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The Hercule Poirot Complete Short Story collection contains fifty one stories spanning the entirety of his career. Many were first published in various magazines and anthologies. Like all anthologies there were some gems and some real misses. Overall rating for the collection is 3 stars.

Individual ratings are below. My favourites were The Disappearance of Davenheim, The Veiled Lady, The Case of the Missing Will and The Theft of the Royal Ruby. My least favourites were The King of Clubs, The Adventure of the Cheap Flat and Wasps' Nest.

THE AFFAIR AT THE VICTORY BALL: **

THE JEWEL ROBBERY AT THE GRAND METROPOLITAN: ***

THE KING OF CLUBS: *

THE DISAPPEARANCE OF MR. DAVENHEIM: *****

THE PLYMOUTH EXPRESS: ***

THE ADVENTURE OF THE "THE WESTERN STAR": **

THE TRAGEDY OF MARSDON MANOR: ****

THE KIDNAPPED PRIME MINISTER: ***

THE MILLION DOLLAR BOND ROBBERY: ***

THE ADVENTURE OF THE CHEAP FLAT: *

THE MYSTERY OF HUNTER'S LODGE: ***

THE CHOCOLATE BOX: ****

THE ADVENTURE OF THE EGYPTIAN TOMB: ***

THE VEILED LADY: *****

THE ADVENTURE OF JOHNNIE WAVERLY: ****

THE MARKET BASING MYSTERY: ***

THE ADVENTURE OF THE ITALIAN NOBLEMAN: ****

THE CASE OF THE MISSING WILL: *****

THE INCREDIBLE THEFT: ****

THE ADVENTURE OF THE CLAPHAM COOK: ***

THE LOST MINE: **

THE CORNISH MYSTERY: ****

THE DOUBLE CLUE: ***

THE THEFT OF THE ROYAL RUBY: *****

THE LEMESURIER INHERITANCE: ***

THE UNDER DOG: ****

DOUBLE SIN: ***

WASPS' NEST: *

THE THIRD FLOOR FLAT: **

THE MYSTERY OF THE BAGHDAD CHEST: ***

DEAD MAN'S MIRROR: ****

HOW DOES YOUR GARDEN GROW?: **

PROBLEM AT SEA: ***

TRIANGLE AT RHODES: **

MURDER IN THE MEWS: ****

YELLOW IRIS: ***

THE DREAM: ***

THE LABORS OF HERCULES: **

THE NEMEAN LION: ***

THE LERNEAN HYDRA: ****

THE ARCADIAN DEER: **

THE ERYMANTHIAN BOAR: ****

THE AUGEAN STABLES: ****

THE STYMPHALEAN BIRDS: ***

THE CRETAN BULL: ****

THE HORSES OF DIOMEDES: **

THE GIRDLE OF HYPPOLITA: **

THE FLOCK OF GERYON: ***

THE APPLES OF THE HESPERIDES: **

THE CAPTURE OF CERBERUS: ***

FOUR AND TWENTY BLACKBIRDS: ***

Two stories seem to be missing from the collection; The Mystery of the Spanish Chest and Second Gong. The first is an expanded version of The Mystery of the Baghdad Chest and the second is a pared down version of Dead Man's Mirror. Ratings are below.

THE MYSTERY OF THE SPANISH CHEST: ****

SECOND GONG: ***

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The Supernatural Enforcers Agency is a police division that specializes in supernatural crime. Wolf shifter, Cutter, has trouble keeping his cool and has been to anger management classes so many times he could teach the class - he just can't pass it. With Gunner on his honeymoon, Cutter is left in charge but between difficult cases, impossible new team mates and losing his temper, it's not long before he's wishing Gunner comes back. When a case from his past returns and all the evidence points to his guilt, Cutter has to turn to the one person who always has his back.

