The Devil’s Wind
Benjamin Boulden

The Devil’s Wind is Steve Goble’s entertaining second historical mystery featuring Spider John Rush. Spider John, along with his friends Hob and Odin, is trying to escape the pirate life and Port Royal, Jamaica, where many of his pirate friends are being led to the gallows. Spider John finds berth as the carpenter on the ship Redemption, sailing for Boston toward Spider’s wife and young son and away from the Caribbean’s perilous outlaw waters.

Aboard Redemption, Spider’s friend Odin—a grizzled, humorous, and ugly one-eyed sailor—spots Sam Smoke as a paying passenger. Smoke, a nefarious pirate who takes pleasure in killing, is a sailing mate of the notorious Ned Low, who is more diabolical than even Blackbeard. Smoke’s presence unnerves Spider, and when Redemption’s captain is found shot dead inside his locked cabin, Spider takes it upon himself to determine if the captain’s death is suicide or murder.

The Devil’s Wind is an outstanding locked-room mystery combining whodunit and action into a marvelous adventure mystery. Its cast of exotic characters are rendered with precision and detail. The dialogue matches the characters and the story perfectly. There are several instances where Spider’s cursing resembles high art, requiring a second and third reading to admire clever vulgarity. The plotting is devilishly tight, Spider is intelligent and tough, and, for this reader, the culprit was hidden until the final pages.

Teri Duerr
2018-09-18 19:26:34
The Confession
Vanessa Orr

When Julie McNamara’s husband, Harry, is bludgeoned to death in front of her eyes, there’s no doubt as to who committed the crime; in fact, the attacker, J.P. Carney, turns himself in to the police. But why he did it—and what puts these seemingly unrelated people together on a course that ends in tragedy—is the mystery behind this compelling book.

The story is told in alternating chapters through the eyes of Julie, J.P., and Detective Sergeant Alice Moody, who is in charge of unraveling the case. As each person’s secrets are revealed, we begin to understand what drives Julie to stay married to Harry, a serial cheater who just avoided prison for defrauding his bank’s investors, and what pushes J.P., a bitter, blue-collar loner, to commit murder. Still, nothing is really clear until the last chapter of the book—and author Jo Spain deserves kudos for her impressive job of not only playing cat and mouse with her characters, but also with her readers.

Despite the fact that all three of the main characters, and the detective herself, have major flaws, Spain does a masterful job of humanizing each of them through backstories that help the reader understand how—even when it causes immense hurt—none of the characters are able to walk away from the addictions that drive them. It’s true that there is a thin line between love and hate, and this story dances along that tightrope until Julie, Harry, and J.P. reach their breaking points, and then are pushed even further.

This story of betrayal, guilt, murder, revenge— and even possible redemption—is almost impossible to put down. I’m still not sure if confession is good for the soul, but The Confession is definitely good for those looking for a gripping read.

Teri Duerr
2018-09-18 19:30:34
Fall Issue #156 Contents

156 Fall cover, Megan Abbott

Features

Megan Abbott

Abbott’s highly praised brand of emotionally rich suspense uses universal themes of ambition, guilt, betrayal, love, and hate as seen through the lens of her fascinating female characters.
by Teri Duerr

Obsession Street USA: The Novels of Vin Packer

Not only was “Vin Packer” a woman, she was also one of the bestselling Gold Medal authors of the 1950s and ’60s.
by Michael Mallory

Andrew Gross

Early collaborations with James Patterson provided a kick start to this author’s career.
by John B. Valeri

At Home With Fear: Top Authors Discuss Suspense

A conversation with Lisa Gardner, Mary Kubica, Shari Lapena, and B.A. Paris.
by Hank Phillippi Ryan

My Book: The Long-Lost Love Letters of Doc Holliday

The conflicts triggering the gunfight at the OK Corral linger today.
by David Corbett

My Book: A Checkered Past

Injustice and betrayal may lie hidden for years, but the truth will inevitably come out.
by Daniella Bernett

Fresh Blood: Six Great New Books and Writers to Watch

by Oline H. Cogdill

Sophie Hannah

A mutual affinity for puzzles links Agatha Christie and this author of new Hercule Poirot mysteries.
by John B. Valeri

Vertigo: The 60-year Journey of Hitchcock’s Masterpiece

Strange, beautiful and disturbing, this film is a dark whirlpool of obsession.
by Jake Hinkson

David Handler

Stewart Hoag, the dapper celebrity ghostwriter and sleuth, returns.
by Craig Sisterson

Double Takes

The tyranny of a series character; ethics of unsigned reviews.
by Marcia Muller & Bill Pronzini

Stuart Turton

This author’s genre-bending debut has the mystery world abuzz.
by Craig Sisterson

The Hook

First lines that caught our attention.

