Murder In Thrall by Anne Cleeland
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I received an early eArc from Netgalley. I love British mysteries. I have to admit that I have not been reading straight mysteries for a while. But, this mystery does have a twist in it and it makes it more interesting. Murder in Thrall is the story about a DC, Kathleen Doyle, from Dublin who moves to London to work for the police and is given a chance to work with one of the most famous investigators on the force who also happens to be an aristocrat, Lord Acton. Part of what is interesting about this story is its layout, the order in which the story is told. We join the story with the duo already mid-investigation of a murder. One of the things that I did not like about Murder in Thrall is that though I liked the attempt at how the story was arranged it did at times confuse me. Some of the Irish slang also was a bit baffling to me at times. I am having trouble determining the definition of a section seven. It appears to have several different meanings. I will go with stalker laws. We get a better feel for this as the story moves along. There are some great red herrings in this story and as Doyle moves along throughout her day her talent for interrogation and reading people tells a lot of the story.

One of the great things about Murder in Thrall is the cast of characters. I did miss having a better sense of place. I love London and the story just does not give a good feel for where the story happens. There are some pretty diverse people in this police department. They are flawed and quite interesting. They make the story stand out more. Everyone has these quirks in their personalities that make it plausible for them to be the killer. The first two murders just do not seem to have any rhyme or reason that make sense so finding out who the killer is and why really makes you sit back and think "I just could not have seen that". I had the feeling that this is the first of a series and I have to admit that I liked the Epilogue and the information that it gave. It was an interesting way of giving something good about Acton and Doyle and makes me look forward to seeing more of their story.

On Midnight Wings by Adrian Phoenix
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I received an eArc from Edelweiss. It seems like we waited years for this follow-up and though I loved it, something felt like it was missing. The time between Etched in Bone and On Midnight Wings was a bit long so I had to stop every now and then and remind myself about parts of the story. The story starts where Etched in Bone leaves off and Heather and Dante are both in their own situations where they are in danger. The others are trying to determine what happened to them and deal with the losses they have had over the last couple of books. Von is amazing but he has his own situation apart from trying to find Heather and Dante.

On Midnight Wings still has several arcs going on, Lucien playing politics with the angels, the fallout from the mini-war Dante is fighting with the other vampires in New Orleans, Heather's father trying to control his daughters, the FBI trying to control Dante and Heather, the vampires coming up to speed on Dante and wanting to control him, the organization Von works for wanted their stake claimed and the rogue group that experimented on Dante. Of course there are a few little splinter arcs going on but, I'm not sure how Adrian Phoenix keeps it all straight. There has to be some sort of storyboard going on because she never misses touching on any of them.

I have to admit I am not a huge fan of the way each book ends, with ginourmous cliff hangers right in the middle of something exploding. Though I loved the book I was left wanting, wanting some sort of resolution of something. This book in particular is harder to review because to explain why I was left wanting means spilling the beans on some things and I prefer to not give spoilers. Suffice it to say that there was Heather trying to get to Dante and the rest trying to get to Heather and Dante and I wanted to see more forward momentum. But, for Dante he had some other things he was trying to resolve. It was full of action and you still love the gang you just wish some things had happened more quickly or differently. I'll still be looking forward the next book and how all these things turn out because it is a great series with some great characters, flaws and all.

Thankless in Death by J.D. Robb
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I never think I should write huge reviews of J. D. Robb's books because she has so many readers that the word is already. I will post my blurb from the other day:

"I have always disliked the villains throughout this entire series, but, there is something about this guy, this ugggg, I want to kick the crap out of him. J. D. Robb has outdone herself with giving us this huge glimpse into the bad guy and I think that is the difference. This is the largest glimpse into the bad guy's thoughts, processes and crimes that we have ever had making it seem like he is the worst one."

I can say the ending was fulfilling. The story was exciting and we got to visit with some old friends and I always love when Roark's family comes from Ireland. They are hilarious and I wish we could see more of them. This book almost felt like it was a turning point in the series. I have no idea to what but we do see that Eve has grown so much and we see a lot of that in Thankless in Death. Oddly enough I'm always reminded that if she hadn't found Roark I would have loved to see her with Morris. They have a connection and it isn't just their jobs. Most of the time I don't think Eve recognizes when she has a connection with someone until she is forced to see it.

I am excited to see where the series goes next!