Mrs. Jeffries Defends Her Own-Emily Brightwell

Mrs. Jeffries Defends Her Own


Emily Brightwell

Berkley Prime Crime, May 1 2012, $7.99

ISBN: 9780425248058



At Sutcliffe Manufacturing, deputy manager Ronald Dearman is found dead in his office by his wife Lucretia who was accompanied there by Fiona Sutcliffe. Realizing she will be a prime suspect, as she and the victim argued just before his death, Fiona overhears the lead investigator Nigel Nivens and Constable Morehead discuss the cause of rival Inspector Witherspoon’s success being his housekeeper Mrs. Witherspoon and her staff supporting her. Fiona visits widow Mrs. Jeffries who is shocked to see her estranged sister-in-law call her Hepzibah and ask for her help; but she knows she will as the late David would want her to do so.



Mrs. Jeffries and her team know the case will be the most convoluted they ever undertook because their “front” beloved Inspector Witherspoon is not leading the inquiry. Instead Nivens, who apparently knows she is the brains of his rival’s unparalleled success, leads the investigation.



The latest Mrs. Jeffries and retinue Victorian mystery (see Mrs. Jeffries and the Mistletoe Mix-Up, Mrs. Jeffries Forges Ahead and Mrs. Jeffries Forges Ahead) is a delightful puzzler as the heroine and her "under the stairs" crew work a whodunit made difficult by her in-law being the suspect and by another inspector in charge. Still, Mrs. Jeffries and the crew do what they always do investigate through their employer as this Victorian mystery is a fresh entry in a strong long running historical “police procedural” series.



Harriet Klausner

Murder On Fifth Avenue-Victoria Thompson

Murder On Fifth Avenue


Victoria Thompson

Berkley Prime Crime, May 1 2012, $24.95

ISBN: 9780425247419



Chief of Detective O’Brien sends a note to Detective Sergeant Frank Malloy ordering him to meet with affluent Felix Decker at the ultra-exclusive Knickerbocker Club. Frank knows never to ignore his boss or powerful men like Decker, father of his friend midwife Sarah Brandt. He hustles over there; where adding to his surprise, Decker asks him to investigate the death of club member Chilton Devries. Furthermore, he says the undertaker had arrived at the club to take away the corpse but noticed blood; Devries was stabbed to death. Finally, Decker insists no club member would kill a peer and that if the killer can go before the city’s justice so be it, but if not the club will mete out justice.



Frank investigates starting with the surviving family; not one of whom feel any grief towards the abusive Paul. Sarah and her mother assist Frank as he interviews a horde of other people elated with Devrie’s death; they insist their only regret was they did not stab the SOB. A second related homicide complicates the already complex case.



This is an engaging Gaslight Mystery (see Murder on Sister’s Row, Murder on Waverly Place and Murder on Lexington Avenue) as the Irish catholic cop and the wealthy midwife enter the exclusive circle of the untouchable one tenth of one percent men of power. Action-packed, the whodunit is clever, but it is the setting especially the social issues of the early twentieth century, which still thrive in the early twenty-first century that makes Victoria Thompson’s investigative tale a terrific historical.



Harriet Klausner

Now You See Her-James Patterson & Michael Ledwidge

Now You See Her


James Patterson & Michael Ledwidge

Grand Central, Apr 3 2012, $14.99

ISBN: 9780446574709



In 1992 in Key West, intoxicated college student Jeanine flips out when she sees her boyfriend Alex making out with her BFF Maureen. The betrayal hurts immensely because they were at her side when her mom committed suicide; her dad had died years earlier in the line of duty as a Maryland state trooper. Drunk, she flees in Alex’s car before running over a man to avoid a dog. Police Officer Peter Fournier tells her to leave the scene and go back to school; as if this never happened as the victim Ramon Pena was a hard core rapist.



She heeded the cop’s advice. Now eighteen years later, Nina Bloom is a successful New York lawyer with a sixteen years old daughter Emma. Nina has told no one what happened in Key West though her husband Peter knows. However, her idyllic world shatters when she becomes involved in the Jump Killer murder case in Florida. In a few days the state will execute Harris for a homicide that she knows he did not commit. Harris’ attorney Charles initially rejects her help but changes his mind when she points out inconsistencies in the evidence against his client. Still time is running out.



Over the top of “Mt. Trashmore” due to too many coincidences and a caricature serial killer; yet fans will enjoy this fast-paced thriller that hooks the audience to learn what next as Now You See Her is hard to put down. Nina is terrific as she holds the exciting storyline together. Fans who ignore plausibility will enjoy this entertaining Florida legal thriller.



Harriet Klausner

The Mysterium-P.C. Doherty

The Mysterium


P.C. Doherty

Minotaur, Apr 24 2012, $25.99

ISBN 9780312678197



Early in the fourteenth century in London, a killer murders Walter Evesham, former chief justice in the Court of King’s Bench. The victim’s throat was cut and the letter M carved into his forehead. The homicide occurred in a locked room with the M being the trademark of assassin Mysterium.



