Mysteries Galore.com

Archive for August, 2011

Reviewed by Allen Hott

Innocent is the follow up to an earlier Turow novel (Presumed Innocent) and another great story involving the legal profession.

Many years ago Rusty Sabich was an assistant prosecuting attorney’s whose former girlfriend had been found strangled. Although another P/A, Tommy Molto, had fought hard to prove Sabich guilty somehow the evidence got mishandled or botched. The end result was Sabich walked and the P/A ended up out of a job. Sabich shortly thereafter became the P/A and eventually became a judge. All this time Molto has lived with the idea that somehow Sabich got away with murder. Molto is now P/A in waiting and not only waiting for that job but another chance somehow at Sabich.

Currently Sabich is having marital problems and he has begun an affair with a much younger woman who works in the legal system with him. No one is aware of any of this until Sabich’s wife of over 30 years is found dead. A strange twist to the incident is the fact that Sabich sat next to the dead body for over twenty-four hours before reporting the death.

Another interesting subplot is the introduction of Sabich’s son who later in the story does something that helps make the story even stranger.

In the P/A’s office Jim Brand, Molto’s head assistant and close friend, begins to nag at Molto that the office needs to get deeply involved with the investigation. He is certain that Sabich had something to do with the death. Read the rest of this entry »

Reviewed by Patricia Reid

The introduction to this book gives you a lot of information about the author, his writing and some of his experiences that have helped develop background for his books.

Blood Red Rings is the story of Frank Harper, a police officer as well as a family man. Harper is tired of his job, tired of dealing with his problems at home and ready to end his evening. His thoughts go back over the years and the good times in his life as he cruises his beat. However, the evening ends in a very tragic way. A story that will stay with the reader long after the last page.

Lightning Rider is the story of Jessie Scout who is employed as the driver of an armored car. Jesse along with her crew members, Gask and Perez, haul a lot of money from the Las Vegas casinos. The last drive that she made to pick up money is one that will not soon be forgotten by Jessie, her crew members, or readers of this story.

Three Bullets to Queensland takes Ike Decker on a chase for the suspect in a deadly armored car hit. One where Paco Sanchez got away with all the cash. A great story with a twisted ending. Read the rest of this entry »

Reviewed by Patricia Reid

Ethelred Tressider is a mystery writer although not first rate. His agent, Elsie Thirkettle, is visiting Ethelred and while occupying their time with a game of Clue (Cludeo) Elsie is attempting to get Ethelred busy on his next book. The game that occupies their time is one that they will soon be playing with a real life mystery.

Ethelred reminds Elsie that they are soon due at the estate of Sir Robert and Lady Muntham of Muntham Court for dinner. Sir Robert is an old friend of Ethelred’s who was known in earlier days as Shagger. Although Elsie was not a bit excited about having to dress up to meet the hosts she certainly wasn’t about to be left at home.

The dinner party turns into a disaster when Sir Robert is found dead in the locked library. Lady Muntham prevails upon Ethelred to act as detective and locate the murderer. Elsie does not have a lot of faith in Ethelred’s detective talents and proceeds to uncover her own clues. Read the rest of this entry »

Reviewed by Patricia Reid

Ray Connor is a former police officer living in Oakland, California and dealing in vintage cars. He drives an Alfa Romeo and is an expert in classic cars. He is the person to look to if you are a collector wanting to buy a classic car.

When a cab pulls up and Evie steps out, he is immediately drawn back into the past. Evie is a woman that Connor was in love with twenty years ago and he has never gotten over the fact that she walked out on him. Now she is back in his life and seeking his help. Evie’s daughter Janey is dead. Connor didn’t even know that Evie had a daughter and now he is to investigate her death. Janey’s death has been ruled a suicide but Evie refuses to believe that her daughter would kill herself.

Janey died in Monterey so that is where Connor begins. Connor calls on his ex-partner Vince Hendrix for assistance in tracking down some information. When Connor begins his investigation, he finds that Janey’s death is looking more like murder than suicide. It not only appears that there has been a big cover-up in the facts surrounding Janey’s death, Connor also begins to feel that Evie may be covering up some facts about the case – facts that he needs to know. Read the rest of this entry »

Reviewed by Patricia Reid

Jimmy “Soldier” Riley is a one-armed Private Investigator in Panama City, Florida and the time is 1943. Jimmy is in a partnership with Ray Parker, a former Pinkerton detective. July is a cute little gal that works for the agency.

Ray and Jimmy have a lot going on and things are jumping in Panama City. When Lauren Lewis walks into the office Jimmy isn’t sure how to handle it. July wanted to send her in to see Ray but Jimmy insisted he could handle it. Lauren was married to Harry Lewis who was a leader in the city and getting ready to run for office. Jimmy and Lauren had an affair that was over now but just seeing Lauren made Jimmy remember every moment of the affair.

Lauren thinks someone is following her and wants to know if it is Jimmy. Jimmy denies that he is following her but senses that she is in danger. Jimmy decides whether Lauren likes it or not he is determined to protect her.
Read the rest of this entry »

Reviewed by Patricia Reid

Tammy Kaehler’s debut novel Dead Man’s Switch introduces Kate Reilly. Kate loves racing and although she has had some experience, she is looking for a full-time position with a racing crew. When she pulls into the track at Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, Connecticut where the American LeMans Series is racing on the 4th of July weekend she pulls into a dead man. Or maybe a better phrase would be that she pulls over a dead man.

