Elvis and the Grateful Dead
Peggy Webb
Kensington, Oct 2009, $22.00
ISBN: 9780758225917
Tupelo, Mississippi is the town where Elvis grew up. Each year the townsfolk have a Best Elvis Competition that brings in thousands of his fans, impersonators and look alikes. Hair stylist Callie Valentine Jones has the real McCoy, the reincarnated spirit of the King in ironically a hound dog‘s body though she knows it not.. He silently judges the contestants comparing them to when he was in star prime. He also is trying to reconcile Callie with her almost ex-husband Jack who disappears a lot, does not want kids, and has a secret job that only Elvis knows about.
One of the participants Brian Watson is found dead on the piano. When a second impersonator Dick Gerard dies on the dance floor, the local police believe both men were murdered. The prime suspect is Callie’s cousin Lovie, the caterer of the event. When a third person dies, Callie’s Uncle Charlie tries to persuade her not to investigate since Lovie’s was dancing with the second victim when he started shaking and died and the focus will be on her even more and Charlie does not want Callie in danger. Callie and the King make inquiries anyway.
Peggy Webb's amateur sleuth is a lighthearted amusing whodunit with outrageous almost slapstick scenes that Callie seems to step into as she tries to help Lovie, dodge her spouse and deal with a horde of Elvis reenactors when she has the real one. She and Elvis the hound rotate perspective leading to a zany over the top of Woodall Mountain mystery. The second Southern Cousins corny mystery (see ELVIS AND THE DEARLY DEPARTED) is simply entertaining fun.
Harriet Klausner
Monday, August 3, 2009
Sunday, August 2, 2009
The Million Dollar Demise-RM Johnson
The Million Dollar Demise
RM Johnson
Simon & Schuster, Sep 2009, $24.00
ISBN: 9781416596264
Freddy Ford blames Nate Kenny for the loss of his girlfriend Kia, his unborn child when Kia chose abortion, and the house he and his mom were living in so decides retribution is in order. He executes Nate and his woman Monica. To complete his eye for an eye belief, Freddy, unaware that little Layla is asleep in the house, leaves with Nate’s three year old son Nathaniel. He heads to Atlanta where he knows Joni will hide him, but is unaware that Nate’s brother Tim arrived in time to get the victims to a hospital where Monica remains in a coma but Nate is awake.
Freddy informs his best friend Lewis Waters what he has done. Lewis is stunned as he knows Nate extorted and bribed Freddy to set Lewis up in the MILLION DOLLAR DECEPTION to keep him away from Monica. On the road Freddy kills a cop while Nate and Lewis meet when both visit comatose Monica. They work a deal to rescue Nathaniel, to get Freddy arrested, to allow Lewis to have custody over his biological daughter Layla, and to exchange some money. Lewis also meets pregnant Daphanie Coleman, whom Nate tossed aside for Monica and they work a deal while she also begins a second round affair with Nate.
The deceitful treacherous Nate is at the center of a firestorm as his actions in the previous thriller (see THE MILLION DOLLAR DIVORCE) seems to have caught up with him when a deranged Freddy arrives at his mansion with a gun. The ensemble cast is as always in an RM Johnson novel three dimensional with the flaws making them treacherously human. There are several major subplots (more than just above as for instance Trevor has some action too) occurring with seemingly everyone having a backstabbing play going on; but none take prime charge of the novel. Thus that leads to a rather sudden convergence crash in a twisted finish.
Harriet Klausner
RM Johnson
Simon & Schuster, Sep 2009, $24.00
ISBN: 9781416596264
Freddy Ford blames Nate Kenny for the loss of his girlfriend Kia, his unborn child when Kia chose abortion, and the house he and his mom were living in so decides retribution is in order. He executes Nate and his woman Monica. To complete his eye for an eye belief, Freddy, unaware that little Layla is asleep in the house, leaves with Nate’s three year old son Nathaniel. He heads to Atlanta where he knows Joni will hide him, but is unaware that Nate’s brother Tim arrived in time to get the victims to a hospital where Monica remains in a coma but Nate is awake.
