MURDER-GO-ROUND: REVIEWS BY HARRIET KLAUSNER
 |
Harriet Klausner, was chosen the number
one reader in the entire USA by BOOK Magazine. What does that mean
to you? She reads constantly and knows what's out there and wants
to let you know, too. Read on for tips to great books from the wonder
reader Harriet Klausner. |
 |
|
|
||
December 2005
THE
BLACK JACK CONSPIRACY
David Kent
Pocket, Dec 2005, $7.99, 400 pp.
ISBN: 0743497511
In Oklahoma, the police arrest Alex Bridge charging her with embezzling
just under five-hundred million dollars from her employer, Cross Current
Media. Not long afterward FBI Agent Wells, who was looking into the Bridge
affair, is murdered. The evidence once again overwhelmingly points at
Alex as the culprit.
The Department of the Thirty knows that the obvious is often too simple
as the powerful will abuse their muscle to blame a lesser person for their
crimes. Two major incidents including murder seems out of place for the
profile they have drawn of Alex, a recent widow expecting a child soon.
Former Deputy US Marshal Faith Kelly is assigned to protect Alex if she
will testify about what she knows about her former boss' financial shenanigans.
However, no Department Thirty Agent, used to the improbable as being genuine,
were prepared for a conspiracy that ties into the 1893 murder of the Great
Comanche Chief Tabananika at Anadarko in the Oklahoma Territory and the
present most powerful people in DC.
Obviously conspiracy buffs will go wild over THE BLACK JACK CONSPIRACY
and its predecessor DEPARTMENT THIRTY, but so will anyone who appreciates
a strong thriller. The story one is action-packed, but the two key women
make the improbability seem genuine. The audience will feel for the beleaguered
seemingly guilty Alex who not long before the embezzlement accusation
was deserted by her spouse and soon after that learned he was killed in
St. Louis. Faith, who co-starred in the previous novel, is the heroine
who unravels the spool to find the two impossibly connected end points
of the thread. David Kent writes a fine tale that grips audience from
start to finish.
Harriet Klausner
DEEP
COVER
Rachel Butler
Dell, Dec 2005, $6.99, 374 pp.
ISBN 0440241219
She knew him as William Davis, a man who rescued her from rape in the
back streets of Ocho Rios in Jamaica. After he killed the man who tried
to rape fourteen year old Selena McCaffrey, he took her back to the United
States and introduced her as his "niece". She later finds out
that he is living a dual identity. In his other life as Henry Daniels
he is the chief of police. Whenever he took a job as a chief of police
Henry's alter ego established himself as the area's most powerful drug
lord.
He sends Selena to Oklahoma to kill a police officer who is getting too
close to unmasking his identity. Instead of killing him Selena falls in
love with Tony and becomes a key witness for the FBI. They want her to
take down William's organization because he is brain dead although he
is hooked up to monitors. They want her to work from the inside the organization
and gather enough evidence to arrest the main players. If she refuses,
they threaten her with jail time or deportation so she accepts their offer
knowing in advance that people who want to control William's empire will
try to kill her. She has to hope the FBI and her own street smarts are
enough to keep her alive so she can have a future with Tony.
In DEEP COVER, there are the obvious villains and the not so obvious ones.
The latter make this action packed, dynamite thriller a winner because
the heroine (and the reader) doesn't know who to trust. Selena gets the
answer to her heritage but the price is quite high and her lover Tony
works overtime to protect her from enemies that seem to come out of the
woodwork especially family she has never met or knew existed. Rachel Butler
gives Janet Evanovich a turn for her money will this fantastic crime thriller
in which double crosses are the norm.
Harriet Klausner
HOT
WIRED
Jane Isenberg
Avon, Dec 2005, $6.99, 336 pp.
ISBN 0060577533
Tenured professor Bel Barrett of River Edge Community College loves her
job and is proud that the students like her and that the chairman and
president are aware that she deserves the accolades she has won over the
years. She is therefore very distressed when a website aimed at evaluating
the teachers of RECC includes a rapper dissing her. She feels mortified,
ashamed and wonders who it could be. After going through her records she
concludes that it is Naftali, a student she gave a D to a few years ago
who was so incensed he went before a committee to get his grade changed.
He wanted to be a hip hop gangsta rapper singing about the Iraqi war so
he enlists and comes back missing an arm. He blames Bel for the D that
stopped him from being eligible for a four year college. The press gets
hold of his message on the website and Bel finds her reputation in shreds.
When someone kills Naftali the police zero in on Bel as the prime suspect
forcing her to begin one of her infamous investigations and this time
the person who will benefit the most if she finds the real killer is herself.
One of the reasons the Bel Barrett mysteries are such a success is the
heroine is funny, independent and determined. She is a female readers
can identify with as she investigates murders in between hot flashes.
Jane Isenberg raises the quality bar of her own series with HOT WIRED
because the heroine has a personal stake in the outcome of her latest
sleuthing but she still remains the same character readers have come to
love.
Harriet Klausner
A
BODY IN BERKELEY SQUARE
Ashley Gardner
Berkley, Dec 2005, $7.99
ISBN: 0425207285
In 1817, former military Sergeant turned Bow St. runner Milton Pomeroy
shows Captain Gabriel Lacey the corpse of Henry Turner stabbed to death
with the knife in his chest. Milton explains that the body was removed
from the crime scene in order to not interfere with the crème de
crème ball hosted by Lord Gillis. Upon seeing the murder weapon
Lacey knows it belongs to Colonel Aloysius Brandon, who won it from him
in a Peninsular card game.
