Treasure Hunt (2010/2013) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli Things are boring in Vigata for Inspector Montalbano and the police, until an elder brother and sister allow their religious mania to push them over the edge. But even that event doesn’t hold Montalbano’s interest for long, which is probably why he allows a “treasure hunt” […]
Through a Glass Darkly (2006) Donna Leon I actually started this weeks ago, put it back down, and then took a long time to get back to it. Commissario Brunetti is asked, as a favor, to go out with Vianello, to help bail out an environmental activist (and friend of Vianello) who was arrested during […]
Blood from a Stone (2005) Donna Leon A young man–a vu cumpra–is assassinated on the streets a few days before Christmas. As always, Patta is up to his neck in the politics. And as always, this conflicts with Brunetti’s search for the truth and justice. Weirdly, I’d remembered part of the mystery, which is inherently […]
Doctored Evidence (2004) Donna Leon An elderly woman is discovered brutally murdered in her apartment. Suspicion immediately falls upon her maid, who has disappeared, and a man-hunt ensues. The interesting thing about this story is the book pretty much opens with the shocking injustice, rather than ending with it, the way these books normally do. […]
A Sea of Troubles (2001) Donna Leon I have no idea how I read this story out of order. The first time, I read it later, because of the order at which Penguin published this series. This time, however, there was no reason, except that the books ended up out of order. And when I […]
Uniform Justice (2003) Donna Leon This is an exceptionally depressing story. It starts with a young man–a boy, really–found dead. Hanging in the restroom of a military academy. Yeah. Depressing. Suddenly he had a vision of what it must have been for the Moros to attempt to remove evidence of Ernesto’s presence from their homes, […]
Willful Behavior (2002) Donna Leon One of Paola’s students asks her if Brunetti can answer a legal question for her. Brunetti says he can’t give her a clear answer without knowing more about her question, and the answers she does give him only lead to more questions. It also sidles up to a subject about […]
Friends in High Places (2000) Donna Leon When Commissario Guido Brunetti is visited by a young bureaucrat investigating the lack of official approval for the building of his apartment years earlier, his first reaction, like any other Venetian, is to think of whom he knows who might bring pressure to bear on the relevant government […]
Fatal Remedies (1999) Donna Leon This is one of my least favorite Brunetti stories, for a very specific reason. The story opens with Paola breaking the window of a travel agency. She does it for noble reason–she wants to make people aware of how these businesses were promoting the sex trade to third world countries. […]
Club Monstrosity (2013) Jesse Petersen I really wanted to like this book. The idea of it is marvelous: the monsters of the past: Dracula, the swamp thing, Dr. Frankenstein’s monster–all these creatures exist, and they are in hiding and in group therapy of a sort, to get past their pasts. The main character is Natalie, […]
A Noble Radiance (1998) Donna Leon A body is discovered in mountains–a body that had been hastily buried in a shallow grave some time before. The only immediately identifying feature is a signet ring–the ring of a family whose son had been kidnapped and held for random two years before. This was an especially dark […]
Quietly in Their Sleep/Death of Faith (1997) Donna Leon This was published as Death of Faith in Great Britain. So if you come across that, it’s the same as Quietly in their Sleep. Brunetti is surprised by a young woman who comes into his office, asking him to look into the deaths of five of […]
Acqua Alta (1996) Donna Leon This story returns to Brett and Flavia, who we met in the first book, Death at La Fenice. Brett has returned from China, only it appears that someone is not happy for her to have returned. It is the time of acqua alta, or high water, in Venice. The sirens […]
Fade to Black (A Rojan Dizon Novel) (2013) Francis Knight This is a really dark and twisted book. I tore through it, but I think I shouldn’t read two of these in a row, because, well, the main character is a pain mage, which means he has to hurt himself to generate power for his […]
The Fencing Master (1988) Arturo Pérez-Reverte translated by Margaret Jull Costa (1998) Don Jaime Astarloa is the fencing master of Madrid. He has a fencing school, and has private clients, including Luis de Ayala, the Marques de los Alumbres, but Don Jaime is getting old. His world is disappearing into the past, replaced with pistols. […]
Weird Detectives: Recent Investigations (2013) edited by Paula Guran This is a collection of short stories previously published elsewhere, so I’d already read several of these stories. But there were several I had not, and several of the ones I’d read before were well worth reading again. This book has been sitting around for awhile, […]
Death and Judgment (1995) Donna Leon This is a very dark story. In fact, considering my mood, I probably should have chosen something completely different to re-read. Attorney Carlo Trevisan was shot on the train, his body discovered right before the train reached the next station. There seem to be no obvious suspects, but the […]
