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Saturday, June 26, 2021

Striking Range by Margaret Mizushima and The Witch Haven by Sasha Peyton Smith

 

Deputy Mattie Cobb and her K-9 Robo are back in another Timber Creek Mystery by Margaret Mizushima.  

Mattie and cold case detective Jim Hauck go to the Colorado State Prison planning to interview John Cobb the man who tried to kill Mattie and who may also have information about her father's murder three decades earlier. To their frustration, the Cobb is killed in his cell before the interview can take place. The only clue they discover is a map of the Timber Creek area.

There are several threads that are intertwined in this latest addition to the series:  Mattie's search for information about her father, a dangerous secret on the mountain, a dead young woman and a missing newborn, and then Cole goes missing on the mountain.  But it is the characters in the series that provide the biggest draw, and Robo is always a star.  This time the puppies Robo fathered give their mother a difficult time, but are received with great joy by all of those who love both Robo and Sassy.  

I look forward to every book in this series.  Mizushima has once again kept me eagerly turning the pages to see what the familiar characters are up to, puzzling the mysteries, and cheering on Robo.  

NetGalley/Crooked Lane Books                                                                                                                     Mystery.  Sept. 7, 2021.  Print length:  288 pages.


The Witch Haven is Book One of a duology by Sasha Peyton Smith.  

Nice cover.  Good writing.  Interesting premise.  However, the characters are thin and the story itself was both a combination of rushed and slow.  The events take place in a very short space of time, but the pacing often dragged.  

from description:  In 1911 New York City, seventeen-year-old Frances Hallowell spends her days as a seamstress, mourning the mysterious death of her brother months prior. Everything changes when she’s attacked and a man ends up dead at her feet—her scissors in his neck, and she can’t explain how they got there.

Frances waits to be arrested for murder, but before that can happen, two "nurses" whisk her off to Hexahaven Sanitarium for tuberculosis patients.  Hexahaven, however, is not a sanitarium for tb patients, it is a school for witches.

For someone who had been living in poverty and suddenly discovers she has magic powers, Frances' quick assessment of Haxahaven as a prison seems unrealistic.  She receives a safe place to stay, new friends, good food, and classes for learning control of her new powers.   I can see that she might tire of the restrictions and silly classes eventually, but within a month?  A poor seamstress who had next to nothing and had just been saved from a murder charge would likely take a little time to appreciate her good fortune.

Frances, however, immediately turns against the headmistress, but believes in a young man who has been leaving her notes to meet him (and doesn't spend much time being concerned about how he manages to do so or why).  She's headstrong and makes decisions that she often realizes are risky and might endanger others, but goes right ahead.  She is suspicious of the headmistress and even her friends, but strangely trusting where she shouldn't.  Frances wants her way (and right now) so badly she is heedless of the effect on others.  She is then surprised and regretful, before she rushes off to another situation.  Doesn't learn much from experience, our Frances.

Stock characters and plot holes are a problem in The Witch Haven.  

Read in June.  Blog review scheduled for  

NetGalley/Simon & Schuster
YA, Paranormal.  August 31, 2021.  Print length:  448 pages.

12 comments:

  1. I really enjoy Mizushima's series, and I'm looking forward to reading this one.

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    1. :) It is a good series with great characters, and I look forward to each new entry.

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  2. I didn't know Mizushima had a new one coming out. Yay! I love Mattie and Robo. And there are puppies, too? I'm very excited. :D

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    1. Yep, puppies! Tricky delivery, but lovely pups. :)

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  3. Robo sounds like an awesome dog / i love dog stories. But too bad about Witch Haven - it seemed like it had potential.

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    1. Mizushima Timberlake K-9 series is excellent. Robo is a charming working dog, and the human characters are well-developed and interesting. I thought Witch Haven had potential, too, but it annoyed me. On the other hand, most of the reviews are very positive, so another example of matching book and reader.

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  4. Striking Range sounds awesome. This is a series I really want to check out one of these days. Everybody I know who's read it loves it. :)

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    1. I've enjoyed every single entry in the series. Maybe I liked the first one best because it introduced all the characters, and I knew there was a new series to follow. :)

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  5. I need to check out that series by Margaret Mizushima. Sounds like a great read based on the characters. Bummer about The Witch Haven, though, as the premise sounds promising.

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    1. The Timber Creek series has well-rounded, interesting characters, and Robo. :) I've liked all of them!

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  6. What a bummer about Witch Haven because that cover really caught my eye. I guess at least there are always puppies to read about in the Striking Range! That sounds like a fun series.

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    1. I did like the cover, but that ended up being the best part of the book. :)

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