“Bad Blood”  by John Sandford

Review #193

A Virgil Flowers Mystery

 

Nineteen year-old Bob Tripp hits farmer Jacob Flood in the head with a T-ball bat at the   grainery.  Tripp's subsequent attempt to make murder look like an accident fails.

The morning after Tripp's arrest, he's found hanging in his cell. Warren County sheriff Lee Coakley seeks Flowers' help to investigate what role, if any, deputy Jim Crocker, the officer on duty at the jail at the time, played in Tripp's death.

A link to the earlier murder of a young woman leads Flowers and Coakley to members of a small church with strange ways. As the pair become aware of the magnitude of the unspeakable crimes (rape, child abuse, incest) behind the deaths, they search desperately for a lever to pry open what turns out to be Flowers' biggest case to date.

Warning: This book contains references to specific  words used when sex acts are involved.

John Sandford is an excellent mystery writer and he hasn’t failed this time either.

I have to say, though, I still prefer his Lucas Davenport books. (Davenport is Flowers’ boss.)

 “The Rembrandt Affair”  

      by Daniel Silva

Review #192

Publishers Weekly Review

Silva's spy, assassin, and art-restoring protagonist, Gabriel Allon, returns in a fresh-and thrilling-international adventure. 

When an art restorer friend is killed and the Rembrandt painting he was working on stolen, Allon is lured out of a self-imposed retirement to investigate the crime. As the complex plot flips and twists from one country to the next, Phil Gigante keeps the plot moving forward with a calm, thoughtful reading that coils around the reader. His characters are perfectly drawn; the suspense, taut; and each individual is rendered distinctly: his reading of a Holocaust survivor's remembrance of being a little girl hiding from the Nazis is particularly effective and moving.

It was a first read of the author for me and I liked the book.

“Don’t Blink” 

by James Patterson & Howard Roughan

Review #191

 

Summary:

When an assassin successfully hits a notorious mob lawyer at Lombardo's Steak House, the other patrons in the restaurant are left stunned. Among them is reporter Nick Daniels, whose dream interview with a baseball legend is ruined. 

As a key witness to the murder, Nick finds himself wanted by most of New York's major political players. However, when he attempts to investigate the case himself, Nick discovers that he might have stumbled upon an international Mafia war.  

 This is a James Patterson book...what else can I say.   I Love James Patterson!

"Mossy Creek"  

by Deborah Smith, Sandra Chastain, Donna Ball, Debra Dixon, Nancy Knight and Virginia Ellis 

Review #190

Mossy Creek is the first book in series of Mossy Creek books.  I reviewed A Day in Mossy Creek in November.  All the Mossy Creek books are written in the same style. Each chapter features a different character and is written by a different author.  

Surprisingly, all of these individual units come together to form an overall look at this small town and its people.  This unique style of writing actually makes the stories more realistic, as readers seem to go from house to house collecting tantalizing tidbits of gossip.

I love the characters in these books and have new to say about them.  If you need to, you may go back and read the review of A Day in Mossy Creek.

http://carolynnsbookshelf.blogspot.com/2010/11/day-in-mossy-creek-by-deborah-smith.html

“Lost Empire”   

   by  Clive Cussler w/ Grant Blackwood

Review #189

A Sam and Remi Fargo Mystery

 When Sam and Remi find a huge ship's bell, covered in cryptic carvings, on a dive off the Tanzanian coast, they must work to find a way to recover it without running afoul of the Tanzanian government.

Meanwhile, Mexican president Quauhtli Garza, a staunch nationalist, knows that this bell comes from a former Confederate ship that sank off the east African coast after the Civil War. Garza fears the discovery of a missing piece of a Quetzalcoatl statuette, which was aboard the ship, will undermine his grip on power. Once Garza dispatches his henchman to Tanzania to deal with the Fargos, the novel devolves into a standard chase thriller.

In his inimitable way, Cussler throws everything into the pot: Confederate warships, the Aztecs, the Krakatoa explosion of 1883, pirates, and, in the tradition of Alfred Hitchcock, Cussler himself in a cameo appearance.

This was an excellent adventure but, the Dirk Pitt series is still my favorite of Cussler’s books. 

“Where There’s a Will” 
    by Rex Stout

Review #188
This is the eighth novel in Rex Stout's long-running Nero Wolfe series, published in 1940.


