Murder With A Twist-Allyson K. Abbott

Murder With A Twist

Allyson K. Abbott

Kensington, Aug 5 2014, $7.99

ISBN: 9780758280176

In Milwaukee almost a year has passed since someone murdered Mack’s Bar owner Big Mack Dalton.  A few weeks ago, his daughter owner Mackenzie (called “Little Mack” by her family, friends and patrons) found the corpse of Big Mack’s girlfriend realtor Ginny Rifkin near the dumpster in the alley behind the bar.  Although MPD suspected Mack murdered her father and his GF, Police Detective Duncan Albright thought otherwise and teamed up with her using her unique synesthesia neurological wiring that allowed her to perceive things differently than the normal NTs to solve the double homicides (see Murder On The Rocks). 

In spite of her success Mack has doubts about police work as mixology is her specialty rather than crime solving.  However with her karma at stake along with the urgency to rescue a kidnapped child, Mack agrees to assist Duncan with the hunt for that abducted son of a murdered single mom.

The second Mack's Bar Mystery once again contains a super fresh investigation due to the unique heroine whose descriptions of synesthesia (chocolate will never taste the same for us NTs) is succinct and vibrant, and helps with the cases.  Duncan accepts her as she is while the Capone Club Bucks brew crew patrons add amusing eccentricities to the delightful mix.

Harriet Klausner

Avoidable Contact: A Kate Reilly Mystery-Tammy Kaehler

Avoidable Contact: A Kate Reilly Mystery

Tammy Kaehler

Poisoned Pen, Aug 5 2014, $24.95

ISBN 9781464202384

Racecar driver Kate Reilly prepares to drive the 24 Hours of Daytona.  However, before the race begins, cops inform Kate her boyfriend United Sports Car Championship official Stuart Telerday was in a coma after a hit-and-run.  Torn between ditching the race to see him, Kate decides Stuart would be irate if she failed to drive. 

Kate receives a text claiming her boyfriend is a victim of attempted vehicular homicide.  When a crew member dies at the track, Kate wonders whether this second accident was murder.  As she watches her family working with rival teams, Kate runs the endurance race while when off the oval tries to resolve who wants Stuart dead.

The third Kate Reilly amateur sleuth (see Deadman's Switch and Braking Points) is a fast-paced whodunit in which the action on the track is thrilling and off the track chilling.  The insight into the USCC adds depth as readers will enjoy Kate’s racing and sleuthing while the clock ticks away like in Jack Bauer 24 mode.

Harriet Klausner

Swan Point-Sherryl Woods

Swan Point

Sherryl Woods

Mira, Jul 29 2014, $14.99 (trade); $24.99 (hardcover)

ISBN: 9780778316428

Adelia Hernandez accepts the inevitability that her cheating husband Ernesto will always have mistresses as he does not care about her.  However, Ernesto’s reckless neglect of their four children, especially showing off to their thirteen year old oldest his mistresses and setting a bad example for their eight year old youngest, persuades Adelia to divorce him and start over elsewhere.  Swearing off men in order to focus on raising her three daughters (Serena, Natalia and Juanita) and son (Tomas), with support from her mother and her brother (see Midnight Promises) she moves with her children to the Swan Point neighborhood in Serenity, South Carolina.

At Rosalina, Adelia and Gabe Franklin see each other for the first time and the attraction is stratospheric.  She obtains her first job since having kids while he temporarily works for his cousin.  However, Gabe plans to stay for a short time to rectify mistakes he made growing up in this town where his mom was the town’s target of nasty gossip due to the parade of men entering and leaving her life.  As he and the mother of four fall in love and he adores her kids; Ernesto plans to destroy their relationship by using the children especially vulnerable Tomas as his pawn.

The eleventh Sweet Magnolia contemporary (see Catching Fireflies and Where Azaleas Bloom) is a wonderful second chance family drama in spite of macho Ernesto’s unnecessary nastiness and the repeat philandering theme (see Home In Carolina, Stealing Home and A Slice Of Heaven).  Readers will root for with Gabe, Adelia and her kids to find happiness together.

Harriet Klausner

The Good Know Nothing: A Tom Hickey Mystery-Ken Kuhlken

The Good Know Nothing: A Tom Hickey Mystery

Ken Kuhlken

Poisoned Pen, Aug 5 2014, $24.95

ISBN 9781464202865

Prior to WWI, Charlie Hickey vanished leaving his family over the next two plus decades to wonder what happened.  In 1936, Bud Gallagher tells Charlie’s son LAPD Detective Tom why his dad disappeared a quarter of a century ago and gives him a manuscript that he insisted Charlie wrote years ago.  A stunned Tom struggles to accept Charlie fled from being framed and that the novel practically is the same as The Death Ship by popular but anonymous B. Traven.