Freddy informs his best friend Lewis Waters what he has done. Lewis is stunned as he knows Nate extorted and bribed Freddy to set Lewis up in the MILLION DOLLAR DECEPTION to keep him away from Monica. On the road Freddy kills a cop while Nate and Lewis meet when both visit comatose Monica. They work a deal to rescue Nathaniel, to get Freddy arrested, to allow Lewis to have custody over his biological daughter Layla, and to exchange some money. Lewis also meets pregnant Daphanie Coleman, whom Nate tossed aside for Monica and they work a deal while she also begins a second round affair with Nate.
The deceitful treacherous Nate is at the center of a firestorm as his actions in the previous thriller (see THE MILLION DOLLAR DIVORCE) seems to have caught up with him when a deranged Freddy arrives at his mansion with a gun. The ensemble cast is as always in an RM Johnson novel three dimensional with the flaws making them treacherously human. There are several major subplots (more than just above as for instance Trevor has some action too) occurring with seemingly everyone having a backstabbing play going on; but none take prime charge of the novel. Thus that leads to a rather sudden convergence crash in a twisted finish.
Harriet Klausner
Inspector Ghote's First Case-H.R.F. Keating
Inspector Ghote's First Case
H.R.F. Keating
Minotaur, Aug 18 2009, $24.99
ISBN: 9780312384043
In 1960 to celebrate his promotion to Detection of Crime Branch Inspector, Ganesh Ghote and his pregnant wife Protima plan to see Olivier’s Hamlet. However, before they leave for the movie, his new superior Assistant Commissioner Divekar directs him to visit Sir Rustam Engineer ASAP. Sir Engineer is a legend as the first Indian to become Commissioner of the Bombay Police, but has since retired.
Sir Engineer asks Inspector Ghote to investigate the death of the pregnant wife of a friend. Retired civil engineer Robert Dawkins refuses to believe his Iris would kill herself especially carrying their child. Ghote reluctantly leaves his spouse behind, a sort of harbinger of things to come in "future" investigations, as he travels to Mahableshwar. There his inquiry is stonewalled by servants who refused to speak and by his schoolboy classmate Inspector Pathan “Bullybhoy" Barrani.
Returning to a beloved inspector for the first time in about a decade, H.R.F. Keating provides a super first case prequel that enables readers to solve the case before the hero. However Ghote's sympathy and compassion surface early on and the profound look back at the convoluted Indian-British relationships makes for a great police procedural. Fans will relish the return of Inspector Ghote and Protima as they wait the birth of their first child, Miss Hamlet, and ponder to tell or not to tell that is the question.
Harriet Klausner
H.R.F. Keating
Minotaur, Aug 18 2009, $24.99
ISBN: 9780312384043
In 1960 to celebrate his promotion to Detection of Crime Branch Inspector, Ganesh Ghote and his pregnant wife Protima plan to see Olivier’s Hamlet. However, before they leave for the movie, his new superior Assistant Commissioner Divekar directs him to visit Sir Rustam Engineer ASAP. Sir Engineer is a legend as the first Indian to become Commissioner of the Bombay Police, but has since retired.
Sir Engineer asks Inspector Ghote to investigate the death of the pregnant wife of a friend. Retired civil engineer Robert Dawkins refuses to believe his Iris would kill herself especially carrying their child. Ghote reluctantly leaves his spouse behind, a sort of harbinger of things to come in "future" investigations, as he travels to Mahableshwar. There his inquiry is stonewalled by servants who refused to speak and by his schoolboy classmate Inspector Pathan “Bullybhoy" Barrani.
