MURDER-GO-ROUND: REVIEWS BY HARRIET KLAUSNER
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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. |
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November 2007
Out-Foxed
Debra Webb
Harlequin Special Releases, Oct 2007, $5.99
ISBN: 9780373198924
Thirty two years old Samantha Fox works part-time as a UN translator, but full time as an IT&PA field agent. Her assignment is to save the world from terrorists by handling mission impossible cases that the polite colleague FBI, the arrogant colleague CIA and the agency NSA cannot. Her support team is top rate as Trainer, Big Hugh and Angie would do anything to keep her safe during an operation.
Her superior IT&PA Director Anderson Marx sends her to Paris to obtain critical codes that will help the agency to prevent an operation from occurring. However, instead of completing the deal as pre-arranged, the courier Frederick Heilman jumps back onto the train; Fox follows only to have a sniper kill her contact before they can do much talking or for her to receive the code. Immediately afterward, Eric “the Dragon” Drake, former head of INTERPOL, warns her they need to get off the train or die. Fox distrusts Dragon as he betrayed her on a joint mission two years ago. However, when they are abducted, Fox knows her only hope to survive and gain the codes is with Dragon, the man she fell in love with on their last assignment together.
From the opening sequence in which Fox rescues an Israel family being tortured for information in a Manhattan hotel to the final twist confrontation, OUT-FOXED is a terrific romantic espionage thriller. Like Fox, readers will wonder where Dragon’s loyalty lies and if it is the highest bidder will the heroine go up in his flames. The family problems Samantha has back home with her mom humanizes her, but also detracts from an action-packed romantic suspense thriller starring a fabulous heroine, a questionable love interest who may be her enemy, and a strong support cast, especially the Fox network.
Harriet Klausner
The Ransom
Maggie Price
Harlequin Special Releases, Oct 2007, $5.99
ISBN: 9780373198900
It has been a decade since Kathryn Connor stepped on the family owned Cross-C Ranch in Texas, but with the death of her martinet grandfather she has come home accompanied by her five-year-old Matthew. However, she is hardly back when someone breaks into her home while she is sleeping and abducts Matt. The kidnapper leaves behind a cell phone with a text message warning her no cops and one million dollars in ransom or her child will die. She is frantic yet unsteady as she will learn later that her wine that she takes every night was drugged; Kathryn panics because her son needs medicine everyday to prevent his body from rejecting his kidney transplant.
Her ex-husband Devlin is overseas at a remote site on a film project so is difficult to reach him. Instead she turns to Clay Turner, whose parents were abducted in Columbia and knows first hand how to deal with a kidnapping although in his case doing everything right still failed to save the lives of his loved ones. He knows the person who snatched the child had intimate knowledge re Kathryn’s habits and he arranges for an expert negotiator to take charge. he knows his one regret in life was rejecting Kathryn’s love years ago and that still haunts him.
This is an exciting second chance at love romantic suspense thriller as Clay seeks redemption and Kathryn seeks the safe return of her beloved son. The story line is fast-paced with the clock ticking. Clay points out that the kidnapper obviously knows intricate details about mother and son, but fans will wonder how anyone would know so much since she just moved back for instance that she drinks a glass of wine each night. Still readers will appreciate the deep look at the desperate mom who knows she needs help (not everyone is Mel Gibson) as she drives this exciting tale.
Harriet Klausner
DeadFall
Robert Liparulo
Thomas Nelson, Nov 2007, $24.95, 496 pp.
ISBN 9780785261797
In Saskatchewan, Canada is the small isolated hamlet of Fiddler Falls where everyone knows everybody else and crime is non-existent; but that serenity changes when the strangers come to town. Declan, his teenage brother Julian and four other men and women have come with a specific goal, to test a new weapons system using a satellite driven by nuclear power to power up the attached laser. They want to see how accurate it is when targeting specific objects and people. They kill the town’s only police officer but his wife Laura and son Dillon get free.
They are separated and each falls in with a group of hunters from the United States who wanted to take a two week vacation from the stress of home. Hutch and Dillon find each other and make it to the rendezvous point his mother told him about. While Laura and Terry also head for their vacation cabin unfortunately, Declan and his pals are right behind them and what ensures is the biggest cat and mouse game with the stakes the lives of the townsfolk, the hunters and the mother and son they rescued.
Think Deliverance with a high tech weapons system that is being tested by an evil sociopath who views the lives he takes and the people he rounds up as cattle to be culled. Then the reader will have some idea what DEADFALL is all about. The action never lets up in this thrill a page, pulse pounding blockbuster. Robert Liparulo is a grand storyteller who keeps thriller readers’ interest with his two groups competing against each other in a winner take-all survival contest.
Harriet Klausner
Shadow Lake
B.J. Daniels
Harlequin Special Release, Oct 2007, $5.99
ISBN: 9780373198917
In Washington State during the heavy rain at night, visibility was poor as Anna Collins drives her car when a deer steps out of the nearby woods. She brakes, but loses control of her vehicle which plunges off the road into Shadow Lake. Nearly dead from drowning, she sees a face outside her. The next she knows is that she is a nearby hospital under the care of widower Dr. Gene Brubaker.
Officer D.C. Walker leads the investigation. He contacts Anna’s spouse Marc who says she was in an accident eight moths ago in which their child Tyler died. He also says she is dangerous and threatened to kill, which is why he allegedly stopped divorce proceedings. When her car is pulled out of the lake, they find a corpse in the trunk. When she describes the face she saw it fits the description of reclusive Jack Fairbanks, the cop questions further her veracity. However, with his boss Chief Nash acting strange, Walker goes it alone seeking the truth even as he admits an attraction to a woman he considers a probable killer who tried to commit suicide.
Romantic suspense fans will appreciate this tense character driven thriller as the reader will agree with Walker’s assessments that his boss is acting peculiar (we know why) and the woman in the lake is a killer and attempted suicide. In both cases, he tries to hold off judgment until all the facts are in. However, when it comes to Anna, he fears his judgment is distorted as he is falling in love with her Yet in spite of wanting her innocent, all evidence from the corpse in her car to the death of her child to the so-called rescue in the lake and finally to her spouse’s fears and warnings point to her being a sociopathic murderer who snapped when she drove her child’s death vehicle. Readers will enjoy this fine twisting tale.
