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2013: #18 – 10 lb Penalty (Dick Francis)

0 comments By Jaime Filed in mystery; Tagged with ; May 24th, 2013
10lbpenalty

Title: 10 lb Penalty
Author: Dick Francis
Format: Kindle
Pages:  320
Release Date: September 22, 1997
Publisher: Berkley
Source: personal copy

Rating: ★★★☆☆ 

A wanna-be jockey accepts a job in his father’s campaign for Parliament—and realizes that politics can be the most perilous horse race of all.

My thoughts:

Dick Francis mysteries have a quality to them that’s difficult to explain. There’s nothing jarring about them, even when something surprising happens. They’re generally all business, with no pesky romantic subplots to detract from what’s going on. And they always have something to do with horse racing, even tangentially.

In this case, the tie to horse racing is Ben, who would like nothing more than to be a professional jockey. Unfortunately, he’s just a little too large for the professional world, and lacks the support to truly thrive in the amateur one.  Instead, he is “convinced” to go to work for his father, a man he’s never really connected with in his childhood.

When I picked up this book, I expected the campaign to span the length of it. But the election happens about halfway through, and then we sort of meander through the next few years of Ben’s life. At that point, the story felt a bit aimless to me. We do get a resolution at the end that ties everything back in, but the urgency was gone. Thankfully, Francis gives us characters that we like to read about, so I didn’t mind the meandering so much.

This probably isn’t the strongest Dick Francis novel, but it was entertaining nonetheless.

Available from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | WorldCat

Other reviews:

  • “I really enjoyed the character study throughout and was impressed with the author’s ability to weave a mystery where no mystery is really involved.” — snickerpants

2013: #11 – Three Bedrooms, One Corpse (Charlaine Harris)

1 comment By Jaime Filed in audio, cozy, mystery; Tagged with , ; March 14th, 2013
threebedrooms

Title: Three Bedrooms, One Corpse
Author: Charlaine Harris
Series: Aurora Teagarden #03
Format: Audio
Audiobook length: 6 hrs 45 min
Release Date: March 23, 1994
Publisher: Recorded Books
Source: personal copy

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

An unexpected legacy has given former librarian Aurora “Roe” Teagarden some time on her hands, so she decides to try selling real estate. Her mother, after all, is Lawrenceton’s premier real estate agent, giving Roe a head start on this new career. But at her first house showing, Roe discovers the naked corpse of a rival broker. It looks like there’s a cool killer at large, one who knows a great deal about real estate — and maybe too much about Roe.

My thoughts:

This is a good cozy series. Roe has an unusual talent for stumbling across dead bodies — and it’s beginning to gain her a reputation! In the meantime, she’s a bit aimless in her life. The money she inherited in the previous book has allowed her some freedom, but she’s come to realize that she’s too young to live a life of leisure. With her mother being one of the real estate magnates of Lawrenceton, inserting herself into her mother’s business seems like it’s worth a try. Which is how she ends up showing a local mansion to newcomer Martin Bartell, stumbling across a body, and discovering an incredible attraction to this new man in town.

I was glad to see Harris rethink Roe’s relationship with the pastor. He was rather boring, and not suited to her at all. Or perhaps, she wasn’t suited to him.

Overall, I enjoy this series, and they are entertaining to listen to. It’s definitely one I will continue.

Available from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | WorldCat

Other reviews:

  • “Harris’ light approach to the dark side of mayhem, murder, and real estate games in a small town just outside Atlanta was entertaining, warm, and real; her characters could easily have been my neighbors in my own small town.” — Story Circle Book Reviews
  • “This was my first of the Aurora Teagarden series, and I’m not sure I’ll be reading the other. I simply didn’t find the characters or the story as interesting enough.” — Read Between the Whines
  • “I love all of Charlaine Harris’ novels. She just has this knack for writing with familiarity, emotion, humour, quirk, verve and colloquialisms.” — Pooks

2013: #5 – Trail of the Spellmans (Lisa Lutz)

1 comment By Jaime Filed in comedy, mystery, private investigator; Tagged with , ; February 14th, 2013
trailspellmans

Title: Trail of the Spellmans
Author: Lisa Lutz
Series: Spellman Files #05
Format: Hardback
Pages:  384
Release Date: February 28, 2012
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Source: library

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

FOR THE FIRST TIME in Spellman history, Isabel Spellman, PI, might be the most normal member of her family. Mom has taken on an outrageous assortment of extracurricular activities—with no apparent motive. Dad has a secret. Izzy’s brother and sister are at war—for no apparent reason. And her niece keeps saying “banana” even though she hates bananas.

That’s not to say that Izzy isn’t without her own troubles. Her boyfriend, Henry Stone, keeps wanting “to talk,” a prospect Isabel evades by going out with her new drinking buddy, none other than Gertrude Stone, Henry’s mother.

Things aren’t any simpler on the business side of Spellman Investigations. First, Rae is hired to follow a girl, only to fake the surveillance reports. Then a math professor hires Izzy to watch his immaculate apartment while he unravels like a bad formula. And as the questions pile up, Izzy won’t stop hunting for the answers—even when they threaten to shatter both the business and the family.

My thoughts:

This book made me a little frustrated with Izzy. The more she avoids things she’s not comfortable dealing with, the more immature it seems. Though based on some of the family secrets revealed in this book, there’s no surprise that she’s more than a little damaged. The way she handled her relationship with Henry made me wonder how they managed to stay together for 2 years. Apparently, he’s a masochist.

But regardless, I still enjoy this series. Is this the last? Who knows… I think it was supposed to end two books ago.

Available from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | WorldCat

Other reviews:

  • “I continue to enjoy how these books are put together and how the various Spellmans and adopted family members go along.” — Speed-Reading Book Nerd Reviews
  • “It’s like if the Royal Tennenbaums were middle classed private investigators living in the San Francisco area.” — Book It.
  • “Overall, the book holds up very well. Cases are resolved, family obligations are sorted out – and a new beginning looms for the Spellmans.” — Lost in a Great Book

2013: #4 – The Diggers Rest Hotel (Geoffrey McGeachin)

0 comments By Jaime Filed in audio, historical fiction, mystery, Post-WWII; Tagged with , ; February 7th, 2013
diggersrest

Title: The Diggers Rest Hotel
Author: Geoffrey McGeachin
Series: Charlie Berlin #01
Format: Audiobook
Audiobook length: 8 hrs 18 min
Release Date: October 01, 2010
Publisher: Bolinda Audio
Source: personal copy

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

In 1947, two years after witnessing the death of a young Jewish woman in Poland, Charlie Berlin has rejoined the police force a different man. Sent to investigate a spate of robberies in rural Victoria, he soon discovers that World War II has changed even the most ordinary of places and people.