“Spade Speaks” Crossword

by Verna Suit

Departments

At the Scene

by Kate Stine

Mystery Miscellany

by Louis Phillips

Hints & Allegations

Reviews

Small Press Reviews: Covering the Independents

by Betty Webb

Very Original: Paperback Originals Reviewed

by Hank Wagner & Robin Agnew

Sounds of Suspense: Audiobooks Reviewed

by Dick Lochte

What About Murder? Reference Books Reviewed

by Jon L. Breen

Short and Sweet: Short Stories Considered

by Ben Boulden

Mystery Scene Reviews

Miscellaneous

The Docket

Letters

Advertiser Info

Teri Duerr
2018-09-18 19:39:25
Fall Issue #156
Teri Duerr
2018-09-18 19:46:36
Unloaded Volume 2: More Crime Writers Writing Without Guns
Betty Webb

While guns may be the most popular murder weapon in crime fiction, Unloaded Volume 2: More Crime Writers Writing Without Guns, edited by Eric Beetner, with introduction by Sara Paretsky, shows how creative some crime writers can be. It is also an anthology with a purpose. In Paretsky’s chilling introduction, she points out a grim fact: “Every year, almost thirteen hundred American woman are murdered by their domestic or dating partners. Most of the murders are committed by guns. In homes where guns are present, women are five times more likely to be murdered than in homes without guns.” What follows is an amazing collection of stories where no guns are needed to wreak havoc in people’s lives, and yes, many of those victims are still women. In Lili Wright’s neogothic “Maiden’s Light,” a woman befriends an anesthesiologist who summers in a lighthouse. Someone winds up dead, but via a much more subtle method than gunshot. In Laura McHugh’s “Endgame,” a serial killer who has been given a terminal diagnosis by his doctor takes a sentimental journey back to the scenes of his 14 crimes (he strangled women, and kept trophies). In this case, another woman—Mother Nature—lays down some fierce justice. The sweetest story in the collection—yes, mysteries can be sweet—is Bill Crider’s “Poo-Poo,” wherein the actions of a feline help solve a crime wave. How can anyone not love a story that begins with this sentence: “It was two days after Christmas, and someone had stolen Miss Ellie Huggins’s cat.” But this lovely story is bittersweet, since Bill Crider died earlier this year, leaving his own three cats called the VBKs (Very Bad Kittens) to a trusted friend. Sorry if I overuse the word, but “Poo-Poo” makes for a VSG—a Very Sweet Goodbye.

Teri Duerr
2018-09-18 20:03:10
Annie’s Bones
Betty Webb

Fans of twisty journalist Willie Black may find themselves disappointed in Howard Owen’s Annie’s Bones, because Willie is little more than a walk-on in its pages. However, author Owen has given us a new protagonist in Grayson “Gray” Melvin, a sixtysomething community college English teacher suspected of murdering his ex-girlfriend decades earlier. The only reason Gray escaped prison is because the young woman’s body was never found, but now—fully 40 years after Annie Lineberger disappeared—her skeleton has been dug up in a construction site. The investigation ramps up again, spearheaded by district attorney Towson Grimes, who along with Annie’s brother is determined to put Gray in prison. While cold case files can be riveting, this book is marred by too many lengthy flashbacks to Gray’s rather formulaic past—abusive drunken father, Vietnam, divorce, unfortunate tattoo, etc.—none of which have anything important to add to the plotline. Even the lead characters’ names are problematic: Gray, Black, Green. Add to that the fact that Annie’s real killer doesn’t enter the book until page 217, Annie’s Bones lacks that put-the-puzzle-pieces-together satisfaction which is standard in a mystery novel. However, although Willie Black doesn’t show up often here, his fans will relish his few appearances. Willie is still a delightful mess, married for the fourth time, and living with his new wife and the formerly homeless Custalow in the condo they’re renting from Black’s third wife. It’s too bad Gray isn’t as interesting as Willie’s crew.

Teri Duerr
2018-09-18 20:06:12
Last Call
Robin Agnew

Allyson K. Abbott’s Mack Dalton makes her final appearance in Last Call. Mack is a complicated character who owns a bar in Milwaukee and has a condition called synesthesia. When she hears a sound or a voice she also “sees” and tastes it. One voice might taste like chocolate; one might make her see wavy lines. Handily, this quality enables her to tell if someone is lying, as the “taste” of their voice differs (it morphs from milk to dark chocolate, for example).

The sixth book in the series makes for a somewhat dense read, as the author quickly sketches in (enough for a new reader such as myself) events that have happened in previous books. I didn’t feel like I was playing catch up at all. Mack is also dating a police detective, Duncan, and has recently been signed on as a consultant to the force.

The story—I did mention it was dense—contains two complete cases. One of them involves a dead man with a connection to a mutual friend of Mack and Duncan’s. When Mack accompanies Duncan to the scene, her synesthesia helps her to locate a child locked away in a closet. The relationship between Mack and the child—who turns out to be autistic—is one of the strongest parts of the novel.

The other case is suggested to her by her “club” at the bar, the Capone Club, who are a loose association of folks interested in solving crimes. One of the women, a beautician, suggests to the group that one of her clients may have killed her husband. Mack indeed gets Duncan to look into the case.