Harriet Klausner
Bloodfever
Karen Marie Moning
Delacorte, Oct 2007, $22.00
ISBN: 9780385339162
In Dublin the barriers that separate the realms of mankind and Faery is collapsing. Twenty-two years old MacKayla Lane left her native Georgia when her sister Alina was murdered in a Dublin alley (see DARK FEVER). What she learned has nuked her southern existence as she finds out she (and Alina) contain the DNA of ancient Celtic sidhe-seers who fight the Fae. Now she seeks vengeance against those otherworldly abominations that killed her sibling.
Mac’s objective is to kill the dark Lord Master, but needs the black magic tome, Sinsar Dubh. She distrusts her ally ancient books and other antiquities vendor Jericho Barrons, but has no choice if she is to prevent the Lord Master from totally destroying the barrier.
The second Fever paranormal thriller is a dark tale told mostly by the heroine, who paints a scary deadly Dublin otherworld. Mac is learning on the job, as she remains focused on her avenging mission although the mysterious Barrons is quite a distracter even as she wonders whose side he is on. The enemy Lord Master seems so much more powerful than our tyro champion; however, fans will root for Mac who knows she better become proficient rather quickly or she will join her sister on the other side of the Moning mythological pantheon.
Harriet Klausner
Naked Addiction
Caitlin Rother
Leisure, Nov 2007, $7.99, 350 pp.
ISBN: 9780843959956
San Diego police detective Ken Goode wants more than anything to be transferred to the homicide division so when he ultimately stumbles over the body of a dead woman he thinks she is his ticket to getting what he desires. His attitude changes when he comes to “know “the victim Tania Marcus who attracted men in droves, some of them walking on the wrong side of the law. He learns that she attended Head Forward School of Hair Design and that she planed to open an “escort” service that will cater to men and women.
A couple of days later Sharona, a girl who attends the same school is found dead in the same manner. Through good old fashioned police work Goode finds a connection between the two women and how the Pumphouse, a bar where drugs are sold house works and two men Seth and Keith who are suspected drug dealers and knew the two women. When Keith is murdered Goode knows all three murders are connected and he believes they were all killed by the same person. However, finding the link and the killer isn’t easy; as different suspects have diverse motives for killing only one of the victims with no one having reasons for three homicides.
Caitlin Rother’s first novel is an excellent police procedural that will appeal to fans of Nancy Taylor Rosenberg and Christine McGuire. The investigation contains red herrings, wrong paths taken and misdirection and that makes the reader feel they are accompanying the protagonist. Goode is an honest police officer whose motive for solving the case changes from wanting a transfer to solving the crimes as he gets to know the victims.
Harriet Klausner
Jump Cut
Max Allan Collins
Obsidian, Nov 2007, $6.99, 304 pp.
ISBN: 9780451223180
Like most cities in the United States, Lawrence Kansas has a homeless problem that the authorities would like to move out of their area but they don’t want to see anyone killed. Somebody though is murdering the homeless population, stalking them, drugging them, chaining them in an enclosed area making them hope they can get away. To date four bodies have been found in various places around the town but the police are no closer to finding the killer than they were the day the first corpse was found.
In desperation, the police call in the Behavioral Analysis Unit, a group of expert profilers to assist them in finding the killer. When the team arrives, they get to work right away and though they have no leads they come to the same interesting conclusions; the most important one being that the hate crimes are escalating with more signs of violence on the later victims. While the BAU is in Lawrence, twenty-year-old college drama student Kelly Bonder is kidnapped and the ransom is $68,000. In such a quiet town, the profilers believe this crime is linked to their case and if they discover the connection they will find the killer. They race against the clock too uncover the perp before the ransom deadline arrives.
This novel is based on the television show Criminal Minds and readers get to see the step by step criminal investigation of the FBI. The prologue is in the first person voice of the killer and he speaks periodically throughout the book which sends goose bumps down the spine of the audience because he sounds so sane in his insanity. The investigation takes place in the third person and is also terrifying because the reader feels the tension of the last victim. This crime thriller absorbs the reader in the unfolding drama of mind games played by a brilliant serial killer.
Harriet Klausner
Empyre
Josh Conviser
Del Rey, Nov 2007, $13.95
ISBN 9780345485038
Five years has past since CIA agents Ryan Laing and Sarah Peters destroyed the global manipulating ECHELON. Ryan and Sarah moved on separately with both leaving the agency after the ECHELON affair; he climbs mountains on all seven continents and she seeks to be more his equal with nanotechnological enhancements.
However, neither is aware that ECHELON survived their destruction of it by metamorphosing into EMPYRE. Newville Phoenix turns Sarah into a plague carrier, who devastates the much of the staff of EMPYRE and the CIA. As she continues her path of destruction, EMPYRE Chief Dillon sends CIA agent Frank Savakis after her. Frank captures Ryan and tortures him in order to force him to reveal the whereabouts of Sarah, who he shares a link with. Ryan escapes, but hunts Sarah who he fears turned into a murderous traitor that he must kill before she spreads her plague elsewhere.
If there are flaws in the story line (like some of the technology seems a too convenient stretch), no one will care while reading it except for nitpicking critics like moi. The story line makes DC’s Flash look like the Turtle as the action never decelerates for a nanosecond. However, as with the previous tale ECHELON it is the Big Brother tone of the plot that lingers with readers long after finishing this faster than the speed of light science fiction conspiracy thriller.
Harriet Klausner
Chat
Archie Mayor
Grand Central, Nov 2007, $24.95, 326 p.
ISBN 9780446582582
Les Gunther and his mother are driving home after seeing a movie when all of a sudden the car isn’t operating the way it should; they crash leaving both of them badly injured. The next of kin Joe Gunther, a commander in the Vermont Bureau of Investigation, is notified and he passes a John Doe corpse case he is working on to his team while he returns home.
Before his brother lapses into a coma he says something was wrong with the car. When they discover what is wrong with the car, Joe is immediately suspicious because the vehicle was too new to have thrown a rod. When they find the cotton pin that held the rod in place they have probable cause to confiscate the computer at the Griffis Garage where the vehicle was serviced. The father E.T. and son Dan blame Joe for putting away the youngest brother Andy who was probably innocent and took the fall for Dan. If Dan was convicted of another crime he would have been put away for life under the state’s three strike rule. While in jail Andy was raped and when he gets out he committed suicide. Ironically there is nothing on the computer to implicate Dan with his crashing the vehicle but there are a series of chat logs connected to the case Joe was working on before his family emergency.
