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Books : reviews

J. D. Robb, Mary Blayney, Ruth Ryan Langan, Mary Kay McComas, eds.
Bump in the Night.
Jove. 2006

rating : 4.5 : passes the time
review : 15 June 2007

I bought this to get the Eve Dallas "Haunted in Death" novella, as its events were mentioned in passing in Born in Death. The theme of the collection is ghostly love stories: none of them is particularly ghostly.

Contents

• J. D. Robb. Haunted in Death. 2006
Lt Eve Dallas investigates a murder that appears to have been done by a ghost. [Despite many references to Eve's pragmatic disbelief in ghosts, depressingly there is actually one involved, though thankfully not as the murderer.]
• Mary Blayney. Poppy's Coin. 2006
Regency Romance involving a magic coin that grants wishes.
• Ruth Ryan Langan. The Passenger. 2006
Two loners are marooned together in a remote hunting shack, and come to realise something about themselves, helped by some friendly apparitions.
• Mary Kay McComas. Mellow Lemon Yellow. 2006
Charlotte's childhood invisible friend returns to help her regain her life after her father dies.

J. D. Robb, Mary Blayney, Ruth Ryan Langan, Mary Kay McComas, eds.
Dead of Night.
Jove. 2007

rating : 4.5 : passes the time
review : 24 December 2007

I bought this to get the Eve Dallas "Eternity in Death" novella. The alleged theme of the collection is paranormal love stories. A more disturbing theme emerges from the later stories: being a successful business woman is not fulfilling; you need to give all that up for the love of a good man. Feugh. (Eve manages to have love and a high pressure career. Which certainly makes her more interesting to read about..)

Contents

• J. D. Robb. Eternity in Death. 2007
Lt Eve Dallas investigates a murder that appears to have been done by a vampire. Unlike the "Haunted in Death" novella's actual ghost, here there isn't actually a vampire, but we do get all the accoutrements.
• Mary Blayney. Amy and the Earl's Amazing Adventure. 2007
This carries straight on from the end of "Poppy's Coin", and tells the time-travelling story of Amy and her barman. It sheds an interesting, and knowingly unpleasant, light on Regency times.
• Ruth Ryan Langan. Timeless. 2007
Successful but unmarried businesswoman Laurel Douglas travels to Scotland for a holiday, then time travels back to the era of Con the Mighty, discovering they are lovers linked through time. Returning to the present day, she discovers the current laird is awfully familiar. [I bet she quits her job. Feugh.]
• Mary Kay McComas. On the Fringe. 2007
Bonnie Sanderson is discontented with her life and wishes she had never been married. Since she's holding a magic carpet at the time, this wish is granted. She's now a successful but unmarried businesswoman, who is taken hostage at her bank by her not-in-this-universe husband, and falls in love with him. It all ends happily ever after when she returns to her previous existence, realising how happy she really is. Feugh.

J. D. Robb, Mary Blayney, Ruth Ryan Langan, Mary Kay McComas, eds.
Suite 606.
Berkley. 2008

rating : 4.5 : passes the time
review : 30 November 2008

Another one of these collections of four novellas, that I buy just for the Eve Dallas story. Here the link is really weak: they're all to do with "Suite 606", but there's no agreement on what Suite 606 is. However, there is also a more subtle link: in each of the first three stories there is some kind of random event that seems to be there just to add a little local colour, but each of these is actually a scene from the final story. Hmm.

Contents

• J. D. Robb. Ritual in Death. 2008
Lt Eve Dallas is at a party when a murder is committed in the next suite. There is an obvious suspect, but Eve suspects some deeper deviltry.
• Mary Blayney. Love Endures. 2008
Another "magic coin" story: here two lovers have been kept apart by lies, but now a ghost has a chance to put things right.
• Ruth Ryan Langan. Cold Case. 2008
A cop on leaves staggers out of a car crash into a house full of secrets and danger: he is there to "witness" it.
• Mary Kay McComas. Wayward Wizard. 2008
A mother and son find themselves sucked into the past by a wizard's lost talisman.

J. D. Robb, Patricia Gaffney, Mary Blayney, Ruth Ryan Langan, eds.
The Lost.
Berkley. 2009

rating : 5 : waste of time
review : 30 January 2010

Another in the themed collection of four novellas, that I buy just for the Eve Dallas story. Here the (again rather weak) link is about something or someone that is "lost": a murderer, a life, a daughter. The novella is a length that doesn't really work for me: too long to be a single "hook" short story, but not long enough to get the sub-plots and back-stories in a novel.

Contents

• J. D. Robb. Missing in Death. 2009
Lt Eve Dallas investigates a murder on the Staten Island Ferry, where there are no witnesses and no body, just oodles of blood. But how did the murderer escape with the body off a packed boat? And why choose such a venue? This displays one of the potential weaknesses of mixing SF and police procedural: the gadget made up to make the crime possible. Here that gadget is also the McGuffin, and this link restores some credibility.
• Patricia Gaffney. The Dog Days of Laurie Summer. 2009
"Person wakes up as a dog" story, done quite well, and without the "feugh" ending of some of the other stories in this series of collections.
• Mary Blayney. Lost in Paradise. 2009
"Beauty and the Beast" retelling, with a too easily convinced Beauty, and a too easily reformed Beast.
• Ruth Ryan Langan. Legacy. 2009
Aidan O'Mara's life is in ruins after the death of her mother, when she discovers that she may have family back in Ireland.

