The Devil You Know (2006) Mike Carey “I don’t know what I want to read.” Peruses bookshelves. “I remember buying The Devil You Know, why haven’t I read it yet?” Reads first paragraph. “Hmmm….” Hours later. “Wow!” First off, I believe this was shelved in the mystery section, which is part of why I put […]
Black Cherry Blues (1989) James Lee Burke Dave Robicheaux is an ex-cop and an alcoholic and a widower with an adopted daughter. He remains haunted by the murder of Annie, and now spends his time running his own small business–a boat dock in New Iberia on the Bayou where he also sells bait and food. […]
The Hellfire Conspiracy (2007) Will Thomas Barker and Llewelyn are pulled into an ugly case–girls are going missing and then later turning up violated and dead. There seems to be a connection–however tenuous–to Charity Organization Society. Once again Llewelyn falls in love, and once again he gets beat up–although this time it’s truly his own […]
Small Favor (2008) Jim Butcher Nothing is ever easy for Harry Dresden. Just when it looks as if things have calmed down a bit, the Summer Court and the Winter Court both seem to want a piece of Harry (although not the same piece) and then the Denarians decide to mix things up as well. […]
Vanish (2005) Tess Gerritsen Two things about Vanish. First, it was good–a well written, well paced story. Second, I didn’t like it. No, those two things are not mutually exclusive. I can recognize that something is good without enjoying it, and that was my issue with Vanish. My second major issue is ‘What the hell […]
Seven for a Secret (2009) Elizabeth Bear I made a mistake about a year ago. I signed up for Subterranean Press‘s e-mail news letter. Why was this a mistake? Because they’re publishing an awful lot of fantasy that I want to own. My most recent arrival was Elizabeth Bear’s Seven for a Secret. Although Abagail […]
A Deeper Sleep (2007) Dana Stabenow Kate Shugak has been helping the state build a case against Louis Deem. According to everyone in the park, deep has gotten away with murder several times, but his good looks and reputation (and threats from his friends) have gotten him off time and time again, and the women […]
Body Double (2004) Tess Gerritsen At some point in the recent past I apparently lost my mind and picked up several mysteries–none of which were the first in the series. However, unlike Dana Stabenow‘s A Taint in the Blood, I didn’t realize for quite awhile there were previous books in the series. I believe this […]
The Limehouse Text (2006) Will Thomas The book starts with Barker getting ready for a fight–a fight that is entirely Llewelyn’s fault. As with the last book, we then go back to see how Llewelyn got himself (and Barker) into that fix. (Everything isn’t Llwelyn’s fault, they are investigating the death of his predecessor, Quong, […]
Cross Bones (2005) Kathy Reichs There’s been a strange convergence of events that Cross Bones seems to have finished off. I finished reading A Short History of Myth and write my review, and then a group of friends starts discussing Easter and the events and the celebration and the meaning etc. Then I read the […]
A Taint in the Blood (2004) Dana Stabenow I’m always on the lookout for new mysteries–especially ones I think my grandmother will enjoy. I’ve read two supernatural mystery series edited by Dana Stabenow, so I decided to pick up one of her books. As you have probably noticed, I prefer to start at the beginning […]
Monday Mourning (2004) Kathy Reichs Tempe is back in Montreal, and back to having problems with Andrew Ryan. (sigh) Bones are discovered under a pizza parlor, and although Tempe thinks they may be recent, she’ll have to prove they aren’t a century old before the police will investigate how three very young women ended up […]
Bare Bones (2003) Kathy Reichs The story starts with Tempe identifying bones found in a wood stove as those of a newborn, and taking upon herself the unfortunate task of going to identify the grandfather of the probable identity of child. Although Tempe is hoping to leave for her long delayed vacation with Andrew Ryan […]
Dead Man Rising (2006) Lilith Saintcrow Dante Valentine has been taking on case after case to try and forget what happened to her in Rio. Unfortunately for her, it’s not working. She and Jace are keeping busy–and she’s all but running Jace into the ground–but she still can’t keep Japh off her mind. Things get […]
Defending Angels (2008) Mary Stanton Brianna Winston-Beaufort has inherited her uncle’s clients after he died in a terrible fire in his law office. As she attempts to find a temporary office, she starts to discover that strange things are occurring, and her uncle’s clients might be far more unusual than first expected. It’s very—cute. I […]
Grave Secrets (2002) Kathy Reichs Tempe is is Guatemala working to recovery the bodies of “the Disappeared” who were kidnapped and/or killed during the Guatemalan civil war. Not only is the work itself depressing, but two of her co-workers are attacked, and upon discovering her previous work, ask her to assist in the recovery of […]
Fatal Voyage (2001) Kathy Reichs This time Tempe finds herself in the North Carolina woods helping with the recovery of a plane crash. The forensics this time were about recovering bodies from a terrible accident, and the procedures used not only in the chain of evidence, but also to put the remains of the victims […]
