RELATIVELY RISKY by Pauline Baird Jones

When artist/children’s book author Nell Whitby slams her bike into the perpetrator trying to steal New Orleans Detective Alex Baker’s truck, she sets off a chain of events that leads to danger for both of them. Nell is a misplaced librarian who moved from Wyoming to New Orleans after her parents’ death and works for her best friend’s catering company while trying to get her writing career off the ground. Unaware she is related to two families of a mafia trifecta active in New Orleans for years, Nell is the last person to speak to her mobster grandfather before he is killed. Her life as she knows it comes crashing down around her when she learns this and that her parents were the offspring of two of the mafia families. Alex, trying his best to protect a woman he likes more than he wants to, begins to wonder what his father, a retired cop, and his former partner are hiding from him. As Alex and Nell dodge bullets and thugs trying to kidnap Nell, the chemistry between them jumps into high gear and it’s all Alex can do to keep himself and Nell alive. This author’s writing style is unique: a strong dose of noir balanced with humor and witty dialogue. The plot moves at a fast pace as does the chemistry between Alex and Nell. The characters are well-developed and likeable, the relationship between Alex and his 12 siblings fun, and the New Orleans ambiance conveyed so realistically the reader will feel as if they have been plopped down right in the middle of the Big Easy.

ONE SHOT TOO MANY by Maggie Bishop

CSI wannabe Jemma Chase is back for another thrilling adventure in the latest addition to the Appalachian Adventure Mystery series. Jemma's hosting a meeting of the local photography club when newspaper photographer Scott Barker convulses and dies. Jemma calls her boyfriend, Detective Tucker with the Watauga County Sheriff's Department, to the scene. Knowing Jemma's propensity to engage in amateur sleuthing, Tucker warns her to quell any desire to help investigate. Jemma's life is pretty busy as trail-leader, photographer and carpenter for her parents' dude ranch, yet she keeps her ears open for any information she can pass on to Tucker. Once poisoning is confirmed, Tucker and his partner begin to focus on the members of the photography group and it seems everyone has a secret that could possibly lead to murder if revealed. When a past love steps back into Tucker's life, he tries not to let this distract him from his case or his feelings for Jemma. Maggie Bishop excels at pulling her reader into the moment with vivid, colorful descriptions of locale and fauna. Jemma Chase is an appealing character, a strong young woman who matures more with each book. Her life as trail-leader for the dude ranch is an intriguing concept and Bishop's description of daily activities at the ranch is interesting and fun. With great skill, Bishop delivers subtle clues as to the murderer, providing her readers with a challenging mystery.

NO SUCH THING AS A FREE LUNCH by Shelly Fredman

Brandy Alexander has a new job as puff piece reporter for a local television station in Philadelphia. Brandy replaced a popular reporter who was fired for being too hefty and none of her coworkers likes her because of this with the exception of anchorperson Tamra Rhineholt who befriends Brandy. But their friendship is short-lived when Tamra is found dead, apparently of a suicide. Brandy thinks there's more to it than that and is intent on proving her friend didn't kill herself, which places her own life in danger. To the rescue are the two sexy guys in her life, ex-boyfriend and cop Robert DiCarlo and new friend and bad-boy Nicholas Santiago. It's bad enough someone's trying to kill her but to make matters worse, Brandy's mother and father return to Philadelphia to attend the bar mitzvah of Brandy's brother and Brandy's still dealing with nightmares from her last life-threatening escapade. Shelly Fredman's Brandy Alexander No Such Thing As series offers readers humor, suspense, romance, and mystery, all delivered with great panache. Brandy is an endearing character, a somewhat klutzy woman who finds herself torn between her feelings for two men, one from the past, the other in the present and hopefully future. Her attempts at amateur sleuthing always get her in trouble but Brandy manages with each installment to land on her feet, ready to take on the world.

