The Introverted Detective

 I needed a short book to fill some review space, so here's a Nancy Drew book review. This is the 175th Nancy Drew classic - Werewolf In A Winter Wonderland. I collect these books. It's about 150 pages long and should be an easy read to fill some review space. This will not be spoiler free. You've been warned.  The plot of this book is Nancy Drew and her friends working for a winter carnival where things are going horribly wrong (as usual, for a Nancy Drew mystery). There is allegedly a werewolf running around, two wolves missing from a wolf reserve, and the carnival is getting sabotaged in nasty ways. This is all par for the course for these small classics.  Nancy Drew is a teenage sleuth in the small town of River Heights. If you don't know who she is a quick Google search will clear up your confusion. She's been around since the 1930s, starting as books and branching into movies and TV shows. This doesn't feature The Hardy Boys, but that series does connect t...

Down In Flames by Sarah Tunder is part of the Acros Raiders series of fantasy novels. It's the second book in the series. Please read the first book or it won't make sense. Also, spoilers are below. You've been warned.  Down In Flames is a steampunk fantasy novel with a pantheon of gods, various races of people, and an oppressive government restricting religious freedom. This is the second book. The first book centered on finding a traitor amongst a small raiding party. The second book suggests, from the very first chapter onward, that there may be another traitor still in their midst. Our main character, Scotty, is having nightmares about the whole situation, despite the fact she already found the traitor in the previous plotline.  From here on out, we have spoilers. Read it yourself before proceeding further. You've been warned. Don't spoil anything for yourself!  My overall thoughts After getting almost 10 chapters in, I have a few theories on who the traitor is....

 Coming of Age by Andrew Hall is a devotional, with space to put down your thoughts as you go through it. It's written by a friend of mine (who will also see my review on his Amazon page). Let's get into it.  This book features a word a day, with thoughts about that phrase and questions to consider. This is not a fiction book, which is usually what I review. Today I'll talk about my experience with this devotional.  Andrew Hall starts with proving his credibility as a public speaker. He's using this book for his public speaking, in fact, so you might find him motivational speaking before you find this book. He's charismatic, smart, and gives good advice.  My review is not in the same format as my other reviews, mostly because I review fiction primarily (sometimes nonfiction). I will rate it in stars, as usual, but those stars will be based on how inspired I was. This is not my normal way of rating a book. I don't usually review journals and devotionals on my blo...

 I have to rave about this one, both as an Alfred Hitchcock fan and as a thriller/suspense fan. The Hitchcock Hotel is the easiest five star read of this year. I bought it on a whim because I read the plot synopsis. I finished reading faster than I expected to, and I have thoughts - so many thoughts! Courtesy of Audible.com Warning, this blog will have some spoilers in it. Read it yourself and wait to read my review if you want a spoiler-free experience. You've been warned. Don't spoil it for yourself! This book is a fantastic tribute to Alfred Hitchcock. The main storyline, without giving too much of the plot away, is one man, Alfred Smettle, inviting college friends into his Hitchcock-themed hotel for a free stay. From there things are already tense. Odd things are happening, people are getting hurt, secrets are being spilled- that haven't been spilled in years- from senior year at Reville (the university just across the way). You're waiting for the first body to fall...

 This is my review of Ration of Lies by M. Ruth Myers. This is mystery #8 in the Maggie Sullivan series. Maggie Sullivan is a private investigator in the 1940s, navigating a world before and during World War II.  Courtesy of bol.com I love this series. I don't often find female private investigators. This is one of a few books that feature such things. In Ration of Lies, Maggie Sullivan takes the case of a Nisei (Japanese American) family when their son is accused of arson. It starts as a simple case (with some hesitation to take the case), but becomes more complicated as she finds more and more evidence of the boy's innocence. She also has to locate him as part of her agreement and nobody knows where he is.  Amongst all this, we see WWII and its effects around Maggie. You see people sign up too young (a newspaper boy) and someone come back from the war injured. On top of that, the boarding house she lives in is now a little more populated and will take anyone in - when t...

 "Audiobooks aren't really reading" is an opinion I've run into at least once, despite the fact that audiobooks are everywhere on the Libby app and offline. Let's talk about the pros and cons of audiobooks, and why they are absolutely reading.  I once told one of my Bible study people that I listened to my morning Bible passage. The look I got back was a face of "well, that's not really reading" -despite her not saying those words. What she actually verbally responded with was close to that, but not exactly that. Why do people think audiobooks or listening to a book isn't reading? Let's look at that for minute.  Psychology Today has an article on this. According to them, it depends on what you are reading. Fiction is comprehended equally in audiobook and word form. Textbooks and books with complex ideas, not so much. If you are studying something, it might be better to read it physically with your eyes, rather than just with your ears (especi...

 I've been editing my next novella Morrow for a long time. The editing journey has now ended. Let's talk about my next published book and what it's about. It's not released yet, but it will be by Christmas.  I am not giving a date just yet. I have some commissions to wait on before I release Morrow. The release will be months away. I will shout it to the rooftops when it releases. I only promise before Christmas. This cover art was made by Eric Baker (who can be found at  this link on Instagram ). I am so happy with the covers he made. It's far better than I could do on my own. Eric, if you're reading this, thank you! To anyone interested in his work, go find him on Instagram and give him some attention and likes. He deserves it.  Now, onto the main plot summary. This book is a thriller/suspense novella about two young women who stay with the Morrow family for a summer internship. The internship itself is writing a family history of the Morrow family line. (I di...