This regional mystery gives a vivid picture of the Vermont countryside and the colorful inhabitants who populate it. Joe’s love for his family is so real that readers expect to do what he can and more for them. The mystery is well plotted and has so many suspects besides the obvious avenging father and son team that readers will never guess who the killer is. Archie Mayor has written another great Vermont police procedural.
Harriet Klausner
Bang Bang
Theo Gangi
Kensington, Nov 2007, $15.00
ISBN: 9780758220547
Now thirty eight and in the business for years with his psychotic partner Malik “Mal” Dumont, half Jewish half black Ezekiel “Izzy” Levin wonders why his job is titled Stickup Kid and never Stickup man; he ponders whether life expectancy in his line of work is so short that one can never be a man. Still while he muses about his profession of robbing criminals and leaving no witness behind, he relishes the subway World Series as his passion is baseball and his two favorite teams are playing for the championship. However, to even his shock at a bar to watch the game, he becomes more interested in a woman who is also there. He persuades Eva to go out with him in a couple of nights.
Mal and Izzy head to Queens accompanied by their client’s “agent” Benny. As Mal cleans house, Izzy fails for the first time to make the closer save (like Mariano Rivera always does) by killing her. The witness is Eva whose cousin is lying dead from a knife wound. Understanding the rules of kill all or be a victim, Izzy saves Eva’s life, but now Mal is after them to finish the job.
As this reviewer read this fascinating crime thriller, I kept thinking of Nova Swing (Harrison): “It starts with a dame” combined with paraphrasing the best man’s comment at the wedding of my nephew Marc the cop as his “vocation is the dreams of a Jewish mother”. Izzy grips the audience as he is obviously intelligent yet his profession as a criminal closer is not what one would expect of someone with his intellect. On the other hand the over the top of the Empire State Building Mal is crazy enough to be a closer. This is one tour of the Big Apple that will grip readers who, like the police, will follow the corpses as High Noon comes to New York City when a woman coming between two former partners.
Harriet Klausner
Who is Conrad Hirst?
Kevin Wignall
Simon & Schuster, Nov 2007, $14.00, 227 pp.
ISBN 9781416540724
Who is Conrad Hirst? He is a hitman who has killed scores of people for German crime boss Julius Eberhardt. Now at thirty-two after killing old Klemperer he realizes he doesn’t want to kill anymore. He knows only four people who knows who he is and what he has done; his handler Frank Dillon, Eberhardt, arms dealer Freddie Fischer and forger Fabio Gaddi. He plans to kill them all and walk away into the sunset.
As Frank is dying, he tells his killer Conrad that all these years together he lied to him. He isn’t sure what that means until he goes to see Eberhardt and sees he isn’t the man who recruited him almost a decade ago. He realizes Frank was serving two masters but he doesn’t know who the second master was. Freddie and Fabio have disappeared and are perhaps dead, two womenl have taken an unusual interest in him and spooks are spying on him. Conrad believe if he can’t walk away by convincing whoever is really in charge he is no threat, he will go down in a blaze of glory.
Conrad was a damaged young man when he was recruited; he has healed and he finally knows it. Readers will feel sorry for him even though he never asked questions about who he was killing and why or that he believed he worked for a crime boss. The question of who Conrad’s handlers really are will keep readers turning the pages of this mesmerizing crime thriller. The antagonist comes across like a little boy waking up from a terrible nightmare.
Harriet Klausner
Norway to Hide
Maddy Hunter
Pocket, Nov 2007, $6.99, 304 pp.
ISBN: 9781416523802
It is time once again for travel escort Emily Andrews and her group of senior citizens to embark on another tour of a foreign country. They are traveling to Scandinavia concentrating on Finland and Norway. Emily’s fondest hope is this trip proves to be no “Passport to Peril”; meaning no dead bodies to deal with especially since her ex-husband Jack (now Jackie after a transgender operation) published her book, which is ranked and rated on Amazon.
The Iowans are on the Midnight Sun Adventure tour with a group of Floridians senior citizens, who live in the affluent gated community Hamlet. The two groups don’t get along but even Emily is surprised to find the leader of the other Hamlet group Portia Van Cleef murdered, strangled by a fish and plum necklace. At first Jackie is the prime suspect because she threatened her with violence but the police can’t hold her because there is no evidence and others had a motive to kill her. When another Hamlet is killed, a Pulitzer prize winning reporter, Emily believes she needs to clear her group so she decides to investigate. Everyone wants the killer caught because the travel group doesn’t want to keep looking over their shoulders for a murderer.
Maddy Hunter writes a riveting who-done-it that will appeal to armchair travelers and readers who like a meaty cozy plot with no blood and guts flowing. The heroine has not had a good time on this trip as she deals with cranky travelers, a despondent writer who was totally obsessed with the numbers concerning her book, long distance wedding plans that have to be changed because a twister destroyed the place she was going to get married. Oh yes, she needs to find the killer to salvage what is left of the trip. The humor spread out throughout the storyline is used as a tension reliever.
Harriet Klausner
The Tomb of Zeus
Barbara Cleverly
Delta, Nov 2007, $13.00
ISBN: 9780385339902
In 1927 wealthy Laetitia Talbot comes to Crete to sponsor a dig. Famous archeologist Theo Russell directs the patron to the Mountain of Juktas to a location he already selected where he believes THE TOMB OF ZEUS is buried. Laetitia takes an instant dislike to the pushy man, but adores his wife Phoebe.
Before going to the village of Kastelli where the team will be based for the dig, Phoebe escorts Laetitia to the ruins of Knosses where her new friend suffers a fainting spell and is brought back to her villa. There are sores all over Phoebe’s legs that Laetitia believes come from wearing tight boots. Shortly afterward Phoebe is found dead in her room; an apparent suicide. Laetitia does not believe the woman killed herself, especially when she learns Phoebe was pregnant but not carrying Theo’s child. Instead the site patron digs amongst the ruins of lives to uncover the murderous truth.
