Mystery Reviews, December 2010
Dec 15, 2010DAMAGED GOODS Mystery writers looking to make their sleuths more complex and believable often inflict a psychological or physical injury on them. Yet none of these protagonists let this damage prevent them from seeking justice for others. Susanne Alleyn’s Aristide Ravel (Palace of Justice) is the son of a murderer and can never escape that stigma. Russel D. McLean’s PI J. McNee carries tremendous rage but still unravels a complex kidnapping case (The Lost Sister). Diane Fanning’s Lucinda Pierce (Twisted Reason) refuses to succumb to self-pity despite her disfigurement, and Tina Whittle introduces Trey Seaver (The Dangerous Edge of Things), a former cop who has reinvented himself after a terrible accident left him with no long-term memory.
Alleyn, Susanne. Palace of Justice: An Aristide Ravel Mystery. Minotaur: St. Martin’s. Dec. 2010. c.304p. ISBN 9780312379896. $25.99. M
In the autumn of 1793, Madame Guillotine is beheading the former Queen, unpopular politicians, and anyone else who has run afoul of the popular will of the people. Freelance police agent Aristide Ravel (Cavalier of the Apocalypse) is called to track down the serial killer who is terrorizing Paris by decapitating his victims and taking their heads. This is a stressful time for Ravel—his best friends are on trial for their lives, and everywhere he turns he must deal with gruesome deaths.VERDICT Alleyn only gets better with each Ravel outing. She is not only conversant in French history but excels at character development. Her twisty plot reels out a single clue here and a hint there, leading the eager reader to an unexpected ending. Alleyn’s superb series will appeal to mystery readers who want brilliant characterization, an authentic historical setting, and a sense that they are walking the dark streets of Paris with Ravel during the Reign of Terror.
Fanning, Diane. Twisted Reason: A Lucinda Pierce Mystery. Severn House. Jan. 2011. c.215p. ISBN 9780727869456. $28.95. M
When an elderly man who has been missing for months is found dead on his son’s porch, homicide detective Lucinda Pierce (The Trophy Exchange) is called in because no one knows how he died. When several more bodies of elderly folk are discovered, Pierce revs up the investigation and finds that there is a rash of missing seniors with dementia. VERDICT True crime author Fanning brings a rare brand of realism to her work. Still undergoing reconstructive surgeries for the shotgun blast that disfigured her beautiful face, Pierce is intelligent and a pit bull when it comes to finding the guilty. Readers who like to have their emotions engaged while trying to solve the mystery will enjoy Pierce’s latest adventure.
Gore, Steven. Absolute Risk. Harper: HarperCollins. Dec. 2010. 448p. ISBN 9780061782206. pap. $9.99. M
Graham Gage, a private detective with entrée into many high-level organizations, is hired by the head of the Federal Reserve to make sense of a number of seemingly unconnected incidents involving the FBI, international spying, murder, and the possible collapse of the American economy. While Gage moves around the United States, to France, and then to Washington, DC, his wife, who is on an archaeological dig in China, is captured by an unscrupulous army general and is used to put pressure on the U.S. government to undermine a Chinese political uprising. VERDICT Vast knowledge of international affairs, economics, politics, and psychology add depth to Gore’s second novel featuring Gage (Final Target). The possibility of his plot devices coming to fruition is alarmingly real in today’s world. Brad Meltzer and Vince Flynn fans will love this. [Poisoned Press is issuing a limited hardcover edition, ISBN 9781590587713. $24.95.—Ed.]
Hart, Ellen. The Cruel Ever After: A Jane Lawless Mystery. Minotaur: St. Martin’s. Dec. 2010. c.336p. ISBN 9780312614768. $25.99. M
Jane Lawless’s (The Mirror and the Mask) surprise at her ex-husband Chester’s appearance at her Minneapolis restaurant is nothing compared to his shock at waking up next to the body of a client to whom he was trying to sell a priceless statue stolen from Iraq. Before long there is another murder, and danger engulfs the Lawless family.VERDICT Hart, a Lambda and Minnesota Book Award winner, has consistently maintained a level of excellence throughout her 18 Lawless mysteries. Here she explores the relationships between siblings and what happens to a family when one of the children disappears. Hart never overplays Jane’s lesbianism. It is just a fact of life in this truly engaging mystery series.
