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Recommended by members of the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association
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Alphabetical list of all Killer Book Recommendations
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Issue 3. 12
December 2006
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RUMPOLE AND THE REIGN OF TERROR by John Mortimer (Viking, $23.95). Recommended by George Rishel, The Sly Fox, Virden, IL, www.slyfoxvirden.com: You can almost hear Hilda (She Who Must Be Obeyed) saying, "so this is what it has come to, Rumpole, defending terrorists?" But Horace, ever the champion of a person's legal rights, is battling the harsh, secretive laws New Labour has enacted to combat terrorism. It's not your usual bread-and-butter burglary by one of the Timson clan, though the Pakistani doctor Rumpole defends is married to a Timson. The clan, however, doesn't much approve of the doctor and drops Rumpole as the brief in their cases. Rumpole, of course, is able to ferret out the truth as only he can with much help from Chateau Thames Embankment at Pommeroy's Wine Bar. Meanwhile, Hilda is writing her memoirs and going to dinner and a movie with Judge Bullingham. Now, what's all that about?
GREYWALKER by Kat Richardson (Penguin, $14.95) Recommended by Deb Andolino, Aliens & Alibis Books, Columbia, SC, www.aliensandalibis.com: Harper Blaine, Private Investigator, died -- for two minutes. During that time things changed for her. She now can see ghosts, weird settings, monsters. When she asks her doctor about this he tells her that her problem is not unusual for people who have died and been resuscitated. He also gives her the names of two people, Ben and Mara, who can help her. Harper seeks the assistance of Ben, self-proclaimed "ghost guy" and linguistics professor, and his wife, Mara, a witty Irish witch. They educate Harper on the Grey, "a place between our world and the next." And her new gift (or curse) is about to drag her into that world of vampires and ghosts, magic and witches, necromancers and sinister artifacts. Whether she likes it or not. I love the cross-over books -- such as a combination of Urban Fantasy and mystery -- and am always on the lookout for a new author. This is a well-crafted story and a lot of fun. If you like Jim Butcher, the early books by Laurel K. Hamilton, Charlaine Harris or noir PI mysteries, try this book. I don't think you'll be disappointed. The next book in the series is due out in August of 2007.
A WHOLE NEW LIFE by Betsy Thornton (St. Martin’s, $23.95). Recommended by Karen Spengler, I Love a Mystery, Mission, KS, www.iloveamysery.com: When Jenny Williams loses control of her car and dies in the resulting crash, her husband Jackson assumes that bald tires were the cause of the accident. He learns of his mistake when the police come to arrest him for his wife’s murder; the autopsy showed that Jenny had been poisoned. The characters are the standout element in this well-written mystery. Jackson’s supporters include his next-door neighbor Ruth and her eleven-year old son; his long-lost daughter Mona and his big-shot lawyer and the eccentric former cop turned P.I. who works for him.
DISORDERLY ELEMENTS by Bob Cook (Felony & Mayhem, $14.95). Recommended by J.D. Singh, Sleuth of Baker Street, Toronto, ON, Canada www.sleuthofbakerstreet.com: Michael Wyman is about to be made redundant—both the university where he’s a professor and the British secret service for which he’s worked 30 years are about to lay him off. Happily, a miracle is at hand, in the form of a Communist spy burrowed deep in British intelligence and he’s ready to come clean. But only to Wyman. I picked it up because of the cover illustration and read it because the publisher promised that fans of Ross Thomas would like it. Well, I’m a fan of Ross Thomas. I read it. And they were correct. I loved it. So will you. |
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Issue 3. 11 November 2006
edited by Karen Spengler I Love a Mystery Mission, KS www.iloveamystery.com
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THE
BOOK OF LOST THINGS by John Connolly
(Atria, $23). Recommended by David Hunenberg, The Poisoned Pen,
Scottsdale AZ,
www.poisonedpen.com:
Connolly, well know for his gritty Charlie Parker series,
has expanded his literary horizons with a tale sure to be a hit with
adult and teen readers of Harry Potter or Artemis Fowl. David at age
12 has lost his mother to illness although he did everything a child
could imagine to help her get well. His world seems empty. This is
until the books they shared together and she left him begins to talk
to him, first in faint whispers, then with characters coming to life.
Soon his hours of loneliness, anger over the The tale is far from Connolly's usual venue but his almost poetic prose and attention to detail remains intact and the polished writing offers up nuggets of humor that are pure gold. After the first few pages the tale draws the reader into every page, every chapter. Connolly's Irishness is apparent yet the story is universal in its truths."