Hedgehog shifter, Lucie, is a nurse with SEA and has been trying to get Cutter to go out with her ever since they met. She won't take no for an answer but she's getting increasingly desperate for the yes. When Cutter is framed, she has her chance and she takes it with wide open arms.

I enjoyed this one. The inner dialogue of Cutter and Lucie was amusing.

Yes, she had to make sure her wolf was okay. After all, if he was wrongly imprisoned or something, it would really put a strain on their future marriage and the dozen or so little hedgehogs they were bound to have. She should probably leave out that part when she spoke to him – she didn’t want him to make a break for Mexico.

Price, Elizabeth Ann. For Your Paws Only (Supernatural Enforcers Agency Book 2) (p. 79). Kindle Edition.

Lucie was hilarious. She's absolutely nuts. I loved her logic.

“Okay! But, sure, now you feel fine, but who’s to say that your leg won’t fall off in a couple of days time?” Lucie fixed him with a wide-eyed stare. He let out a scoff of disbelief before his expression became much more uncomfortable.

“Is that a possibility?” Probably not, but she wasn’t about to admit that and let him run around the city being hunted.

“Who knows? Not that many shifters survive silver bullets. You probably only survived out of stubbornness.”

“I don’t want to lose my leg. I guess I better stay here.” He didn't say it very graciously, but she and her hedgehog were jumping for joy. They weren’t exactly the best circumstances, but hey, beggars couldn’t be choosers.

Price, Elizabeth Ann. For Your Paws Only (Supernatural Enforcers Agency Book 2) (p. 135). Kindle Edition.

Although Cutter's nuts too - just different issues.

“Fuck,” he breathed, on seeing the fist-sized dent he just made in the wall. He moved some cleaning products in front of it and made his way out the closet, making sure no one saw him. Could have been anyone…

Price, Elizabeth Ann. For Your Paws Only (Supernatural Enforcers Agency Book 2) (p. 105). Kindle Edition.

Really, they kinda deserved each other. The mystery was interesting but predictable. I liked them working together. The romance was instalove but was offset by the fact they'd both been stalking each other for a whole year and seemed to know all about each other. And I loved Aunt Mae's opinion.

Lucie shook off her own discontent at missing Cutter and plastered a bright smile on her face. Like Aunt Mae always said, ‘when life gives you lemons, just quit your whining and eat your darn lemons.’ Aunt Mae said the oddest things, but she combined a smiley outlook on life with a steely resolve that would make a rhino shifter pause before going up against her.

Price, Elizabeth Ann. For Your Paws Only (Supernatural Enforcers Agency Book 2) (pp. 22-23). Kindle Edition.

Overall it was a fun read. Lighthearted paranormal romance suspense with humour and mystery. 3 stars.

Fox shifter, Carly Columbo has been framed for murder and is out on bail. She definitely intends to go to her court hearing, she got dressed and everything and then gave up and got the hell out of dodge. Wolf shifter, Jackson Carr is the bounty hunter on her trail but when he finds out she's in danger - he gives up on taking her in and instead protects her, defends her and works to find out who framed her.

This was a quick easy read. There's not a lot of plot or character development - they mainly just have sex. A lot. It was somewhat funny but mostly I was bored reading. It just didn't have the same appeal of E.A. Price's Supernatural Enforcers Agency. Carly and Jackson were pretty bland characters - they were alright, just not particularly interesting.

2 stars.

The third book in the Park Trilogy, Angel Park is the conclusion to the story of the Ongoing Investigation Division - an effort to devote manpower to cold cases and reallocate resources to work the cases to their natural conclusion. The department is made up of Detectives Stan Wyld and Jake Steiner, I.T. specialist, Mallory Dimante and newly acquired pet/police dog, Jake. Angel Park is the continuation of the OID's second case the disappearance of film director, James Marston.

I loved the first book and it's been steadily downhill ever since. The plot was messy, the characters were irritating and the romance was bizarre. Jake and Mallory's interactions were stilted and weird and they got weirder. When they finally had sex it was on the heels of him hitting on and sleeping with another woman and Mallory failing to tell him that woman is a prime suspect.

