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.

February 2012

Celebrity in Death
J.D. Robb
Putnam, Feb 21 2012, $27.95
ISBN: 9780399158308

Although NYPD Lieutenant Eve Dallas closed the Icove case (see Origin in Death), the public remains fascinated with it. TV journalist Nadine Furst helped foster the interest with her reports on the high profile murder case and in 2050 Hollywood director Mason Roundtree begins a film The Icove Agenda based on the case and Nadine’s book.

Eve and her partner Detective Peabody are uneasy guests of honor at a celebrity dinner celebrating the movie. Neither cop likes K.T. Harris the actress playing Peabody’s role. Harris insults almost everyone at the gala before going up on the roof for a smoke of an herbal. Marlo Dunn, who plays Eve in the film (and looks like the lieutenant’s twin) and her lover Mathew Zank who plays Detective McNab find Harris floating in the rooftop swimming pool. Each has reasons to want the victim dead as did just about everyone associated with the movie. Dallas and Peabody investigate who is the evasive murderer before someone else dies.

The latest Dallas futuristic police procedural (see Dallas to New York) is a terrific exciting whodunit. The investigation is entertaining as the new homicide inquiry is under the spotlight of the media as Furst plays a major role. Fast-paced and with Roarke assisting (naturally), readers will relish this thriller.

Harriet Klausner

Dead and Not So Buried
James L. Conway
Camel, Feb 15 2012, $15.95
ISBN: 9781603818667

Someone steals the remains of 1960s Hollywood “It” icon Christine Cole from her gravesite at Westside Cemetery in Brentwood. The funeral director Alex Snyder asks to see former cop Gideon Kincaid. When the private investigator arrives he is greeted by a gun. Alex shows a bewildered Gideon the ransom note demanding $2 million in hundred dollar bills to be delivered by Gideon. The sleuth goes to the drop off site only to have the felon hijack his car with the money inside. The thief calls Gideon with the location of his car that contains bones inside the trunk that are not Cole.

A mystery writer, Gideon remembers a novel by TV producer Barry Winslow with the same plot. He visits Winslow who offers no information, but later asks Gideon to see him at his penthouse. He is just outside when Winslow falls from his balcony. Gideon runs upstairs just before two hardnosed cops, his ex wife Stacey Wilson and her partner Piccolo, arrive.

The killer, failed actor Roy Cooper, steals Jennifer the poodle from producer David Hunter. He once again leaves a ransom note but Wilson and Piccolo are involved. The Gravesnatcher, as the killer is called, succeeds due to the police bungling. With his assistant Hilary at his side more bodacious thefts and homicides occur; Gideon believes he and those close to him are on a killer’s vengeance list.

The first Kincaid Hollywood thriller is an entertaining cat and mouse mystery. Gideon is an intriguing protagonist who brings a noir feel to the tale and a fascinating anti relationship with the police. Though some readers might not enjoy knowing the culprit early on, Dead and Not So Buried is a fast-paced, exciting story.

Harriet Klausner

The Garden Intrigue
Lauren Willig
Dutton, Feb 16 2012, $25.95
ISBN 9780525952541

In 1804, secret agent Augustus Whittlesby, residing in France for over a decade, conceals his espionage missives to the English within inane dull poetry. The surveillance agents loathe Whittlesby’s babble so they never look closely at his insufferable garbage he calls poetry.

New York expatriate Widow Emma Delagardie arrived in France years ago with her uncle the American envoy. She knows the Emperor’s stepdaughter and was married to a deceased Frenchman. Emma hosts a weekly literary gathering at her salon, which includes insipid Augustus and Jane Wooliston (see The Secret History of the Pink Carnation). Whittlesby learns that Napoleon plans to reveal a secret weapon at a gala at Malmaison. He teams up with Emma to gain entrance as she has an invitation; along with Jane they find out what the weapon is. However, Emma has other plans for Napoleon’s weapon of mass destruction as she plots to steal and sell the war machine.

The latest Pink Carnation espionage historical romance series (see The Orchid Affair and The Mischief of the Mistletoe) is an entertaining tale as readers will laugh at the terrible poetry of the protagonist. The storyline is fast-paced however the villain fails to match up against the hero so the suspense is not as taut as previous entries. Still series fans will enjoy the poem is mightier than the sword.

