Lord John and the Private Matter

So, naturally after finishing the currently published Outlander series, I moved on to Gabaldon's other books, the Lord John Grey series (well, I actually read an Advanced Reader Copy of a really sweet Regency romance title I will review after the book is published). Lord John is concerned that his cousin Olivia's fiance has the pox after seeing him use a chamber pot, but of course it's not like he can just go up to the man and ask him. While trying to figure out a discreet way to determine if he has syphilis, one of his fellow soldiers is murdered and Lord John is asked to investigate. It was a lot of fun, and when not making his guest appearances as a very proper English lord in Outlander, John is a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to the rest of them (but I'm still eagerly awaiting "Bees").

Written in My Own Heart's Blood

Okay, anyone else ready for book #9 to be published?!
I really enjoyed this one. Again, I don't want to spoil too much but there were some significant deaths in this one, some weddings and births, and in the end Claire and Jamie return to Fraiser's Ridge to rebuild their house when some wonderful surprise visitors show up.

Echo in the Bone

Holy cow, this one was good. Please stop reading now if you don't want it spoiled.
Brianna and Roger are living at Lallybroch in the year 1980, having returned to their own time to have Mandy's heart fixed. They have a chest of letters Claire and Jamie wrote and left at a bank for them. Back in 1778, Claire and Jamie return to Scotland with Young Ian in time to say goodbye to the elder Ian, who dies (I cried. I liked him). Claire has to return to America to help Henri-Christian, Fergus and Marsali's youngest son, who needs a critical operation. Jamie stays behind and travels back to America with Jenny, who no longer wants to stay at Lallybroch now that Ian is dead. The boat they were originally scheduled to travel on sinks, and Lord John Grey delivers the bad news to Claire that Jamie is dead and the British army is about to arrest her for being a spy. He insists she marry him right away so he can protect her, and she does. As you can imagine, when Jamie does show up, he's none too pleased about the situation (no one is, honestly), and things only get worse when William discovers he's Jamie's bastard son. Oh, and Ian wants to marry a Quaker girl. It was really, really fun.

American Sherlock

"American Sherlock" is the story of Oscar Heinrich, who basically invented forensic science and popularized it in America. A lot of the science he pioneered is still being used today, although some of the things he championed have since been debunked. It was interesting to read about some of his famous cases, like Fatty Arbuckle, and how hard he worked to make juries understand the science behind his findings.

Coconut Layer Cake Murder

Why do I keep reading these books? Gah. They're good for a laugh, I guess, if nothing else.
Anyway, Hannah is stressed about the whole Ross debacle and Doc recommends a super relaxing vacation in California, helping her friend Lynn pack up and move back to Minnesota.
Helping someone move sounds the opposite of relaxing to me, but okay.
While in California, gawking at planes (guess they don't have them in Minnesota? Not sure, I've never been), Hannah gets a call from her sister, Michelle. Michelle's boyfriend, Lonnie, is the prime suspect in the murder of someone we've never heard of before named Darcy. Since the Lake Eden police department is useless (seriously, how is Hannah not on their payroll already? A bakery owner solves more murders than the detectives), Hannah has to fly back (on an emergency ticket, no less! What did she tell the airline?! Somehow I doubt that "I need to get home to solve a murder for my sister" would constitute a real emergency for most airlines).
So in between cooking and eating enough to satisfy six or seven armies, Hannah and Norman (TEAM NORMAN!!) somehow manage to solve the murder. Great. No one really cared, anyway.
In the end, Hannah has a dream about baking with her own little girl and wakes up (in Norman's master bedroom while he rides the guest room bed--that's cold, Hannah) and sighs about how "maybe, someday".
OH MY GOD I HATE YOU, HANNAH! You have had multiple opportunities to marry Norman (and even Mike!) at this point, and shot that man down. Stop whining. I just wanted to reach through the damn book and slap her silly.

Breath of Snow and Ashes

I really enjoyed the sixth Outlander book. So many things happened! It's now the early 1770s, and Roger and Brianna and their little boy, Jeremiah (Jemmy for short) have joined Claire and Jamie on the Ridge. Jamie is walking a fine line, not wanting to betray his oath to King George but also knowing that the Revolutionists will win the upcoming war against England. Claire and Brianna both went through some pretty harrowing times. Looking forward to the next one!