Stacking the Shelves (19)

For the second year in a row, I'm going to try to spend very little for books. That means I'll be drawing from my huge pile of books already on hand, the library, freebies and gifts. And, I'll be requesting the occasional pre-release copy for review. This past week, I did very well. I only purchased one new book—one I picked up on sale at Amazon.com using some of the remaining gift-card money on account.

How about you? Any new books? You're invited to tell us all about it by joining the fun at Stacking the Shelves. According to the reviewers at Tynga's Reviews who host the meme:

Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

Gifts

Moriarity contains the first three books in the Kronberg Thriller Series: The Devil's Grin, The Fall, and The Journey. Based on high recommendations by some online reading pals, I used my gift card balance to purchase this trilogy while the Kindle edition was on sale for 99 cents. While I already own the first book The Devil's Grin, which I picked up for free in August, both of the other books are currently selling individually for $3.99 each. Obviously, picking up all three for less than a dollar is a very good deal.

So what are these books all about? As you might deduce from the title of the book, it has something to do with Sherlock Holmes. Dr Anton Kronberg—England’s best bacteriologist—is called upon to investigate a murdered cholera victim. He crosses paths with Sherlock Holmes and the detective immediately discovers Kronberg's secret: he's actually a woman masquerading as a man in order to practice medicine.

For Review

Scanning the available books at NetGalley, I spied these two cozy mysteries with publication dates of 14 September 2014 and 2 February 2015. Blanche on the Lam is the first of four Blanche White titles by author Barbara Neely. According to the SYKM website it won the 1992 Agatha Award for Best First Novel, 1993 Anthony Award for Best First Novel, and 1993 Macavity Award for Best First Novel. Originally published by Penguin, the books are now being released in eBook format by Brash Books.

From the back cover: “Blanche White lends a refreshing African-American, female twist to the mystery tradition, as she turns from domestic worker to insightful--if reluctant--sleuth. A middle-aged housekeeper with a strong sense of humor, Blanche becomes an unlikely yet ingenious sleuth when murder disrupts the wealthy household of her employers.”