Nightwatcher-Wendy Corsi Staub

Nightwatcher


Wendy Corsi Staub

Harper, Aug 28 2012, $7.99

ISBN: 9780062070289



For three years Allison Taylor has lived in Manhattan. She loves the city that never sleeps. However, she awakens to the horror of the 9/11 terrorist mass murders.



Horrified by what occurred Allison soon learns that lost in the mass murders is the killing of her upstairs neighbor Kristina Haines by apparently the serial killer “Nightwatcher" and that next door James MacKenna searches for his missing wife Carrie who he fears died in the Towers. At the same time homicide detective Rocky Manzillo continues his investigation into ending the Nightwatcher homicides unaware that Allison is marked for death.



The key to this powerful romantic suspense is the impact of 9/11 on New Yorkers as Stalin was wrong when he said: "The death of one man is a tragedy; the death of millions is a statistic;” as the timeframe matters. A murder of one person seems callously minor (except to family, friends and neighbors) when compared to over three thousand dead in a morning. Many first responders died alongside civilians in the Towers and risked their lives afterward at Ground Zero; Manzillo’s investigation provides a normalcy like the November 1 World Series game in the Bronx (my husband said you could see the smoke) as life goes on but one must never forget this day in infamy. This is a great thriller.



Harriet Klausner

The Double Game-Dan Fesperman

The Double Game


Dan Fesperman

Knopf, Aug 21 2012, $26.95

ISBN: 9780307700131



In 1984 young reporter Bill Cage interviews American espionage agent turned novelist Edwin Lemaster. After a few drinks, Edwin implies he considered working for the Soviet Union. That revelation led to Bill’s journalist career dying before it began. Over the years he became a public relations specialist spinning stories for his clients. Bill married and divorced April, and they have one child David who lives with her.



Over two decades later, an acrimonious Bill accompanies his dad a retired diplomat to the funeral of a CIA agent. Just after the funeral, Bill receives an anonymous letter encouraging him to follow up on the 1984 allegation as he failed to get the rest of the story. Feeling motivated for the first time since his career died, Bill using references from spy novels, heads to Europe where his dad worked and lives, and where Lemaster’s novels are located. In Vienna, he meets a former lover Litzi Strauss, as he investigates the spy who came in from the cold perhaps on the Soviet side.



This is a fun spy thriller that gives the audience a taste of some of the classic espionage tales as Bill turns to them for advice. The story line is fast-paced with much of the fun being Bill’s ineptness as he seems more like Davey Osborne in Cloak and Dagger than Ian Fleming’s James Bond, Joseph Conrad’s Secret Agent, or James Fennimore Cooper’s The Spy. Fans will enjoy this engaging frolic through the literary world of espionage literature with a wonderful biography (to include Lemaster’s novels) as Don Fesperman pays homage to the genre with his enjoyable spy thriller.



Harriet Klausner

Elvis and the Blue Christmas Corpse-Peggy Webb

Elvis and the Blue Christmas Corpse


Peggy Webb

Kensington, Sep 25 2012, $23.00

ISBN: 9780758241436



In Moorville, Mississippi beauty parlor owner Callie Valentine Jones still remains married though separated from Jack except he is staying at her house while he recovers from leg surgery caused by a jaguar trap (see Elvis and the Tropical Double Trouble). Callie wants children while Jack, like her Uncle Charlie, works for the Company so she fears being a widow single mom.



When Santa cannot perform at the mall’s Christmas Open House weekend charity event, Charlie volunteers. At the gala, Santa’s sled lights up, but the man playing Rudolph dies and Charlie is injured from electrocution. Cousins Callie and Lovie accompanied by Elvis the reincarnated basset hound turned Santa Paws investigate but find several viable suspects



The latest Southern Cousins Mysteries (see Elvis and the Grateful Dead, and Elvis and the Memphis Mambo Murders) is an engaging amateur sleuth as the intrepid trio trip over bodies while searching for the culprit. The trademark zany whodunit is amusing as Peggy Webb exaggerates Southern stereotypes as the cousins and the reincarnated canine seek a Blue Christmas killer.



Harriet Klausner

Last Wool And Testament- Molly MacRae

Last Wool And Testament


Molly MacRae

Obsidian, Sep 4 2012, $7.99

ISBN: 9780451237828



As she nears her destination Blue Plum, Tennessee, thirty-nine years old Kath Rutledge is speeding so she can attend the funeral of her beloved octogenarian grandma Ivy McClellan. Sheriff Deputy Cole Dunbar stops her but offers no sympathy for her loss. He gives her a ticket, nastily calls her grandma “Crazy Ivy” and acrimoniously says Ivy’s death was convenient.