THE MAN WHO DIED LAUGHING & THE MAN WHO LIVED BY NIGHT by David Handler, reissued in an omnibus edition, with a new introduction by the author (Busted Flush Press, $26 hardcover; $18 trade paper), recommended by Karen Spengler, I Love a Mystery, Mission, KS www.iloveamystery.com: Lulu’s back! For the uninitiated, Lulu the basset hound is, in my opinion, the best dog in all of mysterydom. She doesn’t talk, she doesn’t solve mysteries, we aren’t privy to her thoughts. She is simply…a dog, albeit a dog with unusual tastes in food, discerning tastes in people and the ability to wrap her family around her little toe. In other words, a dog like the ones that many of us know. In this omnibus edition of The Man Who Died Laughing & The Man Who Lived by Night (out of print for nearly two decades), Busted Flush Press has brought back the first two books in this delightful series about Lulu and her person, Stuart Hoag . Hoagy, as he likes to be called (as in the cheesesteak, not the musician) is a writer, a one-hit wonder, still famous but now reduced to ghosting books for celebrities in order to make a living. The Man Who Died Laughing finds Hoagy reluctantly taking on his first ghostwriting assignment for Sonny Day, a washed-up comedian—once part of a wildly famous comedy duo--who has promised to reveal the real cause of the partnership’s breakup in a tell-all autobiography. When Sonny is killed, Hoagy is drawn--even more reluctantly--into the murder investigation of the man who had become his friend. In the Man Who Lived by Night, Hoagy, now more comfortable with his ghostwriting career, but still hoping to recapture his own literary muse, is in London (with Lulu) to write the memoirs of aging rock superstar Tristam Scarr. Both books are filled with cultural references that—rather than making the books seem dated—were even more fun than when I first read the books. Busted Flush plans to reissue the remaining six books in the Hoagy/Lulu series in three more omnibus editions.
WHAT ANGELS FEAR
by C. S. Harris (Signet Mystery, $6.99) recommended by Deb Andolino,
Aliens & Alibis Books, Columbia, SC,
www.aliensandalibis.com: I am a sucker for historical
mysteries where the protagonist (usually male, wealthy and handsome)
is accused of a crime and must clear his name. Therefore, I was
excited to find a new author who has given us a fresh look at the
sub-genre. The dueling pistol of Sebastian S. Cyr, Viscount
Devlin, is found beside the body of a beautiful young woman who has
been raped and savagely murdered. In addition, damning testimony of a
witness to the crime further incriminates him.
THE ACCOMPLICE by Elizabeth Ironside (Felony & Mayhem, $14.95), recommended by Tom & Enid Schantz, Rue Morgue, Lyons, CO, www.ruemorguepress.com: Jean Loftus has led a comfortable and orderly life for over 40 years at her spacious country home in Sussex. But everything changes when workmen dig up a child’s skeleton in her well-tended garden, a discovery that exposes Jean’s secret past as a child in revolutionary Russia and as a refugee during two world wars. Jean’s kindly neighbor, Zita, wants to help Jean keep her secrets, but the arrival of a mysterious Russian student puts an end to any hope of that, as does the investigation opened by the local police. What follows is a leisurely, often elegantly, told tale of how impossible it is to escape the past. As the truth about those long gone days gradually unfolds Zita finds herself increasingly involved in the affair. If she fails to act does this make her an accessory or—worse--an accomplice to murder? Written by the wife of the current British ambassador to the United States, this book failed to find a U.S. publisher for ten years even though the author had been shortlisted for several of Britain’s most prestigious literary awards
ALL MORTAL FLESH by Julia Spencer-Fleming (St. Martin’s Minotaur, $22.95), recommended by Tom & Enid Schantz, Rue Morgue, Lyons, CO, www.ruemorguepress.com: Faithful readers of this acclaimed series already know the premise: former Army helicopter pilot Clare Fergusson is the first woman pastor at St. Aldan’s Episcopal church in the tiny Adirondacks town of Millers Kill, and she’s not at all what they were expecting. Lonely and frequently at odds with her conservative parishioners and diocese, she’s found a friend and kindred spirit in police chief Russ Van Alstyne, also an Army veteran and unfortunately very married. Over the course of four earlier books in this sensitively written series, the two have struggled with their feelings for each other while working together solving murders and raising a few eyebrows in the town. Now the brutal murder of Russ’s wife, from whom he has recently separated, turns their already conflicted world upside down. Both Russ and Clare are suspects, and both are assigned watchdogs by their superiors, he a politically ambitious investigator from the state police and she an overly helpful deacon sent by the diocese. What follows is a dizzying rollercoaster of a ride, with one wholly unexpected plot twist after another following in rapid succession. And just when things seem sorted out at last, the author has one last surprise in store for the reader, one that raises all sorts of questions about where the series is headed.
