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.

October 2011

Reamde
Neal Stephenson
Morrow, Sep 20 2011, $35.00
ISBN 9780061977961

Peter saw an opportunity to make some fast cash. However, he handed the Russian mafia a virus infected thumb drive that was destroying their encrypted data base. Ivanov the customer is unhappy but wants more than just his money back and his files freed; he wants to scatter Peter’s remains across the states before his comrades learn what happened and scatters his.

His girlfriend Zula takes him from their home in Seattle to her black sheep Uncle Richard’s farm in Iowa. When Nixon was president, Richard fled to British Columbia to avoid the draft; there he became a millionaire smuggling marijuana into Idaho. Years later with Carter amnesty, Richard used his money to create his remote “farm” in which his niece and her boyfriend visit him. However, his biggest success since he stopped trafficking is T’Rain multiplayer virtual game; that is until now, as hackers in China have deployed the REAMDE virus that encrypts a player’s electronic files until remittance is made to release them.

This is an exciting international thriller starring two black sheep and the woman who connects them. The story line travels the globe while containing engaging spins and a horde of characters from many points around the world. Although at times the subplots go seemingly forever nowhere, overall readers will enjoy the adventures of Zula and the two rogues in her life.

Harriet Klausner

Attracted to Fire
DiAnn Mills
Tyndale, Oct 1 2011, $12.99
ISBN: 9781414348643

Like all the dedicated agents who work for the Secret Service, Meghan Connors hopes to protect POTUS. Her current assignment is one Megan would prefer to not have, but she knows this is the last step before POTUS as the dedicated agent diligently tries to keep the Vice President’s daughter Lindsay Hall safe as her father makes a bid for the Oval office. This is not an easy task as Lindsey is a rebel without a cause whose addictive behavior places her in awkward often dangerous situations while also causing harm to her dad’s campaign.

To keep Lindsey safe from a viable threat, she is exiled to the remote Dancin' Dust Ranch in Texas. Vice President Hall demands Lindsey accompany his daughter while Agent Ash Zinders is also assigned to the team. However though the ranch is in the middle of nowhere, the attempted assaults on Lindsay escalate with bombings and homicides. Although they are rivals for the opening slot on the POTUS protection unit, Agents Connors and Hall rely on one another as they keep their charge safe while investigating why Lindsey remains a target with her so removed from DC.

This is a tense romantic suspense thriller in which readers learn quickly how dedicated and diligent the Secret service Agents are as they risk their lives to protect their charges. The romance is typical of the sub-genre as a critical grump falls in love with a peer who understands addiction from her sister’s issues. Although readers will ironically identify the villain long before anyone else does, the key to this strong taut tale is the whodunit while keeping Lindsay is the prime focus of the story line and the two agents.

Harriet Klausner

Lionheart
Sharon Kay Penman
Putnam/Marian Wood, Oct 4 2011, $28.95
ISBN 9780399157851

Though he was born a spare to King Henry Plantagenet and Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine, his older brother’s failed revolt and subsequent death made Richard the heir. When he became king with the death of his sire, Richard began the Third Crusade to take back Outremer, the Holy Land after a brief stop in Sicily to rescue his sister. He has as much trouble with his alleged French allies as he has with the Saracen forces led by capable Saladin. In fact he and his adversary form a mutual admiration society of two as they respect each other’s skills. Finally Richard knows it is time to go home as he hears rumors that his youngest brother John betrays him while he fights in the Holy Land.

This is an exciting opening biographical fiction that humanizes the legendary Lionheart with little tidbits like his side trip to Sicily and his ignoring his wife Berengaria. Especially emphasized is the political intrigue within the Plantagenet family as his late oldest brother tried to take the throne form his father and his youngest brother has seemingly taken the throne from warring Richard. Sub-genre fans will enjoy this insightful well written medieval tale but will impatiently away the King’s return.

Harriet Klausner

Shock Wave
John Sandford
Putnam, Oct 4 2011, $27.95
ISBN 9780399157691

Three weeks ago a bomb at the Michigan headquarters of the chain PyeMart left Executive Assistant Kelly Brown dead although CEO Willard Pye escaped unscathed. In Butternut Falls, Minnesota, townsfolk are angrily divided over the superstore company setting up shop there. Environmentalists know the poor record of the firm when it come to anything interfering with the bottom line profits while the small town’s storeowners know they will be driven out of business as has happened elsewhere.

