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.

March 2011

The Breath of God
Jeffrey Small
West Hills, Mar 1 2011, $15.95
ISBN 9781933512860

Emory University doctorate student Grant Matthews knows he is running out of time on submitting his thesis. His topic focuses on the impact other cultures had on the early development of Christianity. In particular over the objections of the school’s advisory board, he pursues a legend of an Asian boy traveling fourteen-fifteen centuries before Marco Polo went the other way.

In Asia, he learns from Buddhist monks that what he seeks might exist in one of the monasteries in Bhutan. He journeys to the Himalayan nation where his guide is a former Buddhist monk working to feed his family. He learns more about Issa and the lad’s spiritual journey that affirms his subject loved and wrote down his travels. Grant meets Kristin Misaki and soon finds the treasure he sought. However, what happened to a Russian late in the nineteenth century when he made the same discovery soon proves history repeats itself. Christian fundamentalists are willing to kill, destroy or hide to prevent anything heretical that affirms that the early founders were in touch with other cultures for some of the religion’s critical foundations coming east to west.

This is a super Brownian thriller that is at its best when the beleaguered hero is in Asia pursuing the Issa documents amidst Buddhist monks. The Christian conspiracy to shut down the heresy feels more like a sub-genre requirement and detracts from a powerful insightful novel. Still, based on a real Russian Notovitch was condemned as a heretic for publishing his finding of the Saint Issa scrolls in Himis, India, as those ancient documents explained the “Lost Years of Jesus”, overall The Breath of God is a terrific tale.

Harriet Klausner

Deadly Vows
Brenda Joyce
Harlequin HQN, Feb 22 2011, $7.99
ISBN: 9780373775514

In 1902 in New York, Francesca Cahill and Calder Hart are getting married in a few hours. However, before the ceremony, Francesca sneaks off to a gallery to see a portrait Hart commissioned. She is locked inside, but by the time she escapes from the gallery, everyone including Hart believes she jilted him. Francesca knows someone set this up, but not who or why.

Hart refuses to listen to her explanation as he is hurt and humiliated; raging he ends their engagement. Stunned and hurt too, Francesca turns to Hart’s half-brother Police Commissioner Rick Bragg for solace at a time when his marriage to Leigh Ann is crumbling. As Francesca ponders who owns her heart, she and Bragg search for who “framed’ her and is trying to blackmail her and soon a killer is after her too.

Though the roller coaster ride for the heroine’s relationships and affection continues to the point it feels sort of inane yet due to Brenda Joyce’s talent very entertaining as Cahill and the crew work two mysteries as well as the enigma of her heart. Filled with action, dysfunctional relationships (a common thread) and a sense of being in Manhattan at the start of the previous century (once again a fabulous recurring theme), fans will enjoy Francesca’s latest escapades in maybe (nor not) making it to the altar.

Harriet Klausner

The Night Season
Chelsea Cain
Minotaur, Mar 1 2011, $24.99
ISBN 9780312619763

Portland, Oregon police detective Archie Sheridan feels he can finally move on with his life as his nemesis serial killer Gretchen Lowell is incarcerated. However, he also knows she has been locked away before, but escaped like a magician.

As the Willamette overflows its banks, a body is found at an amusement park. Archie assumes it is another misfortune drowning victim until the coroner reports the cause of death being from a puncture wound. Other corpses turn up with the same trauma. At the same time reporter Susan Ward is writing an article on a skeleton found in the ghost-town Vanport, destroyed by the 1948 flood. Archie allows the journalist to join his team as they search for a serial killer using a strange toxin.

The fourth Sheridan police procedural (see Heartsick; Sweetheart; Evil at Heart) is a refreshing tale though the hero deals with another serial killer but this time Gretchen is limited to a few moments when Archie agonizes over his mixed feelings towards the black widow. The key to the superb whodunit is the real Vanport flood of over six decades ago that will remind the audience of Katrina as Chelsea Cain brings this disaster alive to readers. Fans will enjoy Sheridan’s brisk investigation of a present day psychopath and the deep look at the Vanport Flood calamity.

Harriet Klausner

False Pretenses
Kathy Herman
David C. Cook, Mar 1 2011, $14.99
ISBN: 9780781403405

In the town of Les Barbes in Saint Catherine Parrish, Louisiana, a mystery comes to light. Vanessa and Ethan Langtry remodel Langtry Manor converting it into a B&B. Their son Carter says the candyman gave him lemon drops, but his parents assume this is just a child’s imagination until they sees candy on the floor. Neither adult can figure out how a person entered their tightly secured locked faculty.

