Assailants, Asphalt & Alibis

Title: Assailants, Asphalt & Alibis
Author: Tonya Kappes
Published: December 1, 2023 by Tonya Kappes Books
Format: Audiobook, 4 hrs 13 min, 174 Pages
Genre: Amateur Sleuth
Series: Camper & Criminals #8

Blurb: Telling stories around a campfire at Happy Trails Campground is very entertaining to The Laundry Club women until one of the story teller's tall tale about murder and alibis comes true, leaving the story teller MURDERED!

Once again, Mae and the Laundry Club ladies find themselves doing things they never thought they'd do while trying to get clues to who or why someone murdered the tourist.

Mae discovers an unheeded warning that will bring the tall tale to life if she can't end the story for good before the killer strikes again.

My Opinion: Mae and her Laundry Club crew, plus her formidable foster mother Mary Elizabeth, pile into a camper and head off on what’s supposed to be a lighthearted treasure hunt in the national park. They're chasing the legend of the John Swift Silver Mine, but what they find instead is a dead treasure hunter or two, no cell service, and a whole lot of trouble.

With Mary Elizabeth suspiciously connected to the deceased, the ladies are left to untangle the mystery themselves. Is it murder? A cursed accident? Or something even stranger lurking in the woods? As Mae digs deeper, she realizes the park holds more secrets than she bargained for and the stakes are higher than just clearing Mary Elizabeth’s name.

This installment in the audio series doesn’t aim for emotional depth or high-stakes drama. Instead, it leans into its strengths: quirky humor, small-town charm, and the kind of banter that makes you feel like you’re eavesdropping on your favorite aunties solving crimes. It’s the perfect companion for folding laundry, scrubbing counters, or cruising down the highway. Think of it as a light, cheeky, and reliably fun palate cleanser between heavier reads.

Fade In

Title: Fade In
Author: Kyle Mills
Published: July 29, 2025 by Authors Equity
Format: Kindle, 331 Pages
Genre: Thriller
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.
Series: Fade #2

Blurb: When ex-Navy SEAL Salam "Fade" al-Fayed steps in front of a sniper's bullet, he assumes that he's reached the end of the road—his death wish has finally been answered.

Instead, he wakes in a hospital. As one of the deadliest operatives in U.S. history, he's now incapable of even standing without assistance. Alone and wanted by authorities, he's destined to spend the rest of his life lying in a prison infirmary.

So when a shadowy organization offers him a new identity and next-generation medical care, he has no choice but to agree. Nothing's free, though. After a grueling rehabilitation, he's drafted into an elite paramilitary unit equipped with cutting-edge military technology. But who's in charge?

A dire threat soon provides the a highly contagious pathogen explodes out of China, and a select group of the world's wealthiest and most powerful people decide that governments are no longer capable of controlling the chaos erupting around the globe. It's a power grab by billionaires who've decided that it's their time to rule.

With panic rising worldwide, the leaders of both democracies and dictatorships prove equally willing to destroy anything and anyone to save themselves. Forced into action before he's fully ready, Fade finds himself at the sharp end of a mission to stop a menace unlike any he's faced before. If he fails, the consequences will be unimaginable. But what if he succeeds?

No one elected the people he's working for. And God sure as hell didn't ordain them. Has he signed on to save the human race . . . or to help quietly enslave it?

My Opinion: I picked up Fade In without realizing it was the second book in a series that started twenty years ago. Honestly, I just saw Kyle Mills’ name and remembered enjoying his Beamon series, so I dove in. Turns out, Mills has been busy with other projects since his catalog is packed with multiple series, collaborations, and continuations of other authors’ work.

This book throws a lot at you. Plot threads come flying from all directions, loosely connected but not always convincingly so. By the halfway mark, I started wondering if some of these storylines were just floating around, waiting for a tether that never quite arrives.

The central premise is that COVID was engineered to target the elderly which feels like it missed its moment. It’s not the only plotline, but it dominates enough to give the book a dated vibe. For readers steeped in this genre, it’s familiar territory. Not shocking, not fresh. Just… fine.

What is fresh, though, are the one-liners. The characters, especially the supporting cast, have a knack for dropping snarky gems that made me smirk more than once. That kind of humor is gold in a thriller, and it kept me turning pages. The pacing is solid, the flow smooth, and I found myself reading in long stretches without losing interest.

But then there’s Fade, the main character. He’s less a man and more a myth, invincible, untouchable, and oddly hollow. I never felt pulled toward him. He’s the kind of protagonist who survives everything but leaves no emotional footprint. If Mills revisits this series in another twenty years, I doubt I’ll be along for the ride. There just wasn’t enough of Fade that felt new or compelling.

Still, if you’re in the mood for a fast-paced read with sharp dialogue and a cast that knows how to keep things lively, Fade In delivers. Just don’t expect the main man to steal your heart.

