When I worked at a book store many years ago I was always amused by the titles of the cozy mysteries. There were so many good ones back then and authors continue to be creative with titles such as Flour in the Attic, Tilling the Truth, and Shot Through the Hearth. When I saw Denise … Continue reading
It’s rare when a house feels like one of the characters in a novel, but that’s exactly the case with the house at One Fulgate Street in JP Delaney’s thriller The Girl Before. Delaney switches back and forth between Emma, the girl before, and Jane, who is in the process of moving into the house … Continue reading
Sophisticated L.A. psychologist Alex Delaware doesn’t think too much about a child custody case between two sisters that he works on. Connie Sykes, a physician, is trying to gain custody of Rambla, her sister Ree’s daughter. Unsuccessful in her bid, Connie shows up at Alex’s office and tells him that she is not going to … Continue reading
“Ninth House” by Leigh Bardugo can perhaps best be described as a murder mystery mixed with ghosts, demons and magic. Galaxy “Alex” Stern is a girl with a special gift, and a tarnished past, who winds up on the campus of Yale University working for an organization tasked with monitoring the powerful, privileged, and magic-wielding … Continue reading
With a bit of a chill in the air, and Halloween decorations beginning to appear on store shelves, I thought it was high time I try reading one of the cozy mysteries that are all the rage this time of year. My book of choice? “Candy Corn Murder” by Leslie Meier. As Halloween quickly approaches, … Continue reading
Lovelorn Police Sergeant Hamish Macbeth’s date with fetching nurse Gloria Dainty does not go well in M.C. Beaton’s Death of a Nurse. It’s not just that he’s been stood up by her. It turns out Gloria has been murdered. In addition, Hamish finds out that Gloria was not who he hoped her to be. Many … Continue reading
Lucas Davenport works as an investigator for the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. He’s seen a lot of cases over his many years in law enforcement, but the one he encounters in John Sandford’s Field of Prey might be one of the most gruesome. A young couple out in the country for a make out … Continue reading
This fascinating and inventive novel is the second book by Karen Thompson Walker following her 2012 debut, The Age of Miracles. The Dreamers takes place in Southern California. The book follows several individuals who are living through an epidemic of a strange, new illness. The sickness starts in a college dorm when one freshman goes to … Continue reading
Michael Connelly’s novel Two Kinds of Truth finds former Los Angeles Police Department detective Harry Bosch going into deep cover for one case and defending himself in an old case the LAPD’s Conviction Integrity Unit decides to re-examine. That case involves a murder that Bosch investigated 30 years ago. The Conviction Integrity Unit has found … Continue reading
What do you do when you are a very established author trying to start a new series with a new character? Naturally, you write a book that has the new character as well as your well-known battle worn character. In the case of Michael Connelly’s Dark Sacred Night, the new character is graveyard shift Los … Continue reading