Returning to a beloved inspector for the first time in about a decade, H.R.F. Keating provides a super first case prequel that enables readers to solve the case before the hero. However Ghote's sympathy and compassion surface early on and the profound look back at the convoluted Indian-British relationships makes for a great police procedural. Fans will relish the return of Inspector Ghote and Protima as they wait the birth of their first child, Miss Hamlet, and ponder to tell or not to tell that is the question.
Harriet Klausner
Blood Atonement-Dan Waddell
Blood Atonement
Dan Waddell
Minotaur, Aug 18 2009, $24.95
ISBN: 9780312378912
Detective Chief Inspector Grant Foster arrives at the scene of a particularly gruesome homicide to lead the investigation. In middle class Queens Park section of London, someone cut the throat of thirty seven year old single mom Katie Drake on the birthday of her teenage daughter who just turned fourteen years old daughter. It turns out Naomi is missing.
No motive or clues to the daughter’s whereabouts surface. As hours pass with nothing, Foster and his peers begin to believe a double homicide occurred and the second corpse will be found shortly. Foster digs into the victim’s past to see if a motive surfaces, but to his shock there is no Katie Drake. The Inspector asks Scotland Yard consulting genealogist Nigel Barnes to follow the limited trail. Barnes finds a link back to late Victorian England when a couple came over from the Sates and had ties to the Mormon Church. He and Foster fear further BLOOD ATONEMENT will follow.
The sequel to THE BLOOD DETECTIVE is an engaging genealogy murder mystery that is fun to follow but leave your plausibility meter parked elsewhere as the motive is over the top of Big Ben. Still following the inquiry into the history of the Mormon Church is intriguing especially Barnes’ investigation as fans, which are willing to ignore believability and too much left to flukes of chance, will enjoy Dan Waddell’s rotting family tree whodunit.
Harriet Klausner
Dan Waddell
Minotaur, Aug 18 2009, $24.95
ISBN: 9780312378912
Detective Chief Inspector Grant Foster arrives at the scene of a particularly gruesome homicide to lead the investigation. In middle class Queens Park section of London, someone cut the throat of thirty seven year old single mom Katie Drake on the birthday of her teenage daughter who just turned fourteen years old daughter. It turns out Naomi is missing.
No motive or clues to the daughter’s whereabouts surface. As hours pass with nothing, Foster and his peers begin to believe a double homicide occurred and the second corpse will be found shortly. Foster digs into the victim’s past to see if a motive surfaces, but to his shock there is no Katie Drake. The Inspector asks Scotland Yard consulting genealogist Nigel Barnes to follow the limited trail. Barnes finds a link back to late Victorian England when a couple came over from the Sates and had ties to the Mormon Church. He and Foster fear further BLOOD ATONEMENT will follow.
The sequel to THE BLOOD DETECTIVE is an engaging genealogy murder mystery that is fun to follow but leave your plausibility meter parked elsewhere as the motive is over the top of Big Ben. Still following the inquiry into the history of the Mormon Church is intriguing especially Barnes’ investigation as fans, which are willing to ignore believability and too much left to flukes of chance, will enjoy Dan Waddell’s rotting family tree whodunit.
Harriet Klausner
A Wee Christmas Homicide-Kaitlyn Dunnett
A Wee Christmas Homicide
Kaitlyn Dunnett
Kensington, Oct 2009, $22.00
ISBN: 9780758216472
In Moosetookalook, Maine, at the Scottish Emporium, owner Liss MacCrimmon is suspicious when Gavin Thorne of the Toy Box enters. He wants to buy the wee Scottish teddy bears at a dealer discount. She says no, but he drops a newspaper with an article on the latest toy craze of the season the Tiny Teddies. Across New England and probably the country, no store has any in stock except in Moosetookalook, Maine as Liss has a hundred; and Gavin and Marcia also have a supply.
