(Image from Barnes & Noble)

Myth and superstition swirl through the Kentucky hills, adding a sinister bewitchment to the daily lives of those who live there.  Especially folks like Annie Holleran, who've been blessed/cursed with the "know-how," which "floats just above the lavender bushes, trickles from the moss hanging in the oaks, drifts like a fallen leaf down the Lone Fork River, just waiting for someone ... to scoop it or snatch it or pluck it from the air" (2).  Like her mother before her, Annie "feels things that aren't hers to feel" (13-14), a spooky skill that makes even the silliest of mountain rituals seem heavy with meaning.  Naturally, then, Annie's a little apprehensive about what she's about to do.  When girls in Hayden County reach their ascension day (exactly halfway between their 15th and 16th birthdays), it's time to gather at the nearest well.  According to legend, when they gaze into its depths, at precisely midnight—the face of their future husband will be revealed.  It's ridiculous, of course, and yet, Annie can't resist this bit of foolish fortune-seeking.

The nearest well to Annie's home lies in a place she's forbidden to go.  Hollerans do not cross the lavender fields, don't dare to step onto Baine property.  Not since Juna Crowley, Annie's mother, came of age 16 years ago and used her particular mountain magic to ensnare the best of the Baine boys.  Ignoring every warning, Annie heads for the well.  What she discovers there is not the identity of her intended, but a dead body.  The corpse of a Baine.  

Annie's grisly discovery stirs up an old mystery that cuts to the heart of the Holleran/Baine feud.  As the lavender harvest nears and the past comes calling, she knows trouble isn't far behind.  Terrified that Juna will return to cause even more damage, Annie waits with dread.  Somehow, she must save her family and her community from the witch who cursed them all, but how can Annie do that when she carries her own horrifying secret fear—that she is just like her mother, the infamous Juna Crowley.

Atmospheric and haunting, Let Me Die in His Footsteps by Lori Roy is a tantalizing Southern Gothic mystery.  With a vivid, evocative setting; authentic, interesting characters; and plenty of complex, compelling family drama, if offers a tense, suspenseful story.  Overall, its a sad story, almost overwhelmingly depressing.  That, plus the sometimes confusing back-and-forth-in-time narration, made the novel difficult to read at times.  In the end, I found Let Me Die in His Footsteps intriguing, but not as enjoyable as other books I've read in this genre.

(Readalikes:  Reminds me a little of American Ghost by Janis Owens)

Grade:

In this sidesplittingly funny follow-up to the New York Times bestselling The Spellman Files, San Francisco’s own highly functioning yet supremely dysfunctional family of private investigators are back on the case in another mystery full of suspicion, surveillance, humor, and surprise from award-winning author Lisa Lutz. Curse of the Spellmans was nominated for both the Edgar Award and the Macavity Award, and the Izzy Spellman Mysteries have earned comparisons to everything from Carl Hiaasen and Janet Evanovich to Veronica Mars and Bridget Jones.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               When Izzy Spellman, PI, is arrested for the fourth time in three months, she writes it off as a job hazard. She’s been (obsessively) keeping surveillance on a suspicious next door neighbor (suspect’s name: John Brown), convinced he’s up to no good—even if her parents (the management at Spellman Investigations) are not.                                                                                                                                                     When the (displeased) management refuses to bail Izzy out, it is Morty, Izzy’s octogenarian lawyer, who comes to her rescue. But before he can build a defense, he has to know the facts. Over weak coffee and diner sandwiches, Izzy unveils the whole truth and nothing but the truth—as only she, a thirty-year-old licensed professional, can.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             When not compiling Suspicious Behavior Reports on all her family members, staking out her neighbor, or trying to keep her sister, Rae, from stalking her “best friend,” Inspector Henry Stone, Izzy has been busy attempting to apprehend the copycat vandal whose attacks on Mrs. Chandler’s holiday lawn tableaux perfectly and eerily match a series of crimes from 1991–92, when Izzy and her best friend, Petra, happened to be at their most rebellious and delinquent. As Curse of the Spellmans unfolds, it’s clear that Morty may be on retainer, but Izzy is still very much on the case...er, cases—her own and that of every other Spellman family member.