A bomb ignites at the superstore’s construction site killing construction superintendent Gilbert Kingsley. ATF investigates both explosions that have left PyeMart's leadership shaken and behind on the Minnesota project. Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Agent Virgil Flowers also looks into the homicide at Butternut Falls, but finds many townsfolk remain defiant and hostile towards the company’s “invasion”, but who would take the opposition to such deadly lengths remains hard to determine.

The fifth Virgil Flowers police procedural (See Rough Country and Bad Blood) is a great whodunit as the state cop makes inquires using modern technology and inductive reasoning to try to solve a case with too many suspects. The town already tense before the deadly explosion brings a profound look at development vs. preservation/environmentalism, but does it inside a well written investigation starring the amusingly self deprecating Minnesota cop.

Harriet Klausner

The Affair
Lee Child
Delacorte, Sep 27 2011, $28.00
ISBN 9780385344326
0385344325

In 1997 in Carter Crossing, Mississippi someone slashes the throat of twentyish Janice May Chapman by an isolated railroad track. The Pentagon is concerned that evidence points to a Ranger training in nearby Fort Kelham committed the homicide as Captain Reed Riley has connections as his father Carleton is chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Colonel Garber assigns military police officer Major Jack Reacher to go undercover to learn the truth and keep the local sheriff Elizabeth Deveraux under control without her knowing it. Each distrusts the other but soon need to protect each other’s back from a dangerous cover-up as the military are uninterested in the facts; their preference is for a local hillbilly to take the rap. However, Reacher becomes incompliant when he learns Janice is the third female to have been killed by this slasher.

The latest Reacher thriller (see Worth Dying For) is an exciting throwback tale to when the heroic vigilante was still in the Army. Ironically though going back to the case that led to his leaving the military, there is not much new added to the Reacher mythos. Still the story line is fast-paced and filled with action as Reacher learns what happens to officers doing their duty with personal courage vs. those with DC connections.

Harriet Klausner

The Burning Soul
John Connolly
Atria, Sep 6 2011, $26.00
ISBN: 9781439265270

In Pastor's Bay, Maine Randall Haight consults with attorney Aimee Price over unsigned threatening letters he receives in the mail at a time when fourteen years old Anna Kore vanished from a strip mall. The anonymous author knows who Randall was. When he was fourteen years old William Lagenheimer and a buddy raped and killed a teenage African-American girl. He was convicted and did time. Upon his release, the state court granted him a new identity.

Aimee persuades private investigator Charlie Parker to look into who the pen pal is and if the timing is deliberate to make Haight the suspect in the Kore case. Although Charlie detests doing anything for a rapist-killer, he begins his inquiry into Haight’s claims of being a victim, a town without pity horrific heritage and the Kore clan’s bloody secrets.

The latest Charlie Parker investigation (see The Whisperers) is a superb mystery as readers will understand troubled Parker’s self flagellation as he realizes perhaps too late his arrogance could harm the abductee. The story line starts slow but a few chapters in accelerates into a terrific running out of clock thriller with a great late twist as Parker and law enforcement know each hour a kidnap victim remains a captive means it is less likely finding the person alive. Readers will appreciate Parker’s doubts as he wonders if he is doing more harm than good.

Harriet Klausner

Elvis and the Tropical Double Trouble
Peggy Webb
Kensington, Sep 27 2011, $23.00
ISBN 9780758241412

Wanting to escape her man problems back home hairdresser Callie Valentine Jones accompanied by Elvis the reincarnated basset hound flees Mooresville, Mississippi to join her family at an archeological excavation dig near Cozumel, Mexico. Her cousin Lovie's boyfriend Rocky leads the work at the site.

Almost immediately upon arrival, Elvis finds human remains that are too modern to be ancient Mayan. Even Callie’s inane mom recognizes a homicide when she sees the bone Elvis possesses. Callie wants nothing to do with sleuthing as she hates getting involved, but feels she has no choice when Lovie and Elvis vanish just as her hopefully soon to be former husband Jack arrives like the cavalry at the crime scene

The fourth Southern Cousins mystery (see Elvis and the Grateful Dead, and Elvis and the Memphis Mambo Murders) is a zany intelligent cozy starring the extended eccentric Valentine brood. Callie holds the story line focused as she reluctantly investigates her missing loved ones and by default the murder while she knows Jack will have her back. Though Elvis is less of a hound dog than usual, fans will enjoy his (and Callie) Mexican adventures

Harriet Klausner

Murder Unleashed
Rita Mae Brown
Ballantine, Oct 4 2011, $25.00
ISBN: 9780345511836

The financial meltdown nuked Mags Rogers' Wall Street career. Humiliatingly, Mags and Baxter the dachshund move onto the ranch of her octogenarian Great Aunt Jeep Reed and King her Shepherd mutt in Reno.

