For those of you who are following my entries into the 52 Books in 52 Weeks Challenge, you may see on the right hand side of my blog (The Book Challenge), a figure less than the number of Book Reviews I claim. However, the first 10 books I posted were on 1 post so you will have to add 9 books to that count to get the actual number.
I hope that clears up the 'mystery'. :)
Saturday, May 29, 2010
"The Clairvoyant Countess” by Dorothy Gilman
Review #71
Exotic Madame Karitska is a genuine countess, but is foremost a psychic. When one of her clients turns up dead, Madame Karitska makes the acquaintance of Detective Lieutenant Pruden and an uncanny partnership is born.
Madame Karitska helps Pruden in several different ways. She aids him in solving several crimes and…she introduces him to a side of himself that he never knew before.
We also have the opportunity to meet several other clients that she introduces to one another and we watch their relationships grow.
There are several interesting mysteries woven throughout the plot and the reader discovers that ‘who dunnit’ isn't always the reason to continue reading.
This fictional book won't appeal to every mystery lover but for those who like light-hearted mysteries…IT IS FUN!
Review #71
Exotic Madame Karitska is a genuine countess, but is foremost a psychic. When one of her clients turns up dead, Madame Karitska makes the acquaintance of Detective Lieutenant Pruden and an uncanny partnership is born.
Madame Karitska helps Pruden in several different ways. She aids him in solving several crimes and…she introduces him to a side of himself that he never knew before.
We also have the opportunity to meet several other clients that she introduces to one another and we watch their relationships grow.
There are several interesting mysteries woven throughout the plot and the reader discovers that ‘who dunnit’ isn't always the reason to continue reading.
This fictional book won't appeal to every mystery lover but for those who like light-hearted mysteries…IT IS FUN!
Thursday, May 27, 2010
"The Empty Chair” by Jeffery Deaver
Review #70
Lincoln Rhyme, a former New York City cop and a quadriplegic since a beam crushed his spinal cord years ago, is desperate to improve his condition and goes to the University of North Carolina Medical Center for high-risk experimental surgery.
Lincoln no sooner arrives when the authorities ask him to use his expertise to help find two missing women. In a twenty-four hour period, the sleepy little town of Tanner's Corner has a local teen murdered and two young women abducted. While the police know the culprit, they have no idea where he has taken them.
The kidnapper is 16-year-old Garrett Hanlon, a local youth of ill repute whose obsession with bugs has earned him the nickname "The Insect Boy." His captives are Mary Beth McConnell, who Hanlon has stalked for months, and local nurse Lydia Johansson, who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
A marathon chase ensues across North Carolina's perilous swampland by sheriff deputies and Rhyme's assistant and lover, Amelia Sachs. Rhyme directs the search from his wheelchair at sheriff headquarters. As he examines forensic evidence from the crime scenes and points along the search route, Rhyme grows increasingly suspicious about which players are the good guys and which are masking their evil intentions.
I have loved all the Lincoln Rhyme books and this one is no exception!
Review #70
Lincoln Rhyme, a former New York City cop and a quadriplegic since a beam crushed his spinal cord years ago, is desperate to improve his condition and goes to the University of North Carolina Medical Center for high-risk experimental surgery.
Lincoln no sooner arrives when the authorities ask him to use his expertise to help find two missing women. In a twenty-four hour period, the sleepy little town of Tanner's Corner has a local teen murdered and two young women abducted. While the police know the culprit, they have no idea where he has taken them.
The kidnapper is 16-year-old Garrett Hanlon, a local youth of ill repute whose obsession with bugs has earned him the nickname "The Insect Boy." His captives are Mary Beth McConnell, who Hanlon has stalked for months, and local nurse Lydia Johansson, who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
A marathon chase ensues across North Carolina's perilous swampland by sheriff deputies and Rhyme's assistant and lover, Amelia Sachs. Rhyme directs the search from his wheelchair at sheriff headquarters. As he examines forensic evidence from the crime scenes and points along the search route, Rhyme grows increasingly suspicious about which players are the good guys and which are masking their evil intentions.
I have loved all the Lincoln Rhyme books and this one is no exception!
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
"Run for Your Life” by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge
Review #69
Irish cop, Michael Bennett is an easy to like character. He is a dedicated police detective determined to make the streets of NYC safe, even though, he sometimes fantasizes about a career change. At the end of the day, Detective Bennett wants to be a great dad to his ten children. Having just lost his wife to cancer, Mike tries to pick up the pieces and move on while dealing with his grief. He stumbles and sometimes makes mistakes, but his family is his first priority.