Abbott manages to cram a lot into her 337 page narrative: friendship, family loyalty and loss, work life, romantic life, and two very full cases. While there were a few times I wished she had written two books instead of one, I was captivated by her main character. Her special ability, which is a real condition that must be difficult to live with, made this read compelling and memorable. And the finale brought a little tear to my eye. I imagine I’ll be looking for a copy of the first in this series, Murder on the Rocks, sometime soon.

Teri Duerr
2018-09-18 20:09:53
Silver Anniversary Murder
Sharon Magee

Silver Anniversary Murder is, appropriately, Leslie Meier’s 25th Lucy Stone Mystery. Lucy, a part-time reporter for a weekly newspaper in her small town of Tinker’s Cove, Maine, has been around for a while; readers have seen her marry, raise four children, and in her spare time solve murders that just seem to fall into her lap.

In this, her latest outing, thoughts of her off-again, on-again BFF, Beth Gerard, who now lives in the rarified atmosphere of the rich and influential in New York City and is going through her fourth divorce prompts Lucy to call Beth. She’s shocked when Beth’s son, Dante, tells her that his mother has committed suicide by jumping from her penthouse balcony.

Neither Dante nor Lucy believes Beth would do this; she loved life too much and was excited about plans for the future. Lucy feels she must investigate, and decides to begin with the four men Beth has been married to, all with motives and opportunities to do her harm. There’s Tito Wilkins (also Dante’s father), an artist with easy access to drugs; Colin Fine, a boring chiropractor with roaming hands; Father Gabe Thomas, the preacher with a cult following; and her present husband, billionaire businessman Jeremy Blake, whom Lucy fears would do almost anything to protect his fortune from his soon-to-be ex-wife.

Lucy ranges far and wide in New York City, searching for the truth. When it becomes evident her life’s in danger, she knows she’s made someone very nervous, and that she and Dante are right—Lucy was murdered.

It’s obvious this award-winning author likes her protagonist. Even after 25 books, Lucy is fresh and interesting, and first-time readers will have no trouble following her story. Meier’s cozy mysteries, which are usually based around holidays and celebrations, are always a fun read.

Teri Duerr
2018-09-19 00:54:11
Trust Me
Ariell Cacciola

In Hank Phillippi Ryan’s first standalone novel, Trust Me, Boston journalist Mercer Hennessey is still grieving over the loss of her husband and child in a car accident the year before, when she is commissioned to write a true-crime book covering the trial of young mother Ashlyn Bryant, accused of the horrific murder of her two-year-old daughter.

The crime at hand holds emotional resonance for Mercer as she watches the live courtroom footage. It’s a shocking case and no one believes that the party girl Ashlyn is remotely innocent—not even Mercer, who has not even an iota of sympathy for the frivolous Ashlyn.

Ryan shows the trial through Mercer’s eyes and threads information about the case and the certainty of Ashlyn’s guilt through her protagonist’s thoughts. However, everything is turned on its head when the young mother is found not guilty and, by request from the book’s publisher, is sent to stay with Mercer for two weeks at her home so the journalist can finish writing her book.

The plot at this point becomes a little muddled, but readers will enjoy the untrustworthy Ashlyn as she manipulates her own story and convinces Mercer to buy into her ever-changing version of events. Mercer begins to question her own sanity including the memories she has of her husband as she becomes increasingly involved with the supposedly innocent Ashlyn.

Trust Me, at times, is uneven with moments and situations that verge on the absurd, but its exploration of a woman’s psyche, the suspense of outing a possible diabolical murderer, and the unreliability of the narrator prove to be a wicked and fun ride for fans of psychological suspense.

Teri Duerr
2018-09-19 00:58:55
Sunrise Highway
Jay Roberts

NYPD Detective Lourdes Robles is back on the case in the new thriller from author Peter Blauner. When she and her partner Robert Borrelli stumble onto a case of a woman’s body washed up on the shore of Long Island, New York, similar victims are soon discovered and the duo are thrust into a hunt for a serial killer. However, before they can get too far in their investigation, another county tries to poach the case claiming that earlier victims were discovered within their jurisdiction. Robles, who is ornery on her best day, refuses to give in, and soon they establish a joint task force with the Feds also joining the fray.

And this is where the story takes a bit of a twist. Much like an episode of the classic Columbo TV series, the bad guy is revealed very early on. Instead of a whodunit, it becomes more of a race to see how Detective Robles and the task force will unravel all the clues and bring a killer who has evaded discovery for decades to justice. It is a quest that is hampered by the powers-that-be putting every roadblock in her way. From an inability to trust her own partner to being set up for a crime she didn’t commit, Robles is beset on all sides by those who want their secrets buried deeper than the victims in the case.

The author splits the narrative of the book between the modern-day search to unmask the killer and the examination of a legal and political system vulnerable to racism and misogyny that allowed a clever and manipulative criminal to escape justice for 40 years. The killer’s backstory serves not only to enlighten the reader to the killer’s motives, but also to humanize the character a little. Readers will find themselves simultaneously repulsed and fascinated by the mind and methods of Sunrise Highway’s intelligent predator.