Dressed for Death (1994) Donna Leon A body is discovered in Marghera–the industrial sector near Venice. It’s discovered because one of the worker’s in the slaughterhouse saw a pair of red high heeled shoes that he assumes were abandoned by one of the prostitutes who work in the area, and hoped they were clean and […]
Death in a Strange Country (1993) Donna Leon A body if found in the canal and all signs point to it being an American. ‘Ah, that could be it,’ the doctor said. ‘An American.’ ‘What?’ ‘Why he’s in such good shape,’ Rizzaldi answered… ‘That might explain it. They’re always so fit, so healthy.’ Together, they […]
Kitty in the Underworld (2013) Carrie Vaughn There are intruders in their territory, and with Ben out of town, Kitty goes out to investigate. She’s kidnapped and pulled into a strange plan, seemingly centered on Roman and his plans for world domination, but it’s not clear who is friend and who is foe. This was […]
Magic Rises (2013) Ilona Andrews European shape-shifters have given The Beast Lord and his pack an offer they can’t resist: come guard a pregnant were and you’ll receive barrels of panacea–the potion that reduces the chance of loupism in young weres. It’s a trap of some sort, but they can’t figure out what kind, until […]
Legacy of the Dead (2000) Charles Todd The fourth Inspector Ian Rutledge mystery finds Rutledge sent to Scotland–the last place he wants to go, for he still hears the voice of Hamish MacLeod over his shoulder, haranguing him, and reminding him of the dead lost in France during the Great War. But Lady Maude Gray […]
Death at La Fenice (1992) Donna Leon (A Commissario Brunetti Mystery) When I saw this on sale as an eBook deal of the day on Amazon, I snatched it up. I am slowly coming to prefer eBooks to paper books, and am always glad to get favorites in electronic format. I first stumbled across Commissario […]
Small Vices (2002) written Robert B. Parker narrated by Burt Reynolds This audio book was my first exposure to Robert B. Parker. I was doing mind-numbingly dull lab work, and audio books kept me from losing my mind, so I was willing to try almost anything. I fell in love almost instantly. Spenser is hired […]
A Plague of Zombies (2012) Diana Gabaldon This was originally published in the anthology Down These Strange Streets, and is the story that made me look for other Lord John stories. Lord John (now Lieutenant-Colonel Grey) is sent to Jamaica to look into the unrest there. The governor had requested the military after a rebellion […]
The Custom of the Army (2012) Diana Gabaldon Another re-read. After a duel at an electric eel party (These used to be a Thing! Fascinating!) Hal decides it’s best if Lord John puts himself out of the way for awhile, so when his presence is requested in the Americas, to testify in a Court Martial, […]
Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade (2007) Diana Gabaldon This novel falls between the novellas Lord John and the Succubus and Lord John and the Haunted Soldier. Which makes for slightly complicated reading if you want to read in order, since the two novellas are in the same book. There are two story […]
Lord John and the Hand of Devils (2007) Diana Gabaldon Another re-read. I enjoyed these the first time around, and I’m enjoying them just as much the second time around. This is NOT a novel, this is, instead, three novellas. Because, apparently, this is as close to a short story as Diana Gabaldon can get. […]
Lord John and the Private Matter (2003) Diana Gabaldon I’m in another mood where I don’t know what I want to read, so I instead chose to re-read something I enjoyed. This time it was Lord John and the Private Matter. Lord John Gray is a Major in the British Army. Additionally, as next oldest, […]
The Mammoth Book of Historical Crime Fiction (2011) edited by Mike Ashley Introduction: Return to the Crime Scene by Mike Ashley Archimedes and the Scientific Method by Tom Holt Something to do with Diana by Steven Saylor Eyes of the Icon by Mary Reed and Eric Mayer Night of the Snow Wolf by Peter Tremayne […]
A Spell of Vengeance (2012) D.B. Jackson I’m not quite sure how I missed this story when it first came out, especially considering that I read the first Ethan Kaille book last year. But I’m not sorry I didn’t read this first, because it might have made me reluctant to read the first book, which […]
Thieftaker (2012) D.B. Jackson Ethan Kaille is a thieftaker and a conjurer living in Boston in 1765. Around him, discontent with Britain and taxes swirl, but Ethan, having already paid the price years earlier for mutiny, wants nothing to do with the Sons of Liberty. However, a girl–young woman–is killed during a riot, and the […]
A Caribbean Mystery (1964) Agatha Christie This has always been my favorite Miss Marple mystery, probably because I got to watch part of it on TV, with Jameson Parker as Tim Kendal, which is important, because I was a HUGE Simon & Simon fan. (And I just now realized that Brock Peters played Dr. Graham!) […]
A Caribbean Mystery (1964) Agatha Christie (Miss Marple) This was my first Miss Marple, and remains on of my favorites. This is Miss Marple at her fluffiest and most dithering, yet still able to cause action to be taken. And still a product of her time. “Sex” as a word had not been mentioned in […]
