Unpredictable Magic / Faith Hunter

 

4.3 out of 5 stars 

Halloween Bingo 2026

I read this for the Spellbound square of my 2026 Halloween Bingo card.

This is a spinoff from Faith Hunter's Jane Yellowrock series, featuring the brother and sister duo of Angelina and Evan Everhart-Trueblood. They were children beloved by Jane (Angie Baby and Little Evan). Now they are all grown up, running their own investigation business, and struggling to retain some autonomy from the Dark Queen's court and politics.

Hunter has taken them in an entertaining direction, using their witchy talents and hiding their own secrets. The Witch War is alluded to, the results of which impinge on both young people and the formal vampire government under Jane Yellowrock. I don't know why I was initially reluctant to read this book, but I didn't expect to be interested in Angie and EJ. Boy, was I wrong!

I was also interested to read in the acknowledgements that Faith Hunter thought she was done writing when she finished the Soulwood series. She was encouraged to write for fun, producing this novel. Indications are that she intends to write more adventures for the siblings. I'm happy about that and will be eagerly awaiting the next installment. I began a reread of Jane Yellowrock and Soulwood this summer and will finish that as I'm able. That will help fill my thirst for the Yellowrock universe until the next Everhart Investigations book.

Fate / Ian Hamilton

 

2 out of 5 stars. It was okay.

Halloween Bingo 2026

I read this for the Raven/Free square of my 2026 Halloween Bingo card.

I've been to a conference where this author was a featured guest, but I had never read any of his books. He seemed to be a very straightforward guy, not given to fuss. His prose reflects this impression. He sentences are short, as are the chapters. He writes very matter-of-factly. There is no padding of extra words. It is a very unemotional style.

You can say the same thing about Uncle Chow. He lives a very simple life for a senior triad member. His indulgences are few: cigarettes, beer, and betting on horse races. The triad is his entire life and he is devoted to it. Some of this he explains as the loss of his girlfriend as they were escaping mainland China. At several points in the novel, Chow talks to her spirit and he doesn't seem to have ever considered finding another woman. His only other emotional outlet is yelling at the horse races.

The lack of emotion in all the characters bothered me. These are gangsters. There is just no way that they would all be so rational and calm all the time. Regular people are more unpredictable than these men were. Chow does eventually resort to violence, but even then he controls the scenario so thoroughly that the damage is minimal. Usually if violence starts, it gets out of hand. Someone loses his temper and causes chaos. It just didn't seem realistic to me.

I read this for my mystery book club but I really wouldn't consider it a mystery. Yes, there is a bit of intrigue, but I did not find it exciting. By halfway through the book, I had guessed where the plot was headed. I'm glad that I gave Hamilton a try, but his work is really not my thing. Your mileage may vary.

Ask for Andrea / Noelle W. Ihli

 

4 out of 5 stars 

Halloween Bingo 2026

I read this for the Genre: Supernatural square of my 2026 Halloween Bingo card.

Usually, ghost stories freak me out. My prefrontal cortex has declared its decision: ghosts do not exist. My amygdala is having none of that. It leaves me susceptible to needing to hide under the bedclothes when the sun sets. This novel featured three ghosts, but it didn't set off any panic in me. The young women are trying so hard. They can't move physical objects, they can't produce audible sound, and they can't influence the living. They are trying to figure out their ghostly existence and they are motivated only by trying to stop their murderer. I guess it just seemed like such a reasonable pursuit that they didn't really feel like scary ghosts. I would help them if I could.

The author's version of the afterlife was actually comforting to me. The three girls had to learn how to be effective haunters, but mostly were just observers of the living. As they mined their memories for beloved people to reconnect with after death, I cheered. I have mixed feelings about whether there is an afterlife, but there are so many people that I would love to talk to again. Occasionally I have dreams of drinking coffee and visiting with my mother and my aunt, and I am always upset when they end.

The last third of the book provided plenty of tension for this reader. I couldn't set the book down. I'd be interested in reading the prequel to this book. There's numbering that seems to hint at another volume, but I'm not sure how the author would continue on from this ending. Time will tell, I guess, but I will certainly read whichever of her books my library buys.

A Dance with Dragons / George R.R. Martin

 

3.5 out of 5 stars 

Halloween Bingo 2026

I used the From the Vault wild card in order to read this for the Alice in Wonderland square of my 2026 Halloween Bingo card.

This book has been lingering on my TBR since 2012 and I decided to tackle it this year. It has been four years since I read A Feast for Crows and I found that my memory of the myriads of side characters has faded. The constant war and harsh conditions has also beaten me down. There's no end in sight, which I find disheartening. I can understand why Martin got stalled here.

As with the previous books, some characters appeal to me more than others. I looked forward to the chapters featuring Jon Snow, Tyrion, Bran, Arya and even Reek (Theon Greyjoy). I tolerated the Daenerys and Victarion Greyjoy chapters, but found them over long, I must admit. That's not everyone by any stretch of the imagination, but those were the characters that made an impression on me.