With a snow-less Christmas, the economy is in a slump. Liss suggests advertising on TV, the Net and the newspapers the sale of the Tiny Teddies to bring in collectors to fill the empty hotels and restaurants, etc. desperate for a purchase. The three owners agree but Gavin gauges the supply and sells them for outrageous prices. Someone obviously irate shoots a bullet through his store window piercing the heart of the last Toy Teddie. Everyone assumes it was a dumb prank, but Liss finds Gavin SCONE COLD DEAD in his home executed with a shot to his heart. She is determined to find the killer though the State Police Officer Gordon who is her boyfriend tells her to keep her butt out of the investigation. Her obstinacy almost leads to the deaths of her and Gordon.
Kaitlyn Dunnett gives her readers a glimpse of what a small Maine town is like just prior to Christmas. Moosetookalook is populated by eccentrics who are independent and hard working. They rally around the tree for the good of the town. Although why Liss insists on probing the homicide of an obnoxious colleague is a bit over the top of Mt. Katahdin, fans will enjoy the holiday homicide in The Pine Tree State.
Harriet Klausner
Kaitlyn Dunnett
Kensington, Oct 2009, $22.00
ISBN: 9780758216472
In Moosetookalook, Maine, at the Scottish Emporium, owner Liss MacCrimmon is suspicious when Gavin Thorne of the Toy Box enters. He wants to buy the wee Scottish teddy bears at a dealer discount. She says no, but he drops a newspaper with an article on the latest toy craze of the season the Tiny Teddies. Across New England and probably the country, no store has any in stock except in Moosetookalook, Maine as Liss has a hundred; and Gavin and Marcia also have a supply.
With a snow-less Christmas, the economy is in a slump. Liss suggests advertising on TV, the Net and the newspapers the sale of the Tiny Teddies to bring in collectors to fill the empty hotels and restaurants, etc. desperate for a purchase. The three owners agree but Gavin gauges the supply and sells them for outrageous prices. Someone obviously irate shoots a bullet through his store window piercing the heart of the last Toy Teddie. Everyone assumes it was a dumb prank, but Liss finds Gavin SCONE COLD DEAD in his home executed with a shot to his heart. She is determined to find the killer though the State Police Officer Gordon who is her boyfriend tells her to keep her butt out of the investigation. Her obstinacy almost leads to the deaths of her and Gordon.
Kaitlyn Dunnett gives her readers a glimpse of what a small Maine town is like just prior to Christmas. Moosetookalook is populated by eccentrics who are independent and hard working. They rally around the tree for the good of the town. Although why Liss insists on probing the homicide of an obnoxious colleague is a bit over the top of Mt. Katahdin, fans will enjoy the holiday homicide in The Pine Tree State.
Harriet Klausner
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Blind Eye-Jan Coffey
Blind Eye
Jan Coffey
Mira, Sep 2009, $7.99
ISBN: 9780778326731
At the underground New Mexico Fusion Test Facility, scientist Marion Kagan looks forward to sunlight in forty-two days though she does not mind working seven days sixteen hours a day on the project. They are attacked by gunmen who kill everyone inside the edifice except for Marian who they shoot in the head and thought her dead too. The building collapses amidst flame and debris. The outside world assumes everyone inside is dead while radioactive material could soon leak out killing millions.
In Connecticut at the Waterbury Long Term care facility, a JD patient who has been in a minimally conscious state for six years since the car accident begins to violently move. Using an experimental program to understand what disturbs her leads them to Pennsylvania ex-cop Mark Shaw, who's just returned from a stint in Iraq. Mark recognizes the link between Jane Doe and Marion but now believes the scientist may be alive in that rubble in New Mexico while Dr. Ahmad Baer brings in a specialist to try to bring JD totally alive.
This intense thriller will hook the audience as the action moves back and forth between New Mexico to Connecticut with a few other stops in between. The story line is fast-paced from the opening assault and never slows down for a breather. The key to this tense thriller is the romantic subplot though it takes a back seat to the non-stop action. Jan Coffey has a winner with this strong tale.