WHEN PIGS FLY by Bob Sanchez

Dietrich Kohl, who calls himself Diet Cola, thinks he has the winning ticket for the lottery, but he's scheduled to go into the pen for the next little while so breaks into the home of Brody and Carrick Durgin and hides the winning ticket in a vase on their mantle. The vase is actually an urn containing the ashes of the partner and friend of their son Mack Durgin, a retired cop who has relocated to Arizona. The Durgins send the urn to Mack, who carries it with him while he decides what to do with the ashes and along the way meets up with Calliope Vrattos, who's on her way to California, trying to escape an overzealous Elvis impersonator whose jaw she broke. When Diet Cola gets out of prison, he breaks into the Durgins' home only to learn the urn is now in Arizona. During the bus ride to Arizona, Diet Cola hooks up with Frosty and Ace, two dim-witted shoplifters who know Mack and are just dumb enough to think they can get in on whatever Diet Cola's after. Once there, they pair up with the Elvis impersonator stalking Calliope who has planted a GPS on her car. Into the fray steps Zippy, a druggie with a shaved head toting a zipper tattoo, who thinks Mack's having an affair with his girlfriend. And one can't forget Poindexter, the javelina, who's been set free in the desert and misses eating brussel sprouts and TV time with his owner yet manages to lumber his way into the lottery ticket caper. Bob Sanchez provides his reader with one hilarious romp, rapidly firing scenes so over the top and humorous, the reader is constantly smiling or laughing. Sanchez even offers the javelina's point of view on occasion, raising the comedic bar even more. Think Elmore Leonard meets Carl Hiaasen, which makes for a fun, enjoyable read.

FAMILY SECRETS: THREE GENERATIONS by Lissa Brown

Young Ellen Brodsky feels as if she's always been at odds with her mother, who makes it clear she regrets having children. Ellen's father, a distant, cold man who works long hours, expects the children to be in bed when he comes home, offering Ellen no counterbalance to what she perceives as a loveless existence. Into her life steps Ellen's grandmother, who died before Ellen was born, to become Ellen's confidante and role model. As Ellen grows up, her dysfunctional family fractures and Ellen is forced to act more mature than she is as she struggles to take care of others with only her grandmother to console her and offer advice. When things seem to be improving, a tragedy occurs, and only then is a secret about her dead grandmother revealed to Ellen. Lissa Brown offers an intriguing look into the dynamics of a dysfunctional family circa the 1950s, told through the eyes of a young girl struggling to understand the reasons behind her parents' actions. Baby boomers most especially will identify with this book due to the author's skillful portrayal of the time and culture. Brown shows a great aptitude for describing scenes so realistic the reader will feel as if s/he has stepped back in time and become part of the story. The characters are well-developed and the story one that will stay with the reader long after the book is finished.

ZERO TIME by T.W. Fiendly

Xmucane leads a time-travel expedition of 16 from Omeyocan to Earth, each landing at different places and different times, the last arriving 6000 solar years after the first. Their goal: to gain the healing properties of Earth's natural environment in an effort to save the population of Omeyocan from extinction due to a genetic flaw that prevents future breeding of males. As time draws near for the expedition to end, Xmucane, aided by her Great Serpent, leaves her original destination and travels to present-day Machu Picchu in the year 2011 to save Earth at the end of the Mayan Calendar in December, 2012. When Philadelphia science writer Keihla Benton joins an archeological team at Machu Picchu, she quickly learns her past is not what she thought and that if Earth and the civilization of Omeyocan are to be saved, she must join with her birth mother Xmucane to help defeat the Lord of Darkness and reestablish ties with her sister. T.W. Fendley has certainly written an interesting, suspenseful book. Genred historical fantasy, Zero Time could be classified as one heck of a sci-fi involving time travel and aliens, all tying in with the Mesoamerican culture and the end of the Mayan calendar. Although the names of characters are at first a bit difficult to read, with practice, the reader quickly overcomes this and is rewarded with an imaginative, compelling, smartly written read.

MURDER AT THE JUMPOFF by Jenny Bennett

UT professor Donald MacIntyre is reported missing when he doesn't return home from an off-trail hike in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Ranger Hector Jones puts together a search-and-rescue team and finds MacIntyre's body at the bottom of the Jumpoff, a cliff known to off-trail hikers. Since MacIntyre was an experienced, well-respected off-trail hiker and the nature of his injuries indicate foul play, Sevier County Sheriff's Detective Sally Connolly begins an investigation aided by Hector. They learn MacIntyre told his wife he thought he was being followed but the one person who had conflict with MacIntyre has an alibi for the date of his death. They focus on MacIntyre's wife, who was in the process of divorcing MacIntyre and is suspected of illegal activities, but she has no motive. Interviews with MacIntyre's friends begin to point to a murderer whose motive is senseless and deranged. Jenny Bennett brings her expertise as an off-trail hiker to Murder at the Jumpoff, weaving a galvanizing mystery into an environment that is tough and dangerous. Hikers will enjoy reading her vivid descriptions of different trails and locales within the Great Smoky Mountains and mystery readers will certainly enjoy a challenging and suspenseful plot. Sally Connolly is the ultimate investigator, tough, down-to-earth and likeable. Bennett skillfully introduces characters whose live intersect, at times superficially, yet eventually are revealed to be linked to the murder by one person.