When Berlin travels to Albury-Wodonga to track down the gang behind the robberies, he suspects he’s a problem cop being set up to fail. Taking a room at the Diggers Rest Hotel in Wodonga, he sets about solving a case that no one else can – with the help of feisty, ambitious journalist Rebecca Green and rookie constable Rob Roberts, the only cop in town he can trust. Then the decapitated body of a young girl turns up in a back alley, and Berlin’s investigations lead him ever further through layers of small-town fears, secrets and despair.

The first Charlie Berlin mystery takes us into a world of secret alliances and loyalties – and a society dealing with the effects of a war that changed men forever.

My thoughts:

It took me a little while to get into this audio book, but I think it was just because I was unaccustomed to the Australian accent and lingo. Once I adjusted, I easily became absorbed in the story.

Charlie is a little rough around the edges, but I grew to like him. He was obviously damaged by his wartime experiences, but he was starting to work his way through it. In many ways, he seemed much older than his 29 years. I also liked Rebecca, who I could completely picture in my mind, Hepburn-esque in her boldness and independence. She was a good match to Charlie. I also liked Charlie’s escort, Roberts. Fresh-faced, but not nearly as naive as he appeared.

As far as the mystery is concerned, I had a hard time getting really invested in the bank robberies. But the murder was another matter. It was that mystery that really drove the rest of the book, and the outcome of that investigation was unexpected — the robberies, not so much. More than the mysteries, this book has a lot to do with the effects of World War II on soldiers and the ones that were left behind. It was interesting for me to see the war from another country’s perspective. I’d never thought much about Australia’s role in the war, even considering its proximity to Japan.

I certainly wouldn’t mind if other books in this series happened to cross my path.

Available from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | WorldCat

Other reviews:

  • “Add in a compelling storyline of Berlin investigating a set of payroll robberies by an armed gang and you have a very nice mix – a strong sense of place and historical and social contextualisation, wonderful characterisation, and interesting plot, told through engaging prose.” — The View From the Blue House
  • “McGeachin has taken care with the historical detail and it gives the novel a great feeling of authenticity. (You get the feeling that McGeachin is describing a world he knows well.)” — Mysteries in Paradise
  • “With down-to-earth, very believable characters and a strong, enveloping sense of place and time THE DIGGERS REST HOTEL is a top notch work of historical crime fiction.” – Fair Dinkum Crime

2013: #3 – The Spellmans Strike Again (Lisa Lutz)

1 comment By Jaime Filed in comedy, mystery, private investigator; Tagged with , ; January 29th, 2013
spellmansstrike

Title: The Spellmans Strike Again
Author: Lisa Lutz
Series: Spellman Files #04
Format: Kindle
Pages: 404
Release Date: March 16, 2010
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Source: personal copy

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

At the ripe old age of thirty-two, former wild child Isabel “Izzy” Spellman has finally agreed to take over the family business. And the transition won’t be a smooth one.

First among her priorities as head of Spellman Investigations is to dig up some dirt on the competition, slippery ex-cop Rick Harkey—a task she may enjoy a little too much. Next, faced with a baffling missing-persons case at the home of an aging millionaire, Izzy hires an actor friend, Len, to infiltrate the mansion as an undercover butler—a role he may enjoy a little much.

Meanwhile, Izzy is being blackmailed by her mother (photographic evidence of Prom Night 1994) to commit to regular blind dates with promising professionals—an arrangement that doesn’t thrill Connor, an Irish bartender on the brink of becoming Ex-boyfriend #12.

At Spellman headquarters, it’s business as unusual. Doorknobs and light fixtures are disappearing every day, Mom’s been spotted crying in the pantry, and a series of increasingly demanding Spellman Rules (Rule #27: No Speaking Today) can’t quite hold the family together. Izzy also has to decipher weekly “phone calls from the edge” from her octogenarian lawyer, Morty, as well as Detective Henry Stone’s mysterious interest in rekindling their relationsh . . . well, whatever it was.

Just when it looks like things can’t go more haywire, little sister Rae’s internship researching pro bono legal cases leads the youngest Spellman to launch a grassroots campaign that could spring an innocent man from jail—or land Rae in it.

The Spellmans Strike Again is hands down the most hilarious, thrilling, and moving book in this bestselling, award-nominated series. And it proves beyond a reasonable doubt that Isabel Spellman, no matter how much she matures, will never be able to follow Rule #1: Act Normal.

My thoughts:

Despite there not being one main mystery in this book, I thought this was one of the better books in the series. Isabel is growing up a bit (better late than never), and she’s discovering that there are lines that even she will no longer cross. I was particularly amused by the storyline with Isabel’s friend pretending to be a personal valet and discovering that he enjoyed it a bit too much, even if I could never remember what she was actually investigating. The dynamics are shifting in the Spellman family, and I’m curious to see where things go next.

I do think the author is a little too enamored with her footnotes. It seems like the longer the series continues, the more unnecessary they are. Perhaps I just found them a little too annoying while reading it electronically.

This is a series you definitely need to read in order. But it’s worth it.

Available from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | WorldCat

Other reviews:

  • “I love seeing the characters grow up (but not too much), Isabel in particular.” - Speed-Reading Book Nerd Reviews
  • “These books won’t be mistaken for literary fiction. They’re lite and easy to read. If you want something easy to pick up and hard to put down, give this series a try.” — Joe Beernick
  • “If you haven’t read any of these books, you really should go back and start with The Spellman Files. You’re in for a wonderful trip.” — Jandy’s Reading Room

2012: #68 – Silent Scream (Karen Rose)

1 comment By Jaime Filed in police procedural, romantic suspense; Tagged with ; December 30th, 2012
silentscream

Title: Silent Scream
Author: Karen Rose
Format: Kindle
Pages: 601
Release Date: 2010
Publisher: Headline
Source: personal copy

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

When a teenage girl dies in a suspicious fire, Detective Olivia Sutherland is assigned to track down the arsonist. Then she discovers something more sinister: a vicious blackmailer who preys on young people and murders without hesitation. Making her work even harder is sexy firefighter David Hunter. He’s not only sharing the case but sparking memories of their long-ago night of passion, when feelings were left unspoken and hearts were broken.

