Tag Archives: murder mystery

Aug19

The Glass Eel by J. J. Viertel

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I received a copy of the ARC of this book from the publisher, The Mysterious Press in exchange for an unbiased review on behalf of Rosie’s Review Team. I thank the publisher and Wunderkind PR firm for this opportunity. It comes out in September and you should have it on your list to read, for sure.

The book was quite enjoyable and even educational. I didn’t know one thing about eel migration and spawning nor did I know about how they are harvested or transported for sale. The father/Son writing team clearly are well-acquainted with the process as well as the state of Maine.

But don’t think this is some boring tale about fisheries and eels. It’s a downright interesting mystery and thriller of a novel.

There are a few chapters from the point of view of sea creatures which add to the atmosphere of the story. It’s not like they’re anthropomorphic, but more like we, the readers, are included in the biosphere of the ocean and currents and how they interact with sea life. I thought it was a pretty cool concept that added richness to the story.

Jeanette, the main protagonist, is a woman with strength and conviction. She’s brave to the point of irrationality in some places, but I never felt like she was “too stupid to live” like sometimes happens in novels. She was sensible and bright and one steady-nerved person. She didn’t hesitate to move into danger when she needed to be strong and unafraid.

The other characters in the story who were her friends and close comrades were all well-written and fully realized. I liked all of them and they each added an important element to the story telling. It’s always a good read when the protagonist’s allies are also people the reader can root for and like. This reader is very much someone who needs to care about the characters to full enjoy a story. This writing team delivers that and more.

The bad guys were also well developed and each were a different brand of evil. None were caricatures which is always a good thing.

The story is intriguing and very nicely plotted and laid out.

Environmental issues play a part as well as the treatment of indigenous people in the state historically, as well as in the modern era. The authors didn’t bang the reader over the head with any of those things, though. They seamlessly wove those issues into the tale.

The action was fast and the suspects many and varied.

I truly enjoyed this book and hope to see more from these writers. It was a quick read. Filled with action, great plot points and a satisfying ending.

Five stars

BLURB:

In this gripping debut thriller, struggling divorcée Jeanette King becomes embroiled in a criminal ring when she discovers her ex-husband’s cache of baby eels.

Caterpillar Island is off the central coast of Maine―beloved vacationland of lobster bakes and quaint fried clam shacks, kayaking and country houses. At night, though, by the light of a headlamp, the island is alive with cash, guns, and poachers. Oxy addicts, struggling retirees, and unemployable deadbeats dip their nets in the creeks to catch elvers―two-inch-long baby eels that fetch $2000 a pound on the international black market.

Into this dark and dangerous world falls Jeanette King, who has, up to this moment, been earning her meager living mainly by picking and packaging peekytoe crab meat for shipment to New York and Boston. As Jeanette gets drawn into a fast-moving story of risk and violent consequences, she enlists the aid of a local policeman and an Indigenous activist. Together they try to set things right for the people and the planet. But the deeper they dig, the more dangerous things get. An ensuing procession of colorful locals, corrupt state politicians, and treacherous outsiders weaves a tale that reveals the underbelly of a deadly business.

Jul30

Wild Instinct by T. Jefferson Parker

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Thank you to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this wonderful novel set in California. A modern-day novel with some historical factors blended into the tale.

Lew Gale is a detective in Orange County, California.  He is also part of the indigenous Acjacheme tribe. He is sent to investigate the killing of a man by a lion. What he finds is anything but a simple man vs. wild animal scenario. In addition, the victim is a prominent citizen of the county.

Things get convoluted and the trail leads Lew and his new partner in many directions, keeping the reader engaged in the mystery and the action. The new partner wasn’t someone I really could get behind based on her spying on her child and other things the character had going on in her life.

There are flashbacks to Acjacheme tribe lore which was a fascinating part of the book. Clearly, the author did a lot of research into the tribe. I had not heard of this particular tribe before picking up this book and enjoyed learning about them.

Many social issues come into play in this story, like Lew’s PTSD from his time in the military, tribal rights, the historical treatment of indigenous peoples by the church, and greed of corporations and the people who run them.