Lacey detests his former friend and superior officer Brandon, who previously
told Pomeroy he has no idea how his knife ended up in Turner's chest.
The sleuth is tempted to let the Colonel take the fall as he knows he
could make a case since Brandon had the opportunity and the means, and
a motive shortly surfaces too. Will Lacey "settle" on Brandon,
who everyone from the Earl hosting the ball to Pomeroy assumes committed
the homicide? By doing so Lacey would avenge several affronts Brandon
did to him or will he seek justice by continuing his investigations? His
traitorous gut tells him the Colonel is being framed with too much easily
available proof for someone as diabolical as Brandon has become.
The latest Captain Lacy Regency police procedural, A BODY IN BERKELEY
SQUARE, is a fabulous who-done-it starring an ethical hero who faces a
moral dilemma as he finally has the opportunity, the means and the motive
to get away with vengeance. The who-done-it is so cleverly devised that
crime scene investigators would cherish working such a case. However,
the key to this strong entry in one of the best historical mystery series
in recent years remains how hard Lacey is trying to uncover the identity
of the killer.
Harriet Klausner
THE
NEXT EX
Linda Richards
Mira, Dec 2005, $6.99
ISBN: 0778322408
In Los Angeles, former stockbroker turned day-trader Madeline Carter lives
in the guesthouse owned by married couple movie director Tyler Beckett
and actress Tasya Saranova. Tyler asks Manhattan transplant Madeline to
teach day-trading techniques to Keesia, the fifth wife of film producer
Maxi Livingston, as a favor, the most prevalent means of exchanging services
in town. Thus Madeline teaches Keesia day-trading while Maxi will produce
Tyler's newest film project and Madeline receives additional kitchen and
bathroom privileges
Keesia proves to be a fast learner and the teacher and student become
friends. That is until Madeline finds her pupil's corpse at a party hosted
by Maxi. Not long afterward, other spouses of Maxi are murdered with Madeline
considered by the police a prime suspect. Realizing that the cops are
looking at her as a possible killer, Madeline investigates the murder
of her buddy figuring she did very well in clearing her name to a degree
in her previous Hollywood adventure (see MAD MONEY).
This is a fun amateur sleuth tale in which Madeline once again is a magnet
for murder in which she must prove her innocence as her "record"
as well as opportunity makes her a prime suspect. The key to this intelligent
who-done-it is that Linda Richards lays out the clues yet most of the
audience will not "read" them as they instead follow the stumbling
"Mad" detective fumble her way on the case. Fans will enjoy
this fine Hollywood mystery starring a likable protagonist struggling
to find who made Keesia THE NEXT EX of multiply married Maxi.
Harriet Klausner
NIGHT
FEVER
Diana Palmer
HQN, Dec 2005, $16.95, 384 pp.
ISBN: 03737708758
Twenty-four years old Rebecca Cullen works as a "mule", the
lowest ranked employee at a law firm just outside Atlanta while living
nearby on her grandfather's farm in Curry County. She has raised her two
younger brothers Mack and Clay since their mom died eight years ago; their
dad deserted his family years earlier. Though she worries about their
mounting debt and expects to sell the farm soon even knowing that will
kill her beloved granddad; her biggest concern is Clay running with a
fast crowd whom Becky knows uses crack.
Curry County police arrest Clay on drug charges. County D.A. Rourke Kilpatrick
is known for being tough on drug offenders, even young ones as he feels
strongly about keeping drugs out of his community. However, to Becky's
shock, Rourke is gentle with her and with her sibling who he sees as possible
bait to catch the real felons. He also wants more from his virgin that
he cherishes, but she fears that his tough love approach to her brother
will break her heart.
This reprint (under the name Susan Kyle) is an engaging legal thriller
romance starring a courageous heroine who gained too much responsibility
too soon and a justice driven D.A. who will do anything legal to keep
drugs out of the county. Though the romance seems more fairy tale than
real, readers will commiserate with Becky, who has no time for courtships.
The legal aspects are cleverly designed so that the audience obtains a
taste of justice in that rare metro Atlanta region lacking a population
boom (then again this tale takes place in 1990) and the pairing though
seemingly odd at first make for a fun Georgian Cinderella romance.
Harriet Klausner
BLOOD
MOON OVER BRITAIN
Morag McKendrick Pippin
Leisure, Dec 2005, $5.99, 352 pp.
ISBN: 0843955821
By December 1942 the war looks bleak for Britain as the Americans may
prove too late to save them. The rest of Europe has fallen or meekly signed
a non aggression pact while the Luftwaffe seems to be winning the air
war, the U-Boats the naval war, and the ground front going General Rommel's
way. Publicly except for Churchill there seems no hope. However, a top
secret project at Bletchley Park has provided a possibility to those involved
as the German Enigma Code has been broken and decoding messages 7 has
given an edge to the allied forces.
Though the local cops ruled it a suicide, Scotland Yard Special Branch
Inspector Alistair Fielding treats the death like a homicide. He interrogates
those who knew Graham Mason starting with his cousin Cicely Winterbourne,
who works at Bletchley Park. When a second suspicious death related to
the Enigma Code occurs, Cicely believes someone wants a secret kept hidden.
She wants to trust Fielding who she is falling in love with, but the first
law of espionage is trust no one. Cicely risks her life to uncover who
would kill to insure that certain secret remains interred.
