Internal Affairs

Internal Affairs is the part of a police force that investigates other officers.

Sheriff's Deputy Rafe Franco and Lisa Tobin were college sweethearts.  They broke up because they did not want to stop each other from their after college plans.  What they did not know was that Lisa was pregnant with his child, Chloe.

Two Russians are shot and Rafe is found at the scene.  The murderer gets away but not before he shoots out one of the tires on Rafe's car.

They meet again when Rafe  and his ride answer a domestic dispute call.  Lisa's ex-husband tried to choke her.  She refused to press charges.  Her ex is a mobster but Lisa was not aware of it until Rafe tells her.  Rafe does not find out that Chloe is his until later in the book.

Rafe goes to Oliver Sloan's (the ex) apartment to question him and a woman comes out of the bedroom with white powder, so Rafe arrests them.  It turns out the woman was an undercover agent. Oliver had powerful connections so he manages to get the charges dropped after spending some time in jail.  He did not like this and decides to get payback.

When back where the Russians were killed, Rafe took a receipt.  It leads him to an apartment where one of the dead men lived.  He manages to get into the place and searches it before his sister, a homicide detective arrives.  Rafe runs away because he does not want to be caught there.

After running away, Rafe picks up Lisa and Chloe to take them to his grandmother's home for safety. When he gets home, he finds his sister there.  A traffic camera had taken a good picture of him when he ran from the apartment.  Kate's partner saw the photo and took it to Internal Affairs.  
They searched Rafe's apartment and found a gun whose bullets matched those used to kill the Russians.  They also found a deposit in his bank account so they arrest him for murder.

Rafe is taken to jail and then court.  Bail is set and Lisa puts up her house as collateral.  There is no way he could flee as most of his relatives are in law enforcement so she feels her money is safe.  They go back to his place and make love.

Since, this is a Harlequin book, everything has to be straightened out before the happy ending.

I liked this book and gave it three stars on Goodreads.  I think Rafe could have been more observant and able to see how much Chloe looked like him as his grandmother immediately noticed.   He does like his daughter from the beginning and even wishes she were his.   Rafe is a college graduate and should have been able to figure out the math, also.  If he had been smarter, I would have rated this book higher.

Christmas Challenge Summary

I signed up for Mistletoe level and Fa La La La Films.  I read four books which was one more than I thought and mentioned three films in my reviews which can be found on this blog in November and December.

The books I read are:

1. Home in Time for Christmad by Heather Graham
2. The Maverick's Christmas Homecoming by Teresa Southwick
3. Visions of Sugar Plums by Janet Evanovich
4. Baby for Chrismas by Joanna Sims

The movies I mentioned were Christmas Bride, Christmas Heart and Naughty or Nice, though I did watch most of Hallmark's new Christmas movies.  I don't believe I used Christmas Heart in my blog post as I probably did not remember the name - I'm still not sure that is the right title.

If the Witness Lied

I am using this book as my Young Adult book for the Literary Challenge and as my I book for 2013 A-Z challenge.  This book was borrowed from the Green Free Library in Wellsboro, PA.

November 5 was the birthday of the birthday of the father of Tris, Madison, Smithy and Jack's father, Mr. Fountain.  As Jack said, if dead people had birthdays.  This date is significant in this book because it is the reason that Madison and Smithy decide to come home.

Mrs. Fountain was discovered to have cancer while she was pregnant with Tris.  She decided not to have chemotherapy so her child could live.  After she died, Mr. Fountain had hired a number of housekeepers until Aunt Cheryl showed up.  She took over the household.  One day, there was an automobile accident.  Mr. Fountain is hit by his own car.  Cheryl said Tris had some how released the hand brake which caused the car to run over his own father.  There was a lot of news coverage as Tris was considered to be the cause of both parents deaths.

The girls moved away from home.  Madison to her god-parents and Smithy to boarding school.  Until November 6, when both of them decide independently to head home.  Jack stayed home and keeps an eye on their younger brother, Tris.  When Jack hears that Aunt Cheryl wants to paint his room, he leaves school because he does not want her to discover his dad's sunglasses and cell phone that he had taken from his dad's car and hidden in a pair of his dad's work boots, stowed in the back of his closet.  Cheryl had a habit of taking things to the dump when she remodeled.

