DEAD GIRLS DON'T WEAR DIAMONDS

Nora Blackbird is just a hard-working girl trying to stay afloat financially after her parents lost the family fortune. Nora's career as a society reporter is hampered when her old boyfriend's wife is found dead in the family swimming pool shortly after Nora and the husband are caught together in a bathroom at a large party. Worse still, the dead woman has been changing her appearance to look more like Nora and she has a history of stealing other people's jewelry. The latest jewel missing is Nora's grandmother's sapphire ring! Nora, with the help of her zany sisters and her Mafia-connected boyfriend are out to set the record straight.

This is the second of the Blackbird sisters mysteries by Nancy Martin. This book was a quick read and enjoyable. Ms. Martin manages to mix lighthearted fun with more serious issues. I am looking forward to reading more of the Blackbird sisters and their capers.

Rating - 4 stars

SIZE 14 IS NOT FAT EITHER

Heather Wells was a teenaged rock star. After her mother took her money and ran off with her manager, Heather has been trying to put her life back together. She has a job and she is starting back to college. Heather's job as assistant director of the residence hall at New York City College was going along just fine until the head of a cheerleader was found in a cooking pot in the kitchen. Now everyone is calling it "Death Dorm" and Heather is determined to get to the bottom of the mystery. Heather's sleuthing is slowed down by a few complications like her ex-boyfriend begging her to attend his upcoming wedding, the return of her father after his release from prison and the guy that she is crazy about not taking her seriously.

I haven't read any of Meg Cabot's books but my daughters love everything that she has written for young adults. I thought this book was fun but still worthwhile. Heather is a very likable character and so are her friends. I loved the dialogue - it was snappy and real. I thought maybe there was too much emphasis on Heather's size that really had nothing at all to do with the story. I will keep looking for more of Meg Cabot's books for adult readers.

Rating - 5 stars

CURSE OF THE SPELLMANS

Isabel Spellman can't help herself. She is suspicious and sleuthing is in her genes. Both of her parents are private detectives and Isabel works in the family business. Her curiosity about her new neighbor and the locked room in his apartment are the reason that she has been arrested four times in the past two months. Those aren't her only problems - her perfect brother is sitting around is his pajamas drinking and watching television all day, her father is making mysterious trips to the gym, her mother is sneaking out all night and her sister, Rae, has nearly killed her best friend, a forty-year-old police detective. It's a recipe for disaster and the kind of craziness only Isabel can sort out.

This is Lisa Lutz's sequel to THE SPELLMAN FILES. It is madcap fun and a quick light-hearted read written in the style of a case report. Beneath the zaniness is a woman trying to decide what she wants from life and realizing that some parts of her haphazard lifestyle choices just aren't working. I can't wait for the next installment of the Spellman family.

Rating - 5 stars

FOUNDING MOTHERS

Cokie Roberts is the author and narrator of this audiobook featuring the lives of the women who were a part of the historical time of the Revolutionary War and the founding of our nation. The lives of women of the time were not nearly as well recorded as were the men of the times. Still, Ms. Roberts has been able to piece together through letters and other records of the time, what the lives of women were like. She includes stories about Martha Washington, Dolley Madison, Mrs. Benjamin Franklin, along with many other women whose names are not so well known. She tells of their struggles maintaining farms and businesses while their husbands fought in the war or were part of the Continental Congress writing the Declaration of Independence or later, the Constitution of the United States.

Cokie Roberts is a wonderful televions newswoman and an enjoyable writer. Her stories of these remarkable women are filled with humor and her interpretation of these women's point of view. In other hands, this topic might seem rather dull and tired, but her narration kept the book lively and entertaining. I am glad that I chose this in audiobook format.

Rating - 4 stars.

DARKEST FEAR

Myron Bolitar is surprised when his college girlfriend, Emily, calls him. She is now divorced from the man who caused the accident that ended Myron's professional basketball career. She shocks Myron by telling him that she believes he is the father of her thirteen-year-old son. The boy has a potentially fatal anemia and is desperately in need of a bone marrow transplant. A potential donor has been identified but cannot be located. Emily pleads with Myron to find the donor and save his son. Myron's investigation soon becomes very complicated as it appears the donor is no where to be found, even with Myron's somewhat underhanded investigation techniques. As usual, he calls upon his loyal pals, Win and Esperanza for help, all the while struggling with the idea that he might really be the boy's father.

This is Harlan Coben at his best. The second half of the book was especially fast-paced and captivating. As usual, Myron Bolitar is outwardly light-hearted and wise-cracking. Meanwhile, Myron struggles with the issues of being the boy's father and his own parents' aging. Like all of Coben's novels, this case is full of twists and turns and captivating characters. Definitely worth reading.

Rating - 4.5 stars

HOME

Julie Andrews tells of her early life in England through the beginning of the filming of "Mary Poppins". Andrews is one of those stars who have had a long and marvelous career and seem to have stayed clear of poor choices and scandal which seem to be so much a part of most celebrity lives. Her life was certainly not easy as a child. Her parents divorced early and she lived in near-poverty mos of her childhood. She did not have much a regular education and much of her formal training was in voice and dance with some acting lessons and a tutor as needed. Julie Andrews helped support her family at a young age and had to deal with a step-father who nearly molested her and was an alcoholic who treated her mother poorly.

Still, Julie Andrews tells the story of her life in a positive and up-beat way. She is very down to earth and seems grateful for the opportunites that she has been given. She tells of performing "My Fair Lady" before the Queen of England. She also tells how hard she had to work to learn her craft when surrounded by those with lots of experience and talent. Her descriptions of performing "Camelot" with Richard Burton and Robert Goulet were also quite entertaining. Andrew's descriptions of the people she worked with were fun and never very negative. I certainly hope that she continues her memoirs because I am sure that she has many more delightful tales to share.

Rating - 4.5

THE WOODS

Paul Copeland, County Prosecutor, is in the middle of a big and controversial case. At first, it seems that all the odds are against him but as the tide starts to turn, Paul begins to believe that someone is trying to force him to plea bargain the case. Twenty years ago, when Paul was eighteen and a camp counselor, his sister and three others from camp disappeared. Two bodies were found but Paul's sister and the body of another boy were never located. The incident changed everything in Paul's life and now, someone seems to be stirring the case up again. Is there a chance that Paul's sister is alive? What really happened between his parents? Who is behind the effort to discredit Paul and his entire family with secrets from the past?

I have become a huge Harlan Coban fan and this is the first of his stand alone books that I have read. I thought this book was great. Lots of twists and turns and the combination of the story of Paul's sister's disappearance plus his current case and the implications of both on his life and his future. As always, I think Coban's strength is the believability of his characters. They are wonderful people but flawed as we all are.