In it, we meet the famous Hawthorne sisters, three women who have wealth and power in the fields of politics, academia and acting respectively. They have just buried their brother and are outraged to find that in his will, he left symbolic fruit to the sisters, a pittance to his wife (disfigured by him in a bow-and-arrow accident, she always wears a veil to conceal her face) and the remaining $7 million to his mistress. It's not the money, it's the scandal that has them so upset, and they want Nero Wolfe to find a way to persuade Naomi, the mistress, to give up at least half of that bequest.


Despite the dire state of his bank account, Wolfe is not interested, until it turns out that the brother was murdered. He had not, accidentally, shot himself as originally thought. Suddenly the will's provisions take second place. Now Nero Wolfe is requested to find a murderer.


In this novel, the unexpected happens. Nero Wolfe leaves his home and office! Even his secretary/right hand man, Archie Goodwin, is surprised. Wolfe meets a family that is as eccentric as he is and he has to sift through the different stories, denials, and confessions to discover the truth.


I adore all the Nero Wolfe books (those I've read so far, anyway) and this is no exception, with the added twist that solving the crime rests on Wolfe's knowledge of botany, a nice convergence of two of his main interests.

“Body Work”    by Sara Paretsky

Review #187

A P.I.  V.I. Warshawski Mystery

This time Warshawski delves into Chicago's avant-garde art scene.  When Vic's young cousin begins working at the edgy Club Gouge, she attends a performance there by the Body Artist, who allows audience members to paint her naked body like a canvas.

When tormented young Nadia Guaman starts showing up at every performance and painting the same image over and over, her artwork enrages Iraqi war vet Chad Vishneski.  When Nadia is murdered outside the club, the cops arrest Chad for murder. His parents hire Vic to clear their son's name, but the investigation proves to be difficult because no one wants to tell Vic what she needs to know…not the brassy club owner, who seems to be in bed with the Ukrainian Mob…not the Body Artist, who, despite her exhibitionist tendencies, is close-mouthed about her past…and not the murder victim's family, who have already lost a daughter to the war and a son to a motorcycle accident.  

V. I., however, proves as persistent as ever in a case that ranges from the edgy urban nightclub scene to the corporate interests making a fortune from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. And, as always, the city of Chicago, from its gentrified lofts to its working-class bars, is given a starring role.

I love V.I. Warshawski!

“And thereby hangs a tale”  

          by Jeffrey Archer

Review #186

This book is one of Archer’s  collection of short fiction features…stories based (sometimes rather loosely) on true incidents or people. Of the 15 stories in this book, 10 are supposed to be based on known incidents, which means, for example, that something similar to the very clever method of stealing jewelry described in “Stuck on You”, might actually have been tried...or that someone like Benny, the too-clever-for-his-own-good prison stoolie, might really have sentenced himself to a life of looking over his shoulder.

Aside from the fact that they're marked with an asterisk, it's hard to tell the true stories from the outright fictional ones.  In all of them, Archer creates engaging characters and puts them into situations that range from tragic to comic to . . . a little strange.

Doesn’t really matter because I enjoyed all of them!

“The Postcard Killers”  

By James Patterson & Liza Marklund

Review #185

Jacob Kanon has taken a leave of absence from his NYPD job to track down the "Postcard Killers" who have been leaving a trail of bodies throughout Europe, including Jacob’s own daughter, Kimmy and her boyfriend.  The killers, known to the reader, select couples in love and get close enough to drug and kill them before leaving their bodies in a pose reminiscent of the country's most famous artwork. They advertise their presence in a country by sending a postcard to someone in the media before the killing and follow it with a Polaroid of the dead bodies.

Dessie Larsson, a journalist for Aftonposten in Stockholm, has just received such a postcard and so, Jacob tracks her down and enlists her help in his investigation. Unwashed and smelling, she doesn't trust him at first but eventually they become a team (both personal and professional).  By researching all the murders, Dessie is able to identify the artwork theme, long before the police. An unexpected twist in the actions of the killers sets the story in a different direction and in the final section, one of the iconic IKEA stores plays an important role in the final confrontation between the good and bad guys.

There are some surprises in this book as should be expected from Patterson.

“In a Heartbeat”   

by Leigh Anne & Sean Tuohy  

with Sally Jenkins

Review # 183

Those familiar with the film or Michael Lewis's best-selling book, “The Blind Side”, will already know the inspiring story of how the Tuohys took future, NFL star Michael Oher, into their home and adopted him. So, what more is there to say about it, the answer is… plenty!

