Deeper than the Dead, Tami Hoag

If you haven't read this one and you like exciting mysteries, you absolutely must read it! I was literally out of breath when I finished it yesterday afternoon, tearing through the last chapters as if I were afraid someone would take the book away from me. I had things that needed doing around the house, but they had to wait until I finished and then got my breath back. What a story!

One thing that makes this book so interesting is that it is set in 1985 when the FBI was just beginning to get into profiling. The Behavioral Sciences Unit was at that time housed in a sub-basement of the FBI building in D.C. They were so far underground that, in the gallows humor that keeps them sane, the investigators joked that they were deeper than the dead. One of the major characters in the story is an FBI profiler.

In 1985 people didn't have cell phones, DNA wasn't a part of criminal investigation, nor were computers in most places, and all the CSI techniques we are so accustomed to didn't exist. So in this story we have a serial killer being hunted by old-fashioned hands-on detective work with the assistance of the profiler.

There are three prime candidates for the serial killer and their families are also deeply involved. Four children find one of the bodies half buried in a park. Each family is unique, each has its own secrets and tragedies. Then there is the childrens' teacher, Anne Navarre, the one person who is totally determined to do whatever is in the best interests of the kids. These characters are fascinating.

I picked out the three major suspects and before long I had rejected one as the serial killer, and was leaning toward one of the other two, but I wasn't absolutely certain until just before the end of the book. Meanwhile I was really tense; this killer is a doozy!

I read another review of Deeper than the Dead and intended to put it on my wish list, but it sounded familiar. Turned out it was in my treasure box of books given to me by friends months ago. Lucky me! If you want to buy it, it is of course available from Amazon.com and I am an Amazon Associate. Happy reading!

The Drowning Tree by Carol Goodman

I was looking for a more recent title by Carol Goodman at the library but settled for this book from 2004 instead. Sure am glad I didn't miss this one. It's a haunting story that had me looking up myths and Ovid and art history, and enjoying my memories of how the Hudson River above the Tappan Zee Bridge looks in different light and weather. The Hudson is beautiful in any circumstances though, and Goodman describes it so well you can envision it even if you've never seen it in person.

I loved the main character, Juno McKay, who with her father is bringing a famous glass factory back to life. They repair and restore stained glass windows, about which process I learned many interesting things. I'll look at stained glass windows more closely and with more background to appreciate the art and workmanship now. Juno lives above the factory with her 15 year old daughter, Beatrice, and their two greyhounds, Paolo and Francesca.

One day Juno goes to nearby Penrose College, her alma mater, to hear her best friend since college give a lecture on a huge stained glass window McKay's company has contracted to restore. Juno's ex-husband was confined to a mental institution, also nearby, where her friend Christine's family has worked for generations. Everything is intertwined in fascinating relationships. On that day Juno and Christine have some time together and then walk to the train station where Juno sees her friend off. Later she learns that her friend never made it to NYC where she lives and teaches. Christine is never seen again - alive.

This is an intriguing story with great characters and settings. Old relationships and new figure into the tale and although I figured out that one character was up to no good, I didn't suspect the murderer until near the end.

I recommend this mystery novel for people who want a little more to chew on in a mystery. I am an Amazon Associate if you elect to buy it.

Review: A Little Death in Dixie by Lisa Turner

I've found a new favorite mystery writer. Lisa Turner lives part of the time in Memphis, the rest in Nova Scotia, and this book is real Memphis. From the first page you feel the molasses-like drowsiness of a hot afternoon in Memphis, and some of the characters are southern belles and some of there men are large and slightly or more corrupt. Croquet plays a part in the story, and there is always the lazy but dangerous Mississippi River. Actually as I read, I was thinking of that new summer TV series, "Memphis Beat," and picturing the detectives as the stars of that show.

Suddenly though all that sleepy southern drawl is overtaken by a fast-paced, exciting story. The cover includes a blurb from Mark Nykanen, author of The Bone Parade: "Riveting Southern suspense. The pages turned so fast they were smoking."

