Drop Dead Delicious~By Jill Brock

Drop Dead Delicious opens with Odessa tagging along with Maggie to meet her part-time boss, Frank. Maggie is a part-time investigator. Odessa had been working at an advertising agency in New York City, but Burke Peterson ruined her. (Since this is the second book in the series, we don’t know the back story on that, but it is still possible to read this book without reading book one. Which is titled Pennywise.) But now she is the owner of O So Sweet Cakes. Frank is teaching the girls to do a stakeout. They are investigating a suspected cheating husband (Mr. Portman). When they barge into his hotel room, he claims no wrong doing. So rather than give the pictures to Frank, Maggie steals the memory card. Maggie drops Odessa off at Blue Moon, Candace (Odessa’s sister's) restaurant. Her boyfriend Lee picks her up and tries to get her mind off of Burke Peterson’s sudden return. Burke calls her that evening wanting to meet at his hotel. Odessa refuses. When the FBI shows up at her front door, she knows that something is wrong. Odessa almost has to force them out of her home when they accuse her of helping Burke embezzle money. Maggie promises that if Odessa will help her on the Portman job, she will help Odessa get rid of the FBI. The FBI will be harder to get away from than either of them thought, because one of the partners from Odessa and Burke’s former firm turns up dead and Burke is accused of murdering him…

This was a good mystery. It was really cool to see part of the mystery taking place somewhere where the character isn’t in familiar territory. Maggie and Odessa take a trip to Las Vegas to get clues to help clear Burke's name. If you enjoy cooking (especially cakes) then this series is for you. I would recommend that a person read Pennywise first, but you don’t need to read it to make sense of this book. Another reason why I liked this book! And I especially like how Odessa finds her aunt’s famous recipes in the quilts she was given.

One Amazing Thing~By Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

One Amazing Thing opens with Uma Sinha considering whether her boyfriend really loves her. She is in the basement of the Indian Consulate attempting to get a visa to visit her parents. A woman in a blue sari makes Uma very uncomfortable but she can’t figure out why. Uma feels a need for sun and tries to call her boyfriend, Ramon, but she is suddenly thrown to the ground when the floor buckles. She tries to think of something to say to Ramon’s voicemail because she feels that she is going to die. We then meet Cameron, an asthmatic ex-soldier who helped after a disastrous earthquake. When a young child tries to open a door, Cameron hits him. His justification is that the door may be holding up debris. The survivors didn’t need the building collapsing any more. Malathi, the woman in the blue sari, reflects on things she could have done in her life. She also thinks back on the kiss with Mr. Mangalam, a married coworker. Malathi believes that the earthquake is karma getting her back for the kiss. The story then touches on Mr. Mangalam and then flows back to Uma. When they realize there is no way out, Uma suggests that each person tells of seeing “One Amazing Thing” This is to keep their mind off of their possible death.

I received this book right after Haiti’s massive earthquake. Then just as I got around to picking it up, Chile had its earthquake. Honestly, I was a little tired of all the earthquake talk. But once a person picks up their book, they will find it enjoyable. And for those of you worried, it does seem to have a happy ending. But that is really up to the readers own interpretation of the final pages.

Truly, Madly ~ By Heather Webber

When Oscar Valentine gets caught in an affair, he fears his family's famous matchmaking business will suffer. So he entrusts the business to his 28 year old daughter, Lucy, while he and his wife, Judith, go to St. Lucia. There is one problem: Lucy doesn't have the family gift of matchmaking. Her ability is finding inanimate objects that have been lost. Lucy stresses about her first day running the family business because of Cupid's Curse. Cupid's Curse is the Valentine's inability to match themselves. Lucy fears that the Curse will spread into her customers and she will inaccurately match them. When one customer tries to get over his ex-fiancée, Jennifer, Lucy tries instead to reunite the two. Lucy shakes Michael's hand after the meeting and sees the engagement ring he gave to Jennifer on the finger of a skeleton. Lucy goes upstairs to ask the private investigator (Sean) for help locating Jennifer. Lucy drives up to Michael's town to try to find the skeleton. She chickens out, but decides to drive by his home anyway. She is forced to lie about her intentions when Michael catches her outside his home. Sean calls Lucy and tells her about his research, including his call to Jennifer's mother. But Jennifer's mother will not give any information about her whereabouts. Lucy cannot leave the skeleton and the ring alone so she and Sean continue to investigate. Getting them both way over their heads.