Jack manages to get to his room without Cheryl seeing him.  He overhears Cheryl talking to someone about putting Tris on television because of "So much tragedy and emotion!"  This is not what Jack wants for Tris.  He goes and gets him from day care.  The children manage to get together and protect Tris.  One of the girls plugs in their dad's phone and when it is recharged Jack looks at the pictures and finds out that Cheryl lied.  Tris was playing with his dad's phone and got a clear picture of her hand on the parking brake.  The camera put the time and date on all pictures and Jack learned Cheryl killed his father.  Jack calls his friend Diana and asks her to get his dad's computer and briefcase from the garage to see if there is more evidence.

Since, I do not like to reveal endings, I will just say that if you want to find out what happens after Cheryl comes home and finds Diana on her computer, you will have to read the book.

I enjoyed seeing how the siblings manage to come together to protect their brother.  At times, I was not sure what would happen as the book shifts between the children.  Each of the older children remember their father's birthday in their own way.  The book tells how the girl's manage to get home and the misunderstandings that occur before they all get together.  They also find out that Cheryl lied to everyone including them.

A Novel Way to Die

A Novel Way to Die by Ali Brandon is a delightful cozy mystery.  It was purchased in 2012 as it was going to be used by the cat mystery group at Yahoo.com in January 2013 for discussion.  Hamlet is the black cat mentioned in the sub-title A Black Cat Bookshop Mystery.

Darla Pettistone is the owner of  Pettistone's Fine Books and Hamlet's human since the death of her Aunt Dee.  At the beginning of the book, she is looking for a part-time employee.  Robert Gilmore dresses in all black and looked very familiar to Darla when he come to apply for the job. He was the young man who had accused her of murder in Double Booked for Death.  He has a letter of recommendation from Mary Ann Plinski, Darla's neighbor who owns an antique shop.  He knows books and he gets along with Hamlet who gives him a fist bump,  So, he is hired after Jake checks his background.

Robert's old boss, Porn Shop Bill comes into the store and says Darla stole his employee. So, Darla calls Jake (an ex-cop) to come up to the store.  He claims Robert owes him a hundred dollars.  Darla decides to pay him to get him out of the store.  She has him sign a receipt for the money first.
Curt Benedetto who was a new regular customer at the bookshop walks in.  Bill and Curt seemed to know each other but not in a friendly way.  Bill finally leaves after Darla threatens to call 911.  Then. Curt mentions that he saw Hamlet very early in the morning running out of the brownstone he was working on.

After Darla brings up the fact that Jake lives downstairs, Curt asks if she is seeing anyone.  But, Carla asksif he has been going out with Tera Aguilar, the daughter of Hilda Aguilar who owns Great Scentsations. He admits he had been dating her but liked to play the field.

A week later, Barry Eisen (Curt's business partner) picks up the book that Curt was waiting for.  Barry invites Darla to see the brownstone that he and Curt were fixing.  When they arrive at the house, a building inspector is waiting for Barry.  Barry send him away, saying that it is not a good time.  They look through the house and eventually find Curt's body at the bottom of the basement steps with a crowbar on his back.  Barry lifts off the crowbar and sees that Curt is dead.  They call 911 and wait.  Reese who is Jake's ex-partner is the police detective who comes to investigate.
Darla sees bloody paw prints on the basement floor but does not say anything.  She later has Jake test Hamlet's paws for blood.  Jake finds evidence of blood on Hamlet's paws.

Hamlet provides clues to the murderer by knocking books off the shelves.  The titles of the books help the bookstore staff to the identity of the killer.  The evidence that Reese finds leads him to arrest Hilda.  All during this time, Hilda's daughter has been missing.

Since, I do not want to give away the perp, I am not mentioning the books that Hamlet has left as clues.

I like this book even more than the first one and will look for any further books in the series.   Hamlet's personality comes out in more ways than one in this book.  He can be like a bro to Robert and he can show he does not like people by hissing or pawing them as he does to some of the interviewees for the job that Robert wins.  It is Hamlet's personality that made me call Darla his human vs his owner.

How to Lose a Tooth

How to Lose a Tooth by E. C. Stilson is the story of a young lady with a loose tooth.  It shows the different things she does to lose the tooth.  It has wonderful illustrations and is suitable for reading to a child or having a child read it themselves.  I loved the story and the illustrations.  This book was a free book from the publisher  (who also happens to be the author).  I am also using this for A-Z Challenge as H.