Legacies (1998) F. Paul Wilson The second Repairman Jack book takes up an undetermined time after the events of the first book, Tomb. The indeterminate time is most likely due to the fact that there were 15 years between the two books. When a local AIDS clinic where Gia volunteers is robbed, she convinces Jack […]
Silent in the Grave (2007) Deanna Raybourn To say that Silent in the Grave annoyed me would be a vast understatement. This book had tons of high recommendations, and I cannot for the life of me figure out why. First, the heroine, who is supposed to be intelligent, tends towards sheer idiocy. Sure, she’s well […]
Death at La Fenice (1992) Donna Leon Guido Brunetti is vice-commissario of police in the Venice, and a good detective as well. When a world famous maestro is found dead in his dressing room, from what seems to be cyanide poisoning, Guido is immediately pressured to find the killer, lest Venice receive bad press. Although […]
Knots and Crosses (1987) Ian Rankin Knots and Crosses is the first John Rebus mystery. John Rebus is a Detective in the Edinburgh police force, who is not doing a very good job of getting over his divorce, or his time spent in the special forces. When someone starts kidnapping and murdering young girls, the […]
The Tomb (1984/2004) F. Paul Wilson Repairman Jack fixes things. Not appliances or houses or anything so prosaic, but instead fixes situations. When he is asked to “fix” two separate problems at the same time, little did he realize that the situation would turn deadly–and the girl he loves in mortal danger–the girl he loves […]
Unquiet Dreams (2008) Mark del Franco Unquiet Dreams is Mark del Franco’s second book about Connor Grey, consulting detective and damaged druid. When Detective Murdock asks Connor to help him investigate the death of a teen in the Weird, they are both drawn into a mystery that stretches as low as bridge dwelling trolls and […]
Zen Attitude (1997) Sujata Massey It’s not that this wasn’t a good story–it was. And it’s not that the characters weren’t vivid–they were. And it’s not like the writing wasn’t strong–it was. But there was something I just can’t put my finger on… missing from the story. Possibly the fact that the cover reads “A […]
Already Dead (2005) Charlie Huston Joe Pitt is a vampire who was a small time punk and thug before he was turned. After he was turned, he spent some time working as an enforce and, not to thrilled with that line of work either, then ended up Rogue, doing his freelance work and pretty much […]
Bangkok Tattoo (2005) John Burdett The sequel to Bangkok 8 returns us to Krung Thep, where Sonchai is now part owner of the Old Mans Club, in addition to remaining a detective in the Royal Thai Police Force. It is because they are in Bangkok that a devout Buddhist and policeman can also be part […]
Bangkok 8 (2003) John Burdett Sonchai and his life-long friend and now partner in the Bangkok police force, Pichai, are following an American Marine through Bangkok, on the orders of the Colonel, the head of the police department in his sector. When the Marine is murdered and the woman he was with has disappeared, Sonchai–for […]
Murder on Astor Place (1999) Victoria Thompson I’m a sucker for historical mysteries, so chances are if a series looks halfway decent, I’ll try it out. Sarah Brandt is a widowed midwife who practices her trade in new York city in the late 1800s. Theodore Roosevelt has just started his attempts to reform the New […]
When Gods Die (2006) C.S. Harris Last year I picked up What Angels Fear on because I thought it looked mildly interesting. I was pleasantly surprised to find an intriguing and fascinating Regency thriller. I then placed the the second book in the series When Gods Die on preorder, which means I’ve been waiting since […]
Valley of the Soul (2006) Tamara Siler Jones Valley of the Soul is the third book in the Dubric Byerly mystery series. I read Ghosts in the Snow and enjoyed it, and decided to order the rest of series. Unfortunately, Threads of Malice was out of print, so I had to skip to Valley of […]
A Ghost in the Machine (2004) Caroline Graham Ghost in the Machine may be my least favorite Inspector Barnaby mystery so far, because it takes us forever to actually get to Inspector Barnaby, and even once he becomes involved, we still spend a great deal of time with the characters involved in the murders. What […]
The Killings at Badger’s Drift (1987) Caroline Graham This is actually the first Inspector Barnaby mystery. How annoying when publishers only have part of a writer’s catalog and one is deluded into thinking you’ve read the first book in a series, only to discover you were terrible wrong. So this is the book where we […]
A Place of Safety (1999) Caroline Graham I only meant to read a couple of chapters of A Place of Safety. Unfortunately, an interesting combined with difficulty getting to sleep after an afternoon nap meant that I read the entire book yesterday evening. A man witnesses what appears to be a woman pushing a girl […]
Faithful Unto Death (1996) Caroline Graham I picked up a later book in this series somewhere, and being the way I am, decided to go back and start at the beginning of the series. Too bad for me. This isn’t the first book in the series, it’s simply the first book published by St. Martin’s […]