Truly, Madly is such a cute, fun mystery. I love the concept of a match-making psychic. Deeply, Desperately is set to release August 2010. There is supposed to be at least one more book following Deeply, Desperately. I really hope there are many more to come in this series because I really enjoyed Truly, Madly. If you love mysteries this is a must read new series. It would make a great Valentine's Day gift too.

Rachel And Aleks~By Sylvia Smoller

Rachel and her friend, Helena, are walking in the woods talking about boys in the beginning of this book. Helena tells Rachel that her friend Jakob is coming for a visit. Helena insists that Rachel must join then during the small get together. She goes, but everyone is talking about politics so Rachel stays silent. This intrigues Jakob. He walks her home every night until he must leave. Jakob promises to stay in touch through letters. In one of these letters, he asks for her hand in marriage. She declines by saying it should be Helena who is “at his side.” Jakob simply replies “You have deceived me.” They never communicate after that. Rachel suddenly finds herself falling for her tutor, but after he goes to Warsaw, she never hears from him again either. Rachel moves to Czestochowa to attend commercial school. She finally meets the famous Aleks Mischler, that Helena and her friends always talked about, at one of his lectures. Rachel and Aleks continue to run into each other in public. The two begin dating a few months later and Aleks’s sisters do not approve. After months of dating, Aleks asks Rachel to marry him. She says yes. After many months, the long awaited wedding day has arrived. Two of Aleks’s sisters had finally accepted her. The happy couple moves to Warsaw. Years later Rachel becomes pregnant and continues to work. Aleks’s sisters call her an embarrassment to the family. When their daughter, Rilka, is born, Rachel gets along with everyone including Aleks’s sister. When Aleks is accused of treason, the young family has yet another difficult time to go through. Rachel plans to visit her aunt, but has a hard time leaving Rilka. While in England, Rachel meets the man (Roman) who will soon become her lover. Rachel, who realizes taking a lover is a bad decision, goes home Aleks and Rilka. Rachel confides in Sophie (her sister) about her affair with Roman. When the Germans attack Poland, Aleks demands a car to escape. The family travels to Lithuania, Russia and Japan before departing for Seattle. From there, they settle in New York City. When Roman appears in New York, he threatens Rachel’s job. Roman puts Rachel in the difficult position of choosing between Aleks and himself.

This is a great coming of age story. I really enjoyed seeing Rachel mature before my eyes. Rachel and Aleks are such a lovable couple. If you are interested in the Holocaust (and enjoy romance novels), then this is a must read!

A Slice Of Murder~By Chris Cavender

A Slice of Murder is the first mystery in a series set in Timber Ridge, North Carolina. Eleanor owns a pizzeria named A Slice of Delight which she runs with the help of her sister Maddy. Eleanor gets a call for delivery, but when she arrives at the home, the owner, Richard Olsen, is dead. The following day, the Police Chief, Kevin Hurley shows up at Maddy’s home, demanding more questions of Eleanor. Maddy calls her friend Bob, who is a lawyer to accompany Eleanor to the station. Maddy, against Eleanor’s wishes goes to A Slice of Delight and opens the day after the murder. Maddy suggests that rather than waiting for the cops to solve the murder, she and Eleanor find the killer themselves. When Sheila Olsen, Richard’s sister, comes into A Slice of Delight, Eleanor and Maddy see the perfect chance to dig into Richard’s past. Unfortunately Sheila leaves when both sisters are occupied, so they don’t get any information. Maddy and Eleanor decide to close the shop so they can go investigate. Their first stop was Richard Olsen’s home, Chief Kevin is about to arrest them when Sheila appears from the back of the house, telling him they are helping her clean. Eleanor and Maddy spend time investigating with Sheila until she realizes the amount of money her bother had. Eleanor and Maddy are allowed to go through the “trash,” if they want to take it with them. Eleanor finds a love letter from a woman who is married to the mayor. The sisters decide to go to the pizzeria to calm down. But when they arrive, there are tons of customers standing around waiting for them. After closing the store, Eleanor and Maddy walk to their cars to find Eleanor’s window broken and “Killer written on it. They continue to investigate the murder even though Eleanor had been threatened. When Eleanor checks voicemail, there are a lot of hang up calls. When Eleanor answers the phone, the person on the line offers 200 dollars for a pizza delivery. Maddy finds the call suspicious and calls the Chief. That’s all I will give away!