David has his own ghosts, and a million regrets. But while he and Olivia try to face the wall of pain between them, a diabolical puppet master is pulling strings to make a group of twenty-somethings do his bidding. Soon Olivia and David are scouring the city for a calculating criminal who seems tantalizingly close–and is moving in for the kill.

My thoughts:

I read this book in bits and pieces on my phone, so it took me quite a while to get through. The good thing was, I was able to put it down and pick it up again a couple of weeks later and still figure out what was going on.

The mystery was solid, and kept you guessing, even when you are in the killer’s head part of the time.

This is set up to be more of a romantic suspense novel, but really I think it’s a police procedural with a heavy romantic element. Besides the parts where Olivia and David are each torturing themselves about their present and past actions, the romance is actually a rather small part of the book. Neither of them acted in a very logical way in between their first meeting and their second, but it’s not too hard to chalk that up to people being dumb about love.

Overall, I rather enjoyed this and will definitely keep more Karen Rose books on my to-read list.

Available from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | WorldCat

Other reviews:

  • “There is a good twist at the end that actually had me cheering because it wasn’t Karen Rose’s typical straight line.” — Smart Bitches, Trashy Books
  • “As loathe as I am to admit this, I had not heard of Karen Rose’s novels prior to this one and I will be reading all of her earlier novels as I believe there may potentially be some character carry-over, or at least I hope there is, as she puts together an amazing cast of characters.” — Rundpinne
  • “If you enjoy detective thrillers with strong woman lead characters, I highly recommend Karen Rose’s novels in general, and her latest novel, Silent Scream, in particular.” — Starting Fresh

2012: #65 – The Demands (Mark Billingham)

1 comment By Jaime Filed in mystery, police procedural; Tagged with , ; December 28th, 2012
demands

Title: The Demands
Author: Mark Billingham
Series: Tom Thorne #10
Format: ARC Paperback
Pages: 416
Release Date: June 12, 2012
Publisher: Mulholland Books
Source: ARC via LibraryThing

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

The Crime The customers in a London convenience store are taken captive. Among them is young mother, Detective Helen Weeks. She is told her life depends on the co-operation of one of her colleagues – detective Tom Thorne.

The Demand Akhtar is desperate to know what really happened to his beloved son, who died a year before in prison. He is convinced the death was not an accident and forces the one man who knows more about the case than any other, Thorne, to re-investigate.

The Twist What Thorne discovers will upend everything he thought he knew about the fate of those he’s put away…but will it be enough to fulfill the wishes of a grieving and potentially violent father?

My thoughts:

I liked this book a little better than the last one in the series (Bloodline). I didn’t dislike that one, but I thought The Demands had a much quicker pace. The chapters are rather short, and it helps move things along. I think that most of that is due to the circumstances of the story: it’s a hostage situation, which puts a clock on Thorne’s investigation.

Helen is a character that appeared in another of Billingham’s books, In the Dark. She and Thorne make a connection in this book that is sort of out of nowhere. I’m hoping it’s set up in the previous book that I haven’t read.

While I liked the story, the “procedural” part of this police procedural is rather weak. I’m not sure there’s much of anything here that’s by the book. The justification for it is the shortened time span (though Thorne has a bit of a reputation for working outside of the lines).

This is a series I’d eventually like to get to from the beginning.

Available from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | WorldCat

Other reviews:

  • “The Demands is deftly plotted and well-written and makes for a read that is both thoughtful and suspense filled.” — Linus’s Blanket
  • “Thorne is ornery, obstinate and driven to solve his cases at almost any cost. This lands him on a fine line between right and wrong many times.” — A Bookworm’s World
  • “With plenty of action, twists and surprises and with a plot that keeps you guessing, you will have hard time putting this down until you finish.” — Jen and Cyn Reviews

2012: #59 – Portrait in Death (J.D. Robb)

0 comments By Jaime Filed in futuristic, mystery, police procedural; Tagged with , ; December 15th, 2012
portrait

Title: Portrait in Death
Author: J.D. Robb
Series: In Death #16
Format: Kindle
Pages:  368
Release Date: March 2, 2003
Publisher: Berkley
Source: personal copy

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

After a tip from a reporter, Eve Dallas finds the body of a young woman in a Delancey street dumpster. Just hours before, the news station had mysteriously received a portfolio of professional portraits of the woman. The photos seemed to be nothing out of the ordinary for any pretty young woman starting a modeling career. Except that she wasn’t a model. And that these photos were taken after she had been murdered.

Now Dallas is on the trail of a killer who’s a perfectionist and an artist. He carefully observes and records his victim’s every move. And he has a mission: to own every beautiful young woman’s innocence, to capture her youth and vitality—in one fateful shot…

My thoughts:

This is a series that I’m rarely disappointed in. It’s great for when I want a quick, satisfying read. Eve and Roarke actually don’t spend a lot of time together in this one, as Roarke is struggling with some new information he’s discovered about his mother. But the rest of our favorites are nearby — Peabody, Mavis, and even Summerset. The mystery was interesting, and keeps you guessing about whodunnit.

Available from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | WorldCat

Other reviews:

  • “This book was excellent. I loved all the imagery Robb used to show the contrasts of the photography- the gray areas, the light and shadows.” — The Windy Pages
  • “If you’ve never picked up the In Death series before, I’d tell you that you’re certainly missing out! There is a little bit of everything: romance, crime, sex, emotional connections, great characters, suspense, murder.” — Nerdy Book Reviews
  • “Not only was the crime interesting, a guy that poses his victims in photographs at their death, but all the continued development of the cast of characters.” — Dee’s Book Blog

2012: #52 – The Cereal Murders (Diane Mott Davidson)

1 comment By Jaime Filed in cozy, mystery; Tagged with , ; November 23rd, 2012
cerealmurders

Title: The Cereal Murders
Author: Diane Mott Davidson
Series: Goldy Bear #03
Format: Audio
Audiobook length:  9 hrs 35 min
Release Date: November 1, 1993
Publisher: Bantam
Source: personal copy

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

Thanks to her recent adventures in Dying for Chocolate, Goldy Bear, the premier caterer of Aspen Meadow, Colorado, is no stranger to violence–or sudden death. But when she agrees to cater the first College Advisory Dinner for Seniors and Parents at the exclusive Elk Park Preparatory School, the last thing she expects to find at the end of the evening is the battered body of the school valedictorian.