Readers of historical mysteries and armchair time travelers will thoroughly enjoy this wonderful whodunit. Besides the vivid look at Crete during the golden age of archeology, fans will ponder whether the heroine is wrong as there are few suspects with a motive to kill Phoebe; increasingly suicide seems right yet Laetitia stubbornly believes otherwise based on her short time with the woman. Barbara Cleverly explores the culture of Crete in great depth so that her audience can fully visualize what was back in ancient time and what was in 1927-28; an era used as a setting in modern literature for great female sleuths (Phryne Fisher and Maisie Dobbs) and now amateur sleuth fans have one more.
Harriet Klausner
Sweetheart Deal
Claire Matturro
Morrow, Nov 2007, $23.95
ISBN 9780060773250
Sarasota, Florida attorney Lillian Rose Cleary vowed never to go home, but rushes back when her bipolar abusive mother is accused of murder. Lilly would not have come back to Bugfest, Georgia after two decades away especially to see her mother except to defend her mom in a court of law. For her own peace of mind Lilly needs to believe she would have ignored her mother being in the hospital as the woman abused her (starting with naming her after two flowers) and her brother when they were growing up.
As she mounts a defense for mommy dearest and investigates the homicide, Lilly runs up against her mom’s home (should be an EPA superfund site), someone trying to kill mom with red ants, avaricious developers and the sale of endangered species as specialty meats sold to expensive restaurants. Still her prime reason is to not battle the environmentally challenged including mom’s abode; it is to get mom free so Lilly can immediately head south and away from this insane termagant who makes DNA cleansing seem politically correct.
The latest funny clearly chick lit legal thriller (see SKINNY DIPPING and BONE VALLEY) is an entertaining tale that affirms the belief you can’t go home as Lilly learns the hard way that mom still is a lunatic and her efforts to defend her lead to dangerous scenarios for the courageous neurotic attorney. Although in many ways more a neurosis filled amateur sleuth than a legal family drama, readers who appreciate a spunky phobic heroine will enjoy Lilly’s escapades especially her jocular asides even when they slow down the action.
Harriet Klausner
Accessory to Murder
Elaine Viets
Obsidian, Nov 2007, $6.99, 288 pp.
ISBN 9780451022589
Josie Marcus is a single mother who pays a nominal rent by living in her mother’s house. She has known much heartache and tragedy but she is also best friends to Alyce who lives in an affluent gated community filled with mansions and villas while she lives in a blue collar neighborhood. She doesn’t like Alyce’s husband Jake who cheated on his wife but tolerates him out of her friendship for his spouse.
When Alyce’s neighbor is murdered in what looks like a carjacking, a black male is arrested while running through the mall. The police are forced to let him go when evidence proves him innocent; then the police turn their eyes on Jake as a suspect. Circumstantial evidence points to him having an affair with Halley Hardwicke and witnesses saw them arguing before her death. Alyce knows that Jake is innocent of murder and asks Josie to help. She starts nosing around and almost gets killed by a cold blooded killer who has gotten away with murder twice.
There are two heroes in this book: Alyce for sticking by her man even though he doesn’t deserve it or her and Josie who goes the extra mile to help her friend. There are some very funny scenes as Josie is mystery shopping at greasy fast food places and is inundated with hundreds of packages she never ordered by someone who wants her busy returning packages and magazine subscriptions. Elaine Viets has written a well thought out who done it starring a sleuth who is totally believable and a bit quirky.
Harriet Klausner
Creation In Death
J.D. Robb
Putnam, Nov 2007, $25.95
ISBN: 9780399154362
In March 2060, NYPSD Police Lieutenant Eve Dallas watches an action movie with her husband Roarke when an official call comes in from Commander Whitney. He tells her to go to a crime scene without providing her any information as to why he ordered her to do this on her day off. When she arrives at the location and examines the corpse, she knows why her superior provided her with nothing.
Eve realizes that Whitney wanted her to verify independently his theory that “the Groom” a serial killer who putotures his victims to death and then carves into their bodies how long they lasted under torture. Dallas believes this is the same culprit who she failed to catch nine years ago. He killed four women back then and many others in other states and countries, but apparently he is back in NYC. Eve vows to cage this animal.
Nora Roberts writing as J.D. Robb is at the top of her game in CREATION IN DEATH, the latest exciting entry in her futuristic police procedural series. Even though the tale occurs only five plus decades from now, the audience easily accepts the future ambience as tidbits are blended into the fine story line. This is a terrific cat and mouse thriller with the determined Eve assuming she is the hungry cat on the prowl while her opponent is a master tiger tamer.
Harriet Klausner
A Prayer for the Damned
Peter Tremayne
St. Martin’s, Nov 2007, $24.95
ISBN: 9780312348335
In 668 AD in the Five Kingdoms (ancient Ireland), Abbot Ultan is acting as the emissary for Bishop Segene, the Abbot of Ard Macha. He travels the country seeking to sell the concept that Segene would be lead abbot. Both men adhere to the strict laws of a sub-group of Rome State who believe the church holy cannot marry; they each believes it is their calling from God to do whatever it takes to insure others follow their religion as well including bribes, coercion and force.
Ultan and his retinue head to Cashel in the Kingdom of Muman where King Colgu’s sibling Sister Fidelma is about to take the vows to make her marriage of a year and a day to Brother Eadulf permanent. The abbot arrives to voice his strong objection to two church officials marrying. Before he can make his displeasure known, someone murders Ultan. The wedding ceremony is postponed while the bride and groom investigate the homicide in which one f the kings of the Five Kingdoms is the prime suspect.
Readers who love Middle Ages whodunits will want to read A PRAYER FOR THE DAMNED (as well the previous Sister Fidelma tale) as this series is one of the best being written today. The freshness in Sister Fidelma’s latest inquiry is her doubts as to whether she should be releases from her vows as a religeuse.. The power struggle between Rome’s edicts and the Irish church leaders are meticulously examined even as this serves as a key element to the exciting descriptive plot. Readers gain plenty of insight into seventh century religious and secular politics in Ireland yet the beauty of Peter Tremayne’s skill is he does this while entertaining his fans.
Harriet Klausner
Unmanned
Lois Greiman
Dell, Nov 2007, $6.99
ISBN: 9780440243625
After almost being killed by two different men, Los Angeles psychologist Dr. Christina McMullan is obsessed with safety; she always sets her alarm system and is extremely wary of strangers especially males. When she meets Will Swanson at a gas station, they talk while he cleans her windshield. He explains he is a carpenter and she says she needs a new garage before she drives away. When he appears at her home, he explains her dimwitted secretary gave him her address; although not frightened, Christina still talks with Will outside not allowing him into her house.
