Mysteries Galore.com

Archive for February, 2012

Reviewed by Vickie Dailey

After movie music composer Chris Lowndes’ wife dies, he moves back to England, purchasing Kilnsgate house sight unseen. After meeting Heather, his real-estate agent he learns that it was the sight of a “famous” murder that has ties to his childhood. Grace Fox was hung for posioning her husband. Chris embarks on a journey through the past to prove Grace’s innocence of the crime. The chapters of the book are interspersed with trial notes and later with excerpts of Grace’s own journal.

Although the murder took place 60 years ago, there are still key players alive that help Chris piece together the puzzle including Grace’s own grandaughter, who holds the most important key to Grace’s inner thoughts – her journal.

While the solution presented is not what Chris imagined it would be, all that we learn about Grace during Chris’ investigation makes sense. The final solution also brings a peace to Chris’ life bringing into perspective his wife’s death. Read the rest of this entry »

Reviewed by Julie Moderson

Nick Santora has a unique style of writing that I can only compare to John Grisham or Harlan Coben or a wonderful combination of both.

Fifteen Digits is such a fast moving story about five young men from five very different lives. His characters are so real from Eddie who is mentally handicapped, to Vice the con man that has a fast sense of humor, to Dylan the man trying to get out of the Puerto Rican gang to Rich the young man who had lost both parents in a boating accident and is going to night school to become a lawyer. They all have dreams of getting ahead. These men work at the prestigious law firm of Olmstead and Taft but they are not lawyers, they work in the basement as printers. They are simply blue-collar workers and receive no benefits. They copy, collate, and deliver sensitive legal documents to the rich lawyers that work upstairs. Read the rest of this entry »

Reviewed by Teri Davis

What would any police inspector do when a man seeks him out at Scotland Yard to confess that he has actually murdered a man? Added to this, this man states that he will not be punished for his crime since he is near to death. The man is dying of stomach cancer. Essentially, this is a deathbed confession.

Inspector Rutledge investigates but is sidetracked when he discovered this man’s body was discovered in the Thames River. He was not drowned, but was shot in the back of the head. Why kill a dying man? Quickly, he also discovers that the dying man identified himself with a false name. Why? Added to this is a locket around the dead man’s neck. The locket belonged to a woman who long ago disappeared.

Ian Rutledge is dealing with his own guilt from fighting in France during World War I. Being given orders and being responsible for these orders being carried out, Rutledge was placed in the situation of leading his men on a suicidal mission. When his best friend refused the order, Rutledge was forced to shoot him. Now, the guilt daily stays with him in the form of the assassinated man speaking with him in his mind. There is evidence of shell-shock in every war. Read the rest of this entry »

Reviewed by Caryn St. Clair

Martin Limon’s U.S. Army Investigators Sergeants George Sueno and Ernie Bascom return for their eighth appearance in Mr.Kill. This time out, the two American investigators are joined by a Korean investigator aptly named Kill.

The basic plot seems to be an ever too often occurring story in the news -a Korean mother is brutally raped on a Korean train and an American soldier is most probably the culprit. George and Ernie are called upon to investigate but are hampered by the “it couldn’t possibly be one of our boys who did this,” sentiment. The Koreans want justice and they want it now. The longer the investigation drags on, the angrier Korean citizens become and the more heated the anti-American fever runs. But aside from the sort of “ripped from the headlines” plot thread, there are a couple other threads to the plot that make it interesting as things start to come together. Of course if there are soldiers there bound to be women in the mix. That role is filled by an all female country western band who want to entertain the troops with more than their voices. Read the rest of this entry »

Reviewed by Caryn St. Clair

Dead Like You introduces Peter James’ Roy Grace character to American readers. While it is actually the sixth book in the series, it is the first one published here. It is maddening for American readers when book series first published overseas are released in the United States out of order. Sometimes it leaves readers trying to figure out the back story of the characters and on going series’ plot threads but sometimes it works out fine. While it is clear that Grace has some personal issues that go far back, readers are given enough of the story to feel like they know Grace.

It’s New Year’s Eve and Roy Grace is trying to clear off his desk before heading home. While he looks through his active case files, he also takes a quick look through the cold cases he’s handled throughout the years. One of the cold cases he reviews is from 1997. Known as The Shoe Man because after raping and murdering his victims, he took one of her shoes, the killer disappeared after kidnapping is sixth victim. So it seems more than a little odd that the very next case Grace is called in on is a brutal rape that follows the same pattern. Grace immediately wonders if Shoe Man is back.