Many Bloody Returns (2007) edited by Charlaine Harris and Toni L.P. Kelner I pre-ordered this, not realizing it was in hardback. As much as I love anthologies, I’m not that excited about hardback books–especially anthologies where I don’t know all the authors or the quality of the stories. Many Bloody Returns pretty much tells you […]
New Amsterdam (2007) Elizabeth Bear Imagine North America where there was never a Revolutionary War against the British. Where England and France and Spain control North American colonies. France controls Canada and Louisiana. Spain controls the West Coast. And England still controls the original colonies. It’s 1899. Magic and technology exist together. Despite the tensions […]
The Demon and the City (2006) Liz Williams After reading The Snake Agent, I’ve been looking forward the reading the next Detective Inspector Chen book. (In fact, the paperback edition has been on pre-order for several months.) As with many authors I like, after getting a book, I’m hesitant to read it, for fear that […]
Shadows in the Darkness (2004) Elaine Cunningham Gwen Gellman is an ex-cop who was pushed off the force after a bust goes terribly wrong. So she sets up her own private investigation company. However, the latest case to walk in her door–a missing teenager–starts to go wrong almost from the start. There are actually several […]
Unshapely Things (2007) Mark del Franco Connor Grey is a druid who has lost most of his powers. An attack by radical environmentalist elf has left him crippled–not physically, but magically. So in addition to his disability payments, he takes occasionally jobs helping the Boston police department in attacks involving the fey. What I found […]
Labyrinth (2005) Kate Mosse This book could be classified in any number of ways. There are elements of fantasy, mystery, suspense, romance, and history. As such, I thought it worked best as an historical novel, because this was the strongest part of the book. The story of Alais and Guilhem and Sajhe was the most […]
Proven Guilty (2006) Jim Butcher I started this book several weeks ago, and then put it down because I remembered why Harry had been annoying me so much for the past several books.However, I decided to give Proven Guilty and Harry another chance. At the start of the book I was still annoyed with him–he’s […]
And Only to Deceive (2005) Tasha Alexander The deception in this book? The text, “A Novel of Suspense.” I’ve been in the mood for historical mysteries, and so when this one came up recommend on Amazon–and on sale–I decided to try it. My feelings when reading this book kept swinging between annoyance and hopeful interest. […]
The Bone Collector (1997) Jeffery Deaver I haven’t read The Bone Collector in years. I read it soon after I got it–and since I own it in hardback, that means I picked it up reduced for quick sale after the paperback came out, so not that long after it was published. Which makes it about […]
What Angels Fear (2005) C.S. Harris Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, is a somewhat dissolute young noble who returned from the Napoleonic wars far more bitter than when he left. A prickly relationship with his father and a willingness to fight duels have not helped his reputation, but he doesn’t much seem to care. However, […]
Petty Treason (2004) Madeline E. Robins The second Miss Sarah Tolerance mystery, Petty Treason takes place several months after the events of Point of Honor. Although her courtroom testimony following her last case has made her name known in London, she is continuing to work as an Agent of Inquiry, taking cases primarily from women […]
Aunt Dimity’s Death (1992) Nancy Atherton In my opinion, this story took off when the ghost appeared. Until then, the story was okay, but I was moderately frustrated by the bickering between the two characters that were obviously destined to fall in love with each other. Initially, I thought the negative feelings Lori had were […]
Point of Honour (2003) Madeleine E. Robins Point of Honour is a mystery novel set in Regency London. Sarah Tolerance is a Fallen woman, and as such she has few venues open to her that would allow her to make a living. The most common “career” for a fallen woman was prostitution, and indeed Sarah’s […]
The Dante Club (2003) Matthew Pearl Based on historical facts combined with a murder mystery, The Dante Club tells how Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Oliver Wendell Holmes, James Russell Lowell, and J. T. Fields worked to translate Dante’s Divine Comedy into English. Unfortunately, the administration at Harvard University–for which Holmes and Lowell both work–is opposed to […]
Ten Second Staircase (2007) Christopher Fowler Ten Second Staircase is the fourth Bryant and May mystery. A controversial sculptor is found dead in one of her pieces, and the only witness describes an impossible killer. Meanwhile, Raymond Land has complained one too many times about the PCU (Peculiar Crimes Unit) and now the unit is […]
Snake Agent (2005) Liz Williams When I purchased this book I thought it was a mystery, after all, it’s “A Detective Inspector Chen Novel.” And since I bought the book on-line, I couldn’t see the cover clearly, so that didn’t tell me anything either. I just knew it had come up as recommended for me, […]
