50% Off Murder-Josie Belle

50% Off Murder


Josie Belle

Berkley, Apr 3 2012, $7.99

ISBN: 9780425247020



St. Stanley, Virginia is a quaint village in which crime is virtually nonexistent probably due to the fact everyone knows each other on a first name basis. Maggie Gerber and her Good Buy Girls friends shop with a military precision that the pentagon ought to study as they use every legal technique known to the American economy to reduce costs to as close to ground zero as possible.



Maggie visits the newest Girl, librarian Claire Freemont at the town library. Both are shocked to find the corpse of a man with a knife protruding from his heart. A frazzled Claire explains she knew the deceased and begs Maggie not to tell the new sheriff Sam Collins. Maggie has no problem with promising Claire as Sam broke her heart fourteen years ago. The librarian further informs Maggie that she saw the victim carrying a dead person in Richmond, which is why she fled the big city for the small town. However, Collins learns of her connection to the body and has enough circumstantial evidence to arrest Claire. Believing Claire is innocent, Maggie and the GBG sisterhood investigate.



The first Good Buy Girls amateur sleuth is an entertaining cozy starring interesting characters that endear themselves to readers as do their picturesque town. Maggie is the stereotypical sub-genre heroine who runs the extra kilometer to help her new friend out of a jam while landing in a perilous situation. Still readers will admire her risk taking spunk (to include the dangerous competitive sport of thrifty shopping) and enjoy the sparks between her and the sheriff as both prefer the attraction just go away. Fans will enjoy 50%; Off Murder as there is no thrifty top to deal with a killer.



Harriet Klausner

Buried in Buttercream-G.A. McKevett

Buried in Buttercream:


G.A. McKevett

Kensington, Mar 27 2012, $24.00

ISBN 9780758238122



In San Carmelita, California former police officer turned private investigator Savannah Reid vows to enjoy life and diminish her obsessiveness over the minutest things after her recent near death experience (see A Decadent Way to Die). The plus sized bride to be especially looks forward to her marriage to her former police partner, Detective Sergeant Dirk Coulter.



The engaged couple hires Hollywood A level wedding planner Madeline Aberson though Savannah recognizes how far the superstar has fallen if she takes on the gig of a cop and a former cop. The big woman also quickly finds a need to squelch the mouthy Madeline. However the bride manages to keep her desire to rough the diva in check. On the day of the wedding, an arsonist destroys the location and Savannah finds Madeline dead in a pool. Ready to say I do, Savannah needs to remove the killers before they crash her wedding. Delaying the ceremony, Savannah, her fiancé, her brother Waycross and her associate at Moonlight Magnolia Detective Agency Tammy Hart investigate.



The latest Savannah Reid Mystery is an entertaining whodunit as someone takes the vow’s challenge of “if any of you can show just cause why they may not be lawfully wed, speak now, or else forever hold your peace” to a deadly level. The storyline is fast-paced and contains the heroin’s jocular quips and asides. Although the ending seems abrupt, fans will enjoy attending the wedding of Savannah and Dirk; if they can find a killer, location and planner.



Harriet Klausner

What Doesn’t Kill You-Iris Johansen

What Doesn’t Kill You


Iris Johansen

St. Martin’s, Apr 17 2012, $27.99

ISBN 9780312651237



CIA Agent Catherine Ling was abandoned as a toddler on the streets of Hong Kong. She became adept as a commodity trader selling information, which enabled her to survive. As a teen, apothecary poisoner/healer Hu Chang saved her life from the thugs who owned much of the streets. The assassin became her mentor. As an adult, Catherine joined the CIA where she has become one of their best field operatives.



Chang creates a new drug so powerful it quickly kills with no trace. Weapons trafficker Hugh Nardik hears rumors of the legendary Chang’s latest elixir and wants it as he has plans for this deadly toxin. Nard needs to control Chang’s Achilles’ heel Catherine to steal the drug for him. The way to make her cooperate is through her son.



Over the top of the “Peak” with superheroes and supervillains; fans will enjoy Catherine Ling’s first lead role after supporting Eve Duncan in previous thrillers (see The Bonnie trilogy and Chasing the Night). The fast-paced storyline grips the audience from the onset and never let’s go until the final confrontation as evil and not quite good battle globally. The author once again has a super bestseller that readers will finish the book in one setting as they will be unable to put the book down because it is so absorbing.



Harriet Klausner

Harbor Nocturne-Joseph Wambaugh

Harbor Nocturne


Joseph Wambaugh

Mysterious Press, Apr 3 2012, $27.00

ISBN: 9780802126108



Suspended for marijuana use on the job, longshoreman Dinko Babich is in the San Pedro section of Los Angeles when he stops at a bar. There he runs into his elementary school chum Hector Cozzo who says he bought the tall Mexican female dancer stripping on the stage and needs her taken to a Hollywood nightclub owned by Russians. When Dinko and nineteen year old Lita Medina Flores meet off-stage for the first time a shocking attraction occurs.



At around the same time Dinko and Lita set off caring sparks, thirteen dead Asians are found inside a shipping container. Two illegal females learning of the horrible demises flee for their lives while the traffickers pursue them. The Hollywood Hills Police Station works the case and a related illegal elective amputations investigation. Soon the longshoreman and the exotic dancer are caught in the crosshairs of the Russians, the local gangs, the human traffickers and LAPD including the usual Hollywood Hills Station regulars (Flotsam, Jetsam, Hollywood Nate and the real Britney, etc.).