Who could have killed Keith Andrews, and why? Goldy’s hungry for some answers–and not just because she found the corpse. Her young son, Arch, a student at Elk Park Prep, has become a target for some not-so-funny pranks, while her eighteen-year-old live-in helper, Julian, has become a prime suspect in the Andrews boy’s murder.

As her investigation intensifies, Goldy’s anxiety level rises faster than homemade doughnuts. . .as she turns up evidence that suggests that Keith knew more than enough to blow the lid off some very unscholarly secrets. And then, as her search rattles one skeleton too many, Goldy learns a crucial fact: a little knowledge about a killer can be a deadly thing.

My thoughts:

This is a series I enjoy and will continue to read/listen to. Goldy is pragmatic and tends to get straight to the point, and I appreciate that. I think that she is a realistic character — despite the fact that Keith Andrews isn’t the first dead body she happens across, it affects her very deeply. Add into the situation the fact that her son is being harassed, and Goldy has a lot to worry about.

Something that I thought was interesting about this book is that one of its central themes, the cutthroat Ivy League college admissions process, is even more relevent today, almost 20 years after the book was first published.

I also like the little taste of romance. Schultz is a patient man.

Available from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | WorldCat

Other reviews:

  • “Overall, though I was not absolutely impressed by Davidson’s writing style, the story is gripping, the characters entertaining, and the recipes delicious.” — Over a Steaming Cup of Tea
  • “This one is a quick, enjoyable read.” — Jandy’s Reading Room

2012: #50 – Track of the Cat (Nevada Barr)

0 comments By Jaime Filed in mystery, regional; Tagged with , ; November 16th, 2012
trackcat

Title: Track of the Cat
Author: Nevada Barr
Series: Anna Pigeon #01
Format: Kindle
Pages: 272
Release Date: 1993
Publisher: Berkley
Source: personal copy

Rating: ★★★☆☆ 

A stunning mystery set against the high-country of the Guadalupe Mountains of West Texas. Anna Pigeon has fled painful memories in New York to take a position as a ranger in the remote backcountry of West Texas only to discover murder and violence…

My thoughts:

This series first caught my attention when I saw it was set in several different National Park Service properties. My husband and I love to visit National Parks, and have spent many a vacation and even anniversaries in one. So far, we’ve covered 14 of 58, which I don’t think is too bad seeing how we live on the east coast.  What it all adds up to is me being intrigued by not only the setting of this book, but the inside look at the Park Service.

Overall, I found the book to be pretty good. Anna is surely a flawed character — commitment phobic, naturally suspicious and un-trusting, borderline alcoholic, and unable to recognize friendship when she sees it — but she is still likeable. At first, she is only concerned with Sheila Drury’s death because of its impact on the mountain lions she tracks, but eventually she realizes that it’s a story much larger than that.

I did have a few quibbles about the ending. I thought it all came about rather suddenly, like all of the pieces in Anna’s head clicked at once and she had the answer. I was a bit sad about who the culprit turned out to be, but I thought the ending wasn’t taken quite far enough. I would have liked at least an epilogue to tie up the loose ends.

Available from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | WorldCat

Other reviews:

  • “This is a book I can highly recommend; I plan to read the rest of the series in time as well.” — Jandy’s Reading Room
  • “Another great strength of this novel is the setting: not only is the area beautifully described, but the various competing interests are compellingly put in a way that engages the reader’s attention and does not oversimplify any one point of view.” — Petrona
  • “I liked the story. I don’t like the not-ending.” — Homestead Geek

2012: #41 – Criminal (Karin Slaughter)

1 comment By Jaime Filed in mystery, police procedural; Tagged with , ; October 30th, 2012
criminal

Title: Criminal
Author: Karin Slaughter
Series: Will Trent #07
Format: ARC paperback
Pages:  448
Release Date: July 3, 2012
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Source: ARC from Amazon

Rating: ★★★★½ 

Karin Slaughter’s new novel is an epic tale of love, loyalty, and murder that encompasses forty years, two chillingly similar murder cases, and a good man’s deepest secrets.

Will Trent is a brilliant agent with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Newly in love, he is beginning to put a difficult past behind him. Then a local college student goes missing, and Will is inexplicably kept off the case by his supervisor and mentor, deputy director Amanda Wagner. Will cannot fathom Amanda’s motivation until the two of them literally collide in an abandoned orphanage they have both been drawn to for different reasons. Decades before—when Will’s father was imprisoned for murder—this was his home. . . .

Flash back nearly forty years. In the summer Will Trent was born, Amanda Wagner is going to college, making Sunday dinners for her father, taking her first steps in the boys’ club that is the Atlanta Police Department. One of her first cases is to investigate a brutal crime in one of the city’s worst neighborhoods. Amanda and her partner, Evelyn, are the only ones who seem to care if an arrest is ever made.

Now the case that launched Amanda’s career has suddenly come back to life, intertwined with the long-held mystery of Will’s birth and parentage. And these two dauntless investigators will each need to face down demons from the past if they are to prevent an even greater terror from being unleashed.

A masterpiece of character, atmosphere, and riveting suspense, Criminal is the most powerful and moving novel yet from one of our most gifted storytellers at work today.

My thoughts:

I am a big fan of Will Trent, and this one goes back to his well-hidden roots. We also learn more about Amanda, and why she is so invested in Will’s well-being. In fact, Amanda’s story is probably the more enlightening of the two. We already know that Will’s upbringing sucked, and that his father was a criminal. What we get that is more surprising is a softer side of Amanda. She’s relatively new on a police force that doesn’t yet know what to do with women who don’t spend all day typing. On top of that, her father is a major presence in her life, for better or worse. By making friends with other female officers and striking out on her own to investigate a case no one wants to acknowledge, she’s stepping way out of her comfort zone and possibly killing her budding career.