Tom discusses what to do about Bud’s alleged revelations with his sister Florence.  The siblings agree they need to know the truth re the frame and the book with their only hopes being to find and confront their father if he is still alive and Traven if he is not Charlie.  Neither expected the supposedly dead Sundance Kid, Betty Weaver and her gang, and William Randolph Hearst to be involved in their family quest.

The latest Tom Hickey Depression Era mystery (see The Biggest Liar in Los Angeles) is a great entry as Ken Kuhlken deftly blends what happened to Charlie with real people and events.  Fast-paced, armchair readers will feel they travel the southwest with Tom and Florence in one of the best detective novels of the year.

Harriet Klausner

The Spirit and the Skull-J.M. Hayes

The Spirit and the Skull

J.M. Hayes

Poisoned Pen, Aug 5 2014, $24.95

ISBN 9781464202841

The Earth Mother told Raven the Spirit Man to lead the People across the land bridge into the promised land of plentiful bounty and warmth.  However, once they trek over the Bering and begin heading south, one of the leaders Tall Pine dies.  On the verge of becoming a woman Down insists to Raven that someone murdered Tall Pine.

Although the fortyish Raven finds it hard to believe one of the People would commit fratricide, Mother demands that her Spirit Man investigate and identify the killer.  Raven realizes the only suspect is Down; a girl he is attracted to and wants once she becomes a woman though he knows as the Spirit Man his tribe demands purity from him.

The prehistoric whodunit is entertaining, but superseded by a dramatic deep look at a tribe during the Paleolithic era as armchair readers will feel as if we journey with the People.  A potent cautionary environmental tale as each ripple impacts the future; the audience will marvel at the contrast between the pristine Paleolithic landscape and Raven’s vision of a time when his skull lies in a lab while mankind has destroyed Mother Nature.

Harriet Klausner

The Good Girl-Mary Kubica

The Good Girl

Mary Kubica

Mira, Jul 29 2014, $24.95

ISBN: 9780778316558

Angry with her boyfriend’s latest cancelation, twentyish art teacher Mia Dennett meets Colin Thatcher.  He persuades her to spend the evening with him.  Whereas the unhappy Mia assumes nothing nefarious about the pick-up, Colin was hired to bring this daughter of a prominent judge and socialite to his clients as part of a scheme to extract favors from her parents especially her father.

After getting to know Mia a little, Colin changes the plan at great risk to himself from his dangerous employers.  Instead of delivery, he takes Mia to a remote cabin in Minnesota before quietly returning her home though she seemingly suffers from amnesia.  While she was abducted, her father ignored her plight; on the other hand Mia’s hysterical mom Eve panicked over what was happening to her daughter.  Chicago Police Detective Gabe Hoffman led the search while also comforting Mia’s distraught mom.

The Good Girl is a refreshing stunning mystery that uses a unique technique of rotating lead between Colin, Eve and Gabe with each chapter starting with either “Before" or "After" the incident.  Character-driven, Mary Kubica provides readers with one of the best psychological thrillers of the year.

Harriet Klausner

Beach Bags And Burglaries-Dorothy Howell

Beach Bags And Burglaries

Dorothy Howell

Kensington, Jul 29 2014, $24.00

ISBN: 9780758294944

Event planner and Holt’s Department Store employee Haley Randolph wins a seven-day all expenses paid vacation at exclusive Rowan Resort off the California coast.  Ecstatic, she briefly wonders about her sudden run of luck as this is her second Holt contest reward while also refusing to dwell on her ex-boyfriend Ty Cameron, whose family runs the chain.  She invites her BFFs (Marcie, Bella and Sandy) to join her.  

However, the quartet’s mingling with the ultra-rich and famous is interrupted when Haley searching for a Sea Vixen beach bag instead trips over the corpse of maid Jaslyn Gordon.  Though ruled an accident, Haley believes someone killed the maid; her theory is affirmed when she recognizes FBI agent Luke Warner at the resort though the Fed insists he is here for a wedding only.  In spite of not losing sight of what matters (obtaining a Sea Vixen) and knowing the danger of confronting a dangerous criminal (see Evening Bags And Executions, Tote Bags and Toe Tags, and Slay Bells and Satchels), Haley investigates.

The seventh Haley Randolph “Handbags and Homicide” amateur sleuth is a fun lighthearted whodunit.  The jocular storyline amuses the audience as the heroine struggles to keep her priorities in order with the search for the Sea Vixen superseding the search for the killer.

Harriet Klausner