Deadly Decisions (1999) Kathy Reichs Tempe is finishing her final exams and teaching her workshop at Quantico when she receives a call from Montreal asking her to come back to work early, as they received a case requiring her expertise. These bombing victims and the death of a nine year old girl caught in the […]
Death Du Jour (1999) Kathy Reichs At the start of Death Du Jour Tempe Brennan finds herself searching for the dirt floor of a church for the bones of a woman who may or may not be a saint. She’s enjoying the historical archeology as a change from the murders, suicides and accidental deaths she […]
Deja Dead (1997) Kathy Reichs Kathy Reiches was recommended to me by Ms Bookish, who (during my Great Book Giveaway) sent two later books in the series along for my grandmother. Reading those books piqued my interest, however, I really prefer to read a series in order if at all possible, so decided to pick […]
To Kingdom Come (2005) Will Thomas The sequel to Some Danger Involved find Barker and Llewelyn involved in a case involving the IRB. Fearing that Scotland Yard and the Home Office will be unable to solve the problem, Barker proposes that he and Llewelyn go undercover and attempt to help bring catch the criminals. The […]
August Heat (2005) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Satarelli It’s August, and it’s hot, and Inspector Montalbano is unhappy not only because of the heat, but because Liva made Salvo find a house from her friends to rent during their vacation. Unfortunately, the house turns out to be far more trouble than Inspector Montalbno expected […]
Some Danger Involved (2004) Will Thomas Thomas Llewelyn is at the end of his rope. He’s spent time in prison, his wife is dead, and he cannot find a job–all but a death sentence in Victorian London. So he eventually applies for the position as assistant to the private inquiry agent Cyrus Barker. After only […]
Suffer the Little Children (2007) Donna Leon Brunetti is called to the hospital for an assault case, where it turns out that a citizen of Venice has been injured, only the assault isn’t what he was expecting, and draws Brunetti into a case of illegal adoptions. I’d been saving Suffer the Little Children for months, […]
Death of a Dutchman (1982) Magdalen Nabb Marshal Guarnaccia decides to to stop and check on Signora Giusti while doing his rounds with the hotels. Signora Giusti is an old woman who constantly calls to make complaints. Her complaints are always groundless, but they check on her anyway, because they recognize that she is a […]
Unfallen Dead (2009) Mark Del Franco Connor Grey is still helping Detective Murdock of the Boston PD solve cases in the Weird, still has a crush on Meryl, and is still fighting the Darkness that stole his abilities. Unfortunately, things have gotten even more confusing after the events of Unquiet Dreams. The Taint is wreaking […]
The Paper Moon (2005) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli I am sad. I have now read all the Inspector Montalbano books that have been published and translated into English. August Heat comes out later this year, but after that? No more Inspector Montalbano for me–at least until the next book is translated. Montalbano is […]
Death of an Englishman (1981) Magdalen Nabb A call comes into the station and is answered by Carabiniere Bacci. Instead of awakening Marshal Guarnaccia who is gravely ill with the flu, Bacci instead goes to the scene and discovers a dead Englishman and a case that gets more complicated as it goes on. First of […]
Dead Lagoon (1994) Michael Dibdbin Aurelio Zen is a Criminalpol police officer who has wrangled his way to Venice in search of a case so he can cover his real pretext for being in Venice–to reopen a missing persons file because the family is offering him large sums of money for closure in the case. […]
Mean Streets (2009) Jim Butcher, Simon R. Green, Kat Richardson, Thomas E. Sniegoski OK. I admit it. I’m an Amazon junkie. I often search for my favorite artists and look at coming releases to see if anyone I love has something new coming out. Which is how I stumbled upon Mean Streets. I believe it […]
Wings of Fire (1998) Charles Todd Wow. Just like the first book, A Test of Wills, the second book, Wings of Fire was also quite depressing. Which leads to me to wonder: why am I surprised that a murder mystery is depressing? After all, the very premise of a murder mystery is that someone has […]
The Patience of the Spider (2004) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli The problem with Inspector Montalbano books is that if I pick one up, I tend to read the entire book in an evening. Which isn’t so good on a week night. Montalbano is recovering from the events in Rounding the Mark. Liva is […]
Rounding the Mark (2003) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli Inspector Montalbano is mad. Very mad. Police raids in Genoa have made a spectacle of Italian police, and Montalbano feels as if he has been betrayed by a system that ignores that ideals he holds dear. He says he’s going to resign, but then he […]
The Smell of the Night (2001) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli As Montalbano continues to have trouble with the commissioner, trouble with Liva, continues to be an asshole to everyone he works with. In other words, nothing has changed with him. In The Smell of the Night Emanuele Gargano has run off with billions […]