Harriet Klausner

Horizon
Sophie Littlefield
Luna, Jan 24 2012, $14.95
ISBN 9780373803422

California remains a wasteland overrun by the Beaters whose cunning has exponentially increased since the zombie wave began (see Aftertime). Survivor Cass Dollar, who once was a Beater, and her daughter Ruthie reside in New Eden where life remains hard for the living. Cass has two men she cares about, comatose Smoke and Dor, who is married to another woman and has a daughter; the latter of whom Cass helped rescue (see Rebirth).

As New Eden suffers from Beaters’ assaults and dwindling supplies, men on horseback arrive. Their leader Mathew claims there is a passage to a better Eden in the north. Cass and the others jump at the opportunity to relocate to a New Eden so begin a deadly sojourn led by Mayhew.

The third post-apocalyptic Aftertime urban horror fantasy is a fast-paced grim entry once Mayhew arrives to disrupt the order with a new dream. The dark Pacific landscape remains nightmarish as beaters are everywhere and civilization no where. While some like defrocked leader Dana wonders if Mayhew is the serpent leading them to their doom, others like Cass finds a renewal of hope in the newcomer’s assertion. Although the storyline starts slow, readers will relish the latest Dollar adventures in the nightmarish Littlefield realm.

Harriet Klausner

Deep Sky
Patrick Lee
Harper, Dec 27 2011, $7.99
ISBN 9780061958793

President Garner is on TV giving a speech to the nation from the Oval office when the screens went black. A missile strike hit the White House killing POTUS and blowing the roof off the facility. Vice President Holt is given the oath of office while flying back from Los Angeles to DC. In the Wyoming desert at the most secure facility in the world, agents of ultra-Top Secret Tangent discuss who is responsible. One of the operatives mentions the Archer Air Force defense program of missiles hidden in civilian areas as a last deterrent against nuclear strikes. Agent Travis Chase realizes what is implied; the military assassinated their Commander-in-Chief.

Soon after the assassination of the president, enemy operatives mount a precision assault on Tangent. The target is to take control of the Breach pathway to and from another dimension. Both incidents required powerful backing. His lover Paige Campbell and technological expert Bethany Stewart are running out of time in spite of having all the time in the world to uncover who is behind the unmentionable that dates back to the Reagan administration yet the truth lies in the near future.

The third Chase thriller (see The Breach and Ghost Country) is a great twisting tale that grips the audience from the moment POTUS is killed and never let’s go until after a climatic stunning finish. Faster than the show 24, Chase is a sort of Jack Bauer but in a science fiction universe. Readers will relish this exciting entry in a strong trilogy.

Harriet Klausner

Need You Now
James Grippando
Harper, Jan 3 2012, $25.99
ISBN: 9780061840302

How far Abe Cushman has fallen are the whispers on Wall St. He has been a major player on the Street for five decades and includes on his sterling résumé a stint as the chair of NASDAQ. Now Abe who had billions of Money to Burn is scheduled to meet with the Feds on a $60,000,000,000 Ponzi scheme. Instead Abe commits suicide rather than spend the rest of his life behind bars.

However, the billions have vanished angering investors; some of whom want revenge and their money as those who understand the Street know Cushman could not have done this alone. The Manhattan branch of the International Bank of Switzerland assigns junior analyst Patrick Lloyd and his former girlfriend Lilly Scanlon to search for the lost loot. However, Lily has insider knowledge that leaves her and Patrick in jeopardy from those who will kill for the money.

Filled with twists and action, fans of financial thrillers will relish this strong tale that offers a terrific solution to the missing Madoff money. Fast-paced, the fun in the entertaining storyline is how James Grippando brilliantly delivers his Ponzi scheme spin.

Harriet Klausner

Shedding Light on Murder
Patricia Driscoll
Five Star, Feb 8 2012, $25.95
ISBN 9781432825539

Former probation officer Grace Tolliver owns Pearl’s Antique Lamps and Shades in Barnstable Village on Cape Cod. Client Danielle Whitney calls asking Grace to pick up a lamp the picky socialite wants cleaned and rewired. Grace sends employee Duane Kerbey to complete the chore.

Soon afterward, the police arrest the Pinewood halfway house parolee Duane on a charge of murdering Whitney. Grace knows she must mind her business, but wonders what motive her employee had and besides she feels she owes Duane for sending him over to the Whitney home. With help from store employees (Michael Shipworth and Bella Benson), she investigates finding a motley crew who had motive and opportunity to kill the nasty victim. However Grace wonders whether Danielle’s angry acrimonious brother Howard, Valerie the offender realtor, or Father Murrey caught searching for the deceased’s diary murdered the obnoxious Danielle.

