Review: A SPORTING MURDER by Chester D. Campbell
Posted by Larry in Classic PI, Crime on June 26th, 2010
A SPORTING MURDER by Chester D. Campbell
Greg Mckenzie Mystery No. 5
Night Shadows Press, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-9846044-0-1
Trade Paperback, 233 pages
$14.95
Reviewed by Larry W. Chavis
In the week before Christmas rumors have surfaced that something is amiss with a proposed deal to bring a National Basketball Association franchise to Nashville. Local P. I. Greg McKenzie, with his wife and partner, Jill, are hired to investigate by a group of hockey fans opposed to the NBA’s coming, fearing loss of the hockey team’s fan base. An informant promises information on the deal that will “blow your mind,” but turns up shot in the face instead. Is his murder the result of being in the wrong part of town or connected to the case? Greg and Jill determine to find out.
But this will be no ordinary Christmas week. Besides the murder and Greg’s finding the body, an old case rears it head in the person of a former Air Force lieutenant whom Greg had helped convict of drug-dealing back in his days as an OSI investigator. He’s out of prison, and still carrying a grudge. As the book moves along at a fast pace, the McKenzies are hard-pressed to unravel the events and dangers into which they are thrust. Are they connected to the NBA deal or to Greg’s old enemy? We are kept guessing until the disparate threads all come together on Christmas Day in a rousing and satisfying climax.
Readers of Mr. Campbell’s previous books will be pleased to be back in his Nashville with Greg and Jill McKenzie. His writing is clean and spare, giving us enough sense of place and character to feel as if we’ve settled in with friends, and then in turn ratcheting up the tension and suspense. Greg McKenzie is not a hard-boiled private investigator, but he’s tough and smart, well aware of the qualities Jill brings to the partnership. The way the case plays out against the backdrop of their lives gives them a genuineness that makes the reader feel these would be good folks to spend an afternoon with - or to have along in a gun fight. Once again, Campbell has hit the mark.
Copyright ©2010 Larry W. Chavis
DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION
I have a material connection because I received a review copy that I can keep for consideration in preparing to write this content. I was not expected to return this item after my review.
Review: THE LAST LIE by Stephen White
The Last Lie
By Stephen White
ISBN 978-0-525-95177-3
Published by Penguin Group, New York
Reviewed by Marlene Pyle
Here’s my idea of a great day: the sun is shining, and I’m out by the pool with a cold drink and a great book. The pool and the cold drink are not hard to come by; the great book sometimes is. I read a lot of books and most of them are pretty decent, but finding one that’s great…that’s a fairly rare treat. The Last Lie by Stephen White falls into the great category– Terrific plot, intriguing characters and a perfect pace. I see no way to improve this one.
Set in Colorado, the main character is Alan Gregory, a therapist with two dogs, two kids and marital problems of his own. His wife, Lauren, is an attorney in the DA’s office, and their relationship is not as smooth as it seems. After the deaths of their neighbors and close friends, Alan and Lauren have adopted their orphaned son, Jonah. Jonah’s been through a lot and it seems his troubles aren’t over yet.
Jonah’s former home has been sold. The new neighbors are a well-known attorney and his elegant wife. They are planning a major renovation of the home, but first they throw a large housewarming party. Afterwards there are allegations of a rape that took place in the house that night. Alan doesn’t want to get involved, but when information about the rape comes to him through a patient, he is drawn deeply into the ugly situation.
The only complaint I have about this novel is that I stayed out at the pool so long I got a little toasted, but that’s not White’s fault. Then again, maybe it is. If the story hadn’t been so engrossing…well, just make sure you’re in a cool, comfortable place when you start reading!
Copyright Ⓒ2010 Marlene Pyle
DISCLOSURE: I have a material connection because I received a review copy that I can keep for consideration in preparing to write this content. I was not expected to return this item after my review.
Review: HEMLOCK LAKE by Carolyn J. Rose
Hemlock Lake
Carolyn J. Rose
Five Star Publishing
ISBN-13: 978-1-59414-884-2
$25.95
311 pages
Reviewed by Amanda Capper
Carolyn J. Rose is fast becoming one of my favourite authors. I enjoyed Hemlock Lake every bit as much as The Big Grabowski, though the two mysteries have little in common other than compelling characters and believable action. Hemlock Lake is as dark as The Big Grabowski is light.