Suddenly, a shot rings out and Will falls to the ground dead. Christina’s boyfriend LAPD Detective Rivera arrives at the homicide scene in an official capacity. During his investigation he learns that Will is an alias and that Texas law enforcement officials believe he was a hit man. Christina does not have a clue as to who or why someone wants to kill her, but when her brother Pete comes to town, she thinks that the culprit might have been after her sibling, who looks somewhat like Will did. From no suspects there is instantly a myriad of individuals with motives as Pete owes $20,000 in gambling debts to those who accept remittance one cold way or another.
The dynamo heroine leaps from or is pushed into one dangerous incident after another, but she keeps her cools so she can react to avoid physical injury or death. The romantic interludes between the cop and the shrink are scorching even though they do nothing more than kiss, talk or leer. However, the key to this terrific often amusing whodunit is that the readers are unsure who the killer is and the motive though it bears repeating that the heroine’s Peter Pan complex brother seems the most likely cause.
Harriet Klausner
Paying the Piper
Simon Wood
Leisure, Nov 2007, $7.99
ISBN 9780843959802
Eight years ago the Piper kidnapped preadolescent Nicholas Rooker demanding two million dollars in ransom from his wealthy father, a successful bay area realtor. The serial abductor began calling San Francisco Independent reporter Scott Fleetwood leaving clues for the cops to track. However, by the time the police realized that the caller was a fake, the Piper changed is MO of retuning the kids unharmed once remittance occurred; this time he killed Nicholas.
In the present, after a hiatus the Piper abducts one of Scott’s children, Sammy. He feels Scott owes him more than just the money he lost; he blames the reporter for his killing Nicholas, the first time he committed murder. Nicholas’ father Charles Rooker puts up the ransom money hoping that this time the FBI, led by Agent Shiels, captures his son’s killer. The cat and mouse game has just begun on the streets of San Francisco with the Piper warning Scott to play by his rules because of ACCIDENTS WAITING TO HAPPEN.
Although an action-packed thriller that never slows down even when the cast climbs the hills, the story line belongs to the four male protagonists who make up a macabre square with each feeling strong degrees of guilt over what happened to Nicholas. Fascinatingly the Piper regrets having had to murder Nicholas although he holds Scott culpable; Scott feels the same way and to a degree so does Charles and even Shiels. PAYING THE PIPER is a terrific thriller as the quartet knows that they all fall down on this one.
Harriet Klausner
The Crafty Teddy
John J. Lamb
Berkley, Nov 2007, $6.99
ISBN: 9780425218853
After a quarter of a century as a San Francisco police officers with fourteen of those years as an inspector in the Robbery-Homicide Division, a bullet shattered Brad Lyon’s kneecap forcing him to retire. He moved across country to live in Remmlkemp Mill, Virginia with the love of his life, his wife Ashleigh. They collect and create teddy bears.
All of Brad’s cop instincts are on red alert when he awakens to a sound he never heard before. Taking his gun with him, he goes down the stairs, but the intruder fires a shot at him before fleeing with a valuable antique Farnell Alpha Teddy. Upsetting him more than the shot is the teddy was a present to Ashleigh; the Farnell was never found. A couple of weeks later, Brad notices three Yakuza (Japanese gangsters) asking for directions to the Masssanutten Museum of History. Although retired from law enforcement, Brad follows them to the museum only to find the curator dead, a victim of a homicide. The Sheriff knows of Brad’s detective background and asks him to help on the investigation that is loaded with suspects: the Yakuza, the churlish wife he cheated on, his mistress who believed he would never leave his spouse, her husband who knows he was being cuckolde, and seemingly much of the rest of Virginia.
THE CRAFTY TEDDY is a riveting police procedural that is rich in plot and characterizations (especially the horde with motives), but delightfully lacking in explicit evidence to hone in on one person. Many people had a motive and opportunity to kill the victim; thus the investigation is intense as Brad interviews a variety of suspects. The Bear Collector’s latest tale showcases a fascinating hero, who is macho cop (retired) and cuddly teddy creator.
Harriet Klausner
All Shots
Susan Conant
Berkley, Nov 2007, $22.95
ISBN: 9780425217443
Dog lover Holly Winter trains malamutes. When she walks into her Cambridge, Massachusetts home, she finds a strange man sitting inside. He introduces himself as Adam and asks her if she has something for him and if she heard from Calvin. She assumes he meant to contact the other Holly Winter living in the university town, so she gives him direction to her place.
Later that same day she is asked to go to Mellie’s house in reference to finding a missing Siberian husky. Her search leads her to the yard of Dr. Zach Ho. She peaks through a glass door and sees a dead woman and a trashed room. A police friend informs Holly that the deceased had bills and receipts from the other Holly and that the dead female was trying to steal their identity. Inside the house was also a picture of a blue malamute. A short time later, Holly receives a call from a stranger that they have her blue malamute with tags identifying her as the owner. She picks up the canine, who is not her dog; unaware that the dog is the key to finding the killer, identity theft, dog smuggling and kidnapping, meth labs, and the three Holly Winters of Cambridge.
Dog lovers will thoroughly enjoy this amateur sleuth because of the antics of the many canines including the hero doggedly steals the show. Likable Holly (the malamute trainer - not the other) is the center of the tale as she investigates a missing canine case that leads to a homicide inquiry. Although some of leaps of faith seem very risky, readers will appreciate her efforts as she tries to take a bite out of crime.
Harriet Klausner
The Last Secret of the Temple
Paul Sussman
Atlantic Monthly, Oct 2007, $24.00
ISBN: 9780871139726
Hotel owner Jan Weiss is found dead at the archeological site at Malqata, Egypt. Luxor Police Inspector Yusuf Khalifa leads the official inquiry. As he digs into the victim’s history, Yusaf sees an eerie similarity to the vicious murder of an Israeli woman at Karnak years ago. His gut told him the wrong person was executed for that homicide, but until now he had no proof.
His superiors tell Yusaf to back off from the Israeli angle while he also has doubts about cooperation with Israeli officials. Still he goes with his stomach and reopens the previously solved case. No nonsense Jerusalem detective Arieh Ben Roi is assigned to work with the Egyptian.
