if fully restored.  Her clients hope the picture will help them raise the money to purchase the property and properly restore the building.  Fairly quickly Taryn, a sensitive, begins to experience ghostly activity and the rest of the story is about her using the clues she is given during this rather varied activity (dreams, sightings and images in the pictures she's taken with her camera) to research and piece together what the ghost is trying to tell her.

As in Windwood Farm, there is a more modern mystery that also comes in to play but that is, in my opinion, just as superfluous in this story as it was in the first one.  Having said that the little bit of twist relating to both mysteries and revealed at the end is kind of cute.

On the whole I had a great time reading this book and easily finished it in 24 hours.  It is just spooky enough to be a good ghost story but not so disturbing to make it a horror novel.

People who like this book would probably enjoy Heather Graham's novels.

Windwood Farm by Rebecca Patrick-Howard

Windwood Farm by Rebecca Patrick-Howard is an interesting ghost story/mystery.  The author of the book shows real promise and the book kept me entertained enough to read it in only a couple of days.

The ghost story portion of this book was exactly the way I like them a bit creepy, a little scary and intriguing enough to keep me turning the page to find out what happened.  The mystery attached to the ghost story was well thought out and fairly believable.  The more modern mystery felt contrived and left me wondering why it was even included.  I suspect the author though the book needed more suspense but it felt like the addition of the modern mystery pulled you out of the delightful headspace the ghost story created.

On the whole I really liked this book and will probably start the 2nd book in the Taryn's Camera series fairly quickly however a really good editor would have taken this book from a good book to an awesome book in its genre.  In addition to the issues with the modern mystery there are a number of rather abrupt scene changes that kicked me out of the story and caused me to go back over the last couple of pages thinking that a page or two had been skipped.  Still this author shows real talent and I'm looking forward to my next excursion with Taryn's Camera.

If you like this book you may also like books by Wendy Webb.

The Book of Killowen by Erin Hart

The Book of Killowen by Erin Hart is both an enjoyable historical mystery and an intriguing modern mystery in one.  Written very much in the same vein as the first 2 books in the Nora Gavin/Cormac Maguire series (I haven't read book 3), this was a quick and satisfying mystery which I easily read in less than 24 hours because I just had to know the conclusion which did not disappoint.

The story begins with the introduction of the historical 9th century characters and the murder of one of them.  Though you never know precisely who ordered the killing of the character you are shown his murder and his "burial" in the bog. The historical mystery centers around the book that the man was killed for and why his death was deemed necessary.  

The modern mystery comes into play when a car is dug up with both the bog man and a more modern corpse inside.  The rest of the book tells the story of why the new murder happened and the book that connects the 2 cases.

This story should be enjoyable to the people who read and enjoyed Erin Harts first 2 Nora Gavin/Cormac Maguire mysteries, anyone who has read and enjoyed Deborah Crombie's A Finer End and those who like a medieval mystery with their modern story especially if it involves the church. 

Tortured Minds: Pennsylvania's Most Bizarre--But Forgotten--Murders by Tammy Mal

Tortured Minds: Pennsylvania's Most Bizarre-But Forgotten-Murders by Tammy Mal is a well written, entertaining true crime book.  It tells the story of 4 unconnected murders that took place in the state of Pennsylvania in the 1930s.  All are a little bizarre though the claim of them being the most bizarre seems rather unlikely. 

This book is almost in the form of 4 short stories giving out the information about the murders in a slightly fictionalized (how would the author know what people were thinking and feeling) but very appealing fashion.  If you enjoy true crime, especially those that happened long enough ago to be more stories you can enjoy as opposed to news you have to feel sorry about, this book may be for you. 

Snuff by Terry Pratchett

I was saddened to read that Terry Pratchett died in March.  For a long time his work, especially the City Watch portion of the Discworld novels, has given much pleasure and even the occasional bit to ponder.  Having learned of his death during Dewey's 24 hour readathon, I decided to go ahead and finish the readathon with a Discworld novel and chose Snuff.  (I only finished part of it before the end of the readathon but have since read the rest.)

This is my second or third reading of the story but it remains one of my favorites.  Sam Vimes is so very Sam and all the other important characters are there.  I love Sam as a father and husband.  I appreciate his thoughts on what is going on in the story.  Sam is a sarcastic contradiction that always brings a smile to my face and I am truly saddened that all of his story has been written but will continue to enjoy what has been written for a very long time.

End of the Spring 2015 Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-thon

 End of event meme:

 Which hour was most daunting for you?

     Hour 23.  I'd slept some earlier and planned to stay up the rest of the time but just couldn't make it and in the last 15 minutes of hour 23 went back to bed.


Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?

     If you like children's books, Castle Hangnail by Ursula Vernon is fun, witty and easy to read.


Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?

     Nope.


What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?

     Everything.

How many books did you read?

     4.25

What were the names of the books you read?

     Castle Hangnail by Ursula Vernon, Jim Butcher's Dresden Files: War Cry by Jim Butcher (Author), Mark Powers (Author), Carlos Gomez (Artist), Stjepan Sejic (Artist), Winnie-the-Pooh: A.A. Milne's Pooh Classics, Volume 1 by A. A. Milne, Mercy Thompson: Hopcross Jilly by Patricia Briggs, Rik Hoskin and Tom Garcia and started Snuff by Terry Pratchett.

Which book did you enjoy most?

    Castle Hangnail by Ursula Vernon.


Which did you enjoy least?

     Mercy Thompson: Hopcross Jilly by Patricia Briggs, Rik Hoskin and Tom Garcia though by enjoy the lease I mean I really enjoyed it but it was my least favorite of the 5.


 How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?

     I plan to participate as a reader.


Closing thoughts:  The cheerleaders this time were amazing and the readathon was fun and relaxing.  Thank you to all who put this together. I know it must be such hard work but it is something many of us look forward to and would truly miss.  As someone who is having a very hard year, this is the only vacation I'm likely to get for the foreseeable future and it was a good one!