Crazy Spooky Love

Title: Crazy Spooky Love
Author: Josie Silver
Published: September 2, 2025 by Dell
Format: Kindle, Paperback 320 Pages
Genre: Paranormal
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.
Series: Melody Bittersweet #1

Blurb: In the leafy, charming town of Chapelwick, the Bittersweet family has been a fixture on High Street for as long as anyone can remember. Their rambling black-and-white building houses all three generations of ghost-sensitive Bittersweet women and their business, Blithe Spirits.

On her twenty-seventh birthday, Melody Bittersweet converts the disused back storeroom into her office and opens her own business. Unlike the rest of her family, she’s not taking down messages from ghosts—she’s taking them out.

Soon, the Girls’ Ghostbusting Agency takes on its first a grand old house that won’t sell because a trio of incumbent ghost brothers raise merry hell whenever prospective owners arrive to view it.

It soon becomes clear that there’s a whole heap of unfinished business between the Scarborough brothers—including murder—and Melody isn’t the only one trying to unravel the mystery. Leo Dark, her rakish ex and business rival, is also on the case, along with the TV crew that trails him.

To make matters worse, the sarcastic and skeptical (and annoyingly good-looking) local reporter Fletcher Gunn has his nose in the story as well. Sniffing out a way to publicly discredit the Bittersweets is his favorite assignment—and has absolutely nothing to do with his inability to resist Melody.

With her business on the line, it’s up to Melody to work out the brothers' issues, but can she protect her own very susceptible heart from Fletcher’s charm? Does she even want to?

My Opinion: Josie Silver has long held a cozy spot on my romance shelf. Her stories usually deliver heart, nuance, and characters you want to root for. So, when I saw she was venturing into paranormal territory with Crazy Spooky Love, I was curious. A little rom-com shimmer with a ghostly twist? Count me in.

But from the first few pages, something felt off. The tone was disjointed, the setup unclear, and the protagonist, supposedly 27, read more like a teenager navigating high school drama. I kept going, partly out of loyalty and partly out of hope. After all, authors deserve space to stretch creatively, and I was willing to follow her into new terrain.

Unfortunately, the terrain never quite settled. The language bounced between retro slang and modern references, creating a time-warp effect that was more confusing than charming. The dialogue leaned heavily on teen-style banter, which felt jarring coming from adult characters. And while there were moments of light humor and character appeal, they were buried under layers of overwriting and fluff that begged to be skimmed.

By the halfway mark, I tapped out. The story hadn’t found its footing, and I couldn’t keep pretending it might. What’s worse, I already own the second book in the series, and now I’m stuck in reader limbo. Do I give it a shot and hope for a course correction? Or shelve it and preserve my fondness for Silver’s earlier work?

I genuinely don’t know what happened here. It’s so far removed from the Josie Silver I’ve come to admire that I found myself wondering if she even wrote it. Maybe this was a ghost story in more ways than one.

Murder on the Marlow Belle

Title: Murder on the Marlow Belle
Author: Robert Thorogood
Published: January 16, 2025, by HQ
Format: Kindle, 333 Pages
Genre: Amateur Sleuth
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.
Series: The Marlow Murder Club #4

Blurb: Verity Beresford is worried about her husband. Oliver didn’t come home last night so of course Verity goes straight to Judith Potts, Marlow’s resident amateur sleuth, for help. Oliver, founder of the Marlow Amateur Dramatic Society, had hired The Marlow Belle, a private pleasure cruiser, for an exclusive party with the MADS committee but no one remembers seeing him disembark. And then Oliver’s body washes up on the Thames with two bullet holes in him – it’s time for the Marlow Murder Club to leap into action.

Oliver was, by all accounts, a rather complicated chap with a reputation for bullying children during nativity play rehearsals, and he wasn’t short of enemies. Judith, Suzie, and Becks are convinced they’ll find his killer in no time. But things are not as they seem in the Marlow Amateur Dramatic Society, and this case is not so clear-cut after all. The gang will need to keep their wits about them to solve this case, otherwise a killer will walk free.

My Opinion: If you’re jumping into The Marlow Murder Club, I’d recommend picking a lane: either the books or the TV series. I started with the novels, so the show’s tweaks feel like unnecessary detours. The heart of the story is still there, but the rhythm and tone shift just enough to be distracting if you’re toggling between formats.

This installment is light and easy to follow, even if you opt to change between the written page and the audiobook. It’s not trying to be profound, just a typical whodunnit with one body and a buffet of suspects. The pacing meanders a bit, with stretches that feel more like scenic detours than plot propulsion. But just when I was settling into the idea that this one might coast to a predictable finish, Thorogood pulled the rug out with a twist.

What keeps me coming back isn’t the mystery itself; it’s the Marlow Murder Club ladies. Their banter, their quirks, their refusal to stay in their lane. They’re the glue holding this series together, and their antics still make me smile.

And just when you think the story’s wrapped up, it throws in a final flourish that retroactively ties the chaos together. It doesn’t change the picture much, but it does make it feel more complete.

That said, a few days after finishing, I couldn’t tell you the finer points of the plot. It’s more about the ride than the destination. If you’re here for depth, this isn’t it. But if you’re here for charm, a dash of absurdity, and a trio of amateur sleuths who refuse to quit, you’ll find enough to enjoy.