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when they were released in hard cover.
JANUARY - FEBRUARY REVIEWS
DAVID
FULMER*
THE
DYING CRAPSHOOTER’S BLUES
DAVID FULMER
Harcourt Inc. Trade pb 1/08
It’s
a Saturday night in late December in
Atlanta
, not too many years after the end of WWI. On
Central Avenue
,
Atlanta
’s scarlet boulevard, the music is playing and the sporting houses are
filled. Pay envelopes are being emptied on liquor, women, and gambling.
And only a few miles away, members of
Atlanta
’s upper-crust are gathered in one of the city’s glittering mansions for a
charity Christmas party. At the end of the evening, after the last chauffeur
driven Duisenbergs, Cords, and Whippets have departed, the lady of the house,
Mrs. Charles Payne, discovers her jewelry box has been emptied. Thus begins
David Fulmer’s gripping, fast-paced novel, THE
DYING CRAPSHOOTER’S BLUES.
In
the early hours of the morning after the jewel heist, Little Jesse Williams —
black, a gambler and small-time crook — is shot down in one of
Atlanta
’s rougher neighborhoods. Several witnesses recognize the assailant as a
police officer, a man who is also one of the collectors of protection money for
a corruption-filled police department.
As he lies grievously wounded, Williams asks his friend, Joe
Rose, to find out why the cop shot him. Rose, a former cop and Pinkerton
detective, has moved on to a more lucrative profession; he has become a highly
skilled and successful thief. Part Native American, Rose is light enough to live
in the white world and dark enough to be accepted in the world of color. And
Rose quickly becomes one of the prime suspects in the jewel robbery.
This
is a complex tale that moves back and forth between two worlds, one white, and
one black. It is a society with shape demarcations based on wealth and color.
But corruption, and the riches it generates, debauchery, and turpitude, are
engaged in and enjoyed across racial and economic boundaries.
David
Fulmer carefully constructs an intriguing cast of characters over the course of
the novel. Each is richly developed with attributes and motivations. And the
plot is propelled forward as these characters pursue their often-conflicting
goals.
Fulmer’s
skillful use of time and place gives additional texture and authenticity to the
narrative. By the end of the book the reader is conversant with the social and
political milieu of this southern city. As the story concludes, Joe Rose finds
out why Little Jesse Williams was shot, but in the process he almost loses his
freedom and his life.
THE DYING CRAPSHOOTER’S BLUES is a skillfully plotted and
carefully crafted novel. David Fulmer successfully captures the tension and
energy of
Atlanta
in the 1920s in this engaging and enjoyable tale.
- Aaron Stander
*PHOTO
CREDIT: MICHAEL RILEY
THE
SPELLMAN FILES
LISA LUTZ
Simon & Schuster Trade pb 2/08
Isabel
Spellman is like you or me. While some people may think that your parents
trailing you, or doing a credit check on every boyfriend you have, is strange,
this is commonplace in Isabel's family. Her
family owns and operates a detective agency, Isabel has grown up in this
atmosphere and has even gone into the business herself. She has never doubted
that decision until now. Many events lead to Isabel deciding to leave the
agency, however her parents ask her to take one last case. Isabel knows that
they are just stalling her because this case hasn't been solved in twelve years.
To everyone's surprise, once Isabel gets started, she begins to make headway and
someone is not happy about that. Then her sister goes missing and Isabel is sure
it is connected to this case and nothing could pull her away now, not even those
pesky threats of a lawsuit and a restraining order.
THE SPELLMAN FILES
is the most original, fun and hilarious book that I have read in years. The
writing flows and you are immediately hooked into the story. The characters,
everyone, not just one or two, are so well thought out and portrayed, I felt
like I knew them my entire life. This book is enjoyable and is definitely a
keeper. I laughed out loud so many times, I lost count. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this book to anyone who wants to have a good time.
- Robyn Glazer
MEGAN ABBOTT
THE
SONG IS YOU
MEGAN
ABBOTT
Simon & Schuster Trade pb 2/08
Working
in public relations for a
Hollywood
studio provided plenty of excitement during the heyday of the movies in the
early nineteen-fifties. Moving up
near the top, where the PR man's main job was to clean up the messes left by the
stars, called for a swift mind and an excess of brass.
Gil "Hop"
Hopkins
was blessed with both. Deftly
placed bribes and meticulously doctored news releases, along with carefully
nurtured contacts in high places, provided him with a good salary and plenty of
perks -- including access to choice starlets and would-be starlets as they
wandered, full of hope, into the maw of the movie industry.
But the dream job runs into a snag when Hop receives an unhappy reminder
of the past -- a past that involved the disappearance and apparent death of
rising star Jean Spangler. The
problem is that Hop was one of the last to see Spangler before her vanishing
act, and he's convinced that suspicion may devolve upon him.