Zoe and Pierce Broussard own Zoe B’s brasserie, which she opened a decade ago. She has received letters saying: “I know what you did.” Zoe assumes the anonymous writer refers to a ring she stole and is preparing to blackmail her. To eliminate the extortion, Zoe confesses to her former employer and offers to pay back the cost of the ring. Her ex boss is kind and asks Zoe to simply repay her what she got for it. However this proves not to be the source of the threat. Someone wants what the real Zoe Broussard parents owed him. Ironically, she is not that Zoe, but instead Shelby Siegler who fled from her abusive molesting father to reinvent herself as Zoe Benoit who lived in her hometown. Knowing the predator will kill her and Pierre, Zoe needs to tell her beloved husband the truth but fears that will kill her marriage.

In the first Secrets of Roux River Bayou, Kathy Herman provides a strong romantic suspense thriller with two major subplots that intertwine leading to what may be the great author’s best work to date. Besides the Broussard’s confrontations with a psychopath and the Langtry’s trepidations of an intruder, the town is in a frenzy of rage over the lynching of a white man. As the Langtrys befriend the Broussards during their crisis, which cleverly merges the two prime plots, readers will appreciate a trip into the Bayou escorted by Ms. Herman.

Harriet Klausner

Devil's Food Cake Murder
Joanna Fluke
Kensington, Feb 22 2011, $24.00
ISBN 9780758234919

In Lake Eden, Minnesota, Hannah Swenson, owner of the popular Cookie Jar bakery, feels good for her best friend Claire who recently married Reverend Bob Knudson. On a sabbatical, Bob’s friend Lutheran Minister Matthew Walters arrives in Lake Eden and agrees to preach to the flock at Holy Redeemer so that the newlyweds can go on their honeymoon.

However, the manna from heaven plan turns to devil’s food cake when Hannah finds Matthew dead in the rectory. Although her sometimes boyfriend Winnetka County's chief detective Mike Kingston leads the official investigation, Hannah starts her own inquiry, which he encourages as she has quite a solve rate (see Apple Turnover Murder). She begins to find the saint is a sinner while wondering if the gold coins in the collection plate or the jewel robbery in Minneapolis is the motive for the homicide, and whether the victim’s ex convict cousin is involved with the murder.

The latest "Land of 10000 Lakes" culinary whodunit is a delicious amateur sleuth mystery though Mike might take exception to the word amateur when it comes to his girlfriend solving murder mysteries. The story line is fast-paced with a strong cast including the deceased Lutheran Minster. With additional mouth watering recipes, readers will enjoy stopping at the Cookie Jar for a tasty piece of sleuthing.

Harriet Klausner

Springtime of the Spirit
Maureen Lang
Tyndale, Mar 1 2011, $12.99
ISBN: 9781414324371

In the fall of 1918, German Major Christophe Brecht returns from the trenches in France to a defeated nation though neither he nor the other soldiers with him understand how they lost the Great War as little of the combat occurred in his homeland. He and others are angry at the Kaiser as he makes his way to Braedon just west of Munich. When he finally reaches his home, he finds out that his sister Nitsa has left for Milwaukee to be with their uncle.

Annaliese Duray believes the time for political and economic reform in Germany is now. She is not afraid to speak her mind about taking care of the workers, but not the way the violent Communists want to do. Christophe who loves Annaliese finally finds her in Munich where she pushes for the disenfranchised to have a say in the country. However, as an army sent from Berlin arrives allegedly to keep the peace by preventing the rabble-rousers from taking power in Munich, Christophe believes inner and community harmony comes with God while Annaliese assumes equality for all is the only way to achieve national healing and well-being.

This is a strong historical thriller with a romantic subplot anchoring a profound look at a defeated Germany just after WWI. Christophe and Annaliese are fully developed protagonists who know the cost of the war first hand but in different ways. He saw it on the not so quiet Western Front while she saw it on the home front. Readers will fully relish Springtime of the Spirit as the hero finds sustenance in faith after the failure of the state; while the heroine finds her mojo in her belief in an equality state in which gender, race or religion is irrelevant as is a free will God.

Harriet Klausner

Where Shadows Dance
C.S. Harris
Obsidian, Mar 1 2011, $24.95
ISBN: 9780451232236

In 1812 England, doctors are forbidden to dissect corpses. Conscientious physician Paul Gibson pays resurrection diggers to bring him the bodies of recently interred people. Paul has in his possession the remains of twentyish Alexander Ross, who allegedly died in his sleep from a heart attack. However, when he examines the body, he realizes the man was murdered by a stiletto stabbed through the base of his skull.

