Where Fiction and Reality Meet
Title: Always Murder Series: The Last Picks: Book Nine Author: Gregory Ashe Publisher: Self-Published Length: 241 Pages Category: Cozy Mystery Rating: 4 Stars At a Glance: This series is sweet and cozy, goofy and corny and charming, and it's a welcome bit of easy to make you forget how hard everything is for a while.... Continue Reading →
Title: Evil All Along Series: The Last Picks: Book Eight Author: Gregory Ashe Publisher: Self-Published Length: 255 Pages Category: Cozy Mystery Rating: 4 Stars At a Glance: Keme's story hurts like a blunt instrument to the solar plexus, which makes the way it ends all the more wonderful. The Last Picks may not have it... Continue Reading →
Title: By the Book Series: The Last Picks: Book Seven Author: Gregory Ashe Publisher: Self-Published Length: 241 Pages Category: Cozy Mystery Rating: 4 Stars At a Glance: This Last Picks installment may feel like yet another crazy, cozy caper with Dash and company. It's a little more, though. It's a turning-point in some important relationships,... Continue Reading →
Title: Again with Feeling Series: The Last Picks: Book Six Author: Gregory Ashe Publisher: Self-Published Length: 211 Pages Category: Cozy Mystery, Romantic Suspense Rating: 5 Stars At a Glance: The quips, the banter, the awkwardness, the warmth of the emotional connection within this found family, they're all an amalgamation that works so splendidly against the... Continue Reading →
Title: Between You and Me Series: The Last Picks: Book Five Author: Gregory Ashe Publisher: Self-Published Length: 217 Pages Category: Cozy Mystery Rating: 5 Stars At a Glance: Between You and Me is yet another example of how crafty Ashe is. The romantic suspense in this installment of the Last Picks series came at the... Continue Reading →
Title: Broken Bird Series: The Last Picks: Book Four Author: Gregory Ashe Publisher: Self-Published Length: 209 Pages Category: Cozy Mystery Rating: 5 Stars At a Glance: This series has been such a fun and refreshing departure from Ashe's intense and special brand of angst. All the witty banter is still here, though, and it builds... Continue Reading →
Title: Doom Magnet Series: The Last Picks: Book Three Author: Gregory Ashe Publisher: Self-Published Length: 190 Pages Category: Cozy Mystery Rating: 5 Stars At a Glance: Doom Magnet is a quintessential cozy: it's charming and funny, and the relationship between Dash and his found family—even Keme!—couldn't give off more heartwarming vibes. I don't ever pretend... Continue Reading →
Title: Dude Magnet Series: The Last Picks: Book Two Author: Gregory Ashe Publisher: Self-Published Length: 212 Pages Category: Cozy Mystery Rating: 5 Stars At a Glance: This little nugget of a story is sheer perfection. It’s funny, heartwarming, and yes, there are murdery bits to give Dash focus, forcing him to make decision after decision... Continue Reading →
Title: Mystery Magnet Series: The Last Picks: Book One Author: Gregory Ashe Publisher: Self-Published Length: 174 Pages Category: Cozy Mystery Rating: 5 Stars At a Glance: An amateur sleuth goes sleuthing, and it all adds up to a fun cozy mystery. I look forward to getting to know this motley crew of characters so much... Continue Reading →
Title: The Evening Wolves Series: Iron on Iron: Book Four Author: Gregory Ashe Publisher: Self-Published Length: 373 Pages Category: Mystery/Suspense Rating: 5 Stars At a Glance: The Evening Wolves took such a rivetingly dark turn, which seems counterintuitive considering none of these books has ever been what anyone would call intensity-lite. It solidifies the friendships... Continue Reading →
If you're reading this, welcome, and Happy New Year 🎉🎇🎊 If the best you can say is you're glad 2023 is in the rearview mirror, well, give yourself a pat on the back for persevering. You made it through another year, and that's something worth acknowledging as an accomplishment in itself. Throughout the year, I've... Continue Reading →
Title: The Spoil of Beasts Series: Iron on Iron: Book Three Author: Gregory Ashe Publisher: Self-Published Length: 328 Pages Category: Mystery Rating: 5 Stars At a Glance: Gregory Ashe doesn’t write low hanging fruit in his mysteries; he shakes all the trees and sees what kind of foul spoils fall out. Reviewed By: Lisa Blurb:... Continue Reading →