As you may remember, The Spellman Files, the first book in Lutz's zany series about a family of private eyes working in San Francisco, made me laugh out loud.  More than once.  In public.  It's that hilarious.  Curse of the Spellmans, the second book in the series, inspired a repeat performance.  There's just something about Isabelle, our lovable anti-hero, that I find wholly appealing.  Not only is she hapless and hilarious, but she's so real.  Her madcap adventures make for fun, addicting reading.  Every time.  After the first Spellman novel, Curse of the Spellmans does feel a little formulaic and predictable.  Still, the novel kept me royally entertained.  I'm not usually a big fan of screwball comedy, but I make an exception for the Spellmans.  I don't care how goofy these mysteries get, I adore them.

(Readalikes:  Other books in the Spellman series [The Spellman Files; Revenge of the Spellmans; The Spellmans Strike Again; Trail of the Spellmans; and The Last Word])

Grade:

(Image from Barnes & Noble)

(Note:  While this review will not contain spoilers for Speaking in Bones by Kathy Reichs, it may inadvertently reveal plot surprises from earlier Tempe Brennan thrillers.  As always, I recommend reading books in a series in order.)

Keeping cool under pressure comes with the territory for forensic anthropologist Tempe Brennan.  No matter what kind of crazy she's dealing with in her personal life (with a daughter fighting in Afghanistan; a bi-polar mother ridden with cancer; and a marriage proposal from her on-again/off-again boyfriend Andrew Ryan, crazy might be an understatement), her professional focus never wavers.  So, when Hazel "Lucky" Strike, an eccentric websleuth, comes to Tempe with a chilling recording that may be a clue in the disappearance of a teenage girl, she listens.  While Tempe doesn't approve of amateur investigators nosing into police business, she also can't quite dismiss what Lucky's saying.  Especially when the other woman's instincts appear to be right on track.  Is Lucky correct in her theory that the bones of 18-year-old Cora Teague are sitting, unidentified, in Tempe's lab?

With the help of Zeb Ramsey, a local deputy, Tempe heads into the Blue Ridge Mountains to investigate Cora's disappearance three years ago.  Her inquiries turn up more questions than answers.  Especially from the teenager's parents, religious zealots who never bothered to report their daughter as missing.  When Tempe makes more macabre finds in the mountains, she becomes even more determined to find out what happened to Cora.  The closer she comes to the truth, the more dangerous her quest becomes.  Even with her own life on the line, Tempe persists in her dogged pursuit, but can she keep herself alive long enough to determine Cora's fate?  If she does, she's still got a confusing proposal to deal with.  How will she answer Andrew Ryan, when he's got both her heart and her head in a very complicated tangle?  

If you read this blog with any frequency, you're well aware of my obsession with the Tempe Brennan series by Kathy Reichs.  The author, who is herself a forensic anthropologist, writes with authority about bone analysis, doing so in a way that is both intriguing and accessible to the average person.  While the science is undeniably fascinating, it's not what makes these books stand out.  They shine because of Tempe herself.  Not only is our heroine smart and devoted, but she's also warm, funny, and self-deprecating.  Which isn't to say she's perfect.  She's realistically flawed, which only makes her more appealing.  While I would read this series just to hang with Tempe, I also love that it's full of pulse-pounding action, can't-look-away suspense, entertaining characters, and plenty of interpersonal drama.  

As with any series, some of the Tempe mysteries are better than others.  Speaking in Bones, the newest, hovers right up there with my other favorites.  The novel presents an intriguing mystery, some compelling new story people, and surprising plot twists, not to mention developments between Tempe and Ryan.  What more can a Tempe fan ask for?  Not much, really.  Speaking in Bones satisfies in every way.  My only disappointment comes from having to wait a whole year to see what Tempe does next.  Boo hoo!

(Readalikes:  Other books in the Tempe Brennan series [Deja Dead; Death du Jour; Deadly Decisions; Fatal Voyage; Grave Secrets; Bare Bones; Monday Mourning; Cross Bones; Break no Bones; Bones to Ashes; Devil Bones; 206 Bones; Spider Bones; Flash and Bones; Bones Are Forever; Bones in Her Pocket (novella); Bones of the Lost; Swamp Bones (novella); Bones On Ice (novella); Bones Never Lie)

Grade: