Enduring Justice-Amy Wallace

Enduring Justice
Amy Wallace
Multnomah, Apr 2009, $12.99
ISBN: 9781601420145

Twenty years ago, the ugly incident that still haunts Hanna Kessler occurred. She somewhat walled it way, but recent events have made her realize what a lie she conveniently made for herself.

Crimes Against Children FBI agent Michael Parker struggled emotionally with the cases he has worked; even the trauma specialist offers him little help though he religiously attends their appointments. His current case involves a white supremacist who escaped the justice system. With an Asian child snatched he realizes his beloved Hanna's past has caught up with them as she is in the crosshairs.

This is not an easy read as the third Defenders of Hope inspirational thriller (see RANSOMED DREAMS and HEALING PROMISES) is extremely dark and gritty as pedophile and racial hate crimes take center stage. The story line grips the audience as time is running out to save a child. At the same time, Michael wants to execute justice so the perp cannot fall through the cracks. He and a hurting Hanna may be in love, but their future together looks grim unless they can heal; only God can help them achieve this, but neither seems ready to embrace the Lord as each feels deserted instead.

Harriet Klausner

Second Thoughts-Bobbie O'Keefe

Second Thoughts
Bobbie O'Keefe
Five Star, Apr 2009, $25.95
ISBN: 1594147728

In California, Hayworth gives Petey $10 for a valuable pre WWII SteelMan comic book. He got away with his transaction because mentally-challenged Petey is an adult with the brain of an elementary school child while his caretaker brother Max an alcoholic was on a binge. With the help of their pal Moose, a bank investor they rob Hayworth’s convenience store three times in two days; as Max wants to harass Hayworth to return the comic book or give him $5K.

At about the same time, Kristy and Kevin go on a honeymoon in Hawaii leaving their three kids watched by their former sister-in-law Connie. Her ex TV newscaster Derek arrives to take the oldest five year old Chris fishing though he apparently mixed up the dates. He invites Connie to join them as well as the fourteen month old twins Andy and Abbie. When they run out of gas, they walk back to a nearby house they noticed. Inside are the three robbers who kidnap them. However, they are made to feel at home as Petey and Chris become playing buddies, Moose enjoys watching the twins, and Max appreciates Derek’s great cooking. While Derek is working on one master recipe to win back his Connie, she has SECOND THOUGHTS about their divorce and first thoughts about stealing the purloined comic book for Max and Petey.

This is a madcap romantic suspense thriller that the audience will relish as long as they understand they will have to ignore the plausibility gauge; the fast-paced story line is fast-paced but stratospherically over the top of the Sierras. The five adults and Chris have distinct personalities while the changing relationships between the kidnappers and the victims are fun to follow as Connie and Derek adopt the siblings’ quest as their own. Fans will have no second thoughts about this comedic screwball contemporary as zany is the name of the game.

Harriet Klausner

Dining with Devils-Gordon Aalborg

Dining with Devils
Gordon Aalborg
Five Star, Apr 2009, $25.95
ISBN: 9781594147494

On Tasmania, a visiting gundog trial judge is shot by an apparent blind man who was participating with blanks firing at clay pigeons. At the scene as a civilian is police Sergeant Charlie Banes holding obvious Bluey the dog before he takes charge of the murder scene. His friend Canadian author Teague Kendell, who wrote the true crime thriller THE SPECIALIST and American novelist Tex Henderson are there too; the deadly bullet grazed Rex’s ear.

Meanwhile renowned caver Kirsten Knelsen, who saved Teague’s life on Vancouver Island from the Specialist, is inside a cave with several locals when they find a displaced knife that they take back with them to give to the cops. That night Dr. Ralph “the Specialist” Stafford thought dead in Canada, uses a post hypnotic spell to easily kidnap Kirsten. Stafford looks forward to serving Knelsen as dinner. Teague’s ex-wife Rose Chapman and sniper Ian Boyd arrive at the same isolated cabin that Stafford holds Kirsten. Rose was his nurse and Ian a patient so Stafford has no problem controlling them. A frantic Teague tells Charlie that Kirsten is missing. Nothing adds up as he believes Stafford lives, but if Charlie cannot crack the case soon, Stafford will enjoy his repast Kirsten.

The sequel to the SPECIALIST is an exciting Tasmanian thriller in which the real devil is Dr. Stafford, an obvious take on Lector. The story line is fast-paced from the opening murder and never slows down until the final climax when justice is served cold. Bluey provides comic relief as well as heroism. Fans will enjoy DINING WITH DEVILS but would have appreciated more insight as to how Stafford not only found his way out of a cave, but killed a deadly cougar. Still Gordon Aalborg provides an exciting thriller as time is running out for Kirsten and Teague as Stafford plans to serve them as gourmet delights.

Harriet Klausner

Mischief 24/7-Kasey Michaels

Mischief 24/7
Kasey Michaels
Harlequin HQN, Apr 2009, $6.99
ISBN: 9780373773664

As always the oldest Sunshine sister, Jade remains the responsible last one standing trying to prove their father Teddy did kill Melody Brainard or commit suicide. She refuses to give up while Jolie has found a distraction (see DIAL M FOR MISCHIEF) and so has Jessica (see MISCHIEF BECOMES HER). Jade worked for her dad in his private investigative agency and assumes his last cases contain the key clues.

She is stunned when her former husband, Courtland Becket offers to help her. His ulterior motive is for a second chance at their love now that high maintenance Teddy is gone. As they investigate the cold case files that Teddy was searching before he died, their attraction remains strong, but not quite as powerful as Jade’s obsession that Teddy goes to his grave a hero not a killer.

Although the readers will know early on what Teddy did and did not do in his last moments, fans will relish this often amusing romantic suspense thriller. The current day cases are resolved while the ties back to the Regency saga Romney Marsh is brilliant. Jade is the most convoluted of the Sunshine siblings as even in death her father comes before her needs; Court hopes to gain that role on his second chance, but knows Teddy must be more than just exonerated; he must receive homage from the Philadelphia police, the media, and the sisters.
Harriet Klausner

Defender-Catherine Mann

Defender
Catherine Mann
Berkley, Apr 2009, $7.99
ISBN: 9780425228029

In Afghanistan, with his mentor and partner Major Nathan “Socrates” Breuer unconscious and his C-12 nose diving with smoke coming from the tail, Captain Jimmy Gage knows he must land the plane safely and pray for help to arrive fast. He succeeds in getting them to the ground, but his prayer is answered by insurgents who execute Breuer on the spot and take Jimmy prisoner. Tortured by the enemy, his only regret is he left his fallen comrade behind; vowing never again.

Three years later, Jimmy, who escaped from the enemy, is escorting a boat filled with USO performers when the vessel explodes. Jimmy rescues several survivors including beautiful Chloe Nelson. She had joined the troupe to pay homage to the late soldier who donated a kidney that saved her life. As their respective hearts hotwire love, the pair finds themselves struggling to survive while on a dangerous mission.

This exciting first Darks Ops military thriller hooks the audience from the opening suspense laden scene and never loosens the tension until the end. The key to this taut story line is the lead couple whose attraction can light up the country, but keep their romantic inclinations in check as survival and mission come first. Fans who relish an exciting military thriller with a romantic subplot will wan to fly with Jimmy and Chloe.

Harriet Klausner

Packing Heat-Penny McCall

Packing Heat
Penny McCall
Berkley, Apr 2009, $7.99
ISBN: 9780425228050

On her first case, desperate FBI agent Harmony Swift enters Lewisburg United States Penitentiary to free white-collar criminal Cole Hackett' because she needs his computer skills to rescue a kidnapped agent whose ransom is information; her agency geeks will not do it. Two feds try to stop her breaking him out, bur she succeeds. She tries to persuade him to help, but he points out he is no longer the naive kid who the FBI “F” eight years ago leading to is incarceration; trust of a fed is no longer in his DNA.

Shockingly, the FBI conceals the break-out, which makes no sense to Harmony. As Cole hacks into the FBI database seeking the information, Harmony reconsiders what is happening now and what happened to Cole the first time he worked for the FBI; something is not right, but she has no idea what that is and who is behind the scenes manipulating everyone including an escapee convict and a renegade agent on the run.

This fast-paced thriller stars two wonderful people on the lam as he is rightfully a pessimist and she is an optimist; as a team they slice off the top half of the glass that contained liquid to the midpoint making it filled to the top. Fans will enjoy the wild adventures of the Fed and the anti-Fed as they fall in love while working on allegedly saving a kidnapped agent, but nothing is quite the way it seems in this action packed romantic suspense.

Harriet Klausner

Perfectly Criminal-Celeste Marsella

Perfectly Criminal
Celeste Marsella
Dell, Mar 24 2009, $6.99
ISBN: 9780440244677

They work at the Rhode Island Attorney General’s Office. Laurie, Shannon, and Marianna are prosecutors while Beth is a paralegal. Laurie is going to law school in the fall so their boss attorney general Vincent “the Pig” Piganno hires Brooke Stanfield to replace her. One night the foursome is celebrating their working together for six years when Shannon goes to the bathroom for a pit stop. She meets a drunken man who comes on to her; when he faints they both tumble to the floor. When he reawakens, Shannon takes him to her home, but he cannot sexually perform.

He tells her he may have killed his wife and her lesbian lover before introducing himself as Connecticut State Senator Scott Boardman. He explains he is unsure if the committed two homicides because he mixed alcohol and pills before blacking out. Shannon calls the police to take him in and he hires his attorney who tells him to be quiet. He recants his confession and is released. His public relations man insists he is innocent despite Brooke giving Shannon a phony confession. Scott admits she lieed even though he just broke up with her. When his P.R. expert is murdered, the evidence points to him, but Shannon refuses to believe it; risking her life to prove he is innocent.

The second romantic suspense thiller by Celeste Marsella (see DEFENSELESS; Mariana’s tale) is a fascinating crime thriller with a ton of red herrings and plot twists though perhaps too many. Shannon is a tough person, but is also running away from her past, which is a prime reason an affair with a married man pleases her. She does not want a commitment and though her married paramour deeply loves her he cannot leave his wife which to Shannon is the perfect arrangement. Scott in many ways is the more beguiling character as many of the spins are caused by him; keeping readers interested into learning his true motives. Celeste Marsella provides fans with a strong tale reminiscent of the works of Linda Fairstein.

Harriet Klausner

Sudden Death-Allison Brennan

Sudden Death
Allison Brennan
Ballantine, Apr 2009, $7.99
ISBN: 9780345502742

The killer murdered vets in Austin and Las Vegas before the third victim appeared in a Sacramento alley. Each was single, between thirty five and forty five years old, and former Delta Force soldiers; they were tortured with their hamstrings cut so they could not escape. FBI special agent Megan Elliot knows she has a serial killer to contend with, but who and why remains out of reach. She turns to the military to learn more about the Delta Force, but the Pentagon refuses to cooperate; going so far as claiming a corpse due to national security.

Ex-Army Ranger Jack Kincaid runs a mercenary team in Texas. When someone tortures and murders one of his associates, a Delta Force vet, he vows justice for his fallen brother in arms. His breaking the rules leads him to frustrated by the book Megan.

Readers meet the two killers and the motive before Megan investigates the Sacramento crime scene so the tense story line is more a cat and mouse contest with death being the most likely outcome. Jack and Megan are opposites as he flaunts the rules while she embraces them. They are a wonderful pairing, but the prime reason fans will enjoy this exhilarating FBI romantic suspense is the chilling serial killing duo Karin and Ethan, but especially her.
Harriet Klausner

The President's Henchman-Joseph Flynn

The President's Henchman
Joseph Flynn
Variance, Jan 2009, $25.95
ISBN: 193514202X

When his wife is elected president, Jim McGill becomes America’s “first” First Man. A former Chicago homicide detective, Jim was working on the homicide of Patricia Darden Grant’s husband. When he married Patricia he did not expect them to relocate to the White House for her job. He is offered the position of FBI chief, but declines. Instead he obtains private investigator license.

His first case involves a stalker threatening a White House press corps member as Jim wants to make sure the loose cannon does not go after his wife. Jim also gets involved in an adultery charge against a female colonel stationed at the Pentagon with the possibility that could devastate his wife’s new administration.

THE PRESIDENT’S HENCHMAN is an enjoyable refreshing political noir starring America’s First Man who refuses to hide his roots as a former Chicago cop, but does so in an intelligent tough guy manner. The story line is fast-paced though one must wonder how the Secret Service Agents plan to protect Jim when he has clients; surveillance for instance might prove messy and awkward. Although the plot does not dig deep enough into the impact of Jim working as a P.I. on POTUS protection detail and other considerations, Joseph Flynn provides fans with a brisk political thriller starring the First Nor sleuth in the White House.

Harriet Klausner

The President's Henchman-Joseph Flynn

The President's Henchman
Joseph Flynn
Variance, Jan 2009, $25.95
ISBN: 193514202X

When his wife is elected president, Jim McGill becomes America’s “first” First Man. A former Chicago homicide detective, Jim was working on the homicide of Patricia Darden Grant’s husband. When he married Patricia he did not expect them to relocate to the White House for her job. He is offered the position of FBI chief, but declines. Instead he obtains private investigator license.

His first case involves a stalker threatening a White House press corps member as Jim wants to make sure the loose cannon does not go after his wife. Jim also gets involved in an adultery charge against a female colonel stationed at the Pentagon with the possibility that could devastate his wife’s new administration.

THE PRESIDENT’S HENCHMAN is an enjoyable refreshing political noir starring America’s First Man who refuses to hide his roots as a former Chicago cop, but does so in an intelligent tough guy manner. The story line is fast-paced though one must wonder how the Secret Service Agents plan to protect Jim when he has clients; surveillance for instance might prove messy and awkward. Although the plot does not dig deep enough into the impact of Jim working as a P.I. on POTUS protection detail and other considerations, Joseph Flynn provides fans with a brisk political thriller starring the First Nor sleuth in the White House.

Harriet Klausner

Hater-David Moody

Hater
David Moody
Dunne, Feb 2009, $21.95
ISBN: 9780312384838

Danny McCoyne is a bureaucrat at the Parking Fine Processing Office; a job he loathes but as poor as the pay is he needs to keep his boring position in order to feed his wife and kids. Depressed Danny knows he has no future beyond being near the bottom of his agency’s food chain.

Danny is stunned when he witnesses an apparent random act of violence. When more occur, the media dubs the assaulters as Haters. Victims are loved ones, friends and fellow workers as much as strangers. No one can explain why even as society begins to unravel as exponentially the number of attacks is beyond when the government can contend with. Danny anticipates the worst is yet to come; so he tries to keep his loved ones safe though that means hiding inside their home like convicts. He trusts no one especially the government who he thinks may be behind the sudden violence

This is a chilling thriller as the increasingly violent society forcing innocents to lock themselves and their families in houses that are prisons seems plausible due to the pace of the story line. The brutality is often vivid, rightfully so, as that cruelty is what leads to self incarceration. Fans of a dark world will appreciate this grim thriller as normality is simple survival in a Moody world gone mad.

Harriet Klausner

Manna From Hades-Carola Dunn

Manna From Hades
Carola Dunn
Minotaur, Mar 17 2009, $24.95
ISBN: 9780312379452

Widow Eleanor “Aunt Nell” Trewynn runs a charity shop in the village of Port Mabyn in Cornwall. At the store, Aunt Nell’s dog Teazle finds a corpse of a young male in the storeroom. She notifies Detective Inspector Scumble who initially thinks the victim is a bum. He does not want to investigate with his partner on sick leave and he stuck with Aunt Nell’s resolute niece, Detective Sargent Megan Pencarrow, but has no choice as a murder occurred.

Aunt Nell drives the gruff senior investigator crazy as she seems to omit critical information because she is forgetful. She is actually more interested in a suitcase of jewelry left at the store that turns out to be stolen loot from a London jewelry. As Aunt Nell and the Vicar’s wife Jocelyn work the case, Scumble grumbles about amateurs and London cops.

This 1960-s 1970s English village mystery is a wonderful character driven police procedural-amateur sleuth whodunit. The ensemble cast brings to life the small Cornish village through key players who are fully developed with differing personalities. Fans will enjoy Carola Dunn’s new series as she moves forward in time four decades from her super Honourable Daisy Dalrymple Fletcher 1920s mysteries without missing a beat.

Harriet Klausner

Chinatown Angel-A.E. Roman

Chinatown Angel
A.E. Roman
Minotaur, Mar 17 2009, $24.95
ISBN: 9780312375003

In New York City, commercial actor Kirk Atlas hires private investigator Chico Santana to find his missing teenage cousin Tiffany, Chinese-Cuban American. His inquiry takes Chico to Queens where Pilar Menendez offers him money not return Tiffany to Kirk. Soon afterward, Chico observes someone pushes Pilar from the rooftop of her Astoria building.

Chico learns that Tiffany's brother died from a heroin overdose and her father Samuel runs HMD Financial. The sleuth locates Tiffany and Irving Goldberg Jones, who is in hiding after writing a story about a person forced to OD on heroin. Still the case fails to tie together even as more deaths follow. He is abducted by Kirk’s crazy father, and an incriminating sex tape seems to be getting around the city.

This is a fun urban noir that lampoons the sub-genre as Chico is the man who has turned his life around since his wife Ramona kicked him out of their apartment and under the Pelham 123. Chico’s amusing asides as he escorts the audience through the boroughs make for a lighthearted tale. Fans who enjoy a tough hero will want to join Chico’s tour of Manhattan, Queens and the Bronx.

Harriet Klausner

In a Gilded Cage-Rhys Bowen

In a Gilded Cage
Rhys Bowen
Minotaur, Mar 17 2009, $23.95
ISBN: 9780312385347

Following a particularly cold New York winter, two friends of Molly Murphy persuade the private investigator to join the "Vassar Wants Votes for Women" march in the annual Easter Parade. On Fifth Avenue where the parade is held, Molly meets Emily Boswell and several of her socialite friends. They cause a disturbance and NYPD’s finest arrest Molly, Emily and the other women.

Molly's fiancé exasperated police captain Daniel Sullivan gets the females released from their cell, but is uninterested in the women’s right to vote movement. Meanwhile Emily hires Molly to investigate the deaths of her missionary parents and the loss of their estate that she should have inherited; she cannot pay much of a fee because she is eeking out a living at a drugstore.

As always with this excellent early twentieth century Manhattan mystery series (see TELL ME, PRETTY MAIDEN), the time and place make for a terrific read. The Boswell inquiry and another investigation are cleverly drawn emphasizing that Molly’s sleuthing business is booming, but it is Rhys Bowen’s description of Easter Parade New York that makes for a vivid look back to the beginning of the last century.

Harriet Klausner

Payback-Solomon Jones

Payback
Solomon Jones
Minotaur, Mar 17 2009, $23.95
ISBN: 9780312348380

Municipal Court of Philadelphia Judge Myra Weaks is ruling whether Karima "Cream" Thomas must stand trial for the death of her boyfriend, Duane Faision (see C.R.E.A.M.). As the Judge states there is efficient evidence for Ms. Thomas to stand trial for murder and the accused insists an accident during a shoot out occurred, a scream is heard by all inside the courtroom by someone outside.

Karima, worried about her mom’s reaction to the recent tragic events, recognizes the voice and rushes out to the hallway. There she finds her mother Sharon Thomas dying from a puncture wound in her neck; the Ice Pick serial killer has struck. Karima vows to avenge her mom’s death. However, as the killer goes on a rampage murdering anyone he had the slightest grudge with, Karima follows his icy blood trail looking for a confrontation.

This is a wild satirical sequel starring a kick butt African-American heroine who takes no prisoners as shown by the opening argument between her and the Judge over the merit of her late drug dealing boyfriend and never slows down as Cream takes readers on a tour of the city. The story line is fast-paced and filled with action while the audience anticipates a final grudge match winner takes all between the diabolically brilliant profiling Ice Pick killer and the heroine, mindful of Cleopatra Jones.
Harriet Klausner

Tight Lie-Don Dahler

Tight Lie
Don Dahler
Minotaur, Mar 17 2009, $24.95
ISBN: 9780312383503

Someone hammers Hollywood actress Holly Ann Cramer with a cappuccino machine, rapes her and murders her with six vicious stabs to her heart. Because the homicide is excessively violent implying a crime of passion, LAPD suspects the victim’s boyfriend, all star baseball player Joniel Baker, who was ending their relationship but swears he did not kill her.

Joniel asks his friend private investigator Huck Doyle to investigate the murder as the prime suspect does not trust the police to look beyond him. Huck, who has a law degree that he does not use and is a licensed private investigator who has license that he does use when he is not sinking the putt on the PGA tour, which is frequently, reluctantly agrees. Complicating the case is a second victim also containing DNA that implicated Joniel. With the help of his disgraced father and his paraplegic brother, Huck begins to believe Joniel’s claim he is being set up

The Doyle family makes this a fine sports mystery as the Huckster narrates the whodunit with a string of enthusiastic birdies about golf, murder and the collapse of society. His two relatives are total opposites when it comes to investigations; dad the ex LAPD cop says the end is all that matters while the brother the ex FBI agent insists the means is just as important. Although the inquiry is conveniently helped, sub-genre fans especially golfers will enjoy Don Dahler’s delightful debut as Huck beats par for the course.

Harriet Klausner

Hunted-P.C. Cast and Kristen Cast

Hunted
P.C. Cast and Kristen Cast
St. Martin’s Griffin, Mar 2009, $17.95
ISBN: 9780312379827

Stevie Rae’s blood splashed the earth where Kalona emerged from the earth. He was imprisoned a millennia ago by the wise women of the Cherokee because he raped their women. They created out of the earth a woman A-ya who lured him into a cave and trapped him underground. He was released due to work if the High Priestess of Nyx who wants Kalona as a consort. He is one of the Fallen but looks like a beautiful and he is deadly ruthless and evil. He wants fledgling vampyre Zoey Redbird who he believes is A-ya. She and the others escape into the tunnels near their school the House of night.

A Raven Mocker, Kalona’s children he got on Cherokee Woman are part bird and part human wound her. Through her friends she is kept from dying, but must return to the House of Night. She needs to be near a fully formed vampyres because she is a fledgling and is not as strong as a fully aged vampyre. Otherwise she will die. While at the school Kalona enters her dreams trying to turn her away from the Goddess Nyx because he believes she is A-ya reincarnated. They must stop him and the High Priestess Neferet who brought him back to life otherwise the whole school will abandon the Goddess and turn to the dark.

HUNTED is an appealing supernatural thriller that focuses on a fledgling vampire who must believe in the Goddess while having an affinity for the five elements when most newcomers have none or one. She is being groomed to become the High Priestess and the decisions she make shows a maturity (caused by events in the previous four novels) that belies her being a teen. The exciting story line is filled with teenage angst as Zoe struggles with choices that would cause PTSD in most adults. Like the Twilight saga, this fine entry casts a strong spell on readers.

Harriet Klausner

Afterthoughts-Lynn Tincher

Afterthoughts
Lynn Tincher
BlackWyrm, Mar 2009, $11.95
ISBN: 9780982006726

In Louisville, Kentucky widow Sarah Steckler still grieves the murder of her spouse Anthony when another tragedy strikes. She calls her foster sister Detective Paige Aldridge pleading with her to come over as her son Richie is dead. Paige would do anything for Sarah who was there for her last year when an assault left her with no memory.

Paige and her partner Jay Vittidini arrive at the death scene with the evidence overwhelmingly supporting suicide. Richie’s note implies he killed his dad and consequently hurt his mom. Meanwhile his death triggers memories of her kidnapping assault that she had obviously repressed and visions of homicides. Paige fears she is losing her mind with three traumas in a year and the deadly dreams; however mysterious Junna Breck visits Paige offering her help even as the detective believes her extended family is under siege from a serial killer.

This is a strange, but exciting well written police procedural starring an intriguing lead character whose family appears to be the foci of a serial killer though she has no idea why. The support cast makes the tale as Jay worries his partner may be psychologically over the edge with her theory linking her brutal kidnapping to the murder of her brother-in-law and the suicide of her nephew while Junna is enigmatic with her offer of help. Young adult fans will enjoy Lynn Tincher tense thriller as the heroine (and readers) begins to have AFTERTHOUGHTS about what has happened and she fears will happen in future Mind Bending tales.

Harriet Klausner

Unseen-Nancy Bush

Unseen
Nancy Bush
Zebra, Apr 2009, $6.99
ISBN 9781420103403

She awakens confused in a bed that is obviously in an Oregon hospital. Winslow County Sheriff's Department Detective Will Tanninger is at her side and tells her she is at Laurelton general Hospital; he asks her name and after a hesitation says Gemma LaPorte. Her last memory was making breakfast while it was raining outside; he tells her it has not rained near here for three days. Finally he explains that she is his prime suspect in a hit and run that critically injured child molester Edward Letton, also in the hopspital but with much more severe injuries.

Gemma suffers from traumatic induced amnesia, but could the trauma be hitting Letton as her face is battered perhaps from a steering wheel and she suffered a concussion. She also does not look close at the description provided by the young soccer player Carol Pelltor who Letton was targeting when he was mowed down. However, the mystery spins further as a serial killer who burns his victims somehow connects to Gemma’s slowly returning memories.

This is an exhilarating suspense thriller that cleverly contrasts a romantic subplot between Will and Gemma with a dark mystery. The story line is fast-paced and filled with action. However, the key to this tale is the comparisons as Will and Gemma’s relationship slowly turns warmer and lovingly, a serial killer turns nastier. Fans will relish Nancy Bush’s taut thriller as she leaves the colorful Jane Kelly mysteries for a much darker and intense suspense.

Harriet Klausner

The Fifteenth Letter-Karen Wiesner and Chris Spindler

The Fifteenth Letter
Karen Wiesner and Chris Spindler
Swimming Kangaroo Books December 2008, $14.99
ISBN: 1934041629

In 1989 Nelson Salim and Zeke Carfi entered a bank to rob it while the former’s wife Serena sat in the getaway car with their son Roman. When Nelson started to kill the bank manager, Zeke interceded. Nelson ended up dead while Zeke went to prison. Nelson’s wife and child vowed vengeance on Zeke and his kin.

Every year on the anniversary of the botched bank job, Zeke receives a letter from his late partner’s bitter widow. Fifteen years later, Zeke's twenty-four years old daughter Amber is a patrol officer assigned to the Falcon's Bend Police Department for the past two years. Now that Zeke is out of prison, Amber is confused how to deal with her father whom she worshipped as her hero when she was a small child. Still she asks him to move in with her; mostly because she hopes to keep him out of trouble. However, when she receives THE FIFTEENTH LETTER, she understands what occurred to destroy her image. Now someone is stalking Amber and her police partner Warren Jensen vows to keep the woman he is attracted to safe.

This is an exciting suspense thriller supported by a mystery (Amber’s need to know why her hero turned bank robber) and a hint of romance (between the police partners). The key to this interconnected family drama is all the prime players from the Salim and Carfi families behave plausible with vengeance and death being the links. Fans will relish this fine tale as the truth will not set anyone free because the pivotal moment in the past will always haunt those still living.

Harriet Klausner

Nightwalker-Heather Graham

Nightwalker
Heather Graham
Mira, Apr 2009, $24.95
ISBN 9780778326373

In the Las Vegas Sun casino, entertainer Jessy Sparhawk wins quite a lot of money at the craps table. Before the Lakota Sioux can rejoice over her gambling winnings, bodyguard Tanner Green falls on top of Jessy. Not moving once he lands on her, Tanner is dead from a knife in his back. Private investigator part Paiute Dillon Wolf pulls the body off of her.

Soon after the Tanner death, a second person who works at the Sun is murdered as the killer is cleaning the crime links, which makes Jessy a potential target. The victim, a parking lot attendant, had witnessed Tanner leave a limo just before his murder. Dillon and LVPD homicide detective Jerry Cheever investigate the two related murders in different manners. Dillon is a nightwalker, as is Jessy now since Green made direct contact by falling on her, as she keeps “seeing” him. Dillon talks with the witnesses, ghosts. He learns that nearby ghost-town Indigo, Nevada is apparently the location of a violent confrontation between the paranormal and human as it once was the location of a nasty gunfight in its old west heyday.

This is a terrific paranormal whodunit starring an intriguing hero, a dedicated cop, and a stunned entertainer whose relative world will never be the same after Green’s pinpoint landing. The support cast, living and ghosts enhance the exciting story line by either adding to the investigation or to the Nightwalker ESP skill. The romance remains somewhat in the backdrop as keeping Jessy alive and catching the DEATH DEALER culprit are the objectives superseding his attraction.
Harriet Klausner

The Bellini Card-Jason Goodwin

The Bellini Card
Jason Goodwin
FSG, Mar 3 2009, $25.00
ISBN: 9780374110390

In 1840, the new Ottoman Empire Sultan Abdulmecid orders the eunuch Yashim to travel to Venice to obtain a portrait of Mehmet the Conqueror painted by Bellini. However, before leaving for Italy, Resid Pasha directs Yashim to keep the expenses including the purchase down. Yashim asks his friend impoverish Polish Ambassador Stanislaw Palewski to masquerade as an American to help locate the portrait of the hero who took Constantinople from the Christians in the fifteenth century.

In Venice while Palewski conducts his search, a killer has murdered two dealers connected to the Bellini masterpiece. Soon the Polish Ambassador becomes a target of this unknown murderer, but Yashim working from the shadows keeps his friend safe while trying to obtain the painting.

The third Yashmin historical thriller (see THE JANISSARY TREE and THE SNAKE STONE) is an enjoyable fascinating look at Venice and at the Ottoman Empire. Interestingly Yashim plays second fiddle for much of the early part of the novel, but once he comes on stage, he and his adversary battle in am electrifying contest. Fans will enjoy this terific nineteenth century mystery due in part to the investigations into the portrait and the killer, but also because of the deep sense of time and place.

Harriet Klausner

The Bellini Card-Jason Goodwin

The Bellini Card
Jason Goodwin
FSG, Mar 3 2009, $25.00
ISBN: 9780374110390

In 1840, the new Ottoman Empire Sultan Abdulmecid orders the eunuch Yashim to travel to Venice to obtain a portrait of Mehmet the Conqueror painted by Bellini. However, before leaving for Italy, Resid Pasha directs Yashim to keep the expenses including the purchase down. Yashim asks his friend impoverish Polish Ambassador Stanislaw Palewski to masquerade as an American to help locate the portrait of the hero who took Constantinople from the Christians in the fifteenth century.

In Venice while Palewski conducts his search, a killer has murdered two dealers connected to the Bellini masterpiece. Soon the Polish Ambassador becomes a target of this unknown murderer, but Yashim working from the shadows keeps his friend safe while trying to obtain the painting.

The third Yashmin historical thriller (see THE JANISSARY TREE and THE SNAKE STONE) is an enjoyable fascinating look at Venice and at the Ottoman Empire. Interestingly Yashim plays second fiddle for much of the early part of the novel, but once he comes on stage, he and his adversary battle in am electrifying contest. Fans will enjoy this terific nineteenth century mystery due in part to the investigations into the portrait and the killer, but also because of the deep sense of time and place.

Harriet Klausner

No More Dying- David Roberts

No More Dying
David Roberts
Soho, Feb 2009, $25.00
ISBN: 9781569475393

In 1939 England, M15 sends Lord Edward Corinth to Lady Aster’s estate of Clivedon in Buckinghamshire to determine the relative strength of the Hitler appeasers headquartered there and to uncover the identity of Nazi super assassin Der Adler. At the same time his fiancée Communist Party sympathizer reporter Verity Brown arrives to ascertain the sympathies of the American Ambassador to England Joseph Kennedy.

However, soon after their arrival, a Communist comrade and two other visitors are murdered. Corinth and Brown team up on the investigation with clues leading to the IRA or the Kennedy clan. Both wonder if Der Adler is behind the homicides with a plot to destroy the growing Anglo-American alliance by taking out the prime English supporter Winston Churchill.

Although the climax seems too typical of the sub-genre for what is a very complicated pre WWII thriller, fans will appreciate the latest Corinth-Brown historical tale. The story line is fast-paced from the moment the engaged couple arrive at the Astor estate and never slows down until the final confrontation with a killer. Corinth is his usual decadent elitist self while Brown has begun doubting the Communists. Fans of the series will enjoy their preparations for their marriage begins with stopping a killer whose goal is to destroy the cross Atlantic alliance.

Harriet Klausner

Lords of Corruption-Kyle Mills

Lords of Corruption
Kyle Mills
Vanguard, Mar 24 2009, $25.95
ISBN: 9781593154998

Ex-con Josh Hagarty is proud of how far he has come from being a convict; his growth is symbolized by earning an MBA. However, prison taught Josh the acceptance of reality so he knows being an-con limits his employee pool as that is not a good item on a résumé.

When the NewAfrica charity offers him a job to manage a farming project, he grabs the opportunity to prove him self though he knows nothing about the continent. Not long after he settles in, Josh learns the local leader of New Africa Gideon is related the country’s brutal unpopular president and a goon. The impoverished nation is filled with civil dissension and his predecessor was apparently murdered for doing his job. As Hagarty begins to dig into the philanthropy he works for, he finds ugly truths and no allies except for Scandinavian aid worker Annika Gritdal and journalist J.B. Flannary. Someone is prepared to silence the trio as they have done so before, but Hagarty and Flannary see a chance for redeeming their unworthy souls and Gritdal is too dedicated to slink back to the safety of Europe.

This is an exhilarating thriller in spite of the obvious stereotyping of the lead trio and their goon opponents. The story line is fast-paced with the hero pulling off Peril of Pauline type escapes. Readers who suspend plausibility and not mind two dimensional characterizations will appreciate this action-packed diversion as LORDS OF CORRUPTION is a fun read.

Harriet Klausner

Through Black Spruce-Joseph Boyden

Through Black Spruce
Joseph Boyden
Viking, Apr 2009, $26.95
ISBN: 0670020575

In Moose Factory, Ontario, Cree Indian Will Bird lies comatose in the hospital after a beating. While he ”dreams” of his life as a bush pilot amongst other things, his niece Annie , a hunter, has come home after an eight-month search for her runaway sister Suzanne who has become a popular model in Manhattan, to be at her uncle’s side. Annie knows she has more in common with her uncle as a proficient hunter than she does with her younger “urbanized party going sibling who is connected to the ruthless Netmakers drug smugglers.

Will struggles for his life through his memories while Annie struggles to move past her efforts to connect with Suzanne. Annie’s boyfriend semi-hermit Gordon helps in his way. However the brave female hunter reconsiders her walking away from New York as she ponders hunting two-legged animals to rescue her sister and provide homage to dying Will who also has a nefarious link to the Netmakers.

This deep family drama contains two powerful contrasting story lines that ultimately converge. The cast is fully developed with the three Birds as the key players who come across as genuine; while the support casts enhances understanding of their personalities or the locale of Ontario or Manhattan. Although the probability of the ending occurring would have the odds of the Detroit Lions winning the next Superbowl, fans will relish the rustic stories of Will and Annie and to a lesser degree Suzanne in the city.

Harriet Klausner

Romantic Notions-Karen Wiesner and Chris Spindler

Romantic Notions
Karen Wiesner and Chris Spindler
Swimming Kangaroo Books, December 2008, $14.99
ISBN: 1934041009

In Wisconsin Falcon's Bend Police Department police officers Amber Carfi and Warren Jensen are a team at work and are now lovers off-duty; although they hide their new relationship from the brass especially Chief Sobcynzski, who loathes fraternizing. However, concealing their love for one another is proving difficult as any sleuth can see the lingering glance the pair shares.

Elderly Mrs. Frederick calls her neighbor Amber informing her that her daughter Erin Daughtry was just murdered. Amber and Warren check the locale and find the naked corpse of a young woman posed in a virginal way on her bed with a bullet through her heart, a rose between her breasts and an attached gold wedding band. They call for the homicide team and Lieutenants Pete Shasta and Danny Vincent arrive to take charge of the crime scene. Even eerier than the posed body is the accompanying note: “What is done out of love always takes place beyond good and evil." Posing as Callista, Amber goes undercover to ferret out a killer focusing on the cheating boyfriend of the deceased; only to have FBI Agent Robert Lock arrive boasting he and Amber were an entry at one time.

This is an intriguing small-town police procedural with a romantic subplot between two of the cops. The investigation and its subsequent undercover operation engages the audience who like Amber will suspect the victim’s boyfriend though other individuals have motives; while ironically the concealing of their romance by Amber and Warren seems to have failed as not just readers can sense the attraction. Fans will enjoy this fine cop thriller that contrasts a loving love with a lethal love.

Harriet Klausner

A Visible Darkness-Michael Gregorio

A Visible Darkness
Michael Gregorio
Minotaur, Apr 2009, $25.95
ISBN 9780312544355

In 1808, Prussia is a cesspool of corpses as the French army has devastated the locals. In that environ, Prussian magistrate Hanno Stiffeniis, heeding the advice of his late mentor Immanuel Kant, tests the impact of the dead rotting in fields on the health of the living. He believes the populace including the invaders faces health risks and plans to use empirical evidence to prove his case so the French will clean the environment.

French Colonel Antoine Claudet asks Stiffeniis to investigate the murder of Kati Rodendahl, a Prussian woman collecting amber to sell to the occupying army because Napoleon wants it. With a child due shortly and wanting to be with his wife and their family, Stiffeniis reluctantly agrees. With able assistance he begins his inquiry, but more homicides follow that leaves the Prussian knowing he will miss the birth of his child while the bureaucracy wants the case dropped in a charged atmosphere of hate and distrust between the occupiers and the occupied.

The third Stiffeniis police procedural (see CRITIQUE OF CRIMINAL REASON and DAYS OF ATONEMENT) is a superb historical piece that brings to life (and death) Prussia under French occupation. The story line has themes that apply today in the Middle East as Stiffeniis believes the motive is to assassinate those people considered traitors for seeming to support the occupiers even if it is just to feed your family. Readers will relish this powerful tale that resonates with its gloom and doom that once again parallels early nineteenth century Prussia with 2006 Iraq.
Harriet Klausner

The Trail of the Wild Rose-Anthony Eglin

The Trail of the Wild Rose
Anthony Eglin
Minotaur, Apr 2009, $24.95
ISBN 9780312365479

Recently returned from a horticultural visit to China, Peter Mayhew is driving his motorcycle when he is run off the road. The other driver does not stop and Peter is rushed to an Oxford hospital in critical condition, The victim rambles incoherently about the Asian journey so a colleague ask retired botanist Lawrence Kingston to talk with Peter and see if he can make sense of what the man is saying.

Kingston learns the expedition was seeking wild roses, but soon afterward someone murders Mayhew in his hospital room. Thames Valley Detective Inspector Sheffield leads the police investigation into the homicide while Kingston interviews the other people who accompanied the victim to China. However, the cops and Kingston are stunned when Mayhew’s half-sister Sally comes to to the morgue to identify her brother only to insist that the cadaver is not him; she also says Peter allegedly died in a fall in China. As the retiree digs through the mud, he begins to uncover fraud, double crosses and murder as more members of the quest die.

The fourth English Garden mystery (see THE WATER LILY CROSS, THE BLUE ROSE and LOST GARDENS) is an engaging amateur sleuth that showcases the world of historical botanist hunters seeking obscure exotic plants around the globe; mindful of Darwin’s trip on the Beagle. The story line is fast-paced once Sally makes her assertion and never slows down although the ending seems to easy and intermittently Kingston’s life intrudes on the plot. Still this is a fun modern day meeting of Darwin and Agatha Christie in And Then there Were None.
Harriet Klausner

Smoke & Whispers-Mick Herron

Smoke & Whispers
Mick Herron
Soho, Apr 2009, $25.00
ISBN 9781569475645

In Newcastle, England, a corpse is fished out of the River Tyne. Freelance publisher and Ostrich farmer Sarah Tucker identifies the corpse as her friend private investigator Zoe Boehm.

The police assume Zoe committed suicide, but Sarah takes exception to that conclusion as the woman had a zest for life. Instead she believes Zoe was murdered in a way to make it look like she took her life. With the police seemingly contented with their conclusion, Sarah considers her late friend’s inquiry into Alan Talmadge, who murdered middle-aged women but made their death appear to be an accident or a suicide. With the premise too coincidental, Sarah investigates who Talmadge is and if he killed ZoeThis probe makes her a target for suicide.

The key to this superb investigative thriller is the ostrich farmer who comes across as a rare legitimate amateur sleuth as Mick Herron “sells” Sarah as a detective with a motive. The story line is fast-paced from the moment that Sarah identifies the corpse and never slows down as she makes inquiries into her late buddy’s last case, which puts a bulls-eye on her head. Although the climax can be seen clear across the Channel, SMOKE & WHISPERS is a fantastic English amateur sleuth.

Harriet Klausner

Darling Jim-Christian Moerk

Darling Jim
Christian Moerk
Henry Holt, Apr 2009, $25.00
ISBN: 0805089470

In Malahide, Ireland, mail carrier Desmond arrives at a house to deliver letters. The kids claim the place is haunted. When no one responds to his knock, he takes a peak inside out of curiosity only to see a corpse. The police arrive to find the murdered bodies of an aunt and her two nieces.

The case remains cold although the townsfolk believe Desmond killed the three women as he has acted strange since finding the first body. Soon afterward Niall finds the diary of one of the dead sisters, Fiona. He reads about a traveling storyteller DARLING JIM who based on the entries entranced the three females. Unable to resist, Niall follows up the diary’s voice claiming seducer’s victims seeking to learn more about the women, their seducer Jim and a strange commentary in the journal about a wolf-prince leaving behind dead women.

This is a well written strange thriller that has the audience debating throughout whether DARLING JIM is an old fashion horror tale, a psychological suspense, or a serial killer gothic thriller. Keeping readers slightly off their contentment zone, Christian Moerk uses three subplots that intermingle; all are well written enabling the audience to understand what motivated the three dead women (especially the diary writer) and how they perceive their Darling Jim, and what induced Niall to investigate. Fans who relish something different but very entertaining will enjoy this strong suspense thriller.

Harriet Klausner

Ultimatum-Matthew Glass

Ultimatum
Matthew Glass
Atlantic Monthly (Grove), Apr 2009, $24.00
ISBN: 0802118887

In a short period of time the world can change and not for the better as 9/11 proved. By 2033, carbon emissions have ruined the environment while sea levels have risen at catastrophic rates leading to mass evacuations of people from what were once coastlines. The Florida Peninsular is going underwater with Miami on the verge of becoming a modern day Atlantis. The newly elected President Joe Benton plans to build an infrastructure so those displaced don’t fall into abject poverty and consequently take others down with them; the massive relocation will be destructive enough.

When Benton meets with the incumbent POTUS he learns that secret climate change talks with China produced nada. Benton knows an arrangement between the superpowers is critical to save the world. He is determined to partner with China, who has displaced America as the top polluter, in finding a global solution. China remains obstinate and uncooperative; reneging every time it appears a deal is set. Benton’s advisors tell him the Chinese will never sign a treaty, but the resolute president tries something new that he believes they want as he knows humanity is at stake even as the obstinate Chinese leaders demand more as if extinction is impossible with their population.

Joe Benton is a good person trying to be a good president after a dozen years of Republican denial behind the no tax and no negativity to the economy even as the ocean was coming ashore. Thus China assumes he is just another status quo buy American first. This cautionary tale is fast-paced with a frenzy desperation to Benton’s efforts to turn around the environment before we reach the point of no return of humans becoming the twenty-first century dinosaurs. Although the ending feels required and rants about failed governments and media to take the environment issue seriously feel intrusive, Matthew Glass provides a deep look at what a world leader who strongly wants to make change must overcome the legacy of his or her predecessors.

Harriet Klausner

Face of Betrayal-Lis Wiehl and April Henry

Face of Betrayal
Lis Wiehl and April Henry
Thomas Nelson, Apr 7 2009, $24.99
ISBN 9781595547057

In Portland, Oregon seventeen year old US Senate page Katie Converse goes home during the Christmas recess. However, when her family reports her missing, the media goes into a feeding frenzy searching for any nuance as Katie is the All American paragon; the press seeks clues to her whereabouts while assuming the worst occurred and intrudes on the law enforcement search for her.

Federal prosecutor Allison Pierce, crime reporter Cassidy Shaw, and FBI Special Agent Nicole Hedges uncover incriminating information that Katie is not the role model her parents and others describe. In fact the teen page was having an affair with a much older senator whose political career would be nuked if the truth came out. He will do anything including obstructing justice to conceal his involvement with Katie.

Mindful of Congressman Gary Condit and the murder of Federal Bureau of Prisons intern Chandra Levy scandal that fell off the media scope with 9/11; FACE OF BETRAYAL is a terrific political thriller with a homicide investigation as its underpinning. The story line is fast-paced but loaded with plausible twists that add taut suspense to the inquiry. Lis Wiehl and April Henry provide a superb tale that hooks the reader from the start and never slows down until the final convergence.

Harriet Klausner

Shadow and Light-Jonathan Rabb

Shadow and Light
Jonathan Rabb
FSG, Apr 2009, $26.00
ISBN: 0374261946

In 1927 the German capital Berlin is a city filled with chaos and corruption in spite of its reputation of a place with no reason to ever leave. Within the craziness of a collapsing city and country, perhaps the only oasis of a functioning government agency is the Kriminalpolizei led by highly principled Herr Kriminal-Oberkommissar “Chief Inspector” Nikolai Hoffner.

At Ufa Movie Studios, executive Herr Thyssen is found dead in his tub in what looks like a suicide. Leading the investigation, Hoffner decides the victim could not have killed himself as he finds evidence that a clever homicide was perpetuated to fool the “incompetent” cops. It might have worked if anyone but Hoffner was making the inquiry. To his surprise the investigator with a tendency to lose partners also finds his younger son working at the studio having quietly dropped out of school. Meanwhile on the case he looks at the deceased’s personal and business lives with a fine tooth comb, This scrutiny leads to the convergence of politics with industrial espionage, but not a killer and to Hoffner considering a tryst with visiting American MGM official Helen Coyle. At the same time the Brownshirted thugs of Goebbels who includes Hoffner’s oldest son as a loyal supporter beats up Jews, Communists and homosexuals for pleasure.

This strong German historical police procedural provides a profound sense of time and place as the audience will feel the beginning of a new darker more intense era. The story line grips readers with its fascinating look at Berlin as the Brownshirts are just starting to flex muscle and the Great Depression is in full swing here with many locals believing the unfair armistice being the cause. Hoffner is a quirky lead character as his wry comments and retorts provide further insight into the period while also working the case. SHADOW AND LIGHT is a terific 1920s Weimer Republic murder mystery.

Harriet Klausner

Plea of Insanity-Jilliane Hoffman

Plea of Insanity
Jilliane Hoffman
Vanguard, Apr 2009, $25.95
ISBN: 1593155077

In Miami twenty-eight year old Miami assistant state attorney Julia Vacanti leads the prosecution team in the highly visible homicide case of surgeon David Marquette. The doctor stands trial in the stabbing deaths of his wife and their two older children, and in the smothering thing of their baby. The defense team admits he killed his family, but plea insanity due to schizophrenia.

While the prosecution tries to prove Marquette knew right from wrong and is just faking a mental illness to elude the death penalty, Julia thinks of her sibling Andrew Citro, who when she was a preadolescent and he a teen was convicted of killing their parents. He remains locked away in an asylum for the criminally insane in New York. Feeling the cases are similar although the prosecutor also ponders if Marquette is a clever serial killer who committed homicides long before his mass murder of his family, Julia contacts Andrew for the first time since he killed their parents.

This excellent legal thriller focuses on the title subject, but does so with a fabulous creative twist as the heroine wonders if schizophrenia is genetic. The gripping courtroom scenes are top rate, but it is the communication between the siblings for the first time in over a decade and a half that grabs the audience. The former brings legal tension and insight into the trial process; but the latter brings greater tension and insight into the fears of Julia. Jilliane Hoffman provides an excellent character driven tale with a profound look at a PLEA OF INSANITY.

Harriet Klausner

Plea of Insanity-Jilliane Hoffman

Plea of Insanity
Jilliane Hoffman
Vanguard, Apr 2009, $25.95
ISBN: 1593155077

In Miami twenty-eight year old Miami assistant state attorney Julia Vacanti leads the prosecution team in the highly visible homicide case of surgeon David Marquette. The doctor stands trial in the stabbing deaths of his wife and their two older children, and in the smothering thing of their baby. The defense team admits he killed his family, but plea insanity due to schizophrenia.

While the prosecution tries to prove Marquette knew right from wrong and is just faking a mental illness to elude the death penalty, Julia thinks of her sibling Andrew Citro, who when she was a preadolescent and he a teen was convicted of killing their parents. He remains locked away in an asylum for the criminally insane in New York. Feeling the cases are similar although the prosecutor also ponders if Marquette is a clever serial killer who committed homicides long before his mass murder of his family, Julia contacts Andrew for the first time since he killed their parents.

This excellent legal thriller focuses on the title subject, but does so with a fabulous creative twist as the heroine wonders if schizophrenia is genetic. The gripping courtroom scenes are top rate, but it is the communication between the siblings for the first time in over a decade and a half that grabs the audience. The former brings legal tension and insight into the trial process; but the latter brings greater tension and insight into the fears of Julia. Jilliane Hoffman provides an excellent character driven tale with a profound look at a PLEA OF INSANITY.

Harriet Klausner

Private Midnight-Kris Saknussemm

Private Midnight
Kris Saknussemm
Overlook, Apr 2009, $24.95
ISBN 9781590201763

Detective Birch Ritter leads the official investigation into the death of multimillionaire California realtor Deems Whitney in what looks like a suicide. The evidence points towards Deems hosing his Mercedes with gasoline and dying in the subsequent explosion. The only doubt re the case is one day earlier, the victim changed his will naming his latest wife as his sole beneficiary and cutting out his adult children.

However, his former partner, whom he has not spoken with since they split up a year ago, suggests Ritter speak with the mysterious Genevieve Wyvern. He does though he cannot fathom why; worse she shakes him up with her intimate knowledge of him that no one else knows except him. Wyvern explains she works her magic in the shadows and that men hide from everyone including themselves. To his humiliation, she dominates him making the cop her submissive little boy “Sunny” in a bondage match of what seemed equals. Ashamed of himself not because she overwhelmed him, but because he wants her to dominate him even more while his case goes nowhere unless he can overcome his lower head need for his new Mistress.

This is a strange but well written supernatural police procedural starring two lead characters that enter in a game of domination. The tough Noir like cop is overmatched in this contest against Genevieve. The death inquiry provides more of a backdrop as the deep story line focuses on the needs and motives of Ritter to even his becoming a kick butt cop once Wyvern strips him bare. Not for everyone, PRIVATE MIDNIGHT is an exciting Noir with an exotic paranormal spin.

Harriet Klausner

Execution Dock-Anne Perry

Execution Dock
Anne Perry
Ballantine, Mar 24 2009, $26.00
ISBN: 9780345469335

In 1864, now the head of the Thames River Police, William Monk is anxious to arrest Jericho Phillips and see him hung. The odious Phillips is a child pornographer who kidnaps young boys and forces them to perform perverted deeds. He makes a lucrative business as a supplier of kids to his pedophile customers and takes photos of the young in sexual acts that he sells to the stores.

Monk apprehends the lowlife, who is on trial defended by the police chief’s friend Sir Oliver Rathbone at the bequest of his father-in-law; who insists everyone deserves a good lawyer. Oliver tears into the prosecution’s airtight case leading to the defendant walking away free and Mon’s reputation sunk into the sift on the bottom of the Thames. Monk, his wife Hester and others are more determined than ever to see Phillips hang, but rumors spread about their methods and judgment leading to condemnation of the chief and his police force as stalkers. Phillips has clients in high places who refuse to lose their pleasure connection, but when the pedophile take something Monk treasures all hell breaks loose.

It has been too long (2006 DARK ASSASSIN) since Anne Perry has written a Monk Victorian Era police procedural, but fans of the series will feel the wait was worth waiting. Readers are taken on a tour of the Thames just after Queen Victoria’s beloved Consort prince Albert dies. Monk is as efficient as ever, but his efforts are purposely misinterpreted so that he seems more like Les Miserables' (by Hugo) malevolent stalking Police Detective Javert chasing Valjean over a stolen loaf of bread (note that novel occurs during the reign of Napoleon III so is the same age as the Monk thriller). Hester is a free thinking woman not afraid to act on her own so Monk has learned throughout the series to rely on her as she always comes through. Readers will enjoy this riveting historical mystery.

Harriet Klausner

Dust and Shadow: An Account of the Ripper Killings by Dr. John H. Watson

Dust and Shadow: An Account of the Ripper Killings by Dr. John H. Watson
Lyndsay Faye
Simon & Schuster, Apr 2009, $25.00
ISBN: 1416583300

In 1888 London is shocked by the brutal murders of two prostitutes in the East End. Inspector Lestrade knows this is no run of the mill killer and he will need help. He asks renowned private sleuth Sherlock Holmes to investigate the homicides. Already fascinated by the accounts Holmes welcomes the case.

As Holmes and his sidekick Dr. Watson investigate, more vicious murders occur by the same killer the media dubs Ripper for his brutality. In an ironic twist one reporter claims Holmes is the Ripper, which is why he insists the famous detective has failed to end the reign of terror.

Holmes fans will welcome Lyndsay Faye to Baker St as her Watson comes across as a winner telling readers the tale of Holmes and Ripper. Fans will enjoy the great detective’s efforts even as the press badgers him to solve the case; which ironically readers do earlier than the sleuth does. Although Homes and Ripper co-starring has been used before by Carole Nelson Douglas (in her Irene Adler series) and Michael Dibdin in THE LAST SHERLOCK HOLMES STORY, etc. Ms. Faye provides a fresh entry.

Harriet Klausner

The Venetian Judgment-David Stone

The Venetian Judgment
David Stone
Putnam, Apr 2009, $25.95
ISBN: 0399155732

In Venice, CIA "cleaner" Micah Dalton vows to kill the Serbian Mafioso who murdered his lover Cora Vasari. When an opportunity arises to assassinate one of the gangsters, Micah takes it as he focuses on Mirko Belajic, a peripheral player in the death of his beloved.

In London the CIA brass fears a well placed mole has killed elderly Mildred Durant, an adviser to the NSA decryption Glass Cutters team. The agency knows of Micah’s Cold War decoding experience and that the Soviets had going back to Stalin and probably still have an inside source. They draft Dalton to uncover the identity of the current traitor who killed Durant in her home.

The third Dalton espionage thriller (see THE ECHELON VENDETTA and The Orpheus Deception) is an exciting action-packed tale from the opening sequence in Venice where the hero is cleaning up the Serbian mob that killed his beloved and takes off from there. The story line is fast-paced as Dalton and his CIA partner travel to Istanbul and Florida in search of the traitor. Although his partner is a stereotype of the sub-genre, fans will enjoy Dalton’s latest tale, which contains an intriguing historical twist back to the FDR Administration.

Harriet Klausner

A World I Never Made-James LePore

A World I Never Made
James LePore
The Story Plant, Apr 2009, $24.95
ISBN: 0981608728

In 2004 in Connecticut, widower Pat Nolan learns his only child, twenty-nine years old freelance writer Megan, committed suicide in Paris based on a suicide note she sent him. Pat is stunned though he is estranged from his daughter mostly because he never moved on past his wife dying in childbirth three decades ago. The French ask him to come to Paris to confirm that the corpse is that of Megan.

He arrives in France and identifies the body as his daughter though he knows otherwise. Megan has left him clues of a sort to follow as if she needs him to find her. Pat quickly learns how she supported herself as an expatriate American by selling her only asset, her body to the affluent in Europe and North Africa. French Judiciary Police Detective Catherine Laurence, a recent widow due to a terrorist bombing, teams up with the American on his quest to locate Megan at the same time the Saudi government has an interest in Megan too as they believe she is alive and tied to a Abdel al-Lahani, a Saudi citizen who they connect to suicide bombings in Morocco.

The key to this exciting thriller is the cast especially the Nolan father and daughter. Pat is terrific from the stunning opening sequence when he reads his daughter’s suicide note, his lie re the corpse, which Laurence’s superior Inspector LeGrand accepts though he knows otherwise, and subsequently his inquiry. Megan is mostly seen through his perception of her though the audience learns relatively early why the Saudis believe she is alive. Although Laurence does not come across as plausible as the two Americans, fans will enjoy this one sitting suspense thriller.

Harriet Klausner

A World I Never Made-James LePore

A World I Never Made
James LePore
The Story Plant, Apr 2009, $24.95
ISBN: 0981608728

In 2004 in Connecticut, widower Pat Nolan learns his only child, twenty-nine years old freelance writer Megan, committed suicide in Paris based on a suicide note she sent him. Pat is stunned though he is estranged from his daughter mostly because he never moved on past his wife dying in childbirth three decades ago. The French ask him to come to Paris to confirm that the corpse is that of Megan.

He arrives in France and identifies the body as his daughter though he knows otherwise. Megan has left him clues of a sort to follow as if she needs him to find her. Pat quickly learns how she supported herself as an expatriate American by selling her only asset, her body to the affluent in Europe and North Africa. French Judiciary Police Detective Catherine Laurence, a recent widow due to a terrorist bombing, teams up with the American on his quest to locate Megan at the same time the Saudi government has an interest in Megan too as they believe she is alive and tied to a Abdel al-Lahani, a Saudi citizen who they connect to suicide bombings in Morocco.

The key to this exciting thriller is the cast especially the Nolan father and daughter. Pat is terrific from the stunning opening sequence when he reads his daughter’s suicide note, his lie re the corpse, which Laurence’s superior Inspector LeGrand accepts though he knows otherwise, and subsequently his inquiry. Megan is mostly seen through his perception of her though the audience learns relatively early why the Saudis believe she is alive. Although Laurence does not come across as plausible as the two Americans, fans will enjoy this one sitting suspense thriller.

Harriet Klausner

Well Read and Dead-Catherine O’Connell

Well Read and Dead
Catherine O’Connell
Harper, Mar 24 2009, $13.99
ISBN: 9780061673252

While her penthouse is being renovated, socialite Pauline Cook is on Gianfranco’s yacht cruising the Mediterranean. It was when the cruise for two ended she realized he was married. It is in Paris she learns that her stock portfolio mostly invested in Enron is worthless. She rushes home to Chicago to find contractor Tag McKay overseeing the renovation. She is attracted to him though he is not in her social class and besides she needs to marry a rich man right away that hopefully she can love while he keeps her in the lifestyle she is accustomed to.

Before she goes husband hunting, Pauline visits her closest friend Whitney Armstrong to pick up her cat Fleur. Whitney’s husband Jack says his wife is missing and offers Pauline five million dollars to find her; he later raises the reward to ten million. With bills mounting and no income to pay them, though way out of her element Pauline begins a search that leads her to Thailand, from there to Cambodia where Jack’s factory is located and back to Thailand where she begins getting answers. When she returns to the States, a woman she does not know tries to kill Pauline.

Pauline is a member of the hoi polloi jet setters in which olde money is everything and those without are not worthy of their attention except as servants. However, her inquiry takes her into worlds she never imagined; this changes her. Her husband hunting amidst the Fortune Five Hundred is amusing and ironic when she falls in love with a middle class blue collar working stiff. As Pauline matures from spoiled snobbish socialite to valuing all types of people, she makes Catherine O’Connell’s fine thriller WELL READ AND DEAD an engaging read.

Harriet Klausner

Songs My Mother Never Taught Me-Selcuk Altun

Songs My Mother Never Taught Me
Selcuk Altun
Telegram, Apr 1 2009, $13.95
www.telegrambooks.com
ISBN: 9781846590535

In 2003 in Istanbul, fifty three years old widow Dr. Ada Ergenekon dies from cancer. Her husband renowned mathematician Mursel had been murdered twelve years ago. Their twenty-seven years old only child Arda feels relief to no longer be under the thumb of his powerful mother; one week after her death he pronounces his freedom by ending his engagement to Jale, who was more acceptable by his late mom than him.

On his thirty-seventh birthday, Bedirhan Ozturk gives himself the ultimate present. He decides to retire from his vocation of twelve yeas as a hired killer. He is proud of his accomplishments of only taking out those who committed deadly crimes especially against his religion but managed to remain free due to the political cracks. Bedirhan feels strongly he can quit as he has not taken more than two hits a year.

Arda feels a need to track down his father’s unknown killer protected by the religious groups. Bedirhan feels a sense of urgency to track down his unknown handler protected by the religious groups. Their goals will collide.

Several fascinating twists starting with Arda meeting and gaining assistance from novelist Selcuk Altun turn what looks to be a revenge thriller into much more as the audience anticipates the confrontation, but is not sure where the collision will lead to. Rotating perspective between A for Arda and B for Bedirhan, fans learn of each lead character’s back-story with further references to literary and musical multicultural Turkey. With each chapter the reader feels increasingly a sense of a surrealistic tour of Istanbul inside a colliding universe that represents modern Turkey’s struggle to balance religion and secularism.

Harriet Klausner

Deadlock-Iris Johansen

Deadlock
Iris Johansen
St. Martin’s, Apr 2009, $26.95
ISBN: 0312368119

She goes to the hot spots of the world under the aegis of the United Nations to find the country’s historical treasures and bring them out; she returns them when hostilities cease. Currently archeologist Emily Hudson is in Afghanistan seeking artifacts in a remote hard to get to village in the shadow of Hindu Kush. She and her best friend and associate Joel Levy find nothing worth saving, but as they depart they find two of their crewmembers dead.

Joel and Emily are taken hostage by a deadly mercenary Staunton who has killed the rest of her team. He and his associates seek Zeliv’s Hammer and rejects Emily’s claim she never saw anything remotely like what he describes. Staunton tortures Joel until he dies; the terrorist expected Emily to break and provide him the answer he demands of her, but she remains in denial.

Meanwhile her disappearance has led to an international media tsunami. CIA Administrator Ferguson blackmails freelance operative John Garret to find and rescue Emily. He arrives in time to prevent her from being raped and brings her to his haven to recuperate. However, as she heals Emily knows she has one last mission to kill Staunton, but the malevolent monster has his own plan to recapture his meal ticket starting with killing a friend of Garrett that personalizes their battle as far as the American agent is concerned.

Iris Johanson novels denote bestseller and her exhilarating over the top of the Pamir Mountains is another sure shot. The story line is filled with action but it is the strong cast and the geography that make DEADLOCK a stunning thriller. The support characters add depth with two strong enough for their own tales. Garret and Emily are drawn to one another but before they can explore their attraction, they must deal with Staunton and his unmerciful mercenary horde.

Harriet Klausner

The Mao Case-Qiu Xiaolong

The Mao Case
Qiu Xiaolong
Minotaur, Mar 2009, $24.95
ISBN: 9780312538743

The Beijing leadership is concerned with the sudden appearance of wealth by a seemingly impoverished young artist living well above her means. Normally no one would think twice of Jiao’s affluence, but she is the granddaughter of Xie, a film star who Chairman Mao personally liked; additionally Jiao’s mother died during the Cultural Revolution cleansing. Needing expeditious subtly to determine if the painter is peddling “Mao material” five decades old that could embarrass the Party and China, the brass hand the Top Secret case to Shanghai Police Department's Special Case Chief Inspector Chen Cao; known for his success, speed and especially discretion.

Chen begins with the mother whose life was explored in a bestseller. Using Cloud and Rain as access, Chen goes undercover pretending to be an author conducting research into a historical novel. This enables him to meet Jiao and her friends at the still alive Xie’s run down home. There the older woman hosts a group who cherishes the pre-Communist culture until murder leave Chen suspecting grandmother and or granddaughter as the killer(s) especially their shared convenient alibi.