Harriet Klausner
Jan Coffey
Mira, Sep 2009, $7.99
ISBN: 9780778326731
At the underground New Mexico Fusion Test Facility, scientist Marion Kagan looks forward to sunlight in forty-two days though she does not mind working seven days sixteen hours a day on the project. They are attacked by gunmen who kill everyone inside the edifice except for Marian who they shoot in the head and thought her dead too. The building collapses amidst flame and debris. The outside world assumes everyone inside is dead while radioactive material could soon leak out killing millions.
In Connecticut at the Waterbury Long Term care facility, a JD patient who has been in a minimally conscious state for six years since the car accident begins to violently move. Using an experimental program to understand what disturbs her leads them to Pennsylvania ex-cop Mark Shaw, who's just returned from a stint in Iraq. Mark recognizes the link between Jane Doe and Marion but now believes the scientist may be alive in that rubble in New Mexico while Dr. Ahmad Baer brings in a specialist to try to bring JD totally alive.
This intense thriller will hook the audience as the action moves back and forth between New Mexico to Connecticut with a few other stops in between. The story line is fast-paced from the opening assault and never slows down for a breather. The key to this tense thriller is the romantic subplot though it takes a back seat to the non-stop action. Jan Coffey has a winner with this strong tale.
Harriet Klausner
The Perfect Liar-Brenda Novak
The Perfect Liar
Brenda Novak
Mira, Sep 2009, $7.99
ISBN: 9780778327240
At Travis Air Force Base in California, Captain Luke Trussell mourns the death of his bestf friend who died in Iraq with alcohol and love making with Sergeant Kalyna Harter of his flying squadron. He knows both were mistakes, but the latter proves ugly when two military police enlisted NCOs arrive the next morning informing him that Sergeant Harter accused him of rape; she spent several hours at Northbay medical Clinic and has bruises all over her body; none life threatening. He says she lies.
Kalyna follows that up with asking victims' rights advocate Ava Bixby to help nail Luke with further evidence of his abusing women. Ava's inquiry proves Luke has no bad marks or hints of such until the rape accusation while Kalyna has a history. The advocate soon believes he is the victim and works to prove her theory although she hopes she is not rosy coloring the facts because she is falling in love with the captain. Kalyna is outraged when she perceives the betrayal and the look of love in Aava’s eyes.
This is an exhilarating romantic suspense with the obsessed villainess stealing the show from the lead couple as THE PERFECT LIAR. Readers will be fascinated with the obviously troubled Kalyna as she loves Luke, but her method to his heart may seem on the surface an odd approach; the audience will understand why the psychopath made the rape accusation.. Fans will enjoy Brenda Novak's latest Last Stand thriller.
Harriet Klausner
Brenda Novak
Mira, Sep 2009, $7.99
ISBN: 9780778327240
At Travis Air Force Base in California, Captain Luke Trussell mourns the death of his bestf friend who died in Iraq with alcohol and love making with Sergeant Kalyna Harter of his flying squadron. He knows both were mistakes, but the latter proves ugly when two military police enlisted NCOs arrive the next morning informing him that Sergeant Harter accused him of rape; she spent several hours at Northbay medical Clinic and has bruises all over her body; none life threatening. He says she lies.
Kalyna follows that up with asking victims' rights advocate Ava Bixby to help nail Luke with further evidence of his abusing women. Ava's inquiry proves Luke has no bad marks or hints of such until the rape accusation while Kalyna has a history. The advocate soon believes he is the victim and works to prove her theory although she hopes she is not rosy coloring the facts because she is falling in love with the captain. Kalyna is outraged when she perceives the betrayal and the look of love in Aava’s eyes.
This is an exhilarating romantic suspense with the obsessed villainess stealing the show from the lead couple as THE PERFECT LIAR. Readers will be fascinated with the obviously troubled Kalyna as she loves Luke, but her method to his heart may seem on the surface an odd approach; the audience will understand why the psychopath made the rape accusation.. Fans will enjoy Brenda Novak's latest Last Stand thriller.
Harriet Klausner
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