Mysteries Galore.com

Archive for April, 2010

Reviewed by Gina Metz

Jack Gannon is a reporter for The World Press Alliance and works out of the Manhattan office. He was hired by the WPA after having the inside track on a huge story of a serial killer while working for the Buffalo Sentinel. Jack has not had another big story since then and is ridiculed by the other WPA reporters who feel he should still be in Buffalo. In The Panic Zone, Jack is given his chance at his first international story covering a bombing in Rio de Janeiro that resulted in the deaths of a WPA reporter and a WPA photographer. Most WPA employees feel he should not have received the assignment except for Melody Lyons who hired Jack.

In Big Cloud, Wyoming a young woman survives a car crash in which her husband and baby were supposedly killed. Emma Lane knows her husband is dead but firmly believes she saw her baby rescued and taken from the vehicle just before it burst into flames although there is no evidence to prove the baby is alive or that anyone took him. Read the rest of this entry »

Reviewed by Jud Hanson

For two thousand years, Mary Magdalene has been something of a mystery: could she have been the bride of Jesus? Did she actually keep a written account of her life and of the events surrounding the Crucifixion? Why did the Church declare her to be a “woman of ill repute?” Maureen Paschal is writing a book on heroines throughout history that got a raw deal from historians. Her research takes her to France and directly into the throes of age old mysteries and secret societies that are all looking for the Expected One. It is believed that only she can locate the Gospel of Mary, thought to have been hidden by Mary Magdalene centuries before. But there are forces at work who don’t want the Gospel found or its contents made public. These forces are the followers of John the Baptist, who hold a grudge against Mary Magdalene for her perceived role in his execution. Can Maureen fulfill her destiny and find the Gospel of Mary before it is too late? Read the rest of this entry »

Reviewed by Julie Moderson

I have read many of Diane Mott Davidson’s books and found them to be funny mysteries but Fatally Flaky seems to fall flat. It seems as if the author is trying too hard. Her other books really seemed to flow.

Goldy Schulz is a caterer who is always getting into trouble. Goldy and her best friend Marla are always into some kind of a jam and now she has been hired to do the wedding reception for the biggest bridezilla in Aspen Meadows, Billie Attenborough. Billie has changed the date so many times and now she has added so many more guests that they can’t have the reception at Goldy’s catering hall. When a retired doctor dies who is the best friend to Goldy’s godfather, Jack, and then he suddenly dies as well, Goldy goes to work solving the mystery. Read the rest of this entry »

Reviewed by Stephanie Nordkap

Will Piper, hero of Secret of the Seventh Son, finds himself in sudden retirement after the events of the “Doomsday Killer” case, and is chaffing to find something exciting to do. He is now married, with a young son, under constraint of a signed confidentiality agreement to never reveal the events that occurred in his final case and to never reveal the shattering truths he learned over man’s eventual fate. Shackled and constrained, Will is moaning over his fate when one day during a run, he notices that he is being followed. Upon confrontation, he learns that his followers belonged to a secret military and government group who worked in Area 51, the same group that tried to attack and kill Will over 18 months ago. These two men are after an old volume that has suddenly appeared on the market after having disappeared for hundreds of years and they want Will to get it for them, willing to pay him unlimited amounts of money for the job and for the book. All of a sudden, Will finds himself at the center of a conspiracy he has tried very hard to forget for 18 months.

Upon acquiring the special book, they discover a puzzle written by none other than Will Shakespeare himself. It is a set of clues, the discovery which is desperately needed to complete a very important mission, something to which only the government and these strange old men, are privy to. Will heads to England and searches for clues over 600 hundred years old, always trying to stay one step ahead of those who are pursuing him. Once he finds those clues, the secret government officials, who have been labouring at their task for over 60 years, will do anything in their power to stop him from releasing what he has learned to the world; a truth so powerful and so dangerous, it could hold a message about the future and the end of the world.
This novel was a fantastic blend of history, archaeology, suspense, mystery, religion, and fiction. Book of Souls takes place 18 months after the events in Secret of the Seventh Son, and assumes that you have read the first book. If you haven’t read the first one, you will do fine, except that you may not understand everything that is going on as the author doesn’t explain certain things that are happening assuming you are already aware of the events being referenced.

