Really Dead - a Ria Butler Mystery by J.E. Forman

Published by Dundurn

When action is called on this set, they really mean business!
An entertaining romp in the British Virgin Islands as a TV reality show is in the multiple forms of production. Ria Butler is just returning from a trip in the Andes when she receives a call from her brother's friend to come to the British Virgin Islands. Forget Galapagos and the promised photo for her niece of a blue-footed boobie, she is on her way via a number of flights.

As a travel writer, Ria Butler has seen many strange and interesting things, but nothing could have prepared her for what she finds when she arrives on the set of the reality show her brother James is producing. When she finally gets to the island where filming takes place she finds herself unable to avoid being under surveillance everywhere. How will she be able to find out from Rob, James' friend, what prompted his urgent call that James may be in trouble?

On her arrival James certainly seems to have both hands and more full with his room-mate, presumably not the trouble referred to. Ria does smell a mystery, though, and her curiosity expands the more she gets to know the cast and crew, but goes into overdrive when it comes to James' partner the obnoxious Dan, and Albert the mysterious courier, curiously coming and going at odd times flying between the islands and Toronto, delivering canvas bags one way and carrying a metal case back.

When action is called on this set, they really mean business! Fast-paced and unexpected action. As a reality show, competition runs in the extreme with the finale about to be filmed. With the assistance from afar of Ria's boyfriend Glenn, an investigative reporter, the mystery deepens. A young member of the crew has disappeared and left behind her luggage and her severed foot...or was that a production prop? Why do the police in Toronto say she is at home and whole? I loved this book, not just for the mystery and intrigue, but for the feel of the excitement, practical jokes, hustle and bustle of TV production. Well-written and taut, great characters, J.E. Forman knows what she's talking about. I'm happy to learn this book is first in the "Ria Butler series," a series I'm sure will have a long run.

Grandma Says: Weather Lore from Meteorologist Cindy Day

Published by Nimbus Publishing
Reviewed for Edwards Book Club

I was so excited to have the opportunity to read and review this little book. Besides the wonderful old sayings our grandparents and great-grandparents had about the weather, Cindy Day is a 25-year veteran of meteorology most recently seen on CTV.

Many of us have heard the saying "Red sky at night, Sailors delight; Red sky at morning, Sailors take warning" but the one my Grandma used to say, especially if we were on a car trip, was "If there's enough blue sky to mend a pair of Dutchman's breeches, the weather will be fine." Now, please take no offence to this, in Grandma's day the men and boys in Holland wore very wide-legged pants that came in at the ankle, hence if there were clouds in the sky but a big blue patch among them, the day would turn out fine. I was happy about seeing this one because I'd never heard anyone other than Grandma (and myself) say it!

This little treasure, divided by seasonal weather sayings, gives us the sayings of the past, but the added bonus is the meteorological science connecting the dots. We are given the how and why these sayings would come about and how true or not they were. I enjoyed this book tremendously, and now I know how so many of these weather 'wisdoms' came about, Groundhog's spring predictions aside, many are much more realistic. This is a remarkable opportunity to learn why these sayings were so often on the mark and what science tells us how they worked. For me, this was a happy trip down memory lane, but put it all together and it's a cohesive book of lore and science, which don't clash at all. A Globe and Mail year-end top 20 Bestseller. Recommended for any age.

Silent Assassin (Dan Morgan #2) by Leo J. Maloney

Published by Pinnacle

Who or what is the silent assassin? You may begin to wonder as you get into this book. Maybe a unique unit of non-identities who miraculously come back alive...most of the time. Maybe the good one, maybe the bad one, maybe a conspiracy. Seat of the pants innovative methods of attack and rescue are consistently used or developed in this high, above top security, group of individuals as slick as a single entity. Country-jumping...or maybe not since they rarely have any idea where they are going, nor often where they are when they get there.

I was drawn in very quickly. The writing was great and kept me on my toes. If I stopped to backtrack to check something out I invariably got left behind in the action from which I had come. Such are the heroes and heroines and yes, often assassins who keep the country safe, the world on track, and on whose quick actions and snap decisions the reader can count on...if you can keep up. 'Cobra' is well-named.

If you like a book you won't want to put down, this is it! Spies in covert operations, cloak and dagger is only a cliche; innocent businesses that may or may not house something very dark and very deep, non-traditional inventions, technology breaking the limits of invention. CIA and FBI forget it, some groups have far surpassed their capabilities and with the hand-picked staff, tightly kept secrets, covert operators, and rife with tension this group kept me going full blast! Leo J. Maloney is an author to take the breath away.

What's Going On At UAardvark? by Lawrence S. Wittner

Reviewed as ebook

What is going on is more real than one might think. This hilarious political satire shows a bit of light onto how universities are falling victim to greed and corporate involvement from within administration and where the money is pocketed. Great satirical writing! Some references will be easily recognizable to many academics and students in academia.

The book is fast-paced, very entertaining in its portrayal of the infiltration of corporations in places of learning. A revolt is bound to happen, but how, when and by whom? The characters, or perhaps more correctly caricatures in the book are probably in evidence already. In fact, they are so well-drawn I felt myself back working in university joking with my friends about what we perceived at the time. I'll leave it to the readers to enjoy those who populate this book.

Lawrence S. Wittner gives us lots of laughs and monkeys in a barrel while presenting a story that is already an issue in many places of learning. Revolts? Yes, if they are not here yet they will be. Congratulations on presenting with with great tongue-in-cheek humour what the future could and quite possibly will be. A word of warning, wear a thick skin when you read, but take the caricatures with their personalities as they come.