Nevada realtor Babs Gallagher tells her friends Mags and Jeep that several families she knows of live in squalid conditions in foreclosed homes; they have no utilities and if they did could not pay the bills. The three females are appalled that in this day and age in America people survive without running water. Led by Jeep they decide to launch a campaign to help the squatters.

Running for Congress on a tough on personal responsibility rather than government dole, Patrick Wentworth uses the unfortunates as a wedge issue. He plays up a homicide, another death and Jeep’s neighbor who was wounded as proof the sinful non taxpayers are destroying the community. However the politico failed to count on the dog-gone sleuths.

The latest Jeep-King canine amateur sleuth tale (see A Nose for Justice) is more a moral condemnation of big business and the political puppets who dance as marionettes to the string pullers than a mystery; though the whodunit serves somewhat as an enhancer into the plight of homeless families. The story line is fast-paced from the moment Jeep starts her campaign for sustenance with dignity and never slows down as the women and the dogs investigate crimes that break the law and crimes against humanity (and pets).

Harriet Klausner

The More the Terrier
Linda O. Johnston
Berkley, Oct 4 2011, $7.99
ISBN: 9780425243794

Dante De Francisco owns national HotPet Stores. He hires Lauren Vancouver to be the director of HotRescues no kill animal shelter. The complex will be one of the biggest of its kind once construction is completed. When Lauren’s former mentor, Mamie Spelling, frantically calls her; Lauren is concerned and rushes over having not seen her friend in a long time. Lauren is appalled at the condition of Mamie’s house, and poor quality of the animals from overcrowding as if this is a run down ghetto. Mamie fears she faces prison time for animal cruelty; something that would not have occurred if Bethany Weber, CEO of The Pet Shelter Network, had not tried to blackmail her.

Bethany made a lot of enemies inside the industry with practices including blackmail and extortion of other shelter owners. The police believe Mamie killed Bethany as she had the motive and the opportunity having been at the victim’s home when the latter was dead. Other evidence condemns Mamie further. Lauren does not believe her mentor would kill, so she doggedly investigates the homicide; unaware the killer watches her every move.

The second Pet Rescue Mystery (see Beaglemania) is an exciting cozy that sub-genre readers, especially animal lovers, will enjoy. Dante and his lover Kendra make cameo appearances that connect this series to the author’s Pet Sitter amateur sleuth novels. There are plenty of suspects as the victim was almost universally loathed. Although having an amateur sleuth investigate the murder of a queen of mean while the killer observes her actions is an overly used technique, readers still will enjoy the entertaining The More the Terrier.

Harriet Klausner

Liver Let Die
Liz Lipperman
Berkley, Oct 4 2011, $7.99
ISBN: 9780425244043

After her boyfriend dumped her, Jordan McAllister moved to Ranchero, Texas where she works at the Ranchero Globe writing personal ads as she waits for a better position to open up especially as a sports reporter. When food columnist Loretta Mosley breaks her hip and right arm requiring at least six weeks of rehab, the editor Dwayne Egan offers her the position temporarily without more pay and with her still doing the ads. Though she can’t boil water without burning it, she accepts the job that will enable her to see her name in print.

She reviews the new Longhorn Prime Rib Steakhouse. However, afterward, her waiter that night is found dead under her steps. One of her kitchen knives is missing and presumed to be the murder weapon. The police suspect her as the killer while she knows someone is setting her up to stew in prison or shish kabob her. Undercover FBI Agent Alec finds his thoughts are far from lucid because his attraction to the prime culprit muddles his brain. Jordan puts to use her journalism education to investigate the homicide in order to prove her innocence as her state is known for executions. She believes Alec his concealing something significant and hopes it is not tied to the murder as she is attracted to him.

Liz Lipperman has written an entertaining journalistic investigation (though the heroine’s lack of experience might better classify her and the whodunit as an amateur sleuth). The dialogue between Jordan and the men in her life is witty and humorous while the reporter finds herself in one hot water scenario after another. She holds the enjoyable plot together as a likable person refusing to allow someone to marinade her with murder.