On top of that, Stan and Michael don't appear as much and it all got way too ridiculous. And the ending was super disappointing.

Why kill off Stan? He was happy with Bea - why couldn't they just live happily ever after. I mean I get killing off main characters but there was nothing gained by it in this except to make me sad.

I would suggest reading the first book, Olive Park, and stopping there unless or until, an editor reworks the final two books and restructures the narrative for a more cohesive story. There's definitely a gem of a story in the trilogy - but the execution in the last two books have let it down.

3 stars.

The Supernatural Enforcers Agency is a police division that specializes in supernatural crime. Holiday Mates is a short story collection containing eight stories revolving around the members of the SEA. My favourites were Lucky Charmed and Mother's Day Mix-Up. My least favourite was Fudging Cupid!. Individual reviews and ratings below. Overall collection rating was 3 stars.

DIE SOFTLY: ***

FUDGING CUPID!: **

SHANNON, THE ANNOYING GHOST: ***

LUCKY CHARMED: ****

EGGHUNTERS: ***

CINCO DE O - MY!: ***

MOTHER'S DAY MIX-UP: ****

PERFECT AND AWESOME: ***

DIE SOFTLY: ***

Penguin shifter, Penny and SEA Jaguar shifter, Walter Diaz are thrown together when the store they're doing last minute Christmas shopping at is robbed and they're taken hostage. I enjoyed this a lot more than I expected to. There's not a lot of depth but it's a fun amusing story about them getting together with a small background crime plot. I wasn't sure about Diaz in the previous books but he was pretty funny in this. Completely outrageous and a sexual harassment lawsuit waiting to happen, but hilarious. And I loved the animal shifter vs. human mindset thoughts. 3 stars.

FUDGING CUPID!: **

Valentine's Day at the SEA offices takes a turn for unhappy when a warlock dressed as Cupid shoots his love arrows, making Norma (the director secretary) think she's in love with Gerry and Lucie think she's in love with Wayne - which makes Cutter one very unhappy mate. This was alright. Quick short story featuring most of the SEA gang and Cutter forgetting Valentine's Day. The focus is mainly on Cutter and Lucie. 2 stars.

SHANNON, THE ANNOYING GHOST: ***

Gunner and Erin are disappointed to find their new house is haunted by a ghost who insists she was murdered and wants them to find her killer. This was good. Gunner was his usual crazy possessive self and Erin was competent in the face of danger.

Even pregnant, she knows how to use her mace.

The mystery of who killed Shannon was interesting and actually managed to surprise me.

I mean yeah I thought for sure Shelley (the husband's assistant) was guilty - I just didn't expect that Shannon wasn't really dead. Shelley drugged her and admitted her to a hospital where her sister works and put her in a medically induced coma. Her plan was to marry Mike (the husband who she was in love with) and to keep receiving the payments from Shannon's trust.

3 stars.

LUCKY CHARMED: ****

A leprechaun is arrested at SEA and has to grant three wishes in order to be able to leave. Penny, Boris and Winston Strong are the lucky recipients. Penny wants to know how Diaz really feels about her. Security guard, Boris, wants his crush, swan shifter, Cecile to see him as her hero. And Winston Strong wants to be a hero.

I loved catching back up with Penny and Diaz and was amused at his logic.

Penny thinks he's embarrassed by her because he won't introduce her to his work colleagues. So he takes her into the office and spends the day introducing her only to the females and avoiding places the men would be.

Boris and Cecile were sweet and gave off Gunner and Erin vibes. And Winston Strong was ridiculous. He finds his mate in Wolfman: The Lioness and the Wolf.

I've got to say though, my favourite character in this one was Ethel. Ethel was a badass.