That being said, I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. I got caught up in its grip right from the beginning and I looked forward to reading it every night. Combine a mystery, lots of suspense, a quest, a chase, many secrets, and you have the ingredients in place for a very fine story. In his quest to discover more information, Will heads to England in order to decipher clues left behind by William Shakespeare. As they search, they discover journals and letters left behind by John Calvin, Nostradamus, and others who explain the origins of the book and the Library and how it all began in the first place. The author deftly moves the reader from the present to the past, enter-twining the stories with great skill. Those familiar with these types of stories will be familiar with this technique. We learn a lot more about events in the past that helps us understand the importance of the Library and the Books in the present. Read the rest of this entry »

Reviewed by Nancy Eaton

Jean Hughes is the director of a youth recreation center called the Haven. Booth Wagner, a business tycoon, is trying to have Jean dismissed from her position. Since Booth has quite a bit of power, he is almost successful at doing what he wants. Jean heads for Max Darling’s office to see if he can help her.

Booth is killed by a gunshot during a power failure at a Haven event. The most likely suspect is now Jean. She had a perfect motive to get rid of Booth Wagner. Now Max Darling really has his hands full to try and prove that Jean is innocent. Read the rest of this entry »

Reviewed by Allen Hott

A somewhat spooky yet possible prophetic look into the future is the best way to describe Book of Souls. However the author has done more than prognosticate the future. He has built a story that looks at our government and how it is able to “manage” the news or at least hide things from the people. And interwoven into that theory he has gone back into the past to bring together noted people and places that easily could have been part of the theory.

Will Piper is an ex-FBI agent who on a prior case had an entanglement with the “watchers” as they are known. The watchers work out of Area 51, which is a highly secret government installation. All items that are top secret and not even known to most of the political and/or military hierarchy are kept in Area 51. Only the president and his closest advisors are privy to the information/items. Read the rest of this entry »

Reviewed by Allen Hott

Michael Connelly, having been a newspaper reporter at one time, uses this book to give the world a look at the sad state of newspapers today. Jack McEvoy, a newspaper reporter for the LA Times, has just received notice of his forthcoming layoff.

As he prepares to leave the office he gets a phone call from an irate reader of one of his last articles. The woman is extremely upset because she feels McEvoy has accused her “grandson” of murder in his piece. He attempts to calm her down by promising to come see her and look further into the matter. Read the rest of this entry »

Reviewed by Patricia Reid

A paperboy makes a gruesome discovery when he opens the door to the residence of Kenneth Buchelo. Buchelo’s head is displayed on a table and his body is on the floor. Sergeant Abel Navarro responds to the call and notifies Detective Milligan and Marshall.

The detectives discover that Rachel Rivera, a beautiful young woman, previously filed a stalking complaint against Buchello. When the two detectives attempt to question the Rivera family, they find that the family is very uncooperative. Eventually they are able to have a discussion with Rachel away from the family residence. Rachel introduces them to Steve Corgi, her fiancé. Read the rest of this entry »

Reviewed by Teri Davis

The Olympic Games have changed in the recent past. Now we have witnessed athletes who deal with drug tests, hormonal injections, and a variety of methods to increase their personal performance. With so many new advancements in medicine, how are we ever certain that an athlete’s scores are genuine rather than the result of some medical enhancement?

First Li Yan is asked to investigate the death of one of the top Chinese swimmers who apparently committed suicide. It just doesn’t feel right to him. Then added to that, one of the top Chinese weight lifters dies on top of his mistress, who happens to me married to a high-ranking Chinese official. Also are the previous deaths of other athletes in a car accident. Why are these Chinese athletes dying and why?

Fortunately, Li Yan is engaged to an American pathologist, Dr. Margaret Campbell who begins to assist in the autopsies. The two often are working in complete opposite directions while attempting to discover connections between the athletes. The skills of both of these professionals are needed to discover the correct solution to these deaths. Read the rest of this entry »

Reviewed by Patricia Reid

Detective Ty Hauck and his daughter Jessie stop by an Exxon station to pick up a few supplies before heading out for a day on Ty’s boat. A truck pulls up and riddles the station with bullets. Ty is able to keep Jessie safe but the man standing next to them is dead. The man killed is a federal prosecutor named David Sanger.

The shooter abandoned the truck not far from the station. When the police discovered the truck, a newspaper clipping is found inside that led the police to think the shooting was an act of revenge. Further investigation leads Hauck to believe that there is much more behind this shooting but before he gets very far in the investigation he is warned to back off. Even his own police chief advises him that it is not a good choice to continue the investigation. Read the rest of this entry »