Inevitably, he tours the night clubs, bars and even less respectable
establishments in search of anything that might explain what happened to
Spangler. THE
SONG IS YOU capitalizes on the high life of Tinseltown in its prime, with
booze flowing liberally and bed hopping the rule rather than the exception.
Abbott has successfully captured that flavor, and spices it with
rapid-fire repartee, one-line zingers and the names of famous denizens of the
film capital.
-
John A. Broussard
THE
LIAR’S DIARY
PATRY FRANCIS
Plume Trade pb 2/08
Two
women, two completely different personalities. Jeanne Cross has been comfortable
yet bored with her life. Her job as a secretary in her son’s high school has
been her main source of excitement and as soon as Ali Mather, the new art
teacher, walks in, that excitement goes through the roof. Ali and Jeanne are
unlikely friends but that is what they become until someone murders Ali.
Jeanne’s son is arrested and believed guilty of this horrific crime. Jeanne
knows her son is innocent and will do almost anything to try and prove it. How
far will Jeanne go to keep her family safe?
THE LIAR’S DIARY
is a very interesting look into the psyche of these two women. This book takes
many different turns, none of them anticipated. I enjoyed trying to figure out
what was going on and whether or not to believe certain people in the book.
Another strong aspect of this book is the wonderful imagery. I could picture all
of the main characters as real people, they were so vividly described. THE
LIAR’S DIARY is a good read and I look forward to the next book by Patry
Francis.
- Robyn Glazer
NANCY
ATHERTON*
AUNT
DIMITY GOES
WEST
NANCY
ATHERTON
Penguin pb 1/08
Lori
Sheppard keeps having nightmares. It’s
been six weeks since she was almost murdered at the hands of Abaddon. But her
husband, Bill, has just the remedy — an adventure trip away from their home in
England
. Danny Auerbach, who owns a cabin in Bluebird,
Colorado
, has offered it to the Sheppards. From the little town of
Finch
, Lori, with twin sons Will and Rob, along with nanny Annelise, head off to the
American West. However, as soon as they arrive things begin to go wrong. First,
the caretaker, James Blackwell, has disappeared under mysterious circumstances
leaving them in the care of young Toby Cooper. As they discover the town of
Bluebird
, and Lori is amazed by the similarities between the town’s people, they also
find out about the curse involving the Lord Stuart Mine. It turns out The Aerie,
where Lori is staying, sits on the land that had once been the Lord Stuart Mine.
In addition, the Auerbach family had left quickly last Christmas and were trying
to sell the cabin. What had happened to them? And did it have anything to do
with the curse? Lori feels like she’s seeing doppelgangers and going a bit
crazy, so she turns to Aunt Dimity for advice. There’s only one problem. Aunt
Dimity is dead. Each night Lori speaks with Dimity through the use of a journal
that was given to her by Dimity — an old friend of her mother’s and an
Englishwoman who left her cottage in Finch to Lori. Dimity tells Lori that there
is nothing sinister going on at the Aerie. But then why is Lori still fearful?
Did Abaddon escape from his watery grave? And will the curse finally claim its
victim?
Nancy
Atherton vividly describes my home stomping grounds of
Colorado
and its beauty. She excels at crafting a host of characters sure to entertain
and please. In her latest installment, she incorporates another surprise for her
readers. Cozy mystery readers will love AUNT
DIMITY GOES WEST. HIGHLY
RECOMMENDED.
- Vikki Walton
*PHOTO
CREDIT: GREG TAYLOR
CONSEQUENCES
OF SIN
CLARE
LANGLEY-HAWTHORNE
Penguin Trade pb 1/08
The
Shakespearean quote, "The sins of the father are to be laid upon the
children" (The Merchant of Venice) provides the inspiration for Clare
Langley-Hawthorne's auspicious debut.
The
first of a new period historical series set in Edwardian London, CONSEQUENCES
OF SIN introduces 22-year-old suffragette Ursula Marlow. She is a young
woman who drives her wealthy father to distraction with her protest activities
and association with individuals not appropriate to her position in society,
Ursula becomes entangled in a murder mystery that ultimately claims the life of
one very dear to her.
Without
giving away too much of this cleverly designed plot that features some splendid
surprises, with a bit of romance and lots of local color, let it suffice to say
that the "father's sins" the story is built around are of major
consequence.
A
mysterious and ill-fated scientific expedition to
South America
financed by Ursula's father before she was born comes back to haunt the family
with disastrous consequences.
A
penchant for, as her father says, "puttin' your nose in where it's not
needed" combined with a temper that reaches the boiling point whenever
she's told to stop playing detective and start looking for a husband are nearly
Ursula's downfall.