I like Karin Slaughter’s writing, though I haven’t yet picked up her Grant County series. Sara (from that series) is still in Will’s life, but she has some difficulty dealing with what the books revelations are doing to him. To her credit, she sticks with him, and to his credit, he lets her, despite his basest instincts.

One thing that is great about this book is the different atmospheres. With part of the book taking place in the present and part of it in the mid-70s, the story lines just felt different. The steamy, sweaty, disgusting heat of that Atlanta summer just jumped off the page.

Will remains one of my favorite lead detectives, and I look forward to seeing where he goes next.

Available from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | WorldCat

Other reviews:

  • “Slaughter proves once again just how skillful she is as a writer by creating a complex series of plots, which twist, turn, and come together in unexpected ways.” — Rundpinne
  • “Interweaving the current case with flashbacks to a series of unsolved murders which took place during Wagner’s rookie year as a plainclothes detective in 1975, Slaughter adds immeasurable layers of nuance to two characters who were already more complex than most you find in crime fiction.” – Elizabeth A. White
  • “CRIMINAL is a patchwork of social issues all influencing the characters and their environments, shaping who they are and will become.” - Jen’s Book Thoughts

2012: #32 – A Bone to Pick (Charlaine Harris)

0 comments By Jaime Filed in audio, cozy, mystery; Tagged with , ; September 6th, 2012
bonetopick

Title: A Bone to Pick
Author: Charlaine Harris
Series: Aurora Teagarden #02
Format: Audio
Audiobook length: 6 hrs 7 min
Release Date: November 1992
Publisher: Walker & Co
Source: personal copy

Rating: ★★★☆☆ 

Aurora “Roe” Teagarden’s fortunes change when a deceased acquaintance names her as heir to a rather substantial estate, including money, jewelry, and a house complete with a skull hidden in a window seat. Roe concludes that the elderly women has purposely left her a murder to solve. So she must identify the victim and figure out which one of her new, ordinary-seeming neighbors is a murderer- without putting herself in deadly danger.

My thoughts:

I didn’t like this one quite as much as the first one. I still liked Roe, and her inheritance does make for some interesting plot twists, but the basic plot just didn’t connect with me. I think the problem is that if I were to inherit a house, snoop around, and find a skull hidden somewhere, my thoughts wouldn’t immediately jump to “murder!!!”. I’d think, “Cool, I wonder where they got that?” Unless, of course, there was a big ole knife sticking out of it or something.

My like of Roe is what pulled me through. She’s found that her love life has taken a couple of unexpected turns. I’m interested in seeing what new adventures her inheritance allows her to undertake.

Available from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | WorldCat

Other reviews:

  • “In terms of mystery books, this one was a real dud.” — The Novel World
  • “This book deviated from the normal murder Mystery, in the fact that no one was actually killed during the span of the story.  I have to say, as demented as it sounds, that was a little disappointing for me.” — Cozy Book Reviews

2012: #24 – Real Murders (Charlaine Harris)

3 comments By Jaime Filed in cozy, featured reviews, mystery; Tagged with , ; July 11th, 2012

Title: Real Murders
Author: Charlaine Harris
Series: Aurora Teagarden #01
Format: Audio
Length: 6 hrs 7 min
Release Date: October 05, 2010
Publisher: Berkley
Categories: cozy mystery
Source: personal copy
Rating: 4 out of 5

Back of the book:

Though a small town at heart, Lawrenceton, Georgia, has its dark side-and crime buffs. One of whom is librarian Aurora “Roe” Teagarden, a member of the Real Murders Club, which meets once a month to analyze famous cases. It’s a harmless pastime-until the night she finds a member killed in a manner that eerily resembles the crime the club was about to discuss. And as other brutal “copycat” killings follow, Roe will have to uncover the person behind the terrifying game, one that casts all the members of Real Murders, herself included, as prime suspects-or potential victims.

My thoughts:

This is one of Charlaine Harris’s non-paranormal series, and I liked it quite a bit. Roe Teagarden is our mild-mannered librarian heroine – tiny, bespectacled, and unable to keep her nose out of other people’s business. Though when she’s the one to find the body of one of her fellow Real Murders Club members prior to a meeting, it’s hard to argue that it’s not her business too.

Through Roe, we meet her other true-crime-obsessed associates and try to figure out which one could possibly be the killer. We also get a little bit of a love triangle, as Roe finds herself attracted to not only the detective assigned to the case, but her new neighbor, a crime novelist. In true cozy mystery fashion, the characters in Lawrenceton are quite colorful.

Definitely a series I will be continuing.

Available from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | WorldCat

Other reviews:

  • “This story has none of the trademark features of Harris’s writing that make her books so appealing to me: the charming evocation of life in the South; engaging portraits of quirky characters; snappy writing with humorous turns; and romantic interludes that are creatively complicated.” — Rhapsody in Books
  • “This page turning novel kept me guessing who the killer was right up until the end.” — Cozy Book Reviews
  • ” I mean it was okay in the end, but I felt as if it was missing something, I don’t really know how to describe my feelings though.” – Tales of a Book Addict

Past reviews:

2011: The Devil in the White City (Erik Larson)
2010: Shakespeare’s Landlord (Charlaine Harris)
2009: The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears (Dinaw Mengestu)
2008: The Death of Vishnu (Manil Suri)
2007: Mistral’s Kiss (Laurell K. Hamilton)
2006: Micah (Laurell K. Hamilton)
2005: The Vile Village (Lemony Snicket)

2012: #16 – Agents of Light and Darkness (Simon R. Green)

2 comments By Jaime Filed in featured reviews, mystery, paranormal, private investigator, young adult; Tagged with , ; April 18th, 2012

Title: Agents of Light and Darkness
Author: Simon R. Green
Series: Nightside #02
Format: Kindle
Pages: 240 (2012 total – 3,859)
Word Count: 54,758 (2012 total – 1,038,983)
Release Date: October 28, 2003
Publisher: Ace
Categories: mystery, private investigator, paranormal, young adult
Source: personal copy
Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Back of the book:

I’m John Taylor. I work in the Nightside – the gaudy, meon noir, secret heart of London, where it’s always three in the morning, where gods and monsters make deals and seek pleasures they won’t find anywhere else.