The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side (1962) Agatha Christie This is probably the Miss Marple mystery that has embedded itself most firmly in my mind. There are so very many thing from here that randomly pop up. Out flew the web and floated wide; The mirror crack’d from side to side; ‘The curse is […]
They Do It With Mirrors (1952) Agatha Christie Another Miss Marple mystery–comfort reading for when I’m sick. Miss Marple is asked by her friend Ruth to look into the circumstances of Ruth’s sister, Carrie Louise. Jane Marple and Ruth and Carrie Louise were school mates, and remained in touch through the years. Ruth feels there […]
Whispers Under Ground (2012) Ben Aaronovitch Peter Grant is slowly getting used to being a copper for the Folly. The addition of Lesley as a new apprentice both gives Peter someone to work with, and eases some of the loneliness of working for a man who is much much older than he looks. I’m really […]
A Pocket Full of Rye (1953) Agatha Christie Rex Fortescue dies in his office, immediately after drinking his morning tea. Besides the strange poison used to kill me, police are confused by the fact he coat is full of cereal–rye. Miss Marple doesn’t make her appearance until almost halfway through the story, but Inspector Neele […]
The Mad Scientist’s Guide to World Domination: Original Short Fiction for the Modern Evil Genius (2013) John Joseph Adams “Professor Incognito Apologizes: an Itemized List” by Austin Grossman “Father of the Groom” by Harry Turtledove “Laughter at the Academy: by Seanan McGuire “Letter to the Editor” by David D. Levine “Instead of a Loving Heart” […]
The Way of the Wizard (2010) John Joseph Adams I love anthologies. They give me an escape in bite size pieces that won’t keep me up past my bed time on a work night, and they also often a wonderful introduction to authors I have not read previously. This anthology focuses upon wizards of all […]
What Darkness Brings (2013) C.S. Harris The 8th book in the Sebastian St. Cyr series finds Sebastian Lord Devlin and Hero (now Lady Devlin) setting into married life. They are still keeping secrets from each other–Sebastian his past, and Hero, her father’s secrets, but they are also clearly in love with each other, and working […]
The Westing Game (1978) Ellen Raskin Six families are offered the opportunity to rent an apartment in the new apartment complex, Sunset Towers. Plus, there are spaces for a doctor’s office, a coffee shop, and a restaurant! Just matching the needs of three of the tenants! Just up the hill is the Westing House, home […]
Moon Over Soho (2011) Ben Aaronovitch Peter Grant is not just a constable in the London’s Metropolitan Police, he’s also the Met’s only apprentice magician. And while he’s governor/master is recovering from being shot, Peter’s on his own probably more than he should be. So it is Peter who is called in when Dr. Walid […]
Midnight Riot (2011) Ben Aaronovitch Peter Grant wants to be a detective in London’s Metropolitan Police. Unfortunately, his tendency to be distracted looks like it’s going to head him into the Case Progression Unit. Until one night he comes across a witness to a crime no one else has talked to. Too bad that witness […]
The Kidnapping (2010) Charles Todd This is a single short story, and three excerpts, which I sort of found annoying, although I have to admit, that as far as excerpts go, they were interesting. The Kidnapping is a very brief story that finds Ian Rutledge drug into a kidnapping case, when a wild-eyed and disheveled […]
In Sea-Salt Tears (2012) Seanan McGuire The Luidaeg has been a complicated character throughout the October Daye series. This story gives us a glimpse of the relationship between the Selkie and The Luidaeg. The only way a selkie can become a true fey is to inherit one. But there aren’t many skins, so most selkie […]
The Sleeping Partner (2012) Madeleine E. Robins Huzzah! The return of Sarah Tolerance! I came across the first two books around the time they were published (2003 and 2004) and was disappointed when no further volumes were forthcoming. Luckily, the series (or at least this book) was picked up by another published, which gives us […]
The Dance of the Seagull (2013) Andrea Camilleri I really love the Inspector Montalbano series. In fact, I received this ARC yesterday when I got home from work, started reading it, and continued reading until I was finished, despite it being past my bedtime on a work night. :) Salvo Montalbano is getting old. He […]
Fair Game (2012) Patricia Briggs My. I was not expecting where that went. Now that the werewolves have been outed, the Marrock has been far more strict about enforcing the rules. And Charles, as his enforcer, has been very busy. He has also become haunted by those he is forced to kill, and those ghosts […]
My Big Fat Supernatural Honeymoon (2007) P.N. Elrod The follow up to My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding, at least in theme. This was a very mixed bag. Some of the stories were good, some I could barely stand to finish, and in fact, put this anthology down several times, for something (anything?) I liked a […]