Even with the social issues raised in the story, there is no feeling of lecturing by the author. It is all seamlessly interwoven into the mystery and action. The story may have bogged down in some places, but it was still an enjoyable read.

A really good read for the fan of the genre. The reader is also educated about many things without feeling as if they are in a classroom.

Four stars

BLURB:

The hunt for the truth is the deadliest game.

Former Marine sniper Lew Gale, now a detective with the Orange County California Sheriff’s Department, is assigned to track and shoot a mountain lion that has killed a man in the rugged country east of Laguna Beach, California. The victim is Bennet Tarlow, a rich developer and man-about-town in upscale coastal Orange County.

The investigation takes a chilling turn when Lew and his new partner, Daniela Mendez, discover that Bennet was dead long before the lion got to him. And while he might have been the first to die, he certainly will not be the last.

Jul22

Measured Deception by Richard E. Kalk and T. Ann Pryor

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Thank you to the author and publisher for the opportunity to review this book for Rosie’s Review Team.

This is a story set in the 1980s mostly in Los Angeles. The two main protagonists are LAPD Detective Nick Blaine and his partner, Phillips.

Faced with solving the crime of the murder of a young man who seemed to be loved by everyone, they’re led on a quest through the gay community of Los Angeles looking for any possible motive.  Blaine pretty quickly settles on a suspect or two, but kept an open mind for a while.

Blaine eventually enters into quite a cat and mouse game with the suspect he eventually settles on. The case takes him and his partner from Los Angeles to Chicago and even to Louisiana and Mississippi.

The story was interesting and held my attention. A couple of misused words threw me out of the story a few times, such as throws for throes and taught for taut.

Other than these small nits to pick, the story held up well and I liked the tenacity of the detectives in not letting the case grow cold as it so easily could have. They persevered and worked to find proof that their suspect was the right one.

It seems this will be a series (or it may already have earlier books) and I’m sure I’ll pick up the next one as well. An enjoyable, easy read.

Four stars

BLURB:

From the real life experiences of an award winning LAPD detective comes the riveting novel Measured Deception.

Justice doesn’t always come to those who seek it. Sometimes, in this world, justice is denied…

After twenty soul bending years as a detective with the LAPD, Sergeant Nick Blaine thought he knew evil. That was until he came across the murder of Ainsley Brown, a charismatic young gay man trying to live unapologetically in 1980s Los Angeles. Popular on the social scene, Ainsley was beloved by all but one man. The man who loved him so much he would rather see Ainsley dead than with another. Yet, the murders don’t stop with Ainsley Brown. Before he’s able to catch his killer, Nick Blaine will find himself taken from the streets of L.A. to the bayou of Louisiana and back again, all while hot on the heels of a killer.

Having suffered heart-breaking loss, Blaine must not only solve the case, he must also figure out a way to find comfort and solace in a world determined to let his demon chase him. With every step Blaine and his faithful partner in crime, Detective Phillips, find themselves falling deeper into a cesspool of murder, drugs, and sex. Will they be able to stay afloat?

Feb6

Murder in the Family, by Cara Hunter, a Review

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This book was quite clever in its premise and execution. It’s set up like a documentary series about a cold case involving the murder of the stepfather of one of the filmmakers.

The story is set up as a series of production notes, articles about the murder, and interviews on camera with various people who have information about the case. The filmmaker is in the background for most of it, but appears a few times to set the scene for the people on the program.

The other characters are various professionals who have experience as either law enforcement, journalists, or other crime backgrounds.  We have a retired detective inspector, a criminal prosecutor, a journalist, forensic psychologist, crime scene investigator, a retired NYPD detective as well as the producer of the show and the filmmaker with his two sisters.

Newspaper articles, text messages, emails, true crime aficionados in message forums, and dialogue in the documentary make up the majority of the book. There are no chapters per se and this is a fun way for the reader to get the story and try to figure out the clues as well as who may have something to hide.

I loved this book and the way it was presented. It was unique and enjoyable. I did figure out who did it but I usually do. The ride to get to the solution is what I enjoy and this one was an intriguing one. While I did figure out whodunit, I was wrong on the why dun it.  LOL

The presentation of this story was ingenious and original. I really enjoyed it.