I have a gift for finding things. And sometimes what I’m hired to locate can be very, very dangerous indeed.

Right now, for example, I’m searching for The Unholy Grail, the cup that Judas drank from at the Last Supper.

It corrupts all who touch it – but it also gives enormous power. So I’m not the only one hunting. Angels, devils, sinners, and saints – they’re all out there, tearing apart The Nightside, seeking the dark goblet.

And it’s only a matter of time until they realize that the famous John Taylor, the man with the gift for finding things, can’t lead them straight to it . . .

My thoughts:

I thought this second book in the series was much stronger than the first. The first had altogether too much world-building, but this time we get right to the meat of the story. The Unholy Grail (a cup that Judas drank from that grants its holder great power) is supposedly on the loose in the Nightside, and everyone knows about it. Including the Angels, both from above and below. Taylor is brought in to find it — hopefully before the Angels tear the Nightside to pieces.

Since this is a YA book, it’s a relatively quick read. I felt more connected to Taylor and his unusual associates this time around, and will likely continue with the series.

Available from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | WorldCat

Other reviews:

  • “Recommendation: It’s an interesting place to visit, that’s for sure.” — My Years of Reading Seriously
  • “Agents of Light and Darkness is a quick, easy read. Don’t read it under the covers at night with a flashlight, though, especially with a vivid imagination.” — Jandy’s Reading Room
  • “Verdict:  Check it out from the library.  I’ll say if you like Supernatural Paranormal Urban Fantasy pick it up.  You’ll like it.” — Ravenous Biblioworm’s Book Reviews

Past reviews:

2011: The Sound and the Fury (William Faulkner)
2010: Ivory Tower Cop (George Kirkham & Leonard Territo)
2009: Full Speed (Janet Evanovich)
2008: Dead Until Dark (Charlaine Harris)
2007: Flowers in the Attic (V.C. Andrews)
2006: Blue Moon (Laurell K. Hamilton)
2005: The Austere Academy (Lemony Snicket)

2012: #15 – Faithful Place (Tana French)

3 comments By Jaime Filed in featured reviews, mystery, police procedural; Tagged with , ; April 16th, 2012

Title: Faithful Place
Author: Tana French
Series: Dublin Murder Squad #03
Format: Audio
Length: 16 hrs 17 min
Release Date: July 13, 2010
Publisher: Penguin Group
Categories: mystery, police procedural
Source: personal copy
Rating: 5 out of 5

Back of the book:

Tana French’s In the Woods and The Likeness captivated readers by introducing them to her unique, character-driven style. Her singular skill at creating richly drawn, complex worlds makes her novels not mere whodunits but brilliant and satisfying novels about memory, identity, loss, and what defines us as humans. With Faithful Place, the highly praised third novel about the Dublin Murder squad, French takes readers into the mind of Frank Mackey, the hotheaded mastermind of The Likeness, as he wrestles with his own past and the family, the lover, and the neighborhood he thought he’d left behind for good.

My thoughts:

I’ve been strangely hesitant whenever I’ve started a Tana French book. I think it’s because each new book features a non-POV character from the previous. With The Likeness, I thought “But I really liked Rob, what if I don’t like Cassie?” With Faithful Place, it was “But I loved Cassie, who cares about Frank?” I’m pleased to say, I’ve learned my lesson.

This book is every bit as good as In the Woods and The Likeness were. Like those, on the surface this is a mystery, but deep down it is much more about the main character. French gives the gruff Mackey a surprising amount of depth. His reluctant return to the home of his youth shows us the motivations behind everything he does. We root for him despite his flaws and despite our inability to completely trust him. Solving the mystery is a bit like solving Frank.

I find it difficult to convey exactly what it is about French’s writing that pulls me in so completely. Part of it is the characters she creates. They’re just plain interesting, even the minor players. Another part of it is the dynamics between the characters. There are layers to every interaction.

I listened to the audio version of this book, and it was just as gorgeous as The Likeness was. Hearing the story in an Irish brogue lends it an extra touch of authenticity. I was sucked in from the very first chapter.

I was excited to discover that French’s fourth book, Broken Harbor, comes out this summer!

Available from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | WorldCat

Other reviews:

  • “Read if: You value good writing over a good story, you love Ireland, or you’re interested in the dynamics and power of space and ‘home’” – Jane & Carin 
  • “I loved that French really made me see all sides of what happened to the people there, including the murderer, so that I actually felt sorry for the murderer even as I felt devastated by the murders.” — Rhapsody in Books
  • “Faithful Place is my least favorite of French’s books so far, but that’s still high praise, given how absolutely brilliant I thought In the Woods and The Likeness were.” — Fyrefly’s Book Blog

Past reviews:

2011: The Silent Hour (Michael Koryta)
2010: Heat Wave (Richard Castle)
2009: College Girl (Patricia Weitz)
2008: The Paid Companion (Amanda Quick)
2007: Dark Side of the Moon (Sherrilyn Kenyon)
2006: Burnt Offerings (Laurell K. Hamilton)
2005: F is for Fugitive (Sue Grafton)

2012: #4 – Shakespeare's Champion (Charlaine Harris)

2 comments By Jaime Filed in dark cozy, featured reviews, mystery; Tagged with , ; February 23rd, 2012

Title: Shakespeare’s Champion
Author: Charlaine Harris
Series: Lily Bard #02
Format: Audio
Audiobook length: 7 hrs 20 min
Release Date: December 05, 2006
Publisher: Prime Crime (MM)
Categories: mystery, dark cozy
Source: personal copy
Rating: 4 out of 5

Back of the book:

When Lily stumbles upon the well-built corpse of a local body builder-his neck broken by a barbell-the town’s underlying racial tension begins to boil over. The white victim was somehow connected to two unsolved murders of black residents of Shakespeare-and a dogged policeman is determined to stop the killing. But it is Lily herself who may have to decide whether to stay and fight for justice, or run away one more time.

My thoughts:

This series is a little different than some of Harris’s other series, because there’s no paranormal element. Lily is a regular girl, at least genetically. Socially, she likes to keep to herself. Her stand-offishness and dedication to staying strong and in shape is understandable, because Lily is the survivor of a brutal attack. But it’s not doing her any favors.