Defying
the chauvinistic attitude that women shouldn't bother their "pretty little
heads" with matters better left to men, Ursula is determined to unearth the
details of an event that has had terrible repercussions for the ancestors of the
families who were, even indirectly, involved in it.
Placing
her own life in jeopardy, the feisty heiress ventures into the dangerous jungles
of
Venezuela
's Orinoco Delta where the answers to a series of inexplicable murders are
hidden.
Although
at times her vulnerability can be a bit disconcerting, Ursula Marlow is a
heroine you'll want to follow in further adventures. Hopefully, after this
rousing sleuthing "coming out party,"
Oakland
,
California
, novelist Clare Langley-Hawthorne won't be too hard pressed to equal or top
this initial episode!
-
Bob Walch
CRAIG JOHNSON
KINDNESS
GOES UNPUNISHED
CRAIG
JOHNSON
Penguin Trade pb 2/08
Craig
Johnson’s third installment of his Sheriff Walt Longmire series, KINDNESS
GOES UNPUNISHED, solidifies this author’s stature as a mystery storyteller
at the level of Michael Connelly, Tony Hillerman and James Sallis.
Craig Johnson’s eye for drawing upon his deeply developed characters’
personalities and their realistic emotional and physical reactions to tragic
events is what makes this author stand out with these icons of the mystery
genre.
With
nothing better to do in Wyoming’s Absaroka County, Walt agrees to drive with
his best friend, Henry Standing Bear, to Philadelphia to visit his daughter,
Cady, a lawyer. Henry is invited to
exhibit and discuss his Mennonite photograph collection at the Pennsylvania
Academy of Fine Arts.
But
upon Longmire’s arrival in
Philadelphia
, he discovers that Cady was attacked and is in a coma.
Vengeance is all that Walt can think about when he is not helplessly
watching and praying for his daughter’s recovery.
So,
Longmire with the implicit permission of Philadelphia’s finest, including his
deputy’s police clan, does what he does best, find out the reason for the
incident and the culprit, who he at first believes is Cady’s current love
interest. But when a murder occurs,
Longmire discovers that Cady’s attack and attacker may not be as obvious and
simple as it first appeared.
KINDNESS
GOES UNPUNISHED is somewhat of a departure for Craig Johnson, not only because of the
locale of the story, but also because of the faster tempo not shown in his
earlier Sheriff Longmire stories. As
an aside, the first two books in this series are also wonderful to read and
should be read in order to better appreciate this series’ characters.
KINDNESS GOES UNPUNISHED
continues to show the growth of Craig Johnson, not only a mystery writer but as
a storyteller of human nature.
Of
special interest to all of you Sheriff Longmire fans, make sure you grab a copy
of Craig Johnson’s Longmire short story, “Old
Indian Trick,” found in the Cowboys
& Indians Magazine (March, 2006 issue) that inaugurated the
Sheriff Longmire series and for which the author won the Second Annual Tony
Hillerman Mystery Contest. Go to www.cowboysindians.com
to find out how to get this back issue.
Let
me know your thoughts.
-
Paul Anik
SOVEREIGN
C.
J. SANSOM
Penguin Trade pb 2/08
Lawyer
Matthew Shardlake returns in the third installment of this well-written mystery
series set in the tumultuous times of Henry VIII.
Matthew had hoped to remain out of the public arena, but, once again, he
is called upon to provide service, this time to Thomas Cranmer, the powerful
Archbishop of Canterbury. The sterling references for Matthew provided by his
former employer, Thomas Cromwell, make him the man of choice for a pair of tasks
in distant York: he’s to assist with the handling of legal petitions that will
be presented to the king for settlement; and he’s to oversee the imprisonment
of a political prisoner who will be brought back to London for questioning in
the Tower. With the bloody resistance to Henry’s reign and his Reformation in
the North of England, the King and his fifth Queen are traveling the countryside
to gain allegiance and to intimidate those who contemplate another rebellion.