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Issue 3.10
October 2006
Edited by Maryelizabeth Hart Mysterious Galaxy
San Diego, CA
www.mystgalaxy.com
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A Stolen Season by Steve Hamilton (St. Martin's Minotaur, $22.95), recommended by Jamie Agnew, Aunt Agatha's, Ann Arbor, Mich., auntagathas.com: A Stolen Season begins with a typical Upper Peninsula moment – a bunch of friends are waiting on a dock for Fourth of July fireworks when it begins snowing. Things get serious soon after, however, when a boat wrecks nearby, bringing some very nasty characters into Alex McKnight's life. Not helping his mood is the fact that now that he's finally surrendered his well guarded heart to Ontario Police officer Natalie Reynaud, she's in another country, and on an undercover mission that precludes any but the most fleeting contact with him. After one of those fleeting contacts things get much worse for Alex. Steve's always admired other writers who are a little darker than himself, but in A Stolen Season, he takes the reader on a journey that's as noir as they come. I want to use action movie cliches for this book like "This time it's personal!" or "Sometimes a man has to cross the line!" – when you Taser your best friend, you know things are getting heavy – but the book itself is anything but a cliché. It's one of the strongest entries in a brilliant series by one of mystery fiction's best writers, vivid, viscerally moving, fast paced and just plain excellent. Hamilton's an author who has more than fulfilled the promise of his Edgar for Best First Novel, and it's past time he got serious consideration for Best Novel period. Let me be the first to nominate A Stolen Season . (Also recommended by Becci West, I Love a Mystery, Mission, KS www.iloveamystery.net)
Four Kinds of Rain by Robert Ward (St Martin's $22.95), recommended by Patrick Millikin of The Poisoned Pen, Scottsdale, AZ. www.poisonedpen.com: I've always been a sucker for crime novels involving psychiatrists/psychologists, especially if they're slightly shady. Indeed, the mental health racket given us some of our finest recent noirs, such as Domenic Stansberry's excellent The Confession ($6.99). Robert Ward's twisted new novel centers on down and out psychologist Bob Wells, who's recently been divorced and is flat broke. One of his patients, Emile Bardan, is obsessed with paranoid delusions that someone is trying to steal something from him, an antique mask that he claims is priceless. When Wells discovers that the mask is indeed real, he finds himself at that classic noir intersection of desperation and ill-fated opportunity. Wells decides to steal the mask, and all things go to hell from there.
Grave Surprise by Charlaine Harris (Berkley, $23.95), recommended by Deb Andolino, Aliens & Alibis Books, Columbia, SC www.aliensandalibis.com: I was very pleased to see that Harper Connelly was back in a sequel to 2005's Grave Sight. Due to a being hit by lightning, Harper is able to find dead bodies and, when the body is located, tell what killed the person. Harris dedicates the book to the survivors of lightning strikes which made me realize that surviving a lightning strike was not necessarily the end of the matter. The dedication piqued my curiosity enough for me to do an online search. I was amazed at the number of resources available to lightning strike survivors and the kind of issues they deal with. Because what Harper does is difficult to believe, she's invited by an anthropology professor to read the graves in a small graveyard in Memphis. The detailed information for the graves, including the cause of death for each corpse, had just been discovered. This meant that Harper would have no prior knowledge of the causes. But one of the graves holds more than one corpse -- and the second corpse happens to be a young girl who Harper had searched for a year ago. To make matters more interesting, once the corpse of the young girl is removed, a new corpse shows up in the grave. I like Harper and her brother-by-marriage, Tolliver Lang. In fact all of the characters in this book and the previous book in the series are well drawn. The series is highly recommended. In fact, I like it better than the more popular Sookie Stackhouse series by the same author.
L.A. Rex
by Will Beall (Riverhead Books $24.95), recommended by Joanne Sinchuk, Murder on the Beach Mystery Bookstore,
Delray Beach, FL,
www.murderonthebeach.com
:
L.A. Rex is probably one of the most hard-boiled, violent books I
have read in a long time. I hated the violence and longed to put it down, but it
was so compelling I was up to 2 am reading.
