There's a Head on the Beach-Colin Cotterill

There's a Head on the Beach



Minotaur, Jun 19 2012, $24.99

ISBN: 9780312564544



Thirtyish Jimm Juree remains reeling from her mother’s decision to sell the family home and business without warning. The matriarch moved the extended family from the north to the south to Chumphon Province off of the Gulf of Siam leaving Jimm heartbroken as she was on the verge of having the Chiang Mai Daily Mail naming her as the second female senior crime reporter in Thailand (see (see Killed at the Whim of a Hat).



In her new rural home, Jimm finds a head on the beach. The Southern Rescue Mission Foundation sends two thugs to insure Jimm understands she saw nothing. Though she lost her journalism position, Jimm like any good reporter does not accept threats; instead of running away from the crime, she investigates the head on the beach.



The second Jimm Juree Thai mystery is a wonderful jocular whodunit in which mangled phonetic lyrics from pop songs and eccentric family dynamics are merged effortlessly with an insightful look at a major rights issue. The storyline is fast-paced from the onset as readers will enjoy watching the “Dancing Queen” (ABBA) do her investigative gig.



Harriet Klausner

Hideout-Kathleen George

Hideout


Kathleen George

Minotaur, Jun 19 2012, $15.99

ISBN: 9781250007490



In Pittsburgh, stoned Ryan Rutter decides to scare a female pedestrian walking in a park. He steers his truck towards her planning to just miss her; but he miscalculates and hits her. He and his passenger his younger brother Jack flee the crime scene. They head to a remote Sugar Lake cabin that their family rented when they were kids from Tom Jensen who tossed them out of it due to the vandalism.



Pittsburgh night duty police detective Colleen Greer leads the hit and run homicide investigation. The victim is Allegany General cafeteria staff Joanna Navarro. Colleen’s boss Commander Richard Christie joins her as she makes inquiries; also on the case are PPD Artie Dolan and John Potocki.



While Jack obtains handyman work from elderly neighbor Addie Ward, Ryan plots a robbery. When Tom arrives at his cabin, Ryan takes away his rifle and threatens to kill him and likewise Addie too. As law enforcement from the greater Pittsburgh area compete to capture the siblings, Ryan plans to blow away the two witnesses who can identify them.



This is a strong Pittsburgh police procedural (see The odds); as Jack steals the show from the cops and his psychopathic older brother with his obsessed need to protect Ryan, reversing their childhood. Fast-paced from the moment readers meet the brothers when Ryan’s friend is rushed to the hospital to save his life from an overdose, fans will relish this psychological thriller as Jack knows right from wrong but defending Jack supersedes his moral barometer, which is constantly tested.



Harriet Klausner

The Celtic Conspiracy-Thore D. Hansen

The Celtic Conspiracy


Thore D. Hansen

AmazonCrossing, May 29 2012, $14.95

ISBN: 9781612183473



In May 1945 near Klagenfurt, Austria, a recruit falls into a cave during combat. British Army Major Sean MacLary and two soldiers rescue the injured man. However, they find a room in the cave that Sean an archeology professor, believes is ancient Druid though that is wrong as their culture was handed down orally. He selects a few fourth century documents to send home that claim the Catholic Church massacred the druids and buries the cave with an explosion hidden by the noise of war to protect the rest of the cache.



In the present Massachusetts Supreme Court Chief Justice Ronald MacLary thinks back to his late father who died a few years after the war from combat related injuries. Before he died Sean pleaded with his then six year old son to follow up on his trove in Dublin. Ronald finds the ancient documentation that insists the Druids did not vanish gently into the night but were victims of genocide. He finds allies as he tries to excavate his father’s find while others try to prevent him.



Combining the generalization that to the victors goes the history books inside a Brownian thriller, The Celtic Conspiracy is an exciting thriller that makes a plea for the Golden Rule of world peace. Although holding culpability for atrocities done centuries ago is a complicated but healing slippery slope, fans will enjoy this fabulous over the top of Corrán Tuathail tale.



Harriet Klausner

Extended Family-Patrick Kendrick

Extended Family


Patrick Kendrick

Thomas & Mercer, Jun 5 2012, $14.95

ISBN: 9781612183107



The charming handsome man enters the Future-Gen clinic to donate sperm. Afterward, he asks the receptionist to join him for dinner at exclusive Eduardo’s. She accepts his invitation while cheekily asking him if he will be able to get it up later.



One generation later, FBI Special Agent Rose Cleary and Fire Marshal Greymon Gift discuss recent homicide arson cases. Someone is torturing including dismembering victims before setting fire to the murder scene; the dead further share in common they all were serial killers. Rose and Grey team up on the investigation, but find horrifying evidence that the recovered DNA is a close match to that of allegedly dead serial killer Dr. Harmon Gettys. This means it is either him or chips off the old block offspring.



