Homicide in Hardcover by Kate Carlisle

photo courtesy of Amazon.com

Released: January 2009

Homicide in Hardcover is the first novel in the "Bibliophile" cozy mystery series by Kate Carlisle. At the time of this writing, there are 14 books in the series (15 if you count the novella released between books #4 and #5), which is exciting news for people like me who are just now discovering this series! I've had Homicide in Hardcover sitting on my bookshelf since its release and now I'm kicking myself for not having started it sooner because I loved it! On the plus side, now I can binge-read the entire series.

Swerve by Vicki Pettersson

photo courtesy of Amazon.com

Released: July 2015

Swerve is a thriller and standalone novel by Vicki Pettersson — author of the popular "Sign of the Zodiac" urban fantasy series. Like the urban fantasy series, Swerve takes place in Las Vegas, too (as well as in Primm and on the I-15), so if you live in Vegas or have spent time there, you'll most likely really enjoy this novel.

Swerve is a quick read and everything a thriller should be — it's extremely suspenseful and fast-paced, and well written to keep you interested to the last page. It's bloody, gory, and scary, and could easily be adapted for the big screen. In fact, Pettersson's writing in Swerve is so vivid and colorful that I could see the story unfolding in my head as if it were an actual movie.