Ghosts in the Snow (2004) Tamara Siler Jones Dubric is the head of security at Castle Faldorrah–a matter of self-preservation, since he is haunted by the ghosts of those who are murdered at the castle, until their killers come to justice. In the past there has been only an occasional killing, but now young servant […]
Hell To Pay (2006) Simon R. Green I am quite fond of Simon R. Green’s Nightside books, although the Nightside itself would probably be offended by the use of the word fond. John Taylor is a private investigator in the Nightside, an alternate city within London where it is always night, and anything you can […]
Small Vices (1997) Robert B Parker On the trip to get my grandmother, as I was driving alone I wanted a book to listen to, to help me stay awake and coherent. I grabbed Small Vices, read by Burt Reynolds to keep me company on the trip. I really do love this book, and I […]
The Dark Sleep (1999) P.N. Elrod I don’t know how I messed it up, but somehow I thought that The Dark Sleep came after Lady Crymsyn. This would be wrong. The Dark Sleep precedes Lady Crymsyn. Luckily, both are stand alone books, so I didn’t lose anything by reading them out of order. This was […]
Lady Crymsyn (2000) P.N. Elrod After finishing the last three books, I was reluctant to read this book, for fear it would continue what felt to me as a downward spiral. However, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that Lady Crymsyn went back to the things that I had liked so much about the previous […]
The Price of Murder (2003) Bruce Alexander The Price of Murder is the last, complete Sir John Fielding book written by Bruce Alexander. The body of a child is pulled from the river, and it is believed to be the body of a young girl reported as missing by her mother several weeks earlier. Meanwhile, […]
An Experiment in Treason (2002) Bruce Alexander Mister Donnelly takes Jeremy out to Portsmouth to see Benjamin Franklin perform an experiment. Although his politics is reviled by many, others are fascinated by his scientific experiments, and may have some sympathy for his politics. While Jeremy is gone, there is a brutal murder during the course […]
Smuggler’s Moon (2001) Bruce Alexander Lady Fielding has gone off to York to visit her mother who is ill. Soon after she leaves, Sir John is requested by the Lord Chief Justice to travel to Kent to check on the local magistrate, Albert Sarton. Because Sir John is in charge of Clarissa and Lady Fielding […]
A Chill in the Blood (1998) P. N. Elrod The best thing about A Chill in the Blood is that it finishes the story arc started in Fire in the Blood. Angela Paco and Vaughn Kyler are fighting for control of Chicago and Jack and Charles are caught between, with both gangs believing that Jack […]
Blood on the Water (1992) P. N. Elrod Okay. Now I’m starting to get frustrated. This is the second book with an unfinished story arc. It’s not quite as bad as the previous book, but it’s still frustrating. Blood on the Water picks up immediately after the end of Fire in the Blood. And by […]
Fire in the Blood (1991) P. N. Elrod The Vampire Files Vol II I have to say that I found Fire in the Blood disappointing on multiple levels. Although the mystery wasn’t bad, I know I’ve read at least one of the major conclusions. So it was only the details that were a surprise, rather […]
Art in the Blood (1991) P. N. Elrod The Vampire Files Vol II It probably means something that when I started the first story in The Vampire Files Volume Two I had to stop and think, “Wait a second. Which vampire was this? Who did he kill in the last book?” It possibly means that […]
The Color of Death (2000) Bruce Alexander Sir John Fielding (and thus Jeremy) are called out when a gang of black men robbed a house on St. James street and murdered one of the porters during the course of their crime. But most importantly, events conspire to cause Jeremy to conduct a great deal of […]
A Spectacle of Corruption (2004) David Liss In the sequel to A Conspiracy of Paper, Benjamin Weaver is convicted of a murder he did not commit, in a trial that was a farce of justice, as the judge all but ordered the jury to find Weaver guilty, despite the fact that the witnesses against Weaver […]
Death of a Colonial (1999) Bruce Alexander There is a distinct disadvantage to buying used books on-line. In order to get as many books as possible from as few sellers as possible, I didn’t pay close attention to the sellers comments, and so ended up not only with five hard-backed books (ick) but a hard […]
Jack, Knave and Fool (1998) Bruce Alexander I think the Sir John Fielding mysteries get better as the series continues. Characters continue to be introduced to the series, while familiar characters continue to make an appearance and play an important part in the life of Jeremy Proctor. In Jack, Knave and Fool Jeremy speaks of […]
Person or Persons Unknown (1997) Bruce Alexander About a year has passed since the events of Watery Grave and Jeremy Proctor is starting to become a full fledged teenager–in though if not in deed. Although he appreciates what Sir John Fielding has done for him, he begins to feel that he is being treated like […]