A Series Of (Un)Fortunate Reviews

A Deadly Thaw is the second novel in the DC Connie Childs series by Sarah Ward.  I reviewed the first book, In Bitter Chill , a couple weeks ago.  The third book, A Patient Fury , will be released in September.   Thus far each book revolves around a present day mystery that connects to a previously unsolved crime in the distant (or not too distant) past and Childs and/or DI Sadler twinge on to the sense that they're 'missing something' in the case file, such as some key piece of evidence, that will make all the puzzle pieces fall into place.  Both In Bitter Chill and A Deadly Thaw exposed a dark and depraved secret that essentially broke the case wide open for the detectives. In 2004 Lena Grey was convicted of and served time for the murder of her husband, Andrew Miller, having suffocated the man in the couple's marital bed.  Now over a decade later the newly dead body of Andrew Miller turns up in Hale's End, a local, long abandoned mortuary, having been s...

Ian Rankin is the well known British author of the Inpector Rebus series and other novels.   The Complaints introduces a new character, Inspector Malcolm Fox.  The second Fox novel caught my eye on the list of new arrivals on the online catalog, and I decided to read the first one before I read the second one.  Overall, this is a good mystery with old fashioned detective work--gathering of information and following the threads of connections until the true story emerges.  In a way it feels like this kind of story--one where the main character's career is targeted for a take down as part of a deal to make something else go away--that comes later in a series rather than right out of the gate in the first book.  But no matter: it makes for a compelling read. The setting is the gritty city of Edinburgh, Scotland, in the early months of 2009 while the city is in the midst of the real estate bust and teetering toward an economic downturn.  These developmen...

I know, I know.  It's been a very long time since I've posted a review--because it's a very long time since I've read a book.  I'd started a few, but finished none and was fretting about how long this dry spell would last when along comes Shock Wave by John Sandford.  It is the latest installment in the Virgil Flowers series, and it picks up about six months after the end of the last novel in the series.  There was a wait for the book--and I think there still might be a long list of holds for the book.  It was a very fast read--it only took me a few days to read it. Shock Wave is so titled because of the rash of bombings at the story's center.  It tells of the latest, big investigation for Virgil Flowers, the sometime writer and eternal fisherman who is also the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension's top investigator and the governor's "third most favorite troublemaker." On his day off, Virgil is called in to investigate when a bom...

The Silent Girl is the latest installment in the Rizzoli and Isles series by Tess Gerritsen.  I have since finished this book and moved on to another good one that I'll be reviewing probably next week.  This was a very satisfying installment in the series, and it had a bit of a surprise twist in the true identity of one of the supporting characters.  Considering the role this particular character played in the book, it makes me wonder if he will also make an appearance in the next book in the series. Before I move on to the review, I want to share some exciting book news.   Fallen , Karin Slaughter's newest book has finally arrived here at the library.  People.  I CAN BARELY CONTAIN MYSELF.  I still have about half of a book left before I can start Fallen .  I think I know what I'll be doing this weekend. A Jane Doe's cleanly severed hand turns up in a Chinatown alleyway in Boston, and Rizzoli is called to investigate.  A police search f...

A Field of Darkness is the first in a new series.  Read has released two more installments after this one (and the reviews for those will be forthcoming).  There is a marked difference in the feel and tone between Field and its successors.  It makes me wonder if maybe the first one was first intended as a stand alone novel.  Nevertheless this (and its successors) is a gripping mystery story related by a sharp tongued, witty narrator.  It's a page turner, very hard to put down and is populated with elements that always seem to intrigue me: family history, fairy tales and murder. It's 1988, and Madeline Dare is unhappily ensconced in Syracuse, New York, her husband's hometown.  Though she writes for a local, free, weekly newspaper, she is the opposite of the intrepid, investigative reporter chomping at the bit for her big break.  Madeline is quite happy writing the fluff lifestyle and home pieces for the newspaper.  Then a chilling, un...