The Jimm Juree series by Colin Cotterill

Another series I've left hanging out in the wind (even though the first novel in the series, Killed at the Whim of a Hat, was totally awesome!), is the Jimm Juree mystery series by Colin Cotterill. I enjoyed it so much that I shared this one with my father who passed away before getting around to it. The book remains in his TBR pile in the living room and I see it every time I visit my stepmother. She's not a fiction reader and it will languish there until it is given away. But as luck would have it, the year has ended before I got back to this series. It is destined to show up in my 2019 Finishing the Series Challenge.

Here is the blurb for book one -

Jimm Juree was a crime reporter for the Chiang Mai Daily Mail with a somewhat eccentric family—a mother who might be drifting mentally; a grandfather—a retired cop—who rarely talks; a younger brother obsessed with body-building, and a transgendered, former beauty pageant queen, former older brother. When Jimm is forced to follow her family to a rural village on the coast of Southern Thailand, she’s convinced her career—maybe her life—is over. So when a van containing the skeletal remains of two hippies, one of them wearing a hat, is inexplicably unearthed in a local farmer’s field, Jimm is thrilled. Shortly thereafter an abbot at a local Buddhist temple is viciously murdered, with the temple’s monk and nun the only suspects. Suddenly Jimm’s new life becomes somewhat more promising—and a lot more deadly. And if Jimm is to make the most of this opportunity, and unravel the mysteries that underlie these inexplicable events, it will take luck, perseverance, and the help of her entire family.

Grandad, There's a Head on the Beach (Jimm Juree #2)

The Axe Factor (Jimm Juree #3)

The Amok Runners (Jimm Juree #0.6 prequel)

#FinishingTheSeries2018

The Remaining series by D.J. Molles

A month into this year's challenge and I realized that I still had this series dangling out there just waiting to be completed. I've enjoyed every entry in the post-apocalytic series by D.J. Molles (as did my husband) and there are only 2 books left to say "Done!" I will miss this one but it's time to read these last two before too much more time passes and I lose the excitement of the whole story of Captain Lee Hardin.

Allegiance (The Remaining #5) - March 7, 2018

Extinction (The Remaining #6) - July 6, 2018

#FinishingTheSeries2018

A Natural Remedies Mystery series by Chrystle Fiedler

There are four books in A Natural Remedies Mystery series by Chrystle Fiedler (not enough in my mind!) of which I've read 3. I have no idea where I picked up the first book, Death Drops, but I remember I chose to read it because it had a cat on the cover. (I needed a book with a cat on the cover for the 2017 PopSugar Reading Challenge.) It turned out to be interesting and entertaining, and I wanted more. There is currently one book left in the series, and I've put it off long enough. It's going into this year's challenge.

Dandelion Dead, A Natural Remedies Mystery #4 - October 23, 2018

#FinishingTheSeries2018

The Starwolf series by Edmond Hamilton

I ran across the first book in this series, The Weapon from Beyond, in a used bookstore in Van Buren, Arkansas, while waiting to take the scenic train ride from there to Winslow, Arkansas, through the Boston Mountains. I bought it for the old school science fiction cover. However, with other books ahead of it in my TBR storage unit (?!) it took me until December of 2017 to pick it up and read it. I picked it up because of a book challenge suggestion "A book you bought on a trip." It was so much fun! It's only a short series, a trilogy really, but here it is on this challenge so I don't let the next two languish away in a box.

Here is the blurb from The Weapon from Beyond -

The stars whispered: Die, Starwolf! Die!

Morgan Chane was an Earthman by parentage, but he had been born on the pirate-world Varna, whose heavy gravity had developed strength and incredibly quick reflexes in him. When he was old enough, he joined the raider-ships that looted the starworlds, and fought side by side with the dreaded Starwolves of Varna.

But then there was a fight among them. Chane killed their leader, and the other Starwolves turned on him. He barely got away alive---wounded near death, his Starwolf pursuers following him across the galaxy.

And there was nowhere he could seek refuge, for no world would lift a hand to save one of the hated Starwolves.

The Closed Worlds (Starwolf #2) - February 21, 2018

World of the Starwolves (Starwolf #3) - February 26, 2018

Yay! Stick a fork in this one; it's done!

#FinishingTheSeries2018

Joe Pickett series by C.J. Box

I had read a couple of these books when they originally were published but didn't really get into the series until it was a monthly selection of the Midweek Mystery (f2f) Book Club I attended while working for the City of Irving, Texas. I believe I flew through every book in the series that had been published up to that time and LOVED them, then stopped. Something shiny (another book) must have caught my eye and I was off following that trail instead.