Readers will feel they are on the Cape during a series of blizzards “as the weather outside is frightful”, but to the victim and the accused not very delightful. Grace knows she already has flak from villagers who resent her hiring Duane so she has another motive to uncover the truth. This is a strong wintry suspense amateur sleuth.

Harriet Klausner

Article 5
Kristen Simmons
Tor, Feb 14 2012, $17.99
ISBN: 9780765329585

Following the latest war to end all wars, the Unites States revokes the outrageous Bill of Rights that interfered with law enforcement security and enabled deviant behavior; and replaced it with the strict Moral Statutes. The Bureau of Reformation enforces the laws in which soldiers brutally hunt down and arrest anyone who is in noncompliance of the strict Moral Statutes. Those rule breakers are taken away and never return.

Seventeen year old Ember Miller remembers that just a few years ago it was okay to read all sorts of books before the massive censorship and going out at night was acceptable before the curfew. Though Ember is intelligent and more important flexible in working her way around the new system, she will soon learn how naïve she truly is. Her odyssey starts when soldiers arrive and arrest her mother for violation of Article 5 as “compliance is mandatory” with no alibis accepted. One of the arresting thugs is Chase Jennings, the young man Ember loved. Feeling betrayed, Ember vows to rescue her mom. Her journey is dangerous as the legal enforcers hunt violators and predators stalk the seemingly helpless like a female teen. With her on her quest is Chase

This dark dystopian thriller will remind readers of Big Brother in Huxley’s 1984 and Firemen in Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451. Ember is a courageous protagonist while Chase goes from villain to hero. Action-packed, young adults (and us elders) readers will appreciate this timely cautionary tale as the fascinating Simmons world extrapolates from deployment of the Patriot Act (affirmed by the Defense spending bill) and other First Amendment “exceptions” enabling legal censorship and much worse.

Harriet Klausner

The Rope
Nevada Barr
Minotaur, Jan 17 2012, $25.99
ISBN: 9780312614577

With the death of her spouse, a grieving Anna Pigeon leaves New York as everywhere she goes she remembers her beloved. The thirtyish widow accepts a seasonal ranger position at Glen Canyon National Recreation Area overlooking Lake Powell. She quickly realizes she is not accepted by the other rangers as the mourning outsider. The only exception is her roommate Jenny.

When Anna vanishes, none of her teammates blink as they assume she quit and went back east instead of hiking as she did. She awakens naked at the bottom of a deep dry canyon with no memory of how she ended up trapped inside this "jar”; only her head aches as if she has a concussion and an arm is dislocated from the apparent fall. Disoriented Anna realizes the only way out is through a ladder. Drinking water from a canteen, she falls asleep; when she awakens she knows she was drugged and that her adversary carved “whore” into her leg. A desperate Anna must find a way to escape her hellish natural prison and then search for her adversary.

The Rope is a prequel to the Anna Pigeon’s caseload that long time readers will enjoy but need to adapt to the heroine being a tyro ranger and an amateur sleuth battling her first national park psychopath (see Burn). The extremely dark storyline is fast-paced as Anna struggles with escaping her entombment before turning the situation into a cat and mouse war. The support cast especially her fellow rangers are a nasty lot with only Jenny possessing any redeeming qualities. Still series fans will relish this thriller, as out of her element Anna being Anna depends on one person in a survival of the fittest.

Harriet Klausner

Restless in the Grave
Dana Stabenow
Minotaur, Feb 14 2012, $25.99
ISBN 9780312559137

Alaskan billionaire Finn Grant dies when his Piper crashes. Someone sabotaged the plane’s engine, but the question is not who had the motive, but who did not have the motive as just about everyone in the western part of the state loathed Finn.

In Niniltna, Alaskan State Trooper Sergeant Liam Campbell asks his former teacher Sergeant Jim Chopin for help in the investigation of the murder of Grant since he cannot because he believes the prime suspect is his wife bush pilot Wyanet Chouinard. Jim introduces Liam to his beloved private investigator Kate Shugak. After Jim explains the situation, Kate agrees to go undercover at Bill’s Bar and Grill to learn more about the victim’s business practices. She soon learns Grant, hated by his own family, blackmailed anyone and embezzled from everyone as he committed fraud and other felonious activity. As Kate and her sidekick Mutt work the case she wonders what freight the deceased shipped since he bought the abandoned air force base as the headquarters of his myriad of businesses.