Title: The Girl in the Wind Series: Iron on Iron: Book Two Author: Gregory Ashe Publisher: Self-Published Length: 379 Pages Category: Mystery/Suspense Rating: 5 Stars At a Glance: Theo's mental fatigue and emotional state are a central figure in The Girl in the Wind, as they ripple through and inform the narrative in ways that... Continue Reading →
Title: The Face in the Water Series: Iron on Iron: Book One Author: Gregory Ashe Publisher: Self-Published Length: 298 Pages Category: Mystery Rating: 5 Stars At a Glance: If you've read Gregory Ashe's work in the past, nothing about this book should surprise you in terms of the action and intrigue. Having said that, however,... Continue Reading →
Title: Where All Paths Meet Series: The Adventures of Holloway Holmes: Book Three Author: Gregory Ashe Publisher: Self-Published Length: 348 Pages Category: Mystery Rating: 5 Stars At a Glance: The Adventures of Holloway Holmes is a superb mystery series that pays homage to one of the greatest fictional detectives ever conceived, but does so in... Continue Reading →
Title: The Old Wheel Series: The Adventures of Holloway Holmes: Book Two Author: Gregory Ashe Publisher: Self-Published Length: 430 Pages Category: YA Mystery Rating: 5 Stars At a Glance: The Big Secrets trope makes for some particularly good drama and suspense in The Old Wheel. The Big Reveals, though; they are something else altogether. Time... Continue Reading →
Title: The Whole World Tinder Series: Flint and Tinder: Book Three Author: Gregory Ashe Publisher: Self-Published Length: 209 Pages Category: Fantasy Rating: 5 Stars At a Glance: One of the things that remains consistent in Ashe's work is that his characters and their various traumas nearly overshadow everything else happening to and around them. Nearly,... Continue Reading →
Title: The Strangest Forms Series: The Adventures of Holloway Holmes Author: Gregory Ashe Publisher: Self-Published Length: 290 Pages Category: YA, Murder Mystery Rating: 4.5 Stars At a Glance: The Strangest Form is on-brand Gregory Ashe—the pining, the missteps, the pining, the misunderstandings, the pining . . . Jack and Holloway are a convincing and competent... Continue Reading →
Title: Queer Fires Series: Flint and Tinder: Book Two Author: Gregory Ashe Publisher: Self-Published Length: 217 Pages Category: Fantasy, Paranormal Rating: 5 Stars At a Glance: Queer Fires isn't a mystery as much as it is mysterious. This is a place where the impossible is made possible, the unlikely becomes likely, and the unusual asks... Continue Reading →
Title: Lethal Control Series: The DuPage Parish Mysteries: Book Three Author: Gregory Ashe Publisher: Self-Published Length: 274 Pages Category: Horror Rating: 5 Stars At a Glance: One question that never goes unanswered in this author's work is "What are the stakes?" because every scene builds toward something significant to the characters and their story. This... Continue Reading →
Title: Final Orders Series: Hazard and Somerset: Arrows in the Hand: Book Five Author: Gregory Ashe Publisher: Self-Published Length: 410 Pages Category: Mystery Rating: 5 Stars At a Glance: The saying goes that having a child is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body. I can’t fathom how that... Continue Reading →
Title: Father Complex Series: Hazard and Somerset: Arrow in the Hand: Book Four Author: Gregory Ashe Publisher: Self-Published Length: 392 Pages Category: Mystery/Suspense Rating: 5 Stars At a Glance: Father Complex is inarguably one of author Gregory Ashe’s most aptly titled books, as the father/son relationship is a dominant theme, and Ashe further penetrates the... Continue Reading →
Title: Domestic Animals Series: Hazard and Somerset: Arrows in the Hand: Book Three Author: Gregory Ashe Publisher: Self-Published Length: 427 Pages Category: Murder Mystery Rating: 5 Stars At a Glance: Just when I think I’ve reached my maximum capacity of love for these characters, another book comes along and I’m proved wrong. This series could... Continue Reading →
The Year In Reviews As we yet again prepare to put another year in the books—oof, bad puns—I can't help but feel a little extra grateful and sentimental as I pay tribute to the authors and their words this year. They have made the stress and isolation of these long and challenging months a bit... Continue Reading →
The Novel Approach Reviews 