I got a .99 ebook about a werewolf hero and one woman posed a question to another (the heroine), who would be in close contact with the werewolf hero: what do you do when he starts humping your leg?

(I figured it should go here or in Bitches ... and it IS about a book)

One of my freebie mysteries is shaping up well. 1st POV, male viewpoint character, he's a local pastor who was almost a cop and is chaplain to the local police. The basic info on the murder is presented in a conversation with the local police chief full of snark and intelligence. So far so good.

Superior Justice by Tom Hilpert, first in a series.

Set in Minnesota

what do you do when he starts humping your leg?

A firm no and spritz him with the water bottle.

Rub his nose in it! No wait..that's for a different behavior...

And Superior Justice disappointed me. It turned into a character piece with interruptions for murder, and the scenes of the pastor counseling people tended to go on a little long. Being as he's a Lutheran Reverend, of course it would be a Christian-centered viewpoint. But then I noticed the character focusing on women dressed in "a mannish button-down shirt" or having "mannishly short hair." And the final straw, the several pages where a psychologist whose practiced attempted to "cure" gays explained how he went about it and the pastor being interested and not challenging any of it.

I started skipping pages at that point, and then he turned into Steven Segal after he was framed for murder, and, well.

Witty dialogue and erudite characters can't make up for everything.

I am now reading Clockwork Scarab, a steampunk story about the hitherto unknown younger sister of Bram Stoker, who turns out to be the equivalent of Buffy, and the hitherto unknown niece of Sherlock Holmes, daughter of Mycroft, which is very funny after seeing Game of Shadows, are recruited by Irene Adler to find out who is killing young aristocratic women. Ridiculous on the face of it, but it's being matter of fact about a steampunk world with the Fae in it, and, by the way, we've got an accidental time traveler from the modern world who seems to be coping surprisingly well in a world where he's surprised to find out Sherlock Holmes is real and where he can distract pursuers with his iPhone.

Miss Stoker is reluctantly admitting that Miss Holmes is quite bright and clever, and Miss Holmes is grudgingly impressed at how well Miss Stoker kicks butt. Miss Stoker is surprised to discover Miss Holmes dislikes dark underground places, and Miss Holmes is baffled at why Miss Stoker freezes at the sight of blood, given her vocation. As Miss Stoker says, "Vampires don't bleed."

They're both trying to live up to their families' reputations, and it's at least competently written.

RIP Zilpha Keatly Snyder.

The police are baffled, the management's frantic, the watchmen will not stay,

All the scientific investigators gave up and went away,

And they all pretend that they can't be certain, for no one wants to say,

that the ghosts, little ghosts who lost their childhood

Have been sent to Alcott's to play.

-The Fishbowl Song

I just finished Gone Girl. Holy shit.

I'm really not sure how to feel about the fact that my parents know the author's parents.

Huh, really? They're still in KC, I believe.

As are my parents. That bit in the acknowledgements where she thanks her parents for "always taking the time to harass strangers into buying" her books apparently applies to friends as well.

Also, I've worked with the actress who plays Margo in the movie. It was kind of cool being able to imagine her in the role as I read the book.

Aurelia, I thought the actress who played Go was excellent.