There was a preview of The Winds of Winter, so Martin had obviously made a beginning at the next installment, but he must have been tired of this world of mud and blood. I haven't watched the television adaptation, but their need to end the series must also have discouraged him from providing his own conclusion. So, we are left with unanswered questions. Will Jon Snow's attempt at humanitarian treatment of the wildings work? Will Tyrion ever see Westeros again? Will Theon completely escape the clutches of Ramsey Bolton? What will Arya do with her new skills? Will Daenerys learn to control her dragons? With so many characters there are so many questions.

This is also Book number 546 of my Science Fiction and Fantasy Reading Project.

D is for Death / Harriet F. Townson

 

4 out of 5 stars 

Halloween Bingo 2026

I read this for the Cozy Mystery square of my 2026 Halloween Bingo card.

Dora Wildwood is delightful. She sees what's happening around her and often comments on it, often startling those listening to her. [This makes her very like Gemma Doyle of Vicki Delany's Sherlock Holmes Bookshop Mysteries. Townson manages to make Dora charming, while Delany's Gemma often grates on my nerves.] Dora is also a runaway bride. She has fled her small village for the big smoke of London to get away from Charles Silk-Butters and his boorish controlling ways.

Of course Charles pursues Dora and makes himself a nuisance because a woman must not be allowed to make up her own mind. As she flees from his clutches, Dora finds herself invited into a glorious library. But they are all glorious, aren't they? As she spends time in the stacks, Dora literally trips over a body. She has recently witnessed the Chief Librarian in a rage and now he is dead.

Dora's ability to see what's going on brings her to the attention of Detective Inspector Fox. The plot progresses at a fast clip from there. I found it a satisfying read and was pleased to see that there is now a sequel, Murder on the Royal Crescent. I’m ever so glad, as there are unresolved issues that need to be addressed. Now I just have to convince my own glorious local library to purchase it.

The Queen's Weapons / Anne Bishop

 

3 out of 5 stars 

Halloween Bingo 2026

I read this for the Dark, Darker, Grimdark square of my 2026 Halloween Bingo card.

Back to the Future. Or Mean Girls II. In many ways, this book is a repeat of the first couple of volumes of the series. Cruel and devious witches are running social circles that are deliberately nasty to decent folk. Innocent and deserving young women and men are being broken to prevent them from being rivals for power. The court of Dorothea SaDiablo (the evil meanie from the first books) is now being remembered nostalgically. Malice and narcissism are running the school that Janelle Satien tells her father, Daemon, that she simply must attend. Her cousin, Titian, is already there, but for completely different reasons (the art program). JS desperately wants to be a cool girl and fit in with the ruling clique. Her family tries to question her and gets only a ton of attitude. Is this normal adolescent girl behaviour, her father wonders, or is something darker going on? Titian and her friends find themselves targeted by the mean girls.

In some ways this is realistic. Once you've lived through enough decades, you will witness historical cycles like these. A present day example is the re-emergence of Nazism, something that our grandparents thought they had dealt with and eliminated.

I find myself magnetically drawn back to this darkish fantasy series, despite its inherent silly soap opera nature. I sometimes have difficulty keeping the multiple names of kingdoms and rulers straight, but when I'm in the mood for undemanding drama, this has been my go-to series. I only have one book left in the run. Once it's done, whatever will I do when this mood hits?

This is also Book 545 of my Science Fiction and Fantasy Reading Project.

A Trade of Blood / Robert Jackson Bennett

 

4.4 out of 5 stars 

I think I am familiar enough with this strange world now that it no longer distracts me from the actual mystery. That's a good thing, as this is a particularly intricate plot, with lots of complications and red herrings. Initially, Ana is unhappy to be sent on this assignment, as it is so boring. One member of the gentry has killed another. Yawn! Who cares? But when the duo arrive in cattle country, they find the population up in arms and Ana is delighted when weird shit is immediately obvious. Perhaps her skills are truly required. Happy squee! Yay, strangely dead bodies!

I think the author has been reading about zombie-ant fungus, which infects and reprograms the ant, sending it up to a good spore-spreading spot. The hapless ant grips a leaf with its mandibles and eventually the fungus fruits from its head, completing its lifecycle. [If this sounds overly squicky to you, this may not be your book.]

Ana is somewhat less obnoxious in this installment, though she is still retains her blindfold, her disgusting eating habits, her enormous amount of baggage, and her severe lack of empathy for those around her. If she is the Sherlock Holmes of this duo (and she is), then she is even more extreme than that Victorian detective. Meanwhile, Din is coming to realize that his abilities are changing in disturbing ways and he is worried that he has passed his best-before date much earlier than he anticipated. It's one thing to allow the Empire to modify your brain, it's quite another to run up against the weirdness of that modification so obviously.

However, it's their unusual brains that save Ana and Din physically as well as identifying the perpetrator of the crimes. Keep them coming, Mr. Bennett!