The first meeting between Shugak (see Though Not Dead) and Alaska state trooper Liam Campbell (see Better to Rest) is an entertaining Alaskan investigative thriller. The story line is fast-paced from the moment the two Dana Stabenow’s prime series stars meet and never slows down as Kate, the lead protagonist in Restless In The grave, goes from one ice box to another.

Harriet Klausner

One for the Money
Janet Evanovich
St. Martin’s Griffin, Nov 22 2011, $14.95
ISBN: 9780312600730

In Trenton, New Jersey, times are tough for Stephanie Plum who lost her job as a lingerie buyer. She needs to bring in income and considers between using her sports bras and working for her cousin Vinnie. Since she has no furniture for entertaining clients, she asks Vinnie to hire her on as bond hunter though her cousin would insist she used blackmail to coax Vinnie into giving her a $10,000 murder suspect pick up, disgraced vice cop Joe Morelli. Now all Stephanie needs is a gun and a car.

Stephanie and Joe have a long time relationship that some would say is insane as she has driven her car over him and gave him her virginity as a teen. Stephanie knows this is the latest chapter when she catches and loses her mark. She interrogates boxer Benito Ramirez before borrowing Joe’s car; he would say stole it. To insure Joe cannot repossess his vehicle before she collects her bounty, Stephanie installs a car alarm for she is coming to hogtie her money source.

This reprint of the first entertaining Plum guided tour of the mean streets of Trenton retains the freshness due to the tough humorous heroine. Fast-paced, the jocular Stephanie Joe chess match is fun to follow. With the movie due out shortly, fans will enjoy One for the Money as the raunchy first person asides of the kick butt protagonist hold up nicely.

Harriet Klausner

The Next One to Fall
Hilary Davidson
Forge, Feb 14 2012, $24.99
ISBN 9780765326980

Travel writer Lily Moore still grieves the death three months ago of her sister Claudia (see The Damage Done). Her best friend photographer Jesse Robb persuades Lily to leave New York with him and visit Peru.

At Machu Picchu, the Lost City of the Incas, after hearing an argument, Jesse and Lily see a thirtyish woman dangling from a statue. The female tells them she is Trista and her boyfriend Len drugged her before pushing her off the ledge; they look on in horror as the woman falls to her death at the bottom of the ancient staircase. The police discount the two American’s testimony as the forensic evidence fails to support their assertion; ergo the official position is a terrible accident. Lily vows Len will go to prison for his nefarious deed. She learns he is wealthy with a history of females’ disappearing with no consequence to him.

This is a terrific amateur sleuth tale enhanced by the superb look into the Incan history of Peru and the vivid description of the Andes and the rest of Peru’s geography. The story line is fast-paced and filled with surprising plausible twists as the travel writer plays cat and mouse with a psychopath.

Harriet Klausner

Dying in the Wool
Frances Brody
Minotaur, Feb 14 2012, $24.99
RSBN: 9780312622398

Presumed a widow since her husband Royal Medical Corps captain Gerald vanished in 1918 near Villiers-Brettonneaux during heavy bombardment, ironically thirtyish Kate Shackleton has earned a deserved reputation for finding missing people but failed to find her husband. Thus when Tabitha Braithwaite offers her money to investigate the disappearance of her father Joshua in 1916, Kate reluctantly agrees to take on her first paying gig though the case is seven years cold

Kate and her friend former police officer Jim Sykes make inquiries into what happened to Joshua. They learn the missing person was unfaithful to his wife though a stalwart of the church. His wife Evelyn revels in her independence as she makes it clear she remains euphoric that she does not have to deal with her bullying husband. However, it is Tabitha’s fiancé Hector who draws her interest as he obviously conceals something. When a mill murder occurs, Kate believes there is a link to her inquiry and sets out it prove her theory though that leaves her in peril.

With a nod to Carola Dunn’s Daisy Dalyrmple, the second Shackleton 1920s investigation (see A Medal for Murder) is an entertaining historical mystery. Little things set the time and place; for instance the reaction of the locals to the protagonist driving a car and the instance of her mother to come home as young women do not live alone. A flashback to 1916 enhances the inquiry; while some improbable key scenarios involving major secondary characters detract. Still fans will enjoy this British cozy as Frances Brody provides a wonderful post WWI tale.

