Reviews

Maureen Jennings: No Known Grave

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noknowngraveThe final novel in Maureen Jennings’ fine Tom Tyler trilogy is every bit as gripping as the first two – in each, Jennings explores different aspects of life on the home front during WWII. In the first, she looked at the Land Girls; in the second, at a munitions factory; in this novel, perhaps the most heartbreaking at all, she takes us to a wounded veterans home, where the men and women have mostly been seriously disfigured, blinded, crippled, or all three by their war experiences.

Jennings’ skill as a traditional mystery writer is at the forefront here. She is brilliant at constructing a story with various clues and red herrings, almost daring the reader to figure it out (I sure didn’t). This book reminded me most strongly of one of my favorite books, Christianna Brand’s Green for Danger, which is also a kick ass detective story set inside the confines of a wartime hospital. read more

Deborah Crombie: To Dwell in Darkness

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todwellindarknessA new Crombie book is an event. Her Gemma James/Duncan Kincaid books have become instant classics, on a par with Peter Robinson’s, and I used to say, with Elizabeth George’s, but at this point I far prefer Crombie’s books to George’s. Her books are tighter and the character’s lives aren’t completely – or even at all – bleak and depressing. Gemma and Duncan have their problems, yes, but they are the problems of a normally lived life with a houseful of children ranging from teen to toddler. read more

G.M. Malliet: A Demon Summer

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demonsummerOf all cozy writers, I think Malliet has the purest, most elegant prose.  Her writing is a joy to read.  That alone would set her books apart, but she’s also deliciously re-visiting the British village mystery and making it her own, to the delight of mystery fans everywhere.  My customers have quickly made her Max Tudor series a favorite.

So far she’s used seasonal titles and in this one she’s up to her last season, summer, as she spins a tale set inside a convent.  Max, the vicar of Nether Monkslip, has been asked by his bishop to look into a mysterious fruitcake poisoning originating in the convent of the Handmaids of St. Lucy.  The fruitcake is a bit of a specialty and the victim was the unpleasant Lord Lislelivit, happily recovered but angry and demanding answers. read more

Michael Koryta: Those Who Wish Me Dead

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thosewhowishmeI’m not a big fan of those headlines that read “The Best Writer You’ve Never Heard Of,” mostly because I often have heard of said writer. It’s a tidy formulation, however, and it scans much better than, say, “Here’s a Fantastic Writer Who’s Much Better Than Most of the Crap on the Best Seller List.” But say it any way you like, Michael Koryta is such an criminally underappreciated author.

He began his career while still in college with a superior private eye series set in Cleveland. The Lincoln Perry books started strong and only got stronger, ending not (as so many readers believe) at the artist’s whim, but simply because for whatever reason they failed to sell enough copies. Fortunately, publishers can see beyond a track record to discern true quality, and Michael was “relaunched” with three novels that mixed suspense with the supernatural. read more

Tana French: The Secret Place & Josephine Tey: Miss Pym Disposes

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thesecretplaceBoth Tana French and Josephine Tey have books that are among my favorites as well as books I can’t slog my way through (confession: I can’t read Tey’s The Singing Sands).  I love Tana French’s Broken Harbor so much it’s one of my favorite contemporary mysteries; but there are other times when her books are a tad too long and a tad too over determined.  This is one of those times.

French’s prose skills are among the most beautiful of all contemporary mystery writers.  She catches an atmosphere, she has an ability to make you feel a place in your bones, like no other writer.  That’s no small skill, and in her new book the place she is out to capture is a Catholic girl’s school in Ireland.  French has always been interested in the otherworldly nature of the woods, or the forest, the ones that you might encounter in a fairy tale.  The woods in fairy tales may hold enchantment or danger; in this novel, the woods surround the school and supply both elements. read more

Lev Raphael: Assault with a Deadly Lie

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assaultwithadeadlylieIt’s been a few years since Professor Nick Hoffman has made an appearance (Hot Rocks, 2007), and he fills a nice gap. There are few academic based mystery series, and this is an engaging one, set on the fictional campus of “SUM” or State University of Michigan in “Michiganopolis,” a town that sounds suspiciously like East Lansing, where Raphael teaches classes at MSU. His central character, Nick, and his partner, Stefan, live a peaceful life on a bucolic street with their Westie, Marco, enjoying books, movies, food, wine and each other. read more

Hank Phillippi Ryan: Truth Be Told

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truthbetoldThis is Hank Ryan’s third novel in her series featuring reporter Jane Ryland, and this one is by far the strongest of the three, as I can see Ryan’s skill as a writer deepening. She’s always had the story part down pat – she’s a reporter in “real life” – and she’s a reporter in her bones in that she’s able to tell a good story in a to the point way that gets your attention and holds it. No small feat.
What’s even better here in book three than in book one are the details of reporting that Ryan has folded into her story, making the whole thing more authentic and grounded. read more

Jane Haddam: Fighting Chance

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Fighting ChanceWhile much of the attention in publishing is focused on dazzling, huge best sellers, it’s the old reliables, steadily publishing year after year, who keep the engine of publishing moving along.  Jane Haddam can now boast 28 novels in her long running Gregor Demarkian series.  While there are some series entries I disliked it would almost be more surprising if there weren’t.  When Jane Haddam is “on,” she’s one of the best, and this turned out to be a favorite of mine in her long series. read more

Denise Swanson: Murder of a Needled Knitter

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Murder of a needled KnitterDenise Swanson, 17 books into her Scumble River series featuring school psychologist Skye Denison, has at last married Skye off to her sweetheart, Wally, and sent them off on their honeymoon aboard a cruise ship.  Guess who else turns out to be aboard?  Skye’s best pal, Trixie, on a cruise with her own husband, and her parents.  

Swanson pretty much could have left her plot at that:  your parents on your honeymoon?  Anyone’s nightmare.  But she’s never been a lazy writer and she’s not about to start now, as she also arranges for there to be a group of knitters on board (hence Skye’s mother, May), complete with an obnoxious group leader, hated by all.  It’s not long before the much hated Guinevere is a goner and the entire knitting group including especially Skye’s mother, who had public words with her, are suspects. read more

Lauren Willig: That Summer

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That SummerWillig is following up last year’s strong stand-alone, The Ashford Affair, with another great entry.  Using a similar story structure – one section in the past and one in the present – she skillfully ties the two threads together as the story progresses.  I liked both parts equally, which is not always the case, and was happy to re-join either character.

While neither this novel or The Ashford Affair can strictly be called a mystery, both novels center on a mysterious and unresolved disappearance that may or may not also be a death.  So there’s a mysterious nugget in each story, though, much like a Jane Austen novel, it’s the relationships and how they may or may not work out that supply the true intrigue. read more