Unable to report his findings to the authorities who would arrest him and probably ignore the homicide as too much bother, he asks his friend Sebastian St. Cyr to investigate as he know Lord Devlin has a compulsion to solve mysteries. St. Cyr accepts the case and looks into the deceased’s occupation at the Foreign Affairs office; where he was privy to state secrets that many would kill to know. Assuming that was the motive, St. Cyr feels a second similar homicide affirms his belief when the body of American Ezekiel Kincaid is found in a ditch. Fearing for the life of his feisty pregnant fiancée Hero Jarvis who St. Cyr believes knows the corpses’ connection that he fails to find, he still uncovers viable suspects in the international world of politics where literally backstabbing is the norm.

Entertaining with details of various class lifestyles in Regency London, the latest St. Cyr mystery (see Where Serpents Sleep) is a super whodunit as potential killers seem to be in every ballroom. Enthralling as the hero chases suspects while seeking clues to identify the actual killer and in between arrange his wedding to his beloved frustrating Hero. The murder investigation is excellent as readers obtain insight into early nineteenth century politics that proves uglier than even our current American system enhanced by the romance between two independent personalities.

Harriet Klausner

Beaglemania
Linda O. Johnston
Berkley, Mar 1 2011, $7.99
ISBN: 9780425240212

Near Los Angeles, HotRescues is a no-kill shelter for dogs and other animals founded by billoinaire Dante DeFrancisco, owner of a series of pet stores that which carries items manufactured and carried in his HotPets stores. He is the biggest contributor to HotRescues and though he is a billionaire he has a heart of gold. As part of a legal settlement Efram Kiley works at HotRescues, learning how to treat and care for animals for which he was paid a large sum of money in a legal settlement with Dante.

HotRescues director Lauren Vancouver is horrified to see Efron at a dirty and diseased puppy mill where he pushes beagle puppies into a drain pipe. When he turns up at HotRescues, Lauren fires him. Soon afterward, she sees his body in HotRescues with a knife in his chest. She becomes the number one suspect. When she is injured twice in potentially deadly incidents, the cops assume she set them up to make her look a victim, innocent of murder. Knowing the police are going to arrest her, she tries to ferret out the real killer.

Dante’s lover Kendra Ballantine makes a cameo appearance that connects this new series to the Pet Sitter amateur sleuth novels; this adds a sense of continuity though on a different path. Linda O. Johnson fans will compare the two leading ladies; as Laura is more mature and independent than Kendra is but both are feisty, obstinate and passionate about animals. The mystery is cleverly devised even with the cops acting more Keystone than professional as in their mind the case solved. Pet Sitter readers will enjoy this similar yet different canine thriller.

Harriet Klausner

A Touch of Gold
Joyce and Jim Levane
Berkley, Mar 1 2011, $7.99
ISBN: 9780425240243

On the Outer Banks of North Carolina in the island town of Duck lives Mayor Dae O’Donnell. Besides being the village’s mayor she is also has the gift of finding things for people. Her psychic power works by her picturing in the client’s what is lost leading to her tracking the location.

The island is filled with legends about Theo Burr who was sailing to her father Aaron. The ship either sank during a storm or Theo was killed by a pirate. The Duck Historical Museum curator Max Caudle believes Theo lived her life on the island and has a wooden chest full of gold that he believes proves his theory. Someone shoots a cannon ball at the museum destroying the structure, killing Max and injuring Dae and others who were near the edifice during the assault. Following the homicide, the culprit tries to burn down the late Max’s home. Dae applies her psychic gift to see the history of certain objects so she can follow the leads to the killer, but struggles to control the intensity of the visions. Even with former FBI agent and tentative boyfriend Kevin Brickman at her side, a killer waits for the right moment to cause a special election for the mayor of Duck.

Due to the interwoven details of life on a small Carolina barrier island, A Touch of Gold feels realistic as residents know one another and at rimes squabble with each other. Paranormal amateur sleuth fans will enjoy observing Dae use cognitive and ESP mental processes to uncover a murderer who will kill again to insure achieving the goal. Readers will enjoy Team Levane’s second Dae in a life of a Duck tale (see A Timely Vision).