Kath inherits her grandma’s Weaver’s Cat yarn shop and the late woman’s small house. The TGIF (Thank Goodness It’s Fiber) crew encourages Kath, a textile preservationist, to stay and run the place. Though she plans to leave, Kath is shocked when someone else claims ownership of the house. Grieving Kath moves into a cottage at the Homeplace & Living History Farm while she settles the estate. Even more stunning is that she learns that her grandma was the only suspect in poisoning homicide. Though she expects those like Dunbar will label her as crazy Kat, she investigates the murder obsessed with a need to prove her grandma’s innocent while a despondent ghost searches for the murderer too.



The first Haunted Yarn Shop Mystery is a delightful paranormal regional whodunit that stars slow as the readers meet the cast and location, but soon accelerates into an enjoyable investigation. Kath is a fascinating lead character as she deals with grief and an obsessive need to save her grandma’s reputation; the ghost matches her compulsive need for the truth while their bantering enhances the tale as does the eccentric TGIF needle arts group. Readers will appreciate this engaging ghostly amateur sleuth.



Harriet Klausner

Mistletoe, Merriment and Murder-Sara Rosett

Mistletoe, Merriment and Murder


Sara Rosett

Kensington, Oct 2 2012, $7.99

ISBN: 9780758269218



Event organizer Ellie Avery has mixed feelings about the Christmas season. On the one hand she is ecstatic that her husband Mitch is home for the holidays with her and their two kids before deploying with his r Air Force Base squadron shortly. On the other hand she is unhappy that rival organizer Gabrielle Matheson has set up shop in North Dawkins, Georgia as the newcomer is stealing clients that Ellie thought would use her services. At a squadron party hosted by Ellie at her home, she and Gabrielle get into a public argument.



Feeling guilty for her childish display, Ellie meets Gabrielle at the home of the latter’s sister Jean to apologize. When Ellie arrives for the rendezvous, she finds Jean’s dead; her head smashed in.. Gabrielle arrives soon afterward and tells the Sheriff Ellie found the body. Making matters more suspicious is that the murder weapon was given to Ellie at her party as a gag gift. Shockingly Gabrielle teams up with Ellie in search of the real killer.



The latest Ellie Avery amateur sleuth (see Mint Juleps, Mayhem, And Murder; and Magnolias, Moonlight, And Murder) is an engaging whodunit that once again enables readers to see close up the lives of air force spouses and dependents living on a base in a military town. The storyline is filled with twists and a strong cast as Ellie investigates the murder with her competitor joining her.



Harriet Klausner

Murder Unmentionable-Meg London

Murder Unmentionable


Meg London

Berkley Prime Crime, Sep 4 2012, $7.99

ISBN: 9780425251577



In Manhattan Emma Taylor was Femme Magazine’s stylist while her boyfriend Guy Richard was an internationally acclaimed photographer. The small town southerner enjoyed the Big Apple until she caught Guy serial cheating with models. She dumped him, quit her fashionista job and moved into her Aunt Arabella’s home in Paris, Tennessee.



Emma plans to turn her aunt’s lingerie shop Sweet Nothings into a unique experience for customers by selling vintage. A contended Emma is shocked when Guy comes to town as the only Paris he would visit is in France. He pleads with her to come back with him and offers her a dream job she can’t refuse. They meet for dinner but model Nikki is all over Guy so Emma leaves. The next morning, Emma wakes up to find Aunt Arabella standing near Guy’s corpse on the floor. The police, encouraged by an officer who loathes Emma for rejecting him years ago, suspect her of killing Guy. Desperate she investigates but a second homicide diminishes her suspect pool while the local law enforcement continues to look at her as a person of interest.



The first Sweet Lingerie whodunit is an entertaining regional amateur sleuth as Meg London captures the essence of a small southern town’s quirkiness especially the difficulty to hide secrets when everyone knows everyone; yet Emma learns the townsfolk learn survival techniques as kids. Fans will enjoy drinking Tennessee tea while reading lingerie and Murder Unmentionable.



Harriet Klausner

Murder Among Friends-William Cahn

Murder Among Friends


William Cahn

CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, May 29 2012, $14.95

https://www.createspace.com

ISBN: 9781470173333



In 1946, Robert Stevens, Kingsland Gordon and David Penner meet at Midwestern University. They quickly become roommates and best friends. A few years later all three are successful, but remain roommates. Robert becomes Wade County District Attorney; Kingsland is a highly regarded lawyer; and David a super salesman.



Late at night, Robert orders Kingsland and David to his office. Police Inspector Spahn and Detective Carr arrest David for murdering with a fireplace stoker his boss Pierre Lancer, the father of his fiancée Georgette. Robert pleads with a stunned Kingsland to defend their friend as the DA believes his pal is the best attorney in the county; he reluctantly agrees though he is not a criminal lawyer.



This is a terrific post WWII era legal thriller that brings to life the 1950s in New York State. The story line focuses initially on the cherished close friendship between the lead trio who possess different personalities before switching to the murder case, which appears to end their tight relationship. The legal scenes are top rate as readers obtain a deep look at courtroom rights a decade before Miranda. Though the storyline starts slow as fans meet the amigos, William Cahn provides a fabulous historical.



Harriet Klausner