The sixth Chen Chinese police procedural (see WHEN RED IS BLACK and RED MANDARIN DRESS) contains a strong investigation, but it is the profound look at the early Mao days in comparison to modern day China that brings the uniqueness to the story line. Chen is at his best with his asides about brass, bureaucrats, and bull as he diligently works the “Mao material” inquiry that turns into a homicide; he is more comfortable with the latter as the former is loaded with pompous interference. Mindful of the Bush Administration concealing Korean War Era documents that have been declassified for years and open to the public in the government archives, fans of the Shanghai inspector will enjoy his latest case as a reluctant Chen knows the penalty of dealing with anything Maoist even decades old.

Harriet Klausner

The Tourist-Olen Steinhauer

The Tourist
Olen Steinhauer
Minotaur, Mar 2009, $24.95
ISBN: 9780312369729

Six years ago Milo Weaver left his CIA field job as a "tourist" to sit at a desk in the New York City office; he knew it was time as the cold means no hesitation whatsoever. After taking some bullets to the chest in Vienna, Milo knew he would never be the same. He has since married and has become a father living with his loved ones in Brooklyn, which has helped Milo somewhat move past the adrenalin rush of undercover operations.

However, once a tourist always a tourist even if the courage has left you scared. His former boss informs him that a sheriff has arrested Samuel Roth for a domestic abuse incident in Blackdale, Tennessee; Samuel is thought to be the ferocious assassin Tiger and the brass want Milo to confirm his identity. However, the simple assignment turns ugly leaving Milo on the run from unknown adversaries and law enforcement who believes he is a cold blooded killer; his biggest fear is that his beloved spouse and daughter are in peril from his enemies.

THE TOURIST is fast-paced and filled with non-stop action yet as is the case with Olen Steinhauser’s saga in an unnamed Eastern Europe twentieth century Communist series, the frustrations and anguish of the hero owns the story line. Mindful of Patrick McGoohan’s character John Drake in Secret Agent Man, Milo is burned out and suffering from PTSD compounded when friends betray him leaving his family vulnerable. He stoically accepts that Johnny Rivers’ lyrics is right “with every move he makes another chance he takes odds are he won't live to see tomorrow”.

Harriet Klausner

The Dakota Cipher-William Dietrich

The Dakota Cipher
William Dietrich
Harper, Mar 24 2009, $26.99
ISBN: 9780061568008

Ethan Gage is enjoying his stay in Paris as Napoleon has forgiven him for the Battle at Acre. His goal is to enjoy the Emperor’s married sister Pauline. However, after spending a delightful night with Pauline, thugs kidnap Ethan and tie him up to some fireworks. Thanks to melted chocolate in his sleeves and luck, he escapes and looks like a hero to the crowd as he appears to be holding the torch of liberty during the gala. With Pauline’s help, accompanied by Norwegian freedom fighter Magnus Bloodhammer, who seeks Thor’s Hammer to free his people from the Danes, he escapes to America.

The French who reclaimed the Louisiana Territory and President Jefferson want Gage to explore beyond the Great Lakes. A reluctant Ethan and Magnus begin the journey from DC to Detroit and from there across the Great Lakes towards the un-chartered Northwest in search of blue eyed light skin Indians, woolly mammoths and Thor's Hammer; allegedly brought by Knights Templar in the fourteenth century.

This fast-paced historical thriller engages readers from the moment that Ethan knows it is time to say au revoir and never slows down as he and the Odin look alike Magnus make the westward journey before Lewis and Clark. The story line is filled with action even when Ethan has them resting in New York waiting for the election of 1800 to be decided. The contrast between Magnus and Ethan is incredible as the former is dedicated to his quest and the memory of his beloved late wife while the latter is dedicated to the woman of the moment; in fact Gage’s womanizing gets him into one dangerous predicament after another whether it is in France or on the Great Lakes and beyond. Readers will relish his coming home escapades while newcomers will seek his previous adventures overseas (see NAPOLEON’S PYRAMID and THE ROSETTA KEY).

Harriet Klausner

Revenge of the Spellmans-Lisa Lutz

Revenge of the Spellmans
Lisa Lutz
Simon and Schuster, Mar 10 2009, $25.00
ISBN: 9781416593386

In San Francisco the court orders out of control private investigator Isabel "Izzy" Spellman to attend therapy sessions; she spends her meetings tap dancing around the psychologist. Meanwhile her parents plead with their middle daughter to return to the family private investigative firm; they warn her that without her they will probably have to sell their company. Izzy considers their blackmail while hiding from them and others in her older brother David’s apartment at a time he has simply vanished form the planet. Although she has found recently sleuthing to have been very depressing (see THE SPELLMAN FILES and CURSE OF THE SPELLMANS – to see why), she considers searching for sibling.

Meanwhile she loses her bartending job because of moonlighting as a detective looking into the easy case of client Ernie Black to prove his wife is cheating or not; of course this being Izzy easy means dangerous. She also helps her octogenarian friend relocate to Florida and elude her teenage sister Rae the alleged PSAT cheater who wants her sibling back with Henry.

The third Spellman dysfunctional investigative family thriller is another out of control zany San Francisco treat as Izzy dodges her parents, her sister and her shrink to work a couple of fog-bound cases. The story line is overwhelmed with sidebars and no plot takes full control; but fans of the series will not care as the eccentric cast especially Izzy’s family and friends make for a wild time by the bay.

Harriet Klausner

Wormwood-Susan Wittig Albert

Wormwood
Susan Wittig Albert
Berkley, Apr 2009, $24.95
ISBN: 9780425226094

In Pecan Springs, Texas, herbalist and entrepreneur China Bayles is emotionally exhausted after discovering she had a half-brother Miles who wanted to get to know her; only, Miles was murdered leaving behind an orphaned daughter Caitlin to be raised by her Aunts Marcia and China. They want to make the tweener comfortable as China plans to be the best guardian she can be.

China and her friend Martha Edmond go on vacation to the Mt Zion Shaker village, a tourist attraction in Kentucky. Martha tells China about a series of “accidents” in the village culminating with an arson fire that left several horses dead. She asks China to investigate, which the sleuth does. They learn from the accounting officer Allie that some stocks are missing form the endowment trust. Soon afterward the two women find Allie murdered. They know that someone will kill especially meddling investigators to keep the truth concealed.

This is the usual great Bayles whodunit, but enhanced with a strong look at the history of the Shaker movement as Martha’s grandmother lived in Mt Zion; her story rotates with the modern day mystery. Obviously Susan Wittig Albert has done a lot of meticulous research into the Shaker culture especially the belief system as the lifestyle comes across as if the audience is visiting a late nineteenth century village. Fans will enjoy China’s latest tale as ironically, the crimes of the present mirror that of the past.

Harriet Klausner

Loser's Town- Daniel Depp

Loser's Town
Daniel Depp
Simon and Schuster, Mar 3 2009, $25.00
ISBN: 1439101434

David Spandau left the movies when his body failed to recover from the stunts he performed. Instead the stuntman becomes a private investigator as he assumes that has to be a much softer job than bouncing out of moving vehicles that are ablaze; and besides he does know Hollywood.

David is hired to protect movie star Bobby Dye from the threats of Mafioso Richie Stella. The drug dealing club owner has told the actor her will perform in his film or be exposed for his role with an underage deceased female; if that fails to entice the star from acting in Stella’s project, the next offer he will not refuse or he will be dead too.

The key to this engaging invigorating thriller is the mean streets of Hollywood where a theatre of the absurd perform nightly using sardonic wit as a ticket to the stars, wannabe stars, and the supernova stars. The protection of Dye is the prime theme of the energetic plot, but that takes a back seat to Spandau's ballet tour of the city that introduces the readers to an eccentric crowd where Hobbits are quoted as great Noir philosophers. Fans will enjoy the strong support cast as the hero’s adventures brings James Ellroy's 1953 based L.A. Confidential into the twenty-first century.

Harriet Klausner

No Survivors-Tom Cain

No Survivors
Tom Cain
Viking, Mar 5 2009, $25.95
ISBN: 9780670020492

In 1998 in a Swiss hospital, assassin Samuel Carver slowly recuperates from a horrific torture that has left him with amnesia. He does not know his name or his occupation. Former Russian spy, Alix Petrova is taking care of her severely injured boyfriend.

While Carver lies in the hospital, dying oilman Waylon McCabe believes he will go to heaven as part of the Rapture. To insure he does before the cancer kills him, he arranges for nuclear Armageddon. At the same a frustrated Lieutenant General Kurt Vermulen warns the Pentagon and other agencies that a Middle East terrorist group no one recognizes called al Qaeda poses a viable direct threat to America. Only McCabe believes Vermulen even as he tries to buy a Russian suitcase containing nuclear weapons from the international black market where allegedly 100 such containers are up for sale even as the Feds deny it. Alix has been sent to seduce information from the General while a still healing Carver who at least knows his name, his profession, and most significant his girlfriend follows.

The sequel to the exhilarating THE ACCIDENT MAN is a fast-paced cautionary thriller that will fully engross readers with the hindsight of 9/11. Sam is at his best not because he is physically or mentally ready to return to field operations as he is not, but because he must return to the field. Using public information, Tom Cain provides a powerful condemnation of the Feds who ignore lessons learned as damage control of their image is everything whether it is the Marine base in Lebanon (Reagan), the USS Cole and the embassies in Africa (under Clinton) or 9/11 (under Bush).

Harriet Klausner

Kingdom of Silence-Lee Wood

Kingdom of Silence
Lee Wood
Minotaur, Feb 2009, $25.95
ISBN: 9780312340315

In 2001, with hoof and mouse disease leading to the slaughter of cattle, veteran US Marshal Kim Prescott escorts convicted felon Eunice Connor, a member of the violent Justice for Animals Defense Alliance (JADA), from the UK to the States. Their plane stops at Heathrow where the law enforcement official and her prisoner disembark when a motorcycle rider shoots Prescott and Connor; killing both.

Authorities on both sides of the pond assume JADA secrets were kept concealed by silencing permanently Connor. Yorkshire Detective Superintendent Keen Dunliffe leads an undercover operation to bring the JADA chief to justice using tyro Constable Rachel Colver as bait; a plan he dislikes as Rachel may easily become collateral damage. Nothing goes smooth on the maneuver, but Dunliffe keeps a stiff upper lip as he tries to complete the mission and get Rachel out safely; two goals that seem in conflict.

The second Yorkshire Dunliffe police procedural (see KINGDOM OF LIES) is an action-packed thriller that starts with an explosive opening and never slows down through a volatile middle until the explosive climax. Dunliffe is terrific as he struggles between the moral dilemmas of the potential sacrifice of one person vs. the safety of many. JADA also adds ethical questions though the group has chosen to sacrifice humans for their animal rights cause. Fans of British police procedurals will enjoy this fine entry even if the operation is somewhat by the sub-genre book.

Harriet Klausner

Whisper of Warning-Laura Griffin

Whisper of Warning
Laura Griffin
Pocket, Mar 31 2009, $6.99
ISBN: 9781416570646

Courtney Glass broke off with attorney John David Alvin when she learned he was married. She reluctantly agreed to meet him because she wants to end his harassment of her. When David arrives he is irate with her; he enters her car accusing her of harassment. Someone with a mask on enters the back of the car and pulls out a gun. He grabs her hand and puts it on the gun and pressures her fingers into squeezing the trigger killing David. She manages to grab pepper spray and hit him in his gray cold eyes before she flees from the vehicle.

Just transferred into Austin PD homicide, Detective Will Hodges leads the investigation as his new senior partner Nathan Deveraux is tied up with another case and besides has close ties to Courtney’s sister forensic artist Fiona (see THREAD OF FEAR). Will knows Courtney is hiding something from him, but believes she is innocent though he fears his attraction to her might be tainting his objectivity. More evidence points to Courtney as the killer with the motive being an angry ex lover. As the victim’s family and Will’s new boss pressure him to arrest her; Will vows to prove the troubled woman he loves is innocent.

WHISPER OF WARNING is an exciting police procedural starring a wonderful cop and an intriguing “femme fatale”. Will wants Courtney from the first moment they meet although he knows she is omitting important information. The story line is character driven mostly by this couple, but ably supported by a strong secondary cast. With a terrific plausible paradigm twist, Laura Griffin provides readers with a fabulous whodunit as Will somewhat controls his deepest urges in spite of Courtney’s seductive lure.

Harriet Klausner

Ghouls Just Haunt to Have Fun-Victoria Laurie

Ghouls Just Haunt to Have Fun
Victoria Laurie
Obsidian, Mar 2009, $6.99
ISBN: 9780451226303

Her instinct told her to just say no, but in spite of being a medium M.J. Holliday ignores the internal warning that acquiescing to her business partner Gilley Gillespie’s idea of appearing on a Bravo TV show is a loser. Instead she agrees to join a panel with three of her paranormal peers. The two partners accompanied by the medium’s significant other travel to Dr. Steven Sable for the TV appearance.

When they reach the Drake Hotel, the trio learns that a woman fell from the edifice. M.J. consults with the victim and informs the cops she was murdered. Soon afterward, she meets the rest of the TV panel and concludes two of her so-called peers, Angelica DeMarche and Bernard Higgins, are fakes. However, she and the other legit member Heath Whitefeather from the Land of Enchantment soon find themselves battling a paranormal malevolent who haunts the Drake.

The latest “Ghost Hunter” mystery (see DEMONS ARE A GHOUL'S BEST FRIEND) is a lighthearted humorous haunted hotel horror thriller kept focused by “graveyard” serious M.J. and in this case Heath. The rest of the cast except for the evil haunter bring either amusement or eeriness; especially fun is when the two fake California psychics encounter their first real paranormal. Fans will enjoy the supernatural murder investigation as GHOULS JUST HAUNT TO HAVE FUN lives up to its title.

Harriet Klausner

Flipping Out-Marshall Karp

Flipping Out
Marshall Karp
Minotaur, Mar 31 2009, $24.95
ISBN: 9780312378219

Southern California residents are stunned and frightened when several spouses of cops are murdered by a serial killer with an apparent grudge. LAPD assigns homicide detectives Michael Lomax and Terry Biggs to lead the investigation. The common threat besides the jobs of their husbands is all the victims belong to the LA Flippers; a group making money even with the housing bubble bursting by flipping out houses for sale.

Lomax and Biggs interview the surviving members including the only no cop wife popular mystery writer Nora Bannister, but nothing makes sense as all the ladies do together is flip houses. More murders follow as several suspects surface. However, Terry is especially concerned as his wife is one of the surviving flippers.

In their latest Southern California police procedural (see THE RABBIT FACTORY and BLOODTHIRSTY), LAPD Detectives Mike Lomax and Terry Biggs feel incredible pressure beyond the usual brass, media and political harangue as this case is personal. It is so much so it even intrudes on their poker game. Although the plot is thin, fans who enjoy a facetious funny yet suspenseful investigative thriller will want to read flippant FLIPPING OUT.

Harriet Klausner

Magnolias, Moonlight, and Murder-Sara Rosett

Magnolias, Moonlight, and Murder
Sara Rosett
Kensington, Apr 2009, $22.00
ISBN 9780758226815

In North Dawkins, Georgia, military spouse Ellie Avery, her Air Force pilot husband Mitch and their two preschool kids Livvy and Nathan have moved to a complex close to Taylor Air Force Base. While walking their dog Rex Rottweiler, Ellie finds bones in a nearby mostly ignored cemetery that was obviously disturbed by a recent storm.

Ellie believes the remains belong to vanished reporter Jodi Lockworth, who was the previous resident of their new home. However, instead of someone missing less than a year, the skeleton is identified as two people sharing the same grave: WWI veteran Albert Chauncey who died in 1919, and African-American youngster William Nash who disappeared in 1955. Ellie investigates what happened to Jodi and Nash; not understanding the peril she places herself and her two children in from a killer watching her every move and attending a party she is hosting.

The fourth Mom Zone mystery (see STAYING HOME IS A KILLER, MOVING IS MURDER and GETTING AWAY IS DEADLY) is a lighthearted amateur sleuth cozy starring a brave woman who like most military spouses is used to taking charge of the home-front. The story line is fast-paced and the look back to 1919 and 1955 add historical perspective to the mystery. Although Ellie seems to trip over corpses regardless of what city she is in, fans will enjoy her steel magnolia resolve while also appreciate her party tips.

Harriet Klausner

Mother's Day Murder-Leslie Meier

Mother's Day Murder
Leslie Meier
Kensington, Apr 2009, $22.00
ISBN 9780758207050

In Tinker's Cove, Maine, right wing republican Tina Nowak and left wind democrat Barbara “Bar” Hume are fighting but not over politics. Instead the pair is disputing over the relative merits of their sixteen years old daughters, Ashley and Heather as the teens compete for valedictorian.

Their war spills over to a Prom committee in which Pennysaver reporter Lucy Stone plays peacekeeper keeping the felines from a cat fight. Unfortunately, Lucy gets distracted by a high school baseball star asking her freshman daughter Sara to the prom, her daughter-in-law’s suffering with postpartum depression and spending time with her newborn first grandson. Lucy is stunned to see what looks like Bar Shoot Tina on a tennis court. Lucy investigates the feuding families only to learn the mistress of Bar’s philandering spouse Bart died in a car crash. Her inquiry places mother and daughter in jeopardy from someone using the feud to cover a homicide.

The latest Lucy Stone holiday cozy (see FATHER’S DAY MURDER, NEW YEAR’S EVE MURDER and ST. PATRICK'S DAY MURDER) is a fun whodunit filled with several subplots that compete for top gun even with a homicide, but ultimately converge into a nice and cozy Maine investigative thriller. Lucy is terrific as she goes from harassed to witness to doubter to investigator. Fans of the series will enjoy Leslie Meier’s fun tale.

Harriet Klausner

Malice-Lisa Jackson

Malice
Lisa Jackson
Kensington, Apr 2009, $24.00
ISBN 9780758211842

Twelve years ago Rick Bentz divorced his cheating wife Jennifer. Soon after ending his marriage, Jennifer died in a car crash. He identified the corpse. Rick left LAPD taking a job with the New Orleans police and remarried Olivia.

While driving during a storm, Rick is involved in an accident that hospitalizes him. He suddenly smells Jennifer’s sweet perfume and sees her in his hospital room. After being discharged a package containing a death certificate and photos of a woman who looks like Jennifer arrives with a Culver City, California postmark. Deciding he needs to know the truth but conceals from his wife his fear that he is losing his mind, Rick heads to California wondering how she can be alive when he saw her body. At the same he arrives in the Los Angeles area, his last unsolved case at LAPD is reopened as the Twenty-one Killer apparently returns strangling identical twins on their 21st birthday. Bentz knows somehow he is the link, but not by whom or why.

The key to this action-packed suspense thriller is the viewpoint of the Bentz adversary as the audience sees a different perspective as to what happened a dozen years ago and the target of vengeance may be Bentz, but the avenue of achievement is through Olivia. The story line is action-packed from the first time Bentz’s olfactory sense kicks in and never slows down as the haunting of the sleuth is by someone overflowing with MALICE towards him and his loved ones tales its’ toll. (see LOST SOULS for his daughter's thriller).

Harriet Klausner

Long Lost-Harlan Coben

Long Lost
Harlan Coben
Dutton, Apr 2009, $26.95
ISBN 9780525951056

A decade has passed since sports entertainment agent Myron Bolitar and TV reporter Terese Collins have spoken to each other. So Myron is taken aback by a call from Terese currently in Angola. She invites him to meet her in Paris. He accepts her invitation especially since his latest relationship is apparently over.

In Paris, Myron’s rendezvous with Terese is not the love nest he expected. Instead she informs him her former husband an investigative reporter like her asked her to come see him in France so he can reveal to her a startling revelation of monumental proportion. He was murdered before he told her his stunner. However, her reason for asking Myron to cross the pond is that some of the blood at the homicide scene included that of his daughter Miriam killed in a car accident ten years ago. With pal Win at his side Myron investigates past and present.

Clearly over the Eiffel Tower and a few other European monuments, LONG LOST is a great thriller that fans of Myron will fully relish; just leave your plausibility meter outside the reading experience. Harlan Coben hooks the audience from the opening phone call and never gives a breather as twists and spins occur throughout. Myron’s Paris tryst is fun filled suspense as the hero feels French fried.

Harriet Klausner

Fatal Lies-Frank Tallis

Fatal Lies
Frank Tallis
Random House, Feb 24 2009, $15.00
ISBN: 9780812977776

Headmaster Julis Eichmann runs St. Florian's Military Academy near Vienna with an iron fist. However, when fifteen year old student Thomas Zelenka is found dead, Police Inspector Oskar Rheinhardt and psychotherapist Dr. Max Liebermann lead the official inquiry though the latter detests time away from Hungarian musician Trezska Novak.

On the surface, there is no evidence of a homicide though the two sleuths wonder why the victim has so many cuts and scratcheses all over his torso even under his armpits. Although no one cooperates, especially the headmaster, the investigators soon learn of sexual trysts between the faculty and staff with the students. Especially alarming is an alleged encounter between the dead teen and a teacher Herr Sommer as well as the pupil with the wife of the assistant headmaster. Finally they uncover a student cult dedicated to Nietzsche led by the nephew of Police Commissioner Brugel, who already loathes the use of Freudian psychology in official investigations.

Using real famous Vienna persona to anchor time and place, Frank Tallis writes a great historical mystery. The story line is fast-paced as the lead sleuths follow clues that take them into diverse directions. The whodunit is clever, but once again as with BLOOD AND DEATH IN VIENNA, it is the profound look at intellectual Vienna circa 1900 that owns the novel.

Harriet Klausner