JACKIE FLEMING - MOSTLY MYSTERY REVIEWS
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Jackie Fleming is a mother of two, grandmother of three. She works
as a 'Public Service Specialist' for the county Coroner. Before
that she was in the Air Force (Non-Destruction Inspection Specialist
and Personnel Technician). She's held numerous part time jobs (she's
currently at a funeral home, before that she worked at Block Buster.
She's also been a mystery shopper, information operator, and worked
fast food. "I know that's not your normal bio, but it is me,"
says Jackie. |
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February 2006
MAXIMUM
SECURITY
Rose Conners
Pocket Books, June 2005, $6.99, 307 pages
ISBN 0-7434-9269-2
Martha Nickerson, Marty, is a criminal defense attorney in Chatham, Massachusetts,
a small town where the only people you don’t know on a first name
basis are the seasonal residents and tourists. Marty juggles single motherhood
to an absentee college student (who would rather be a grease money than
attend classes), an interfering ex-husband who over analyzes everything,
an undeclared monogamous relation with Harry Madigan, and her job.
Harry’s ex-fiancé from his Yale Law School days, Louisa Rawlings,
calls him with a little legal problem. Her husband is missing and presumed
dead. The widow appears anything but grief stricken. Maybe that’s
why the police want to question her before the estate and insurance policy
can be settled.
Harry has excuse himself due to his previous history with Louisa. He instead
asks Marty to handle this little matter. Marty is not happy, especially
when the council and the long legged blonde beauty meet. Louisa considers
being called a ‘trophy wife’ an apt description for herself,
and there is no love is lost between Louisa and her dramatic step-daughter,
Anastasia Rawlings. No man seems immune to Louisa's Southern charm, including
attorney Kevin Kydd, employee extraordinaire to Marty.
Marty has good reason to remind Kydd that Louisa is a client and should
be treated as such when the very dead husband, Herb Rawlings, floats to
the surface off the coast of Massachusetts. The Medical Examiner’s
determination is murder. Louisa is charged with the crime, and from the
District Attorney's office, Geraldine Schilling is determined to get a
guilty verdict.
MAXIMUM SECURITY is written with well thought out characters and storyline.
Although all the clues were there, I didn’t figure out who the killer
was and why until the end. I found even the secondary characters colorful
and lively. Ms. Connors appears to have a strong knowledge of the judicial
system. Her sense of humor is well grounded in difficult situations. Marty
is a character I liked and for the most part could relate to. At the end
of this book is a preview of her next book that includes these characters
again. I look forward to reading it.
Jackie Fleming
FEINT
OF ART
Hailey Lind
Penguin, January 2006, $6.99, 328 pages
ISBN: 0-451-21699-7
At the age of ten, Annie Kincaid was judged as a child prodigy for mimicking
Leonardo da Vinci. However by the age of seventeen, she had followed her
grandfather’s lead as a master forger. Narrowly escaping conviction
and imprisonment in France, Annie has returned to the United States and
honestly pursues her art career, forming her own business in faux finishes
and cleaver reproductions of art.
A profitable transportation businessman, J. Frank DeBenton, is Annie’s
new landlord. Geared to the high income clientele, he dresses to impress.
But there’s more to him than meets the eye here, because when brawn
is needed, which in Annie’s case happens unexpectedly often, he’s
got the body and the expertise to follow through.
Michael X. Johnson. Just who is he? Is he the private investigator he
claims to be? Is he Collin Brooks, the recently hired Egyptologist for
the San Francisco Brock Museum? Or is he, according to Interpol rumor,
a suspected art thief? Whoever he is, his actions conflict with his persona.
Is he a good guy or a bad guy? I’m holding my judgment till the next
book comes out.
Ernst Pettigrew, curator for the San Francisco Brock Museum and Annie's
former boyfriend, requests Annie’s expertise on a recently acquired
Caravaggio’s The Magi. It’s a forgery and she recognizes the
painter. Before she’ll admit who committed the crime, she wants to
talk to the old family friend. Not welcomed on the museum property because
of her past, Annie leaves but agrees to meet Ernst at a coffee shop. When
he’s late, she returns to the museum. The janitor has been murdered,
and Ernst is missing.
The Magi is not the only forgery. ‘Uncle Anton’ has also been
reproducing drawings. Albert Mason is desperate for the originals to be
returned, and agrees to an award if Annie can find them. Facing a huge
rent hike, she accepts the terms. She goes to her ‘uncle’s studio,
but before she can properly search it, Michael arrives, followed by a
mysterious woman.
Hailey Lind gives details about San Francisco not normally trodden by
the tourist, but by the native. She shows the true melting pot of riches
to rags, from honest people to criminals, and from cosmopolitan to Goth
that the Bay area has to share. I understood how Annie could care about
her family, her friends, and her art. FEINT OF ART is truly worth reading,
and I’m excited to read the next in the Annie Kincaid’s series.
I won’t tell you why, you’ll have to read that for yourself.
Jackie Fleming
LOVE
AND HONOR
Randall Wallace
Pocket Books, September 2005, $7.99, 436 pages
SSBN 13: 978-0-7434-9754-1
Captain Kieran Selkirk is a Virginia cavalryman returning from Europe
after learning the art of war with his comrade Sergei Gorlov. Democracy
is a budding theory, a challenge to those with a strong code of ethics
to master it. Kieran’s beliefs and morals have already cost him deeply.
The year is 1774. The United States of America has not yet declared its
emancipation from England. Kiernan Selkirk accepts Benjamin Franklin’s
secret mission to travel immediately to Russia and gain an audience with
Catherine the Great. There he must convince her not to support the English
parliament by providing Russian soldiers to disband the rebels in the
British colonies.
Time is an issue. It’s a race between the British and citizens of
the colonies. Whoever gets the Tsarina’s agreement swings the war
to their favor. She is a ruthless leader. She demands obedience or deals
death warrants. She respects courage. So before Kieran can meet with her,
he must prove his valor in the battle field. Surviving the deadly freezing
temperatures, boundless snow over isolated terrain, and ravenous wild
wolves is just the first of many dangers Kieran must face on his mission.
Enemies dog his efforts. The British suspect he is a spy and a traitor,
an offense punishable by death whether in the gallows or in the frozen
back alleys and gutters of St. Petersburg. The Cossacks, Russia’s
version of rebels, are legendary expert horsemen and warriors. They mount
a bulging army of peasants simply trying to live. Their cause? To crown
Pugachev as the rightful Tsar.
Also amongst the Russian royalty, there are a few not above poisoning
Kieran. Which of the beautiful women amongst them want him dead? Is it
just politics or something personal?
Kieran is not the only one with secrets. Gorlov has his own. Motivated
by vengeance and patriotism, their respect and friendship endangers Gorlov’s
life and changes it in unexpected ways.
LOVE AND HONOR by Randall Wallace is a well written novel. I found my
attention riveted to the vivid scenes and characters. Knowing history’s
outcome did not diminish my cheering Kieran on his mission.
Jackie Fleming
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