Jardine, Quintin. A Rush of Blood. Headline, dist. by Trafalgar Square. (Bob Skinner Mysteries). Dec. 2010. c.436p. ISBN 9780755329182. $24.95. M
When Thomas Zale, a former organized crime leader and now a successful businessman, commits suicide, newly appointed Edinburgh Chief Constable Skinner, who knew the man, wants a through investigation. Skinner’s niggling doubt leads to a number of separate lines of inquiry, which in turn result in several murders. VERDICT In his 20th series entry (after Fatal Last Words), Jardine displays his mastery at following the various police detectives during their questioning of people while adding details of their private lives. The result is a perfect read for those who love the police procedural genre. Ed McBain and Dell Shannon give similar attention to the lives of the officers.
McKevett, G.A. A Decadent Way To Die: A Savannah Reid Mystery. Kensington. Feb. 2011. c.294p. ISBN 9780758238108. $24. M
When plus-sized PI Savannah Reid (Wicked Craving) is hired to figure out who is trying to harm 80-year-old Helene Strauss, owner of a doll manufacturing company, the case proves more difficult than she expected. With the help of Dirk Coulter of the San Carmelita Police and Tammy, office manager and fledgling sleuth, Savannah is checking out possible suspects in the Strauss family when a double murder takes place on Helene’s estate.VERDICT This long-running cozy series by McKevett, a pseudonym for Sonja Massie, has kept fans enthralled by following Savannah’s investigations and her relationships with her grandmother and her faithful friends. Unsuspecting readers will need tissues on hand as they finish this heart-wrenching tale about abuse and the meaning of love. And fans of Diane Mott Davidson will appreciate this one.
McLean, Russel D. The Lost Sister. Minotaur: St. Martin’s. Mar. 2011. c.295p. ISBN 9780312576820. $24.99. M
When 14-year-old Mary Furst, an exemplary student and outstanding artist, disappears, PI J. McNee is hired to find her as a favor to a friend who believes the Dundee police won’t get to her before it is too late. McNee, working with Constable Susan Bright, skirts the law in his investigation. The Good Son introduced McNee as a rage-driven investigator who is forced into violence. This book begins to open up McNee’s psychological baggage, making him more human and understandable. Even though he is emotionally damaged, McNee’s voice is clear, and his motives sound. VERDICT For readers who like Brian McGilloway and Michael Koryta, two authors who introduced fresh voices and individual takes on crime.
Siger, Jeffrey. Prey on Patmos. Poisoned Pen. Jan. 2011. c.237p. ISBN 9781590587669. $24.95; pap. ISBN 9781590587683. $14.95. M
When a monk from a 1000-year-old monastery is murdered in a town square on the Aegean island of Patmos, Andreas Kaldis (Murder in Mykonos), the head of Greece’s Special Crimes Division, is sent to investigate. It is Easter week, and the monasteries (there are 20 of them on the island) are very busy and inaccessible. Kaldis, dealing with the imminent birth of his first child and the vagaries of Greek politics, must solve the crime to avert an international incident. VERDICT Using the Greek Orthodox Church as the linchpin for his story, Siger proves that Greece is fertile new ground for the mystery genre. Sure to appeal to fans of mysteries with exotic locations.
Whittle, Tina. The Dangerous Edge of Things. Poisoned Pen. Feb. 2011. c.281p. ISBN 9781590588178. $24.95; pap. ISBN 9781590588192. $14.95. M
Tai Randolph, new owner of an Atlanta gun shop, finds a murdered woman in her brother’s driveway, but he has fled to the Bahamas, left her to deal with police questions, and hired security agent Trey Seaver to watch her back. Trey is a former police detective and survivor of a debilitating accident that has left him with no long-term memory. VERDICT In this exciting series debut, Whittle provides not only an original, well-constructed plot but also a cast of unforgettable characters all somewhat flawed by life. With comparisons to Meg Gardiner and Karin Slaughter, this will appeal to readers who enjoy unusual approaches to crime fiction. Can’t wait for the next one.
MYSTERIES IN BRIEF
Ambrose, Marty. Murder in the Mangroves: A Mango Bay Mystery. Avalon: Thomas Bouregy. Dec. 2010. c.186p. ISBN 9780803477988. $23.95. M
Researching a new hiking trail, reporter Mallie Monroe stumbles upon the body of the newly appointed Queen of the Mango Festival in the mangroves. Life on a small Florida island can be full of challenges. VERDICT This debut is going to please readers of cozies and chick lit mysteries.