Extended Family is an odd but entertaining thriller as the protagonists hunt for the serial killer of serial killers. Overall the storyline is fast-paced and at times very gory as journal entries can be first person explicit. Although the romantic segue feels forced and unnecessary except as a sub-genre requirement when a man and woman work a case, fans will enjoy this engaging tale more complex than the DNA double helix.



Harriet Klausner

Crosscut-Jude Hardin

Crosscut


Jude Hardin

Thomas & Mercer, Jun 5 2012, $14.95

ISBN: 9781612183114



In Florida, true crime writer Donna Prescott asks her former boyfriend private investigator Nicholas Colt to find her missing brother Derek Wahl. Missing for over a year, Derek is a Black Creek, Tennessee cop. He vanished while handling a domestic dispute. At the house where the call came from were two female corpses while two males disappeared. Derek informs Donna he is no longer a P.I. as instead he is part of a band. Donna also says the bodies were mutilated with crucifixes carved into them. Stunned Derek takes the case because he knows what the symbol means as the Harvest Angels violent wing of the Neo-Nazi Chain of Life cult killed his first wife, their daughter and their band in a plane crash.



Derek arranges with his Tennessee private investigator friend Pete Strong to meet him. However his inquiry spins out of control with his family threatened back home and longtime enemy Brother John kidnapping him before brainwashing Derek and turning him into a heroin addict who cheats on his wife. However, this is all part of a wider lethal terrorism plot in Los Angeles.



This is an exhilarating thriller with a great first half and a fabulous coda spin. Action-packed from start to finish, the hard boiled storyline loses plausibility from the moment the hero escapes as he performs exciting daring deeds.



Harriet Klausner

The Key-Simon Toyne

The Key


Simon Toyne

HarperCollins, Apr 1 2012, $25.99

ISBN: 9780007391592



In the ancient city of Ruin in mountainous Turkey is the Citadel where the first bible was allegedly scribed. TV cameras catch a monk Brother Samuel climb to the top of the mountain, make the sign of the tau, and leap (see Sanctus). Soon after the violent death, explosions rip into the Citadel. Ten monks and three civilians, all injured, exit through a previously secret tunnel. The media proclaims the “Church on Road to Ruin”. Rumors spread that these survivors will reveal the true meaning of the Sacrament.



At the Vatican, Cardinal Secretary of State Clementi is stunned to learn that trillions of dollars have vanished. His prayer to save the Church from what could be a death scandal lies in Ruin. In a hospital, Samuel’s sister American journalist Liv Adamsen suffers from amnesia though she recalls entering the Citadel at Ruin but not much else. She is frightened because she keeps hearing a mantra claiming she is the Key. Others accept her as the Key with plans to use her. The mercenary Ghost hopes she can unlock dark powerful secrets; the Citadel monks pray she returns to end the plague that is destroying them; the Catholic Church hierarchy needs her dead before she kills the religion. Liv’s savior is charity worker Gabriel Mann.



The second Sancti trilogy continues the exciting Brownian thriller with a fast-paced entry. The key (no pun intended) cast is not as developed as in Sanctus especially the Vatican who come across as an overly used conspiracy crowd (then again this is a Brownian thriller). Still sub-genre fans will want to know the Key to the Sacrament.



Harriet Klausner

Trash Course-Penny Drake

Trash Course


Penny Drake

Carina, Oct 18 2010, $7.99

ISBN: 9780373062560; ASIN: B004322F4U



Belinda Harris arrives at Hawk Enterprise in Ann Arbor explaining to private investigator Terry Faye that she came from Missouri to insure her two elderly uncles are okay. She went from the airport to their home, but could not enter as the door is blocked on the inside by something. Furthermore Belinda says they are hoarders who have lived in this house for five decades.



Terry and Ms. Hawk enter the house where trash and roaches are everywhere while Belinda remains in the car. They soon learn the hard way that Uncle Lawrence has set up a series of “landmines” ready to hammer the unwary. Their friend Professor Slava Cherenko joins them inside the house. They find the corpses of Uncle Howard and Uncle Lawrence as well as catching photographer Zack Archer taking pictures. Belinda asks them to find the missing will while one of the bodies is too young to be one of the uncles.



Trash Course is a superb mystery starring a strong ensemble cast and a hoard of a lifetime, which will surprise readers with the clever full set-up. The rookie sleuth is learning the ropes from her superstar boss while attracted to the photographer she does not trust; their romance is kept to a limit as the case of the hoarding uncles and where it stunningly leads is the focus. Her BFF Slava is a wonderful support character who claims her Chernobyl KGB experience would make her a perfect field operator though she is way too tall and garish to simply blend in. Fast-paced and filled with action, fans will relish this enjoyable serio-comedic detective thriller.



Harriet Klausner