Meanwhile in Jerusalem journalist Eva Town still glows from her recent interview of Palestinian extremist “Al-Mulassam” when she receives a note offering her a scoop in exchange for arranging a meeting with Al-Mulassam. There separate investigations soon converge over a biblical artifact dating back to Holy Temple, circa AD 70, that could lead to World War III starting in the Middle East where symbolism supersedes substance.
This is an exciting police procedural that soon spins into a dangerous scenario in which the end of days may be beginning if the two cops fail with their changing mission. The story line is at its best as an investigative tale in which neither the Egyptian nor the Israel has any real support from their superiors nor trusts the other. When the plot spins into preventing the regional contagion from occurring, it picks ups suspense and action, but loses some plausibility in the process. Still Paul Sussman provides an exhilarating thriller based on the premise that if it has a religious connotation it means war.
Harriet Klausner
Bowled Over
Kasey Michaels
Kensington, Oct 30 2007, $14.00
ISBN: 9780758208842
Regency mystery writer Margaret "Maggie" Kelly still wonders about her sanity ever since the hero of her historical whodunits Alexandre "Alex" Blake (the Viscount Saint Just) and his assistant Sterling somehow came to life in her home. However, as time has passed and they have worked several capers, Maggie begins to believe that Alex is real and perhaps they belong together.
Maggie, accompanied by Alex and Sterling, is heading to Ocean City, New Jersey for another Kelly family Christmas disaster with her separated parents, Alicia and Evan. However, before leaving the city, Maggie looks at a Manhattan house she might buy; but breaks her foot on the metal doorstop. Maggie and her Regency companions travel to Evan's apartment only to find the police arresting him for the murder of his bowling friend Walter Bodkin; the motive is Walter’s affair with Alicia and the murder weapon Evan's bowling ball. Maggie, Alex, and Sterling investigate only to realize much of the heterosexual male population of New Jersey wanted Bodkin dead for his trysts with their wives; a number of females including Maggie’s sister and mother shared their desire.
BOWLED OVER is an amusing romantic cozy that in spite of the Regency gimmick and being the sixth Maggie mystery retains a freshness that showcases Kasey Michael’s talent. The fast-paced story line is fun to follow as Maggie stumbles and fumbles with Alex and Sterling always there to pick her up. The whodunit is cleverly designed so that the audience as well as the heroine has the clues, but putting them together proves difficult. This is another winner in a magnificent series.
Harriet Klausner
A Carol for a Corpse
Claudia Bishop
Berkley, Nov 2007, $6.99
ISBN: 9780425218341
The Inn at Hemlock Falls in Upstate New York is owned by twosisters, Meg Quilliam who is a three star chef and Sara Quilliam-McBride runs the hotel. Since the opening of a nearby upscale resort, business has been bad and the siblings fear they may have to shut their hotel down. The bank is working with them by sending over an efficiency expert to find ways of improving service while reducing costs.
They also sign a deal with L’Apertif magazine who will feature their jams and jellies and televise a show they are producing four times a year. They will tape the cooking show Good Taste at the inn and it will last a month for each taping. Lydia Kingsfield is the star of the magazine and the show and her husband Zeke, who is even more obnoxious than his odious wife is a notorious larger than life business man who has cheated many people out of their money with his unethical ventures. His body is found at the Inn’s ski run; it looks as if he was killed by negligence, but Quill believes otherwise. She sets out to prove murder occurred, but finds half the State had a motive to want Zeke dead.
A CAROL FOR A CORPSE is a charming cozy that puts readers in the holiday spirit due in large part to the vivid picturesque descriptions of Christmas décor, the mouthwatering food, the feeling of good will, but especially the Scrooge attitude of Quill. She is ruthless when it comes to keeping her cherished sister safe and is passionate about the inn. Thus she needs no more motives to investigate the death of Zeke than the possible harm to Meg or the loss of the inn, as she rejects the negligence ruling. Fans of the series will enjoy the freshness in the story line due to a couple of interesting surprises, making this a merry Yuletide amateur sleuth tale.
Harriet Klausner
Beware False profits
Emilie Richards
Berkley, Nov 2007, $6.99
ISBN: 9780425218686
Aggie Sloan-Wilcox is the wife of Pastor Ed Wilcox of the Unitarian-Universal Church in Emerald Springs, Ohio; the beautiful serene town offers little peace to the Wilcox. There house is crowded because her mother lives with them until her Victorian house is renovated into a combination home and crafts shop.
Needing some romance in their lives, they go to New York City where they get a call from parishioner Mara Wagner who tells them her spouse Joe never came home from his monthly business trip. A clue leads Aggie and Ed to the Pussycat Club where they learn that Ed’s “business” is dressing up in women’s garb to perform on stage as a female impersonator. At a fund raiser to benefit a charity that Joe runs, his nemesis Hazel Kefauver keels over and dies. Later they find out she was poisoned; Aggie believes there is a link between the murder and the disappearance. While trying to discover who killed Hazel and where Joe is, Aggie looks for the church’s’ valuable antique punch bowl that she lost and is trying to learn the identity of the carpenter working at her mom’s new home.
Fans of intelligently constructed cozies will thoroughly enjoy BEWARE FALSE PROFITS. The heroine seems so natural as a sleuth that the audience will find her investigations believable and think she would make a good police detective though she is an amateur. Although Aggie is a minister’s wife, she defies the stereotypes because of her independence to do what she believes is the right thing even if that means swimming upstream against a current of parishioners, her spouse and a cop. She makes this a fine small town Midwest mystery.
Harriet Klausner
A Murderous Glaze
Melissa Glazer
Berkley, Nov 2007, $6.99
ISBN: 9780425218365
Carolyn Emerson lives in Maple Ridge, Vermont where she owns Fire at Will, a successful paint-your-own- pottery studio. Her dream is shattered when she finds the dead body of Betty Wickline with an awl through her chest. Carolyn readily admits she did not like the woman, but she also insists she never wished her harm; thus when the sheriff implies she is the prime and only suspect, she becomes indignant.
After word of the homicide spreads around the town, no one enters the store and people she has known all her life cold shoulder Carolyn. Not trusting Sheriff Hodges to conduct a through investigation, Carolyn decides that if she wants to save her shop she must make inquiries. One group of customers-friends, the Firing Squad, becomes her posse abetting her Betty sleuthing. They find a horde of viable suspects wanting the victim dead.