Accompanied by his resourceful assistant, Jack Barak, Matthew discovers
that he’s gotten involved in a much deeper political morass than he bargained
for, and the murder of a
York
glazier heralds the start of a series of violent events where Matthew himself
becomes a prime target. The description of the royal retinue’s Progress and
their accommodations and provisions is especially fascinating, colorfully and
realistically portrayed, showing the incredible resources devoured by the horde
of royal courtiers. And the depiction of the differences in social class (and
power) is displayed with all the frightening consequences. Culminating in a
terrifying visit to the infamous
London
Tower
torture chambers, this is a splendid addition to the series, and well worth
your time. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
-
Carol Howell
JOYCE HOLMS
MISSING
LINK
JOYCE
HOLMS
Allison & Busby Trade pb 1/08
International Publishers Marketing Distributors
ISBN: 978-0-7490-8081-5
Edinburgh
lawyer Fizz Fitzpatrick is taken
aback when she is asked by a client, an elderly woman, to prove that she is
guilty of murder. The client, Mrs. Sullivan, is distressed that a man has
been convicted of the crime and is serving time in prison, even though he did
not do it. Being quite busy with other things, Fizz refers Mrs. Sullivan
to Tom Buchanan, a former colleague now practicing on his own, for him to
investigate and take appropriate legal steps. As he visits the scene of
the crime and talks to the police, it becomes increasingly clear that the right
man was, indeed, convicted, even as it becomes clear that the victim, Amanda
Montrose, might well have been involved in criminal activity. Yet despite
their continuing efforts, Fizz and Tom are unable to find any concrete proof to
back up their suspicions. And suspicion is not enough. Then,
suddenly, everything turns upside down and in a stunning finale the incredible
truth emerges.
This is the seventh book in this series and, although I have not read the first
six, I did feel that there was no problem for me in not having read the earlier
books. It was well written, with interesting characters, and the most
incredible and unusual motive I have encountered in a long time.
-
Eden
Embler
THE BLOOD
SPILT
ÅSA LARSSON
Translated from the Swedish by Marlaine Delargy
Delta Trade pb 1/08
Northern
Sweden
is a strange place. Well above the
Artic Circle
, the area has long, dark and depressing winters and almost manic, never-dark
summers. Midsummer Night is bright as day and sometimes the strange seasonal and
daily rhythms drive people mad. That seems to be what happened in Åsa
Larsson’s second novel, THE BLOOD SPILT.
A controversial female priest is bludgeoned to death and then suspended by a
chain from the choir loft of her church in what seems to be a bizarre ritual
murder on Midsummer Night. This is
the second time in two years that a priest has been killed in
Kiruna
,
Sweden
, and the police suspect a psychopath is on the loose.
Rebecka
Martinsson helped the police deal with the first killing and has returned to her
home town on business for her law firm. Martinsson still suffers from the
psychological traumas of the first killing and is drawn reluctantly into the
circumstances of the second. She struggles with her fear of another breakdown
and her odd behavior makes everyone around her nervous. They talk behind her
back about her as the girl who killed the killer and even her co-workers in
Stockholm
ask her what it’s like to kill a man.
Larsson
has given us a psychological thriller that is populated with suspects and
ghosts, literally. The dead priest visits her colleagues, her lover and her
killer. A yellow legged female wolf wanders through the novel, strikingly
beautiful but driven out by her pack, a symbol of the wild north and perhaps of
Rebecka Martinsson too. What is reality and what is delusion are often in doubt
and the novel’s characters are driven equally by both. This is not a classic
police procedural and it is not a “Friday the 13th” shock fest.
The characters are strongly drawn and believable. Whether the reader considers
Martinsson’s lecherous boss or the hulking retarded boy she befriends, their
motivations make perfect sense in the context of the latest Kiruna killing.
Åsa
Larsson won the 2004 Best Crime Novel of the Year award in Sweden for her first
novel, SUN STORM, and she is
continuing to amaze and entrap readers with her second novel, THE BLOOD SPILT. This is a crime novel that rewards the reader with
an unusual and unforgettable plot set in an environment that will be unfamiliar
to most. It is scarily brilliant at times, a novel I wanted to put down but
couldn’t because I had come to know and care about the characters.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
- W. J. H. Reed
WILLIAM
LANDAY*
THE
STRANGLER
WILLIAM
LANDAY
Bantam pb 1/08
Boston
in 1964 was in turmoil.
That was the year the strangler was spreading terror among women.
More significant in historical terms, however, was the massive urban
renewal project in the city's
West End
. It was also a time of police
corruption closely linked with what virtually amounted to Mafia rule.
Landay places the Daley family in this setting.
The father was a police officer recently killed in the line of duty.
His widow is now being courted by a police lieutenant who had been at
the scene of the killing. And then
there are the three sons: Joe, the oldest, also a cop; Michael, the middle son,
working in the State Attorney General's office; and Ricky, the youngest, who
has become a professional burglar. THE STRANGLER is an extraordinary combination of this fictional cast
and the carefully detailed historical events that fuel their reality.
All the threads finally come together and are tied securely -- the urban
renewal, the homicidal predator, the death of the elder Daley and the
ever-present organized crime figures. This
novel is an extraordinary tour-de-force, with an accurate description of
Boston
in the sixties, rapid-fire dialogue, suspense-filled pages and intriguing
protagonists. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
-
John A. Broussard
*PHOTO CREDIT: DARLENE
DEVITA
DR.
