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Toussaint "Touie" Moore is a Black private investigator from New York in the 1950's. Moore has been framed, back in New York City, for the murder of a White man and must now investigate who's actually behind the murder and why he's the one being framed. His investigation brings him to a small town in Ohio, right on the border of Kentucky. This is not a particularly welcoming area to a Black man in the late 1950's, and doubly so for one accused of killing a White man, but if there's any chance of finding the real killer, Touie knows he's going to have to find the responsible party himself. I'm a little embarrassed to admit that it's never crossed my mind that we don't see many Black detectives, either in literature or on the screen. People of color would likely note "of course you don't - that's part of the problem." Though I'd like to honestly believe that had there not been an introduction to this book which talked ab...

Bear Company (five stuffed bears who are now armored and aggressively protect their charges (children) are helping Timmy, who is looking for his father. Timmy's father is a scientist who created the Bear Company. But it isn't as easy as just searching ... an evil alien force of shape-shifters, known as the Dark, are looking to capture Timmy and other children. The search for Timmy's dad brings Timmy and Bear Squad into the city where they soon find themselves out-numbered by the Dark.  Fortunately for Timmy and the bears, Timmy's father also created an urban squad of warriors - Wolf Squad, a team of armored wolves.  The wolves are only too happy to take on the Dark - relishing a chance for some serious action and the ability to show their thanks to Timmy's dad. I picked up this book as part of my Kindle Unlimited subscription. It looked like a quick, fun, middle-school read, which is exactly what it was. This is the second book in a series but it wasn't too hard...

Amunet Khada is a royal princess of Ashorah. Her life is a preparation to become the queen. Attending her are a number of servants who are generally treated fairly, though harshly if they don't follow protocol. The servants know their place and they know that they are all expendable. When the Kaldfolk attack the palace and the king is killed, Amunet, now queen is whisked away by trusted guards, under the guise of being a servant, while her servant, Samira, is made to be a decoy - anticipating that she would be killed as the new queen. Instead, however, she is captured while the Kaldfolk put her through a series of trials intended to discern her divine powers. Knowing her role is to impersonate the queen so that the true queen can make her escape, Samira continues the deception to the best of her ability, knowing that the rigorous trials could end her life at any moment. With Amunet on the run, trying to reach the god of the underworld before she loses her powers, and Samira trying ...

Charles Lenox is a Victorian gentleman who enjoys relaxing in his private study with a cup of tea, a nice fire, and a good book. He also fancies himself a bit of a detective and explorer, even if only from the comfort of his favorite chair. When his good friend, Lady Jane, comes seeking his help, Charles is only too happy to oblige. One of Lady Jane's former servants, Prudence Smith, has died by an apparent suicide, but Charles suspects something much more nefarious. He believes that Prudence was murdered by means of a rare but extremely deadly poison. Being as rare as it is, it shouldn't take long to find out who had access to such a potion, thereby narrowing the possible suspects down, but it's definitely not nearly as easy as one would hope. A second murder complicates his investigation because his prime suspect for Prudence's murder is now the second victim. Still, Lenox is confident that the key to solving the crime lies with the poison that caused the beautiful bl...

Val is a young assassin-for-hire who is known, quite ominously, as "The Butcher." She has secret teleportation abilities and hides her identity to protect not only herself but her younger sisters, as well. The world of the privileged, those who live in the sky, is brutal to those who live more earth-bound and constantly fight for control of water. But the problem with having a secret as dark as being The Butcher, is keeping the secret. When someone uncovers Val's other identity and uses her sisters as a blackmail tool, Val has to seek out an old friend - a thief whose heart Val once broke - for help. I had high hopes for this book and the opening third or so were really exciting and a great introduction to the characters and Val's abilities, but the rest of the book really slowed down and became overly complicated in a world that was not being well-defined. Val as The Butcher is a pretty cool, kick-ass character. But I'm not sure we ever get any background on how ...

A wealthy, but unlikable local, Pepper McKay, is found dead in a local fishing stream, murdered by a blow to the back of his head. It might be easier to find someone who didn't want him dead, but among the most likely suspects are the man's four sons, all of whom had a motive for killing their father.  Absaroka County Sheriff Walt Longmire will investigate the homicide, but he'll have to be quick about it because three different wildfires in the area are roaring his way by the unpredictable winds. And just in case he needed to be distracted from the events at hand, Walt also will have to try to understand and work with the former Russian spy, Maxim Sudorov, who voluntarily checks himself into Walt's jail, but treats it like a luxury hotel. Maxim's role is to provide Walt (and the reader) with clues and the comparisons of what's happened with the McKay family, and Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel The Brothers Karamazov . Like the previous book in the Longmire series...