While taking care of his lovable, flu-infested brood of children, he’s also dealing with a serial killer who calls himself the “Teacher”. The trail is initially ice cold but, Michael uses his instinct (combined with a lot of luck) to identify and pursue the Teacher, an egotistical psychopath, on a mission to teach manners to those condescending and rude people who have seemingly wronged him. Michael follows a series of clues which lead to an ultimate showdown with the killer.
In an unusual and totally unexpected twist of fate, Michael finds himself and a loved one hostages. He then must use reverse psychology, recall every trick he learned in hostage negotiation training, and every ounce of strength he can muster to save himself, his child, and New York City from the evil clutches of this killer.
On the home front, Bennett has some help to deal with his sick children in Mary Catherine, a live-in Irish nanny. Her patience and knowledge in dealing with all of the children make her a favorite person to all who benefit from it. Bennett also gets assistance from his grandfather, a Catholic priest who has some crime of his own to solve as someone is stealing from the church’s poor box. (Grandpa became a priest after his family was grown and his wife passed away.) The parts of the story with these characters provides some interesting lighter and often humorous moments in this very serious story.
Michael Bennett is becoming one of my favorite characters! Excellent read for guys and gals!
Review #69
Irish cop, Michael Bennett is an easy to like character. He is a dedicated police detective determined to make the streets of NYC safe, even though, he sometimes fantasizes about a career change. At the end of the day, Detective Bennett wants to be a great dad to his ten children. Having just lost his wife to cancer, Mike tries to pick up the pieces and move on while dealing with his grief. He stumbles and sometimes makes mistakes, but his family is his first priority.
While taking care of his lovable, flu-infested brood of children, he’s also dealing with a serial killer who calls himself the “Teacher”. The trail is initially ice cold but, Michael uses his instinct (combined with a lot of luck) to identify and pursue the Teacher, an egotistical psychopath, on a mission to teach manners to those condescending and rude people who have seemingly wronged him. Michael follows a series of clues which lead to an ultimate showdown with the killer.
In an unusual and totally unexpected twist of fate, Michael finds himself and a loved one hostages. He then must use reverse psychology, recall every trick he learned in hostage negotiation training, and every ounce of strength he can muster to save himself, his child, and New York City from the evil clutches of this killer.
On the home front, Bennett has some help to deal with his sick children in Mary Catherine, a live-in Irish nanny. Her patience and knowledge in dealing with all of the children make her a favorite person to all who benefit from it. Bennett also gets assistance from his grandfather, a Catholic priest who has some crime of his own to solve as someone is stealing from the church’s poor box. (Grandpa became a priest after his family was grown and his wife passed away.) The parts of the story with these characters provides some interesting lighter and often humorous moments in this very serious story.
Michael Bennett is becoming one of my favorite characters! Excellent read for guys and gals!
Saturday, May 22, 2010
“Bad Luck and Trouble” by Lee Child
Review #68
A former MP, Jack Reacher, now a wanderer without an address, a phone, or an e-mail address, discovers that someone has deposited $1,030 in his bank account and quickly deduces that the money represents a call for help from Frances Neagley, a sergeant in Reacher's old special investigators unit. (1030 is the MP's code for urgent assistance needed.)
Calvin Franz, a former MP, is dumped from a Bell 222 helicopter three thousand feet above the California desert floor. It turns out that Franz was not the only member of the army's special investigation unit, headed by Reacher, to meet the same fate. Four of the eight members of the unit have been killed, and Neagley is rounding up the survivors to avenge their colleagues and, thus, live up to the group's motto: "You don't mess with the special investigators".
This latest Jack Reacher thriller marks a significant departure from the rest of the series. Lee Child fans know Reacher only as a loner, a tough guy with his own agenda who falls into stranger's problems, solves them, and moves on. But here we see him functioning as part of a team and it reveals new and fascinating aspects to his character.
As usual, the action is intense, the pace unrelenting, and the violence unforgiving.
I love Jack Reacher stories!
Review #68
A former MP, Jack Reacher, now a wanderer without an address, a phone, or an e-mail address, discovers that someone has deposited $1,030 in his bank account and quickly deduces that the money represents a call for help from Frances Neagley, a sergeant in Reacher's old special investigators unit. (1030 is the MP's code for urgent assistance needed.)
