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Reviews
The Archer at Dawn by Swati Teerdhala
Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage
Breaking the Mould by Victoria Hamilton
Cast Iron Alibi by Victoria Hamilton
Cleopatra in Space: Fallen Empires by Mike Maihack
Curse of the Were-wiener by Ursula Vernon
Delicious in Dungeon, Volume 5 by Ryoko Kui
The Do-Over by Jennifer Honeybourn
Drawing Lessons by Patricia Sands
Grand Theft Horse by G. Neri and Corban Wilkin (Illustrations)
Here Comes the Body by Maria DiRico and Devon Sorvari
Hot Dog Girl by Jennifer Dugan
(Im)perfectly Happy by Sharina Harris
To Kill a Mocking Girl by Harper Kincaid
Love & Other Curses by Michael Thomas Ford
My Brigadista Year by Katherine Paterson
Not Like the Movies by Kerry Winfrey
The Pawful Truth by Miranda James
See You On a Starry Night by Lisa Schroeder
Six Cats a Slayin' by Miranda James and Erin Bennett
Starworld by Audrey Coulthurst and Paula Garner
Sun and Moon Have a Tea Party by Yumi Heo
These Witches Don't Burn by Isabel Sterling
The 13 Clocks by James Thurber
This is Edinburgh by Miroslav Sasek
The Total Eclipse of Nestor Lopez by Adrianna Cuevas
Trouble the Saints by Alaya Dawn Johnson
Wonder Woman: Tempest Tossed by Laurie Halse Anderson
Yak and Dove by Kyo Maclear and Esme Shapiro (Illustrations)
You Brought Me the Ocean by Alex Sanchez and Julie Maroh
You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson

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July 2020 Sources

July 2020 Summary

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5 stars: Completely enjoyable or compelling
4 stars: Good but flawed
3 stars: Average
2 stars: OK
1 star: Did not finish



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Here Comes the Body: 08/26/20

Here Comes the Body

Here Comes the Body by Maria DiRico is the start of the Catering Hall mystery series. Set in Queens, it follows Mia Carina as she returns home to manage her father's new business venture. He has mob ties but this business is legit and Mia is there to make sure it stays that way.

Mia's first gig is a bachelor party. A woman who had earlier in the day been trying to scam her father ends up dead at the bottom of the pop-out cake. Next to her body is a check for a million dollars. Mia and everyone else there knows it's a frame job. But can she convince the police of this and help them solve the murder?

I am enjoying the Millennial trend in mysteries where the main character is returning home for reasons other than a murdered loved one. I love how family plays an active role in their lives — and not one that is built over the course of the series out of introduced and reoccurring characters.

I loved the setting — a traditionally Catholic, Greek and Italian neighborhood in Queens. The street Mia lives on is struggling with gentrification. The older neighbors are moving out, many convinced to do so by a shrewd realtor.

I listened to the audiobook, read by Devon Sorvari. She does an excellent job with the various accents and Italian dialog. I chuckled every time Mia grumbled, "But Queens is the City."

The next book is Long Island Iced Tina. It releases February 23, 2021.

Five stars

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