Exit Strategy Murderbot Diaries #4), by Martha Wells (author), Kevin R. Free (narrator)

Audible Audio, October 2018

Murderbot has successfully escaped the environs of its latest run-in with GrayCris Corporation, with proof of GrayCris' criminal activity. If it can get back to Preservation space and reach Dr. Mensah, its...owner? guardian? friend?, GrayCris can, possibly, be stopped from getting more colonists and scientific expeditions killed in their pursuit of corporate profit.

Unfortunately, GrayCris has kidnapped Dr. Mensah and is demanding an enormous ransom, apparently in hopes of also luring Murderbot in. GrayCris thinks Murderbot still has the evidence in its possession. Murderbot is smarter than that, but Dr. Mensah is still at enormous risk. The sensible thing for a rogue SecUnit that was never programmed to care about anyone is to forget about Mensah, head out beyond the corporate rim, and let the  people it has sent the information to act on it.

Dark Falls (Dark Falls #1), by Lori Ryan

October 2018

John Sevier is a police detective in Dark Falls, CO, and the Major Crimes unit he's a part of of is investigating a string of jewelry store holdups. They started out targeting smaller, lower-end shops that couldn't afford good security, grabbing what they could at closing time, and getting out. Then they start ramping up, their leader in particular becoming violent.

John starts worrying about a woman he hasn't seen since college, when she left early to take care of her father and her sister. Ava McNair joined her father in running their jewelry shop. His heart condition won't let him keep the hours he used to. Her sister Janna's autism keeps her from working with the customers, although she's a far better jeweler than Ava. So Ava is the shop manager, and the one who'll be at most risk if the increasingly violent gang starts striking shops in the business district she's in.

Chasing Ghosts (Dudley Sisters Saga #6), by Madalyn Morgan

Madalyn Morgan, June 2018

This is number six in a series. However, I've read none of the previous books, and did not find it a problem to follow and understand what was going on.

Englishwoman Claire Mitchell and her husband, Canadian Alain "Mitch" Mitchell were SOE operatives during the Second World War, dropped into France to work with the French Resistance. During that time, Mitch was captured and imprisoned by the Germans. What exactly happened is unclear, but he did eventually escape. During the escape he was shot in the leg, but reached a doctor who removed the bullets and successfully saved the leg.

They did not exchange names; it would have been dangerous. You can't reveal what you don't know.

In 1949, they've been reunited for several years, and their daughter, Aimée, is now eight years old. But Mitch has been having problems since the war, and is now diagnosed with shell shock--what we now call Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. He's sent back to Canada to be treated by a specialist, and Claire and Aimée go with him. Three months later, when they are returning home, Mitch disappears before they board the plane.

Death and the Assassin's Blade (DI Tremayne #2), by Phillip Strang

Phillip Strang, November 2017

It's six months after the terrible events at Avon Hill. Tremayne is doing something utterly atypical for himself--attending a local "Shakespeare in the Park" performance of Julius Caesar. He's doing it for DS Clare Yarwood, who is back at work after extended compassionate following Harry's death, but still not fully back to normal. Tremayne thinks what they really need is a new murder to investigate, but Salisbury and environs have been quiet.

Some time after Mark Antony's speech following Caesar's death, the head of the local theater group, Peter Freestone, an occasional drinking buddy of Tremayne's approaches them. Caesar, or rather the actor playing him, Gordon Mason, a local solicitor, is actually dead, of stab wounds.

Two of the blades for the fake assassin's knives had been replaced with real, sharp, and non-retractable blades. Both had been used by Mason, on stage. Two of the actors among the theatrical assassins actually murdered Gordon Mason.

High Crimes (Georgia Davis PI #5), by Libby Fischer Hellmann

The Red Herring Press, ISBN 9781938733956, November 2018

It's January 2018, and Donald Trump has been President for a year. Dena Baldwin, respected scion of a wealthy Chicago family, head of a major nonprofit charitable foundation, founder of a Resistance group, has organized a major protest. She briefly worries her fellow organizers of the group and the protest by arriving late, but she makes it in time that her second, Ruth Marriotti, doesn't have to stand up and speak in her place.