Harriet Klausner

The Perfect Death
James Andrus
Pinnacle, Feb 1 2012, $7.99
ISBN: 9780786027699

He calls himself Buddy and considers himself an artist whose milieu being glass so that his models live forever. He also does repairs to pay his bills and find his subjects. With his angelic looks and gentle demeanor, women hire him feeling safe with him. However, Buddy obsesses over completing his masterpiece. To do so he strangles selected females and captures their last grasp of breath inside a glass container customized for that chosen one.

Jacksonville police failed to realize they have a serial killer hunting their citizens. Detectives John Stallings and Patty Levine work the case of missing teenage Leah Tischler that reminds him of his daughter who vanished three years ago when she was sixteen years old Jeanie. When the corpse of a female strangled with Leah’s belt is found at a construction site and another body is found in a children’s playground, the JPD conclude a serial killer stalks the city. Obsessing Stallings is determined capture this psychopath ASAP, but knows that it will take a lot of luck to find this man who blends so well when in society.

The third Stallings Jacksonville serial killer thriller (see The Perfect Woman and The Perfect Prey) is a super serial killer investigation. Stallings knows time has run out for the next victim and though he feels helpless to prevent her death, he refuses to quit. He and his Jacksonville Sheriff’s Department Missing Persons partner Levine are dedicated, diligent detectives who never give up once on a case though his hope to recover Jeanie ebbs and flows with his official workload. Faster than the speed of light, James Andrus provides an exciting tale as “art” steals life.

Harriet Klausner

No Mark Upon Her
Deborah Crombie
Morrow, Feb 7 2012, $25.99
ISBN: 9780061990618

Metropolitan Police detective chief inspector Rebecca Meredith trains for the Olympics in rowing. However, she drowns while training at night on the Thames in Henley. Although her police peers assume a horrible accident occurred, the circumstances require an official inquiry.

Newlyweds Scotland Yard Superintendent Duncan Kincaid and Detective Inspector Gemma James Kincaid lead the investigation. They quickly conclude Meredith’s death was a homicide. The Kincaid pair looks into the activities of family, friends, and rowing and police associates. Their focus narrows down to the victim’s former spouse, a K9 handler, her rowing coach, and a Deputy Assistant Commissioner; of whom the latter accused of raping her.

The latest Kincaid and James-Kincaid British police procedural (see Necessary as Blood and Kiss A Sad Goodbye) is a terrific entry that looks closely into an investigation in which a high ranking cop is a prime suspect. The storyline provides readers with a tour of London not seen by tourists. However, it is the contrast between the untidy contented marriage merger of two extended families, and the untidy discontented murder mystery that will remind readers of the final split scene in the Cagney version of Public Enemy.

Harriet Klausner

File M for Murder
Miranda James
Berkley, Jan 31 2012, $7.99
ISBN: 9780425246184

Renowned playwright Connor Lawton returns home to Athena, Mississippi to teach for two semesters as a writer in residence at Athena College. He is an acerbic individual whose boorish behavior angers school archivist and rare book cataloguer widower Charlie Harris. However, Connor helped bring home Charlie’s daughter Laura, a Hollywood actress, who teaches drama while the professor is on maternity leave.

Connor makes it clear he wants his former fiancée Laura back in his life while another female Damitra Vane makes it clear she wants him back in her life. After alienating everyone including Diesel the Maine coon cat, someone murders Connor. Athena County’s Sheriff Department Chief Deputy Berry investigates the homicide. Laura is a prime suspect as she found the corpse and stole a thumb drive from the crime scene. With her brother Sean, her father and the cat trying to protect her from an adversary’s dangerous assaults, the clues to the author’s murder lies on the thumb drive, if the Harris family can figure what they mean.

The latest A Cat In The Stacks mystery (see Murder Past Due) is an engaging regional cozy in which the murder occurs off page about a quarter of the way into the whodunit. The leisurely paced storyline is fun to follow as someone wants to insure that the secret that Connor uncovered remains interred with him. Mindful of Alexander McCall Smith’s Corduroy Mansions though a different setting, fans will enjoy this tale of the Harris family that sleuths together stays together.

Harriet Klausner

Defending Jacob
William Landay
Delacorte, Jan 31 2012, $26.00
ISBN: 9780385344227

For twenty-two years, Andy Barber worked in the Middlesex County, Massachusetts Office of the District Attorney. By 2007, he had become the first assistant district attorney reporting only to DA Lynn Canavan. However, in April 2007, CPAC State Police report the stabbing murder of Ben Rifkin, a Newton middle school classmate of Andy’s son Jacob. Because a child is involved, which denotes media frenzy, Andy takes the lead as first prosecutor.