BLURB:

It was a case that gripped the nation. In December 2003, Luke Ryder, the stepfather of acclaimed filmmaker Guy Howard (then aged 10), was found dead in the garden of their suburban family home.

Luke Ryder’s murder has never been solved. Guy Howard’s mother and two sisters were in the house at the time of the murder—but all swear they saw nothing. Despite a high-profile police investigation and endless media attention, no suspect was ever charged.

But some murder cases are simply too big to forget…

Now comes the sensational new streaming series Infamous, dedicated to investigating—and perhaps cracking—this famous cold case. Years later a group of experts re-examine the evidence – with shocking results. Does the team know more than they’ve been letting on?

True crime lovers and savvy readers, you can review the evidence and testimony at the same time as the experts. But can you solve the case before they do?

Feb1

Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney- Review

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This book is a wow. I loved it. Great mystery and an enjoyable read.

The story is told from the point of view of Daisy. Her grandmother is a children’s book author who owns a house on the coast of Cornwall separated by a spit of land from the mainland. For many hours each night, the small island where the house is located is inaccessible as the high tide of the Atlantic Ocean cuts off the path onto the island.

A tarot reader from Land’s End predicted Daisy’s grandmother’s death in her 80th year. The book takes place on October 30 and 31st and the 31st is the grandmother’s 80th birthday.

Grandmother invites all her family to the house for the birthday celebrations. Her son, an orchestra conductor, her former daughter in law, a failed actress, Rose- the veterinarian daughter, Lily- the daughter who has never worked and is rude and self-obsessed. The great granddaughter named Trixie is fifteen. And Daisy is there as well.

Also invited is a young man, Conor, who was a childhood friend of the three grandchildren, Rose, Lily and Daisy.

The set-up of this story is much like the Agatha Christie book “And Then There Were None.” Isolated setting, people who mostly don’t have much to do with each other and some who actively are unkind to each other, a cast of characters who all arouse suspicion, and, of course, the requisite murders.

Some fun quirks of the story are that the grandmother has 80 clocks in the hallway that all go off every hour. She also has a time clock like is used with employees and she gets her guests to clock in and clock out when they visit.

I really enjoyed this one. Lots of twists and turns. There are some flashbacks to the childhoods of the granddaughters and they tie into the plot nicely.

I’m usually good at figuring these books out and I’m happy to say, other than a few small things, I didn’t on this one. Maybe that’s a big reason I enjoyed it so much (it was a bit of a Deus ex machina resolution though) Besides the great writing and building of suspense throughout the tale. Highly recommended to the point I encourage you to drop what you’re doing and dash out to the store a get a copy post-haste.

BLURB:

Daisy Darker was born with a broken heart. Now after years of avoiding each other, Daisy Darker’s entire family is assembling for Nana’s 80th birthday party in her crumbling gothic house on a tiny tidal island. The family arrives, each of them harboring secrets. When the tide comes in, they will be cut off from the rest of the world for eight hours.

But at the stroke of midnight, as a storm rages, Nana is found dead. And an hour later, the next family member follows…

Trapped on an island where someone is killing them one by one, the Darkers must reckon with their present mystery as well as their past secrets, before the tide goes out and all is revealed. As seen on the TODAY show and picked by Book of the Month, Daisy Darker’s family secrets and Alice Feeney’s trademark shocking twists will keep readers riveted.

Jan5

Off the Air by Christina Estes, A Review

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Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

Jolene Garcia is a reporter for a television station who is sent to a radio station to cover the scene of a death of one of their talk radio hosts. Jolene is ambitious and wants to get the scoop on the story.

When another reporter, one who scooped her on an Emmy award the year before, grabs an interview with the man everyone wants to talk to and the same woman later breaks the news that there might be poison involved, Jolene is on an even more urgent quest to get the story first.

Initially, I liked Jolene as she seemed klutzy and quirky. As the book went on, I started to dislike her. She was definitely ambitious and didn’t hesitate to be unkind or rude when she was stressed or jealous. Her back story explained some of her behavior but her alienation of colleagues and friends was annoying and made her dislikable.

The story itself was great. Lots of mystery and wondering how the talk show host died. A plethora of suspects were woven into the story and made the book fully rounded and a good read.