Sergeant Dan Stone is a proud and stubborn man. With a past he can’t face and a future he can’t imagine, all he has left is a job in Hemlock Lake, a town in the Catskill Mountains that forces him to do both; a town that knows about his wife’s accident, his brother’s suicide and his grief-stricken father. Now Hemlock Lake promises more pain as Dan pits himself against childhood friends in an attempt to find an arsonist who is threatening the future of the community.
Red herrings, dead bodies and romance show up to confuse our hero. Secrets are revealed and Dan feels progressively less in control, until a break in the case and what appears to be the final show down. But as Dan tries to tie up loose ends, he gets a phone call that proves all is not as it seems… and the deadly chase is on again.
It was past two a.m. when I finally put Hemlock Lake down and though I had to get up for work in four hours, I felt the book warranted the lack of sleep.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3km35X8xeig
Copyright @ 2010 Amanda Capper
DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION
I have a material connection because I received a review copy that I can keep for consideration in preparing to write this content. I was not expected to return this item after my review.
Review: FATAL DEDUCTION by Gayle Roper
Posted by Marlene in Crime, Romantic Suspense on June 24th, 2010
Fatal Deduction
Gayle Roper
ISBN 978-1-60142-013-8
Reviewed by Marlene Pyle
Gayle Roper’s latest novel, Fatal Deduction, has something for everyone. There is plenty of danger, suspense, a budding romance and even crossword puzzles!
When the main character, Libby Burton, finds a dead man on her doorstep, she doesn’t know who the man is or why he has been dumped there. Her only clue is a crossword puzzle found on the body and addressed to Libby’s twin sister, Tori. The puzzle is clearly a message, but Libby has no idea what it could be.
Libby doesn’t trust Tori. The two have little in common, but they have been forced to share their Aunt Stella’s house for six months in order to receive their inheritance. Libby is hoping to grow closer to her twin, but it isn’t looking good.
Roper weaves her story skillfully. She is a seasoned writer and that is evident here. The relationships between her characters are full of mixed emotions, as are most relationships in real life. Like most of us, everyone in this novel has complicated baggage from their past. They all have secrets, and Roper reveals them slowly, bringing us to know her characters well.
The novel touches on several complex subjects, such as mental illness, family dysfunction, religion and abortion, and Roper handles them insightfully. Her characters have very strong views on these issues, but the author manages to convey them without preaching.
While the writing could have been a little tighter, the story moves along at a fairly brisk pace. For those who like a little romance thrown in with their mysteries, this is a perfect combination.
Copyright 2010 Marlene Pyle
DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION
I have a material connection because I received a review copy that I can keep for consideration in preparing to write this content. I was not expected to return this item after my review.
Review: I SCREAM, YOU SCREAM by Wendy Lyn Watson
Posted by Sue Ann in Cozy mystery, Crime, Uncategorized on June 1st, 2010
I Scream, You Scream
A Mystery à la mode
Wendy Lyn Watson
Obsidian, October 2009
ISBN: 978-0-451-22835-2
Paperback, 302 pages
$6.99
Reviewed by Sue Ann Connaughton
The fictitious small town of Dalliance, Texas is the setting for I Scream, You Scream. Tally Jones, the financially-strapped owner of an ice cream shop, Remember the A-la-mode, contracts with her ex-husband Wayne to cater ice cream sundaes for his annual company picnic. In addition to the employees of Wayne’s Weed and Seed, the colorful collection of picnic attendees includes Tally’s high school sweetheart; the mayor and his wife; Wayne’s major business competitor; and local socialites. As the picnic winds down, a very public altercation develops between Tally, Wayne, and Wayne’s girlfriend Brittanie. By noontime the next day, the whole town buzzes about the news that Brittanie is dead. The cause of death is determined to be murder by poison and Wayne and Tally emerge as the leading suspects. With bits of help from others, Tally sets out to identify the murderer. Her research reveals that several persons had motive and opportunity to kill Brittanie. She brazenly confronts those she considers most suspicious and learns some interesting facts about each as she checks them off her list. Finally, Tally zeroes in on a culprit with an unpredictable motive for murder.