Calvin Franz, a former MP, is dumped from a Bell 222 helicopter three thousand feet above the California desert floor. It turns out that Franz was not the only member of the army's special investigation unit, headed by Reacher, to meet the same fate. Four of the eight members of the unit have been killed, and Neagley is rounding up the survivors to avenge their colleagues and, thus, live up to the group's motto: "You don't mess with the special investigators".
This latest Jack Reacher thriller marks a significant departure from the rest of the series. Lee Child fans know Reacher only as a loner, a tough guy with his own agenda who falls into stranger's problems, solves them, and moves on. But here we see him functioning as part of a team and it reveals new and fascinating aspects to his character.
As usual, the action is intense, the pace unrelenting, and the violence unforgiving.
I love Jack Reacher stories!
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
"The Murder of King Tut” by James Patterson and Martin Dugard
Review # 67
Non-Fiction:
Since 1922, when Howard Carter discovered King Tut's 3,000-year-old tomb, most Egyptologists have presumed that the young king died of disease, or an accident, such as a chariot fall. But what if his fate was actually much more sinister?
Now, in THE MURDER OF KING TUT, the authors describe their investigation and in-depth research into the death of King Tut to find out what really happened to him. They comb through the evidence; X-rays, Carter's files, forensic clues, and scavenge for overlooked data to piece together the details of his life and death.
The result is a true crime tale of intrigue, betrayal, and usurpation that presents a compelling case that King Tut's death was anything but natural. Since there is no written accounts, the only fiction here are conversations that take place before the death of King Tut.
If you are curious about the “boy-King”, you will definitely enjoy this thought-provoking book.
Review # 67
Non-Fiction:
Since 1922, when Howard Carter discovered King Tut's 3,000-year-old tomb, most Egyptologists have presumed that the young king died of disease, or an accident, such as a chariot fall. But what if his fate was actually much more sinister?
Now, in THE MURDER OF KING TUT, the authors describe their investigation and in-depth research into the death of King Tut to find out what really happened to him. They comb through the evidence; X-rays, Carter's files, forensic clues, and scavenge for overlooked data to piece together the details of his life and death.
The result is a true crime tale of intrigue, betrayal, and usurpation that presents a compelling case that King Tut's death was anything but natural. Since there is no written accounts, the only fiction here are conversations that take place before the death of King Tut.
If you are curious about the “boy-King”, you will definitely enjoy this thought-provoking book.
Monday, May 17, 2010
"Wrecked” by Carol Higgins Clark
Review #66
The disappearance of divorcee, Adele Hopkins, interrupts the plans of Private Investigator Regan Reilly and her husband, Jack, head of the NYPD Major Case Squad, to celebrate their first anniversary at their family’s weekend place on Cape Cod. After a severe storm, Skip, a local caretaker, finds Adele lying in a heap outside the house she's renting, her face bloody, her rowboat banging against the rocks in the nearby bay. By the time Skip returns with help, Adele is gone.
The sixtyish loner, who moved in five months ago, shunned her neighbors. Even her landlords, friends of the Reillys, have no idea how to locate her next of kin. Discovered in her dining room are stacks of apology cards she'd not yet sent and bags of decorative pillows that are embroidered with the saying “grudge me, grudge me not”.
Regan and Jack begin an investigation to help their friends track down Adele's family. They start by interviewing two young women who own the shop where Adele had bought the pillows. Pippy and Ellen opened Pillow Talk after they both lost their jobs. A newspaper article revealed the terrible way the women had been treated by their former employers and, when it was posted on the Internet, business took off. They started to become well-known and the Pillow Talk website became a place for people, who had had similar experiences, to vent their feelings. Pippy and Ellen receives an anonymous e-mail from someone who spews venom about her former rowing coach, Adele Hopkins. Could she be the same Adele Hopkins?
Regan and Jack's search for clues to this mysterious woman's identity makes for an anniversary weekend they'll never forget!
Loved the book!
Review #66
The disappearance of divorcee, Adele Hopkins, interrupts the plans of Private Investigator Regan Reilly and her husband, Jack, head of the NYPD Major Case Squad, to celebrate their first anniversary at their family’s weekend place on Cape Cod. After a severe storm, Skip, a local caretaker, finds Adele lying in a heap outside the house she's renting, her face bloody, her rowboat banging against the rocks in the nearby bay. By the time Skip returns with help, Adele is gone.
The sixtyish loner, who moved in five months ago, shunned her neighbors. Even her landlords, friends of the Reillys, have no idea how to locate her next of kin. Discovered in her dining room are stacks of apology cards she'd not yet sent and bags of decorative pillows that are embroidered with the saying “grudge me, grudge me not”.