BILL BASS and JON JEFERSON
AKA JEFFERSON BASS*
FLESH
AND BONE
JEFFERSON
BASS
Harper pb 1/08
FLESH
AND BONE,
the new and much anticipated Jefferson Bass book is out and it is the most
explicit yet about the works of the Body Farm (the world’s only laboratory
dedicated to the study of human decomposition, which is located at the
University
of
Tennessee
). A young man has been found tied
to a tree dressed in “Dolly Parton” drag clothes and Dr. Bill Brockton and
his assistant, Miranda, tie a freshly donated corpse to a tree, dressed the same
way, and chart how long it takes the maggots and blowflies to reach the stage
the corpse was in when it was found. A
severed head is carried around in an ice chest in a cavalier manner as the
doctor tries to determine the cause of death.
Dr.
Brockton’s love interest, Jess Carter, the newly appointed medical examiner,
is killed in the midst of a hornets nest stirred up by Dr. Brockton’s comments
regarding intelligent design. She is tied to the corpse on the tree at the Body
Farm and there is a security camera tape showing a 5 am unscheduled trip onto
the property by a truck similar to one owned by Dr. Brockton. The frame draws
tighter as bloody sheets are confiscated from
Brockton
’s bed. Burt DeVriess, AKA
Grease, an oily defense attorney, is hired by
Brockton
as his friends fall away like blowflies. Soon,
even his grandchildren are afraid of
Brockton
. He is relieved of duty at the
University and no one wants to consult with him regarding murder. To clear his
name, and avoid financial ruin, against apparently insurmountable odds, Dr. Bill
must find the murderer.
Dr.
Bill Bass, a true legend in forensic circles, partners with Jon Jefferson a
veteran journalist and they make a powerful writing team. Again, this is a
well-written thriller. No two do it
better!
- Carolyn Lanier
*PHOTO
CREDIT: ERIK BLEDSOE
DARKHOUSE
ALEX BARCLAY
Dell pb 2/08
It's
a dream assignment. A national
magazine has given interior designer Anne Lucchesi the task of restoring an old
lighthouse on
Ireland
's coast. The offer couldn't have
come at a better time, since husband Joe has just had a traumatic experience as
an NYPD officer when he had to kill a berserk kidnapper.
So, along with their eighteen-year-old son Shaun, they settle down in the
small Irish community -- Anne engrossed in her work, Joe enjoying the peaceful
atmosphere of the village, and Shaun already in love with beautiful colleen
Katie Lawson. And then the world is
split apart when Katie disappears, only to be eventually found -- brutally
murdered. DARKHOUSE is the story of a remote, rural community stumbling along
into the Twenty-First Century, yet still suspicious of outsiders, and still
unbelieving that a horrific crime can happen to one of their own.
Gradually, as Joe sets out on his unofficial and ill-received
investigation of the girl's death, he becomes aware that someone from out of his
past has followed him across the
Atlantic
, and that Katie's death may well be related to that past.
The author's writing is inspired. The
characters, both the newcomers and the old-timers, are alive, complex,
believable people. His use of
flashbacks is especially skilled, as these fill in the motive for not one but
for a host of murderous acts. It
will be hard to beat Barclay's mastery of suspense.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
- John A. Broussard
JOHN
LESCROART*
THE SUSPECT
JOHN LESCROART
Signet pb 1/08
Every
job has its method, the tricks of the trade that save time and yield quick,
positive results. This is even true with murder investigations. But sometimes
the cops get it wrong. Every murdered spouse doesn’t have the other partner as
the killer. Even if the marriage was on the rocks. Even if the husband had a
notorious bad temper. Even if the neighbors heard a lot of shouting. Even if…
That’s
the problem defense attorney Gina Roake faces in John Lescroart’s latest
mystery, THE SUSPECT.
The usual drill has worked
perfectly for Inspector Sergeant Devin Juhle. The husband has admitted marital
discord, extreme emotional upset and, best of all, gave a detailed statement
without consulting a lawyer. The pieces are fitting together nicely and there
are no other credible suspects to consider. When a neighbor tells him she saw
Stuart Gorman’s car pull into the garage at the right time to have murdered
his wife, everything snaps into place. Another high profile crime solved quickly
and professionally by the San Francisco P.D. How Roake tries to break this
compelling logic cage makes THE SUSPECT
a great addition to the ranks of legal thrillers.
John
Lescroart knows
San Francisco
like the back of his hand and uses this knowledge to give his narrative place
and time that are totally believable. He then peoples his mystery with quirky,
absolutely real, people. Whether it’s the battle-axe receptionist at Roake’s
law firm or the criminal justice people grabbing lunch at Lou the Greek’s
awful restaurant across the street from the Hall of Justice, the reader never
questions what he’s observing, every note ringing true. Gina Roake is still
recovering from the death of her lover and sees defending Stuart Gorman as a way
to get back on her feet. Gorman can’t believe that the justice system really
is on its way to convicting an innocent man. The young judge at the preliminary
hearing is playing up to the press because this is all so cool. Real people,
warts and all.