Readers who appreciate bloodless chick-lit asides cozies (oxymoron) will appreciate the entertaining A MURDEROUS GLAZE as the violence and gore occur outside the pages. The protagonist is a spunky fiftyish heroine who is filled with energy that makes the Energizer Bunny look at rest. The support cast includes the quirky posse who sweeten the story line with their maple syrup optimism and her spouse Bill who insists she skips the investigation as it is too dangerous yet is her biggest cheerleader. Readers will enjoy this fine character driven Vermont amateur sleuth.
Harriet Klausner
Redemption
Lee Jackson
St. Martin's, Oct 28 2007, $24.95
ISBN 9780312363444
Under the guise of stopping terrorists at home, Homeland Security uses a humongous net to incarcerate citizens. Former English Professor Ben Trinity knows first hand the torture to force confessions as you disappear in the ooze beneath the judicial system with no rights. After losing everything and never charged with any crime, Homeland Security agents release Ben under a stipulation that he understands they will bring him again if they feel like it; they plan to monitor his activity with a fine tooth comb as they hope he leads them to capturing bigger fish.
Ben hitchhikes to Redemption, Montana hoping to not just start anew, but to be as far away from the use of force first HSD agents as he can be while also doing their bidding. However, he is unwelcome by the townsfolk even before they learn he is an HSD stooge as outsiders mean trouble to the close knit community. Ben realizes if he to escape the shackles of the shadow government of HSD, he needs to prove his innocence of what the agents claimed he did although he also knows his handlers will not allow him to investigate.
This futuristic cautionary tale stars an interesting victim of excess homeland torture under the guise of security. Ben is fascinating as his choices are limited leading to depression while the support cast add to the gloomy outlook as mobs accept strangers are terrorists and dealt with accordingly; and then there is the sexy deadly voice of handler Mrs. Clarice McGraff. Although the background used to affirm the future feels off kilter, thriller fans will appreciate the HSD style “recruitment” of Ben Trinity.
Harriet Klausner
Why Mermaids Sing
C.S. Harris
Obsidian, Nov 2007, $23.95
ISBN 9780451222268
In 1811 Westminster chief magistrate Sir Henry Lovejoy looks at the mutilated body of Lord Dominic Stanton, son of a close associate of the Regent, left for all to see near the Old Palace yard. Three months ago a banker’s son the corpse of Barclay Carmichael was found battered and posed in St. James Park. Believing they lack the skills needed to deal with a diabolical killer, Henry asks Viscount Sebastian St. Cyr, known for his detection proficiency, to investigate.
St. Cyr considers accepting the case though he is tired of death and assumes murder begets murder; besides he has an inquiry going on to find his mother on the continent. As more ritual like homicides follow he links the killer to a John Donne poem even as he struggles with the lack of cooperation from the victims’ families; in fact the fathers are outright hostile as if they do not want the truth revealed. Unknown adversaries also want St. Cyr and his team stopped.
The third S. Cyr Regency mystery (see WHAT ANGELS FEAR and When Gods Die) is a terrific serial killer whodunit starring a fabulous detection expert. The fast-paced story line is driven by the reactions of the victims’ families as each prefers to have the hero end his inquiry. Historical mystery readers will appreciate this strong tale.
Harriet Klausner
Shrouds of Holly
Kate Kingsbury
Berkley, Nov 2007, $13.00
ISBN 9780425218495
In Badgers End, England Pennyfoot Hotel proprietor Cecily Sinclair Baxter praises Madeline Pengrath for decorating the ballroom for the upcoming Christmas holiday. To complete the décor, Cecily’s husband and stable master Samuel went to the nearby woods to gather holly.
However one of the horses returns too quickly without either man. Instead inside the trap to contain the holly is a dead stranger; Mr. Baxter and Samuel failed to come home. Cecily sends for Constable Northcott. However, when he makes no progress on the case, a frustrated, worried and determined Cecily begins her own inquiry into what happened to her spouse and stable master, and who killed the man in the trap.
SHROUDS OF HOLLY is a delightful Edwardian whodunit starring an intrepid heroine who turns investigator out of fear for her husband as she believes the constable fails to understand time is running out. Fans of the series will enjoy this fun to read historical holiday cozy as the latest Pennyfoot Hotel mystery (see SLAY BELLS and NO CLUE AT THE INN) cleverly uses stereotypes of Pre WWI English to round out the entertaining amateur sleuth mystery.
Harriet Klausner
In for the Kill
John Lutz
Pinnacle, Nov 2007, $6.99
ISBN 9780786018437
The city is frantic, especially the women as the Butcher dismembers females limb by limb and stacks each of them into eerie pyramids in their bathtubs. He is extremely precise with his human Lego’s, but never leaves behind a forensic trace of any sort.
NYPD Deputy Chief Harley Renz knows he needs his best serial killer specialist to lead the inquiry; however the department’s top gun is retired. Still Harley asks former NYPD homicide detective Frank Quinn to return to the field to stop The Butcher from killing anymore women. Police Officer Pearl Kasner, Frank’s former girlfriend, is assigned to work with him. However, Frank is immediately stunned when he realizes the first letter of the surname of the five victims spell the proper noun Quinn.
John Lutz provides an exhilarating tense thriller using the old standby High Noon premise of a retired police detective in a cat and mouse struggle against a diabolical clever grandmaster killer. The cast is fully developed especially the hero, but it is the serial killer who methodically steals the story line. Readers will enjoy this chess game between two intelligent opponents with the falling pawns being women of the city while Frank’s endangered queen might be his partner or perhaps his visiting daughter.
Harriet Klausner
Fatal Feng Shui
Leslie Caine
Dell, Nov 2007, $6.99
ISBN 9780440335993
Celebrity chef Shannon Young hires the interior design partners Erin Gilbert and Steve Sullivan to renovate her home. She also employs feng shui expert Ang Chung to insure her abode contains harmonious flowing vibrations. Conflict arises between Ang and Shannon on one side and Erin, Steve, and contractor David Lewis on the other, as state and county laws prohibit some of the feng shui design.
Besides the discordant flow disrupting her serenity, Shannon’s neighbor Pate Hamlin will do anything to get her to sell her house to him as cheaply as possible. He arranges all sorts of dangerous mishaps to upset Shannon’s mental state and put the project behind schedule. When the site foreman, Erin's half-brother Taylor Duncan dies in what the local police claims is an unfortunate accident, Erin investigates even as a rival attempts to lure Steve to join her professionally and personally.
