My February Reads

I made it through 5 books in February.  Not bad for a "short" month. And one of them was over 500 pages, too.

Links take you to my full review at Epinions.

All ratings are on a scale from 1 (bad) to 5 (great).

STAY AT HOME DEAD by Jeffrey Allen - 4
Deuce Winters finds himself a suspect in the death of his high school rival after the man's body is found in his minivan.  I enjoyed the characters, especially Deuce and his wife.  But I felt the mystery was pretty thin and was annoyed by the author's willful ignoring any sense of time.

ARSENIC AND OLD PAINT by Hailey Lind - 4
Former forger turned faux finisher Annie Kincaid is painting in an exclusive men's club when a member is found murdered.  Then's she's asked to find a stolen statue and a painting that may or may not be forged.  This is the fourth in a series, and it's another fun romp.  The ending felt rushed, but that was my only complaint with the book.

GEM OF A GHOST by Sue Ann Jaffarian - 5
When Emma is invited to lunch by an old acquaintance, she is shocked.  The woman is being haunted by her late husband and wants Emma to make him go away.  But when Emma finds out the woman's daughter has tried to commit suicide, she thinks something much bigger may be going on.  I loved this book and always had a hard time putting it down.  Highly recommended.

THE MYSTERY OF THE PHATOM GRASSHOPPER by Kathryn Kenny - 4
When a violent storm blows through Sleepyside, the antique weather vane vanishes, and Trixie Belden sets out to find it and bring it home.  Lots of fun with great characters, although the mystery is a bit straight forward.

THE LOST HERO (HEROES OF OLYMPUS BOOK 1) by Rick Riordan - 5
Jason wakes up on a bus in the middle of a desert with his best friend and girlfriend.  The only problem is, he has no memory of them or who he is.  Finding out he's a demi-god is no real help.  Will a quest bring him closer to his memories?  This is the first in the follow up series to Percy Jackson, and I really enjoyed it.  The book could have been trimmed somewhere, but I was having so much fun I really didn't care.  And the new characters felt absolutely real to me.