Goldstein, Susan. Hollywood Forever. Five Star: Gale Cengage. Jan. 2011. c.311p. ISBN 9781594149337. $25.95. M
Samantha Crowley, soon to be ex-wife of a best-selling author, decides to outdo her ex and takes up writing. Suddenly she is caught up in a number of murders, and she is the prime person of interest. VERDICT Making her fiction debut, California lawyer Goldstein (coauthor, The Smart Divorce) introduces some cool characters and perfectly captures the Hollywood milieu—greedy divorce lawyers and real-estate agents with a nose for making a buck on marriage breakups, combined with a touch of old movie-star glamour,
Havill, Steven F. Comes a Time for Burning. Poisoned Pen. Feb. 2011. c.289p. ISBN 9781590588277. $24.95; pap. ISBN 9781590588291. $14.95. M
In 1892 Port McKinney, WA, Dr. Thomas Parks (Race for the Dying) faces a cholera epidemic that may have started with one of his nurses. The care of desperately ill people with no known successful treatment and no real hope of stopping the spread of the deadly bacilli drives the plot to a very special ending. VERDICT Absolutely fascinating. For readers of Michael Palmer and Michael Crichton.
Stroby, Wallace. Cold Shot to the Heart. Minotaur: St. Martin’s. Jan. 2011. c.304p. ISBN 9780312560256. $24.99. M
Career criminal Crissa Stone and her partner team up to rob a card game where there is rumored to be a half million dollars in play. But when a player with connections to hitman Eddie the Saint is shot during the robbery, the odds turn against Crissa. VERDICT Barry Award finalist Stroby’s (Gone ’til November) latest hard-boiled novel is a compelling blend of greed, violence, and the need to survive that will appeal to noir aficionados.
Weeks, J.C. Season of Evil, Season of Dreams: A Ben Logan Mystery. Five Star: Gale Cengage. Feb. 2011. c.251p. ISBN 9781594149504. $25.95. M
When his friend and former teacher finds a skull in a meadow outside Gold Hills, SD, Police Chief Logan calls in reinforcements, and they find eight more skulls—all from children. VERDICT Although the crimes are heart-wrenchingly difficult to take, Weeks’s mystery will please readers who like a bit of emotion, a tad of American Indian lore, and a bang-up tale to tie it all together.
Winston, Lois. Assault with a Deadly Glue Gun: An Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery. Midnight Ink. Jan. 2011. c.289p. ISBN 9780738723471. pap. $14.95. M
Karl Pollack dies in Vegas, leaving his wife and children penniless and his communist mother residing in their home. In addition, Anastasia Pollock, a craft editor for a supermarket magazine, must deal with being the top suspect in the murder of the magazine’s fashion editor, who was killed with Pollock’s glue gun. VERDICT This funny and clever debut almost makes the reader forget that there is not much of a mystery here. For cozy fans.
ADDITIONAL MYSTERIES
Copenhagen Noir. Akashic. Jan. 2011. 255p. ed. by Bo Tao Michaëlis. tr. from Danish by Mark Kline. ISBN 9781936070664. pap. $15.95. M
The latest entry (with Haiti Noir, see below) in the publisher’s series (41 and counting) proves the resilience of, and market for, these locale noirs. Editor Michaëlis, a Danish book critic, is both scholarly and insightful in the introduction and outlines how the stories reflect the greed and ennui of modern Denmark in contrast to the Danish idyll depicted in tourist brochures. Especially impressive is Lene Kaaberbøl and Agnete Friis’s “When The Time Came,” which deals deftly with a scavenging expedition, an emergency delivery, sudden death, the plight of illegal immigrants, strong female protagonists, and the desolation of bleak urban landscapes. Seyit Öztürk’s “The Booster Station” is brutal, visceral, atmospheric—a bleak embodiment of adolescents working in concert with an implausible goal but written with mastery and élan. There are strong resonances here of Stephen King, but this is a unique voice that will be heard again. VERDICT Although some stories veer from noir orthodoxy, there are fine examples of lyrical writing, noir sensibilities, and insight into the current Danish psyche. Overall, a very impressive anthology.—Seamus Scanlon, Ctr. for Worker Education, CUNY
Haiti Noir. Akashic. Jan. 2011. c.310p. ed. by Edwidge Danticat. ISBN 9781617750137. $24.95; pap. ISBN 9781936070657. $15.95. M