Regan and Jack begin an investigation to help their friends track down Adele's family. They start by interviewing two young women who own the shop where Adele had bought the pillows. Pippy and Ellen opened Pillow Talk after they both lost their jobs. A newspaper article revealed the terrible way the women had been treated by their former employers and, when it was posted on the Internet, business took off. They started to become well-known and the Pillow Talk website became a place for people, who had had similar experiences, to vent their feelings. Pippy and Ellen receives an anonymous e-mail from someone who spews venom about her former rowing coach, Adele Hopkins. Could she be the same Adele Hopkins?
Regan and Jack's search for clues to this mysterious woman's identity makes for an anniversary weekend they'll never forget!
Loved the book!
Friday, May 14, 2010
"Rough Country” by John Sandford
Review #65
Erica McDill is the new CEO of one of the Twin Cities' most prominent ad agencies.
She has taken a few days out of her schedule to recharge at an exclusive northern Minnesota resort catering primarily to wealthy, professional women. She certainly doesn't expect to die at the hands of a sniper while boating down the river and checking out an eagle’s nest.
Her prominence in the community leads the governor to hand the case to Lucas Davenport and the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. Davenport assigns the job to his best investigator, Virgil Flowers, whose investigational techniques are textbook but, who fosters a reputation for eccentricity with surfer-dude hair and a working uniform of cowboy boots, jeans, and rock-band T-shirts.
Virgil has plenty of motives to sift through. Was McDill's murderer a bitter business rival?...An anonymous lover at the resort?...Her longtime partner?
A couple of days into the investigation, Flowers learns that a former guest of the resort was murdered in Iowa two years earlier. Is there a connection?
It's a complicated case, but Virgil is up to the task, and, as always, he's funny, smart and tough when he needs to be…and catnip to the ladies.
Love this series!
Review #65
Erica McDill is the new CEO of one of the Twin Cities' most prominent ad agencies.
She has taken a few days out of her schedule to recharge at an exclusive northern Minnesota resort catering primarily to wealthy, professional women. She certainly doesn't expect to die at the hands of a sniper while boating down the river and checking out an eagle’s nest.
Her prominence in the community leads the governor to hand the case to Lucas Davenport and the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. Davenport assigns the job to his best investigator, Virgil Flowers, whose investigational techniques are textbook but, who fosters a reputation for eccentricity with surfer-dude hair and a working uniform of cowboy boots, jeans, and rock-band T-shirts.
Virgil has plenty of motives to sift through. Was McDill's murderer a bitter business rival?...An anonymous lover at the resort?...Her longtime partner?
A couple of days into the investigation, Flowers learns that a former guest of the resort was murdered in Iowa two years earlier. Is there a connection?
It's a complicated case, but Virgil is up to the task, and, as always, he's funny, smart and tough when he needs to be…and catnip to the ladies.
Love this series!
Monday, May 10, 2010
"Cat of the Century” by Rita Mae Brown
Review #64
Rita Mae Brown and her feline partner, Sneaky Pie Brown, are back with this new mystery starring Mary Minor "Harry" Haristeen, the sleuthing cats, Mrs. Murphy and Pewter, and corgi, Tee Tucker. This time they must catch a killer determined to turn a birthday party into a funeral.
Aunt Talley Urquhart is looking forward to celebrating her 100th birthday at her Fulton, Mo., alma mater, real-life William Woods University. But all is not well at William Woods U.
Stockbroker Flo Langston, class of '74, is sure her hated classmate, Mariah D'Angelo, who heads the WWU Alumnae Association, has mishandled university funds. Mariah vanishes thus missing Aunt Talley's party. Then someone shoots Flo dead at home in St. Louis after Flo reveals that Mariah has been selling fake high-end watches in her very expensive jewelry store. Taunting email messages ("Catch me if you can") begin arriving (with Mariah’s name on them) in the computers of various WWU alumnae, including Inez Carpenter, Aunt Talley's 98-year-old best friend. Now…the search for Mariah is really on……………!
If you like unusual characters, you’ll love this bunch of Crozet natives…human and animals!
This is a just-for-fun reading with a mystery attached!
Review #64
Rita Mae Brown and her feline partner, Sneaky Pie Brown, are back with this new mystery starring Mary Minor "Harry" Haristeen, the sleuthing cats, Mrs. Murphy and Pewter, and corgi, Tee Tucker. This time they must catch a killer determined to turn a birthday party into a funeral.