Harriet Klausner

Death Along the Spirit Road
C.M. Wendelboe
Berkley, Mar 1 2011, $14.00
ISBN 9780425240021

A killer buries a war club into the head of developer Jason Red Cloud, who had the financial backing to build a resort on the Pine Ridge Reservation near the site of Wounded Knee, South Dakota. FBI Academy instructor Manny Tanno is assigned to investigate though he prefers not to do field work anymore.

A former Oglala Sioux tribal cop, the special agent finds he is unwelcome by the older tribe who never forgot the FBI infiltration in the 1970s American Indian Movement; even some of the younger ones who learned of AIM refuse to cooperate with Tanno. He also has problems with the acting chief Leon "Lumpy" Looks Twice who prefers the “outsider” go back to teaching and from the dead victim whose spirit apparently haunts Tanno’s dreams demanding justice. However, the biggest problem confronting Tanno is a conflict of interest when his brother Reuben becomes a viable suspect.

This Native American police procedural is a strong whodunit because of the powerful backdrop in which Tanno investigates. Readers will observe the poverty on Pine Ridge and the division still haunting the present from the AIM era though over three decades have passed. With the Wounded Knee National Historic Landmark serving as an anchor between the late nineteenth century past and the present, readers will appreciate Tanno’s efforts to solve the homicide with no local cooperation; in fact many prefer he joins Red Cloud in the spirit world.

Harriet Klausner

Begging for Trouble
Judi McCoy
Obsidian, Mar 1 2011, $6.99
ISBN: 9780451232786

In Manhattan professional dog walker Ellie Engleman loves canines who worship her as she has the uncanny ability to telepathically talk with her animal clients. Her boyfriend NYPD detective Sam Ryder adores her but pleads with her to stay out of homicide investigations; her other skill (see Death in Show).

One of her favorite customers Rob Cheaney (owned by Bitsy the Poodle-Chihuahua) gives tickets to Ellie to attend the opening of his newest transvestite show. She drags Sam with her though he is uncomfortable attending the show. During the performance, a harrowing scream from backstage occurs. Sam rushes to the location of the scream to find Rob holding scissors while kneeling over the corpse of one of the performers. Sam arrests Rob while Ellie takes Bitsy home with her. Knowing she has solved cases before, Rob begs Ellie to investigate while Sam tells her to stay out of the inquiry though he believes she will sniff around. Ellie plans to interrogate gently the mixed-breed eye witness.

Readers will enjoy this magical whodunit as Ellie and her K9 corps work the case together through mental intelligent connections. The whimsical entertaining story line is lighthearted fun with a linear mystery at its anchor yet character driven by the detecting dogs especially the walker's significant other Rudy, the heroine and “Detective Doofus”.

Harriet Klausner

Vicious Cycle
Terri Blackstock
Zondervan, March 2011, $ 19.99
ISBN: 9780310250678

While nineteen years old teenager Emily Covington completes her year long stay in rehab thanks to the Intervention of her mother Barbara and her fifteen year old brother Lance, another teenage meth user Jordan gives birth to a daughter in her home. Jordan hates herself as she was too high to go to a hospital and has spent nine months buying meth instead of vitamins. To her chagrin her mom sold “it” for forty thousand dollars. Although afraid of her mom and her brother Zeke, Jordan leaves her newborn in the car belonging to Lance who has been trying to help her kick her meth habit.

When confronted by her dangerous family, Jordan accuses Lance of kidnapping her daughter. The cops arrest Lance. A desperate Barbara, preoccupied with Emily coming home, asks Atlanta police detective Kent Harlan who she met during her daughter’s Intervention, what she should do. He says he is coming to Jefferson City to help her and her son. Kent drops everything even a case he is working on to fly immediately to the woman he loves.

The second Intervention Christian thriller is an action-packed tale that looks deeply at the impact of drug abuse on the user and their families as well as what happens after an extended rehab; to a lesser degree there is also a glimpse into illegal human trafficking. Some of the action is over the top of Kennesaw Mountain especially how easily Kent leaves Atlanta and gets to Jefferson City (without beam me up technology). Still, fans will enjoy Terri Blackstock’s Covington family drama as the widow must think she is a modern day Job because of all that has happened since her husband died yet she keeps the faith. This author writes some of the best Inspirational thriller books of the last decade.

Harriet Klausner

Night Vision
Randy Wayne White
Putnam, March 2011, $ 25.95
ISBN: 9780399157059

While driving on Sanibel Island, Florida passenger Tomlinson the hipster tells his friend marine biologist Doc Ford he needs to help a gifted thirteen years old Guatemalan girl Tula Choimha who is in trouble. Doc says all of Tomlinson’s women are in trouble because they are seeing him. Tomlinson though “medicated” insists Tula is not a woman but a girl in trouble.

