Visions is the second in a series after Omens, reviewed here: 
http://unreachableshelf.weebly.com/on-the-shelf/omens-by-kelley-armstrong

Olivia Taylor-Jones discovered in the first book of the Cainsville series that not only was she adopted, but her birth parents are convicted serial killers. She cleared them of one of the murders of which they were accused, but before she can begin investigating any of the others, she sees a dead body dressed to resemble her. Then it vanishes before anybody else can see it.

Although this book was a fun ride, and the murder plot itself was nicely twisty, I felt like the book overall was a bit obvious. My guess from the first book of fairies being behind the weirdness of Cainsville and Olivia and Gabriel having fae blood has been confirmed. 

I have some further predictions:

Although Olivia begins a relationship with Ricky in this book: I officially predict that she's going to wind up with Gabriel by the end of the series and that Ricky will more likely than not die in some heroic way. Former fiance James is at this point too obviously either evil or being manipulated by evil supernatural powers to be taken seriously as a potential direction for Olivia to be pulled between the men in her life. On a non-romantic note, Olivia's parents will turn out to be exonerated of all the murders. I'd find it more interesting if they were guilty for various reasons related to their not being human but I feel like the first book set the tone as far as that's concerned.

At this point I'm reading for the ride and to see exactly how the fairies relate to the murders. And a little bit to see if I'm right.

Overall: B+

This review is based on a free copy received from the publisher.

World of Trouble is the third book in the Last Policeman trilogy, following The Last Policeman and Countdown City. We're now just two weeks away from the asteroid hitting the planet. Hank Palace's police department has long since been shut down, but he still can't help but search for justice, even though it's about to stop mattering permanently. This time, while searching for his sister and her band of radicals who believe they can save the world, he finds another young woman, her throat cut and near death.

The meaning and significance of life or the lack thereof has long been a theme of detective fiction, and this series has brought a SF twist to the subject with the imminent destruction of life as we know it. Hank has coded the towns he passes through according to how people are dealing with the end: red towns, where civilization has already been abandoned; green towns, which are keeping up the pretense of life as normal, and blue towns, which appear abandoned but aren't. But he still goes on, searching for his sister and for answers, even while there's no protecting anybody and the answers won't make a difference.

There are no surprises here, either in regards to the ending we've been promised since the first book or in the case of what happened with Hank's sister and the woman with her throat cut, which I saw coming long in advance. But the ending is exactly what this series needed all the same. This quietly philosophical series is perfect for fans of detective stories with a twist or apocalyptic settings.

Overall: A

World of Trouble will be available on July 15.

Confession time (this could be Librarian Shaming time if I took a picture with a sign): I spent a fair bit of time reading Les Miserables fan fic in high school and college. Not even about the musical, for the most part: based on the novel, or as it was affectionately known, "the brick." And really, the decrease in my reading it had more to do with a decrease in new material in the segments of it that interested me than in any "moving on" on my part. I still read new chapters in the epic works of my favorite authors when they appear. Specifically I liked the revolutionaries, and that was where I first really discovered slash. As a Trekkie, you'd have thought I'd have run into it before that, but what can I say? For some reason it made more sense to me to start by seeking out more about comparatively minor characters that Victor Hugo nevertheless gave complete personalities while telling us only about a small part of their lives than to look online for more stories about the main characters of three years of television shows and six movies. (I did a little of that later.)

I digress, but all of this is to say that I still have a fondness for good, solid, historical m/m. Alex Beecroft would be the best previous example of the kind of thing that I like. And I like historical fantasy. So when I saw that The Magpie Lord by K.J. Charles was available through Overdrive, I put in a request for my library to purchase it. (Because no matter how promising something sounds, I try new-to-me authors through the library if I possibly can.)

Lucien Vaudrey, the new Lord Crane, has just returned to England after the deaths of his father and elder brother after spending two decades in China. Since his return, he appears to have been placed under a curse that causes him to attempt to commit suicide. His loyal servant Merrick suspects the magical cause and suggests that they should consult a shaman. A friend puts them in touch with Stephen Day. (It's a little unclear if he is a shaman; the impression I get was that the term isn't used in England but that it refers to the same type of practitioner.) Day finds the magical artifact that was used to place the curse and neutralizes it, but realizes that somebody may have used it to murder the late father and brother and then left it to kill Lucien when he returned. Crane sympathizes with the reasons why somebody may have wanted his father and brother dead, but Day is a justicar whose duties include tracking down those who commit crimes with magic, and so he goes with Crane to his ancestral home to investigate further.

I enjoyed the fantastical Victorian world that Charles created. I'm a little unclear on how widespread magic is, still: it was implied several times that a person who uses magic could be prosecuted for witchcraft, period, by the civil authorities, not just punished by the justicars for what they did with that magic, and yet all the characters in the story seemed pretty open about who used it. Maybe it's a country vs. city thing, combined with Crane just having returned from China where shamans work openly? Maybe that will become clearer as the series goes on. And I enjoy the two main characters, both separately and how well balanced they are as a couple. Lord Crane is a survivor, strong and resourceful, and deeply committed to being different from his father and brother. Day, although physically unimpressive because he burns so much energy on magic, is a powerful magician and often takes the lead when danger looms. And although I would have said before reading this book that I was thoroughly sick of servants who are apparently their employer's best friend, the unique background between Lord Crane and Merrick made their relationship thoroughly believable and Merrick completely enjoyable.

I'm eagerly anticipating the next book in the Charm of Magpies series.

Overall Grade: A-

This review is based on a free e-galley received from the publisher.

I am still here, really, although I had absolutely no time to post this since finishing it Friday morning. Shadow of the Alchemist is the latest Crispin Guest medieval noir, a series which I've been loving since the beginning.

It's 1387, and the famous alchemist Nicholas Flamel has hired Crispin Guest,
a disgraced knight now earning a living as the Tracker, to find his wife and
apprentice, who he believes have run away together. But things take a turn, and
Guest and his apprentice Jack Tucker find themselves playing a game of wits with
somebody after Flamel's secrets and revenge. Meanwhile, Henry, the son of Guest's old lord, has reappeared in his life. Is it coincidental, or is he involved?

 The Medieval Noir series is brilliant and offers everything that readers
expect from a private detective series (or as some characters explain Guest's
profession "private sheriff"): a down and out hero scraping by to make a living
but holding to his own code of ethics, mysterious women who may be more than
they seem, and in 14th century London, a dangerous city where the powers that be
fight among themselves while the common people struggle to stay alive.

 Yet this installment ends on a strangely optimistic note. One wonders where
Guest will be twelve years from this book. Will he regain his knighthood and
continue his investigations as a part of the court? Or will a falling out keep
him where he is? I only hope the series continues long enough for us to find
out.

Overall Grade: A