The obligatory detective friend who gets annoyed at the amateur sleuth and the obligatory bone-headed move by the same amateur sleuth was true to the tropes of the genre.

Overall, I liked the story and it was well worth the read. I just wish the protagonist was a bit more pleasant and a little less jealous and unkind.

Three and a half stars.

Feb21

The Bitter Past by Bruce Borgos

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 I received this from NetGalley from St. Martin’s Press and Minotaur Books in exchange for an unbiased review.

I absolutely loved this book. The protagonist was smart, witty and genuinely likable. He was someone I could see myself hanging out with and enjoying a chat. His sense of humor is closely aligned with my own and it was as if he was an old friend.

The tale takes place in the Nevada Big Rocks area near Caliente as well as the surrounding areas. The atmosphere and desert play a large role in the tale. As well, the nuclear testing in the nearby areas that took place in the 1950s is also integral to the story. Russian spies and national security secrets create tension.

The opening scene is pretty gory but it sets the tone for the danger that hangs over the entire book. There are so many moving parts to this story, it’s a rich delight to the reader.

All the characters were well drawn and intriguing. I especially enjoyed the relationship the protagonist had with his father and sister. They seemed like a real-life family. Close but not afraid to be truthful with each other and even make each other angry but still have each other’s backs.

The hero had an interesting past and also had a bit of a handicap with night blindness that added a second layer of drama to the tale. He was definitely someone to root for and that’s always something this reader needs to have in a book. I’m definitely not a reader who likes anti-heroes.

The story was complex and satisfying. It moved seamlessly from the current time to the 1950s and the pace was well done. The mysteries unfolded at a good rate and kept me turning the pages.

I really enjoyed this book and thank the author for creating such a great character in the hero, a complex back story and a well done, intriguing plot. I hope there are more adventures in store with the sheriff of Lincoln County.

OFFICIAL BLUB

Porter Beck is the sheriff in the high desert of Nevada, north of Las Vegas. Born and raised there, he left to join the Army, where he worked in Intelligence, deep in the shadows in far off places. Now he’s back home, doing the same lawman’s job his father once did, before his father started to develop dementia. All is relatively quiet in this corner of the world, until an old, retired FBI agent is found killed. He was brutally tortured before he was killed and clues at the scene point to a mystery dating back to the early days of the nuclear age. If that wasn’t strange enough, a current FBI agent shows up to help Beck’s investigation.

In a case that unfolds in the past (the 1950s) and the present, it seems that a Russian spy infiltrated the nuclear testing site and now someone is looking for that long-ago, all-but forgotten person, who holds the key to what happened then and to the deadly goings on now.

Nov21

The Devil You Know by P.J. Tracy- a Review

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I’ve been busy finishing one manuscript before National Novel Writing Month and then in the throes of NaNo- but since I reached the 50,000 word mark on Saturday, I decided to read for fun on Saturday. Here is the review of that book.

I received this book from Minotaur and NetGalley in exchange for a review.

It’s kind of funny that as I was reading this one, I was thinking I was gobbling it up. I didn’t even think about it being the week of Thanksgiving until I was writing this review. But I did gobble up this story. I read it in part of one day in two sittings. Probably would have read it in one sitting but I had to head to my parents’ house for Sunday dinner.

This is clearly the third or fourth book in a series.  I have not read any of the others, but that did not take away from my enjoyment at all. There’s enough back story woven in to make it so it’s not necessary to have read the others. I will go back now and catch myself up but not because I need to in order to follow this plot. Only because I did enjoy this one so much that I’d like to read the others.

The story here is very Hollywood heavy and having been to Los Angeles, I enjoyed the way the author made the city a big part of the story. Even including Pink’s hot dog joint on La Brea.

The characters are well written and fully fleshed out. No one seemed one dimensional at all and that takes real talent and care. Especially with the large cast of characters in this story. All of the characters had distinct personalities and quirks.

I did figure out the whodunnits pretty swiftly, but that didn’t take away from the fact that I was scrolling through the pages eating up the dialogue and action.

The pace was well done and the author’s use of language was smart and refreshing. So many times, crime stories are not done with sophisticated language and nuance. This was different and I quite enjoyed it.