I agree. Yesterday and today I was engrossed every minute and when I had to tear myself away to do something, I couldn't wait to get back to this book. Detective Billy Able is the main character and this poor guy is pulled first one way and then the other. First his partner seems to crack up and then either he's murdered or commits suicide. There is a family involved that includes every stereotypical southern feature (I kept thinking "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof") but yet these characters are so much more than that. The story in fact begins as one of the women of this family goes missing. Since she's a drunk, self-centered, and has run off for a binge before, it's a while before people begin to worry.

As each character is revealed more fully, the several story lines are full of twists and unexpected turns. Turner manages to tell the story so that you are reading along thinking you've got some character's number, and then find that there is a deeper mystery to that person. Every time something new is revealed though, you realize that there was foreshadowing but you missed it in the midst of all the excitement. You figure out the villain long before Det. Able does and the villain is such a creep I guarantee you'll hate him, and love it when he gets what he deserves. The fact that you know about him does nothing to ruin the book; you are too wrapped up in following Able's path to discovery.

It's complicated and yet easy to follow, and everything begins to merge toward the end. Not one story line is left out in the ether somewhere, everything gets wrapped up. Dialogue is never forced; people talk just like we really talk. I hate mysteries where the dialogue is just too, too witty. Almost everything about this book is well done. Just a few scenes struck me as too much of a stretch. It's 288 pages and that's just right.

This is a super book. If you like mystery novels, please look for it.

Kisser by Stuart Woods

I've been pondering this review for a couple days now, worrying about the old notion of whether to review a book about which I have almost nothing nice to say. Is it a waste of my time and unfair to the author? Well, since this blog is my opinion and only my opinion, I'm going to go for it.

This is #17 in the Stone Barrington series. I stopped reading this series many years ago, long ago enough that I had forgotten why. When I found this book in the gift boxes I received some time ago, I decided to give it a chance before donating it to a book sale. And having read it, I remember why I had crossed Stuart Woods off of my list of authors to look for.

Stone Barrington is a superstud, superlawyer, superdetective, super-rich guy who picks up the phone when he wants something, says "jump," and the person on the other end says, "How high?" Everything is so easy for the characters in Kisser. For instance there's a young woman from South Carolina who has arrived in NYC with loads of money from a divorce settlement that of course she has invested wisely, and she is determined to be a Broadway star. Immediately she gets an audition for a hot producer's new show, he proprositions her, she turns him down, and at a dinner party that evening dumps his full dinner plate in his lap, thus getting her lots of media attention and she ends up starring in his new show. Whew! No struggle, no hard work - just handed to her on a silver platter.

There isn't much mystery here. One plot line ends anemically, the other is slightly more interesting but still thin. I don't know how rich NYC people live and would be interested in being transported to that world if only there were characters I could care about. All we learn here is about their sex lives. Stone has so many beautiful (of course), sexy (of course) women throwing themselves at him and into his bed that he can't even keep it down to one at a time. I'm not a prude, but this is ridiculous.

Stuart Woods is a very talented writer who has written 40+ books, so I can't figure out why he would waste his time and mine on this drivel. Why doesn't he write something worth reading? He certainly can't need money that badly. Sorry Mr. Woods, you're back on my black list unless someone can convince me that something you've written is a real novel.

So Many Books . . .

I'm doomed. I recently discovered yet another mystery writer and I'm compelled to find her other books to read. Somehow up until I read this book I had her confused with another writer whose book I couldn't finish because it was so out of my realm and overflowing with gore and madness. Wonder who that was? :-)

Anyway, at a summer book sale I bought VANISH by Tess Gerritsen. Then when Tutu from Maine mentioned that Gerritsen lived there, I remembered this book and finally read it. And I loved it! This one is only four years old but there are several others that I must find.

Near the beginning of VANISH a body in the cooler of a morgue is discovered to be a living body. Well, of course anyone would freak out coming to in a morgue, but this woman goes ballistic. In the hospital she takes hostages, one of whom is a pregnant cop about to give birth, and the story never stops from there.

I never really care if I figure out whodunit before the end or not. I like to just buckle my seatbelt and settle in for the ride. Good thing, since I found myself suspecting the good characters and trusting the bad ones quite often in this complex tale. If I had been one of the characters, I would have been six feet under by now.