Harriet Klausner

A Killing Season
Priscilla Royal
Poisoned Pen, Oct 4 2011, $24.95
ISBN 9781590589496

Baron Herbert joined the Crusades taking his nephew Leonel with him instead of any of his four sons. Now he returns from the Holy Land but instead of rejoicing he is despondent. When his two of his five sons die in accidents, people question whether God is punishing Herbert for a transgression in the Holy land.

Herbert pleads with his friend Sir Hugh to bring healers to his castle. Hugh asks respected physician Master Gamel, Brother Thomas and Prioress Eleanor of Tyndal to join him at isolated le chateau doux et dour. Eleanor brings her healer Sister Anne with them. Upon arrival, Thomas watches a third son Gervase fall to his death from a high window. Thomas and Eleanor learn the oldest offspring died from a fever and the third born drowned. While many say the deaths are due to the devil or God’s wrath, Thomas and Eleanor believe a mortal murderer is killing the sons.

The latest Thomas and Eleanor medieval mystery (see Chambers of death and Valley of Dry Bones) is a great whodunit. The story line never loses its fast pace after an incredible opening act. Readers will enjoy this delightful historical whodunit as the sleuths investigate “a season for everything under heaven, including a time to kill.”

Harriet Klausner

Shoe Done It
Grace Carroll
Berkley, Oct 4 2011, $6.99
ISBN: 9780425244036

To Rita Jewel the best part of working at Dolce's Boutique in San Francisco is neither the wages nor dressing up high society. The jewel of working here is the steep discount her employer gives her that enables her to purchase some of the high end merchandise. Dolce sends Rita to pick up a pair of hand-made silver stilettos in Florida for her to have in time for fashionista MarySue Jenson to wear at the Golden Gate Garden Benefit, which is tomorrow. Rita picks up the shoes in South Beach and returns in time, but the customer confesses she does not have the money to pay for them and Dolce refuses to extend credit.

MarySue steals the customized footwear from Rita. Dolce and Rita want them back so the employee goes to Mary Sue’s house, but the shoe thief refuses to allow her entrance. Rita uses a ladder to try to enter the home, but the next thing she knows she is in a hospital being treated for injures. Dolce and Rita learn someone murdered MarySue and the stolen solver stilettos are missing.. Rita searches for the killer and the shoes only to find a horde of suspects hiding behind upper class respectability.

Shoe Done It is a fun somewhat satirical amateur sleuth tale that mocks at the compulsive obsessive behavior of fashionista as a stiletto by any other name is not just footwear. The first Accessories Mystery stars a heroine who is the Einstein of fashion and uses her knowledge of clothing to investigate who would literally murder to possess customized stilettos. Cozy readers will enjoy this entertaining San Francisco treat.

Harriet Klausner

How to Party With a Killer Vampire
Penny Warner
Obsidian, Oct 4 2011, $7.99
ISBN: 9780451235015

Party planner Presley Parker lives in a condo and has an office on San Francisco’s Treasure Island. Also working there is CeeGee Studios’ movie producer-director Lucas Cruz. He hires Presley to plan a “wrap party” at Lawndale Cemetery signifying the end of his latest film Revenge of the Killer Vampires. The night before the gala, three extras (Spidey, Trace and Lark) make a noisy exit practicing the sport of Parkour that her don’t call him boyfriend Brad knows even the shoes to wear. The trio is upset that they were not invited to the event so plan to get even for this affront.

The next morning, Presley discovers Spidey is dead. The police initially assume it was an accident as the he practiced dangerous gymnastics. However, later they realize he was murdered. The night of the party has paparazzi Bodie Chase crashing the festivity, but was escorted out. Later he is found dead in open grave in the pet section of the graveyard, Presley, who has solved murder cases (see How to Survive a Killer Séance) and former cop Brad a crime scene cleaner investigate as they believe the two homicides are connected, but lack a linking motive and too many suspects.

The latest Party-Planning Mystery is a cleverly constructed whodunit with false leads, red herrings, and twists that hook readers who like the lead sleuths struggle to determine the identity of the killer. The perils of Presley makes her endearing as she goes from one fright to another, which keeps fans on the edge of their seat wondering what next at “Peaceful Kingdoms”. Penny Warner provides a superb murder mystery.