“Come on, dear,” said Ethel soothingly as she helped Wolfman to his feet. “Did I save you?” he asked while rubbing his head. She gave him a sympathetic smile. “Not exactly, but you provided a nice distraction for me to clock him over the head. And look, I even managed to steal his wallet while he was trying to run away from me.” Ethel held it up proudly. She was quite the pickpocket back in the day. “That’ll teach the little bastard.”

Price, Elizabeth Ann. Holiday Mates: Short Stories (Supernatural Enforcers Agency) (p. 106). Kindle Edition.

4 stars.

EGGHUNTERS: ***

Bunny shifter, Judy is determined to get her old job back after she was demoted to assistant. She just needs to prove herself as an investigator and catch a thief who's stolen eggs. When she approaches Gerry Sanders at SEA for help, he lends her the assistance of gorilla shifter, Mason. This one was okay. There was a bit of mystery and detecting, bit of romance and some humour. 3 stars.

CINCO DE O - MY!: ***

Winston Strong makes a reappearance! Lioness shifter, Avery is having a bad day when her ex boyfriend accosts her, it gets worse when she's mugged by three gator shifters, but then she meets a hero - Wolfman. Winston is so absolutely ridiculous and it's hilarious. I liked seeing their first meeting. 3 stars.

MOTHER'S DAY MIX-UP: ****

Boris and Cecile visit Cecile's family for Mother's Day. This one was hilarious. I enjoyed the mystery and the snarky inner dialogue was to die for. Like this;

Course, she could do that by telling Edmund to take a fucking running jump thought his bear, grumpily. The male was smirking at him and Boris had the urge to stab him with a fork – he had a choice of four different forks so it was really tempting.

Price, Elizabeth Ann. Holiday Mates: Short Stories (Supernatural Enforcers Agency) (p. 216). Kindle Edition.

Or my favourite part;

“Now, you have nine minutes and forty seconds. And I must warn you after the ten minutes has ended, I will have to release the bear.” They glanced nervously at Boris. “I asked Boris to be on his nicest behavior this weekend,” she explained, “but given that you did try to frame him for theft, ruin our mating, and kept calling me Cissy, I will rescind my request if you do not leave immediately. If I were you, I wouldn’t wait around to see what he is capable of.” Their eyes widened before scurrying off in opposite directions.

Price, Elizabeth Ann. Holiday Mates: Short Stories (Supernatural Enforcers Agency) (p. 240). Kindle Edition.

Great read, 4 stars.

PERFECT AND AWESOME: ***

Lion shifter, Rick finds his match in witch, Ariadne. This was okay. Straightforward romance with a little bit of mystery. 3 stars.

The Supernatural Enforcers Agency is a police division that specializes in supernatural crime. The SEA team are kept busy when a Halloween party results in two deaths and a hospital visit for the attendees.

Human tech whiz, Sydney loves her new job at SEA and it only gets better when she meets witch, Kurt. Kurt is enamoured with Sydney the moment he meets her and is thrilled when she says yes to a date, he just needs to work out why his magic is going nuts. Luckily Sydney loves mysteries and is willing to help. And when they find evidence for their latest SEA case, they're determined to find the culprit.

This was alright. Sydney and Kurt were kind of lame. I didn't really like either of them. The romance between them was very instalove and lacks any real depth. Seeing the rest of the SEA team was good though. Gunner is busy showing everyone pictures of his cubs and Cutter is his usual fierce mother-fudging self which was pretty funny. The case itself was okay - it was fairly straightforward and there was a tiny bit of investigating.

A fun paranormal romance with a bit of mystery and humour. 3 stars.

The first of the Park Trilogy, Olive Park introduces the Ongoing Investigation Division - an effort to devote manpower to cold cases and reallocate resources to work the cases to their natural conclusion. The department is made up of Detectives Stan Wyld and Jake Steiner and I.T. specialist, Mallory Dimante. Their first case is one that has stumped the police department for fifteen years - the Olive Park murders - three young children found buried in shallow graves with no discernable pattern, little evidence and no viable suspects.