This excellent historical espionage police procedural contains a powerful
atmosphere, which paints an intriguing duality of how the British feel
about the war though nothing seems to be going right there is a feeling
fostered by Churchill that they will win. The first paragraph above is
the scenario incorporated inside the second paragraph by following the
professional investigation of Fielding contrasted with the amateur sleuthing
of Winterbourne. The romance just adds to the case matchmaking relationship
between them. Readers will treasure this finest hour World War II thriller.
Harriet Klausner
HIGH
HEELS AND HOMICIDE
Kasey Michaels
Kensington, Dec. 05, $14.00
ISBN: 0758208804
Popular historical mystery writer Maggie Kelly and an entourage to include
Alex Blakely better known to readers as Viscount Saint Just and his able
assistant Sterling Balder travel to England to observe the filming of
her first novel. Maggie still struggles with Alex and Sterling being alive
since they are creatures of her imagination having starred in her mystery
books until they somehow stepped out of novels and just showed up at her
home (see MAGGIE NEEDS AN ALIBI).
When a torrential storm strikes, all power is lost including telephone
lines and flooding which leaves everyone stranded inside the gothic-like
Medwine Manor. Adding to the discomfit of the marooned is that someone
stole everyone's cell phone. Soon uneasiness turns to fright when a visitor
is found hanging from a scaffold followed by another homicide. Alex believes
he must uncover the identity of the killer as that is what he is "programmed"
to do; besides he feels he must keep Maggie safe.
HIGH HEELS AND HOMICIDE, the latest amusing Maggie mystery tale uses hyperbolic
characterizations to lampoon several Hollywood stereotypes. The satirical
spoof is very humorous as Alex and Sean struggle with the pompous I am
the greatest attitudes that somewhat reminds them of the aristocracy from
the settings of the novels that they come from. The lighthearted tale
contains a fun who-done-it, but that ironically takes a back seat to the
jocular interplay of the cast.
Harriet Klausner
YOU
KILL ME
Alison Gaylin
Signet, Dec 2005, $6.99, 304 pp.
ISBN 0451217225
Samantha Leiffer works as a pre-school teacher and the theater Space selling
tickets and answering the phoned. After killing a murderer and moving
in with Detective John Krull who saved her life, she thought nothing bad
would even happen to her again.. Time proves her wrong. Her nightmare
begins when a stranger gives her a note in a public place saying "You
are in Danger". A bit scared she turns to John for comfort but he
seems to have withdrawn from her emotionally and disappears for long stretches
of time without telling her where he is.
The woman who took over the apartment where Samantha was almost killed
was murdered and her body left in the park neatly wrapped. The stranger
sends her more notes telling her to watch out because someone is watching
her. Her ex-boyfriend corners her in his twelve step- sexual addiction
program to tell her he's sorry. She finds out that he slept with the woman
who was in her old apartment. Later his body is found in the closet of
her classroom. The note sender is also murdered and while trying to figure
out who is after her, she goes to the wrong person for help. Only a miracle
will save her life that is if John and the rest of the cavalry arrive
in time.
YOU KILL ME is much darker in tone than Alison Gaylin's debut novel HIDE
YOUR EYES. The author is a talented writer who builds up the suspense
and since this tale, told in the first person from Samantha's perspective
allows readers to feel her gradually growing feelings of tension and terror.
The characters and the plot comes across as very realistic so that readers
will finish the book in one sitting just to find out who the killer is.
Harriet Klausner
DEAD
ROOTS
Nancy J. Cohen
Kensington Dec. 2005, $20.00, 244 pp.
ISBN: 0758206585
Floridian hairstylist Marla Shore is for once taking time off from overseeing
her salon to go to the family reunion with her fiancée Detective
Dalton Vail at the Sugar Crest Resort. The event was the inspiration of
Marla's Aunt Polly who wants to right past wrongs and let hidden secrets
see the light of day and bring the family together. When they arrive at
the resort they learn that members of the family once owned the place
and it is supposed to be haunted by various spirits dead throughout the
decades.
Murder isn't confined to the past as a workman is killed while up on a
ladder. Vail is suspicious but the house doctor lists it as an accident
and the police listen to him rather than the outsider. Polly wants Marla's
help in finding letters she wrote to someone named Vincent but she forgot
where she put them. She also wants Marla to look for gemstones that were
supposedly hidden by the owner (who was one of the family) family in the
main building. Polly is murdered before Marla can find what she is looking
for and when another death on the property happens, Marla decides to investigate
on her own and hope she doesn't become murder victim number four.
The main building of the resort is riddled with secret passages, a hidden
floor and cleverly disguised entrances and exits to the passageways adding
a gothic ambience to DEAD ROOTS. One of Nancy J. Cohen most incredible
skills is letting her characters grow and change as they experience new
things. The deepening romantic relationship of Vail and Marla adds a nice
twist of spice to a cleverly crafted and well designed who-done-it. This
delightfully entertaining amateur sleuth tale is one Ms. Cohen's best
in this long running series.
Harriet Klausner
BRIGHID'S
QUEST
P.C. Cast
Luna, Dec 2005, $12.99, 400 pp.
ISBN 0373802420
The evil race of demon Fomorians kidnapped and raped the women of Partholon
taking them into the Wastelands to bear their offspring. The Goddess Epona
united the people of Partholon to defeat the demons and a century later
touched Ephame who took as her mate a hybrid Falorian and drank his blood
and took the madness that existed in the hybrids into her self. Now the
descendants of the children of rape can go home to Partholon.
