You know what keeps this series from getting too repetitive? It's the plots and their surprising twists and turns that thwart you from guessing what happens next.

Although this one got off to a slow start, thanks to the annoying tv host/author and his group of whiners, but picked up once the murder happened. As always, I love the anthropological parts of the story and I always like seeing John Lau show up. And I did like the plot, both the avalanche investigation and the murder investigation. The only thing I don't care for is how Gideon always gets himself into a situation where he's attacked (why are there so many people attacking anthropologists?) which gets old and really, doesn't add much to the story for me. I guess I'm in it for the solution and the action is just superfluous in my mind. But overall, I did enjoy (most of) the story and as always, the conclusion was a surprise that left me reeling.

I was a big fan of the Markham Sisters series (and bummed when it was over) and I was looking forward to this new series with Janet Markham and new husband Edward Bennett. I miss the quick, easy non-murder reads of the Markham Sisters series, but I did like how the author evolved it into this new series. It's more cozy than thriller, but definitely more action than in the original series and I enjoyed seeing Janet get involved with the job Edward was on (and his reluctant participation didn't make a lot of sense, but then again, how else would the plot be set up? Not going to quibble about it) and how she "got the job done" was exciting and a lot of fun. I'm definitely looking forward to more of Janet and Edward's adventures!

Just realized I didn't mark this one off my currently reading list. I'm doing a complete re-read of the series so I can remember the full story before I start the final book in the series. (Actually, that's just a disassociation tactic, I refuse to let Battle Lake and its eccentric citizens go off into the universe, never to be heard from again.)

This one starts with Mira getting an unpleasant awakening in the early hours by an old (and unwanted) associate who drunkenly made his way into her bed and went to sleep. After confronting him, he tells her that a treasure hunt is going to be started centering around an old legend of a diamond necklace that was lost in the lake over 100 years ago. This new treasure hunt is sponsored by a new resort in the area, and publicized by a newspaper story in the city as a way to drum up more tourism. Mira, (the part time reporter for the Battle Lake newspaper)is outraged at being scooped on such a big story and starts investigating, drawing her into a bigger mystery.

I'll admit, this series started out rough but the characters are what gives this series its oomph and I know how much better it gets as the series goes on. This is on the cusp of "cozy" mystery as there's more coarse language and adult situations that you'd find in a cozy, but less graphic than a regular mystery. Looking back on this as a long time reader, I love how the author grew as the series went on, and I loved being reminded of Mira's beginnings.

As for the plot in this one, the treasure hunt leading to a fake corpse in the lake and very real ones in town, I really enjoyed it. The colorful townspeople - Mayor Kennie Rogers (who, from the description tries to look like Dolly Parton, which I find hilarious) Police Chief Wohnt, Mrs. Berns and Johnny (*breathless gasp*) add flavor to the town and the quick pace led to a great action-packed ending.

Overall, I really enjoyed re-reading this one and it served to remind me of all the moments I'm looking forward to revisiting in later books.

As I've said before, this series seems to be hit or miss and this one was in the miss category.

Gideon is in Egypt, having been strong-armed into narrating a documentary about the history of Horizon House, a museum and archaeology facility in Luxor, steps from the Sphinx. This was an audaciously multi faceted plot; the suspicious death of the man in charge of the facility, the theft of ancient artifacts, and a skeleton of a modern day man found labeled as an ancient skeleton. All of this points to an inside job, and Gideon has to work out who. The plot was well done, the scenery beautiful (it's so easy to picture the locations with all the rich descriptions) but it just didn't grab me the way other books in this series have. It was good, but not GOOD. 3 1/2 stars

I read this a long time ago, but it must've been during my book slump in 2018/2019 when I read books but didn't review them/mark as read. I don't remember specifics but I do remember than I didn't like this one as much as I did earlier books in the series.

Absolutely loved this one! Fantastic from start to finish!

Before I dive into my review, I want to reiterate something I put in an update: It's a myth that you have to wait 24 hours before reporting an adult missing. Absolutely not true. If someone you know is missing, call the police as soon as possible.

Ok, on to the review and this was a humdinger of a book! There were several mysteries, the "side murders" were the murder of a recently hired employee, Misty, in the hair salon owned by her sister and mother. That one was, as well as another murder of a waitress, were wrapped up pretty quickly. The big plot revolved around Jazzi's ex-boyfriend Chad, who Jazzi agreed to help after his wife, Ginger, went missing. Chad and Ginger's marriage had been rocky, but were working hard to repair their marriage when she went missing and was later found dead. Chad was suspected of the murder, but Jazzi knew he didn't do it and worked with Detective Gaff to find the real killer. The whole plot was put together so well and you know what I liked? That the murders are actually investigated thoroughly, there's no jumping to conclusions and wasting time taking people into custody for finding a body. Gaff, who always seems to catch the cases that Jazzi gets involved with, is pretty realistic for a detective, despite the fact that he brings a civilian along to question people (which I'm willing to overlook, otherwise there wouldn't be much to the books) and I love how he and Jazzi work together. And although she's busy detecting, Jazzi, Jerod and Ansel always complete their latest house flip ahead of schedule (you know, now that I think about it, that's the most unrealistic thing about this series; home renovations never end early and on budget. I've watched enough HGTV to know!) And to top it all off, the endings are always satisfying and realistic. Sprinkle in all the good family-gathering-with-good-food vibes (I always feel like I gain 10 lbs reading about everything Jazzi makes) and you have the perfect recipe for a great cozy mystery read. Definitely a full 5 star read!

