Claudia Rossbacher: Steirerland - Sandra Mohr 05

Mord im Vulkanland Sandra Mohrs Auszeit nach ihrem Zusammenbruch neigt sich dem Ende zu, als sie der Ruf des Chefinspektors Sascha Bergmann zu einem Leichenfund ereilt. Diensteifrig folgt die LKA-Ermittlerin diesem und findet sich wenig später in einem Waldstück nahe Straden wieder. Dem toten Mann im Graben wurden beide Hände abgetrennt. Von Bergmann erfährt Sandra, dass es erst vor Kurzem einen ähnlichen Fund ganz in der Nähe gegeben hat. Dem ermordeten Jungwinzer aus der Region waren die Unterschenkel amputiert worden. Auch damals fehlte von den Gliedmaßen jede Spur. Trotz einiger Verdachtsmomente und Mordmotive im Umfeld der Opfer tappen die Ermittler lange Zeit im Dunkeln. Und schließlich trifft ihre schlimmste Befürchtung ein: Eine weitere verstümmelte Leiche wird auf einem Acker gefunden...

Ich konnte mich zwar nicht mehr ganz genau erinnern, warum Sandra eine Auszeit brauchte, und dass sie an Burnout gelitten hatte, aber das tat der Geschichte keinen Abbruch. Zuerst meint man schon zu wissen, wohin die Geschichte führt, dann kommt aber doch alles etwas anders. Unterhaltsam und schnell zu lesen. Ein weiterer gelungener Teil in der Steirer-Reihe.

Erica James: Precious Time

In order to spend more time with her four-year-old son Ned, Clara Costello trades in her secure, well-paid job and two-seater sports car for a camper van called Winnie, and the three of them set off on a mystery tour of England. Of course, her friends and family think she's gone mad. But when they arrive in Deaconsbridge, a small market town on the edge of the Peak District, Clara and Ned become drawn into the lives of the locals. Two in particular seem destined to get under Clara's skin: Gabriel Liberty, a cranky widower who terrifies his family; and Archie Merryman, a local dealer in second-hand furniture who possesses a heart of gold.

A very pleasant and easy read. It's quite predictable, but the dialogues and funny jokes running between Clara and Gabriel make for entertainment anyway.

Roisin McAuley: Singing Bird

Twenty-seven years after she adopted her baby in Ireland, Lena Molloy receives a call from the nun who set up the adoption. Sister Monica claims that she wants merely to tie up loose ends in her old age, but Lena becomes frightened that something more threatening lies behind the call, and she sets off on a journey to Ireland, with her best friend, to find her daughter's birth parents - little knowing the extraordinary truths which she will uncover.

Although I initially thought this was going to be a somehow boring story, I was soon taken by it and could not wait to find out more about the Molloy's adoption story. It does get quite unlikely at times, but nevertheless a heart-rendering, inspiring and uplifting story about asking too many questions and not quite getting the answers you might expect.

Edi Graf: Kriminalpolka

Tatort Konzertbühne Ein Giftpfeil beendet die Karriere des erfolgreichen Posaunisten Langfried Schieber. Na ja, einer weniger, mag mancher denken, doch die massige Sängerin Constanze Voorte-Sing will es genau wissen und setzt den berühmten Kommissar Rainer Tsuval auf den Täter an. Bei seinen Ermittlungen stößt er auf Zyanid im Posaunenmundstück, und bald geschehen weitere merkwürdige Morde.

Eine lustige Geschichte Rund um Kommissar Rainer Tsuval, der dann auch noch undercover in einer Kapelle ermitteln muss. Der Wortwitz und Charakterisierungen sind gut ausgefeilt, aber die Geschichte und Handlung selber sind etwas eigenartig und dennoch überraschend. Der Sprachfehler des Inspektors macht das Lesen etwas schwierig, aber unterhaltsam.

Karen Swan: Christmas in the snow

In London, the snow is falling and Christmas is just around the corner - but Allegra Fisher barely has time to notice. She's pitching for the biggest deal of her career and can't afford to fail. And when she meets attractive stranger, Sam Kemp, on the plane to the meeting, she can't afford to lose her focus either. She learned to shut off her emotions long ago and only her sister and best friend Isobel knows why. But when Allegra finds herself up against Sam for the bid, their passion quickly turns sour. In Zermatt in the Swiss Alps, a long-lost mountain hut is discovered in the snow after sixty years and the last person expecting to become involved is Allegra - she hasn't even heard of the woman they found inside. But it soon becomes clear the two women are linked and, as she and Iz travel out to make sense of the mystery, hearts thaw and dark secrets are uncovered, long buried by the snow.

This is a great story as a women's fiction story, but quite predictable at times. The few phrases that were translated into German were quite infuriatingly badly translated - Google translator? Other than that, the descriptions of Zermatt and the life in Switzerland were quite well thought through. A good bath-tub read...

Sheila Hocken: Emma & I - The beautiful labrador who saved my life

As a girl, Sheila never let her gradual descent into blindness prevent her from trying to do everything a sighted person could do. Then at 17, unable to see to find her way around the house she grew up in, she found herself dreading her future in an 'ever darkening vacuum'. But then the remarkable Emma enters her life, and Sheila begins a journey that brings her the independence, love and happiness she never dreamed possible. Emma and I is the moving and inspirational story of the unique bond between Sheila and her dog, and shows that, sometimes, miracles do happen.

This was a great memoir and I was able to read it at a time, when I myself was physically weak and considering the acquisition of an assistance dog in the future. I learnt about the processes of assistance dogs and was very impressed in that respect to "see" with the help of a guide-dog.