Sleep With The Fishes by Brian Wiprud (Dell, $6.99 -- Reprint of author's first book, revised), recommended by Maggie Mason, Lookin' for Books, San Diego, CA: Sid Bifulco has found a bit of peace in the woods. Sid was a mob hit man who got his nickname, Sleep, because he liked to put his victims to sleep before whacking them. He worked out a deal to rat out a mob family, but had also arranged for the mob to be taken care of, so he wouldn't be pursued. Now he lives by a river, and is able to pursue his new hobby, fishing. Sid became an expert in fishing while in the joint, all but actually doing it. His next door neighbor is an expert, and seems willing to help Sid out. Sadly, Sid has a connection to Russ Smonig, one that Russ is blissfully unaware of. The word gets out that Sid is in town, and a when a mobster escapes prison and heads to Sid's hideaway, Russ accidentally kills him in an auto accident. There are a couple of local characters nearby when the accident takes place, and all efforts to hide the body and destroy a tape accidentally made of the event turn into a real stooge-like shindig. Sid can be very likable, and his ingenuity is flawless. Russ is a man going through a rough patch, but you just know he'll be OK. The supporting cast is varied and entertaining, and one that you won't soon forget. Wiprud shows his versatility, and that he know what he's doing when it comes to fishing. |
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Issue 3.9
September 2006
edited by Deb Andolino Aliens & Alibis Books Columbia, SC www.aliensandalibis.com
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47 RULES OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE BANK ROBBERS
by Troy Cook (Capital Press, $14.95), recommended by Maggie Mason, Lookin for
Books, San Diego, CA: Tara Evans had an unusual childhood.
While she did have a Barbie doll, it was used by her father as a prop explaining
how they would rob the next bank. She was nine years old when she first became a
bank robber, and at twenty-two years old is still at it. She sees her father,
Wyatt, get crazier and more violent with each bank, and vows to break free. In a
small town, she meets Max Williams, son of the local sheriff. Max has had a bit
of a wild youth, to the point where the his father is at his wits end. Tara and
Max evade both fathers and hook up. On the run from the law and family, they
begin Max on his real criminal career. Starting with robbing convenience stores,
THE MEPHISTO CLUB by Tess Gerritsen (Ballantine, $24.95), recommended by AnneMarie Cox, Mysterious Galaxy, CA ww.mystgalaxy.com: Tess Gerritsen has done it again! Rizzoli is back. The story begins with the funeral of a father. His son is taken in by family. The most prophetic words are "Amy Saul had no idea what they were about to bring home with them." BOOM -- twelve years into the future and bizarre murders are beginning to happen. The only thing they have in common, for now, is the signs left at the crime scenes. The funeral scene is the first time that you are introduced to the evil that is about to be unleashed. You very rarely meet The Beast, in fact throughout the book you only hear his voice seven times and all in back stories. Tess has spun a wonderful, suspenseful thriller. I was enthralled from the first page! There are several twists and turns and I had several ah ha! moments, but it's not until almost the end of the book that you actually meet The Beast and hear his story. A subplot is the tale of Rizzoli's parents and how she tries to deal with them, her husband and daughter. This subplot balances out the horror of The Beast with its humor of the typical family with all its bumps and bruises. DEAD CAT BOUNCE (Harper $14) by Norman Green, recommended by Barbara Peters, The Poisoned Pen, Scottsdale, AZ, ww w.poisonedpen.com. Visit the dark side of Jersey and NY where Stoney, staying sober but missing the family who tossed him out, is still partnered wi th Fat
Tommy. Then from the blue comes a call from Stoney's 17-year-old
daughter Marissa who gives him a story-she's being stalked. The truth,
it emerges, is worse; for thrills she did a little gig as a stripper
and now a violent, dangerous man with a yen for the young won't leave
her alone. Fat Tommy runs up a stump trying to ID this guy
ART'S BLOOD by Vicki
Lane (Dell, $6.99), recommended by Deb Andolino, Aliens & Alibis Books,
Columbia, SC,
www.aliensandalibis.com:
This is the second book in the Elizabeth Boodweather series. The first
book, SIGNS IN THE BLOOD (Dell, $6.99) is a book I have recommended highly to
customers and I was very pleased to find that this new entry in the
series is as good or better -- and they both turned out to be impossible to put
down once I
started them. Fundamentalist Christian snake handlers and liberal
back-to-the-landers; a secretive white supremacist militia and undercover police
agents; simple rural mountain dwellers and sophisticated urban artists-throw in
a counterculture commune of allegedly extraterrestrial origin and that still
wouldn't cover all
THE
THIRTEENTH TALE by Diane Setterfield
(Atria $26), recommended by Joanne Sinchuk, Murder on the Beach
Mystery Bookstore, Del Ray Beach, FL,
www.murderonthebeach.com:
Categorized as a "Literary Thriller", The Thirteenth Tale is
one of my favorite
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Issue 3.8
August 2006
edited by Karen Spengler Mission, KS |
EVANLY BODIES by Rhys Bowen (St. Martin’s Minotaur, $23.95, August 8th release), recommended by Tom and Enid Schantz, Rue Morgue, Lyons, CO, www.ruemorguepress.com: In the close-knit village of Llanfair in northern Wales, there’s Evans-the-Milk, Evans-the-Meat, and Evans-the-Post (for the milkman, butcher, and postman who share the same surname). Most important, there’s Evans-the-Police, the clever young village constable who has been such a thorn in the side of his superiors that he’s been reassigned to a new Major Crimes Unit, where he’s forced to submit to the most disagreeable Detective-Inspector Bragg. A series of murders committed with the same unusual weapon has the unit stumped, as there is no apparent connection between the victims. Meanwhile, the rebellious teenage daughter of a Pakistani couple new to Llanfair has gone missing after learning that her parents have arranged a marriage for her with a much older man. Her hot-headed fundamentalist brother is a suspect, and although it’s now outside of his purview, Evans has a personal interest in the case, as his wife Bronwen had befriended the young woman. This engaging series by an Edgar-nominated author can always be depended on for fair-play plotting, a likable protagonist, and an authentic sense of place.