Lescroart
has been a favorite of mine for years and THE
SUSPECT just confirms him on my must-read list. Weird, wonderful and totally
alive characters and a plot line that will leave you guessing until the end make
THE SUSPECT a good place to start if
you haven’t read him before and an eagerly awaited treat for his long-time
fans. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
- W. J. H. Reed
*PHOTO
CREDIT: RICH MONTGOMERY
CAROLINE & CHARLES TODD
(AKA CHARLES TODD)
A
FALSE MIRROR
CHARLES TODD
Harper pb 1/08
This
is the ninth book in the Ian Rutledge series, and the haunted lead character
still managed to mesmerize me with his recollections of the horrors of trench
warfare. This time, the Scotland Yard Inspector is yanked out of a
London
investigation and sent to
Devon
, accompanied, as always, by his ghostly tormentor, Hamish MacLeod, the soldier
he executed during the war. In the little coastal town of Hampton Regis, Matthew
Hamilton, a former high-level civil servant, has been brutally attacked and left
to drown, and hovers on the brink of death in the local doctor’s home. The
likely perpetrator is Stephen Mallory, jilted fiancé of the victim’s wife,
and the local police inspector sustains a painful injury when Mallory runs away
from his interrogation, enhancing the copper’s conviction of his guilt. In a
bizarre twist, Mallory ends up holding
Hamilton
’s wife and her maid as hostages, sending for Rutledge (his former commanding
officer) to find out who really attempted to kill
Hamilton
. Rutledge must fight with his own personal demons while he meticulously
interviews the locals to see who else might have wanted Hamilton out of the way,
uncovering the usual rat’s nest of secrets and suspects. But the investigation
takes on an even more puzzling aspect when
Hamilton
disappears and a new corpse is discovered, casting doubts over all of
Rutledge’s surmises. The themes of guilt and loyalty are pervasive in this
book, and the chilly, dank setting perfectly mirrors the events. HIGHLY
RECOMMENDED.
- Carol Howell
TIM DORSEY
(WITH REVIEWER SANDIE HERRON)
HURRICANE
PUNCH
TIM
DORSEY
Harper pb 1/08
Tim
Dorsey is back with his ninth novel and that can only mean one thing – Serge
Storms is back dispensing his own type of
Florida
justice. The setting for Dorsey’s
typical mayhem is the series of hurricanes – one after the other
-- that strike mainland
Florida
. Bodies are beginning to turn up
at an alarming rate. A serial killer
is on the loose, using the storms to hide his or her deeds.
Serge begins to feel a twinge of jealousy and is determined not to be
outdone. Have no fear Dorsey fans
– Serge will not let us down.
But
Serge doesn’t just select his victims at random.
No, each one “deserves to die,” at least in Serge’s mind.
For instance, the driver that refuses to turn his car stereo down, even
though Serge politely asks him to do so several times.
Of course, Serge’s justice fits the crime.
Agent
Mahoney is back, determined to capture Serge.
Serge has become his all-consuming desire.
He has even had to spend time in a mental institution from getting too
much into the mind of his adversary. Add
an aspiring journalist, trying to make a name for himself, and a character named
Coleman, who becomes Serge’s sidekick, and you have the makings of a
hilariously funny book. But that is
nothing new for Dorsey fans.
Serge
even tries to get a regular job on the advice of his psychiatrist.
Serge may be the only person ever fired from both McDonald’s and Burger
King within a matter of hours. Let’s
say that customer service is not Serge’s strong suit.
Yet Serge still has his dreams, including playing the guitar better than
Eric Clapton (see Serge build the world’s largest amp).
Oh yes, he also wants to guide the whooping cranes back to their nesting
grounds, flying in an ultra-light airplane.
HURRICANE
PUNCH is true Dorsey.
The humor will keep the reader entertained while one tries to figure out
Serge’s next escapade. Dorsey is a
sheer fun read. If a reader wants a
few hours of relaxation and entertainment, pick up HURRICANE
PUNCH, or any one of Tim Dorsey’s other novels.
-
Tom Mayes
*PHOTO CREDIT: BILL HERRON
Joe
Grey’s beautiful tabby girlfriend, Dulcie, is worried. An evil criminal, Cage
Jones, has escaped from prison and attacked her roommate Wilma’s partner from
the probation office. Dulcie is afraid that Wilma is next, and she’s right.
