By Hook or By Crook
Betty Hechtman
Berkley, Jun 2009, $6.99
ISBN: 9780425228388
A widow in her forties following the sudden unexpected death of her husband, Molly Pink has made a new life for herself. She is the events coordinator and community relations specialist for Shedd & Royal Books. Molly is also one of the Tarzana Hookers, a group of crochet advocates who give their work to the less fortunate. Finally Molly has been an amateur sleuth who has solved homicide cases (see DEAD MEN DON’T CROCHET).
Molly is unaware that when she finds a paper bag on the table used by the Tarzana Hookers to sell their products in order to raise money for charity, that she will be involved in solving another murder. Inside the bag is a letter of regret and guilt, and a ctochet panel with pictures that Molly assumes is a message from the crochet creator. The note implies the author made a terrible mistake years ago and desperately needs to set things right. After some inquiries, Molly concludes that socialite Mary Beth Wilson made the crochet panel piece. When she goes to see the woman, she finds her corpse instead lying in her bed with a box of apple maripan on the night stand. Molly believes Mary Beth was poisoned; the autopsy confirms her theory. She continues her investigation seeking to set right what Mary Beth tried to do before she was murdered. Someone is warning her to quit her investigation; that person sends her warnings and “gifts” which mean back off or she will be next.
Molly is a feisty obstinate person who when shemakes up her mind to do something, no one, not even a killer, can get her to stop until she achieves her objective. There is plenty of action in this entertaining amateur sleuth due to the fully developed cast, especially the heroine and her Tarzana Hookers. Readers will understand what it is like to suffer from grief and not know what to do in terms of male relationships . Fans will admire Molly as she affirms that though you mourn your loss and miss your mate, there remains a fulfilling life if you go for it.
Harriet Klausner
Friday, April 3, 2009
Thursday, April 2, 2009
The Scarecrow-Michael Connelly
The Scarecrow
Michael Connelly
Little, Brown, May 2009, $27.99
ISBN 9780316166300
The L.A. Times pinked reporter Jack McEvoy giving him two weeks notice instead of the usual instant RIF that he is being axed if he agrees to train his replacement Angela Cook. Jack decides to remind his editor what he will lose when he is gone by chasing after a final headline news story.
Jack investigates the arrest of sixteen year old drug dealer Alonzo Winslow, who confessed to the rape and murder of an exotic dancer. However, to his shock, Jack begins to uncover proof that the nasty teen could not have committed either crime. Meanwhile Angela does a search that leads to a place in Arizona called the “Farm”. Those at the farm realize someone has discovered them so they must be eliminated; they send assassins to kill Jack and Angela. Jack turns to FBI agent Rachel Walling whom he met on the POET case years ago to help him with the gangbanger inquiry and with the killers coming for him.
Moving back and forth between first and third person voice, Michael Connelly provides an exhilarating journalistic investigative thriller. The story line is action-packed and fast-paced from the moment that Jack decides to go out with a big bang and never decelerates. Jack is terrific as he mentors his replacement while working the Farm inquiry that places him and Angela in lethal danger. Mr. Connelly will have his fans up late with THE SCARECROW.
Harriet Klausner
Michael Connelly
Little, Brown, May 2009, $27.99
ISBN 9780316166300
The L.A. Times pinked reporter Jack McEvoy giving him two weeks notice instead of the usual instant RIF that he is being axed if he agrees to train his replacement Angela Cook. Jack decides to remind his editor what he will lose when he is gone by chasing after a final headline news story.
Jack investigates the arrest of sixteen year old drug dealer Alonzo Winslow, who confessed to the rape and murder of an exotic dancer. However, to his shock, Jack begins to uncover proof that the nasty teen could not have committed either crime. Meanwhile Angela does a search that leads to a place in Arizona called the “Farm”. Those at the farm realize someone has discovered them so they must be eliminated; they send assassins to kill Jack and Angela. Jack turns to FBI agent Rachel Walling whom he met on the POET case years ago to help him with the gangbanger inquiry and with the killers coming for him.
Moving back and forth between first and third person voice, Michael Connelly provides an exhilarating journalistic investigative thriller. The story line is action-packed and fast-paced from the moment that Jack decides to go out with a big bang and never decelerates. Jack is terrific as he mentors his replacement while working the Farm inquiry that places him and Angela in lethal danger. Mr. Connelly will have his fans up late with THE SCARECROW.