The latest Domestic Bliss mystery (see KILLED BY CLUTTER and DEATH BY INFERIOR DESIGN) is an enjoyable cozy as Erin believes her half-brother was a murder victim, but has doubts that Pate killed him. Thus her inquiry after the police quickly sweep the case under the rug considers that Taylor has been a guest of the county. With decorator tips on the side, Leslie Caine provides her fans with an entertaining cleverly designed amateur sleuth.
Harriet Klausner
Bloodline
F. Paul Wilson
Forge, Sep 2007, $25.95
ISBN: 9780765317063
Filled with guilt as he knows his vocation holds him culpable for the hit and run assault on his girlfriend Gia that left her battered and their unborn dead (see HARBINGERS), Repairman Jack has quit trying to fix things. He concentrates on helping his beloved heal physically and emotionally while keeping her and her daughter Vicky safe though he would not mind learning more about the Watcher who is always near at night but never there when Jack goes to confront him.
When single mother Christy Pickering asks Jack to help split up her teenage daughter Dawn from twice her age Jeremy Bolton, he says no. However, Gia demands Jack take on the case as she insists they need to return to the norm, which for Jack is repairing things. Jack learns that Bolton has captured the attention of Dawn as the first male to show interest in her. He also finds out that the Feds have a scientific interest in Bolton, who’s DNA makes him into a homicidal beast. Bolton’s half brother Hank Thompson shares that same violent DNA while leading the Kickers cult. The siblings know their mission as assigned to them from their late father is to sire the dawning of a next generation of evil.
The latest action-packed Repairman Jack thriller is an over the top implausible tale that will grip fans from the onset. Even when Jack stays domestic to keep Gia and Vicky safe, the story line is faster than the speed of light and never decelerates as BLOODLINES sets up the book twelve. Although not the strongest entry in this terrific series, the latest saga is still an enjoyable tale.
Harriet Klausner
A Clubbable Woman
Reginald Hill
Felony & Mayhem, Sep 2007, $14.95
ISBN: 9781933397931
In the early 1970s in Yorkshire, Mary Connon loved rugby; literally she loved seducing the local rugby team’s players. Her husband “Connie” knew she flirted with the entire squad, but seemed to tolerate her activity. That is until she is found dead in their home; the Mid-Yorkshire police believe a cuckold drunken Connie killed his wife fueled by the alcohol.
Case closed except the new cop on the block Andy Dalziel finds the wrap up too simple especially since everyone knows Mary was the local rugby team’s biggest fan. He thinks sharing a few pints with the players might prove illuminating. Sergeant Peter Pascoe cannot believe the investigative method of his new superior “Fat Andy”, but tags along especially as clues begin to point towards the squad rather than the spouse.
Although in some ways this reprint of the first Dalziel and Pascal British police procedural feels like a 1970s historical (although written at the time as a present day tale), A CLUBBABLE WOMAN remains a well written somewhat a sports whodunit. The story line introduces the audience to the dynamic duo who are working together for the first time; thus Pascoe is shocked by Dalziel’s techniques as he has not adapted to it yet. Fans of the series will enjoy where it all began.
Harriet Klausner
Dance with the Dragon
David Hagberg
Forge, Sep 2007, $24.95
ISBN: 9780765308344
Retired CIA director turned guest professor at the University of Southern Florida Kirk McGarvey is assigned to lead the investigation into the shooting death of CIA agent Louis Updegraf; who was murdered at the entrance to the American embassy in Chihuahua, Mexico. Louis’ last operation was wiretapping into the Chinese embassy, but none of his superiors apparently know who assigned him or why.
Kirk quickly finds a link between Iran and China in Mexico, but the connection is the dead American spy. His clues lead him to Iranian belly dancer Shahrzad Shadmand, but her lies send Kirk down false paths. The former CIA head also follows cluess that focus on Chinese espionage agent General Liu, who resides in his country’s compound in Mexico City where he arranges for galas attended by North American diplomats who appreciate his juvenile whores. Still Kirk is unable to learn what Louis sought, but he knows the veteran agent would not go fishing unless something big is coming and besides the enemy would not murder him unless they need time to accomplish this big incident. With a creepy déjà vu premonition, Kirk fears another 9/11 level terrorist event is being executed.
This is a superb espionage thriller that will have the audience wondering along side of the hero what is going on as red herrings and triple crosses are the norm. The fast-paced story line grips the reader once Kirk begins to connect the Iranian belly DANCE WITH THE DRAGON from China, but is unable to figure out any of the whys. The climax is terrific as it provides closure yet sets up the next story; which is going to be the only complaint – waiting for the follow-up to this stupendous saga.
Harriet Klausner
Mark’s Story
Tim LaHaye & Jerry B. Jenkins
Putnam, Oct 2007, $24.95, 308 pp.
ISBN 9780399154478
Mark was not one of the twelve disciples but he was a friend of Peter and it was at his home that the Last Supper was served. He isn’t sure that Jesus is the Messiah at first but senses there is something special about Jesus. He hears the prophecies Christ predicts before his death and sees them all come true. After the Crucifixion, he learns that many have seen Jesus and when he sees him as well he is convinced that he is looking at the Son of God.
He wants to preach and be part of the ministry but he is still too young and has much to learn. The twelve disciples were given powers to heal and they start preaching the ministry begins to grow. One of his most bitter enemies Saul of Taurus claims he heard Christ speak from heaven. A schism arose in the ministry when gentiles become Christ followers and did not have to adhere to law. Mark finally accompanied Peter to Rome where the believers were growing at an amazing rate. The more Nero tried to snuff it out, the more believers listened to the preaching of Mark and Peter. Mark writes the stories that Peter told him of Christ and it becomes one of the gospels. After Peter, his wife and Paul were executed, God sends Mark to Alexandra to start up a new church.
Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins writes so that readers can understand the preaching of Christ, how the church spread and the terrors believers had to endure because they were considered enemies of the state. These talented writers chronicle Mark’s belief as he and others perform heroic deeds in a dangerous atmosphere that in many ways will remind the audience of what is happening to day in Myramer. Readers well feel love, heartache and hope as they read this special tale based on the Word.
Harriet Klausner
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