Tula lives in the Little Guadalajara trailer park, home to illegals. Everyone believes she is special as she speaks with God and is protected by Saint Joan and her Godly knights. The child searches for her mother and brother who came to the states months ago but vanished. Meanwhile the steroid-fried trailer park manager Harris Squires is ordered to evict everyone so a development can begin to be built. He fears what Tula saw he did with human remains so he kidnaps the gifted teen until he decides whether to kill her or not. Ford and Tomlinson search for the adolescent in the out of sight out of mind underbelly of America while Harris' violent girlfriend Frankie challenges Doc’s intervention.

Loaded with suspense in a great wildlife setting that spotlights the plight of illegal immigrants inside a country that has forgotten its roots, the latest Doc Ford thriller is a poignant tale of “good and evil” with a surprising spin as to who Tula considers a good knight. Doc is his usual defender of the unprotected but it is the two females involved in Harris’ life who make this a strong entry as Tula and Frankie are seemingly polar opposites but share many traits. Night Vision is a terrific tense tale.

Harriet Klausner

In The Shadow of Evil
Robin Caroll
B&H Publishing Group, Mar 1 2011, $15.99
http://bhpublishinggroup.com/
ISBN: 9780805449792

In Eternal Springs, Louisiana, contractor Layla Taylor is stunned when a house she just completed is set on fire. Once the blaze is put out and the remains cooled down, a dead inspector is found inside. Detectives Maddox Bishop and Houston Wallace investigate the homicide-arson with Layla as the only link to both crimes besides the victim.

Maddox and Layla are attracted to one another from their first meeting. However, when more incidents including murder and arson occur, he knows the case comes first. He works diligently to keep Layla safe as she is the seeming focus that ties everything together, he does not want to have happen to her what happened to his mother almost two decades ago, which he still feels overwhelming guilt for not being home on time to protect her.

The latest Eternal Spring inspirational suspense thriller (see Deliver us From Evil and Fear No Evil) is a terrific police procedural with strong relationship bases. The sisters obviously love one another though disagree more than they agree on issues. The police partners provide strong support for each other on and off the job. Maddox with his remorse and guilt over his mom shapes his personality as he and Layla fall in love, but God is in their way as she believes strongly (as does her sibling) while he no longer accepts a deity who allowed a bad thing to happen to his mom. This occurs inside a strong investigation with an unexpected but plausible late twist as a serial killer-arsonist seems to target Layla.

Harriet Klausner

Antiques Knock-Off
Barbara Allan
Kensington, Mar 1 2011, $22.00
ISBN 9780758234230

Overlooking the Mississippi in the quaint town of Serenity antique expert Brandy Borne begins to understand what the sandwich generation means. As a surrogate mother she is seven months pregnant; at the same time she keeps a close watch on her bipolar mother, Vivian. Brandy is also dating the town’s Chief of Police Tony Cassato.

Someone stabs Connie Grimes in the chest. Vivian confesses to having committed the murder; as Connie used to work for Brandy's biological father, a U.S. senator. Vivian goes to jail where another prisoner might have witnessed the homicide. Brandy, accompanied by Sushi the Shih Tzu, investigates the case involving the Mafia and a horde of cats surrounding a New Age hypnotist.

Putting aside clever advice on collecting, the latest Trash 'n' Treasures antiques amateur sleuth is the usual zany, eccentric and far from serenity tale (see Antiques Flee Market and Antiques Bizarre) as once again mom is in the middle of an uproar. The brisk story line is fine to follow as the heroine has a more reliable partner (Sushi) this time than she did in Antiques Bizarre (mom). Sub-genre fans will enjoy this entertaining amusing whodunit.

Harriet Klausner

The Terror of Living
Urban Waite
Little, Brown, Feb 7 2011, $24.99
ISBN 9780316097895

In Auburn, Washington, horse farm owner Phil Hunt keeps his ranch afloat by occasionally escorting an illegal delivery though the nearby mountains to Canada. Phil still feels remorse over what he did two decades ago when he killed someone while transporting a load though he spent time in prison.

Nearby in Silver Lake, Deputy Sheriff Bobby Drake struggles with the reputation of his father who was a highly regarded lawman until he was arrested for smuggling drugs into Canada. He has not seen his disgraced dad in a decade.