Harriet Klausner
A Talent for Murder-R.T. Jordan
A Talent for Murder
R.T. Jordan
Kensington, May 26 2009, $22.00
ISBN: 0758229372
Polly Pepper was a Hollywood icon to baby boomers with her own musical-comedy variety show reminiscent of Carol Burnett. That was then. Now she lives at her luxurious Bel Air estate Pepper Plantation with her son Timmy and her maid Placenta. She yearns to get back in the spotlight so she accepts a job as the nice judge on the new reality show I’ll Do Anything to Become Famous. The premise is that six contestants will perform, lie, scheme and plant dirty tricks on one another to win the grand prize.
The nasty judge is Thane Cornwall who on the opening show rips each contestant apart, making them feel worthless; some cry while others seethe with rage inside. Thane fails to arrive for the second show so the producer sends his assistant Lisa to find him. Inside his home, his maid sees Lisa holding a knife while standing over Thane’s bloody body. She calls the police who arrest Lisa. Polly visits Lisa in jail and concludes the assistant is innocent in spite of the overwhelming incriminating evidence. A second corpse, this time a contestant, is found in Polly’s estate. She links the two homicides though not knowing why beyond the show, but a pit bull stubborn Polly investigates following a scent that could lead to her being the next victim.
Polly Pepper is an eccentric corker who readers will adore due to her cute habit of dropping the names of Hollywood stars along with her bubbly spunky outlook. The contests prove they would do anything even kill to win so Polly immediately suspects one of that group to be the murderer. Timmy and Placenta add comedic relief as Polly is no Hollywood mom when it comes to raising her son and is a friend with her maid. R.T. Jordan provides an entertaining amateur sleuth.
Harriet Klausner
R.T. Jordan
Kensington, May 26 2009, $22.00
ISBN: 0758229372
Polly Pepper was a Hollywood icon to baby boomers with her own musical-comedy variety show reminiscent of Carol Burnett. That was then. Now she lives at her luxurious Bel Air estate Pepper Plantation with her son Timmy and her maid Placenta. She yearns to get back in the spotlight so she accepts a job as the nice judge on the new reality show I’ll Do Anything to Become Famous. The premise is that six contestants will perform, lie, scheme and plant dirty tricks on one another to win the grand prize.
The nasty judge is Thane Cornwall who on the opening show rips each contestant apart, making them feel worthless; some cry while others seethe with rage inside. Thane fails to arrive for the second show so the producer sends his assistant Lisa to find him. Inside his home, his maid sees Lisa holding a knife while standing over Thane’s bloody body. She calls the police who arrest Lisa. Polly visits Lisa in jail and concludes the assistant is innocent in spite of the overwhelming incriminating evidence. A second corpse, this time a contestant, is found in Polly’s estate. She links the two homicides though not knowing why beyond the show, but a pit bull stubborn Polly investigates following a scent that could lead to her being the next victim.
Polly Pepper is an eccentric corker who readers will adore due to her cute habit of dropping the names of Hollywood stars along with her bubbly spunky outlook. The contests prove they would do anything even kill to win so Polly immediately suspects one of that group to be the murderer. Timmy and Placenta add comedic relief as Polly is no Hollywood mom when it comes to raising her son and is a friend with her maid. R.T. Jordan provides an entertaining amateur sleuth.
Harriet Klausner
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Angel’s Advocate-Mary Stanton
Angel’s Advocate
Mary Stanton
Berkley, Jun 2009, $7.99
ISBN: 9780425228753
She had no idea what she let herself in for when she agreed to take over the legal practice of her late uncle’s Beaufort & Company. The practice located at 66 Angelus St in Savannah cannot be found by mortals; only angels and sprits can enter; except for Brianna Winston-Beaufort as she is the firm’s only lawyer and sole mortal. Her clients are spirits appealing their sentencing in Celestial Court as unfair. She has an angel dog Sasha as her companion and guard.
Her latest case starts in the mortal realm which gives her hope she might bring in some real money. Seventeen year old Lindsay Chandler stole $165 from an eight year old selling Girl Scout cookies. Bree goes out to the Chandler estate to meet her client. A few months ago Lindsay’s father died in a car accident, but when Bree sits in his chair, he claims he was murdered and wants her to represent him in Celestial Court. Bree has a hunch that the father and daughters cases are related to the robberies of pseudophedrine occurring in Chandler’s warehouse. She soon finds herself protected by angelic guard dogs as the powers that be believe the lawyer to the afterlife is in mortal danger.
Once again DEFENDING ANGELS, Bree stars in an exciting paranormal legal thriller anchored by a strong investigation and by things that go bump in the night that are really there; the audience will need to sleep with a light on. The whodunit is clever so that readers cannot easily connect the dots as Mary Stanton provides an off-beat quirky mystery filled with eccentric characters; on earth and beyond.