This one was a pretty quick read, didn't take me more than an hour to read (mostly because I skipped through a lot of the scenes with Prudence's annoying and obnoxious family and friends (other than Uncle Tim, who I really liked) that Prudence felt obligated to have over for Christmas. Prudence, who is a pretty straighforward no-nonsense person, puts up with her shockingly rude friends and family without kicking their rotten butts out of her house, especially Constance; I don't know how Prudence can call Constance a friend, and I'd have happily punched her in the face every time she opened her mouth. Prudence, take a hint from your parents and go on a cruise next year.

I really liked Prudence, a psychic medium who had never seen a ghost until dead detective Levi showed up, imploring her to help with the case that got him murdered, a case involving an up and coming actor who died and the question of if it was a murder or a suicide. And I really enjoyed the plot and if the friends/family crap hadn't been there and maybe a side plot added, it would've been a 5 star read; but with all the crap detracting from it, I can't manage more than 3 stars, mostly because I liked the main plot so much. I'll give book 2 a try, but if these mouthy people are in the next one, I'm going to give it a pass.

3 1/2 stars

I liked this one but for some reason, it didn't hold my attention as much as the other ones did. Whether that's due to my crumbling attention span (always a strong possiblity) or this book, I couldn't tell you.

It had a great plot; a building Fenella inherited from Mona (who received it as a gift from Max) has been empty and seemingly forgotten ever since the candle company that used it closed down. While taking a look inside with her advocate Doncan, Fenella finds a mummified body in one of the offices. Is that why Max told Mona never to sell or rent it? Daniel is called in to help investigate while Fenella helps out behind the scenes.

I usually barrel through these books in an evening but this one just felt unfocused and I had a hard time keeping myself reading it. Maybe it needed some small side mystery to fill in the plot? Perhaps but I'm not an author, so I would't know. But it felt like this just rambled along until the whole thing could be solved. Additionally, I have several unanswered questions about the plot in this one and maybe that's why it took me longer than usual to finish it. I can't really get into my questions without putting in spoilers, but I have to say the actions of a couple of the suspects were peculiar and I can't figure out why they were doing (or trying to do) the things they did. And I'm also wondering, do cats usually get 3 meals a day? I haven't had a cat in years but when I did, I just put fresh kibble in their dishes before I went to work.

Anyway, I did enjoy the book, and I did love the plot (and I always like hearing more about Mona and Max) but not as much as previous books. Still, can't wait for the next one when they go to Buffalo!

I finished around 3/4 of this book this afternoon, once it got going I couldn't put it down.

I've been steadily reading my way through this series and although a bit formulaic, each plot is always a fresh idea and so full of twists that I've long since given up trying to solve before Gideon does. And although I had a few ideas who was behind the crimes, so I did love the long windup to the payoff. But what I liked best was that Gideon was matching wits with a killer just as knowledgeable about bones as he was.

And as I already said, I seem to forget that these books were written back in the late 80s/early 90s (well, the early books of the series I'm reading now, anyway) when cell phones, DNA testing and the internet was in its infancy, used by very few if used at all. Being a Gen X'er, I remember that period of time when "going online" wasn't even close to what it was today (Anyone remember Compuserve? We had that and a 300 baud modem, go look that up, you'll see what I mean) and that makes me really respect the challenges that anthropologists, pathologists, law enforcement and forensic technicians had back then and yet still solve murders and although this is a work of fiction, the author has obviously done his research thoroughly on all aspects of the subject.

I enjoyed this one thoroughly and although some of the books in the series have been hit or miss, this one was definitely a hit.

More cleaning up of all the books that've been hanging out on my currently reading list waiting for me to finish and review.

In Finding Answers, Search & Rescue gets a call about a missing child and they mount a search. After locating the child (safe and sound) they find a gruesome scene; the pastor for the local church is found murdered with his throat slashed. When several more townspeople go missing and are found dead, Harmony puts her special skills to work to find an evil murderer bent on revenge.

What I love about this series is how all these facets - beautiful Alaska scenery, the dogs, the close knit townspeople - make for such a strong foundation throughout the series. I liked the plot in this one, for one thing there wasn't much "sleuthing" as the police sussed out the killer and why before Harmony found out about it, her role was to help find a victim, not solve the case. And I think that's why I liked it to much; usually in cozy mysteries, the MC sleuths out the killer (and often tells the entire town and not the police what they know) and this was the reverse. That made it more realistic in my mind, one of my issues with cozy mysteries; in real life, law enforcement wouldn't reveal anything about the case to a civilian so that their case wouldn't be jeopardized while prosecuting. I understand the reasons for that trope in cozy mysteries, but this book is more organic and realistic and I appreciate that. Gives the book more authenticity. There's also very little in the way of romance, Harmony is attracted to some of the guys but there's no canoodling or flirting. Something else that makes it more realistic.

Overall, this was a great read; every bit as good as the first book, with a great plot. Realistic, authentic, exciting and moving, it made for a great read.