Aunt Talley Urquhart is looking forward to celebrating her 100th birthday at her Fulton, Mo., alma mater, real-life William Woods University. But all is not well at William Woods U.
Stockbroker Flo Langston, class of '74, is sure her hated classmate, Mariah D'Angelo, who heads the WWU Alumnae Association, has mishandled university funds. Mariah vanishes thus missing Aunt Talley's party. Then someone shoots Flo dead at home in St. Louis after Flo reveals that Mariah has been selling fake high-end watches in her very expensive jewelry store. Taunting email messages ("Catch me if you can") begin arriving (with Mariah’s name on them) in the computers of various WWU alumnae, including Inez Carpenter, Aunt Talley's 98-year-old best friend. Now…the search for Mariah is really on……………!
If you like unusual characters, you’ll love this bunch of Crozet natives…human and animals!
This is a just-for-fun reading with a mystery attached!
Saturday, May 8, 2010
"South of Broad” by Pat Conroy
Review #63
This is Conroy’s first book in 14 years. I’m sure you will remember “Prince of Tides” if nothing else he has written.
The narrator of this book is Charleston, S.C., gossip columnist, Leopold (Leo) Bloom King, a likable but troubled kid who goes from having one best friend, his brother, to having no friends, to suddenly having a gang of friends.
In the late '60s, then 18-year-old Leo befriends a cross-section of the city's inhabitants: members of Charleston aristocracy, Molly Huger, Chad Rutledge and his sister, Fraser; Appalachian orphans, Niles and Starla Whitehead; the black football coach's son, Ike; and a beautiful pair of twins, Sheba and Trevor Poe, who are evading their psychotic father. The story alternates between 1969, the glorious year Leo's friends stormed Charleston's social, sexual and racial barriers, and 1989, when Sheba, now a movie star, enlists them to find her missing gay brother in AIDS-ravaged San Francisco.
This is a complicated story about these friends, their families, their interactions with and support of one another in a changing world.
Note: Leo’s mother is an ex-nun and is also his high school's principal. His loving father is a science teacher at the same school. Leo spends some time in a mental institution after his older brother, Steve, commits suicide at the age of 10, and takes a drug bust rap for a friend of that same brother. In the beginning, he’s on probation and must serve 100 community service hours with an old antique store owner in need of personal attention. It turns out to be one of the best things that ever happened to him.
I enjoyed this book and think you will too.
Review #63
This is Conroy’s first book in 14 years. I’m sure you will remember “Prince of Tides” if nothing else he has written.
The narrator of this book is Charleston, S.C., gossip columnist, Leopold (Leo) Bloom King, a likable but troubled kid who goes from having one best friend, his brother, to having no friends, to suddenly having a gang of friends.
In the late '60s, then 18-year-old Leo befriends a cross-section of the city's inhabitants: members of Charleston aristocracy, Molly Huger, Chad Rutledge and his sister, Fraser; Appalachian orphans, Niles and Starla Whitehead; the black football coach's son, Ike; and a beautiful pair of twins, Sheba and Trevor Poe, who are evading their psychotic father. The story alternates between 1969, the glorious year Leo's friends stormed Charleston's social, sexual and racial barriers, and 1989, when Sheba, now a movie star, enlists them to find her missing gay brother in AIDS-ravaged San Francisco.
This is a complicated story about these friends, their families, their interactions with and support of one another in a changing world.
Note: Leo’s mother is an ex-nun and is also his high school's principal. His loving father is a science teacher at the same school. Leo spends some time in a mental institution after his older brother, Steve, commits suicide at the age of 10, and takes a drug bust rap for a friend of that same brother. In the beginning, he’s on probation and must serve 100 community service hours with an old antique store owner in need of personal attention. It turns out to be one of the best things that ever happened to him.
I enjoyed this book and think you will too.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
"Deception” by Jonathan Kellerman
Review #62
Elise Freeman, a teacher and tutor at exclusive Windsor Preparatory Academy in Brentwood, is found dead in her Studio City apartment in a bathtub full of dry ice. At first it looks like a straightforward suicide: a woman records a message on a DVD and then kills herself. But the facts are all wrong. The DVD isn't a suicide message; it's an accusation against some of her colleagues at the school. However, Deputy Chief Weinberg wants (for personal reasons) the investigation to involve the school as little as possible.