J. D. Robb, Mary Blayney, Patricia Gaffney, Ruth Ryan Langan, Mary Kay McComas, eds.
The Other Side.
Berkley. 2010

rating : 4.5 : passes the time
review : 18 September 2011

Another in the themed collection of four novellas, that I buy just for the Eve Dallas story. Here the (again rather weak) link is "the other side": mostly, but not always, ghosts.

Contents

• J. D. Robb. Possession in Death. 2010
Lt Eve Dallas is possessed by a Gypsy curse to solve a missing person mystery, before it becomes a murder.
• Mary Blayney. The Other Side of the Coin. 2010
"If you were a woman, and I was a man/Would it be so hard to understand"
• Patricia Gaffney. The Dancing Ghost. 2010
A fake haunted-house investigator meets a fake-haunted house owner.
• Ruth Ryan Langan. Almost Heaven. 2010
Recently dead loving parents watch over their daughter's wedding preparations, and are horrified to discover that her fiance murdered them, and is planning to murder her.
• Mary Kay McComas. Never Too Late to Love. 2010
MJ Biderman discovers that her family house is haunted by her mother and aunts. She must discover what they have lost before they can leave and let her tear the house down.

J. D. Robb, Mary Blayney, Patricia Gaffney, Ruth Ryan Langan, Mary Kay McComas, eds.
The Unquiet.
Berkley. 2011

rating : 4.5 : passes the time
review : 25 August 2012

A further entry in the themed collection of novellas that I buy just for the Eve Dallas story. Here the link is presumably "the unquiet", ghosts that cannot rest (for those stories that actually have ghosts).

Contents

• J. D. Robb. Chaos in Death. 2011
Lt Eve Dallas, still not fully recovered from her ordeal in her namesake city, investigates a case with a most unbelievable murderer.
• Mary Blayney. Her Greatest Treasure. 2011
A widow returns home to run her fabric shop, with her dead husband whispering "wish" in her dreams, a strange coin on a necklace, and a secret purple dye.
• Patricia Gaffney. Dear One. 2011
A young telephone psychic creates a strong bond with a lonely widower.
• Ruth Ryan Langan. The Unforgiven. 2011
Brianna Kerr travels to her Scottish inheritance, only to discover a vengeful old ghost thwarting her plans.
• Mary Kay McComas. His Brother's Keeper. 2011
A young artist has strange dreams about the neighbour's summer house.

J. D. Robb, Mary Blayney, Elaine Fox, Mary Kay McComas, R. C. Ryan, eds.
Mirror Mirror.
Berkley. 2013

rating : 5 : waste of time
review : 4 May 2014

ONCE UPON A TIME in a world far removed from the days when fairy tales were new, five best-selling authors spin versions that take the classic stories into a new dimension. You'll recognize Hansel and Gretel, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and other enduring characters, but they'll exist in realms beyond your imagination, where the familiar is transformed into the extraordinary and otherworldly.

The latest entry in the themed collection of novellas that I buy just for the Eve Dallas story. Here the link is stories that mirror a classic fairy tale; a weak bunch this time round.

Contents

• J. D. Robb. Taken in Death. 2013
Hansel and Gretel: two children are kidnapped by a mad aunt who wants revenge on their mother; Eve Dallas must find them before she harms them.
• Mary Blayney. If wishes were horses. 2013
A Magic Coin tale: the bearer of the coin is disappointed that it has never granted her a wish.
• Elaine Fox. Beauty, sleeping. 2013
Sleeping Beauty with a twist: Michael Prince, shallow, but not evil, is cursed; could the woman who has bought the house he haunts rescue him?
• Mary Kay McComas. The Christmas comet. 2013
The Little Match Girl meets comet ISON (which unfortunately turned out not to be as spectacular as assumed here).
• R. C. Ryan. Stroke of midnight. 2013
Cinderella: Sydney, bullied by her monstrous stepmother, comes into a little money, and decides to visit her dead father’s home town in Ireland.

J. D. Robb, Mary Blayney, Elaine Fox, Mary Kay McComas, R. C. Ryan, eds.
Down the Rabbit Hole.
Berkley. 2015

rating : 4.5 : passes the time
review : 11 December 2016

Enter a wonderland of mesmerizing tales from five bestselling authors. It’s a place that’s neither here nor there, where things are never quite as they seem. Inspired by Lewis Carrol’s whimsical masterpiece, ranging from the impossible to the mad to the curiouser, these stories will have you absolutely off your head.

Don’t be afraid to follow them… Down the Rabbit Hole

The latest entry in the themed collection of novellas that I buy just for the Eve Dallas story. Here the theme is stories that have a link to Alice in Wonderland; “iLove” is the most imaginative of these.

Contents

• J. D. Robb. Wonderment in Death. 2015
Lt Eve Dallas tracks down a serial killer with a drug-based Wonderland theme.
• Mary Blayney. Alice and the Earl of Wonderland. 2015
A Magic Coin tale, the flip side of the original “Poppy’s coin” story: what happened to the regency pair swapped to the modern day.
• Elaine Fox. iLove. 2015
Jeremy Abbott, more in love with his phone that with any person, gets a traumatic lesson in learning to pay attention.
• Mary Kay McComas. A true heart. 2015
Elise encounters a strange creature in a costume shop, who teaches her that she has been closing off relationships for fear of being betrayed again.
• R. C. Ryan. Fallen. 2015
Orphan Beth, raised by an evil aunt to be a selfish lawyer, encounters a cursed Laird; only she can save him, but will her loyalty to her aunt be too strong?