Drake happens to notice a horse trailer parked in a strange area. He goes to investigate and interrupts an illegal shipment. The operation that seemed benign when it worked smoothly now reveals to Hunt just how deadly his sideline has become. Phil flees from the law while his employers angrily send the Chef to collect their stolen goods and kill the transporter and lawman.

The aptly titled The Terror of Living is a great character study that looks deep into the souls of two men. Each makes it clear that life is not a simple choice between two forks in the road, but instead consists of multiple opportunity cost options in which going down an illegal path may be the best avenue, but how far one goes is the key. Phil like Bobby’s dad knows he is breaking the law when he transports illegal drugs into Canada, but does so to care for his family while also understanding he could go back to jail if caught. When does he and to a degree Bobby draw a line each refuses to cross become the focus of this excellent personalized thriller.

Harriet Klausner

Scones & Bones
Laura Childs
Berkley, Mar 1 2011, $25.95
ISBN: 9780425238967

Indigo Tea Shop owner Theodosia Browning left a high powered job to become a storekeeper in Charleston, South Carolina and has never looked back with regret. Her two employees Drayton Conneley the master tea blender and Helen Parker the fabulous chef and baker are loyal as the trio is close to one another with all three making business decisions.

Drayton persuades Theo to accompany him to the Heritage Society's "Pirates and Plunder" gala where all sorts of valuable pirate memorabilia and art are on display including a skull turned into a cup with a lucrative diamond implanted into it: allegedly the skull is that of Blackbeard. A scream interrupts the party so Theo heads to the source of the hysterical cry. She finds Heritage House intern Rob Commers dead, office manager Camilla Hodges who worked many riles in this the event is injured and the skull gone. The Director Timothy Neville fears the reaction of the board including firing him as a scapegoat. He asks Theo, known for solving homicide mysteries, to investigate. She agrees and drags a reluctant Drayton into her inquiry in which clues lead to unusual places.

Scones & Bones is a delightful amateur sleuth that draws the reader into the mystery as Laura Childs showcases her talent by bringing to her fans characters that seem real in odd scenarios. Even with Neville fearing unemployment and stressed by the murder and theft, his turning to Theo instead of hiring a professional detective comes across as genuine. As always in this warm and charming long running series (see Oolong Tea and The Teaberry Strangler), Charleston comes alive with a fresh look back at the role of pirates in the history of the city and state. Tea time with Theo is terrific.

Harriet Klausner

Murder of a Bookstore Babe
Denise Swanson
Obsidian, Mar 1 2011, $6.99
ISBN: 9780451232809

In Scumble River, Illinois school psychologist Skye Denison also serves as a consultant to the local police; whose chief is her fiancé Wally Boyd. He is grateful to her for her expert assistance on homicides cases (see Murder of a Wedding Belle) as her job and the fact she is related to most of the townsfolk have proven extremely helpful.

Tales and Treats bookstore opens up to the dismay of many locals. The proprietor Rise Vaughn has a dispute with Better Than New Autos owner Hugo Leofanti who illegally parks his merchandise in front of her store. The librarian fears people will go to the bookstore making the library obsolete. The insurance agent bills the new storeowner for a much higher premium than originally quoted. A teacher and her friends picket the store because Tales and Treats sell romances and YA fantasy and sci-fi. Skye enters the store one nigh and finds a woman lying face down on the floor with a bookcase on top of her. She is positive the victim is Rise. When she learns the deceased is popular employee Kayla Hines, Skye is shocked. Wally and Skye hypothesize that the intended victim was supposed to be Rise as anyone looking at the pair from behind could lethally err. However with so many angry at Rise, who murdered Kayla remains unknown.

The latest Scumble River mystery is a great puzzler as so many are irate with Rise but that same angry mob genuinely likes Kayla; thus the postulation that the wrong person was killed but there is no evidence to eliminate anyone in the crowd. Though Skye is a corpse magnet (see Murder of a Small-Town Honey), readers will admire her determination to find evidence to eliminate the suspect as she shares blood with many of the Fighting Illini suspects. Filled with humorous Prairie State eccentricity which include the heroine’s mom, May the dispatcher and her brother Vince the nag, fans will enjoy Skye’s latest case.

Harriet Klausner

Fruit of All Evil
Paige Shelton
Berkley, Mar 1 2011, $7.99
ISBN: 9780425240229

In Monson, South Carolina the business of Bailey’s Farmer Market is thriving. Venders Becca Robbins and Linda McMahon are close friends. Linda asks and Becca agrees to be her Number One matron of honor.