As the events of the book race toward a shattering conclusion, it becomes apparent that no one truly has clean hands in the end—even Detective Robles, whose decisions will leave readers questioning whether her actions are in the service of justice or vengeance. Peter Blauner has crafted a great protagonist in Lourdes Robles. Despite her flaws and the pressures of trying to find her missing sister (and being under investigation by internal affairs over that particular search), she refuses to back down from her case regardless of the personal cost.

Sunrise Highway will not only provide the thrills readers have come to expect from Blauner, but also leave them with questions about just how black and white the morality of those in blue really are.

Teri Duerr
2018-09-19 01:15:51
The Thirty-One Kings
Joseph Scarpato, Jr.

Although I generally prefer murder mysteries where I try to determine who did it before the detective, I was delighted that I gave this non-murder mystery a try. Why? Because it takes place during World War II, one of my favorite eras to read about. And, to make it even better, it turns out that the lead character is Richard Hannay, the very same person from one of my favorite Alfred Hitchcock movies, The Thirty-Nine Steps (based on John Buchan’s novel). To top it off, much of the story takes place at the same time and in the same place (Paris) as my all-time favorite movie, Casablanca.

The story begins in June 1940. A former World War I war hero who often operated behind enemy lines and is now retired, General Richard Hannay, is itching to get back into harness as German troops begin to move across France, making Britain the last refuge against Hitler and the Nazi regime. When he is finally given an assignment, it is to make contact in Paris with a person who knows the meaning of a secret code phrase, the Thirty-One Kings, and how it may be able to turn the tide of the war.

After a harrowing flight across the English Channel dodging an enemy Messerschmitt that forces their small plane down in the French countryside, Hannay and his assigned assistant, a young soldier by the name of Jaikie, arrive at a farm and soon find themselves in a gun battle with a small group of Nazi forward observers. This is just the first of many challenges that arise both before and after Hannay meets up with a small contingent of Scots, men of proven valor, who will help him connect with his contact in Paris.

When hardly anything goes according to plan, the men must rely on their instincts to determine who is friend and who is foe as the first contingent of German soldiers rides into the French capitol. There are a number of surprises, both pleasant and unpleasant, and lots of action before the final conclusion—plus enough close shaves to put a barbershop to shame.

Teri Duerr
2018-09-19 01:20:12
Gravesend
Matt Fowler

When William Boyle’s debut novel opens, our main characters are already at crossroads in their lives. Conway D’Innocenzio, pushing 30, works a dead-end job at a convenience store and can’t seem to put the death of his brother (gone for 16 years) behind him. Alessandra, a struggling actress, finds herself in similar circumstances when she returns home to Brooklyn after her mother passes away from cancer. Both of these characters struggle with the fundamental question that we all ask at some point in our lives: What do I do next?

The answers for Conway and Alessandra are tied up in Ray Boy Calabrese, the enigmatic criminal who ultimately drove Conway’s brother to his death. For Alessandra, a connection of any kind, even to someone she knows is bad news, would be a step in the right direction. For Conway, he’s looking for something a little more finite: vengeance. Surprisingly, Ray Boy is willing to give it to him. Insert Ray Boy’s nephew, who idolizes his uncle, and you have all the ingredients for a tightly woven crime novel.

Teri Duerr
2018-09-19 01:23:08
The Antiquities Hunter
Eileen Brady

California-based private investigator Gina “Tinkerbell” Miyoko is a powerhouse personality in a petite package. I have to give author Maya Bohnhoff credit for populating her book with some of the most inventive fictional names I’ve ever read. Gina’s Russian-American mom is Nadia Eliska Arkhangelski Miyoko (quite a mouthful), and a mysterious Mexican archeologist goes by Cruz Sacramento Vargas. But don’t worry, those names don’t slow down the fast pace of her debut mystery, The Antiquities Hunter.

The story begins with Gina’s best friend, Rose Delgado, an undercover agent with the National Park Service who investigates thefts of Southwestern artifacts and their sale on the black market. When Rose is attacked prior to giving damaging testimony in a court case, Gina agrees to help find out who is behind it. What she didn’t anticipate when she volunteered for the job was that she would end up masquerading as Marianna Esposito, a spoiled rich girl, in a sting operation in Cancun, Mexico, with the very attractive Cruz Vargas posing as her bodyguard.

Being a femme fatale doesn’t come easily to Gina. (Cruz has to help her with her makeup.) Her maneuvers to try and dodge the amorous attentions of the mark, a wealthy art collector and resort owner, Felipe Revez, are hilarious. Along with the laughs, readers gain important insight on how many ancient sites are being plundered every year, and the sophisticated black-market system that sells to collectors, auction houses, and even respected museums. This was an entertaining and informative read with imaginative and interesting characters.