Harriet Klausner
Mary Stanton
Berkley, Jun 2009, $7.99
ISBN: 9780425228753
She had no idea what she let herself in for when she agreed to take over the legal practice of her late uncle’s Beaufort & Company. The practice located at 66 Angelus St in Savannah cannot be found by mortals; only angels and sprits can enter; except for Brianna Winston-Beaufort as she is the firm’s only lawyer and sole mortal. Her clients are spirits appealing their sentencing in Celestial Court as unfair. She has an angel dog Sasha as her companion and guard.
Her latest case starts in the mortal realm which gives her hope she might bring in some real money. Seventeen year old Lindsay Chandler stole $165 from an eight year old selling Girl Scout cookies. Bree goes out to the Chandler estate to meet her client. A few months ago Lindsay’s father died in a car accident, but when Bree sits in his chair, he claims he was murdered and wants her to represent him in Celestial Court. Bree has a hunch that the father and daughters cases are related to the robberies of pseudophedrine occurring in Chandler’s warehouse. She soon finds herself protected by angelic guard dogs as the powers that be believe the lawyer to the afterlife is in mortal danger.
Once again DEFENDING ANGELS, Bree stars in an exciting paranormal legal thriller anchored by a strong investigation and by things that go bump in the night that are really there; the audience will need to sleep with a light on. The whodunit is clever so that readers cannot easily connect the dots as Mary Stanton provides an off-beat quirky mystery filled with eccentric characters; on earth and beyond.
Harriet Klausner
Monday, March 30, 2009
Embarking on Murder-Sue Owens Wright
Embarking on Murder
Sue Owens Wright
Five Star, May 2009, $25.95
ISBN 9781594147807
To celebrate her fiftieth birthday, Tahoe Tattler reporter Elsie “Beanie” MacBean goes on a Fourth of July cruise accompanied by her significant other Cruiser the basset hound, her boyfriend Sheriff Skip Cassidy and her adult daughter Nona who came from San Francisco to celebrate with her mom. She is having a great time sailing on Lake Tahoe aboard the luxurious Dixie Queen.
However, she is not the only one celebrating a milestone on the cruise. Frank and Ivy Diggs are on the ship with his children from a previous marriage celebrating their wedding anniversary. To Frank’s shock, Ivy informs him she no longer wants to be a trophy wife for him to show off so she is filing for divorce. Soon after her announcement, Ivy vanishes and though no one reported anyone overboard and no corpse has been found, the crew believes she fell into the lake after imbibing too much alcohol and drowned. Skip thinks otherwise as he believes a murder occurred. His belief propels Beanie to investigate with her loyal significant sidekick at her side.
This lighthearted amateur sleuth is a fun Lake Tahoe tale starring an intrepid middle aged heroine who knows to stay out of an investigation after her dangerous escapdes in SIRIUS ABOUT MURDER and HOWLING BLOODY MURDER, but dives in head first anyway. The characters drive this entertaining tale as eccentrics like Professor Blayne researching the famous Tahoe Tessie lake monster, Nona and Skip bring depth to the murder mystery. However, the tale belongs to that fabulous couple Beanie and Cruiser who navigate the enjoyable cozy.
Harriet Klausner
Sue Owens Wright
Five Star, May 2009, $25.95
ISBN 9781594147807
To celebrate her fiftieth birthday, Tahoe Tattler reporter Elsie “Beanie” MacBean goes on a Fourth of July cruise accompanied by her significant other Cruiser the basset hound, her boyfriend Sheriff Skip Cassidy and her adult daughter Nona who came from San Francisco to celebrate with her mom. She is having a great time sailing on Lake Tahoe aboard the luxurious Dixie Queen.
However, she is not the only one celebrating a milestone on the cruise. Frank and Ivy Diggs are on the ship with his children from a previous marriage celebrating their wedding anniversary. To Frank’s shock, Ivy informs him she no longer wants to be a trophy wife for him to show off so she is filing for divorce. Soon after her announcement, Ivy vanishes and though no one reported anyone overboard and no corpse has been found, the crew believes she fell into the lake after imbibing too much alcohol and drowned. Skip thinks otherwise as he believes a murder occurred. His belief propels Beanie to investigate with her loyal significant sidekick at her side.
This lighthearted amateur sleuth is a fun Lake Tahoe tale starring an intrepid middle aged heroine who knows to stay out of an investigation after her dangerous escapdes in SIRIUS ABOUT MURDER and HOWLING BLOODY MURDER, but dives in head first anyway. The characters drive this entertaining tale as eccentrics like Professor Blayne researching the famous Tahoe Tessie lake monster, Nona and Skip bring depth to the murder mystery. However, the tale belongs to that fabulous couple Beanie and Cruiser who navigate the enjoyable cozy.