As police procedurals go, Dead Like You is top notched. While the book is well over 500 pages long, the suspense of the hunt for the killer keeps the plot moving. The author manages to build the suspense by shifting readers smoothly back and forth between the killer and the police investigation and from present day to 1997 and back again. Read the rest of this entry »

Reviewed by Cy Hilterman

I have read most of Michael Palmer’s books wondering how he could add more excitement and deeper involvement than in his preceding books. “Oath Of Office” is no exception as I thoroughly enjoyed the entire book wondering while advancing through the book how the author can be so knowledgeable as he delves into so many subjects in various fields and subjects? The story begins as Dr. John Meacham has a huge verbal fight with a patient, certainly not the type of thing he would normally do. As that patient stormed out of his office he started thinking beyond the normal box that all those in the office would give him trouble reporting the incident to the hospital and other boards. He decided he would just stop any of them from hurting his future and started shooting and killing any patients in the office and waiting room, his own staff, and any doctors in the immediate vicinity, followed by shooting himself. Dr. Lou Welcome was a good friend of Dr. John Meacham and couldn’t believe that this man could take the actions he had taken with such finality to everyone involved. Dr. Meacham had barely survived the bullet he put in his head and despite all the medical attention he was given, including some from Lou, he didn’t make it.

The wife of the President of the United States, Darlene Mallory, was a good friend of the Secretary of Agriculture, Russell Evans, and was hurt that he had been caught with a hooker and had to resign his cabinet job. She needed to find out if the story was true or not. Their meeting was done secretly, planned well with the help of one of the Secret Service agents assigned to cover Mrs. Mallory, Victor. Victor was a very good agent but also was top notch at helping the presidents’ wife do almost anything she wished to do, outright or secretly. Lou was beginning to suspect something was going on affecting the minds of some causing them to do some outlandish and not near normal activities that had started with his friend killing so many and Dr. Meacham’s wife not acting normal also. Read the rest of this entry »

Reviewed by Teri Davis

When you are a police constable in the Highland in Scotland, the community expects you to be at their beckoned call and expect you to be knowledgeable of all crimes, no matter how minor. This includes investigations of fairies, whether real or not, and all superstitions. This is the problem of Hamish Macbeth in Death of a Kingfisher.

In Braikie, Scotland, this small village has discovered that they can draw people to their community by turning the local forested area, Buchan’s Woods, into a tourist attraction. This area is a habitat for a family of kingfishers and the fairies. Noticing the success of this attraction, the area is renamed “The Fairy Glen” and the tourism greatly benefits the town.

Everything changes when a kingfisher is found murdered and strung up in a tree. With further investigation, this family of birds has also been poisoned. Why would anyone kill a bird and its family?

While investigating this death of a bird family, Hamish becomes entwined with the married director of the woods who seems to be able to bewitch him with her physical beauty and her blue eyes. Is this affecting his investigation and not allowing him to suspect her as a possible suspect? Read the rest of this entry »

Reviewed by Allen Hott

Quite a beginning. Herman Diggs, the chief investigator used by Paul Madriani and his investigative law firm, is lying in a hospital with what would probably be mortal wounds for most folks. But Herman is battling and as usual the big fellow will probably be victorious. In the meantime Madriani and Joselyn Cole are being grilled by the FBI for more information about Liquida, who although wounded by Diggs in their knife fight, is on the loose.

Martini has used these characters in previous books and has brought them all together again for an exciting and well thought out book. This time Liquida has decided that he will put an end to Madriani, his associates, and his daughter. However he also has business to attend to so he can keep his funds up for the style of life he leads.

As Diggs finally comes to enough to whisper to Madriani his first words scare Madriani very badly. Diggs mumbles “Sarah…..farm” and Madriani immediately realizes that Diggs is warning him that the Liquida is heading to the farm where Harry Hinds, Madriani’s partner, has hidden out with Sarah, Madriani’s daughter. Read the rest of this entry »

Reviewed by Elizabeth Sheehan

The story begins in England with a psych patient, Liam Baker, at a hearing for his release. He’s in the psych hospital for nearly beating to death and leaving his victim, Zoe Hagarty, paralyzed from the waist down. Professor Joe O’Laughlin, a psychologist, who had treated Liam in the past asks to speak and proves beyond a doubt that he has not changed and should not be released.

Shortly later his daughter Charlie’s best friend Sienna, who is Zoe’s sister, appears at his front door covered in blood. She runs away and is found on the banks of a river by Joe. She is hospitalized and the blood is found to be her father’s, a former police officer. She is a cutter with scars on her arms. Her father is then found dead in their home and you begin to learn more about him. Joe starts to ask questions mainly because of his daughter’s friendship with Sienna. As he becomes more and more involved a manipulative killer is brought to light. Read the rest of this entry »

Reviewed by Nancy Eaton

The title of this book is very deceiving. This murder, at first, might seem like a very simple crime. As you start reading this book, you will be taken through many twists and turns. Just when you think you have it all figured out, you are totally wrong.

The reader is given many details about the two brothers, Adam and Monty Lee, who were orphaned after the violent death of their parents. Their new place to stay was now in the dark basement of an aunt’s house. Monty became successful in life and Adam always admired him. Whatever Monty did in life, whether it was good or bad, seemed to be fine with Adam.

The question is who killed Adam’s Wife, Rachel? Adam was trapped in his marriage to Rachel who has some mental problems. They have a mentally retarded son who is in an institution due to his violent behavior. On the day Rachel was murdered, the son was home on a visitation. So who killed Rachel? Was it the husband, the son or someone else?

The story then shifts to Leo Hewitt, a former Assistant District Attorney, who is accused of setting free a child killer. Is this case a chance for Leo to get his career back on track? Read the rest of this entry »