Cu, whose lover was killed by one of the hybrids, goes to the wastelands
to check out the New Fomarians to see if they are as good and gentle as
his sister's lifemate says they are. Brighid, the female centaur goes
after Cu and finds the seventy children and handful of adults pure of
heart. When they return home, Brighid's sister comes to the keep to tell
her that the centaurs are going to war because their High Shaman, Brighid's
mother was killed by humans. Brighid, who was running away from her legacy,
knows she must drink from the chalice of Epona and become her High Shaman,
and fight her brother and his allies before the land is bathed in the
blood of battle.
Although Brighid is a centaur and Cu is human, they love each other and
mate for life. Their marriage can only be consummated if Brighid drinks
from the Chalice because then she will be able to shapeshift into human
form. P. C. Cast has written a fascinating action packed romantic fantasy
where true love can conquer all. Both hero and heroine go through many
hardships and it is only through their love they feel they can overcome
all their hardships. This is a special work that will appeal to a variety
of readers.
Harriet Klausner
DISAPPEARING
NIGHTLY
Laura Resnick
Luna, Dec, 2005, $13.99, 400 pp.
ISBN 0373802331
Actress Esther Diamond knows she should have had the lead of Venus in
the play Sorcerers instead of Golly Gee but while she is the current understudy,
she hopes that Golly will get sick and she will have the chance to play
the part. During the latest performance, Golly steps into an ordinary
crystal cage and when the illusion is supposed to be finished she is nowhere
to be found. Esther anticipates going on stage as Venus the next day but
she gets a letter warning her not to go in the crystal cage because "Evil
is on the Loose."
She reports the note to Connor a detective who thinks it is just a prank.
In Esther's dressing room Maximilian Zadok materializes and tells her
than another female disappeared while performing the same magic that and
tells her he sent the note to save her because he is a mage who belongs
to the Magnum Collegium, an organization that fight evil. Other women
in the same situation also disappear and once Esther believes him, she
decides to help him find what happened to the missing women, who is behind
it and why.
The sparks fly between the detective and the actress but he refused to
give in to his feelings because he believes she is a fruitcake and a suspect.
Combining elements from the romance, fantasy and mystery genres, DISAPPEARING
NIGHTLY is an enchanting novel that will appeal to readers of all three
genres. The mystery is well constructed leaving readers trying to figure
out who is behind the disappearances. The heroine is at times funny and
determined but always charming and believable.
Harriet Klausner
S
IF FOR SILENCE
Sue Grafton
Putnam, Dec 2005, $26.95, 368 pp.
ISBN 0399152970
Santa Teresa, California private detective Kinsey Millhone has more work
than she can handle but when Daisy Sullivan asks for her help, she can
hardly refuse. Daisy wants to know what happened to her mother Violet
who disappeared thirty four years ago on July 4, 1953. Most of the people
in the town where she lived regarded her as trailer trash, a married battered
wife who would sleep with whoever available.
Opinion is divided between whether she stepped out with a man or someone
killed her. She was last seen driving away from a gas station in the flashy
new car her husband Foley bought for her. If Violet is dead, most people
believe Foley is her killer because he was known to beat her up and the
violence escalated the more she stepped out on him. Kinsey's investigation
finds more suspects with motives who could have killed Violet and one
of them is going out of their way to scare her off the case. A stubborn
Kinsey risks her life to unearth the truth.
This is the nineteenth Kinsey Millhone mystery and it is very different
from the other books in the series. Chapters switch from the first person
with Kinsey as the narrator in the present to the third person for chapters
in 1953. Surprisingly, this plot device works so smoothly that readers
don't really notice the difference. This is a great who done it one that
shows step by step a Kinsey Millhone investigation. Sue Grafton writes
some of the best mysteries in the new millennium with characters that
never grow stale.
Harriet Klausner
SEVENTY-SEVEN
CLOCKS
Christopher Fowler
Bantam, Dec 2005, $6.99, 528 pp.
ISBN 0553587153
In 1973 at London's Savoy Hotel elderly lawyer Maximillian Jacob apparently
fell asleep in the lobby; desk clerk Jerry Gates goes to wake him, but
instead Maximillian is choking and soon dies. The coroner reports that
the deceased most likely died from a snake bite.
Police detectives Arthur Bryant and John May investigate Jacob's death
to ascertain whether it was an accident or a homicide, but soon other
strange deaths occur that leave no doubt that a murderer is on the loose.
The next victims die from toxin mixed into makeup and a tiger. Besides
the odd murder weapons and no clear motive or any obvious opportunities,
the two cops link the victims to the Whitstable family and that brood's
ties to the Alliance of Eternal Light, but who is doing the killing remains
a mystery.
The third Bryant-May police procedural is a long way from its predecessors
(see FULL DARK HOUSE and THE WATER ROOM) as this time a biographer asking
how they joined the New Scotland Yard's Peculiar Crimes Unit leads to
a look back at the case. The action-packed story line is filled with red
herrings and several intriguing twists pulled off by key secondary characters
like the hotel desk clerk that keep readers' attention throughout the
thriller. Though the resolution seems too much of a stretch, fans of the
series will appreciate this fine entry from the salad days of a strong
eccentric sleuthing partnership.
Harriet Klausner
BLESSED
IS THE BUSYBODY
Emilie Richards
Berkley, Dec 2005, $6.99, 272 pp.
ISBN: 0425207242
Relocating to Emerald Springs, Ohio Aggie Sloan-Wilcox, the wife of the
Minister of the Consolidated Community Church, misses the excitement of
their previous home in the DC area. Still Aggie loves and supports her
spouse Ed, is a good mother to their daughters Deena and Teddy and cares
for the members of the congregation who consider her a likable eccentric;
all that is except septuagenarian town leader Lady Gelsey Falowell who
disrespects the Wilcox family.