Unnatural Inquirer (2007) Simon R. Green We return once again to Nightside, where John Taylor is once again on the case. On several cases actually. As he finishes a case at the HP Lovecraft Memorial Library, he’s asked by Walker, who has the Voice of Authority in Nightside, to retrieve the Aquarius key before Max […]
Tempting Danger (2004) Eileen Wilks Lily Yu is a young Homicide detective on the San Diego police force whose first major case is going to be a lupi killing–and the prime suspect seems to be the local werewolf prince. This is a very interesting book. The world is not quite our own, as magical creatures […]
Where Serpents Sleep (2008) C.S. Harris I really like C.S. Harris’ Sebastian St. Cyr mysteries. In fact, now that I’ve finished the latest, Where Serpents Sleep I’m depressed I’ll have to wait at least a year before the next book in the series comes out. Sebastian has been leading a dissolute life following the events […]
Excursion to Tindari (2000) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli A young man is found dead just outside his front door in what seems to be a mafia killing. This event would have passed almost unnoticed, except that a distraught man calls to report that his parents–who live in the same building as the murdered […]
Shinju (1994) Laura Joh Rowland It’s 1698 and Sano Ichiro is a yoriki, or magistrate who is assigned the case of a shinju–or ritual suicide to two star-crossed lovers. Although he is pushed to close the case, something about the deaths bothers Sano, and he is determined to discover the truth of the deaths–no matter […]
A Test of Wills (1996) Charles Todd Inspector Ian Rutledge has returned from the Great War a far different man than when he left Scotland Yard for the Army. He returned to England suffering from shell shock and only with after a great effort was he able to return to Scotland Yard. Unfortunately for him, […]
Voice of the Violin (1997) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli The more I read of Andrea Camilleri’s Inspector Montalbano series, the more I like it. Initially I wasn’t sure about Salvo–he’s often a jerk–why do people like him? Well, he can be a jerk, but the more I read, the more he comes across […]
The Snack Thief (1996) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli The third book in Andrea Camilleri’s Inspector Montalbano series finds Montalbano investigating a man found murdered in an elevator, while Augello investigates a shooting on a fishing boat that left a Tunisian dead–shot ostensibly by a Tunisian police boat claiming the fishing boat was no […]
Why Mermaids Sing (2007) C.S. Harris I really like Sebastian St. Cyr Viscount Devlin, and look forward to new books in the series as they come out. Unfortunately for me, others seem to like him as well, and Why Mermaids Sing came out in hardback. I really do not like reading hardback books (I’ve got […]
The Terra Cotta Dog (1996) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartaelli In the second Inspector Salvo Montalbano book, Montalbano is called by his friend Gege–the head of local prostitution–to meet, because Gege has something he has been asked to discuss with Montalbano. From here, Montalbano is drawn into organized crime, whether he wants to or […]
Unusual Suspects (2008) edited by Dana Stabenow I own and read Dana Stabenow’s first fantasy/mystery anthology, Powers of Detection and found it a mixed bag. But when I saw Unusual Suspects and saw it had stories from Sharon Shinn & Simon R. Green, I knew I would have to have this anthology. In general, I […]
The Shape of Water (1994) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli After stumbling upon The Fencing Master several years ago, I overcame my reluctance to read books that had been translated into English. I’d somehow gotten it into my head that translated books were literature and my experiences with literature have not always been the […]
X-Rated Bloodsuckers (2007) Mario Acevedo Felix Gomez went to Iraq a soldier but returned a vampire, so with his unique skill set, decided that becoming a private eye would be the best career he could make. He’s good enough that he can choose the cases he wants, but is intrigued when Katz Meow asks him […]
Through a Glass, Darkly (2006) Donna Leon I’ve been trying to slowly read–to savor–Donna Leon’s Commissario Brunetti books. However, being home sick I’ve read through several in the past couple days, and having finished Through a Glass, Darkly have only one published paperback left. (There are a couple of books that were not republished in […]
Friends in High Places (2000) Donna Leon Apparently, Donna Leon’s Commissario Brunetti books are not being published in the US following European copyright dates. Friends in High Places has a European copyright of 2000, but was published in the US only recently. Not that this particularly matters in the grand scheme of things, as the […]
Backup (2008) Jim Butcher At last, we get to see into to mind of someone other than Harry Dresden–and get a glimpse of Harry from the outside–albeit the somewhat adoring eyes of his brother Thomas. We also get to a glimpse of the interior life of Thomas. He considers himself a monster, but he continues […]