Teri Duerr
2018-09-19 01:27:03
American History
Matt Fowler

The word epic has increasingly been bandied about to describe anything and everything that could be considered enjoyable: impromptu concerts, slobbering dogs running in slow motion, synchronized dance moves. However, in the truest sense of the word, epic means big. With a title like American History, J.L. Abramo is reaching for something grand. In his newest novel the author drops a story that spans many decades about two families whose descendants’ lives interweave with one another as they emigrate from Italy to America.

The Agello and the Leone family are the families in question. With the help of a handy (and very necessary) family tree at the beginning of the novel, we follow each generation as their members interact with one another in a Shakespearean rivalry reminiscent of the Montagues and Capulets, with more murder and more crime.

One might expect a book such as this to be overtly violent, and at times it is, but the emotion that Abramo truly wants to sift out of this story is one of love, and how it might repair a conflict, even one generations old. There’s forbidden love, paternal love, and brotherly love. All of it is plotted in such a way that when we reach the final pages, the author’s viewpoint suggests an optimism that seems hard to fathom. But look back again. It’s all there in plain view.

While some of the characters (Roberto Leone, a poisonous hothead, comes to mind) are too evil to consider fully fleshed out, and some of the plotting requires a suspension of disbelief, Abramo’s American History is nothing short of epic.

Teri Duerr
2018-09-19 01:34:00
Ranger McIntyre: Unmentionable Murders
Benjamin Boulden

Ranger McIntyre: Unmentionable Murders, by James C. Work, is the first in a promising new series set during the 1920s. Tim McIntyre is a park ranger in the newly formed Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. He is a keen fly fisherman (who takes considerable ribbing from his coworkers and village residents for skipping his park duties to fish), a hearty eater, and a devotee to at least one young lady, Doris Killian. While chatting with Doris at breakfast, McIntyre’s morning is interrupted by the news that a dead body has been discovered at Chasm Falls.

The dead man, Ernst Snyder, is floating face down in the pool at the base of the falls, wearing only his underpants, while the rest his clothing is at the top of the falls, folded and piled neatly. At first glance it appears to be an accident, but the more McIntyre ponders, the more the man’s death seems like murder. And when a woman’s body is found in a secluded area in the park, dressed only in undergarments with her clothing folded and stacked nearby, McIntyre is certain the two deaths are connected.

Ranger McIntyre: Unmentionable Murders is an enjoyable traditional mystery spiked with humor from the wacky cast to the witty dialogue. Ranger McIntyre is likable, funny, and capable. The mystery is nicely plotted, with an easygoing pace and enough clues for the reader to finger the culprit before the hero does. The final satisfying twist is more about the motive than the suspect, and it works very well.

Teri Duerr
2018-09-19 01:37:51
We, the Jury
Sharon Magee

As the story opens in We, the Jury, the reader is given the who, what, and where of the case against David Sullinger. He stands accused of burying a pickax in his overbearing wife Amanda’s head the day before their 21st wedding anniversary. Now the jury must decide: Was it cold-blooded murder as the prosecutor argues, or self-defense as Sullinger claims?

A dysfunctional couple—he was 19 and she 28 and his former high school history teacher when they married—there seems to be plenty of blame to go around. Even their two children can’t agree on which parent was at fault.

Using the points of view of the eight jurors and eight others associated with the trial, including the judge (who is grieving over her husband’s death), a prosecutor (who is less than stellar), and the defense attorney (who has never lost a case), the reader is given a fly-on-the-wall vantage point of how personal perceptions, biases, and time can inform a decision as serious as a guilty or not-guilty murder verdict. And how a single word or action can change a juror’s mind one way or the other as they agonize over their life-altering decision behind the doors of the jury room.

Who better to understand the inner workings and the psychological machinations of a jury deliberation and what really transpires behind those doors than Hollywood lawyer Robert Rotstein? He’s represented James Cameron, Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones, and Lionel Richie to name just a few. And he’s in that rarified atmosphere of those who have coauthored a book with James Patterson. With complex and real-life characters whose psyches Rotstein delves into deeply, We, the Jury is a unique read and not to be missed.

Teri Duerr
2018-09-19 01:42:14
The Last Hours
Jean Gazis

Lady Anne of Develish is a highly unusual woman for her time. Educated and literate, she holds values at odds with medieval social conventions, and runs her small Dorsetshire demesne efficiently, while outwardly seeming to obey her husband, the brutal, self-absorbed, and ignorant Lord Richard. When the worst pandemic in history strikes England in 1348, Lady Anne must keep her only daughter and her people safe—even at the risk of making enemies of her husband and his devious steward, Hugh de Courtesmain. Bringing the townsfolk within the boundaries of her manor house’s moat, Lady Anne closes off the outside world, refusing entry even to her husband, who has already fallen ill with the plague and soon dies, along with all his fighting men. Meanwhile, his beautiful, headstrong, and haughty daughter, 14-year-old Lady Eleanor, is making mischief among Develish’s teenage boys.