This is a superb seemingly convoluted police procedural but the Grand Master Joseph Wambaugh deftly interweaves his dark thriller into a powerful cohesive story. Readers will enjoy visiting another section of Los Angeles while rooting for Dinko and Lita to make it against the impossible odds. The Hollywood Hills Station regulars are their zany selves as each combines vigil and dedication to eccentricity as Mr. Wambaugh once again provides a great wacky graveyard humorous look at the seediest side of America.



Harriet Klausner

The Great Cake Mystery: Precious Ramotswe's Very First Case: A Number 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Book for Young Readers-Alexander McCall Smith; Iain McIntosh (illustrator)

The Great Cake Mystery: Precious Ramotswe's Very First Case: A Number 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Book for Young Readers


Alexander McCall Smith; Iain McIntosh (illustrator)

Anchor Books/Random House, Apr 3 2012, $6.99

ISBN: 9780307743893



In Botswana, Obed Ramotswe tells his young daughter Precious she has an innate knack of knowing when someone makes something up. He further says maybe when she grows up she will become a detective. Precious likes the idea of sleuthing, but expects her first case is more than a decade away.



At the school she attends, someone breaks the first rule by stealing other people’s sweet food. Two victimized students Tapiwah and Sepo accuse another pupil Poloki because he is very round and has sticky fingers. Precious rejects the accusation as false while the rest of the students believe Poloki is the thief. Deciding to prove his innocence, Precious sets a trap to catch a thief.



Precious’ first case is a great young adult amateur sleuth tale due a strong cast, a wonderful heroine and superb drawings (including dynamic name pronunciation lettering) that enhance the African village location. Readers sees the adult in the child through Precious’ sense of right and wrong as she works the case in which the other students goes along with the two accusers in a classic “J’accuse” scenario. This is a winner as we even learn who came up with the name of The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency.



Harriet Klausner

The Big Cat Nap: The 20th Anniversary Mrs. Murphy Mystery-Rita Mae Brown and Sneaky Pie Brown

The Big Cat Nap: The 20th Anniversary Mrs. Murphy Mystery


Rita Mae Brown and Sneaky Pie Brown

Bantam, Apr 3 2012, $26.00

ISBN: 978-0345530448



Fortyish Latigo Bly owns the highly successful Safe & Sound auto insurance firm that operates in the Mid-Atlantic region. Also in his forties Victor Gatzembizi owns the also successful and as lucrative as Bly’s business ReNu collision repair with many locations in Virginia including Crozet. Safe & Sound includes ReNu on its list of acceptable vehicle repair companies that they recommend to their customers.



Crozet resident Mary Minor “Harry” Haristeen and the Very Reverend Herbert Jones take his Chevy pick-up to ReNu. In the office they found the murdered body of mechanic Walt Richardson whose head was bashed in. The other mechanics insist they know nothing about Richardson’s death. Soon afterward someone shoots mechanic Nick Ashby with a bullet to his heart. The third mechanic Bobby Fultz is also killed with his body left by the Trumball monument on Flag Day. Victor offers a sizable reward for the capture of the serial killer. Harry, with Mrs. Murphy, Pewter, and Tee Tucker having her back, investigates the homicides only to find she placed herself in a dire situation in which she and her menagerie may join the dead mechanics.



The 20th Anniversary of the Brown writing team is a charming and enchanting mystery that affirms the Crozet cozies remain fun tales as Harry and her Puss ‘N Cahoots squad investigate the homicides. Even while the heroine continues her battle with breast cancer that she believes she is winning, she still makes inquiries into the murders. While Harry has landed in death-threatening scenarios before (see Santa Clawed) fans will appreciate this engaging anthropomorphic whodunit.



Harriet Klausner

Boca Daze-Steven M. Forman

Boca Daze


Steven M. Forman

Forge, Jan 31 2012, $25.99

ISBN: 9780765328762



In 2006 in Boca Raton, Florida, retired Boston cop Eddie “the Boca Knight” Perlmutter knows firsthand that sexagenarian is a misleading word. Eddie is working a few cases. First he makes inquiries into the assault of homeless Weary Willie. Second his partner Lou Dewey conducts research into the financial activities of B.I. Grover who Eddie believes runs a Ponzi scheme. Finally he pursues the pill mills selling prescription drugs on the street.



Street hoods with guns kill innocent people leading to gangbanger leader Mad Dog Walken helping Eddie. Meanwhile homeless Three Bag Bailey demands he live up to his nickname. Eddie knows he walks into the ugly as his knees ache; which he admits is chronically all the time.



The latest jocular Boca Knight South Florida private investigative tale (see Boca Mournings) stars a likable hero and a strong eccentric cast. The tone is set when Lou mentions some financier dude named Madoff appears to be pulling a Ponzi, but Eddie tells him to forget the sidebar and focus on Grover. Fast-paced and fill with action and humor, readers will appreciate the witty battling Boca Knight as he seeks justice for the disenfranchised on bad wheels.



Harriet Klausner