Wilder Girls by Rory Power

Hetty is at a school on an island when illness breaks out.  First some of the teachers die.  Then it starts affecting the students.  Some live through it and some die.  They are quarantined and can't go home.  They also can't go outside the fence.  The forest and animals have been affected by the Tox, too.  Everybody and every thing is evolving...

Delacorte Press sent me an ARC of this book to read for review (thank you).  It will be published July 9th. 

Life is uncertain.  At any moment one of the girls can have a fit as the Tox works on them.  They are never sure if she will survive or not.  They are waiting for a cure but it's been 18 months already...

When Hetty's best friend goes missing, she's determined to find her.

Hetty gets picked to join the outdoor crew that goes after supplies.  They have little food and depend on these shipments.  As she watches her supervisor throw half of it away, she wonders what is going on.  She's told it was expired food but it didn't look bad to her. She finds the woodland creatures have changed.  Even the deer have teeth and will attack...

The next shipment they get consists of one crate, holding a cylinder of deadly gas.  They've written them off.

Things get very tense from here on.  One supervisor kills herself.  A bear tries to break into the building.  The head mistress betrays them and more.

If you read this book, you won't be bored.

A Conspiracy of Wolves by Candace Robb

When they find a dead body in the woods, they are afraid the wolves are back again.  After all, his throat was torn out.  Owen isn't sure it was a wolf. 

Severn House and Net Galley let me read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published on August 1st.

Then another man was knifed to death.  Are the deaths tied together?

This is an interesting tale with magic healers, a crime done long ago, a family seeking revenge, and politics and intrigue mixed in here and there.  The wolf was not a wolf.  Much of what goes on in this story is shadowed and hidden.

Owen and his friends do identify the killers and take them to jail but the ending is sad.  That's a lot of death for a small community.  Now they have time to heal.

The White Feather Killer by R.N. Morris

He's been moved out of the detective section into a dead end position as the person who checks out the many stories the cops have received about German spies.  World War I has just begun and anyone with a German heritage is being thought of as a traitor.  He has to report to a man he dislikes.

He manages to get away and look at the victim that has been found.  She has a white feather in her mouth.  The feathers were distributed at a meeting and their purpose was to shame any eligible boys into joining the services and going to war.  It signified a coward.  So why is it in her mouth?

Severn House and  Net Galley let me read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published on August 1st.

He's not supposed to be on the case but he begins investigating anyway.  The boss arrested a half-German American citizen and accuses him of her murder.  He won't listen to anyone else.  It makes good press because he's part German.

The good detective keeps looking.  There are several surprises in this story.  The dead girl's father commits suicide.  The butcher arrested is let out of jail and then there's another young woman's death nearer the butcher shop with a meat cleaver.  A young man looking for a missing girl takes a gun with him and ends up dead.  The killers are finally revealed and it's a surprise on all counts.  

This is a story that is sad and filled with bad news but it's a good mystery and reflects the effect of WWI.

Simply Dead by Eleanor Kuhns

A young midwife goes missing.  Not only has she been gone quite a while, it's snowing and will cover all trace of her tracks.  Everyone goes out to look for her...

Severn House and Net Galley allowed me to read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published August 1st.

Rees finds her in the snow with no shoes and no cloak.  He takes her home for his wife to warm up and goes to tell the sheriff.  He then tries to question the girl.  She says she was kidnapped but Rees doesn't think that's true.  Then her mother comes to collect her and stops all questions.   When his daughter is almost kidnapped, he's sure she hasn't told him the truth.

They put her with the Shakers to keep her safe but then a Shaker sister is strangled.  Her mother send her to Toronto to keep her safe and get her married.

When Rees talks to the father of the family he thinks is involved, he ends up with a dangerous enemy.  He thinks he's capable of anything.  But he wouldn't burn his own house down.  Who did that?

The actual killer was a surprise.  This was a very interesting read.

Blood on the Rocks by Priscilla Masters

Joanna is very pregnant but she's still a cop.  She's insulted when they put her in charge of finding an old missing man with dementia.  She thinks it's just busy work but it's more complicated than that...

Severn House and Net Galley let me read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published August 1st.

It seems the man has disappeared.  She questions the help trying to figure out how he got out the locked doors.  After all, the doors were all locked on the inside in the morning.  As an aside she finds he was upset because his teddy bear was missing.  Did he go out to look for it and get lost?  Everyone is looking for him but no one is finding him.  Then she wonders if he was abducted.  While she's worrying about the dementia patient, there is someone planning her demise...

A recent prisoner who was released is planning how to get even.  She's going to use the man as bait.

The man's bear was valuable and it was stolen for the money they could get out of it.  The lost man has been hid but they are afraid of the woman prisoner and agree to give him to her.

Will Joanna fall for the trap that's being set?  I'm afraid so.

Milady by Laura L Sullivan

Her father comes for an infrequent visit and ends up taking her with him on his return.  His lady friend at home has a son she might be interested in.  She is and she gets instructions on how to act like a lady from the lady friend.  She doesn't realize they plan to use her...

Berkley sent me a copy of this book to read for review (thank you).  It is being published today.

She helps George get to be the King's assistant and then he dumps her.  Her own father sends her to a nunnery.  Who expected her to be nice after that?

She knows poisons: how much will kill, how much will make them sick, what antidotes work.  She uses her charms to snare a young priest.  They escape together but when she wants to separate, he won't.  She ends up sneaking off.  She's out of luck, though.  He stole gold, and they are captured.  She's branded by the executioner but she gets away.  Now she can't pretend to be a lady, she's permanently marked.  But she does what she can.  She even gets married but won't let him consummate the marriage.  Then she learns about his temper.  He's a wicked man.

She really just wanted a man she could settle down with and have a family.  It's not to be.  With her poisons she leaves dead ones behind, she's escaping old enemies until they find her again and she's close to death many times.  She doesn't have a tame life.  She doesn't have love, just the power of her poisons and her personal strength.  Will that be enough? 

Love at First Bark by Debbie Burns

Mia was in the process of divorcing her husband when he suddenly dies.  She's now a widow and will concentrate on raising her son and taking care of the financial mess he left them in.  She's glad she has their good friend, Ben, to help her through this rough time.  She doesn't know that he's been in love with her for years.  When he was late for a date, Brad stepped in and and got her for his mate...

Sourcebooks Casablanca and Edelweiss  allowed me to read this book for review (yhank you).  It will be published July 30th.

Mia works at the local rescue clinic.  She's painting a mural on one wall when they have an emergency.  A woman has let a van full of dogs loose in the park.  They go to rescue them.  Mia finds one dog and it's pup.  They are both deaf.  She ends up fostering them.  Ben and a boy he's a Big Brother to pick a very headstrong dog that Tray loves.  Ben will have to keep him until Tray's mom changes her mind and let's Tray have the dog.  That might never happen.  Mia's son is falling in love with the dogs they are fostering, so they might adopted by them, too.

With Ben hanging around because of the dogs she's finding herself attracted to him.  She even kisses him and then backs off.  Her mother shows up for a visit and she sees what's going on.  She encourages the relationship.  She even gives her a clue about how long he's loved her.

The best is yet to come.  Ben has one more surprise for her...