Harriet Klausner

Children of Paranoia
Trevor Shane
Dutton, Sep 8 2011, $25.95
ISBN: 9780525952374

For seven years, twenty-five years old Joe has fought in the secret war. The adversaries conceal the combat from the public through supposed horrific accidents or inexplicable violent acts. Thus civilians remain ignorant. A dedicated assassin, Joe believes he fights on the righteous side of good though he does not understand the underlying cause of the war only the other side is evil. He adheres strictly to the rules of engagement that he is not to kill an innocent bystander as collateral damage is unacceptable and he is not to kill anyone under the age of eighteen as assassinating a child is unacceptable too. Joe knows if he breaks the commandments he becomes the enemy of his side.

His last assignment went terribly wrong so his handler punishes Joe by tasking him to perform a dangerous kill in Montreal. However, Joe’s frozen heart melts instantly when he meets Maria. He no longer can kill at random. To stay alive and keep his beloved safe, Joe flees as his former associates hunt him as he is now considered an evil traitor. In his attempt to escape Joe learns the third rule of engagement on his side of good is agents retire only in body bags.

Although the premise seems over the top of the St. Joseph's Oratory; fans will enjoy this exciting twisting thriller while pondering who is good and evil in terms of alleged patriots and terrorists. The story line is fast-paced from the first kill to the final confrontation. Though a lack of how Joe became indoctrinated to believe his side is the good killers would have helped anchor reader support of him, Trevor Shane provides an engaging thought provoking tale.

Harriet Klausner

As the Pig Turns
M.C. Beaton
Minotaur, Oct 11 2011, $24.99
ISBN: 9780312387020

Near Carsely in the Cotswolds, Police Officer Gary Beach issues a ticket to an angry Agatha Raisin who insists she did nothing. Not long after that he tickets her again stating she was just over the speed limit. Irate and in a rage, Agatha enters a store and proclaims loudly she would like to roast the unfair cop.

In the post card like nearby village of Winter Parva, the parish council hosts a special gala to try to make up the lack of revenue during Christmas. Agatha attends the festivities that include roasting a pig. When she notices a tattoo on the pig being roasted, Agatha stops the gala. Someone decapitated Beach leaving his body to toast on a spit. The cops suspect Agatha who has motive, mean and opportunity just like she said publically. She investigates encouraged by the victim’s ex wife.

As the Pig Turns is a delightful whodunit as once again the queen of crankiness allows her mouth that roared to get her in trouble. The story line is fast-paced even with interludes by the men in the protagonist’s life wanting to be the man in her life. Although no one observing a human torso instead of a pig about to be roasted feels over the top of Cleeve Hill, fans will enjoy the latest cranky Agatha Raisin British historical mystery (see Busy Body).

Harriet Klausner

Prey
Linda Howard
Ballantine, Sep 6 2011, $26.00
ISBN: 9780345506917

In rural Montana, thirtyish Angie Powell was operating a successful hunting business when former Iraq war veteran Dare Callahan came home to start up the same business. Three years as rivals has left Angie selling out as she lost this battle. She has one last final client to escort, Chad Krugman and his guest on a bear hunt in the wilderness.

However, the hunt goes ugly when Angie sees a murder and the killer sees her. Before either can react, a humongous black bear who has eaten humans attacks. Dare is nearby thanks to a mutual friend when he hears shots. He races to Angie to insure she is safe. As they flee together and confront their attraction, a killer and a five hundred pound beast pursue them while a storm makes survival more difficult.

Linda Howard provides her usual exhilarating romantic suspense as man, beast, and nature focus on two business rivals falling in love. The story line is fast-paced from the moment Krugman arrives for his trek into the wilderness. Loaded with action and well placed humor especially the banter between the lead couple, fans will enjoy the trek into a remote par of Big Sky Country.

Harriet Klausner

Sweet Justice
Christy Reece
Ballantine, Sep 6 2011, $7.99
ISBN: 9780345524072

Five years ago in Houston Seth Cavanaugh was arrested for the murder of Montgomery Jenkins. He reacted by dumping his girlfriend FBI agent Honor Stone without explanation before vanishing. He hid from her that he was undercover trying to bring down vicious Hector Clemmons.

Five years later, Seth’s distraught brother Joel calls; telling him that his daughter Kelli has been missing from college for a week. Though Joel was angry with Seth for the pain he caused the family, he knows he would do anything for his niece including seeing the woman he hurt most in the world. Seth asks Honor who now works for Last Chance Rescue for her help. They team up searching for a chilling serial kidnapper, but she no longer trusts the man she still loves.