Harriet Klausner
To Hell in a Handbasket-Beth Groundwater
To Hell in a Handbasket
Beth Groundwater
Five Star, May 2009, $25.95
ISBN: 9781594147593
In Colorado Springs gift basket designer Claire Hanover looks forward to the ski trip with her family. However, tragedy on the slopes devastates everyone when the sister of her daughter Judy's boyfriend dies in what is a homicide.
Claire vows to keep her daughter safe from the killer who knows Judy saw what happened and will come for her. However, Claire cannot prevent a murderer from killing others. As they remain alive while the body count rises, Claire knows the culprit is coming for her and her daughter, but to stop the adversary has proven difficult as he or she is one of them.
This is an entertaining amateur sleuth in which Claire risks her life to keep Judy safe. The story line is action-packed, but the serial killing becomes too obvious rather early in spite of some interesting spins. Still in her second Hanover Colorado mystery (see A REAL BASKET CASE), Beth Groundwater provides an interesting thriller as the killer is coming.
Harriet Klausner
Beth Groundwater
Five Star, May 2009, $25.95
ISBN: 9781594147593
In Colorado Springs gift basket designer Claire Hanover looks forward to the ski trip with her family. However, tragedy on the slopes devastates everyone when the sister of her daughter Judy's boyfriend dies in what is a homicide.
Claire vows to keep her daughter safe from the killer who knows Judy saw what happened and will come for her. However, Claire cannot prevent a murderer from killing others. As they remain alive while the body count rises, Claire knows the culprit is coming for her and her daughter, but to stop the adversary has proven difficult as he or she is one of them.
This is an entertaining amateur sleuth in which Claire risks her life to keep Judy safe. The story line is action-packed, but the serial killing becomes too obvious rather early in spite of some interesting spins. Still in her second Hanover Colorado mystery (see A REAL BASKET CASE), Beth Groundwater provides an interesting thriller as the killer is coming.
Harriet Klausner
Marine One-James W. Huston
Marine One
James W. Huston
St. Martin's, May 2009, $24.95
ISBN 9780312364311
During a nasty storm, Marine One carrying President James Adams leaves for a top secret meeting at Camp David. Not far from the White House, the helicopter begins to rip apart before crashing to the ground; no one including PROTUS survived the crash.
A stunned despondent country encouraged by politicians and the media, blame the manufacturer of Marine One, a French based company, WorldCopter. Criminal neglect charges are considered against the CEO and other key officials. WorldCoptor hires Annapolis attorney Mike Nolan to defend it against the charges. Based on a cursory investigation, Mike quickly finds other parties who could be held liable for the tragedy. However, as he tries to obtain information as to whom Adams was scheduled to meet, unknown adversaries try to kill him and the Feds warn him to back off or else.
MARINE ONE is a fast-paced, action packed legal thriller that soars with the opening sequence and never takes a pause throughout. Told with a sarcastic jocularity especially by the hero who takes in stride being demonized by the media as he understands he is a lawyer, attacked by assassins as he understands he is a lawyer and threatened by the federal alphabet soup as he understands he is a lawyer. Exciting yet amusing, James W. Huston provides a wild entertaining tale.
Harriet Klausner
James W. Huston
St. Martin's, May 2009, $24.95
ISBN 9780312364311
During a nasty storm, Marine One carrying President James Adams leaves for a top secret meeting at Camp David. Not far from the White House, the helicopter begins to rip apart before crashing to the ground; no one including PROTUS survived the crash.
A stunned despondent country encouraged by politicians and the media, blame the manufacturer of Marine One, a French based company, WorldCopter. Criminal neglect charges are considered against the CEO and other key officials. WorldCoptor hires Annapolis attorney Mike Nolan to defend it against the charges. Based on a cursory investigation, Mike quickly finds other parties who could be held liable for the tragedy. However, as he tries to obtain information as to whom Adams was scheduled to meet, unknown adversaries try to kill him and the Feds warn him to back off or else.
MARINE ONE is a fast-paced, action packed legal thriller that soars with the opening sequence and never takes a pause throughout. Told with a sarcastic jocularity especially by the hero who takes in stride being demonized by the media as he understands he is a lawyer, attacked by assassins as he understands he is a lawyer and threatened by the federal alphabet soup as he understands he is a lawyer. Exciting yet amusing, James W. Huston provides a wild entertaining tale.
Harriet Klausner
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