‘Realms Of Ghosts & Magic‘ was a solid start to an Urban Fanstasy series with an emphasis on witches who can see the dead. I was disappointed to find that it had a cliffhanger ending. I wasn’t engaged enough with the characters to continue with the series.

I’d intended this book for my Urban Decay square but I decided it was a better fit for Spellbound.

‘Death Of A Bookseller‘ was my first DNF of Halloween Bingo. It was a mis-buy on my part. It’s a great fit for the Murder and Mayhem By The Book square but it wasn’t for me. I couldn’t connect with either of the main characters. I recognise the tribal affiliations / class markers that form the main filters through which one of the characters sees the world but can’t bring myself to care about them. I think I’m just too old to listen to another ‘I’m a misfit and proud of it’ declaration and the focus on True Crime was a turnoff for me.

‘Bookshops & Bonedust‘ was a delight. My best read of Halloween Bingo so far. A book that deliveredf a fun fantasy adventure while demonstrating a  deep understanding of the nature of joy: the joy of friendship, the joy of battle, the joy of baking and especially the joy of books.

I read it as a second choice for the Murder and Mayhem By The Book square. Without Halloween Bingo, I’d have missed out on this excellent read

‘In Bloom‘ is the sequel to one of my favourite Women Who Kill books, ‘Sweatpea‘. I struggled with the beginning of the book as it started straight from the end of the first and I’d forgotten some thing. I liked the insights it gave me into the killer and the concept of her unborn child becoming her conscience. The end was strong but the book lacked the tension of its predecessor.

I read this for the Splatter square which was called today.

‘Death In Kenya‘ (1958) is a mystery set in Kenya shortly after the Mau Mau Rebellion. Kaye is a Golden Age author I haven’t tried yet. I fascinated to read a contempory mystery from someone who knew Kenya and who took colonialism for granted.

‘Mosaic’ is a horror novella that has already found it’s way from my Wishlist to my TBR so I can read it for the Gothic square this year.

Some Adrian Tchiakovsky works for me and some doesn’t. ‘Saturation Point‘ sounds like it would be my kind of thing.

I read the first ten Jack Reacher books and then took a pause that’s beginning to feel like an abandonment. When I read that the 28th Jack Reacher book ‘The Secret’, goes back into Reacher’s past, I thought it might be a good way to dive back in and see if I still like the water.