Haitians may be among the poorest people in the world, but they are rich in an imaginative spirit that has helped them endure centuries of poverty, political corruption, and natural disasters. “Haitian creativity has always been one of the country’s most identifiable survival traits,” writes novelist Danticat (The Dew Breaker) in her introduction to the latest entry (with Copenhagen Noir, see above) in Akashic’s acclaimed noir series. Reflected in the country’s vibrant visual arts and music, this creative genius also finds full expression in the 18 stories contributed by writers in Haiti and in the Haitian diaspora as well as two “blan” (white) Haitiphile authors (Madison Smartt Bell; Mark Kurlansky). A few of the tales are noir in the traditional crime fiction sense—Josaphat-Robert Large’s “Rosanna” is a chilling tale of a kidnapping gone very, very wrong: tensions between an émigré sister and her stay-at-home sibling come to a deadly head after their mother’s funeral in Katia D. Ulysse’s sardonic “The Last Department.” Others experiment with stretching the genre’s boundaries. Gary Victor’s “The Finger” branches into hallucinatory horror, while Kettly Mars’s “Paradise Inn” is a study in existential surrealism (shades of Sartre’s No Exit). VERDICT This anthology will give American readers a complex and nuanced portrait of the real Haiti not seen on the evening news and introduce them to some original and wonderful writers. [A portion of the profits will be donated to the Lambi Fund of Haiti; see Q&A with Danticat on p. 92.—Ed.]—Wilda Williams, Library Journal
Sansom, C.J. Heartstone: A Matthew Shardlake Tudor Mystery. Viking. Jan. 2011. c.634p. ISBN 9780670022397. $27.95. M
Set in the summer of 1545, Sansom’s fifth novel (after Revelation) in his award-winning Tudor series opens as England is tensed for a French invasion. Matthew Shardlake, a lawyer dangerously out of the King’s favor, is hired by Queen Catherine Parr to investigate the death of her servant’s son. On the journey south to interview witnesses, Shardlake discovers a connection between the Queen’s case and a friend who was mysteriously imprisoned in Bedlam decades earlier. Familiarity with prior novels in the series is not necessary, as Sansom details Shardlake’s history and troubled past with the King with the same narrative ease with which he explains England’s political and legal systems and frequent warring with France. The author also expands on the riveting plot by exploring the ethical and moral considerations of the law and its interpreters. VERDICT Enjoyable for mystery, thriller, and historical fiction readers, this is also recommended to fans of all things Tudor (Showtime’s The Tudors; Philippa Gregory’s The Other Boleyn Girl; Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall ). —Catherine Lantz, Morton Coll. Lib., Cicero, IL
Stabenow, Dana. Though Not Dead: A Kate Shugak Novel. Minotaur: St. Martin’s. Feb. 2011. c.464p. ISBN 9780312559113. $25.99. M
In the 18th book in Stabenow’s popular Alaskan series (A Night Too Dark), Kate delves into family history to solve a puzzle bequeathed to her by her late uncle, Old Sam Dementieff. A letter found among his possession reads, “Find my father,” and propels Kate and her half-wolf dog, Mutt, to investigate. She is shot at, beaten, and run off the road, but nothing can deter her from fulfilling her uncle’s wishes. In a parallel story line, Kate’s boyfriend, Jim Chopin, is doing some family research of his own when he inherits his father’s writing desk and makes a life-changing discovery. A map in the front of the book orients readers to the locations mentioned in the story. VERDICTThough longer than many of Stabenow’s previous books, this one holds readers’ interest with fascinating tidbits of Alaskan history from 1918 to 1965 as seen through Old Sam’s eyes. Sure to be popular with lovers of the series as well as those who enjoy reading novels set in Alaska. [See “What Else Is Hot?,” Prepub online, 10/25/10.]—Jean King, West Hempstead P.L., NY
Sturges, p.g. Shortcut Man. Scribner. Feb. 2011. c.224p. ISBN 9781439194171. $24. M
Lessons learned from reading this debut crime novel: (1) Whether when serving a subpoena or just living, it’s best to start out pleasant. With that in mind: this novel is offered as the first in a series so there is opportunity for improvement. (2) The plot revolves around Dick Henry, the “Shortcut Man,” i.e., someone whose job is to sort things out; he’s hired to find out who’s been sleeping with the wife of porn movie producer Art Benjamin. The culprit is close to home. End of, and extent of, story. (3) It takes heroic doses of chutzpah to flesh out that slim plot to novel length. (4) One trick to spinning out a story is to repeat favorite phrases. If it’s good the first time, it’s even better the third, plus the phrase might grow on you. Thus, “Craftsman homes” and “Moe Greene shot” appear and reappear. (5) It’s handy to have a recognizable name. The author is the son of 1940s movie screenwriter/director Preston Sturges, who rates a couple of mentions here. VERDICT There’s more to gripping a reader than attitude, which this novel has in spades. While we await further developments, this initial outing is not recommended. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 9/1/10.] —Bob Lunn, Kansas City, MO
| Author Information |
| Jo Ann Vicarel, a branch manager and head of Reader’s Advisory Team Services, Cleveland Heights–University Heights P.L., OH, has reviewed for LJ since 1982 and wrote the Mystery column from 1985 to 1987 |