DARKNESS & LIGHT by John Harvey (Harcourt, $25.00, July release), recommended by Tom and Enid Schantz, Rue Morgue, Lyons, CO, www.ruemorguepress.com: Best known for his 10-book series about jazz-loving Nottingham police detective Charlie Resnick, Harvey two books ago introduced a new sleuth, retired Detective Inspector Frank Elder, who has withdrawn from the world to a tiny cottage in Cornwall after a painful divorce. He keeps getting drawn back into police work, however--this time by a friend of his ex-wife’s, whose older sister has disappeared without a trace. The friend suspects foul play, and Elder’s painstaking investigation confirms it, as well as a link to a 14-year-old unsolved murder. Harvey is a skilled and meticulous writer, able to portray humanity’s dark side as well as the reined-in emotions of his decent but wounded protagonist, who is ridden with guilt for having put his beloved teenage daughter in danger in a previous case. With his talent and credentials, the author should be much better known than he is to fans of the British urban police procedural.
TWO TIME by Chris Knopf ($26.00, The Permanent Press, June release), recommended by Maggie Mason, Lookin for Books, San Diego, CA: Sam Acquillo is not the sort of Hamp ton resident you read about in the society pages. He's from a working class family, and is a formerly well-employed engineer. He gave up his job in a spectacular fashion, and with it went the big house, the wife who wanted the big house and a good relationship with his daughter. He's working on mending the relationship with his daughter. Sam has moved into the home his father built on land that is now very valuable. His dog is his best companion, as Sam is a bit of a loner. He is friendly with a cop, Joe Sullivan, a tavern keeper, and an attorney, Jackie Swaitkowski. He might even be considered to be in a relationship with the woman next door, Amanda, whom he met in the first book in the series. While waiting for Jackie at a restaurant, Sam watches a man playing ball with a dog. Just as Jackie finally shows up, Sam realizes what bothered him about the happy scene, and pushes Jackie for cover. His action saves their lives, but the other people on the deck perish when an explosion rocks the restaurant. Jackie’s injuries will require plastic surgery, but she is still lucky to be alive. Jonathan Eldridge--the man with the dog and the ball--was not so lucky, since it was his car that blew up, with him inside. Sam finds out a bit about Jonathan Eldridge, and his cop friend Joe asks Sam to talk to the widow. She's an agoraphobic and not an easy interview for the police. Sam reluctantly agrees, and finds that all is not what it seems. Eldridge was a financial consultant, and he had three very unhappy clients, one of them his brother. When Sam comes home one night to find Joe in a chair in front of his house, stabbed, Sam is sure he was the intended victim, and this makes him even more determined to find the truth. The first book in the series was a strong debut, and this second book proves that the skill of the writer is very real. Sam is a complicated man, and Knopf takes great pains to make him real. You understand his motivations and his reactions to the way his life has turned out. I liked the other characters, and the ending of this book was a surprise. THE MOURNFUL TEDDY by John J. Lamb (Berkley Prime Crime, $6.99, August release), recommended by Lelia Taylor, Creatures ‘n Crooks Bookshoppe, Richmond, VA, http://www.cncbooks.com: Lamb’s first mystery, Echoes of the Lost Order, established him as a mystery author to watch and The Mournful Teddy, first in the Bear Collector’s series, is every bit as good. Brad Lyon, a retired San Francisco homicide cop, has moved with his wife, Ashleigh, to her Virginia mountains hometown. The idyllic setting is disturbed by the discovery of a body in the river at Brad and Ash’s back door and Brad’s cop instincts kick in when the local sheriff refuses to treat the death as a possible homicide. In the meantime, the couple has an exhibit of her teddy bears at an extravaganza where a rare and very valuable bear is set to be auctioned--but how could there be a connection between a murder and teddy bears? Lamb blends police procedural with traditional mystery to create an intriguing puzzle with more than a little edge, while offering lots of fascinating information about the world of collectible teddy bears.