However, he soon finds himself in a conflict of interest when the local police arrest Jacob. Stunned by the accusation, Andy and his wife Laurie deny their child would commit a murder as each assumes some psychopathic child molester is the guilty party. Jacob swears he is innocent and both believe him though the evidence overwhelmingly makes it clear that their child killed a classmate. Andy and Laurie struggle between saving their offspring and accepting what appears to be the horrifying truth especially with other questionable deaths while his protégé Neil Loguidice takes over the case.

This is taut legal thriller that grips the reader from the opening Grand Jury testimony to the stunning out of control climax. This is a fast-paced yet extremely cerebral tale with a profound look at the conflict between what happened and justice the American way. Readers will relish this tale as Andy, by Defending Jacob, learns that death may be a better option than the truth about himself and his loved ones.

Harriet Klausner

Not in the Heart
Chris Fabry
Tyndale, Feb 1 2012, $13.99
ISBN: 9781414348612

Unemployed reporter Truman Wiley used to cover the world; now he cannot cover his family. Whereas he wanted a car, his estranged wife Ellen wanted Jesus. Now he is on Sanibel Island alone while she is in Tallahassee with their two children (Abigail and Aiden who soon will die without a heart transplant) and the Lord. Truman cannot deal with seeing his son so ill in a hospital; while he turned away Ellen turned to Jesus praying for a miracle.

Ellen offers Truman a chance to reconcile with his family. Death row inmate Terrelle Conley has offered his heart to Aiden. However, he also wants Truman to tell his story. With Abigail working with him, Truman feels pretty good about the future until an inconvenient truth arises that places him in the crosshairs of a moral dilemma.

Although readers will guess relatively early what is about to happen, this is a great thriller starring a morally bankrupt individual who has lost confidence in himself and that of his loved ones while having given up on Jesus as a waste of his time. Filled with plenty of action and several entertaining twists, yet character driven, readers will relish this sensational soul searching suspense.

Harriet Klausner

Taken
Robert Crais
Putnam, Jan 24 2012, $26.95
ISBN: 9780399158278

Jack Bermon and Krista Morales are in California’s Anza-Borrego Desert enjoying each other’s company when people arrive. One of them points his shotgun at Jack.

Soon afterward, Krista’s mom Nita receives a call demanding ransom money for the safe return of her daughter. The affluent Nita believes her offspring is pulling a ploy to obtain money to finance her running off with “that boy”. She hires Elvis Cole to bring her normally intelligent daughter home. Elvis and his partner Joe Pike begin the search, but soon realize mom is deadly wrong re her assertion as they find blood and bullets in the desert. The investigators know that, if either of the pair still lives, lethal Bajadoreshave gangsters have taken Krista and Jack prisoner; payment not met means death in the desert. Cole goes undercover to infiltrate the kidnappers, but he vanishes leaving Pike to find his partner before he is either sold or killed.

This heart pumping thriller starts off at hyperspeed and never slows down until the final confrontation. The heroes to include Jack are heroic trying to insure Krista’s safety; while the villains are vile as they murder and kidnap people. Cole and Pike are terrific as always (see The First Rule) in this strong suspense thriller.

Harriet Klausner

Scrapbooks of Secrets
Mollie Cox Bryan
Kensington, Feb 7 2012, $7.99
ISBN: 9780758266316

Her very active sons, Ben and Sam, led to Annie Chemovitz quitting her job as an investigative reporter at a Washington paper with the support of her husband Mike. The Chemovitz quartet relocates to Cumberland Creek, Virginia where she becomes a stay-at-home mom. The town’s southern friendly residents make Annie feel good about their choices although she misses the excitement of her previous occupation. She especially likes spending time with a group of scrapbookers.

The rustic tranquility of the town is shattered with the death of Maggie Rae Dasher, a mother of four small children and a closet scrapbooker in what looks like a suicide, but the evidence affirms a homicide occurred. That same day at the supermarket, someone puts a knife into the neck of the mother of scrapbooker Vera; the woman does not even feel the blade, but is rushed to the hospital where a doctor removes the protruding weapon. Annie and her crop circle scrapbookers find pictures and other mementos belonging to Maggie Rae dumped outside the victim’s home, they take their find with them. The group realizes Maggie Rae was into S&M with secret lovers. One of them is likely the killer so Annie dusting off her previous investigative skills looks into the murder of the mother.