I Scream, You Scream is written from the perspective of the main character, Tally. In the first few chapters, Tally’s language sounds so relentlessly wise-cracking that it’s overbearing. However, by page 80, Tally’s language settles into a less-jolting pattern and the book picks up a fast-paced, suspenseful rhythm. I Scream, You Scream unfolds into a murder mystery that drips with the dense, cold, rich, seductive features of ice cream from the first page to the last. The characters form unlikely bonds; the plot twists just enough; and the resolution surprises the reader.
Copyright 2010 Sue Ann Connaughton
DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION
I have a material connection because I received a review copy that I can keep for consideration in preparing to write this content. I was not expected to return this item after my review.
Review: THE END GAME by Gerrie Ferris Finger
Posted by Larry in Crime, Police Procedural, Suspense on May 20th, 2010
Minotaur Books
May, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-312-61155-2
Hardcover, 304 PAGES
$24.99/ $29.99 Can.
Reviewed by Larry W. Chavis
Moriah Dru is an ex-cop from the Atlanta PD who left and founded Child Trace, Inc., at the urging of juvenile court judge Portia Devon, a childhood friend. With her police background and romantic relationship with Lt. Richard Lake of the force, Ms. Dru has been in the forefront of many missing-child cases, but none, perhaps, as urgent as the one with which this book opens.
Her planned weekend off with Lt. Lake is interrupted by a call from the judge: a house fire has claimed the lives of two foster parents in the system, but the two little girls are missing. So, Dru and Lake set off in a desperate bid to uncover what happened and find the girls.
The book’s cover carries the notice that it is the winner of the Malice Domestic Best First Traditional Mystery award, but one should not suppose that means ‘cozy,’ or that it is lacking in thrills. By Patricia Highsmith’s definition of suspense fiction, THE END GAME is chock-full of suspense. All the action is packed into a single twenty-four hour period, the fate of two innocent little girls hanging fire the whole time. But it does fit the traditional mystery category in that there is a puzzle, with clues and fair play with the reader, and a mostly satisfactory resolution. If no book is perfect, it might be said that this one, in spite of its time frame, is a bit slow in getting started, and might require a bit of patience on the reader’s part before it gets up to speed, much like the freight trains that play a role in the story, but that aside, Ms. Finger has written a book that will fill some pleasant hours.
Copyright ©2010 Larry W. Chavis
DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION
I have a material connection because I received a review copy that I can keep for consideration in preparing to write this content. I was not expected to return this item after my review.
Review: JOURNEY TO DIE FOR by Radine Trees Nehring
Posted by Marlene in Cozy mystery, Crime on May 11th, 2010
Journey to Die For
A “Something to Die For” Mystery
Radine Trees Nehring
ISBN 978-1-60364-020-6
Wolfmont Press
290 pages, trade paperback
$16.00
Reviewed by Marlene Pyle
Retired police officer Henry King and his new wife, Carrie, aren’t your usual sleuths. For one thing, they don’t live in a big city where crime is commonplace and murders happen every day. The Kings live in Arkansas, not usually considered a hot bed of criminal activity. The other thing that sets them apart from most crime novel’s main characters is that Henry and Carrie are senior citizens. It’s not often the over-sixty age group is represented in mainstream fiction. But this pair could teach all of us young whippersnappers a few things. They’re not sitting around doing jigsaw puzzles and knitting socks. When Carrie discovers a dead body, Henry’s first instinct is to stay out of the situation, but it soon becomes obvious that is not an option. Henry is reluctantly dragged into the investigation, and the two quickly become even more entangled.
The book (the sixth in the “Something to Die For” series) is well-researched and rich in historical detail, but even more important, the characters are well-drawn. In many cozy mysteries, the fast pace precludes much character description, but Nehring manages to combine an action-filled plot with insight into the hero and heroine, their backgrounds, motivations and fears. During his career in law enforcement, Henry was forced to kill in the line of duty, and the memory of that incident haunts him still. He knows he did what he had to, but has yet to reconcile himself with taking a life. Carrie comes to realize how much this weighs on Henry, and gains a deeper understanding of the man she married.