This was fantastic. It started slow but steadily built up speed until the explosive conclusion. It wasn't perfect - some bits felt rush and unexplained

(I still don't know why that cop was at the trailer there to start with)

and the timeline was a bit hard to gauge but generally it was a really enjoyable read with interesting and mostly likeable characters and a complex case.

Stan was great. Jake was average. And Mallory started off fantastic and steadily devolved into a complete ass.

Like I mean yeah, I get why she did it (forge Stan and Jake's name to an email requesting they investigate the Olive Park murders as their first case), but she could've apologised for screwing them over. Regardless of whether or not she'd do it again. Up until then she was a bit naive and a lot gung ho but likeable. I didn't like her as much after. I understood - but I didn't like it. She was really unfair saying they weren't going to investigate anything - just because they decided to make a difference tackling other cases first. Cases they'd be more likely to close.

In addition to the police, the narrative follows M and his little sister, Jessie who have recently moved in with their aunt after their parent's deaths. I adored M. He was smart and protective and brave and a total badass. The ending where he

takes the perp down with the shovel

was epic. The alternating viewpoints between the OID and M could have been a disaster but it worked well to drive the plot onwards and reveal otherwise unknown information. And I came to be heavily invested in M's story - even more so than that of the OID.

I did not remotely see the ending coming. The twist was awesome and I loved it. It's so rare to be surprised by crime fiction these days - you tend to read one and have read most, so it was fantastic to be genuinely taken aback. I can't wait to read the rest of the trilogy. I can't quite justify 5 stars, but it was a bit better than 4 and not quite 4.5 - so splitting the difference - 4.25 stars.

The Supernatural Enforcers Agency is a police division that specializes in supernatural crime. Isis is a sassy tiger shifter that leaves men drooling in her wake. She's not looking for a mate - she's looking for a good time, but she may have just found both in the human detective, Rafael Silva, she is forced to work with. Raf and Isis dance around each other as they investigate a case that involves cemeteries with missing body parts and an elusive scent of death.

I enjoyed this one more than I thought I would. I didn't really love Isis in the first two, her abrasive personality towards the main female characters wore on me. But the insight into her thoughts worked much better at making her a likeable and funny character. Her relationship was total instalove (which bothers me in all instances

except as a paranormal romance trope) but it wasn't too ridiculously sugary - only a little bit - and Isis was busy mocking it herself which helped.

I liked the investigation into the stolen body parts and I was amused by Raf and Isis competing to keep one another safe. The first half was taken up by the investigation and flirting, while the second half descended more into the lovey dovey sappy side of things and the results of the investigation.

There wasn't many appearances of the other SEA agents as there were in the first two books, but it worked well enough having the focus on the banter between Raf and Isis. Overall, a lighthearted shapeshifter romance with a little bit of crime and mystery, an instalove connection and a lot of steam. 3 stars.

The second book in the Park Trilogy, Crimson Park continues the story of the Ongoing Investigation Division - an effort to devote manpower to cold cases and reallocate resources to work the cases to their natural conclusion. The department is made up of Detectives Stan Wyld and Jake Steiner, I.T. specialist, Mallory Dimante and newly acquired pet/police dog, Jake. The second case for the OID begins with a missing person - a film director by the name of James Marston. But the more they look into things, the more strange things they uncover.

I loved the first book, the second though, was not quite as good. First off, it's a cliffhanger. I wouldn't say I love cliffhangers but I can deal with them if they're wrapped up to a sufficient point. This was not one of those and it left me confused and annoyed. I'm lucky the third book is available but I prefer my cliffhangers to be labelled so if it's not released - I can wait to read books together.

Second, this book could do with a good editor - or just a decent reader. While the first book was well plotted this was all over the shop - the narrative and continuity are a mess. Apart from the failure to remember where people were and what they were doing and a lack of decent editing to fix it, the author seems to have forgotten who is who as well. Mallory Dimante's father is now Handleman -

the innocent man in the first book who was considered guilty by everyone. In the first book her father was the guy who ran Handleman over with the car.