NO GOOD DEEDS by Laura Lippman (William Morrow, $24.95, July release), recommended by Robin Agnew, Aunt Agatha's, Ann Arbor, MI, http://auntagathas.com: Laura Lippman, who has won every major mystery award, is hardly a neglected author, but as she continues to write she has matured and her later novels are far superior to her early ones. Her newest Tess Monaghan installment, No Good Deeds, centers on Tess' longtime companion, Crow, as well as on Tess. The alternating points of view add to the interest of this story, which begins when Crow takes home a homeless kid for dinner and a place to sleep. The kid, of course, is secretly casing the joint and ends up crashing Crow's car in the middle of the night. The more seasoned Tess is less surprised by this than the more naïve Crow, but Tess has figured a link between the homeless kid and the recent murder of a state's attorney, a case she's consulting on for the Beacon Light. When one of the homeless kids' friends is murdered, he and Crow go into hiding. Tess is frightened because she's afraid Crow's very naiveté will do him in and she keeps mum by necessity when a trio of government types start dogging her every move. The sophistication of the opening metaphor - it involves Horton Hears a Who - and the lightning quick and complex narrative, combined with Lippman's considerable skills with character development, make this book another standout in what has become one of the classic P.I. series. Sure, Lippman owes a big debt to Sara Paretsky and Sue Grafton, but she's made Tess Monaghan's Baltimore her own. SECOND BURIAL FOR A BLACK PRINCE by Andrew Nugent (St. Martin’s Minotaur, $23.95, July release), recommended by Karen Spengler, I Love a Mystery, Mission, KS, http://iloveamystery.com: Although this is ostensibly second in a series featuring a group of Dublin police detectives, they actually play very little part in this delightful mystery. The story takes place in Dublin’s close-knit Little Africa, where twenty-three year old Jude Ekemauche Okafor, a Nigerian of the Igbo tribe, has recently arrived to join his older brother, Shadrack. When Shadrack is murdered in a particularly brutal way—he is left in a ditch to die of blood loss after someone amputated his leg—the police are left with no leads. Shad, after all, was highly regarded by everyone who knew him, even by members of tribes who would have been his enemies in his native Nigeria. The police are particularly puzzled by one aspect of the case: why did Shad’s attacker take the time to give him anesthetic before performing the operation? Andrew Nugent, who was formerly a missionary in Africa, brings the inhabitants of Little Africa to life: gentle Jude, who goes from naïve newcomer to a strong and wise young man while he searches for his brother’s killer; the orphan Pita, embraced by the African community after he arrives in Dublin half-dead in the hold of a container ship; Fat Isaac, who wears the traditional toga, red bonnet and neckbeads of a chief. Highly recommended for anyone who enjoyed The Coroner’s Lunch or No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency.
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Issue 3.7
July 2006
edited by Robin Agnew Aunt Agatha's
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THE PALE BLUE EYE by Louis Bayard (Harper Collins, $24.95, May release), recommended by Jill Hinckley, Murder by the Book, Portland, OR, Bayard's debut a few years ago, Mr. Timothy, cast as the detective the Tiny Tim of A Christmas Carol, after he had grown up. This second outing features Edgar Allan Poe before he had grown up, when he was still a cadet at West Point, Another cadet is found dead, a seeming suicide until his heart is removed from the body several hours later. Gus Lando, a retired New York City detective, is asked to conduct a discreet investigation. Gus enlists the disreputable Poe as his assistant, and the growing friendship between the two, who shar a bond of tragic loss, rises like a flood through the novel to crash over the reader in an explosive finale. Beautifully written, the novel is threaded with a poem the young Poe writes - or, as he believes, channels from his dead mother - that offers a clever clue to the mystery's powerful solution. This is an original and absorbing tale that offers a thoughtful, witty portrait of one of the brilliant creators of the mystery genre.
