What a fun book to read. Carol Cail has taken a simple neighborhood and a small alternative newspaper to set an entertaining story. Real life people and real life humor are mixed with a variety of seemingly unrelated characters and the result is a stew that is fun, exciting, and truly enjoyable. The unexpected twists and turns keep you glued and surprised.

Who Was Sylvia? by Carol Cail is another Maxie Burnell mystery that will keep you rivited to your seat, and reading long into the night. The characters are so real they could live next door. The writing is crisp, fresh, and humorous, and Cail's fast paced plotting leads the reader to a satisfying conclusion. Can't wait to read the next Maxie Burnell mystery. Keep them coming!

I was anxiously awaiting the next book in the Maxey Burnell Mystery series and am happy to say I was not disappointed. Carol Cail has created a delightful character in Maxey Burnell and it is always fun to get involved in her next adventure. Her characters are genuine people with personalities, situations, and feelings you can relate to. Most importantly, there's always a lively mystery happening that you never lose sight of while you are also unraveling another part of Maxey's life. The reading is easy and enjoyable. If you're a Sue Grafton (Kinsey Millhone) fan, chances are good you'll enjoy Carol Cail's books as much as I do.

April Parish needs to find a "temporary" husband to deceive her aging grandfather, but she chooses a most unusual man to fit that bill. Swineburn (Semi) Ruby proves to be more than bargained for. Gayner Nussman, a ten year old street wise kid is only spice for the stew as the story twists its way along. Much more intrigue and action than one expects creates a fun read and the hilarious performance of the characters as they put on a "show" for the bad guys is one you will remember.

Delia Pitman and Annie Darrow both possess the ability to look into the future however, while Annie lives in the present, Delia lives in the 1800s. With one hundred years between them there is no way the two women could know one another and yet they connect in their minds through their psychic abilities and aid one another is solving a murder as well as preventing their own.

Carol Cail has experctly combined the past with the present in "The Seeds of Time." Her picture painting description and events of the past make you feel as if you once lived in that era while she keeps the events of the present intacked as well. Whether you believe in the psychic abilities of others or not, if you're looking for a good entertaining mystery this book will not disappoint you.

Another fun book by Carol Cail. Two women, separated by only a hundred years, work together in ways neither understand to help the other. A fascinating concept involving a bustling gold town and a vacant ghost town with so much in common. You won't be sorry for reading this tale.

Carol Cail's "Unsafe Keeping" begins when Maxey Burnell, co-owner of an independent newspaper, is nearly hit by a driverless van. Not to long after that, a similar incident results in the death of a pedestrian. At the same time, an arsonist has begun to set fires in the Boulder, Colorado, neighborhood Maxey calls home. Partially because of her role as a reporter but more because of a personal connection to the various incidents, Maxey investigates and finds that the clues seem to point to the struggle between preservationists and developers over a mansion that was once a prominent brothel.

While Maxey is trying to unwind the complicated but interwoven events, she tries also to figure out just where her ill-defined relationship with a homicide detective is going--if anywhere. "Unsafe Keeping" is certainly competently written, but it is too lean for much more. Though Cail works in a twist ending, the twist does not come off convincingly. The heroine-in-peril scenario that is rather hackneyed already makes an appearance here. While Cail at least avoids the problem of the heroine who rushes blindly into obviously dangerous situations, the convention seems too formulaic here, and the result is that the novel suffers. Certainly there are mysteries that are far less effective, but there are those that are far better, too.