Hearing Sally Berrigan scream, Aggie rushes outside her home to see on
her front porch a dead naked female covered somewhat by a granny square
knitted by Aggie's mother during a short singles stage between spouse
three and four. Detective Kirkor Roussos heads the investigation in which
Teddy mentions that her spouse had a public altercation with the deceased
just yesterday. Everyone including Kirk theorizes that even a saint like
Ed could go over the top when dealing with an insulting maniac like the
victim. Everyone that is except Aggie, who knows her husband the pacifist,
could not hurt a fly. She plans to prove she is right by uncovering the
identity of the real culprit though that places her in danger of becoming
a victim too.
BLESSED IS THE BUSYBODY is a delightful cozy that stars an amateur sleuth
who feels as if she swims upstream against the tide. The story line provides
insight into the local politics of religion within the dueling investigations.
All comes together in this fine "Ministry is Murder" thriller
that starts with eccentricity (Teddy digging holes to bury the family's
living cat) and continues that way until the final altercation. Emilie
Richards writes a fun cozy with a serious look at religious politics.
Harriet Klausner
NEEDLED
TO DEATH
Maggie Sefton
Berkley, Dec 2005, $6.99, 256 pp.
ISBN: 0425207064
In Fort Connor, Colorado, CPA, DC area transplant, and rookie yet die
in the wool knitter Kelly Flynn escorts a group of tourists to a renowned
alpaca farm owned by knitter extraordinaire Vickie Claymore in nearby
Bellvue Canyon. When Vickie fails to show up with the expected friendly
greeting to the group, Kelly enters the woman's remote home only to find
her host dead; blood everywhere, but especially on Vickie's priceless
hand-woven rug.
The county police headed by Detective in Charge Lieutenant Peterson investigate
the homicide starting with containing the crime scene and interviewing
the female visitors especially Kelly and one fussy mouthy guest. Kelly
mentions to the cop that Vickie was irate and said so as she told her
and their friend Jennifer Stroud she was divorcing Professor Bob Claymore
because he was having an affair with another weaver, Eva Bartok. Unable
to resist and thinking that the county cops were going down a wrong path
by looking at the knitting club member s of the House of Lampspun, Kelly
investigates the homicide.
As with the cleverly weaved KNIT ONE, KILL TWO, NEEDLED TO DEATH is a
fine yarn that has cozy fans trying to unravel the threads of who-done-it
along side of the heroine. The story line is fun to follow as Peterson
follows leads that take him in one direction while amateur sleuth Kelly
assumes her club members are innocent so knits a different viewpoint on
who killed Vickie. Sub-genre readers will enjoy this tightly stitched
tale.
Harriet Klausner
ISLAND
INTRIQUE
Wendy Howell Mills
Poisoned Pen Press, Dec 2005, $24.95, 254 pp.
ISBN 1590582179
All her life Sabrina Dunsweeney has been under the control of her alcoholic
domineering mother who chose her career for her and made it impossible
for her to date. After her mother dies she finds a lump in her breast
that turns out to be benign. After surviving these two traumas, Sabrina
needs some time off to relax and find out who she is. She travels to the
small and isolated Comico Island and rents a house from Nellie Wrightly.
Her arrival coincides with the election for the President of the Sanitary
Concessionary, a political office that often provides a stepping stone
to the state senate. Brad Tittletott is running unopposed even after a
fire burns down his office and his childhood friend Rollo Wrightley returns
to the island for the first time in years. He left after being accused
of committing a crime by Brad and his mother. Rollo wants justice for
being railroaded fifteen years ago but before he can reveal the secrets
that the Tittletotts want to keep hidden, he is murdered. Sabrina, who
met and liked him does some investigating independent of the police in
the hopes of unearthing a very disturbed killer.
ISLAND INTRIGUE is a fascinating amateur sleuth tale written by an author
who is loaded with talent. Her ability to describe island life and the
residents who live there adds an exotic dimension of depth to a fascinating
who done it. Sabrina is a person trying to find herself and while doing
so make a place for herself with the islanders who come to consider her
a friend. This reviewer looks forward to more mysteries starring this
multi-dimensional heroine.
Harriet Klausner
NO
PEACE FOR THE WICKED
Pip Granger
Poisoned Pen, Dec 2005, $24.95, 310 pp.
ISBN 1590582160
It is1956 and Soho, England is a combination red light district and Greenwich
Village with a definite feel of a neighborhood community. Same sex relationships,
threesome trysts and having sex without being married is tolerated. Lizzy
is still recovering from the death of her daughter a year and a half ago
with the help of the people in the neighborhood especially those who hang
at the diner on Old Compton Road owned and operated by Maggie and her
husband Bert with help from their adopted daughter Rosie.
At the local nightclub run by Bandy and Sugar Plum Flaherty, the former's
ward Peace, a Chinese- student, has run away from the boarding school
and stay at Bandy's place. Bandy wants her to return to school but the
child has been subjected to the prejudice of the students. Bandy, who
is in the middle of a hot blooded affair accuses the girl of stealing
her pearl jewelry. A hurt Peace goes to is stay with Lizzye who happily
take her in. She comes to think of the girl as a daughter so when she
disappears, she rallies all the people in the neighborhood to find out
where she is staying. They learn that Peace has been kidnapped; using
all their considerable resources, they try to find the girl and whoever
is behind it who wants her shipped back to China.