In “In a Heartbeat” the Tuohys attempt to explain their philosophy of “cheerful giving” and what it was that made them reach out to the homeless African-American boy they saw walking down the street in a t-shirt and shorts on a winter's day.  Leigh Anne and Sean have known tough times themselves and, as a result,  have put themselves on the lookout for troubled kids and others in need of help all around them. They may be millionaires now, but, they have not always been and they have never forgotten the help that came their way when they needed it.

This book is an in-depth look at the Tuohy family and the dynamics of their lives.  With Jenkins's help they write with humor about their quirks and the joy that Michael brought to their family, finally arriving at the belief that "we can all change people's lives by investing time in individuals."

I found this book inspiring and fun…couldn’t put it down!

“Chasing the Night”   

          by  Iris Johannsen

Review #184

Forensic sculptor Eve Duncan is preparing for her latest reconstruction --- a murdered young girl. With memories of her dead daughter, Bonnie, swirling in her head, she knows it will be a rough case emotionally but believes she can help the child and her family find peace. At the start of the case, she gets a call from a CIA operative she has worked with in the past, Venable, who wants her to do him a favor. She declines but soon after, finds herself playing host to Catherine Ling.

Catherine is an agent of Venable’s and a woman tormented by the loss of her son… 9 years ago.  Catherine believes Luke is alive but knows that the madman who kidnapped him when he was only two years old may have killed him. For years, he has been tormenting her with the threat to kill Luke if she tries to rescue him.  Catherine’s unwavering belief that he may still be living is what convinces Eve to help her.  What Catherine needs is an age progression picture of her son.  She is going after him and she plans to kill the man who kidnapped him.  The CIA wants her to stay away from him because they are getting ready to bring him down.  They have been dealing with this man for years in order to protect Luke but, things have changed.

What looks like a few days of trying and emotional work turns out to be much more complicated when the kidnapper gets Eve involved. Without knowing what horrors await them, Catherine and Eve leave for Russia, and with a little help from Eve’s friend and lover, Joe Quinn, and some CIA assistance, they set out to find Luke.

This is a VERY good book!

“A Day in Mossy Creek”          

by Deborah Smith, Sandra Chastain, 

Virginia Ellis and Debra Dixon       

 

        Review #182  

        The fifth book in the Mossy Creek Series

You won't want to leave Mossy Creek!  These pages offer readers a taste of country charm with some characters that feel like family.  You may not want to have a couple of them as actual relatives, but you will feel closely connected to them!


A Day in Mossy Creek is a southern soap opera with heart.  Each chapter features a different character and is written by a different author.  Surprisingly, all of these individual units come together to form an overall look at this small town and its people.  This unique style of writing actually makes the stories more realistic, as readers seem to go from house to house collecting tantalizing tidbits of gossip.


The events in this small town are both fun and fascinating.  From yard sales to years-old yearnings, there is something in these pages that touch a chord of familiarity.  The mundane appears more meaningful when the characters are loved.  And that's where this book shines.  The people that walk through these pages are similar to those we know in real life, only better.  There is a wonderful emotional connection to them, causing the pages to turn with a steady rhythm.


I loved this book!

“Agatha Raisin and 
the Day the Floods Came”           

             by  M.C. Beaton

 

Review #181

Tetchy Agatha Raisin's attempt at a little R&R in the wake of her beloved husband's defection to a French monastery gets her revved up for another mystery.  During her getaway, she notices a newlywed couple; within days, the groom drowns the bride. 

But, the real story takes place upon Agatha's return to her Cotswold home. During a dramatic flash flood, Agatha sees another dead bride, wearing a white gown and clutching a bridal bouquet, sweeping past on the river, an apparent suicide.  Agatha decides to investigate with the aid of her new neighbor, the dashing, cultured and vaguely lascivious mystery writer, John Armitage.  She also, discovers her own surprising flair for deceit and disguise.

Funny book!

"Twelve Sharp"     by  Janet Evanovich

             Review #180

             A Stephanie Plum Mystery.

Stephanie Plum, the not terribly competent bounty hunter tries to bring in some small-time criminals to lower the number of outstanding cases.  She gets us up to speed on her life as a bounty hunter in Trenton, NJ; her ever-eccentric family; and her co-workers in her cousin's bail-bond office. It doesn't take more than a few pages.

