4.5 rounded up.

This is a delightfully fun book to read! It is the second in the Zodiac Mystery series and I get the feeling that if I'd read the series in order, I might understand a couple of things a little better, but this time I don't feel like that detracted from the book or diminished my ability to enjoy it.

Our heroine, Julia, is great. For the most part, while she lets her emotions get her into bad situations at times, she doesn't seem to go deliberately looking for trouble. She might ask questions and talk to people, but she's not out there deliberately putting herself in harm's way most of the time (tho' harm's way finds her, unfortunately). I enjoyed the supporting characters as well. I'd like to see more of Gail and Cheryl in the next book, but I realize they weren't really part of this particular story line.

Speaking of story lines, this one was fantastic! There were enough red herrings to keep me from accurately guessing the person until right near the end. Even then, I wasn't positive I was right until the climax of the book. The prose flowed well and the pace was steady, but not too fast nor too slow.

I could have used a little more setting descriptions, but I'd rather an author err on the side of being too cautious and not giving me enough description rather than being extra wordy about them.

All in all, I highly recommend this book! I've already grabbed the first one in the series from my library and plan to indulge over the weekend! Enjoy! ( )

4.5 rounded up.

This is a delightfully fun book to read! It is the second in the Zodiac Mystery series and I get the feeling that if I'd read the series in order, I might understand a couple of things a little better, but this time I don't feel like that detracted from the book or diminished my ability to enjoy it.

Our heroine, Julia, is great. For the most part, while she lets her emotions get her into bad situations at times, she doesn't seem to go deliberately looking for trouble. She might ask questions and talk to people, but she's not out there deliberately putting herself in harm's way most of the time (tho' harm's way finds her, unfortunately). I enjoyed the supporting characters as well. I'd like to see more of Gail and Cheryl in the next book, but I realize they weren't really part of this particular story line.

Speaking of story lines, this one was fantastic! There were enough red herrings to keep me from accurately guessing the person until right near the end. Even then, I wasn't positive I was right until the climax of the book. The prose flowed well and the pace was steady, but not too fast nor too slow.

I could have used a little more setting descriptions, but I'd rather an author err on the side of being too cautious and not giving me enough description rather than being extra wordy about them.

All in all, I highly recommend this book! I've already grabbed the first one in the series from my library and plan to indulge over the weekend! Enjoy! ( )

All Signs Point to Murder is the second entry in author Connie diMarco’s Zodiac Mystery series. It picks up where The Madness of Mercury left off, and it’s even better.

Julia Bonatti is a bridesmaid at her good friend Geneva Leary's wedding. Should be a happy, happy day, right? The astrological signs for that day are a little alarming, but nobody asked Julia's opinion and she is there to support Geneva as Geneva has supported her in the past. However, things seem to go wrong from the start - a no-show sister, a passed-out wedding planner, and then culminating with a lethal shooting in the middle of the night.

Geneva asks Julia to try and figure out how all of this tragedy could have happened, and Julia digs deep, using her astrological insights to try and make sense of this. Apparently she digs a little too deep, because she finds herself in grave danger.

This is a fast-paced mystery with an intricate plot that will keep you guessing and an abundance of astrological details, presented in a way that they make perfect sense and you feel that you see just what Julia does. If only you’d known sooner . . . . Little clues are dropped along the way but they didn’t really sink in, and the ending was a satisfying surprise. And is there another little hint that there may be more to Julia’s fiancé Michael’s hit-and-run death that will be explored in a future book?

I have thoroughly enjoyed both books in this series and look forward to more Zodiac mystery with Julia. ( )

All Signs Point to Murder: A Zodiac Mystery
Author: Connie di Marco
Publisher: Midnight Ink

Astrological signs are gathering over Geneva Leary's wedding day, and Julia Bonatti is worried. Her job was to be a bridesmaid not the bearer of bad news.When catastrophe strikes in the form of a missing sister, the sudden unconscious wedding planner and the murder, everyone is surprised, except for Julia.

Grief and accusations threaten to tear her friend and her family apart permanently. Julia doesn’t want to get involved, but it looks like she doesn’t have a choice. She owes it to Geneva to solve the murder before the wrong person goes to prison for the crime.

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This is the second book in The Zodiac Mystery series, Ms. di Marco has crafted an entertaining and highly imaginative story with plenty of twists and turns. The main character, Julia is smart, funny and intelligent. She knows what she is good at and what she isn’t. She wants to help ease the grief of her friend and everyone else but knows one of them may well be a killer. She isn’t always tactful but tries not to be too insensitive; however, she isn’t always successful and at times blurts out the first thought that comes into her head. This can lead to awkward situations and hurt feelings. Julia is a typical woman with a talent for astrology. She lacks self-confidence at times, and this can cause her trouble. Having lost her own fiance several years earlier, she knows that astrology works but may not always help.