Then a shot rings out, Dena and one of the others are dead, and Ruth is badly wounded. Moments later, the shooter blows himself up on the roof of a nearby building.

Dena's mother, Erica Baldwin, calls Georgia Davis when the FBI's silence and apparent lack of action frustrates and distresses her. She wants answers.

What Georgia finds are more questions.

The Kennedy Debutante, by Kerri Maher

Berkley, ISBN 9780451492043, October 2018

Kathleen "Kick" Kennedy was the fourth child, and second daughter, of Joseph and Rose Kennedy. There were nine in all, and her siblings included Jack (President John F. Kennedy), Bobby (US Attorney-General, later Senator, Robert F. Kennedy), and Teddy (Senator Edward M. Kennedy.)

All of which sounds very dry. Kick Kennedy died young enough that she's barely remembered today, but her short life was packed with big events during a significant time in history. This is a fictionalized account, taking the bare facts and what we can infer from her impact on the rest of the family, and weaving them into an engrossing historical novel about a very real woman.

Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. was US Ambassador to Britain from 1938 to 1940. Catholic and Irish American, he was the first Catholic to represent the US in Britain, and this was a time when that still mattered. The Kennedys brought their children with them, and along with Joe Jr. and Jack, the two oldest boys, the two oldest girls, Rosemary and Kick, were old enough to be introduced to the social world. They were presented at court, and that is a moving scene where we get the first hints of why Rosemary is a problem for the family. It's also where Kick demonstrates her grace and poise under pressure.

Dog Care at Home: The Ultimate Dog Care Guide for a Happy & Healthy Dog at Home, by Gina Harding

PawLife, September 2018

Are you planning on getting a dog, especially your first dog? Dogs are a great addition to your family, bringing both a lot of fun and a lot of emotional reward, but they're also a lot of work. There's a lot to know, especially when you are just starting out as a first time dog owner.

This book is aimed at providing a convenient guide to what you need to know.

What this isn't is a breed guide book. Beyond a helpful overview of the various broad categories of dogs (terriers, hounds, herding dogs, etc.), Harding leaves that to others, concentrates on how to bring whatever dog you choose into your home, provide the care they need, and enjoy life with a dog.

It's a very helpful, straightforward guide, aimed at putting the information at your fingertips when you need it, as well as being readable enough that you can read through it in a few sittings. Even if not all the important details stick the first time, you'll know where to turn to look for them.

All I Ever Wanted, by David Neth (author), Drew Malone Nienhaus (narrator)

David Neth, 2018

Leo and his mother have faced some challenging times, struggling to make ends meet, since Leo's father left. With very little money, Leo is looking for the perfect Mother's Day gift, when he finds a gravy boat in a local shop. It looks a lot like one of the family heirlooms they had to sell for money to get by on, and he hopes his mother will really like it.

It turns out to be a genie's lamp.

The genie, whose name is Felix, of course offers him three wishes. Well, not so much offers. He needs Leo to accept and use those three wishes.

Death Unholy (DI Tremayne #1), by Phillip Strang

Phillip Strang, September 2017

This is the first of the DI Tremayne murder mysteries. Tremayne is in his fifties, an older cop accustomed to older ways, not entirely comfortable with the changes--but not ready to retire, much though Superintendent Moulton would like him to. His partner is DS Clare Yarwood--young, eager for a career in homicide, and very comfortable with computers, the internet, and what they can do.

For both good and ill, she's also not old, hardened, and cynical, like Tremayne.

This case starts with what doesn't at first glance appear to be a murder, just a strange and unexplained death, apparently by spontaneous human combustion. But Tremayne doesn't believe in unexplained deaths, especially not the kind that leave no evidence of the cause.

Little Red Rodent Hood (Hamster Princess #6), by Ursula Vernon (author), Eva Kaminsky (narrator)

Recorded Books, September 2018

Ursula Vernon is, as always, a delight.

In this case, she takes the story of Little Red Riding Hood, and turns it inside out and sideways, with wonderful results.

Princess Harriet Hamsterbone and her friend Wilbur respond to a plea from a very odd young hamster girl, dressed all in red. and mount their riding quail to go to the aid of her grandmother. Grandmother's cottage in the woods is surrounded by weaselwolves of nefarious intent...