The main protagonist is a female detective and she was likable and relatable. Her relationship with her partner was amusing and they worked well together. I was happy to see the author gave both of them insight and that she allowed them to solve the case together with each giving ideas and building off what the other thought. So many times in these stories, the lead character is always the smartest person in the room and never asks for help nor bounces ideas off others. The way these two were written seems much more realistic. I enjoyed the relationship between them.

I don’t often give five stars—four is pretty much as high as I go even when I enjoy a story, but since I got so wrapped up in this one, I’m giving it a five.

May6

A Rip in Time by Kelley Armstrong, a Review

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I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

I really liked this story. I’ve read some of Ms. Armstrong’s work in the past and her prose is always easy to read and enjoyable. The premise here of a modern day female detective transported through time when she’s attacked in a dark lane in old Edinburgh is creative and right up this reader’s alley. Being a huge fan of Edinburgh and having experienced the magic of the city firsthand, in this reader’s opinion, it’s the perfect setting for the story. A very atmospheric town and extra creepy in 1869 when the lighting would have been candles or gas lights.

The heroine is plucky and savvy and learns quickly that she’ll have to work hard to try to fit in where most everything is unfamiliar. The work she has to do as a housemaid is tough yet she realizes a roof over her head in those hard times is worth the backbreaking chores. Even the cleaning of the chamber pots.

Ms. Armstrong does a great job evoking the era in housing and the sights/smells of an old city as well as the biases against women and people of mixed race.

The supporting characters are well-drawn and appealing with each having unique qualities. I especially enjoyed the brother and sister and how they interacted with the heroine as well as each other and the local police detective. There were parts that strained credulity, but being as it’s a time travel story, realism was always going to take a back seat.

The heroine was flawed and made mistakes which made the tale more exciting. A perfect heroine is always dull. The person whose body the heroine was transported into was a wicked person and I’m glad the heroine made many attempts to try to make things right with the people the real housemaid harmed.

It appears there will be more stories with these characters which is great as they each have their own unique back story and I, for one, look forward to exploring more of old Edinburgh with them and learning more about their lives.

Jan17

Murder on Mustique- Anne Glenconner- A Review

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I picked this one up when Barnes and Noble had their hardbacks 50 percent off. I liked the cover and the blurb sounded good. Of course, I’d heard of the island of Mustique and how it was made into a place for celebrities to build homes and find peace and quiet, so the idea of a murder mystery set there was intriguing.

As I started reading, I realized why the author’s name sounded familiar. She was the wife of the man who bought the island in real life and gifted Princess Margaret with the land to build her own escape home. The author started the story by having the fictional narrator explaining she was a former lady in waiting for the princess and that her husband bought the island in the 1950s. I don’t want to say this was a Mary Sue type story, but it skirted the edge—except the heroine was seventy years old rather than a young girl.

This was a novel, but there was a whole lot of truth in it—not the murder mystery part nor the person who committed the crime (I hope- LOL) but a lot of the history of the island and of the author herself.  I did enjoy the story—even the totally unrealistic parts. The author did a good job with the red herrings and the culprit, so I can forgive her for the use of herself—perhaps an idealized version—as the heroine of the story. It was kind of refreshing to have an older woman in good physical shape as a strong protagonist even though I couldn’t get it out of my head that she was a real person.

One of the parts of the book that resonated with me near the end was this comment by the heroine: “My own grief is harder to define. Why do I care so much about losing something that never really existed? The space left behind will fill, as time passes.”

That passage reminded me of when I finally realized that someone who I’d considered a friend was actually a malignant narcissist and then, for my own protection, I cut off contact with the person. I grieved over the loss of that relationship for a long time and almost got sucked back in again—until I came to that same realization. None of my memories of that person were based on real feelings on the part of my “friend” and our relationship never really existed. It was all an act on that “friend’s” part even though I invested myself in our friendship. 

It makes me wonder if this author also had a real life experience with such a narcissist. It sure seemed to me like that was one more of the truths she expressed in this fictional tale. Until you’ve actually been a victim of a malignant narcissist, it’s hard to understand just how awful they can be. Her passage above rang true. 

Overall, the book was good and I enjoyed the tale.