Linda’s fiancé Drew Forsyth invites Becca to a family dinner. However, everyone wonders where his mother Madeline is as she fails to attend. They find her corpse in her bbedroom; she was obviously strangled. Becca believes the murder is linked to foreclosure letters from the bank to homeowners insisting they are in arrears on their mortgage payments. Fearing her BFF’s nuptials will be cancelled, Becca, hopes to preserve the ceremony by investigating the crimes landing in one jam after another.

Readers will enjoy this down home regional amateur sleuth mystery due to a quirky cast headed by the matron of jams. The story line is fast-paced fun though fans will have to accept Becca as an ace detective even with her previously solving the Farm Fresh Murder case. Still Fruit of All Evil is a very special Farmers’ Markey Mystery.

Harriet Klausner

Found Wanting
Robert Goddard
Bantam, Feb 22 2011, $15.00
ISBN 9780385343626

In London, government bureaucrat Richard Eusden knows every day at work is the same as the previous zillion days. The civil servant muses outside his office building at Whitehall that nothing changes as everything remains the same when it comes to the job.

However this Monday morning will prove a bit maniacal when his former wife Gemma pulls over to the curb and orders Richard into her car. She asks her ex to do her a favor. Her other ex Marty Hewitson is dying. She wants Richard to deliver to his childhood friend Marty an old attaché case that belonged to the latter’s grandfather, Isle of Wight police officer Clem Hewitson who was buried two decades ago. Richard travels to Brussels to deliver the case but learns what happens to Good Samaritans as he finds out first-hand that the late Clem’s epic espionage exaggerations that stretch back to 1909 may not have been hyperbole. A brutal kidnapper warns him to hand over the case if he wants Marty returned alive and if he prefers life over death. Stunned Richard flees across the continent with assassins chasing after him wanting the Romanov secret documents that the attaché contains.

This is a terrific suspense thriller as Richard feels paranoid because he distrusts everyone soon after arriving in Belgium; this includes Gemma and Marty. Fast-paced with tense twists and trademark humor, Found Wanting is an exhilarating thriller as Richard runs to Germany with no idea where to go or who to turn to while killers pursue him.

Harriet Klausner

Someone's Watching
Sharon Potts
Oceanview, Feb 7 2011, $25.95
ISBN: 9781608090136

Once a corporate suit, Robbie Ivy works as a bartender in Miami’s South Beach section. Her estranged father arrives at the club where she works to ask Robbie for a favor. His other daughter Kaitlin "Kate" Brooks and her BFF Joanne Sparks are missing somewhere in the concrete South Florida jungle; he wants Robbie to help find her.

Robbie is stunned to learn she has a sibling as she had no idea until her dad’s visit that she had a half-sister. Not knowing how to start, she asks her former boyfriend, Jeremy Stroeb for advice. He suggests she speak to Detective Judy Lieber who cautions Robbie to watch her step as coeds like Kate are targets of nasty predators especially when Joanne is found dead. Her amateurish inquiry turns deadly as Robbie realizes time is running out on her meeting her younger half-sister alive.

Relationship damaged Robbie makes a terrific protagonist as she hopes to make it with Jeremy, reunite with her father and become friends and sister with her sibling. Thus she has a major impetus to find Kate. Mindful of the exhilarating mindless action movie Taken (even though the heroine is an amateur while Neeson’s character Mills is a former CIA field operative). Filled with spins and stunning red herrings, readers will appreciate this engaging, timely but sordid tale of kidnapping teens and forcing them into prostitution (right out of the headlines).

Harriet Klausner

Cold Wind
C.J. Box
Putnam, Mar 22 2011, $25.95
ISBN: 9780399157356

Joe Pickett is happy being home in Saddlestring, Wyoming with his beloved wife Marybeth and their daughter instead of being the Wyoming governor’s point man. The only person who resides in the county that he dislikes is his mother-in-law Missy, who just married her sixth husband multimillionaire Earl Alden. However he is missing and she demands her game warden son-in-law find him.

Joe arrives at the ranch and quickly finds a body in a wind turbine. He climbs the ladder and identifies the corpse as his latest father-in-law. Sheriff McLachlan orders him down as he knew this was a crime scene before her got there due to an informant’s tip. He arrests Missy, but Joe believes she is being framed as the informant is her ex husband Bud Longbrake who lost his ranch to her when she divorced him. Marybeth begs Joe to investigate, which he reluctantly does. He quickly learns everyone within Earl’s scope wanted him dead. That is enough for Missy to be not guilty in court, but Marybeth wants her mom proven innocent.