With limited food supplies and no knowledge of the outside world, Lady Anne and her leading serfs realize their situation can’t last indefinitely. When Jacob Thurkell, a young serf, is found dead outside the manor’s chapel under mysterious circumstances, his half brother, Thaddeus, Lady Anne’s right-hand man, decides to risk an excursion to seek new supplies and find out what has happened in the other villages nearby. He brings the demesne’s four remaining young men with him to keep them away from Lady Eleanor. Although only the illegitimate son of a lowly serf, Thaddeus is literate, courageous, and a natural leader, who quickly earns the boys’ admiration and allegiance.

While not a conventional whodunit, The Last Hours features adventure, suspense, and memorable, well-drawn characters. The rich historical setting provides a colorful backdrop for the compelling interpersonal drama among Thaddeus, Lady Anne, Lady Eleanor, and the inhabitants of Develish as long-held secrets are finally revealed. Have they truly escaped the Black Plague, and what kind of world awaits them in its grim aftermath?

Teri Duerr
2018-09-19 01:45:13
Burning Ridge
Robin Agnew

Burning Ridge is the fourth book in Margaret Mizushima’s strong Timber Creek series. I was glad to check back in after very much enjoying the first outing, Killing Trail (2015). Her main character, Mattie Cobb, is a complicated but kick-ass sheriff’s deputy in the tiny Colorado town of Timber Creek, and she works as a K9 officer along with her dog Robo.

Mattie’s character has been deepened and made more complex throughout the series, and in this one, she is anticipating meeting up with her long-lost brother. The two were separated and placed in foster care as children. She’s dating Cole, the town vet, and loves his family, which includes two young daughters, but she has a hard time with trust, thanks to her traumatic childhood. It’s understandable, but sometimes frustrating for this reader, as Cole is such a great guy.

The book kicks off with Cole heading up into the mountains on horseback with his daughters to help with a count of wild rams, and the trio immediately spots a few in the gorgeous countryside. Their dog, however, turns up with something less idyllic—a human foot.

As Cole and his family head down the mountain to contact the authorities, they meet a wildlife officer heading up who takes control of the crime scene. Mattie and Robo are part of the team investigating the area, and Robo finds the rest of the body, which has been burned, in fairly short order.

From that point on, this novel becomes both a ticking-clock thriller novel and a heartrending psychological study of Mattie’s childhood when it is soon discovered that the dead body is her brother’s. Mizushima hits a sweet spot with her balance of suspenseful story and sympathetic character.

Books like Burning Bridge make me appreciate the series format so much, because the long form of a well-done series really allows a writer to shade their characters with depth. I think it also helps to explain the rabid passion of the mystery reader—characters become so real, they feel like friends. Mizushima’s sleight of hand as a genre writer (she’s particularly adept at red herrings) only makes this fine series that much more enjoyable. I’m very much looking forward to my next encounter with Mattie Cobb.

Teri Duerr
2018-09-19 01:48:45
The Winters
Vanessa Orr

In this updated Gothic romance, a poor young woman meets a rich older man and moves into his eerie mansion, only to find that things are not what they seem.

The 26-year-old woman (who remains nameless throughout the book) is an employee of a charter boat service in the Cayman Islands, when she meets Senator Max Winter. A widower, Max lost his wife, Rebekah, 18 months prior, and is working to recover and raise his 15-year-old daughter, Dani. When the odd couple falls in love, she moves to Asherley, his family mansion in New York’s Hamptons.

The cold, uninviting mansion is as much a character in this book as are the Winters; less like a home and more of a prison, the new bride finds no comfort in her surroundings. Dozens upon dozens of photos of Max’s dead wife adorn the walls, and her husband flies into a rage when she goes into the locked greenhouse—Rebekah’s favorite building— which he has forbidden her to do. Her stepchild hates her, the staff is keeping secrets, and her often absentee husband treats her less as a person than as a possession. As things further unravel, she tries to figure out why she was brought to Asherley, and what she actually knows about the man she married.

As she, and the reader, uncover more of the sordid secrets that this unhappy family wants to keep buried, shocking new facts come to light, resulting in a life-or-death battle and the ultimate betrayal.

Teri Duerr
2018-09-19 01:55:54
The Breakers
Jay Roberts

Chelle Curley hasn’t been heard from in over a week. Not by her parents, siblings, or friends. She works as a house flipper, living in and remodeling rundown buildings and then selling them off for a profit. By all accounts, she’s very good at her job. Her latest project is an apartment building known as the Breakers. It’s now pretty much a dump, but in its heyday, it was once a Prohibition-era nightclub.

When San Francisco private detective Sharon McCone is asked to track down Chelle, what she expects to be a straightforward “wellness check” leads her to stumble onto something more sinister when she finds a collage of famous mass murderers on the wall of a hidden room on the site of Chelle’s latest job. In her search for Chelle, McCone learns a lot about the building’s storied history and runs into a wide cast of characters and/or suspects, including the wheelchair-bound current owner of the building, a college student named Zack, a couple of war veterans, and a certifiable lunatic passing himself off as a magician. However, things take a darker turn when a body turns up, making the search for the missing woman even more desperate.