Pip Granger has written an exciting mystery wrapped around a family saga.
Lizzie doesn't know that when she takes Peace into her home she will end
up dealing with Chinese Tongs and Triads, kidnappers and eloping lovers
but even if she did know, she would choose the same path because she loves
Peace. The characters are realistic and the bohemian setting of Soho is
vividly described so that readers will identify it with the locale before
it fell apart. This is a thought provoking historical work that readers
will enjoy very much.
Harriet Klausner
URN
BURIAL
Kerry Greenwood
Poisoned Pen, Dec 2005, $24.95, 202 pp/
ISBN 1590581695
The Honorable Phryne Fisher is a society lady who also is a private detective
in Australia in 1928. Unable to fit into upper class British society because
she feels the mores and customs were too restrictive for females, she
ran away from home at eighteen to Paris and then to Australia. She is
accepted by Polite Society even though she doesn't conform to the rules
women are supposed to live by and her taking of Lin Chung, a Chinese aristocrat
as a lover, almost causes a scandal due to prejudice.
The duo along with their servants and bodyguard Li Pen go to Cave House
in the countryside to attend a party. Even before they arrive, a shot
rings out and they rescue Lina, a servant girl who was brutally assaulted.
When they arrive at the house, they find out their host is getting death
threats. Later Phryne goes to Lina's room to find the young lady dead.
When she goes to get help, in the time she is gone, someone steals the
body and the people are trapped on the estate with a murderer due to high
flood waters but Phryne is determined to root out the murderer who is
threatening her host.
Kerry Greenwood is one of the best Australian mystery writers in recent
years with a deserved fan base in the United States. Readers can't help
but like the plucky woman who knows what she wants and goes after it including
taking a Chinese man (unheard of in those days) and working as a private
detective (something rich aristocrats just don't do). Her current who-done-it
showcases a talented author and her terrific heroine.
Harriet Klausner
DEAD
DRY
Sarah Andrews
St. Martin's, Dec 2005, $24.95
ISBN: 0312342527
First her neighbor Fritz Calder comes to get forensic geologist Em Hansen
to accompany him for breakfast when Salt Lake City Police Detective Thomas
"Ray" Raymond arrives to have Em look at a nearby corpse. Though
the victim is buried under gravel from a collapsed quarry wall with only
a leg is sticking out. Everyone of the workers has been accounted for
so no one knows who the victim could be and why he was there.
Though the fingerprints are gone and his visage battered beyond recognition,
Em recognizes a tattoo that enables her to identify the deceased as Colorado
staunch environmentalist Afton McWain. Fritz flies her to Colorado to
inform McWain's former spouse and her current female partner, who both
deem they earned his ranch while development vultures circle the battling
females coveting McWain's land. All the while Em digs into the dirt to
find that trace of evidence that ties a Colorado killer to a Utah homicide.
The tenth Em Hansen, Utah's only forensic geologist, is a terrific who-done-it
that keeps the audience following the heroine's delightful scientific
explanations of the clues she finds that no one else understands. Her
"romance" with Fritz still sputters, but that adds to the overall
fun of observing this consummate professional in the field struggle with
affairs of the heart. Though some sidebars are unneeded cul-de sacs, fans
will appreciate Em's latest digging in the dirt gem.
Harriet Klausner
TICKET
TO RIDE
Janet Neel
St. Martin's Dec 2005, $24.95, 320 pp.
ISBN: 0312349238
Being the most recent qualified solicitor at Jenkins Associates, Jules
Carlisle handles the cases when everyone else is on vacation. Potential
client Serbian Mirko Dragunovic discusses with Jules his belief his brother
is one of eight dead men found on a nearby beach. When Jules suggests
telling the police, he says he is an illegal economic migrant before handing
her a vial of his AB type blood to be tested and compared to the victims.
Jules knows she needs senior help, but all are away including Mr. Jenkins
visiting Slovakia. When the cops catch Mirko, she comes down to the station
to act as his lawyer. The police believe that her client has a connection
with those suspected of committing the homicides besides a victim with
AB blood. Even stranger is that Mr. Flowerdew, the farmer who employed
Mirko when he was legal three years ago, has a deep interest in the case
that he says is altruism. Besides she also believes Mirko is hiding something
that Jules believes could prove deadly to the Serbian expatriate not realizing
the same holds true to her as the future lies in the numbers.
TICKET TO RIDE is a terrific investigative tale with a strong British
legal thriller subplot to anchor the inquiry. Jules is a fabulous protagonist
struggling with a client who does not totally add up as she believes he
hides a key fact from her, but seems sincere anyway. Besides the link
to the beach deaths, Mirko also represents those leaving war torn or impoverished
nations for a chance in a G-8 nation though in his situation it means
ignoring his Biochemistry Masters degree. A final twist adds to a pleasurable
entreating story.
Harriet Klausner
CAT
BREAKING FREE
Shirley Rousseau Murphy
Harper Collins, Dec 2005, $24.95, 352 pp.
ISBN 0060578092
The small and quaint California village of Molena Point is home to very
unusual creatures: Joe Grey, Dulcie and Kit. The three cats have human
intelligence, the digestive system of a human being and can talk to humans.
Joe Grey is not happy that his human companion Clyde has a new neighbor
Chicci Barb, a woman he once dated who stole five hundred dollars from
him.
