Category Archives: Book Reviews

This is the second book in this series I have read (though I have read other books by Lisa Scottoline as well.) I am getting the drift that in each of these book, Ms. Scottoline focuses on one of the two partners in this law firm and picks a social issue to focus on as well. In this story, we follow Mary DiNunzio as she takes on the needs of a special education child who is not getting the attention he requires and the education assistance he should receive.

Patrick O’Brien is a ten year old with diagnosed dyslexia. He is picked on and made fun of at school not only by other children but, shockingly, by the adults who should be helping him. His grandfather, Edward, is compelled at last to find an attorney to help Patrick and, with that one move towards assistance, sets into motion the events of this legal procedural, action book.

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I had not read any of the Taylor Jackson series by this author, so when the opportunity arose to read her prequel to the series, I thought it would be a good place to start. It wasn’t until I had finished the book and was reading the after notes that I discovered that this book had actually been written first and was never published as a stand-alone book (though another reviewer mentions that it was part of a box set she once purchased.)

The book is very well written (though the author apologizes for the early writing style) and it was intriguing enough that I will certainly pick up the back list on this series to read in the future.

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I didn’t realize that “Paint the Town Dead” was the second in a series of books until after I had finished reading it. It reads fairly well as a stand-alone book but there were references in text that were a bit confusing until I realized it referred to action in the earlier book.

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Liz Talbot Mysteries are one of my favorite series for a fun and definitely Southern mystery/detective book. Liz is a private detective and she works with her (now) husband, Nate to solve a variety of mysteries – generally those involving murder.

In this book, a much beloved socialite has been pushed to her death and her husband has come under suspicion. Liz and Nate are hired to try to disprove this and come up with the real killer.

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I picked up this series beginning with the last book, “Independence Day” and was so pleased with the book that picking up “First Strike” was an easy choice. The book takes up shortly after the last one ended and, once again, there is a rush of adventures that culminate with a satisfying end.

The story could have been taken from today’s headlines. It was shocking to have a book talk so much about the atrocities that ISIS is responsible for. At first, I felt like I didn’t want to read about them and then I realized that I should because the author is honest in his appraisal and descriptions of the horrors that this group unleashes.

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I started reading this series many years ago when I picked up a copy of “How to Murder your Mother-in-Law” at my (then) local library. I just could not get over the title and then read through the series for a number of years. As it turns out, I stopped reading the series just before this book was originally released, so reading it on its re-release was the first time I had read it.

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“Clouds in My Coffee” is the latest addition to the Country Club Murders series by Julie Mulhern. Her sleuth is Ellison Russell who, in this book, is unnerved to find herself the target of multiple accidental or not so accidental threats on her life. There are more developments in her relationship with Detective Anarchy Jones as he spends a lot of time in this book investigating the attacks.

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I generally really like this type of suspenseful mystery. A young woman returns home years ago a traumatic event that changes not only her life but those she leaves behind. Once home again, events unfold to bring closure to the sad events of yesteryear. The problem with this novel, is that it was just a little too predictable. I was able to guess the whodunnit within the first 25% of the book. I also predicted most of what was going to happen from that point on. I will admit there were a few twists and turns that escaped me but nothing that changed the outcome of the book.

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