Marcia Muller’s understated way of detailing the case step-by-step hooked me quickly, and her use of time stamps for each chapter keeps things moving. The subplots in The Breakers are intriguing as well. There’s McCone’s twisty family relationships that come into focus on the health of a parent, as well as startling revelations about Chelle’s family (who are also family friends of the McCones).

Old buildings hold secrets and stories both told and yet to be discovered. In The Breakers, the story of a killer and a secret artwork will chill readers even more than the wind that whips through the San Francisco Bay.

Teri Duerr
2018-09-19 02:01:56
The Piranhas: The Boy Bosses of Naples
Robert Allen Papinchak

Roberto Saviano, author behind the journalistic look at organized crime in Naples, Italy, in Gomorrah (2007), returns to the scene of the crimes with a brilliantly realized fictional take on the Southern Italian crime world in The Piranhas: The Boy Bosses of Naples.

The Piranhas is a novel that reads like nonfiction. An opening note by Saviano reads, “[W]hat you are about to read actually occurred. Facts have been modified...in order to make a violent and complex world more comprehensible.”

That world has been narrowed to focus on a group of 10 adolescent boys who want to own Naples. They also want “fine clothing and displays of wealth,” luxury cars, gold Rolexes, Valentino sneakers, bespoke suits, Dolce & Gabbana underwear, bottomless flutes of Veuve Clicquot, and to be “lusted after by women and envied by men.”

In order to achieve this, they form a paranza, an Italian word for “boats that go out to catch fish through the trickery of light.” The leader of the pack is 15-year-old Nicolas Fiorillo, aka the Maraja. In this subculture of crime, nicknames are earned, given to you by someone else. One’s “monicker is more important than your real name,” and Nicolas’ comes from his ambition to have 24-hour access to the private room of the New Maharaja nightclub, an exclusive spot that caters to businessmen, sports stars, notaries, lawyers, and judges.

Nicolas rules the gang by two overarching principles—Machiavellianism and the time-honored invective Adda muri mamma. The latter can be translated as “May my mother die,” and is used as a sort of solemn oath, not wholly unlike swearing on your mother’s grave. From Machiavelli’s The Prince, he learns that it is “better to have a reputation as a master of cruelty than of mercy…. Someone who’s going to be prince shouldn’t care whether the people fear him.” Both Machiavelli and mamma are constant refrains throughout the novel.

As the paranza get closer to their ultimate goals, the acts of vengeance and blood escalate as the blood brothers gain power by murdering rival gang members, use immigrants for target practice, and go from petty crimes like “slinging hash” at school to hijacking a tanker truck. They ignore the consequences of their violent lives, and ultimately the effect it has on their loved ones and families.

The Piranhas is a fully engaging, sometimes gut-wrenching gaze into the savage underbelly of Naples.

Teri Duerr
2018-09-19 02:06:44
Sweet Little Lies
Katrina Niidas Holm

Catrina Kinsella has long feared that, in addition to being a philanderer with mob ties, her father, Michael McBride, is a murderer. Eighteen years ago, while Cat, her parents, and her siblings were visiting Cat’s grandmother in Mulderrin, Ireland, 17-year-old Maryanne Doyle went out to buy hair spray and vanished. When questioned, Michael told the cops that he didn’t know the missing teen. Cat knows this is a lie—she saw the pair arguing shortly before Maryanne’s disappearance—but she’s never had the guts to confront him.

Cat also never shared her suspicions with the authorities, despite the fact that she is now a detective constable with London’s Metropolitan Police Service. When someone dumps the mutilated corpse of 35-year-old Alice Lapaine near the pub that Michael runs, Cat tries to convince herself that the location is just a coincidence. But the investigation uncovers some shocking connections to her past and Cat realizes that the time has come for her to learn the truth regarding that fateful summer.

Evocative prose, razor-sharp plotting, and a fully fleshed, psychologically complex cast distinguish Caz Frear’s thought-provoking debut, which examines the ways our childhoods inform the people we become—for good or for ill.

The central mystery is multifaceted and laced with skillfully deployed bombshells. Artful descriptions paint vivid pictures that tell the reader as much about the narrator as they do the subject. (“From the second I clapped eyes on her, I’d been dogged in my pursuit of this glittering creature in her babydoll smocks and hoops the size of Catherine wheels—trailing behind her and her crew, mute with reverence and pained shyness, looking to get involved in literally anything they’d let me.”) Even the book’s set pieces are carefully chosen, with each locale proving pivotal to some aspect of the story.

Perhaps the book’s biggest strength, though, is the way that the action, tension, and drive are all rooted in character. From the sweet, functional friendship that Cat shares with her partner and “work-dad,” DS Luigi Parnell, to her emotionally fraught family ties, Frear’s relationships feel real, imbuing her tale with vitality, depth, and verisimilitude.