Cage Jones kidnaps Wilma and holds her hostage, though even Wilma has no idea
what treasure he is trying to force her to give back. A petty criminal is
searching, too, and his sister and Cage’s family are caught up in the intrigue
that surrounds the bad guys. When Wilma’s niece, the police chief’s wife, is
captured as well, the cats take to the rooftops of Molinas Point and the trails
surrounding their hometown to find clues to the mystery in an attempt to rescue
their two-legged friends. Joe and Dulcie, along with their friend, the
tattercoat Kit, use their special powers of understanding human language and
communicating with a select few people, to try to solve the mystery and save the
people they love. Along the way they learn a lot about human relationships and
emotions – some good, some very bad and all vastly different from their catly
ones. Murphy’s cats may talk, dial the phone and read the newspaper, but they
are true to their feline natures in other ways, making them oddly believable and
totally engaging sleuths. CAT PAY THE
DEVIL is a hell of a good read. RECOMMENDED.
-
Michele A. Reed
DEBORAH CROMBIE
WATER
LIKE A STONE
DEBORAH
CROMBIE
Avon
pb 1/08
Once
again Detective Superintendent Duncan Kincaid and his partner, Detective
Inspector Gemma James, are involved in a murder inquiry; but, this time,
they’re on vacation and the corpse is an almost mummified body of an infant
that’s been uncovered by Kinkaid’s building contractor sister, Juliet.
Duncan
and Gemma must take a back seat to the local investigators, headed by Ronnie
Babcock, an old school chum of
Duncan
’s, but the Scotland Yard pair can’t remain uninvolved when a twist of fate
has
Duncan
’s young son Kit finding a second corpse.
What starts as a potentially relaxing Christmas holiday in
Cheshire
, with three generations of the Kincaid family, becomes anything but. Even
without the crimes, the holiday would be uniquely memorable because of the
family friction caused by the disintegration of Juliet’s marriage and the
teenage angst of her daughter which enmeshes Kit, himself burgeoning with
hormonal changes, which is painfully and believably portrayed. As always, the
author has provided well-drawn and interesting (and not all lovable) characters,
in an interesting setting that includes
England
’s canal narrowboats and the idiosyncratic lifestyle of those who live aboard.
A well-crafted and masterfully done eleventh book in the series. HIGHLY
RECOMMENDED.
- Carol Howell
Virginia
horsewoman Mary Minor “Harry” Haristeen is on vacation in Kentucky at the
Saddlebred horse show, there to celebrate her 40th birthday and
honeymoon with her husband, Fair, whom she has remarried after a divorce. The
trip turns out to be anything but a pleasure cruise, however, as troubles plague
the famous show at Shelbyville, and murder rears its ugly head. When Jorge, a
groom, is found brutally killed with a double cross carved into his palm, no one
knows what to make of it. Nor do they know what to do when Joan Hamilton,
proprietor of Kalarama Farm, and a dear friend of Harry’s, loses a beloved
family heirloom pin. Missing, too, is movie star Renata DeCarlo’s horse,
spirited out under everyone’s noses. The loss causes Renata to split from her
trainer, Charly Trackwell, and join the Kalarama client list. Tensions run high
as Charly and two other trainers — Ward and Booty — prepare to vie for the
blue ribbon in the five-gaited class, the big finale of the show. The winner
gets not only glory; he can sell the winning horse for a near fortune. But Ward,
Booty and Charly have other tensions in their relationship, known only to the
three of them. As Harry struggles to find the missing horse and pin, and
discover who murdered Jorge, she learns a lot about the things that drive the
human animal and uncovers nefarious goings-on at the stables. As always,
Harry’s animals play a big part in the story. The cats — tiger Mrs. Murphy
and fat grey Pewter— and Tee Tucker, the Welsh Corgi, steal the show, with
their antics and the running patter they keep up, understood only by each other
and the reader. Because the cats and dog can go where no human can, and they can
communicate with their fellow animals, including the horses, they have a head
start on solving any mystery they come into contact with. And they, along with
Booty’s hateful monkey, Miss Nasty, provide lots of comic relief to help the
mystery from getting too intense. The
reader must really suspend disbelief for the conversations among the animals.
It’s not the idea that animals can communicate with each other (and these
communicate only with each other, humans hear what they’re saying only as
typical meows and barks). These animals seem to have knowledge far beyond
anything one could expect of their species. In addition to kibble and fish, they
discuss global warming, immigration legislation and the price of oil. Rita Mae
Brown, herself a
Virginia
horsewoman, knows whereof she speaks. PUSS'N
CAHOOTS, like her other books, is full of the lore of stables and
horsemanship. Anyone who loves mysteries peopled by intelligent animals or wants
to know more about the world of horses, will especially love this book.
RECOMMENDED.