TEN SECOND STAIRCASE by Christopher Fowler (Bantam, $24.00, June release), recommended by Tom and Enid Shantz, Rue Morgue, Lyons, CO: The Peculiar Crimes Unit was established in London during World War II and staffed largely by brilliant but unconventional academics to solve unusual, high-profile crimes, It's two senior detectives, the rude, devious, technologically challenged Arthur Bryant and his slightly younger and more personable colleague John May, are still around in the present day, considerably the worse for wear but still crafty and keenly inquisitive. But the PCU may become history if these mismatched and cranky detectives can't crack their latest case, the baffling murder of a controversial artist found dead in her own much reviled installation, who - according to an eyewitness - was put there by a caped man in a tricorn hat mounted on a black stallion, Soon dubbed The Highwayman, he starts turning up all over London, linked to equally bizarre crimes, and he may just be the undoing of the PCU. Witty. cleverly plotted, steeped in arcane lore on a wide variety of subjects, and full of eccentric and interesting characters, this is the impossible-crime mystery at it's ingenious best. SNAKESKIN SHAMISEN by Naomi Hirahara (Delta, $12.00, April release), recommended by Jim Huang, The Mystery Company, Carmel, IN, Mas Arai is a 70 year-old-gardener now living in Los Angeles. In 1945, he was in Hiroshima. He's lived in the United States for decades, long enough to be "first in line to order Spam, eggs, and rice for breakfast or a couple of Spam sushi." In other words, Mas is at the uneasy intersection between his Japanese heritage and the larger landscape of today's Los Angeles. Naomi Hirahara's writing is unique and, at times, beautiful: it's a voice that speaks in familiar English in a way that feels alien. It's especially interesting to read the dialogue that she gives to her protagonist. Mas' English is halting, broken and heavily accented; at the same time it's full of nuance and emotion. The mystery grows out of a shamisen, a Japanese instrument "shaped like a banjo, the kind that geisha and old men in kimono plucked while sitting on their knees." Mas spies this particular shamisen being played at a party for a friend. A man is killed at the party, and the instrument is damaged. Mas is both curious and uninterested in investigating, but he sticks with it. Mas is, in fact, an excellent detective. His persistence and his ability to make connections between the present and the past, between the Japanese community and the LA scene lead him to a satisfying resolution. This is the first of Hirahara's three Mas Arai mysteries that I've read; I'm planning to go back and read the first two as soon as I can.
RUSTY NAIL by J.A. Konrath (Hyperion, $23.95, June release), recommended by Linda Tonneson, Mysterious Galaxy, San Diego, CA, : Once again Lt. Jacqueline? Jack? Daniels of the Chicago Police Department faces a very nasty killer. Once again she dresses well, only to totally muck up every great pair of shoes she owns, and once again I am totally involved in this latest case of Jack's that includes snuff videos, crazy characters (and these are the good guys!) and, once again, bloodcurdling scenarios that the faint-hearted should be advised to avoid. Yes, once again the eww! factor is way up. I loved it. No one combines smart-mouth characters and nail-biting suspense like Joe Konrath. I highly recommend starting at the beginning of this series with a Whiskey Sour apperitif, then follow with a Bloody Mary chaser, and belly up to the bar to order another round with Rusty Nail. You'll definitely feel sated. Whiskey Sour and Bloody Mary are Hyperion paperbacks, $6.99 each.
STILL LIFE by Louis Penny (St. Martin's Minotaur, $22.95, July release), recommended by Tom and Enid Schantz, Rue Morgue, Lyons, CO, ruemorguepress.com: Into the quiet village of Three Pines south of Montreal comes Inspector Armand Gamache when an old lady is killed in the brilliant autumn woods not far from her home. Her death has all the trappings of a hunting accident, but Gamache and his team aren't so sure, and the only way to find out is to get to know Jane Neal's friends and neighbors on the idyllic, out-of-the-way spot, historically an English loyalist stronghold in French Quebec. Gamache slowly wins over the villagers, partly because of his patience, intelligence, and innate kindness and partly because, unlike most of his breed, he speaks flawless English. His subjects are a well-drawn and unexpectedly cosmopolitan lot, including a pair of married artists, an ebullient gay innkeper and his perceptive partner, and the dead woman's greedy niece who aches to put her own imprint on her aunt's house. Always in the background are the tensions between the English and the French, which add complexity to this perfectly executed traditional mystery, the author's first.