Spying on her, he notices that she has two rough looking hombres come
to her home. The three felines also see her around town, sitting for hours
in various restaurants taking notes on the comings and goings of the stores
she has under surveillance. Kit sees the notes and thinks Chichi and her
company are planning a robbery. It was only four days ago that the school
caught on fire diverting the police from a successful jewel robbery. Three
feral cats that Kit used to run with when she was a kitten are in a cage
in the home of the male criminals that Chichi was entertaining. Joe and
Dulcie try to free them but instead get caught. Kit must find them and
free them in order to anonymously help the police stop the crooks.
The latest Joe Grey mystery is just as exciting as the other books in
this purrfect series. The sentient and talkative felines are so realistically
portrayed that readers will forget that such cats only exist between the
pages of a book. Cat lovers, fans of the Mrs. Murphy series by Rita Mae
Brown and anyone who likes a charming and intricately plotted who done-it
will definitely want to read CAT BREAKING FREE.
Harriet Klausner
KINGDOM
OF LIES
Lee Wood
St. Martin's, Dec 2005, $24.95, 336 pp.
ISBN: 0312340303
In Leeds, a teenage jogger finds a drowned naked woman in a pond on the
grounds of Harewood House; the current owner is a first cousin to the
Queen. Leeds Police Sergeant Keen Dunliffe heads to the scene hoping an
accident not murder occurred.
American Professor Gillian Waltham calls the police because her roommate
at a conference at Leeds University is missing. Dr. Waltham arrives at
the Weetwood Police Station and identifies the victim as Dr. Christine
Swinton, an eighteenth century English Royalty historian.
Soon afterward Met Chief Superintendent Pete McCraig and Justin Scudder,
personal assistant to the Home Secretary, arrive to ask Keen to stay close
to Gillian to see if he can learn something about Christine's death. She
is the fourth such victim left on a royal estate in the past few months.
Though he believes the Met blokes are hiding much of what they know, he
agrees to the assignment because he has an opportunity to see his twin
sons living with his former wife and her fiancé in London. He might
have reconsidered taking the job if he knew what awaited him in town.
KINGDOM OF LIES is an interesting police procedural starring a cynical
police sergeant and an upbeat professor. The story line is fun to follow
as the audience along with Keen wonder what the Met is hiding. Though
the Keen-Jillie relationship is an overused plot device, their working
together make the tale succeed and leads to the final odd twist with the
"guardian angel". Fans will enjoy this spin that sets up future
tales starring the acrimonious cop who is somewhat mellowed by the élan
for more in life professor.
Harriet Klausner
THE
DEVIL'S GAME
David Holland
Dunne, Dec 2005, $24.95, 288 pp.
ISBN: 031234077X
In 1834, Simon Curdle, MP for Bellminster dies in the Westminster Palace
fire. No one in Parliament, which has its own problems, takes notice.
Simon's constituency reacts by battling to replace him in Parliament because
it means great power to run the borough.
The Dean of Bellminster Cathedral Revered Tuckworth observes the power
struggle as it begins to take shape. He plans to remain on the sidelines
and not get involved as Mayor Winston Padgett, nudged by his ambitious
wife and his assistant vs. Lord Granby's clandestinely pushing forward
another aide. Also watching from the sidelines with a different agenda
is lawyer Wilfred Cade who plans to be the last man standing in Parliament
once the two opponents destroy each other with assistance from him. However,
staying neutral proves impossible for the Reverend when a deadly riot
explodes on Guy Fawkes Day with the powerful wannabes demanding that he
as a impartial party investigate.
The latest Devil's historical mystery is a delightful thriller that uses
real events to provide the audience with insight into England during a
tumultuous period when reform was in the air. The investigation actually
takes a back seat to the historical perspective in a small town outside
of London as mostly seen through the viewpoint of the Reverend. Fans of
the series or those who appreciate a window into the past will enjoy this
strong entry though the mystery is not as gripping as the previous tales
(see THE DEVIL IN BELLMINSTER and THE DEVIL'S ACRE).
Harriet Klausner
DEAR
DEPARTED
Cynthia Harrod-Eagles
Dunne, Dec 2005, $24.95, 352 pp.
ISBN: 0312347685
Scotland Yard Detective Inspector Bill Slider looks forward to spending
a quality serene day with his pregnant fiancée Joanna and tomorrow
the two will visit his only "relly" his father. However, the
plans of mice, men and homicide cops often go astray so instead Bill and
his team, lady's man Jim Atherton and feminist Tony Hart have what at
first look seems to be another "Park Killer" murder.
However the detectives quickly see anomalies that make the death of Chattie
Cornfeld slightly different than the MO of the Park Killer. They begin
looking at family members and lovers. Especially of interest to Slider
are the victim's half sister and her boyfriend, and father; any one of
them seems capable of committing a homicide.
The tenth Slider police procedural is a fabulous who-done-it that showcases
the police being open minded enough to find clues that take them away
from the obvious to someone cleverly disguising a homicide to make it
seem like a serial killer victim. Additionally, the dialogue between the
sleuths is amusing yet serious and feels genuine. The sleuthing is so
good that Joanna and the culprit seem pale in comparison though she is
a well rounded character (no pun intended) and the killer is a solid choice.
Still DEAR DEPARTED belongs to the police.
Harriet Klausner
A
HARVEST OF BONES
Yasmine Galenorn
Berkley, Dec 2005, $6.99, 277 pp.
ISBN 0425207269
Emerald O Brien, the owner of the Chintz 'n China Tea Room in Chiqetaw,
Washington is a woman at peace with herself. She is well liked by the
residents, who accept the fact that she has the Sight, has two beautiful
children and is madly in love with Joe, a man ten years younger than her.