The main focus of this mystery is the disappearance of Ranger’s daughter.  Ranger, one of the two men in and out of Stephanie's life (the other is Morelli the cop), is accused of kidnapping his daughter.  He has disappeared and a woman who says she is Ranger’s wife stalks Stephanie.  Uncertain of what’s going on and certain that Ranger didn't kidnap the girl, Stephanie tries to help solve the crime.

As usual, Evanovich uses all of her considerable arsenal here, wisecracking humor and set pieces about cars, neighborhoods, family matters, and the funeral parlor (now with new directors). However, she has added celebrity stalking and identity theft to sketch a scary bad guy, and she creates in Ranger's daughter, Julie, a spirited 10-year-old version of her mesmerizing father. The ending is downright terrifying,

This book has humor, but, I must admit it scared me too!  Good read!   

“Resort To Murder”  

        by Carolyn Hart

         Review #179

         A Henrie O Mystery

In this highly entertaining puzzle, 70-ish sleuth Henrietta O'Dwyer Collins (aka Henrie O) is in a somber, reflective mode, as befits her age and her life experiences. Recovering from pneumonia, Henrie O isn't sure she feels up to the task of dealing with the emotional maelstrom stewing around the Bermuda wedding of her son-in-law, Lloyd Drake, and beautiful Connor Bailey, a wealthy widow.

A granddaughter, unhappy about her father's marriage, is bent on making mischief, while the bride-to-be can't seem to stop herself from attracting the attentions of any male within eyeshot. Lloyd doesn't cope well with his fiancé’s penchant for flirtation, and Connor's lawyer, Steve Jennings, appears to have more than Connor's financial interests at heart.

The hotel where the party has gathered witnessed tragedy the year before, when Roddy Worrell, the manager's husband, plunged to his death from a tower. According to rumor, Roddy had been infatuated with Connor, who spurned his advances. When a ghost is sighted at the tower, word spreads that Roddy has come back to haunt Connor.

The subsequent death of a hotel employee who knew more than he should about the apparition puts Henrie O on the murder scent once again.

This series has a deeper and darker emotional texture than Hart's more lively and lighthearted ‘Death on Demand’ series, but her fans will enjoy the complex plot, local color and vivid characters. 

I love Henie O books!

“Death of a Traveling Man” 
           by M.C. Beaton


Review #178


Scottish police constable Hamish MacBeth is every bit as charming, humorous, and clever as ever.  The slightly lethargic, tousle-haired village copper in the Scottish Highlands, has been promoted against his will. As Sergeant, he makes more money, but must suffer more work as well, not to mention the enthusiasm of his new helper, Police Constable Willie Lamont, who has less talent for police work than for cleaning, polishing, and scrubbing. His insistence on keeping the police station spotless is driving MacBeth mad.


Hamish rescues a young boy from the river and saves some stranded mountain climbers; he listens to a minister confess wavering faith, is plagued by a superior who resents his promotion and has repeated run-ins with a drifter who parks his van behind the minister's house.


The “devastatingly handsome” drifter, Sean, charms four women out of their money and harasses Hamish's ladylove, Priscilla. When Sean's body is found after a fatal bludgeoning, Hamish seeks out the young man's rock-singer girlfriend and unhappily discovers a blackmailing scheme that incriminates some locals. Hamish has a difficult task of finding Sean”s killer without upsetting Lochdubh's placid way of life or his police superiors in Strathbane.


The characters are wonderfully original; the plot is cleverly crafted and intriguing to the end. There's lots of laugh-aloud humor; and even the darker, bleaker parts of the story add to its overall appeal. Love when I can laugh through a mystery book!

 “Even Money”  
by Dick and Felix Francis

Review #177

Bookmaker, Ned Talbot is struggling with his wife's mental illness and the technology that threatens to give the big bookmaking outfits an insurmountable advantage over his small family business. Now he must contend with murder.

Soon after a man shows up at the Royal Ascot and identifies himself as Ned's father, Peter, (whom Ned believed long dead), a thug demanding money stabs Peter to death. Ned is in for even more shocks when he learns his father was the prime suspect in his mother's murder, and that Peter's killing, rather than a random act of violence, may be linked to a mysterious electronic device used in some horse-racing fraud. 