I can't really tell any more of the story, a) because it's too confusing that way, and b) because I'm sure I would give a surprise away. Trust me, this is a good story and it even has a serious cause behind the plot. Plus the cop and her baby and the changes it brings to her life will resonate with any working mom even if the most dangerous thing she does in a day is change the toner cartridge in the printer.

I highly recommend this one. Heck I even love the cover art.

Review: "Even Money" by Dick & Felix Francis

After a long career in which he published some 42 books, nearly all mystery novels involving in some way horse racing in Great Britain, Dick Francis retired. His beloved wife, the person who had done most of the research for those books, had died, and I suppose he simply didn't have the heart to go on without her.

Fortunately for his fans, including me, his son talked him into writing again and they have now co-authored three mysteries. Recently I won a copy of the third one, "Even Money."

One thing I've always loved about Francis books is that I learn about something fascinating even though it's a topic I never dreamed I would find at all interesting. In his younger days Dick Francis was a jockey. After an injury ended that career, he began writing. In "Even Money" the hero is a bookmaker at tracks in England where this is legal. Math is certainly not my forte and I've never bet on anything in my life, so that part of the story went right over my head. Still, I learned much about identifying race horses, ringers, and such.

Ned Talbot, the hero, is portrayed expertly, something we've come to expect in a Francis story. Talbot's personal life and profession as well as the mystery he becomes entangled in draw the reader in with the result that this is a can't-put-it-down book. All the chores I should have been doing were still waiting to be done when I reluctantly finished the book.

You see, Ned's father supposedly had died 36 years earlier when Ned was a year old. Ned had always been told his parents died together in a car crash and he was raised by his paternal grandparents. Then one day a man shows up at Royal Ascot claiming to be Ned's father and their conversation convinces Ned he is telling the truth. A short while later they are walking through the parking lot together when they are attacked and Dad is stabbed to death in the assault. You can imagine Ned's head is reeling. Meanwhile he is dealing with the institutionalization of his bipolar wife and the problems of other major characters, all beautifully drawn.

I like the fact that when something frightening happens such as the assault in the parking lot, Ned is properly scared. I hate it when characters in mysteries do foolishly dangerous things and you're thinking, "No, don't go in there, you fool!" or something similar. Ned is just an ordinary man suddenly thrust into a mystery and he reacts just as you and I would.

I had missed the first two books in this collaboration but I'll certainly read them now.

Hazy, Hot, and Humid

The only good thing about hazy, hot, and humid weather is that it provides an excellent excuse for finding a relatively cool spot and reading the day away. Last week was just perfect for reading mystery novels and letting the chores slide. Now of course I'll have to pay for that neglect of reality, but that's a small price to pay for reading time.

I had stocked up on mysteries at the recent book sale, so I read J. A. Jance's "Justice Denied" and Martha Grimes' "The Grave Maurice." This Richard Jury novel is about the abduction from a stable of a young woman who loves horses. Actually I had read the Grimes novel several years ago but could only remember the story as I read so I enjoyed it all over again. There aren't many authors I could say that about, but Martha Grimes is a wonderful novelist who just happens to write mysteries.

J. A. Jance writes two series, one about a detective named J. P. Beaumont in Seattle and the other about Sheriff Joanna Brady in Arizona. I love both series. This one was a Beaumont story I hadn't read that begins with the sudden murder of a young man who has been released from wrongful imprisonment. He had been working at a charity and caring for his mother so his killing was all the more shocking. Although I figured out some of the solution early on, there were several surprises at the end.

One of the things I like about mysteries is their settings especially when I'm familiar with the area. For instance, I used to love Sara Paretsky's stories set in Chicago but apparently she's abandoned the series in favor of her other work. My love for Boston has a great deal to do with my love for Robert B. Parker's Spenser series, but who wouldn't love his characterizations and plots? It's strange but I enjoy his concise, spare writing and I also enjoy someone like P.D. James who writes lush description and goes deeper into stories.

I've also been catching up on magazines but how I love to settle in with a good book. Summer and mysteries - they just go together like sand and surf.