If you are looking for a light, funny, cozy mystery, then this is a must read. This will be a great series and I’m hoping that it continues. I am looking forward to reading some of the other books this author has written.

***Chris Cavender is a pen name for an author who has written as Melissa Glazer, Elizabeth Bright and Tim Myers.***

Murder By The Numbers: The Righteous One~By Richard Hicks

Murder By The Numbers: The Righteous One opens with Eddie DeSilva’s retirement party. Eddie was forced into retirement because he shot someone on the job. First he was placed on administrative leave, and then it transitioned into forced retirement. His friend and psychologist, Pauline Graham calls him during the party begging for his help—her friend has been murdered. The police are suspecting the victim’s own daughter, but Pauline doesn’t agree. After Eddie leaves his retirement party, he goes over to Pauline’s house, so they can discuss the murder. Pauline begs Eddie to use his contacts at the force to get inside information. Eddie stops at the station to get whatever information he could. After that he drives to the women’s prison outside of San Diego to interview Allison Stanton, the victim’s daughter. Eddie goes by the murder scene to see what clues he can find. The new chief catches Eddie snooping around the department and calls him out. He tells her that he will be a civilian investigator and not use the force for information. Eddie begins to think of sailing down the coast to Mexico—just to get away. Unfortunately the yacht club calls him to say that his boat has a leak. Eddie realizes that he can not stop thinking of the murder, so he begins to investigate again. Eddie plans on attending Vincent’s (the victim) funeral, but his brakes “fail” and he crashes into a person's bushes. After he has recovered enough, he continues to investigate. The investigation leads him and Pauline to Pennsylvania.

The Enneagram is a way that tells people your personality type. There are nine numbers. The preface of this book briefly touches on the different characteristics of each number. The Enneagram is brought up in the book, but it is not distracting.

This was a really enjoyable mystery. If you love mysteries about cops, then I would recommend this book. I am looking forward to reading the second book in the series. Unfortunately it doesn’t come out until 2010. I hope this series continues beyond the 9 Enneagram numbers!

Indigo Awakening~By Dr. Janine Talty

Indigo Awakening is the story of Dr. Janine Talty’s difficult struggle with being different. This book opens with the author, Janine, telling the reader about her early school life. She was placed into special education because she couldn’t comprehend reading or math. She knew she didn’t fit with the other kids because she was more creative and imaginative. Janine expressed herself through art, because it made sense to her. She demanded to be tested for dyslexia after seeing a news report. When her parents got her tested, they found out she had an abnormally high IQ, as well as dyslexia. Her parents then transferred her to the local catholic school because the classes were smaller and Janine could get more individualized attention. Switching to the private school had helped, but she was still not sure she could even go to college. After many injurieds, Janine decided that she wanted to be a doctor. After moving to the Midwest, she started many different medical programs, until she finally settled on going to Michigan State University in Lansing. After both she and her husband finished medical school, they moved back to California. Janine’s struggles continue until she realized that she was an Indigo.

For those of you who don’t know what an “Indigo” is, Janine uses the words of Kyron in her epilogue. Indigo’s have a “feeling of royalty and a sense they deserve to be here. Their self-worth is healthily intact, and often tell their parents ‘who they are.’ They have difficulty with authority and will not do certain things such as waiting in line. They get frustrated with ritually oriented systems that don’t require creative thought. They have an innate ability to see a better way to do things. They are ‘system busters.’ They often feel misunderstood by other who are not of the same consciousness and seem antisocial unless other like them are around. They often have difficulty fitting in and school is often difficult for them socially” (311). There is also a quiz in the appendix which will help you determine if you are an Indigo.

Indigo Awakening was such a great story. It was definitely a memoir that I enjoyed. Some parts were difficult to read because of how she is treated as a young child. No one should be treated so horribly. The story is relatable to anyone, who has felt different, either because they don’t fit in or just express themselves in more creative ways. If you suspect that you or someone you know is an Indigo, this is a must read.