Cozy fans are going to love this fast-paced Cumberland Creek Mystery due to strong characterizations that bring a sense of place to the entertaining storyline. Although the cops’ failure to find the Maggie Rae mother lode seems off, rotating third person perspective between three scrappy scrapsters, Mollie Cox Bryan provides an engaging regional whodunit. This new series look to be spectacular.

Harriet Klausner

The Confession
Charles Todd
Morrow Jan 23 2012, $25.99
ISBN: 9780062015662

In 1920 at Scotland Yard, Wyatt Russell confesses to killing his cousin Justin Fowler. Inspector Ian Rutledge has some concerns with the confession as the alleged culprit refuses to provide him with a motive as to why he murdered his relative five years ago. To learn more Ian meets Wyatt, dying of cancer, for lunch, but the latter adds nothing of value to his insistence he committed a homicide in the remote Essex marches.

Following up on the limited leads Russell provided him, Rutledge travels from London to the alleged locale of the murder, but the insular locals refuse to speak with the outsider. Meanwhile Russell’s body is found floating on the Thames; someone shot him in the back of the head, but the now hot case spins further into the illogical zone when Rutledge learns the dead confessor was not Wyatt Russell.

The latest Rutledge post WWI police procedural (see The Red Door and A Lonely Death) is a great investigation as the case keeps twisting out of control with every major find the inspector obtains. Rutledge remains shell shocked by his execution of Hamish MacLeod for refusing a direct order on the French battlefield; the latter “speaks” to the former accentuating Rutledge’s fears especially of being caught by his superiors as mentally damaged. This is a great entry in a strong historical series.

Harriet Klausner

A Catered St. Patrick’s Day
Isis Crawford
Kensington, Jan 31 2012, $24.00
ISBN 9780758247407

In Longely, New York, sisters Bernie and Libby Simmons, owners of A Little Taste of Heaven catering business, prepare for the festive. Patrick’s Day holiday. Their baking is interrupted when a frantic Brandon, Bernie’s boyfriend, calls to beg them immediately come to RJ’s bar, which he runs. The siblings drop what they are doing to race over to calm down a distraught Brandon.

At the bar, Brandon shows the sisters the corpse of Mike Sweeney floating dead in a keg of green beer. Mike and his Corned Beef and Cabbage Club comrades had met earlier at RJ’s. Bar owner Mulroney insists an accident should not deter business on a busy holiday. Although it appears to be a tragic accident caused by intoxication, the police chief Lucas “Lucy” (detractors’ nickname) Broadbent arrests Corned Beef and Cabbage Club member Duncan, nephew of realtor Bree Nottingham two weeks later. Bree knows that Bernie and Libby have solved murder cases (see A Catered Thanksgiving) so she asks the bakers to investigate.

The latest Mystery with recipes is a wonderful holiday culinary amateur sleuth (see A Catered Birthday Party and A Catered Halloween). The lead sisters and their dad Sean focus on the club membership but soon expand their inquiry. Fans will enjoy this family affair cozy that once again angers Lucy who is tired of the sleuth sisters solving homicides that leave him embarrassed.

Harriet Klausner

Buried in a Book
Lucy Arlington
Berkley, Feb 7 2012, $7.99
ISBN: 9780425246191

After twenty years as a Features reporter at the Dunstan Herald, forty-five year old Lila Wilkins is pink slipped due to budget cuts. In a near panic state, the single mom worries about paying for her son Trey entering UNC Wilmington as a freshman. Desperate she answers an ad for an intern at A Novel Idea Literary Agency. Following a five minute telephone interview, Ms. Bentley Burlington-Duke hires Lila who thinks her new job will prove perfect as being paid to read sounds like nirvana.

Reality of an office setting is not quite like Lila expected as her peers are an eccentric zany group and the tons of query letters requiring responses appears to be more than Santa receives for Christmas. She classifies her first two queries, but is taken aback by a threatening letter demanding the return of a manuscript. However, all that proves to be minor distractions compared to the visit of homeless wannabe writer Marlette who gives her wild flowers; because a few minutes after he introduces himself to her she meets him again in the coffee area dead. With Trey and her mom having her back, Lila and Sean the sexy cop investigate Marlette’s murder and the threatening letters.

This is a terrific Novel Idea Mystery with its contemporary literary crowd mingling with residents of a small North Carolina town. The charming protagonist keeps the madcap plot focused while the quirky support cast enhances the regional cozy. Readers will enjoy being Buried in a Book in which Lila stars as Lucy Arlington provides an entertaining thriller.