That dedication to her exercise routine (and on-again-off-again relationship with gym owner Marshall) leads to her discovery of a man’s body in the local gym. Lily’s natural curiosity is peaked when it appears that his death isn’t an accident, and she spends the novel trying to figure out not only what happened, but how she can stop it from continuing.

Small-town racial tension is the main theme that runs through this mystery. Lily, who still feels like an outsider despite living in Shakespeare for more than a few years, navigates her way through thanks to her job as a housekeeper — a brilliant way to be an amateur sleuth. Unfortunately, I think she finds herself in the wrong place at the wrong time a little too often. Really, it’s a fault of the first person perspective. The only way we have to witness these events is through Lily’s eyes, so she needs to be there.

I did enjoy the introduction of a new love interest for Lily. Her back and forth with the police chief was getting a little tiresome, and Jack seems like a better fit for her anyhow.

Despite its flaws, I do like this series and will continue to follow Lily’s adventures.

Available from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | WorldCat

Other reviews:

Past reviews:

2011: Bite Me (Christopher Moore)
2010: Night Fire (Catherine Coulter)
2009: Kopek the Destroyer (Phil Owens)
2008: The Ice Queen (Alice Hoffman)
2007: Agnes of God (Leonore Fleisher)
2006: Postmortem (Patricia Cornwell)
2005: The Bad Beginning (Lemony Snicket)

2011: #79 – A Dangerous Mourning (Anne Perry)

0 comments By Jaime Filed in 1800s, featured reviews, historical fiction, mystery; Tagged with , ; December 29th, 2011

dangerousmourningBook #79 was A Dangerous Mourning, the second book in Anne Perry’s William Monk series. The back of the book reads:

No breath of scandal has ever touched the aristocratic Moidore family–until Sir Basil’s beautiful widowed daughter is stabbed to death in her own bed, a shocking, incomprehensible tragedy.

Inspector William Monk is ordered to investigate in a manner that will give the least possible pain to the influential family. But Monk, brilliant and ambitious, is handicapped by lingering traces of amnesia and by the craven ineptitude of his supervisor, who would like nothing better than to see Monk fail. With the help of nurse Hester Latterly, a progressive young woman who served with Florence Nightingale in the Crimea, Monk gropes warily through the silence and shadows that obscure the case, knowing that with each step he comes closer to the appalling truth.

William Monk is an unusual character. Because he doesn’t know anything about his own background, the reader has nothing to pull from to understand his motivations. For instance, why does he hate his boss so much? Is it just because he rubs him the wrong way, or is there a history that even Monk doesn’t know, but that he can’t stop himself from reacting to? It’s frustrating and intriguing all at once.

But there’s more to this book than the mystery of Monk. Hester continues to excel at being the female lead, and I find their relationship very interesting. Is it strictly platonic, or are their hints of romantic feelings hiding beneath the ire they tend to display? Hester is obviously in search of a life that is larger than the one society would like to dictate, and Monk appears to be her ticket to that life.

As for the murder mystery, it swims in the stink of class bigotry. I think Perry did a good job illustrating the feelings of both the aristocracy and the servant classes.

The one issue I had with this book had more to do with how I was reading it than anything else. I was reading it on my phone, and it was my “emergency” read, so I only got to it once or twice a week. Because of that, I had a hard time remembering who was who in the Moidore family. Though in my defense, there were a lot of them. This also wasn’t a quick moving plot. There’s really not a lot of action.

Bottom line, if you enjoy a period mystery, it’s hard to go wrong with Anne Perry.

Other reviews:

A Few More Pages: Review: A Dangerous Mourning by Anne Perry
Book Review: A Dangerous Mourning by Anne Perry
Ordinary Reader: "A Dangerous Mourning"

Page count: 368 (’11 total: 21,871) | Approximate word count: 128,163 (’11 total: 7,757,825)

2010: Banker (Dick Francis)
2009: Ms. Taken Identity (Dan Begley)
2008: Dance with the Devil (Sherrilyn Kenyon)
2007: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (J.K. Rowling)
2006: The Mermaid Chair (Sue Monk Kidd)

#76 – Likely to Die (Linda Fairstein)

1 comment By Jaime Filed in featured reviews, mystery, police procedural; Tagged with , ; December 26th, 2011

likelytodie Book #76 was Likely to Die, the second book in Linda Fairstein’s Alexandra Cooper series. The back of the book reads:

A neurosurgeon is sexually assaulted, stabbed and left for dead in her office at the labyrinthine Mid-Manhattan Medical Centre. The police designate her Likely to Die. Alexandra Cooper, head of the district’s sex crimes unit, assembles a task force to investigate but finds herself hindered at every turn. Not only has her office prosecuted some of the vast hospital’s patients and staff before but the building itself compounds the problem. A vast complex encompassing a medical college and the Stuyvesant Psychiatric Centre, the hospital rises over a network of tunnels now occupied by numberless transients who have easy access to the corridors. Strung out with other cases and mired in the investigation personally when even the man she has begun to date, has a connection to the case, Alex must find the killer – before the killer finds her…..

Maybe it was because it’s been almost 5 years since I read a book in this series, but I was not impressed. If this book had been edited to eliminate everything that had nothing to do with the plot, it could have been half its size. Fairstein gets way too long-winded about the intricacies of sexual crimes and the prosecuting of them, including a section about how grand juries work, and at some point you have to trust your audience to either be familiar with the elements of crime fiction or to look up what they don’t understand. There are OODLES of crime books that don’t go into this level of detail.

Beyond that, there just wasn’t anything particularly interesting about the mystery, except maybe the sorry state of New York hospitals. We’re never given a chance to connect and sympathize with the victim, because she was basically portrayed as a bitch at every turn. All in all, it was rather boring. I do enjoy the character of Mike Chapman, and sometimes I’d rather the novel followed him around than Alex. That’s a big fail.

I’m sure I’ll read more in this series because I’ve already read some of the later books and enjoyed them more. Fairstein worked out some of her kinks. But I’m sure glad I’m done with the early books.