This complex mystery with its strong casting is what fans expect in the Pickett investigative series as C.J. Box provides another terrific tale. The story line is personal because Joe and Missy detest one another, but both love Marybeth. Readers will enjoy Cold Wind as the hero works a case trying to prove his number one enemy is innocent.

Harriet Klausner

Zero Day
Mark Russinovich
St. Martin’s, Mar 15 2011, $24.99
ISBN: 9780312612467

A British Airways plane flying over the Atlantic finds its controls suddenly failing. In Manhattan Fischerman, Platt & Cohen hires computer security expert Jeff Aiken to determine what caused a total system failure. Department of Homeland Security Division of Counter Cyberterrorism operative Daryl Haugen investigates a computer virus that at Brooklyn’s Mercy Hospital caused several deaths. Other deadly incidents also occur due to computer failure.

A former government official Aiken and Haugen discuss their cases. Each is stunned with the similarity. They soon connect other recent system failures to theirs. The conclusion each reaches is that a Zero Day globalization attack is coming rather soon.

The entertaining story line is linear yet exhilarating and frightening especially since author Mark Russinovich is an expert on the topic as his résumé brings a scary possibility to the cyber attack that the thriller focuses on. Aiken and Haugen seems real because they know they cannot stop all the incidents leading to Zero Day and people will die, but want to prevent the pandemic disaster from happening. Fans will enjoy this powerful cyber-terrorist attack that showcases how vulnerable the West is.

Harriet Klausner

Love You More
Lisa Gardner
Bantam, Mar 8 2011, $26.00
ISBN: 9780553807257

Her former lover Massachusetts State Police Detective Booby Dodge calls Boston Police Sergeant D.D. Warren to tell her to get her butt over here as they have the worst type of case to investigate. The victim is merchant marine Brian Darby who lies on a kitchen floor in his pool of blood. His wife Massachusetts State Trooper Tessa Leoni confesses she killed her husband but that it was self-defense as he battered her. Missing is her six-year old daughter Sophie.

Tessa offers nothing beyond her confession; insisting she has no idea where her daughter is. With a sea of blue sympathy for Tessa, Warren and Dodge work the difficult case in which the death seems obvious but the child’s disappearance does not. Warren believes Leone is lying and that the untruths relate to the child, but her efforts to learn the truth and save the kid are hampered by her peers and the mother who refuses to tell her anything but fabrications.

This is a great police procedural that grips the audience from the moment Dodge calls Warren and never slows down. The key to this exciting thriller is that all the players including Gertrude behave in a genuine way. As Leoni answers the question “Who do you love?” fans will appreciate Warren’s latest investigation (see Live To Tell).

Harriet Klausner

Lucifer’s Tears
James Thompson
Putnam, Mar 17 2011, $24.95
ISBN: 9780399157004

Police Inspector Kari Vaara now works homicide in Helsinki since his wife Kate detested living in his hometown. Kari has a lot on his plate with his pregnant wife only weeks away from giving birth after miscarrying last year. He is hurting mentally over the Sufia Elmi case that left his face scarred and physically from headache from a three-week long migraine with the end nowhere in sight. Worse than the headache is his new partner Milo who is a certified genius with a Dirty Harry gunslinger perspective. New to homicide, his office peers wonder if he will break solving a homicide. There hasn’t been an unsolved homicide in decades

Kari gets a chance to prove them wrong when he is assigned the torture murder of Lisa Filippov whose lover is arrested for killing his married mistress. His superiors order Kari to find evidence to hang the lover and look nowhere else, but Kari instead notices anomalies that lead him to believe the Finnish government is protecting the husband, influential Russian businessman arrogant Ivan Filippov, abetted by his mistress, who he believes likely committed the murder

His other inquiry also has high government visibility as Germany demands the extradition of Finnish World War II hero Arvid Lahinen to stand trial for war crimes allegedly committed in Northern Finland. The Interior Minister demands Kari proves the hero is innocent so he cannot be deported; nothing condemning the hero is acceptable.

.Lucifer’s Angels is a super Finnish police procedural that quickly immerses the reader into the exciting story line. The audience learns much about Finnish society today and explosive events not found in history texts about Finland’s role in WWII. Kari is a fascinating protagonist with personal issues and whose first two Helsinki investigations have big brother government telling him the acceptable outcome.

Harriet Klausner

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