Ned must juggle his amateur investigations into past and present crimes along with his demanding family responsibilities.

Fans of Dick Francis books will find this book deals less with horse racing than with horse betting.  I liked it, but prefer the earlier books by him.

“Santa Fe Edge” by Stuart Woods


Review #176
The 4th in the Ed Eagle Mystery Series


Superstar lawyer Ed Eagle’s nefarious ex-wife, Barbara, manages to escape from a Mexican prison and head back to the States with murder on her mind. Her targets are Ed and his new wife, Susannah, a beautiful actress. Barbara isn't the only fugitive on the lam. 


Teddy Fay, the notorious ex-CIA operative, has arrived in Santa Fe, hoping to start a new life with his girlfriend, Lauren. But eager young CIA recruit, Todd Bacon, is hot on his trail. New to the mix is Ed's latest client, golf pro Tip Hanks, who is under suspicion for the murder of his wife.


Stuart’s Stone Barrington and Holly Barker series are my favorites of his books.
However, Ed Eagle is an interesting and sometimes, funny character. I enjoyed this book!

"The Seventeen Second Miracle" 
by Jason F. Wright

          Review #175

Rex Connor's life is perfect until one fateful afternoon in 1970 when, as a lifeguard, he diverts his gaze for 17 seconds and a life is lost.

Forty years later, the events of that day live on in his son, Cole, who has chosen to share the experience in a unique way. This fall, Cole has invited three struggling teens to learn about Rex and the Seventeen Second Miracle.

Slowly, the group learns how Rex turned those 17 seconds into little miracles. By choosing to live his life believing small instances could change the world, Rex did make it a better place.

The lessons are hard, and each of the students face their own secrets and trials, but over time, they begin to see how perspective and a few seconds can put a smile on even the grumpiest of faces.

Another great book by Jason Wright!

“Death of a Witch”   by M.C. Beaton

 

Review #174

A Hamish Macbeth Mystery

Police constable Hamish Macbeth (the Scottish Highlands' most stubborn and romantically challenged) bachelor returns to his home village of Lochdubh from a disappointing vacation to discover a witch stirring up trouble. To Macbeth's annoyance, the sex-starved local men have fallen under the spell of Catriona Beldame, who turns out to be a runaway bride with a shady past.

Hamish longs to prove she's selling illegal (and bogus) remedies for sexual dysfunction, and warns her to stop if she is. He gets a shock when someone murders Beldame and sets her house on fire...soon after Macbeth is overheard to say he'd like to kill her. Three more murders of other women quickly follow. Could a serial killer be loose in sleepy Lochdubh?

As usual, Beaton's crisp plotting and effervescent humor complement Macbeth's deft crime solving.  

“Set Sail for Murder”   by Carolyn Hart

         Review #173

         A Henrie O  Collins Mystery

Retired news journalist, Henrie O Collins sails on a two-week Baltic cruise to help out an old friend and former flame, James Lennox.   Jimmy has married the dashing documentary filmmaker, Sophia Montgomery, and he is afraid that one of Sophia's grown stepchildren, (from a previous marriage), is trying to kill her.

It turns out that Sophia's stepkids have plenty of reasons to hate her, not the least of which is she stands in the way of their inheritance.  The inheritance has been in a fund managed by Sophia for several years and the children have been receiving funds at set intervals. The time has come, however, for Sophia to decide if they are ready to take over the management of their own funds or if they will have to wait another 10 years to do so.

The whole family is required to go on the cruise, during which time, Sophia will announce her decision regarding the inheritance.  When Jimmy begs Henrie O to accompany his family on the cruise and get to the bottom of the suspicious accidents that keep befalling Sophia, she reluctantly agrees. When Sophia disappears from the ship in the middle of the ocean, Henrie O sets out to discover who made that happen!

Framed by descriptions of the lovely Baltic ports of call, Hart's seventh in the Henrie O series combines engaging subordinate characters and surprising plot twists with the charms of Henrie O herself, who grapples with her past feelings for James while trying to solve the case. 

As usual, I am a great fan of Carolyn Hart’s mysteries!

“Mad as the Dickens”         

        by Toni L.P. Kelner

Review #172

A Laura Fleming Mystery

This lightweight cozy series brings amateur sleuth Laura Fleming back to her hometown of Byerly, N.C., where once again murder and mayhem prevail. 