The latest LCR romantic suspense (see the “Chance” trilogy and the “Rescue” trilogy) is a great thriller that grips the audience once the vile villains arrive on the scene. With homage to first responders who give up so much for our safety, this fast-paced story will have readers sitting on edge with what happens next.

Harriet Klausner

Enemy Mine
Karin Harlow
Pocket, Aug 30 2011, $7.99
ISBN: 9781439177877

L.O.S.T. operative Nikko Cruz is freezing in Siberian arctic conditions at the base of the Tian Shan range in Kyrgyzstan as the frigid temperatures are way below zero. However Nikki knows his heart is even colder than the weather ever since he killed the only woman he ever loved.

Thus when his mission to track hijacked enriched uranium fails with him being ambushed; Nikko is shocked by who rescues him. His dead beloved, half-daemon Selena Guererro injects the only man she ever loved Nikko who is dying with her immortal blood serum even knowing this places her in danger and perhaps their nine year old daughter Marisol who Nikko thought she killed, too. When Nikko heals, he follows her to the terrorists who stole the weapons enriched uranium. His revised plan is first to kill the terrorists and recover the uranium; and then deal with the woman he wants to choke to death at the same time he wants to kiss her.

Readers will enjoy Karin Harlow's latest Last Option Special Team romantic urban (Siberian?) thriller (see Enemy Lover) as the star-crossed lovers meet for the first time since he killed her for killing their child. The story line is action-packed from the moment the hero is left to die and never slows down as he confronts the terrorists and the hybrid woman he loved (and still does) and killed.

Harriet Klausner

Vacation
Matthew Costello
Dunne, Sep 27 2011, $24.99
ISBN 9780312680077

NYPD police officers Jack Murphy and David Rodriguez work a Brooklyn beat. The global drought and food shortages left the planet on the brink of pandemic disaster; that was until a miraculous manna was distributed. However, soon afterward the feral cannibalistic Can Heads began appearing as if the new food changed the genetic makeup of humans. Politicians, refusing to accept blame, insisted to the human masses that a survival war between us and them requires patriotic measures. This night the Can Heads attack the two patrol cops; leaving David dead and Jack injured.

Needing to heal, Jack, his wife Christie and their two kids (Kate and Simon) go on Vacation to the Upstate fortified Paterville Family Camp where people eat old fashion real food, drink pure water, and have fun. When Jack helps with preventing a Can Head assault, he is rewardeed with a job offer and a permanent move into Paterville with his family, who all vote yes. However, Jack will soon learn the truth about the miracle of Paterville.

In an already bleak world in which the Yankees are no longer in the Bronx as the Can Heads own the borough, the atmosphere turns brighter in Paterville when soon afterward it drops to its darkest. Readers will think trice about vacationing in idyllic rural areas as Jack and his family learns that Paterville has a nasty side under the glitter of a Vacation oasis as it is the Eagles Hotel California with a gruesome addition. This is a gripping post apocalyptic horror thriller.

Harriet Klausner

Harbor
John Ajvide Lindqvist
Dunne, Oct 11 2011, $25.99
ISBN 9780312680275

In 2004 Sweden Anders and Cecilia take their six years old daughter Maja from their home in Gavasten to tour the nearby icebound lighthouse off the archipelago Domaro Island. Precocious Maja likes to lead but she vanishes as her parents lose sight of her. The frantic adults search everywhere for their precious child, but fail to find her. The conclusion they make is somehow she fell under the thin but solid iced channel, but no evidence of holes or weak spots are found.

Though they have been an entry since being young teens twenty years ago, their marriage falls apart as Cecilia tries to move on passed her grief while Anders becomes an alcoholic who is unable to let go of his guilt for not watching his offspring closer. Two years since the tragedy, Anders returns to Domaro believing he will find his beloved Maja. Instead he begins to hear whispers of ritual sacrifice by the indigenous islanders including his mother to the nearby sea.

Harbor is a dark thriller in which the audience will wonder whether the sacrifices are to a supernatural being or just superstitious island mythos induced murders. The fast-paced story line is character driven by the seemingly insane Anders, but owned by the villagers; similar in tone to Anthony Shaffer’s The Wicker Man. Though one must wonder why he (and Cecilia) had not thought of what seems to be common knowledge, readers will relish this tense suspense.