Harriet Klausner

Catch Me
Lisa Gardner
Dutton, Feb 7 2012, $26.95
ISBN: 9780525952763

Two years ago on January 21 at 8:00 PM with no forced entry, someone strangles Randi in Providence. Her two BFFs from their New Hampshire childhoods Jackie and Charlene mourn their loss. One year ago on January 21 at 8:00 PM with no forced entry, someone murders Jackie in Atlanta. Both cases remain cold as of January 17 this year.

Boston Sergeant Detective D. D. Warren has just returned to work after ten weeks on maternity leave with the birth of Jack, who she believes inherited her insomnia. She is cranky not due to Jack but because her Florida parents are coming to see their grandson; Warren prefers they stay home. Charlie is at Warren’s latest crime scene when the detective notices and confronts her. The woman explains that in four days she will be dead, but she refuses to die without a fight; if the predator succeeds she wants a top Boston homicide cop like Warren to investigate her homicide. While inquiring into the Charlie case, Warren also searches for an avenger killing pedophiles.

The latest Warren police procedural (see Love You More, Who Do You Love? and The Neighbor) is a great twisting psychological thriller. The protagonist has her hands filled with her newborn and two difficult convoluted cases while she is mentally struggling to regain her workaholic pit bull tendencies. Fans will immensely enjoy this taut strong suspense tale.

Harriet Klausner

Tribulations of the Short Cut Man
P.G. Sturges
Scribner, Feb 7 2012, $24.00
ISBN: 9781439194218

Thirtyish pole dancer Pussy Grace wonders why her boyfriend, wealthy septuagenarian Art Lewis cut her off without telling her; he refuses to accept her attempts to communicate with him. Pussy asks her former boyfriend Dick Henry to help her. Although he prefers to stay out of a domestic dispute as he works a similar case for a paying client, former Judge Harry Glidden turned TV celebrity commissioned a forged painting to give to his Honor’s acrimonious ex-wife.

Dick agrees to help her with her quest. He believes in taking the shortest route to a goal even though his paths often are illegal. This time The Shortcut Man and Puss dress up as gas company employees allegedly investigating a leak. This gains them entry to Lewis’ mansion, but they flee the scene when they find the murdered corpse of Art. Dick expects the LAPD cops to arrest him and Puss, but instead the news broadcasts that Art Lewis married and is on his honeymoon. Realizing Glidden and his girlfriend are pulling a scam to steal Lewis’ millions, Dick decides to intervene.

The super second Shortcut Man noir is a wild jocular ride into the sleaziest sections of Los Angeles; not all of the neighborhoods are in the Hood. Putting aside plausibility, P.G. Sturges provides a wonderful madcap thriller starring a hard boiled individual who plays all the angles including breaking the law (what’s a misdemeanor amongst friends) as he understands the shortest distance between two points is not necessarily a straight line as linearity can be deadly. Dick makes the tale work with his un-Sullivan like travels through the meanest streets of L.A.

Harriet Klausner

The Walled Flower
Lorraine Bartlett
Berkley, Feb 7 2012, $7.99
ISBN: 9780425246160

Near Rochester, New York in McKinlay Mill, without discussing it with his wife Katie, Chad Bonner bought ownership of the Artisans Alley craft fare. Soon afterward he died in a car crash leaving her stuck with a money guzzler and the death of her dream to renovate the Webster mansion into a B&B (see A Crafty Killing).

Katie visits Toby and Janice Ryan, who now own “her” mansion, which they are converting into a B&B. She asks if she can use their sledgehammer to smash a wall, which the couple agree to let her do. When Katie opens up a wall, they find female remains. Detective Ray Davenport leads the investigation into who buried Heather Winston inside that wall twenty-two years ago. However, Heather’s only living relative, septuagenarian Rose Nash pleads with Katie to help her solve the truth as both ladies know cantankerous Davenport will do nothing. Moving in ten days with no place to go to yet, seeing her boyfriend Andy Rust the pizza king sporadically and trying to be supportive matron of honor to bridezilla, Katie agrees to investigate.

This is an entertaining regional cozy as Katie and Rose work a cold case (Davenport led the missing person’s inquiry over two decades ago) that turns contemporary deadly with the murder of Heather’s childhood BFF Barbie. Although there is too much going on from the Artisans Alley disputes and friendships to the bride’s demands to the interesting romance and finally to the homicide with links to Hollywood, fans will still take pleasure with the second Victoria Square mystery as agreeable Katie who never says no never sleeps.

Harriet Klausner

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