However, after retiring from a 34 year long stint in city government to take a fun, retirement job and moving nearer to "the country," my husband and I both now had commutes that allowed time for audiobooks. Additionally, with our children grown we were taking more and more driving trips with each other and enjoyed listening to audiobooks together. One of the first books we stumbled on was C.J. Box's Back of Beyond, part of his Highway Quartet, which at the time was simply a "duet." More road trips lead me to seeking out the author's Joe Pickett series.

Hubby liked the series so much he quickly outstripped me in where he was in the series. Since I don't like to read series book out of order, we listen to other books when in the car together. (We've been working our way through J.A. Jance's Ally Reynolds series for quite some time.) However, these books were so good to listen to together and share that I'm including them in this year's challenge so I can catch back up with Joe (and Jim).

Prior to the start of this challenge, I have listened my way up to Free Fire, number 7 in the Joe Pickett series. Below are the titles in the series in order of publication, and I'll note the dates that I finish them.

Free Fire, Joe Pickett #7 - January 6, 2018

Blood Trail, Joe Pickett #8 - January 25, 2018

Below Zero, Joe Pickett #9 - February 13, 2018

Nowhere to Run, Joe Pickett #10 - February 23, 2018

Cold Wind, Joe Pickett #11 - March 17, 2017

Force of Nature, Joe Pickett #12 - March 26, 2017

Breaking Point, Joe Pickett #13 - April 3, 2018

Stone Cold, Joe Pickett #14 - April 18, 2018

Endangered, Joe Pickett #15 - April 29, 2018

Off the Grid, Joe Pickett #16 - May 10, 2018

Vicious Circle, Joe Pickett #17 - May 24, 2018

The Disappeared, Joe Pickett #18 - June 3, 2018

#FinishingTheSeries2018

Kinsey Millhone series by Sue Grafton

I started reading this series when A is for Alibi hit the shelves back in the day, and as life went on I gradually fell behind. Way behind. When I suddenly found myself with a pretty good commute each morning and evening, I decided to pick back up on the series listening to audiobooks as I drove. Since I remember the first in the series being so much fun (they were on my "push" list forever or series I would recommend to others) I began back at the beginning and as I start this challenge, I have listened my way through M is for Malice. Below are the titles left in the series, and I'll note the dates that I finish them.

N is for Noose - January 18, 2018

O is for Outlaw - February 7, 2018

P is for Peril - February 20, 2018

Q is for Quarry - March 1, 2018

R is for Ricochet - March 21, 2018

S is for Silence - March 30, 2018

T is for Trespass - April 8, 2018

U is for Undertow - April 24, 2018

V is for Vengeance - May 5, 2018

W is for Wasted - May 20, 2018

X - June 1, 2018

Y is for Yesterday - June 14, 2018

And this closes out the story of Kinsey Millhone. The alphabet in Santa Teresa will forever end with "Y."

#FinishingTheSeries2018

The 2018 Finishing the Series Reading Challenge

So this year I'm going to participate in the Finishing the Series Reading Challenge (see http://celebrityreaders.com/2018-finishing-the-series-reading-challenge/)

As it is my first time to participate, I'm going to opt in on the B-LIST SERIES FINISHER ⇒ COMPLETE 5-8 SERIES, and the following series are my targets.

(1) Kinsey Millhone series - Sue Grafton (12 books) - 12 completed

(2) Joe Pickett series - CJ Box (12 books) - 12 completed

(3) Starwolf series - Edmond Hamilton (2 books) - 2 completed

(4) Natural Remedies series - Chrystle Fiedler (1 book) - 1 completed

(5) The Remaining series - D.J. Molles (2 books) - 2 completed

(6) Jimm Juree series - Colin Cotterill (2 books) - 0 completed

This is a total of 31 books. As of October 23, 2018, I've completed 29 of the 31.

Now ... if this goes really well and I can fit in another series to complete this year, if not then I would like to consider the following for next year:

Dr. Siri Paiboun series - Colin Cotterill (8 books)

Inspector Lynley series - Elizabeth George (18 books)

Amelia Peabody series - Elizabeth Peters (12 books)

Cotton Malone series - Steve Berry (12 books)

Holly Winter series - Susan Conant (7 books)

Agatha Raisin series - M.C. Beaton (15 books)

#FinishingTheSeries2018