Harriet Klausner

Darkness All Around
Doug Magee
Touchstone, Oct 18 2011, $25.00
ISBN: 9781439154021

In Braden, Pennsylvania Risa was married to Sean who became an alcoholic, had blackouts and at times failed to come home at night. In one nasty week, Sean vanished and Risa’s best friend Carol was brutally murdered.

Ten years later, Risa is married to Alan who adopted Kevin, her son with Sean, as his. Alan is running for Congress. Sean rocks Risa’s world when he calls Statesman reporter Henry to arrange a meeting the next day. He receives a pass from the hospital where he currently resides and Sean heads home to ask the journalist if he ever saw any pictures of Carol’s death scene. Henry describes what he saw; Sean now knows for sure he killed Carol on the night he drove to New York as he knew the death scene and the bruises on the corpse before he heard the reporter’s description. Sean goes to the local police but Alan has the authorities throw him out of town. Risa considers G.G who was convicted of the homicide is innocent as is she believes her first husband. As Risa risks her marriage, her social standing and her life (and that of her son), Alan does everything to get the one “evil” ex out of their lives.

Darkness All Around is an exciting romantic suspense that grips readers from the moment Sean returns to town. The cast is fully developed so that the audience understands what motivates the key players to behave the way they have now and a decade ago. Doug Magee writes a taut thriller in which the suspense is front and center while the romantic subplot supports the mystery.

Harriet Klausner

Killer Sweet Tooth
Gayle Trent
Gallery/Pocket, Oct 11 2011, $15.00
ISBN: 9781451600025

After her abusive husband tried to kill her, Daphne Martin divorced the SOB while he went to jail for shooting at her (Murder Takes the Cake); she returned to her hometown of Brea Ridge, Virginia where she opened up Daphne’s Delectable Cakes. Daphne has a boyfriend Brea Ridge Chronicle editor Ben Jacobs.

Ben cancels their date so Daphne invites her neighbor sexagenarian Myra Jenkins to come over for dessert. Unfortunately, Maya chips her tooth, but her dentist Dr. Bainsworth tells her to come to the office so he can fix it. Daphne and Myra arrive at Bainsworth’s office where they find the dentist dead. They call the police who name the pair as “persons’ of interest”. When Daphne arrives home, she is met by an Elvis impersonator. He belongs to EIEIO (Elvis Impersonator’s Evangelical Interdenominational Outreach) ; a group performing in town while attending a convention. Not wanting to be suspects, Maya and Daphne investigate the dentist’s murder; only to learn Bainsworth had plenty of enemies. The pair hopes to solve the case before EIEIO leaves town in order to clear their names.

The latest Daphne Martin mystery (see Dead Pan) is a Killer Sweet Tooth cozy as the police lack proof but the only suspects know they are under surveillance and the town thinks they are not the killers. This is a fun puzzler with an EIEIO member who may be the killer or perhaps the townsfolk with grudges against the late dentist. Maya and Daphne are different generations, but share common traits and each knows the other has their respective back. Gayle Trent has written a charming amateur sleuth.

Harriet Klausner

Murder of a Creped Suzette
Denise Swanson
Obsidian, Oct 4 2011, $7.99
ISBN: 9780451235008

Music promoter Rex Taylor accompanied by his Country Roads company staff and some of his most popular clients descends on Scumble River. Rex wants to gain local support to build a country western music theater in town. The visitors give a free open air concert attended by most townsfolk including school psychologist and police consultant Skye Denison. She ducks into an RV to go to the bathroom and hides whens Rex and his top superstar Flint Jones come in.

Aspiring C&W singer and Rex’s gopher Suzette Neal is late to perform as the opening act. Rex asks Flint who refuses as he is the star attraction. Suzette finally arrives and performs. Afterward she asks Skye to investigate the suspicious death of her mother in an accident in which Suzette swears she heard a stranger’s voice. Skye agrees to look into the death of the performer’s mother. The shrink goes to the site where the music theater is to be built. There she finds Suzette’s body under a steamroller. Teaming up with her fiancé, Police Chief Wally Boyd, they investigate the homicide of the daughter and relook the alleged accidental death of the mother.

Reading a Scumble River police procedural is always a treat as the audience tries to solve a convoluted murder. Fans will want the killer caught not just for legal justice but also for karma as the victim was a nice person. With a touch of romance and a bit of family drama to round out the whodunit, Murder of a Creped Suzette is a compelling cozy.

