Judge Dee and the Mystery of the Missing Manuscript ★★★★☆

The Vampire Library has few rules, but those they have they take deadly serious.  

Unfortunately, Judge Dee is late returning his book - seven hundred years late.

“Death!” the monks chanted. “Death to the unlawful borrower of books!  Death to the late returner!”

“That seems a bit excessive,” Drago of Carpathia said. “He did bring it back!”

The monks hissed at him…

“Seven hundred years of torture, then!”

It was funny to see Judge Dee in the hot seat, to see him penitent yet, as always, clever.  

And yes, there was also a murder mystery.  And again, the ending needed another sentence or two to grab another star.

Read it for yourself: https://www.tor.com/2022/11/09/judge-dee-and-the-mystery-of-the-missing-manuscript-lavie-tidhar/

Seven Vampires by Lavie Tidhar ★★★☆☆

That was three vampires too many I think.  There was something about the pace, and the ending, that made the story less satisfying than previous offerings.  

“He thought of their previous adventures - or nightmares, as Johnathan privately thought of them… He might have considered writing them down, but his handwriting was terrible and besides, no one wanted to read stories about vampires.” 

Moments of levity still made it worth the time.  Another two or three sentences at the end, or one sentence of foreshadow, could have added a star.

Read it for yourself: https://www.tor.com/2022/02/16/seven-vampires-a-judge-dee-mystery-lavie-tidhar/

Judge Dee and the Poisoner of Montmartre by Lavie Tidhar ★★★★★

On a busy frustrating day I snuck every chance I could to read a few pages - I smiled every time.   

”So long as not too many bloodless corpses were found in the morning and people took care to clean up after themselves, things were generally fine.” 

Vampires have few laws. 

But when a vampire is murdered it’s up to Judge Dee and Jonathan to solve the case!

Read it for yourself: https://www.tor.com/2021/09/15/judge-dee-and-the-poisoner-of-montmartre-lavie-tidhar/

Judge Dee and the Three Deaths of Count Werdenfels by Lavie Tidhar ★★★★★

 “The truth was that mysteries were bunk: murder was straightforward and everyone did it, from the emperor down.”  

The Count had disappeared and three of his enemies are claiming they killed him, claiming inheritance by vampire law.  

Another clever offering from the Judge Dee series!

Read it yourself: https://www.tor.com/2021/02/10/judge-dee-and-the-three-deaths-of-count-werdenfels-lavie-tidhar/

Judge Dee and the Limits of the Law by Lavie Tidhar ★★★★★

Karen has again mined Tor for the good stuff!  

Vampires have few laws, but those they take deadly serious.  Directed by the Council, Judge Dee travels the medieval world with his human companion and acts a judge, jury, and executioner for his kind.  He is old, powerful, and respected - but that doesn’t mean he cannot be fooled.  

This was clever, fun, and addictive!  I will continue the series.

Read it yourself: https://www.tor.com/2020/11/11/judge-dee-and-the-limits-of-the-law-lavie-tidhar/

The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell ★★★★½

The Dead by James Joyce ★★★☆☆

A boring dinner party ends with a poignant moment - that is all.   

It did add some depth of emotion to Emily Prentiss at the end of Demonology, S4E17, Criminal Minds.

Binti (Binti #1) by Nnedi Okorafor ★★★★☆

An Afrofuture tale of personal first contact, war, heritage, and understanding.

Mapping the Interior by Stephen Graham Jones ★★★★☆

“And he was looking across the room like an animal, right into my soul. His eyes shown, not with light but with a kind of wet darkness." 

Professor (First Time #2) by Madison Faye ★★★★★

The hot college professor fantasy is a classic. Since they started giving lectures in amphitheaters there's been someone day dreaming about extra credit. This erotica is the hottest retelling of that fantasy.

Life Ever After by Carla Grauls ★★☆☆☆

No amount of production value could change the fact that this was just two people arguing for an hour.

Grimoire of the Lamb (The Iron Druid Chronicles #0.4) by Kevin Hearne ★★★☆☆

Atticus is not a cat guy but he's decided to go against Bast and her minions (cats) who banned him from Egypt.

Now why would he go out of his way to piss off a goddess, I mean besides it being Tuesday?

A Vampire's Valentine Surprise (Nocturne Falls #5.5) by Kristen Painter ★★★☆☆

Damn it feels good to be a vampire... 

Breaking the Superhero (Femdom Erotica) by C.M. Ellis ★★★☆☆

"I'd be careful with your words, slave. They can get you in trouble around here.” 

So I was looking for some superhero smut and found this, how could I not download it? This is not your typical HEA BDSM, oh no dearies, Mistress Crimson is a meany. 

Rolling in the Deep (Rolling in the Deep #0.5) by Mira Grant ★★★★☆

A gorrible mermaid tale in the spirit of David Wellington. It's short, fast paced, whimsical, and just sciency enough to hook you before the horror sets in. The eel KY was a nice touch.

The Witch's Halloween Hero (Nocturne Falls #4.5) ★★★☆☆

Rook and Witch have dated for years and now, at the Halloween Ball, it’s time...

Queue the magic.

Queue the fireworks.

Queue the ring.

Happy Halloween!

Probed By Tentacles (Monster Seductions) by Wren Winter ★★★☆☆

It's Sailor Moon verses the evil tentacle monster! 

Selene has just finished her first college class, she is a perfectly ordinary 18 year old girl with dreams of a rich husband.

A Plutonian Wife by Kenneth Buff★★★★☆

I love free super short scifi gender expectation swap stories! Kristoff is a rich Earth guy sick of being loved for his money but dismissed for his average looks. Where can a bloke go to be appreciated as a man and not a wallet? Why Pluto of course! 

Hannah-Beast by Jennifer McMahon ★★★★☆

Please. Don’t let them do this to me. 

But Amanda had only pointed.

That’s her. That’s Hannah-beast. 

This was brutal. Sociopathic mean girls, murder, unrelenting guilt, and one long wet carving knife to end it all.

The Werewolf's Christmas Wish (Nocturne Falls #4.6) by Kristen Painter ★★★☆☆

Yes, it’s a cheesy got-my-man-for-Christmas story. But I still liked it because it was also a beautiful woman telling a man she didn’t care that he was broke and picking himself back up, she wanted the whole package. The whole hot-as-hell werewolf fireman package, lol.