Final Voyage

The Lusitania was the luxury “greyhound” ocean-liner of its time. While traversing the Atlantic between New York City and Liverpool, passengers enjoyed every amenity. The May 1, 1915 voyage was different. War has taken hold of Europe and Great Britain and the seas are dangerous. German U–boats have been sighted off the Irish coast and merchant vessels have to be wary. Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson takes the reader on a voyage like no other. He reports on every possible detail that effects the great ship during this fateful crossing. A truly fascinating read! DB.  

It's cold in Shetland!

The Shetland Islands off the coast of Scotland are where the mysteries of Ann Cleeves take place. Dark and moody with a great sense of place, they feature Jimmy Perez as Detective Inspector and a native of the Shetlands. Cold Earth, the seventh in the series, opens during the graveside service of his friend Magnus, Insp. Jimmy Perez  watches as a heavy storm initiates a mudslide that damages part of the cemetery, the main road, and an empty rental cottage. Jimmy checks out the cottage and discovers the body of a woman wearing a red silk dress. He's determined to uncover her identity and solve her murder. The potential for the professional relationship between Jimmy and fellow detective -Willow Reeves to become more personal will intrigue series regulars. Plenty of suspects on a remote Scottish island mixed with the high quality of Cleeves's prose make this a solidly plotted whodunit for procedural and traditional mystery readers.ML

Million Dollar Cowboy

Million Dollar Cowboy by Lori Wilde is a heartwarming story that will have you melting for Ridge Lockhart. He grabbed my heart as the little boy abandoned by his mother and raised by a man who never accepted him. Ridge was the illegitimate son who butted heads with his macho father, a father who betrayed him in such a personally hurtful way. This gave him a goal to leave and to make himself more successful than his father ever could be. Ten years later he reluctantly comes home to prove it to the old man.

The whole setting of the story is rich with description, but also with the inner dialogue of both main characters. You read about their inner struggles to find a good balance of work, family and love. Ridge is a complex character because he doesn't know what it is to have love in his love and doesn't recognize it. I loved his journey and how it wasn't easy to let go of the past and move forward. This was a very well written story. *JK*