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THE
HARD WAY by Lee Child
($25, Delacorte). Recommended by Maggie Masion, Looking for Books,
Footprints of the Devil by Olive Etchells (Carroll & Graf,
$25.00) Recommended by Tom & Enid Schantz, Rue Morgue, Lyons,
CO). With this second book featuring compassionate
Detective Chief Inspector Channon, Olive Etchells has become our
favorite writer of regional British police procedurals. Once again
she lays a firm groundwork of village life and family relationships
before the crime is revealed and Channon is called in, along with his
resentful but surprisingly capable assistant, Detective Sergeant
Bowles. Champion surfer Dave Tregenza, who’s been alienated from his
family since his brother Jonny married the woman he loved, is in
iends gather together to help each other, as she does of the fear and sadness the survivors feel and the actual investigation into the murders. Her characters are wonderfully realized, as is the insular but supportive setting. In short, it’s a virtually flawless book from a strong new talent in the field.
Holmes
on the Range by Steve Hockensmith (
The
Virgin of Small Plains by Nancy
Pickard (Ballantine, $23.95).
Recommended by Robin Agnew, Aunt Agatha’s, Ann Arbor, MI.
Nancy Pickard seems to be heading
toward Jane Smiley territory with her new novel, THE VIRGIN OF SMALL
PLAINS. It’s perhaps unfair to compare any novel with Smiley’s
masterpiece, A THOUSAND ACRES, but Pickard’s stands up well to the
scrutiny. Smiley’s novel was based, like Pickard’s, on family secrets
in a small town and the kind of ripple effect they have. Pickard,
though, is a mystery writer, and she brings her mystery writer’s tool
kit to bear on this strong formula, embroidering on it and changing
it somewhat. The story is character based and the final resolution is
more of an “I thought so” than an “aha” moment, but because the
characters are so strong, its very satisfying. The story, set in |
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THE
PRINCESS OF BURUNDI by Kjell Eriksson, translated by
Ebba Segerberg (St. Martin's Minotaur; $23.95) Recommended
by Joanne Sinchuk, Murder on the Beach Mystery Bookstore.
Kjell Eriksson won the Swedish Crime
Writer’s Award for Best First Novel of 1999, and then followed it up
by winning the award for Best Swedish Crime Novel for The Princess of
Burundi.
John Jonsson’s (Little John) body is
found by a jogger, dumped in the snow in his home town. The
body had a few fingers cut off, and other signs that he had been
tortured before death. Little John had been on the wrong side
of the law when he was younger, but had straightened himself out.
He was married with a 12 year old son, had become a welder and was
recently laid off by his long-time employer Sagander’s Mechanical
Workshop. He had developed a hobby of raising tropical fish,
one of which was the Princess of Burundi, and was known locally as
somewhat of an expert on them. His brother, however, was the
type who was still in trouble with the law now and then, but mostly
for petty crimes and drunken brawling. Still the brother keeps
looking like the most likely suspect. Inspector Ann Lindell,
although on maternity leave, is determined to find the killer.
Wonderfully plotted with atmospheric settings transposed against the Christmas setting, The Princess of Burundi is a traditional mystery that kept me turning the pages. Eriksson reveals layer after layer of plot in a classic style with the right amount of suspense. This was a thoroughly enjoyable read.
TOO BIG TO MISS
by Sue Ann Jaffarian (Midnight Ink; $13.95) Recommended by
Maggie Mason, Looking for Books.
At Sophie's funeral service, an
altercation breaks out between two men. Odelia learns one is
Sophie's ex, and the other is a man she was involved with off and on
for many years, mostly to her detriment. Odelia also meets Greg
Stevens, a man who was a friend of Sophie's. He was the one who
called 911 after seeing Sophie's death. Greg proves to be a man
worth knowing. He is in a wheelchair due to a youthful
accident, and helps Odelia cope with the loss of a good friend.
Together Greg and Sophie piece together the puzzle, and solve the
mystery of Sophie's death, and begin a promising romantic
relationship.
This book was full of insights into
"invisible people" like the disabled, and overweight, and how they
have to cope with their life, as well as discrimination and
misconceptions people have about our differences. Odelia mentions in
department stores, the large size departments are hidden away,
and shows the difficulty dealing with size 0 sales girls (along the
line of the movie Pretty Woman). There is an abundance of humor
and snappy dialog, and a golden retriever (always a plus for
me). I've read three mysteries published by Midnight Ink, and have
enjoyed all of them.
DEATH WITHOUT
COMPANY,
by Craig Johnson (viking; $23.95),
Recommended by J D Singh, Sleuth
of Baker Street
PRODIGY,
by Dave Kalstein (St. Martin's Press; $23.95) Recommended
by Audrey Richlinsky, I Love a Mystery.
LOST, by Michael Robotham (Doubleday; $24.95) Recommended by Karen Spengler, I Love a Mystery: When Detective Inspector Vincent Ruiz is fished out of the Thames on a cold London night, he has a bullet hole in his thigh, no recollection of how he ended up in the river and an officer fr |