The story is well written and flows nicely. The plot thickens as the reader turns the page but never gets bogged down in too much detail. The characters are rich and well rounded with just enough flaws to make them relatable. The scene where Julia becomes locked in a restaurant storeroom and worry that she will be found and not found at the same time gives her a feel of frailty and determination at the same time.

The ending of the book resolves all of the questions in the story but leaves room for interpretation. A character who is thrown in at the last minute, however, is unnecessary and does not enhance the story but doesn’t detract from the overall plot.

This book, as well as the series, is recommended to anyone who has an interest in astrology and enjoys books with twists and turns that aren’t always red herrings. “All Signs Point to Murder” is fast-paced and a delightful read.





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Julia Bonatti is an astrologer who's been roped into being part of a wedding party of her friend Geneva, one she really doesn't want to be part of but is doing so out of loyalty. While there she sees that the bride's sister Moira not only doesn't show up to be in the wedding, but when they do find her she appears to be drunk, even though she insists she's not. Later that night members of the wedding party retreat to the bride's sister Brooke's home to spend the night, lugging the wedding gifts with them. During the night Julia hears what appears to be gunshots and finds out that Brooke's husband Rob has shot an intruder in the garage. When the lights come on, the intruder is discovered to be Moira, and she's declared dead at the hospital.

When Rob insists there was another person in the garage and he didn't kill Moira, Geneva asks Julia to investigate and find out if there was another shooter, and if Moira was involved in something shady. So Julia reluctantly agrees and goes to Moira's apartment, only to be conked on the head while there and knocked out. When she comes to, she barely makes it out of the apartment before the police arrive. What she does find, however, is an expensive bracelet - one that Moira could not have afforded, given her spotty employment record. But when she shows the bracelet to Geneva, she knows nothing about it.

Still Julia continues to investigate, and finds out more about Moira's private life - including a second boyfriend that no one seems to know anything about. Will she find the truth before an innocent man is convicted of murder? Or will she lose her own life to someone who's been watching her all along and knows the only reason to keep a secret is if they are the only one who knows it...

This is the second book in the series, and I really wanted to like it as much as the first; however, I felt the story got bogged down by endless details about everything - where she parked, the attitude of valets, etc.; just descriptions of everything Julia encountered. I mean, honestly, how many people do you know describe every single moment of their day? And would you want to spend time with them if they did?

Julia is investigating the murder by herself with no help from anyone in the victim's family, which I find extremely odd considering she didn't even know Moira that well, if at all. I certainly wouldn't put myself out to investigate the murder of someone I barely knew. It doesn't make any sense, even given the fact that Geneva stood by her after Michael's death. No explanation is given as to why Geneva isn't 'along for the ride' as it were, at least on some level. Instead, she just put the entire thing in Julia's lap. And when Julia is knocked out, Geneva doesn't even show real concern - she doesn't tell her to stop the investigation right there because her life might be in danger. She just allows her to continue on.

I also didn't care much for Brooke. She decided that she'd rather divorce her husband instead of having a second child, and when I read that she thought her career was more important than the marriage, well, that's telling right there. Yes, I know the outcome and everything, but if either man or woman puts career ahead of marriage it pretty much says it all, doesn't it? Didn't they discuss this before marrying?

I also felt the secondary story of Celia seemed more like filler so that the reader didn't forget the reason why Julia decided not to date again. All it did was tell me that Julia is a doormat. She investigates a murder - putting herself in danger - without help from the victim's family and doesn't say anything. She allows her almost-mother-in-law to say things to her and push her around without fighting back. She also goes to a building to eavesdrop on a conversation and gets into a cabinet to hide and gets locked in the building, then has to figure a way out without getting caught when she gets locked in. It seemed like a really stupid thing to do.

Now I know these were plot lines with a reason behind them, but I think they could have been handled differently to show us that Julia was not blatantly stupid. She professes to live her life by Astrology, but never sees if danger awaits her if she does certain things? Why is she never looking at her own chart and taking precautions?

While these things may have detracted from the book for me, it was the ending that saved it, and the reason I give it three stars instead of two. It was a nice one indeed, with a little bit of action and ingenuity and definite pluck on Julia's part that made me realize there is a brain in her head after all. While I figured out the killer early on, it was interesting to watch Julia get to the gist of the matter and figure it out for herself. This book is an easy read for a quiet afternoon and I will read the next in the series, because I did enjoy the first book. ( )