Other reviews:

THE MYSTERY READER reviews: Likely to Die by Linda Fairstein
nomadreader: book review: likely to die by linda fairstein (reread)

Page count: 448 (’11 total: 21,007) | Word count:  112,431 (’11 total: 7,511,323)

2010: Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (Lisa See)
2009: On Writing (Stephen King)
2008: The Dead Room (Heather Graham)
2007: Body Rides (Richard Laymon)
2006: Dragonfly in Amber (Diana Gabaldon)
2005: We Need To Talk About Kevin (Lionel Shriver)

2011: #73 – Dead Beat (Jim Butcher)

0 comments By Jaime Filed in audio, featured reviews, mystery, private investigator, urban fantasy; Tagged with , ; December 23rd, 2011

deadbeatBook #73 was Dead Beat, the seventh book in Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files. The back of the book reads:

Harry Dresden must save Chicago from black magic and necromancy — but first, he must locate the Word of Kemmler. Just as soon as he figures out what that is. It’s all in a day’s work for the city’s only professional wizard … assuming he can live to see the end of the day.

I listened to this WAY back around Halloween, when zombies were timely. Thankfully, there’s really no wrong time to listen to a Harry Dresden book.

When the book opens, Harry has found himself in a bit of a weird place in his life. His newly-discovered half-brother is still sleeping on his couch, one of his hands is essentially non-functional, and Murphy is jetting off to Hawaii with none other than the mercenary Kincaid. Harry is still dealing with that last piece of news when vampire queen Marva pays him a visit and saddles him with a nasty piece of blackmail: if Harry doesn’t find a mysterious book called the Word of Kemmler, Marva will frame Murphy for murder.

It’s hard to define what follows as anything other than a "romp". Harry is chased throughout the city by various unknown wizards and various undead things. With him is the medical examiner Waldo Butters, who is in danger because he has unwittingly learned too much. And they are on the clock, because the big bad is going down on Halloween. Harry once again is at the end of his rope and frankly, this ending is one of the most entertaining in the series.

I like to read about Harry’s personal life as much as his magical one, and I was glad that he had a bit of a love interest other than Murphy in this book (though he continues to feel conflicted about her). It’s too bad that his new lady wasn’t quite what she appeared to be.

I have especially enjoyed this series since I switched over to listening to the audiobooks. If this is a series you have been the slightest bit lukewarm about, I really recommend them.

Other reviews:

Fangs For The Fantasy: Review: Dead Beat by Jim Butcher, Book 7
Dead Beat (The Dresden Files) by Jim Butcher : Book Review
Bitten by Books » Dead Beat by Jim Butcher
What Cheesy Reads: Dead Beat by Jim Butcher

Audiobook length: 15 hrs 14 min | Word count: 144,413 (’11 total: 7,234,048)

2010: Metro Girl (Janet Evanovich)
2009: Naamah’s Kiss (Jacqueline Carey)
2008: Undead and Unwed (MaryJanice Davidson)
2007: Something From the Nightside (Simon R. Green)
2006: The Penultimate Peril (Lemony Snicket)
2005: Cause of Death (Patricia Cornwell)

2011: #72 – The Cut (George Pelecanos)

1 comment By Jaime Filed in crime fiction, featured reviews, mystery, private investigator; Tagged with , ; December 22nd, 2011

thecutBook #72 was The Cut, the first book in the Spero Lucas series by George Pelecanos. The back of the book reads:

Spero Lucas has a new line of work. Since he returned home after serving in Iraq, he has been doing special investigations for a defense attorney. He’s good at it, and he has carved out a niche: recovering stolen property, no questions asked. His cut is forty percent.

A high-profile crime boss who has heard of Lucas’s specialty hires him to find out who has been stealing from his operation. It’s the biggest job Lucas has ever been offered, and he quickly gets a sense of what’s going on. But before he can close in on what’s been taken, he tangles with a world of men whose amorality and violence leave him reeling. Is any cut worth your family, your lover, your life?

Spero Lucas is George Pelecanos’s greatest creation, a young man making his place in the world one battle and one mission at a time. The first in a new series of thrillers featuring Spero Lucas, The Cut is the latest confirmation of why George Pelecanos is "perhaps America’s greatest living crime writer." (Stephen King)

I’ve been a fan of Pelecanos ever since I found out he was one of the creators of The Wire (I’m surely not the first person to tell you to watch that show), and I actually liked this book a little more than the last couple of his I’ve read. It’s still set in the Washington D.C. area, which he does such a great job bringing to life, but it’s not so focused on an "issue".  I don’t mind a good issue-focused novel, but sometimes I just want a good crime story. Now don’t get me wrong; this crime story isn’t issue-free. Lucas is an Iraq veteran, and Pelecanos does have a lot to say about veterans and their post-war treatment. But at its heart, this is a story about drugs.

Lucas is a private investigator who specializes in finding things that are lost. He’s also not very particular about which side of the law he’s working on. When the client of a lawyer he normally works for needs some help recovering some "property", Lucas agrees to help. Soon he finds out that the story is much bigger than he could have imagined, and not only is he in danger, but people that have helped him are too.

I liked the character of Lucas. He’s an adopted kid in a mixed-race family, and I liked seeing those dynamics as much as I enjoyed seeing him in the weeds. It’s hard to dislike a man who loves his momma. There’s a strong theme of family relationships throughout the book, whether it’s Lucas and his family, the young man who helps him and his absentee mother, or the father & son crime duo.

I think one of Pelecanos’s strengths is his ability to create complex characters, and Spero Lucas is one I am anxious to read more about.

This book was a review copy.

Other reviews:

The Cut by George Pelecanos – Book Review | Milo’s Rambles
A Walrus Darkly: BOOK REVIEW: ‘The Cut’ by George Pelecanos
Booking Mama: Review: The Cut
Lesa’s Book Critiques: The Cut by George Pelecanos
a lovely shore breeze….: A Review of "The Cut" [58]

Page count: 304 (’11 total: 19,987) | Approximate word count: 91,200 (’11 total: 7,089,635)

2010: Tell Me Lies (Jennifer Crusie)
2009: Finger Lickin’ Fifteen (Janet Evanovich)
2008: The Finishing School (Michele Martinez)
2007: Lean Mean Thirteen (Janet Evanovich)
2006: The Sky is Falling (Sidney Sheldon)
2005: Jacob’s Ladder (Donald McCaig)

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