-
Michele A. Reed
STEVEN TORRES
MESSAGE
IN THE FLAMES
STEVEN
TORRES
Leisure pb 1/08
Okay,
so aside from having the worst title I've seen on a novel in years* this is a
pretty good book. Steven Torres is a new author to me; his story of a
remote village in
Puerto Rico
and the people there really works.
Luis Gonzalo should be retiring, but a fire
on his very last day of work causes him to investigate. It appears at
first to be an accident, but very quickly Luis realizes that the fire is arson,
and that people died. The story is interesting, but hardly new; in towns
in
Puerto Rico
, just as anywhere, there's power and greed, and there is corruption and there
are drugs and there are battles over authority and jurisdiction.
I had trouble recalling events a few days
after I'd finished the book (an old reviewer's trick; ok, ok, this old
reviewer's trick for ensuring that first reactions are trustworthy) but Torres
writes with a sure hand and introduces new faces, new places and new cultures,
even if the story is pretty old. Gonzalo's worth reading about. He
may be a small town sheriff, but he doesn't have a small town mind. All
these factors make Steven Torres worth reading.
-
Andi Shechter
*refers
to the original title, BURNING PRECINCT
PUERTO RICO.
DEATH
COMES FOR THE FAT MAN
REGINALD HILL
Harper pb 2/08
A
new Dalziel and Pascoe mystery, but one with such an ominous title I hesitated
to open the cover. It’s a splendid entry in the series featuring a seemingly
mismatched pair of
Yorkshire
coppers – crude, oversized and earthy Detective Superintendent Andy Dalziel
and Detective Chief Inspector Peter Pascoe, refined, intellectual and elegant.
The pair are caught in an explosion which sends Dalziel to the hospital in a
coma, and another copper involved with the blast is the victim of a suspiciously
timed hit-and-run. Pascoe winds up temporarily working for the
UK
anti-terrorist unit, an assignment he suspects was created to keep him from
investigating on his own. A vigilante group modeled after the medieval Knights
of Templar announces that they will use terrorist tactics to rid the world of
those whom traditional justice cannot punish, and they demonstrate their
sincerity by videotaping two gruesome murders.
There’s likely a connection here with the events that have hospitalized
his two co-workers, and Pascoe knows he must follow his instincts to uncover the
identity of those who have sent the Fat Man on extended sick leave.
Interestingly, he takes on some of Dalziel’s persona as he races to unmask the Templars and prevent further
violence. Hill has the usual supporting cast of characters on hand to flesh out
the background and action, and brief chapters describing Dalziel’s mental
meanderings (while moribund to the onlooker) are simply brilliant. The knockout
finale is all that a Hill devotée could want.
- Carol Howell
Home Page
NOVEMBER - DECEMBER REVIEWS
RUMPOLE
AND THE REIGN OF TERROR
JOHN MORTIMER
Penguin pb 10/07
Once
again barrister Horace Rumpole has taken up the case of a defendant charged with
a serious crime. But, times have changed: since the charge is “terrorism,”
the actual crime doesn’t need to be revealed to the defendant while he is
imprisoned indefinitely under the new laws. A Pakistani doctor with an
impeccable record of service and almost mind-numbing allegiance to all things
English, Dr. Khan behaves so strangely that Rumpole actually begins to question
his innocence, a factor that he seldom lets cross his consciousness. Adding to
Rumpole’s woes, his usual stable source of support, the clan Timson and their
myriad legal infractions, has decided to seek legal solace elsewhere. One of
their members, a former suitor of Dr. Khan’s wife, begrudges Rumpole’s
defense of the doctor and Rumpole reluctantly declines to be blackmailed into
withdrawing from the case. Efforts to have him abandon the doctor come from
other sources as well, and the beleaguered barrister is stunned when a judgeship
is wafted in his direction by way of a bribe. But he is utterly unaware of what
may be the greatest of his problems: Hilda
(She Who Must Be Obeyed) has been introduced to the redoubtable Judge Bullingham
and finds him utterly charming. Is it conceivable that she might forsake Rumple
and his modest life style to finally lead the high life for which she has always
pined? Once again Mortimer has dished up a tasty bon-bon of a tale to be nibbled
at delicately or, more likely, consumed speedily with great relish at one
sitting. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
- Carol Howell
THE
BEAUTIFUL CIGAR GIRL
DANIEL STASHOWER
Berkley
Trade pb 12/07
This remarkable and fascinating work will
probably not receive the attention it so richly deserves because it spreads
across several genres of writing. It is a true crime mystery of one of the
earliest sensationalized crimes to occur in this country’s history, the brutal
murder of Mary Rogers, the young and beautiful woman who worked at Anderson’s Tobacco Emporium. Secondly, it
is a snapshot of a moment in history, especially in
New York City, when the press was becoming more and more influential, competitive, and
frenzied for inflammatory material to increase their readership. F