Five months pregnant, Laura, an MIT graduate and computer programmer, and her English professor husband, Richard, had planned on spending a quiet Christmas at home in Boston until a call came from Laura's cousin, Vasti,  begging Richard to come down to help put on a play version of Dickens's A Christmas Carol.

What begins as the fulfillment of Richard's dream to be a director soon becomes a nightmare when a series of practical jokes turns dangerous and the actor playing Scrooge gets murdered. In spite of his death, members of his family decide the show must go on.

Laura and a vacationing police chief join forces to investigate the crime. Petty conflicts between the two sleuths on how this is to be accomplished almost overshadow the dramatic and well-done conclusion that unmasks the murderer.

Constant reference to the raging hormones of the pregnant Laura, the cliché?...words of advice from doting aunts and new young mothers…the childish competition between Vasti and the town social climber (who are each vying for a place in the Junior League)… eccentric moonshiners and…Richard's frequent quotes from Dickens that fall on deaf ears, all make the reader rejoice that Byerly is a fictional town. 

This delightful character will have little interest for more serious crime fiction devotees, but, I love her!  A fun and funny book!

“for one more day”     by Mitch Albom

Review #171

Retired baseball player Charley "Chick" Benetto, facing the pain of unfulfilled ambitions, alcohol abuse, divorce, and estrangement from a grown daughter-returns to his abandoned childhood home and attempts suicide in a bungling fit of rage. He encounters the spirit of his deceased mother, Pauline "Posey" Benetto, who Chick thoughtlessly took for granted during both his formative years as cocky athlete and his booze-soaked adulthood.

Miraculously, Chick can now apologize to Posey for his ingratitude concerning the sacrifices she made as a single, working mother. Albom writes with finesse, particularly in Chick's wistful litany of his mother's pearls of wisdom, "A child embarrassed by his mother is just a child who hasn't lived long enough."  If Posey's truisms may not necessarily break new literary ground, Albom deserves credit for giving her depth and complexity that transcend familiar pop culture notions of motherhood in '50s America.

You don’t have to believe in “ghosts” to appreciate this book.   
I couldn’t put it down.

This "ghost story" provides an affirming tale of moral instruction and emotional catharsis.

“Still Life With Murder” by P.B. Ryan

Review #170
First book in the series of Nell Sweeney Mysteries

Post-Civil War Boston 1868:

After their mother died from cholera and their father ran off with another woman, the three Sweeney children are 170 the baby of a servant in the home of the wealthy Hewitt Family.

Viola Hewitt adopts the child and hires Nell to be the baby's governess. Viola sweeps Nell into a world of respect and wealth. Four years later, word arrives that the eldest son, thought to have died in the confederate prison camp in Andersonville, is alive and awaits trial for cold-blooded murder. Viola asks Nell to find evidence that will set her oldest son free since his father, August Hewitt doesn't care if he hangs (turns out he is William’s stepfather). Nell risks everything to clear Will because she believes he is innocent despite all the evidence to the contrary.

The heroine is a spunky woman who climbed out of a poverty-stricken and crime infested area to make something of herself. Readers will admire her and won't be able to resist her many charms. STILL LIFE WITH MURDER is a well-constructed and fascinating mystery in what has become a great series.

“Rumpole Misbehaves”   by John Mortimer

 

Review #169

A Rumpole of the Bailey Mystery

Horace Rumpole, a quirky English barrister, agrees to defend 12-year-old Peter Timson, who's been served with an "Anti-social Behaviour Order" (ASBO) for playing soccer in the streets of a posh London neighborhood.  The eco-freaks in Rumpole's Chambers soon award Rumpole his own ASBO for contributing to the greenhouse effect by smoking cigars.

Soon Rumpole becomes involved in a murder case, in which a civil servant has been found in a locked room with a dead Russian prostitute.  The shy, Graham Wetherby, stands accused of murdering her.  Since Wetherby prefers to be represented by a "QC" or Queens Counsel, Rumpole schemes to become a QC in an amusing subplot.

Rumpole fans will cheer the barrister's vigorous defense of his clients as well as his cutting comments on the nanny state that gives rise to laws like ASBOs.

As usual, there's humor everywhere: with the backbiting characters in Chambers; with the humorless, narcissistic judges; in his wife's (Hilda, "She Who Must Be Obeyed") efforts to read for law; and in his courtroom battles.

