Miguel, a Portuguese Jew, is nearly ruined. He owes money to many, and has little hope of making it back on the Exchange in Amsterdam. Approached by a Dutch woman named Geertruid about anew fruit called coffee, they hatch a wild scheme to make them both rich.

All of Amsterdam seems to be against the scheme, including Miguel's own brother. Without giving too much away, let's just say things don't go as planned, and many get caught in the cross fire of the trade.

Wonderfully developed characters that make you want to shake the book and yell "What are doing silly!" as if they were really in front of you. I found myself feeling sympathy for the oddest sorts of fold and cheering for the "bad" guy at times. A definite must read.

Read for class ... noting exciting.

This is a murder mystery set in the small area of Bampton in old England. We follow our detective, Mast Hugh de Singleton, as he tries to solve the case of a brutal murder. A man has been found with his throat slashed in the bushes near the road leading to St. Andrew's Chapel. While investigating the murder, he uncovers an unusual trail of related crimes that leads to quite a stunning conclusion.

While I was able to guess several of the details before they were explained by Hugh. However, as the story is written by Hugh himself as a chronicle of his investigation, he often informs the reader that something turned up to be important, but he did not realize it at the time of the discovery. The case leads the reader on quite a merry chase through the little town, introducing us to many of the residents. Starr's writing brings these people and their town to life through the eyes of Hugh as he struggles to find the trail of the killer.

The writing was nice and leisurely, carrying you through the book at a steady pace as Hugh lays the groundwork for everything to come together. On the down side, I found very little to feel suspense about. Since it was written as a chronicle by Hugh after the fact, there were many insights and thought included. I got a little tired of hearing how badly he wanted to find a wife, the subject was dwelt on too many times and too often. I can hardly imagine that a man investigating such a grisly murder would have much time to complain to himself about his lack of a wife.

I had added earlier chronicles to my wish list, but they are not near the top. The story was engaging but needed to have that moment of suspense to make it a little more exciting for me.

This is a story that I picked up after seeing that its form of storytelling debated on librarything.com. It is the story of Sugar the prostitute. A reasonably famous specimen, well known for never saying no. It is the story of how she works to pull herself out of the slums and make a better life for herself. I was hooked to Sugar's story within the first chapter and would have read non-stop the entire 900 pages or so if life had allowed me that luxury.

She pulls many people into her life, and actually works to help them whether she realizes it of not. As the primary "friend" of William Rackham, she eases herself into his life, seeing his as her first shot to leave her poor life behind her.

The primary debate about the book was it's sexuality and the language used. I did not see any descriptions that I would consider to be unnecessarily repulsive. The language used is the language that was actually used in the time period instead of the flowery language that is used in fiction written during the era. I did not detect any scenes where the author used sex for the sake of writing about sex. Each scene in the book was an important step in Sugar's journey to her new life, for better or worse. Overall it was a story that balanced the ups and downs, and gave enough detail of the many places and people to bring the book to life. While this book should be reserved for a mature reader that can handle the subject matter of prostitutes and sex with respect and an adult attitude, as a 29 year old adult female, I was not offended.

A look at Thorbardin and how it works after the Cataclysm but before the Dark Queen starts her latest war. It read like several sessions of an actual table top gaming series. In some ways this was nice, in others it was a little too stop and go for me.

The gnome, Bobbin, is one of the funniest creatures yet.

Someone is killing of Chicagoprog (a style of music) band members, and all signs point to a woman who has been dead for nearly 40 years. Spike Berenger,, a New York PI that specializes in the music business, is asked to come investigate. Can he figure out who the murderer is before all the band members are gone?

This book took awhile to get into. I had trouble keeping the characters straight since so many were introduced all at once. I'm glad that I stuck with it because I got hooked.

I would have swore that I had this all figured out until the last 40 pages or so. Then the dramatic twist took me completely by surprise and I didn't quite get it until Spike himself did. I love gooks that can do that and still keep the story believable.

It looks like there are a couple more books involving Spike out there, I may pick up another one and see how it goes.

Cici wants to be a detective, she loves the idea of tracking the clues and solving the puzzles. Unfortunately the business is run by men ... men who are almost all ex-law enforcement, and it isn't easy for a woman to get in the loop. The story is how she manages to not only get into the PI business, but also excel in it.

Cici was a fascinating character. She lived a life of adventure and used the skills she had picked up along the way to help her in her PI career. She was spunky and opinionated, but not in a way that made her overbearing or annoying to listen to.

Overall, I greatly enjoyed the book and the close up look into what a "real" PI does.

Emma has just returned home to Montana for a visit after completing her training to become a doctor in Philadelphia. Her homecoming isn't everything she's hoped however. Her younger brother Cole has gotten Melissa, the daughter of Wyatt who was once the love of her life, with child. Wyatt is furious and an old feud between the families has resurfaced. Emma is thrown into the middle of things when Melissa goes into early labor and the Doc is out of town buying supplies.

I loved the character of Emma, she was such a strong figure to have pursued her love of medicine in a time where women doctors were practically unheard of. She sticks to her beliefs throughout the story and I love how she interacts with Wyatt.

Wyatt is a typical pig-headed stubborn rancher. He knows best so things are going to go how he says they should ... until Emma arrives and everything he thinks gets turned around in a few of their fiery arguments.

The story of Emma and Wyatt, and Melissa and Cole kept me interested throughout,, even though you know with Harlequin it's all going to turn out alright in the end, I found myself wondering how it was going to be pulled off. A great story, but many of the secondary characters had me rolling my eyes because they were so "standard" and unoriginal.

Please see individual reviews for detailed information. A fantastic addition to the DragonLance world.