The affection between Carrie and Henry, while not graphic, (this is not, after all, a smut novel) is made clear. The two are very much in love. How refreshing to show that romance can be enjoyed by people who are members of AARP!
The realistic quality of Nehring’s Henry and Carrie bring the story to life and keeps the reader engaged throughout the novel, assuring that we will look forward to this couple’s next adventure.
DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: I have a material connection because I received a review copy that I can keep in consideration for preparing to write this content. I was not expected to return this item after my review.
Copyright Ⓒ 2010 Marlene Pyle
Review: LIVE RINGER by Lynda Fitzgerald
Posted by Marlene in Crime, Romantic Suspense, Suspense on May 6th, 2010
Live Ringer
Lynda Fitzgerald
ISBN 978-1-59146-327-6
Crystal Dreams Publishing
Oshawa, Ontario
Reviewed by Marlene Pyle
Sometimes you meet someone new and you feel an instant connection. Even though you barely know the person, you can tell you’re going to be great friends. For those of us who are avid readers, it’s the same with fictional characters. From a novel’s first pages, some characters seem so real that they catch our interest immediately and hold it until the story’s end.
Allie Grainger is that kind of heroine. Fresh from a bitter divorce and still reeling from the death of an aunt she was very close to, Allie escapes to the Florida beach house her aunt left her. She’s hoping to relax and try to figure out what to do next. All she wants is time to think and make plans for the rest of her life. But on her first day back in what is supposed to be a haven, she discovers the body of a woman floating in the water, a woman who bears a strong resemblance to Allie herself.
The retreat Allie had envisioned is not to be. Her two closest childhood friends still live in the area, and both have joined the police force. Though Allie hasn’t seen them in years, she’d hoped to rekindle those relationships from a less complicated time. She just hadn’t imagined it would happen quite like this, and now she isn’t sure who she can trust.
Fitzgerald has created an appealing and well-developed character that could easily carry a sequel. Allie has a background in the newspaper field at the Atlanta Journal Constitution. By the end of this novel, she is considering a reporter’s job at a local paper, so it would make sense for her to research story lines and become involved in crime investigations. The door has also been left open for a possible love interest, so there is a romantic path to explore as well. Readers will look forward to meeting Allie Grainger again.
DISCLOSURE: I have a material connection because I received a review copy that I can keep for consideration in preparing to write this content. I was not expected to return this item after my review.
Copyright Ⓒ2010 Marlene Pyle
Review: DEATH AT THE FAIR by Frances McNamara
Posted by John in Crime, Historical fiction on April 29th, 2010
Death at the Fair
Frances McNamara
Allium Press of Chicago, 2009
ISBN 978-0-9840676-1-9
Trade paper, 215 pages
$14.95, U.S.
Reviewed by John Theilmann
Period mysteries pose a special challenge for authors as they must tell compelling tales and get the history right. Frances McNamara, a librarian at the University of Chicago, has accomplished both tasks in this murder mystery set in the Chicago of the 1893 Columbian Exposition. The protagonist is Emily Cabot, a plucky graduate student at the new University of Chicago, who solves a murder committed at the Fair in order to exonerate a friend.
Cabot is forced to investigate the murder of Charles Larrimer, a wealthy cotton dealer from Kentucky who was visiting the fair with his wife Marguerite, in order to clear her friend Dr Stephen Chapman who was accused of murdering Larrimer in the a tent on the Midway of the Fair. Emily receives help with the investigation from Ida B. Wells, assistance that uncovers Larrimer’s unsavory past including his instigation of a lynching in Kentucky.
Emily is able to get Chapman freed after Eugene Prendergast, who had shot Larrimer, kills Chicago mayor Carter Harrison. The authorities finally acknowledge the mass of evidence that she has presented on behalf of Chapman as well as the evidence implicating Prendergast. She is, however, not reinstated as a student at the University of Chicago. As the book concludes, Emily Cabot is preparing to undertake a new career in settlement house work at Hull House, leading to second novel in the new series.