I honestly had to get the first book out to double check what the hell was going on - I thought I must be remembering wrong - but I was not. I was annoyed but I was still enjoying the book - the problem was the more that fell apart, the less I liked.

Part 1 was fantastic. The buildup of the case and the unexplained mysteries were great. Part 2 with the return of Michael and Jessie was even better. And then Part 3 it all started going downhill. Parts of the plot fell away - Mallory's stalker

like yeah it was Pitic? But why?

and the dead nurse both just went nowhere. Parts got messy - instead of collaborating (which was what I liked most in the first book), they all ran around in different directions like headless chooks. Instead of debriefing or even sharing basic information, they keep it all to themselves. And parts got gross. The office glass windows.

Semen on the glass? Really? Was that really necessary? I mean sure, let them have sex. Let them have sex against the glass even. With smudges because sure. But semen left on the glass was just fkn gross and so utterly unnecessary.

Mallory was rather hard to like at times. Between her gung ho attitude and her delusions she's just irritating. She's so unwilling to listen before doing everything her own way and I didn't understand her crush on Jake at all. I mean she seems to think they're great friends and I'm not sure why. The last book left it with him being super angry at her about her deception and there was nothing to indicate that had changed - but she seemed to think they were meant to be.

She thought Jake understood. Cop to cop. She thought he saw her good parts and ignored the rest because he knew how the scar happened. She thought he could see past the scar. Thought he could see only her. She didn’t realize how much she counted on that. Still, he’d chosen normal. And really, why go with damaged goods when you can get new?

Booth, C. J.. Crimson Park: A spellbinding mystery with an unmissable twist (The Park Trilogy Book 2) (p. 287). Kindle Edition.

Like um what now? The romance was ridiculous and frankly, pretty unbelievable and so, so cringeworthy. Jake was okay. Can't say I really liked him as much as I did in the first book. But I liked Jake dog. He was funny and I loved Stan and I was

shattered by the shooting of them both! Poor Jake dog and Stan.

And of course I'm a huge Michael fan. I loved that he looks after Jessie and it was awesome when he

kicked Pitic in the face. Little creep deserves it.

He's a total badass. And his lying was particularly amusing.

Not quite as good as the first book and definitely should be read in conjunction with the third book Angel Park, but a relatively decent read if you ignore a few big missteps. 3.5 stars, rounded to 4.

Ed Kennedy lives an uneventful life as a cabbie until the day him and his friends, Audrey, Richie and Marv witness a bank robbery. Ed heroically apprehends the robber which sparks a mysterious quest to become the messenger - a vigilante justice seeker, out to right the wrongs of society one playing card at a time.

I really enjoyed this. I loved the premise. It was original and creative and interesting. I liked Ed. I relate to Ed. I liked all the people he helped. It was fantastic. I was less keen on the romance between him and Aubrey but it was okay. On the other hand I loved Marv and the Doorman (his dog). In terms of themes, I liked the way God was handled in this - there was a touch of religion but it was peripheral. It was less about God and more about kindness and community and I really liked that message. And I loved the Aussie humour.

And then we come to the ending. WTF?!

I could have happily accepted that the criminal did it for unknown reasons. That worked. Maybe it was God. Maybe it wasn't. Maybe someone just wanted to straighten out the world. I could've handled any of those reasons. The extra man saying he killed his father - that was fking bullshit. I hate that shit. There was no need to bring his father into it. It should have been cut from the final manuscript. It made what was otherwise a brilliant story weak. And stupid. The last two chapters: "The folder" was a completely unnecessary chapter. "The message" could have just as easily replaced it. Should have. Or not - the ending could have easily been left as "the ending is not the end" chapter. It irritates me so much. Why ruin an otherwise great book? It's so frustrating.

4 stars.

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