Skulls and Coffee

Reviewing individual books in a series can become really tough. In a good series-all the elements are solid, there's growth by characters-major and minor-and overall this was a satisfying read. If you like the series, you'll enjoy this book, type of thing.

The Names of Our Tears is just that-a solid entry into a fairly solid series. The mysteries here are more cozy than lurid. There's no sex. The main characters are three middle aged men who grew up together in this corner of Ohio and have made their lives here. In the best possible way, I could imagine turning a corner in their town and bumping into one of them.

This entry focuses less on Michael Branden and his wife, who were traumatized in the last episode, and who are vacationing in Florida. Sheriff Bruce Robertson is the focus here along with many of his officers. The story moves from Ohio to Florida and with no tidy tie-up at the end, I can imagine this storyline being revisited in a future book.

Overall, if you like cozies, Amish, and/or small town America check this series out.