As usual, psychologist Alex Delaware takes an active role, along with LAPD Lt. Milo Sturgis, in the investigation which finds the victim had lots to hide. A boyfriend, students, teachers, and administrators are all anxious to keep those secrets hidden and at least one of them is willing to kill again. Milo and Alex form an odd but effective duo as they trade banter and insights while sorting out the lies and deceptions. Getting to the heart of the matter requires plenty of investigation and a certain amount of danger.
This is the 25th of the ‘Alex Delaware-Milo Sturgis’ mysteries and is just as good as the first one!
Review #62
Elise Freeman, a teacher and tutor at exclusive Windsor Preparatory Academy in Brentwood, is found dead in her Studio City apartment in a bathtub full of dry ice. At first it looks like a straightforward suicide: a woman records a message on a DVD and then kills herself. But the facts are all wrong. The DVD isn't a suicide message; it's an accusation against some of her colleagues at the school. However, Deputy Chief Weinberg wants (for personal reasons) the investigation to involve the school as little as possible.
As usual, psychologist Alex Delaware takes an active role, along with LAPD Lt. Milo Sturgis, in the investigation which finds the victim had lots to hide. A boyfriend, students, teachers, and administrators are all anxious to keep those secrets hidden and at least one of them is willing to kill again. Milo and Alex form an odd but effective duo as they trade banter and insights while sorting out the lies and deceptions. Getting to the heart of the matter requires plenty of investigation and a certain amount of danger.
This is the 25th of the ‘Alex Delaware-Milo Sturgis’ mysteries and is just as good as the first one!
Monday, May 3, 2010
“Irish Stew” by Andrew M. Greeley
Review #61
You'd think Nuala (pronounced Noola) Anne McGrail, (a fey, Irish-speaking woman blessed with the gift of second sight) and her husband, Dermot, would have enough to worry about, what with their brand-new baby daughter being born three months premature. But, Nuala's fey gifts aren't about to go on maternity leave just because little Socra (pronounced Sorra) Marie needs more care and loving attention than the average newborn.
Nuala Anne senses that self-made Chicago lawyer and tough guy, Seamus Costelloe, is doomed after meeting him at a Milan music festival. Nuala persuades Dermot that they must find out why, hopefully, in time to prevent tragedy. Because Socra Marie must spend several weeks in the neonatal ICU, Dermot does much of the legwork as Nuala Anne recuperates and focuses on the baby. Although, she manages to run the show, as usual!
The immigrant condition is very much on their minds, in both past and present investigations, and even life at home is affected by the hardships and prejudices encountered by new arrivals, especially in ethnically complex Chicago.
There's a lot to keep straight in this book. When he isn't trying to help Nuala Anne save Costelloe, Dermot is reading transcripts of the 100-year old 'Haymarket Riots' trial and period newspaper articles, especially those penned by journalist Ned Fitzpatrick, who reported on the riot and its aftermath. (All the “Irish” books by Greeley have two stories going at the same time)
The double plot is rich with detail, while the charming couple's earnestness and good intentions are never in question. This book is just as enjoyable as “Irish Lace” (Book Review #57)
Review #61
You'd think Nuala (pronounced Noola) Anne McGrail, (a fey, Irish-speaking woman blessed with the gift of second sight) and her husband, Dermot, would have enough to worry about, what with their brand-new baby daughter being born three months premature. But, Nuala's fey gifts aren't about to go on maternity leave just because little Socra (pronounced Sorra) Marie needs more care and loving attention than the average newborn.
Nuala Anne senses that self-made Chicago lawyer and tough guy, Seamus Costelloe, is doomed after meeting him at a Milan music festival. Nuala persuades Dermot that they must find out why, hopefully, in time to prevent tragedy. Because Socra Marie must spend several weeks in the neonatal ICU, Dermot does much of the legwork as Nuala Anne recuperates and focuses on the baby. Although, she manages to run the show, as usual!
The immigrant condition is very much on their minds, in both past and present investigations, and even life at home is affected by the hardships and prejudices encountered by new arrivals, especially in ethnically complex Chicago.
There's a lot to keep straight in this book. When he isn't trying to help Nuala Anne save Costelloe, Dermot is reading transcripts of the 100-year old 'Haymarket Riots' trial and period newspaper articles, especially those penned by journalist Ned Fitzpatrick, who reported on the riot and its aftermath. (All the “Irish” books by Greeley have two stories going at the same time)
The double plot is rich with detail, while the charming couple's earnestness and good intentions are never in question. This book is just as enjoyable as “Irish Lace” (Book Review #57)
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