The corpse under Kate’s car turns out to be Wade Becker, a corvette driver for ALMS. The driver’s death was a shock to everyone but not necessarily counted as a loss since Wade seemed to have a number of enemies in the racing world.

When Kate is offered the position of filling in for Wade, she is thrilled but uncertain how she will be accepted. She finds that the Detective in charge of the investigation is suspicious of Kate since she not only discovered the body but also has taken over Wade’s driving position. Read the rest of this entry »

Reviewed by Patricia Reid

David “Kubu” Bengu is assistant superintendent in the Botswana Criminal Investigation Department. David received the nickname of Kubu a long time ago and it stuck. Kubu means Jolly Hippo and David is large, does enjoy his food, and has a happy disposition but he is also a very intelligent person with the uncanny ability to sort out clues and come to the proper conclusion when faced with a crime.

Southern Africa is the setting for the Kubu books and offers many interesting facts about Africa and its people. When Monzo, a game ranger at Mabuasehube, fails to appear at work, it isn’t a big surprise. Monzo is one that tends to take off on his own without informing his superiors of his actions. Peter Vusi, head of the ranger station, feels that he would be well rid of Monzo but sent men to look for him. Monzo was found at the bottom of a donga (a dry river course with steep sides). Three Bushman were gathered around him and one was trying to pour water in Monzo’s mouth. Monzo was in critical condition and rushed to a hospital. Vusi had the unhappy task of notifying Maria, the woman Monzo lived with.

This incident was out of Kubu’s jurisdiction but when he received a phone call from Khumanego, he was taken by surprise. Khumanego was a friend from primary school and the two had lost touch. They were a strange pair in school. Kubu was a share-farmer’s son and Khumanego was a Bushman. Khumanego’s parents were part of a small nomadic group that roamed southern Botswana and he was sent to Christian relatives for schooling in the hopes of preparing him for a different future. Khumanego trained Kubu in some of the ways of the Bushman and this instilled a respect for the Bushman in Kubu’s eyes. Read the rest of this entry »

Reviewed by Nancy Eaton

Will Cochrane is an agent of MI6’s Spartan Program. What is the Spartan Program? Only one man is allowed to go through this program at a time and if he is lucky enough to survive at the end, he is given the title Spartan. There are no other “Spartans” in the program as long as the one given the title is still living. As a result, you can just imagine how valuable this Spartan is to others.

A new terrorist plot is being planned but where it will take place is not really known. There are some ideas that it might happen in Europe or the United States. Who is behind the terror plot? Is it someone Will might know?

Author Matthew Dunn is a former member of MI6 and writes this story with a good deal of experience behind him. Read the rest of this entry »

Reviewed by Teri Davis

“Beauty and a remorseless soul – a deadly combination. Dangerous – like loose gravel.”

If you have ever driven a car fast on loose gravel, you are aware at how dangerous it can be and how easy it is to lose control, just like fast living.

Detective Harold Bruntz has been a part of the Minneapolis Police for thirty years. He is not handsome. In fact, he’s a mess. He wears clothes that look slept in, hasn’t bathed recently, is overweight, drinks, sleeps around, and has problems getting along with partners. He also has his own version of right and wrong and will do whatever it takes to close a case, even if it is illegal or unethical.

Now his superiors are giving him one last chance. His new partner, Yo-Yo, is a svelte, black woman who can no longer work under cover as a prostitute. Either these damaged individuals have to get along, or they are both out of a job.

Someone shot Gordon Mark and Amanda Freeman while they were in compromising positions. Gordon died immediately while Amanda lived even though she was shot in the stomach. Amanda was also married to Darrel Freeman at the time. Who would be the logical shooter?

Now, Isabel le Freeman and Darrel Freeman are shot and killed, daughter and step-father. It turns out that Isabelle was also pregnant by Darrel. Who would gain by these people being dead? Why was Amanda not killed? What does she know? How does this family interact? Read the rest of this entry »

Reviewed by Teri Davis

What if your son and husband recently died? Added to that, now you are wanted by the police. Are you willing to face life or would you prefer to run away and start over?

Casey Maldonado decides to leave her life in Ohio and to start life again in Raceda, Florida as a fitness trainer. She has an unusual companion though, the grim reaper. Yes, Death, L’Ankou, is staying with her. Those who fear death cannot see him, but those who do not fear him, do see these apparition.

Casey decides to change her name to Daisy Gray. To begin her new life, Daisy teaches fitness classes for a trial week at no cost to them. She is hoping that this will allow her to rebuild her life with new friends and to build confidence in herself again.

Naturally, Casey/Daisy has an attraction for being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Late at night, Daisy finds one of residents in the locker room, bleeding. Even though she does the right thing and immediately gets help, the resident still dies. The police were able to discover that Daisy was not involved and could not have caused the death since the security video tapes backed her story. Unfortunately, not all the residents feel the same way. Read the rest of this entry »