To convince her he wants to be with her till death, he buys the lot adjoining
Em's so it will be one large property.
While they are clearing the outdoor area, they uncover a room hidden below
layers of dirt. Unknowingly, they opened a portal that allows Willow the
Wisps, fae creatures who bring death with them, to enter the realm. They
find in a yew tree the body of a girl, Brigit who used to live in that
room and her cat that traveled into the spirit world with Brigit's. Em's
and Brigit's cat changed places and Em's feline is a ghost in the spirit
realm while Brigit's is only visible in the mortal world as a spirit.
They must perform an exorcism to cleanse the land that Joe bought and
find out why Brigit has not moved on to the next plane (with her cat)
if Em and her family are to have any peace. They also want their cat returned
to them so Em uses her grandmother's spells in the hopes that this will
happen.
A HARVEST OF BONES is a highly original paranormal mystery with a touch
of romance, the perfect book to snuggle under the covers with on a cold
winter's night. The heroine and her friends take on ghosts, spirits, dragons
and creatures from the otherworld as an everyday natural event because
Em is a magnet for psychic phenomena. Yasmine Galenorn is a great mystery
writer who uses paranormal elements to add a little of the exotic to her
storytelling.
Harriet Klausner
FADE
THE HEAT
Colleen Thompson
Love Spell, Dec 2005, $6.99, 368 pp.
ISBN: 0505526484
All he wanted to do was live up to the Hippocratic Oath by providing medical
care to the children of illegal immigrants. Instead Dr. Jack Montoya has
become pilloried on talk show radio for providing services that enable
these outsiders to stay and becoming a hero worshipped by the Latino community
for getting involved. He wants neither; he just wants to be recognized
as a good doctor by his patients.
Asthmatic firefighter Reagan Hurley turns to Jack her childhood friend
to sign documents that would allow her to return to work, but instead
he shows a siege mentality behaving nasty and cynical towards her. Jack
refuses to sign anything as he warily has become a victim of a war on
illegal aliens. When an arsonist tries to burn down Jack's apartment,
but in the process kills Reagan's captain, they team up to bring this
fiery killer to justice while trying to overcome being considered pariahs
by everyone including her peers. This drives them close to each other
as love blossoms between them.
The arson homicide who-done-it is cleverly designed so that the audience
never knows who committed the act until the climax. Yet as exhilarating
as that key subplot is, the story line is owned by the lead couple as
readers will commiserate with Reagan wanting to return to the front lines
and with a beleaguered Jack tired of his fifteen minutes as a pawn. Colleen
Thompson keeps the heat high with this strong thriller that also focuses
on the issue of medical and other public assistance to the children of
illegal immigrants.
Harriet Klausner
DEAD
RECKONING
Linda Castillo
Berkley, Dec 2005, $6.99
ISBN: 042520720X
Assistant District Attorney Kate Megason works the sure thing prosecution
on the capital case of Burton Ellis, accused of the brutal murder of two
convenience store clerks. However, Kate becomes irritated when her political
supervisors assign former cop Frank Matron as her investigator; Frank
was injured in a Mideast suicide bombing while serving as a deployed reservist.
Kate knows that he has not physically healed and assumes that he is also
mentally disturbed.
Frank immediately observes something that makes no sense. The accused
took out a hidden camera that he should not have known existed. Even weirder
in the robbery gone bad case is the strange fact that not all the loot
was taken. Why would he leave anything behind? As Kate begins to heed
all that Frank opines, they work together to uncover the truth in spite
of someone with connections wanting the real facts to remain buried.
Readers will grip the pages tightly as this tense legal thriller hooks
the audience to anticipate a DEAD RECKONING between the ADA and her investigator
vs. an unknown brutal individual whose avarice is biblical in proportions.
The story line is action-packed starting with Frank proving his worth
from the start and never slows down until the final confrontation as the
close and shut case becomes open and dangerous. This is suspense at its
thrilling finest.
Harriet Klausner
FOREVER
ODD
Dean Koontz
Bantam, Dec 2005, $27.00, 334 pp.
ISBN 0553804162
In Pico Mundo, California lives a man with two powerful paranormal gifts.
He can communicate with the dead and using psychic magnetism that can
visually hone in on whoever he is looking for. One night Odd Thomas sees
Dr. Jessup; he knows that the man is dead and that his adopted son Danny
is in terrible danger.
When he reaches the Jessup home, he finds the battered body of the doctor
on the floor but Danny is nowhere around. His psychic magnetism leads
him to the tunnels of the Maravilla Flood-Control Project where Danny
and his kidnapper traveled. He eventually finds the trail that leads him
to the destroyed Panamint Resort and Spa Casino where explosives are taped
on Danny. The ringleader Datura used Danny as bait to get Odd to the casino
because she wants him to produce a ghost for her. As back-up she has two
strong men under her spell to do her bidding. Odd saves Danny hustling
him into a safe place while he plays with these vicious hunters in the
hopes that a plan for getting Danny and him free of these psychopaths
will come to him.
This novel takes place a year after the events in ODD THINGS and readers
find the vulnerable, likeable, and emotionally drained Odd Thomas still
working with the authorities to put the bad guys behind bars. The villainous
woman whose beauty hides an ugly heart and soul will creep out the reader
with her perceived belief that she does the right actions. Dean Koontz
is at the top of his genre with a sequel that his myriad of fans will
treasure.
Harriet Klausner
Harriets's Archived Reviews
All rights reserved.
Contact Lida: publisher@fmam.biz
Website contact: webmaster @ fmam.biz