As always, the character of Rumpole overshadows the mystery solving.

I first met Rumpole on BBC TV.  I started reading the books and love them all because they’re fun!

“Silks” 
by Dick and Felix Francis

Review #168

Soon after London barrister Geoffrey Mason, an amateur jockey by avocation, starts receiving a series of threatening messages from a former client, Julian Trent (whose conviction for assault was overturned on appeal), Mason reluctantly accepts the defense of a jockey, Steve Mitchell, accused of the pitch-fork murder of fellow rider Scot Barlow at a steeplechase event.

Mitchell and Barlow had fallen out over Barlow's sister, a vet and Mitchell's former girlfriend, who took her own life just a short while before. When unknown parties order Mason to lose the case, he must balance his professional ethics and his sense of self-preservation. 

Mason works to discover the connection between Trent and the murder, even though doing so will endanger himself and his loved ones.

Another Francis winner!

“Unnatural Exposure”  by Patricia Cornwell

                                    Review #167

A Dr. Kay Scarpetta  Mystery

This new adventure of Virginia's Medical Examiner and consultant to the FBI, Dr. Kay Scarpetta, takes her from Dublin to Richmond, Va., making stops at a tiny barrier island in the Chesapeake Bay and the government's huge biological defense facility in Dugway, Utah. Tours of Graceland in Memphis and Atlanta's Center for Disease Control are added before the closing in London.

Dr. Scarpetta has been called to Ireland to help investigate a series of grisly murders in which the killer dismembers his victims. Imagine her horror when she returns to the U.S. and finds the killer…or a terrifying copycat…has struck at home. Worse, the victims appear to have been exposed to a deadly, highly contagious smallpox-like virus.  To complete her personal nightmare, Dr. Scarpetta may have been exposed to the virus, and the killer has started sending her gruesome e-mail messages.

With the help of her savvy FBI agent niece, Lucy, Dr. Scarpetta tracks the elusive killer as her own life hangs in the balance. The suspense builds to an unbearable pitch, but when the murderer's identity and motive are revealed, it's more puzzling than satisfying.

I love this character and this book.

“Black Notice” 
by Patricia Cornwell


Review #166

A Dr. Kay Scarpetta Mystery

Kay Scarpetta's on the case when the body of a stowaway is found in a sealed container on a ship arriving in Richmond, VA. from Belgium. This is just the beginning of a tumultuous adventure!

Evil wears several faces this time, from petty to monstrous. Most insidious is the office sabotage, insubordination, thefts and fraudulent e-mails, that are making the grieving Kay look as if she's lost her grip since the murder of her lover, Benton Wesley. More destructive are the overt attempts by calculating Richmond’s deputy police chief, Diane Bray, to ruin Kay's career as well as that of Kay's old friend, Capt. Pete Marino.

In addition, there's the wild rage that's consuming Kay's niece, Lucy, a DEA agent whose friend and partner has been injured and finally, there are the mutilation killings by the French serial killer and self-styled werewolf, "Loup-Garou".

The forensic sequences are presented with authority; the interplay between Kay and Marino is boisterous as always, and there's an atmospheric side trip to Paris and an affecting romantic misadventure for lonely Kay. I love Faye Kellerman’s books!

“The Cross Gardener”                                          by Jason F. Wright

Review #165

An automobile accident concludes with John Bevan being born on the side of the road Even as he struggles to live, his mother’s life slips away. He becomes a ward of the state and, at the age of 4, is adopted by an apple farmer with two other adopted sons.

Though John's life starts out in sorrow, he knows mostly joy growing up in a loving home in the Shenandoah Valley. John seems to know where he's going and everything works out according to plan, including marrying his high school sweetheart and working in the orchard.

Another accident, when a deer runs out in front of the family car, results in the death of his beloved wife who is 8 months pregnant with their second child. Suddenly, John's life has no direction. He can hardly care for himself, let alone his surviving five year old daughter.
Caught up in despair, John finds himself returning on a daily basis to the place where his wife and son died. The two cross memorials on the side of the road become a haven and a hindrance. And it's only when a quiet stranger, the cross gardener, happens along that John begins to truly understand his purpose in life.

"The Cross Gardener" is a quiet book with a quiet message of hope when all seems lost.  I cried my way through this book and loved every minute of it!