Teri Duerr
2018-09-19 02:12:42
The Truth Itself
Hank Wagner

Former spy Kate Swift has been living quietly for years when her cover is blown in spectacular fashion after she subdues two gunmen who attack her daughter’s Vermont elementary school. Forced to flee before unfriendly forces can track her down, she heads to Canada, then to Berlin, in search of the one man she is convinced can help her escape from her pursuers—the legendary operative Harry Hook. She eventually tracks him down and pleads for his help. The spur-of-the-moment plan he concocts is both inspired and risky: success means another chance at a normal life for Kate and her daughter Suzie, failure means death for them and those who’d help them.

James Rayburn is a pen name for Roger Smith, a South African filmmaker and author of some acclaim. His experience and talent permeate The Truth Itself, wherein he writes with great wit, assurance, precision, and flair, capturing readers from the very first sentences of this extraordinary thriller. Every character is a standout, each with a unique voice and intricate backstory. Every situation demands your attention, whether it be an action set piece, or merely dialogue between two old comrades. It’s one of those books in which the chapters end so cleverly, you are virtually compelled to start its successor. It also teems with surprises and reversals, so many that I have had to force myself to avoid going into too much detail here, for fear of inadvertently providing spoilers.

Teri Duerr
2018-09-19 02:15:29
Dark Sky Island
Sharon Magee

Jenny Dorey, a reporter for the Guernsey News, takes the ferry to the tiny Channel Island of Sark (population 450), the only island in the world to be designated a Dark Sky island—no lights or autos allowed. Old bones have been found in a cave and ambitious Jenny sees a story in the making. Also, she wants to investigate her own father’s accidental death there two years before, when he fell off his boat and drowned. She’s never accepted the accidental death ruling.

Also on the island to investigate the bones is Jenny’s good friend, veteran DCI Michael Gilbert of the Guernsey Police Force. But before the Sarkees (as the islanders are called) can even start a good round of rumors over the bones, another murder occurs, that of old reprobate Reg Carre, whose wife Rachel disappeared years before.

Michael and Jenny, teaming up to exchange information, wonder if there’s any connection between the two cases—and possibly Jenny’s father’s as well. But the Sarkees seem reticent to answer questions or allow the boy who found Reg to be questioned. The more questions they ask, the darker and more sullen the Sarkees become. Soon it becomes obvious that there are secrets here that no one wishes to reveal, although talk of boats in the bay and flashing lights lead Jenny and Michael to believe there is something amiss. And where does the reclusive billionaire Corey Monroe with his secluded mansion, an outsider whom the islanders are suspicious of, fit into the picture?

In Lara Dearman’s atmospheric second novel in the Jennifer Dorey Mystery series, the island of Sark, with its rugged beauty of high cliffs and dark corners, is as much a character as any of the humans. Told from the points of view of Jenny, Michael, and flashbacks from the missing Rachel, it has twists and turns that will keep readers guessing to the very end.

Teri Duerr
2018-09-20 01:37:22
In Want of a Knife
Robin Agnew

The third in Elizabeth Buzzelli’s Little Library series, In Want of a Knife has all the bells and whistles of a cozy mystery, but underneath the trappings this is not an especially cozy book. The series, in which each book pays homage to a different literary classic, centers on Jenny Wilson, her mother, Dora, and their neighbor, Zoe Zola, a famous writer. As the book opens, the man delivering papers in tiny, rural Bear Falls, Michigan, discovers the body of a teenage girl on the side of the road. When another teenager, Cammy, disappears, Jenny, Dora, and Zoe all pitch in to help find her.

Zoe is writing about Jane Austen, and the mystery is structured somewhat along the lines of Pride and Prejudice. In a nod to Austen, the book is salted with several local women on the hunt for a husband, including Jenny, who seems confused about her relationship with the dashing Tony, a former cop. What’s more, the new wealthy neighbor’s house is named Rosings, of course.

Jane Austen was nothing if not a penetrating observer of human behavior, and Buzzelli is one as well, with her observations often taking the form of humor. The modern woman has more options in life than a Jane Austen character, after all. Or does she? Zoe, who is a “little person,” is often dismissed because of her size, but is usually the most perceptive person in the room, though she is frequently quite literally overlooked. In this she shares a long history in mystery fiction, joining fluffy old ladies like Miss Marple, Miss Silver, and even Jessica Fletcher as an underestimated force to be reckoned with.

In the same way, the missing girl, Cammy, has been dismissed by many of her classmates and neighbors as different and strange, though it seems she is every bit as smart as Zoe, just tragically innocent in the ways of the world. The detective work to find Cammy is shared by the community, but it’s Zoe and her friends who have the breakthrough that solves the case.

This book was an enjoyable mix of suspense, character development, setting (the Northern Michigan woods are lovingly described), and well-assembled story. There were surprises at every turn, as well as challenges to the reader’s perception of events and people. In reading, I love a surprise as much as I love a memorable character, and this novel has plenty of both.

Teri Duerr
2018-09-20 01:42:04