Hugh Corbett, “the Keeper of the King’s Secret Seal,” investigates the murder. He knows Evesahm caught Mysterium two decades ago, but the hired killer escaped and apparently fled the kingdom. As others die, it appears he has come home. However, his inquiry spins strangely when he concludes that two killers are terrorizing London and no one, not even King Edward I, is above suspicion except his assistant former Newgate resident Ranulf.



This is the usual great medieval whodunit that readers expect from P.C. Doherty (see The Waxman Murders and Nightshade) as the background has the armchair audience feeling they are in the first decade of the fourteenth century while accompanying the hero on the case. Fast-paced, the exhilarating storyline opens with an exciting riot at Newgate, turns to several murders and riots as the innocent die, and ends with a stunning confrontation.



Harriet Klausner

One Red Bastard-Ed Lin

One Red Bastard


Ed Lin

Minotaur, Apr 24 2012, $24.99

ISBN: 9780312660901



In 1976, The Republic of China on Taiwan and the People's Republic of China on the mainland battle for western recognition. At the same time the two China’s argue on the world stage, Chen Xiaochuan informs the State Department that Li Na, daughter of the late Mao Tse-tung, seeks asylum in the United States. Newswire reporter Lonnie interviews Chen, but soon afterward the latter’s body is found in Roosevelt Park; as the last person to see him alive the journalist is the prime suspect although there is plenty of others with political motives to kill Li’s representative.



Because he is Chinese-American and has had some success on cases (see This Is A Bust and Snakes Can’t Run), Lonnie’s boyfriend NYPD Officer Robert Chow leads the investigation with the brass insisting he find the killer immediately. Robert interviews representatives from the two Chinas while wondering why Artie Yee owner of Inside Chinatown is unconcerned that his offices were deliberately torched.



The latest Chow police procedural is a complicated historical that combines the international debate over the Chinas with a strong look at Manhattan’s Chinatown circa 1976 just a few years after the mainland replaced the island on the UN Security Council. The whodunit purposely is convoluted to reflect the complex world (including the Ford Administration) with Chinatown a microcosm of the debate. Readers will enjoy Ed Lin’s strong 1970s whodunit.



Harriet Klausner

Every Last Secret- Linda Rodriguez

Every Last Secret


Linda Rodriguez

Minotaur, Apr 24 2012, $24.99

ISBN: 9781250005458



At one time half Cherokee Marquitta “Skeet” Bannion was proud of her accomplishments as the highest ranked female cop on the Kansas City, Missouri police department. However, her sense of being a chip off the old block crashes when her father Charlie the cop turned alcoholic was forced into retirement to avoid a corruption charge and her now former husband Sam Musco the cop was angry and jealous of her success.



Deciding to leave KCPD, Skeet accepts a position as chief of campus police at Chouteau University, twelve miles from Kansas City. New campus cop Dave Parker calls Skeet to tell her he found a corpse in the offices of Chouteau University. Shaken he informs Skeet he only turned on a light. Someone murdered news editor in chief student employee Andrew McAfee who was facing sexual assault and theft charges. She broke up a fight between the victim and news editor Scott Lampkin so the latter is a suspect. Skeet informs the wife Tina and stepson Brian as the press obnoxiously arrives. She works closely with her staff, the administration, the sheriff’s department, and Police Chief Louzon and his team as she investigates the homicide. At the same time, Sam comes to town insisting Charlie needs her.



The winner of the Malice Domestic Best First Traditional Mystery Novel Competition, Linda Rodriguez provides an enjoyable police procedural starring a likable besieged cop. A professional with passion on the job, Skeet is terrific as she copes with campus politics, office jealousy, the intrusion of the former men in her life, and troubled Brian while leading her team on the murder investigation; she needs forty eight hours in a day.



Harriet Klausner

Sidney Sheldon's Angel of the Dark- Tilly Babshawe

Sidney Sheldon's Angel of the Dark


Tilly Babshawe

Morrow, Apr 3 2012, $26.99

ISBN: 9780062073419



In Beverly Hills, the police respond to a domestic violence call. They enter the Jakes mansion to find the elderly art dealer Andrew Jakes dead from knife wounds and his head nearly decapitated. Tied to the body of the deceased is his much younger wife Angela, who was battered and brutally raped. Detective Danny McGuire investigates the homicide while falling in love with Angela. As the case turns cold, Angela vanishes shortly after leaving the hospital and the estate eventually goes to children’s charities.



Danny leaves LAPD to join Interpol. Ten years since the Jakes murder, he lives in France with his wife. Jakes’ son Matt Daley visits Danny with evidence that three other homicides contain the identical M.O. as that of his late father to include the raped bound to her dead spouse younger wife vanishing and the money going to charity. Stunned Danny and Matt make inquiries, but soon learn of another similar murder in Hong Kong. They race there to meet the widow Lisa Baring before she disappears. While Matt falls for the widow just like Danny did with Angela, a clue sends the cop to Mumbai hoping to prevent the next homicide by an internationally diabolical serial killer.



The latest Tilly Babshawe homage to Sidney Sheldon (see Sidney Sheldon’s After the Darkness and Sidney Sheldon’s Mistress of the Game) is by far the best of her entries. The fast-paced storyline combines glamour and desire with wrenching crime scenes in a fast-paced global twisting cat and mouse thriller.



Harriet Klausner