The author captures the excitement and the melancholy of the last days of the fair as well as somewhat of Chicago life at the time. Some of the excitement of the University of Chicago and its experiment in admitting women also comes across in the novel as does the disapproval that many women students faced. In addition the book provides vignettes concerning contemporary racial attitudes and the impact of lynching on American life.
Cabot receives help from her brother Alden in solving the murder and support from her mother who was visiting the Fair. Nonetheless, she is expelled from Chicago at the end of the book because of her conduct which was considered unladylike. Some figures such as Dean MarionTalbot who championed the enrollment of women at the new University are favorably portrayed.
Ida B. Wells had already begun her crusade against lynching when Cabot encountered her and proved to be of help in helping to obtain proof to help exonerate Chapman. McNamara’s portrayal of Wells, and indeed of other African Americans in the novel comes close to verging into the thicket of political correctness. All of the African American characters in the book are noble and helpful to Emily and can be seen in stark contrast to some Chicago political officials as well as Charles Larrimer and even Emily’s fellow graduate student, Clara Shea, who argues that blacks should accept their subordinate place in American society.
Overall, this is a spritely mystery that moves along nicely to the climax and resolution in the last few pages. McNamara does a good job of developing her major character and in capturing the Chicago of the 1890s. Particularly given the interesting people who populated Chicago at the turn of the century such as Clarence Darrow, Louis Sullivan, and John Peter Altgeld, I look forward to reading the next books in the Emily Cabot series.
DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION
I have a material connection because I received a review copy that I can keep for consideration in preparing to write this content. I was not expected to return this item after my review.
Review: WITHOUT MERCY by Lisa Jackson
Without Mercy
Lisa Jackson
Kensington Publishing C orp., New York, NY 10019
Hardcover - 424 pp
ISBN 978-0-7582-2564-1
$25.00
Reviewed by Allan Leverone
Jules Farentino is floundering; her life in a shambles after discovering her father murdered, presumably as a result of a botched home invasion. Unable to cope with her recurring nightmares and debilitating migraine headaches, Jules loses her teaching job and fears the worst when her seventeen year old half-sister Shaylee is shipped off to an elite boarding school for troubled teens after numerous scrapes with the law.
After receiving a panicked call from Shay that things are not as they seem at the remote school located in the mountains of Oregon, Jules begins researching Blue Rock Academy. Despite the idyllic picture painted by the school’s website, and glowing testimonials from former students, she fears there is a darker side to the institution. One student missing and feared dead. A teacher let go following a sex scandal with another student.
Concerned for her sister’s safety, Jules manages to get herself hired as a teacher at Blue Rock just as the biggest snowstorm of the decade hits, and just as more dead bodies begin piling up. Reunited with a former lover, Cooper Trent, himself working undercover to determine the fate of the first missing student, Jules discovers there is no shortage of potential suspects in the grisly murders.
With a blizzard raging and the school cut off from the outside world, Jules and Trent must put aside their differences and find a way to work together to have any chance of saving Shay and themselves and avoiding further bloodshed.
Lisa Jackson is the author of an incredible eighty-six books, many of them New York Times bestsellers. In WITHOUT MERCY, Jackson stirs up a stew of troubled teens and morally questionable adults, mixing in equal parts lost love, treachery, sex, trust and betrayal. When the bodies begin falling at Blue Rock Academy, the list of potential suspects is nearly as long as the roster of students and teachers at the school, and survival depends upon unraveling the clues before it is too late.
The book starts unevenly, as Jackson works to establish sub-plots involving the murder of Jules’ father, the failure of her romance with Cooper Trent under circumstances that are never fully explained, her disastrous rebound marriage, and tangled familial relationships where nothing is quite as it seems. Once the action begins at Blue Rock Academy, however, Jackson moves the story along, ratcheting up the suspense, concealing the identity of the mysterious “Leader,” the evil force behind all of the dark happenings at the school, and saving one final, shocking twist for the last few pages.
There is not a whole lot new in WITHOUT MERCY, but Lisa Jackson has developed a formula that works and works well, and her many fans will find plenty to like in her latest offering.
DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION
I have a material connection because I received a review copy that I can keep for consideration in preparing to write this content. I was not expected to return this item after my review.
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