Harriet Klausner

Thread Reckoning
Amanda Lee
Obsidian, Oct 6 2011, $7.99
ISBN: 9780451234551

Marcy Singer left California when her fiancé David Frist jilted her on their wedding day without telling her he got cold feet. She moved to quaint Tallulah Falls, Oregon where she opens up The Seven Year Stitch embroidery specialty shop.

Cassandra Wainwright enters the store wanting Marcy to add embroidery to her wedding dress that would include fake jewels given to the bride by her future mother-in-law Francesca Ortega. Marcy’s boyfriend police officer Ted Nash awakens her late at night with news of a dead female outside her establishment. Marcy identifies the body as Francesca. She explains about the dress and the jewels; the police confiscate the gems as evidence only to learn they are genuine. The victim’s son Francisco insists he has no idea how his late mom possessed real jewels, but that it might have involved her job at former job at Santiago, Inc. The matriarch of the Santiago clan reported her jewels stolen, but her son Frederic knows his mom was not a thief. Experienced in solving homicides (see Stitch Me Deadly), Marcy investigates one stitch at a time so that she can figure out what led to Francesca’s murder.

This charming cozy contains a difficult to solve homicide because no one seems to have a viable motive. While the protagonist investigates (a sub-genre hazard of amateur sleuthing for no reasonable reason) she deals with David who obstinately wants her back and refuses to accept no. His arrival and desire has his ex musing whether he is connected to the murder, the theft or both as he worked for the Santiago family. Readers will enjoy Amanda Lee’s likable whodunit.

Harriet Klausner

Headstone
Jack Bruen
Mysterious, Oct 4 2011, $24.00
ISBN: 9780802126009

In Galway, Ireland young punks calling themselves the Headstone batter Father Malachy. The elderly priest is in intensive care at the University Hospital. The next victim of the vicious Headstone gang is Tom Reed, a Downs Syndrome child, whose throat is slashed before they rob him.

Former Garda Jack Taylor has met some amoral brutal predators but none like the Headstone whose objective is to cleanse society of misfits like gays, recovering alcoholics, special people, and those they dislike. He knows he is a target as are his friends Ridge the Garda and Stewart the former convict when they receive headstones in the mail. Not one to avoid violence and knowing anyway there is no Sanctuary from this insane fringe, Jack and his buddies take the fight to the Headstone members.

The latest Taylor thriller is an exhilarating but gorier than usual tale, which says a lot as this series is known for the flow of blood and guts. Jack struggles with his ugly past though the American he recently met has given him some hope for redemption of sorts. Ironically Jack concludes the Headstone’s lunatic homicidal actions make his transgressions seem like virtues. Although the plot is thin, Taylor fans will anticipate the Galway confrontation.

Harriet Klausner

Covenant
Dean Crawford
Touchstone, Oct 18 2011, $24.99
ISBN: 9781451628531

In the Negev in Israel, archaeologist Lucy Morgan works an unsanctioned dig in which she tells Bedouin guide Ahmed and University Professor Shevez that she has found remains that are seven millennia old but are not human. However, before they can make their claim to the authorities, she vanishes.

Ex marine and former war correspondent Ethan Warner is known for finding and rescuing people in some of the most dangerous areas of the world. However, when his fiancée Joanna disappeared while working in Gaza, heartbroken he returned to the Chicago as a shell of what he was. However, his former superior officer Doug Jarvis asks him to rescue his missing granddaughter Lucy. The DIA also want Lucy found, but cannot interfere as the peace process has made some small progress recently. Ethan agrees to go to the Negev especially after being shown a photo that proves his Joanna lives.

Washington, D.C Metro Detectives Nicola Lopez and Lucas Tyrell enter a building they assume has been used by crack heads. They find three naked corpses that FBI Agent Cain says are overdoses. Tyrell disagrees but what makes him certain is one of the victims has what appears to be frostbite on his feet in summer DC weather. Soon the DC investigation and the missing archeologist inquiry merge though they are miles apart.

This taut thriller hooks readers from the moment Lucy tells her associate what she found and never looks back until a final confrontation. Fans will especially try to resolve the connection between the desert and the metro, which is not as obvious as it first seems. Filled with twists, readers will enjoy the Covenant wondering what Lucy’s find really means to the world.

Harriet Klausner

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