Category Archives: Mystery/Suspense/Thriller

“Silent Creed” is the second book in Alex Kava’s new series featuring Ryder Creed who is a K9 search and rescue dog handler. While I didn’t read the first book in this series, I have read previous books by Ms. Kava which feature a character who is in this book, FBI agent Maggie O’Dell. This series is a definite off-shoot of that series and Maggie is present and a major character in this story.

There is a landslide in North Carolina and it involves a government sanctioned medical research lab. There is a huge rush to get to the site to find out who and what are left after the decimating event. Ryder Creed is called in by a “friend” from his days in Afghanistan. Once he lands and starts his search, the book explodes into action.

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I have been a fan of Dorothy Cannell for a number of years. I remember reading my first book of hers and laughing at the title “How to Murder Your Mother-In-Law” and then scrambling to read the earlier books in the Ellie Haskell series. I lost track of her writing over the last few years, so when I was given the opportunity to read “Death at Dovecote Hatch” I was thrilled to find her once again.
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I didn’t realize that “Broken Promise” was part of a series of books until I had started reading it. It refers to many things that have happened in previous books and ends with a cliff-hanger to be resolved in a future book. While I was able to read the book as a standalone novel, it felt as if I had stepped into the middle of a story and needed a little more background information to understand what was going on.

There is a basic story in this almost 500 page book with a mystery that I had solved in less than 100 pages (although not really the whodunnit which is part of the cliff-hanger.) As a mystery, it was a little lacking for me. I like to figure out the ending just ahead of or just behind the main sleuth in the story. In this case, it was pretty much evident what had happened almost as soon as the friction was introduced.

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This is the second book by Julia Heaberlin I have read and enjoyed. I actually enjoyed reading “Black-Eyed Susans” even more than “Lie Still” – which surprised me as I really enjoyed the first book. I will certainly be looking for this author again in the future and will make a point of buying her first book “Playing Dead” as I will probably like it as well as the others.

The setting for the story is the Ft. Worth area of Texas. I’ve lived in Texas for more than 10 years now – most of it in the Hill Country near Austin but most recently in the Northern Dallas suburbs. I can attest that the author’s descriptions of the locale and the people who inhabit the area are absolutely spot on. Picking up her book and reading some of the conversations mimic ones that I have with my neighbors. Not, thankfully, the ones about murder, but the rhythm and cadence of the conversations strike a familiar cord. Her descriptions of the landscape are spot on. There is a terrible beauty to the vastness of the land and the heat that scorches it year in and year out. The author has even put what we call cold and ice and snow in its place. Minimal compared to the Northern states but deadly here.

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“Fixed in Blood” was a high speed mystery thriller of a read. It turns out that it is the fourth in a series; however, it is the first book that I have read by T. E. Woods. I often read books out of series to see if they can be read as a stand-alone book. This one is easily read by itself; however, it is so well-written that you, like me, will probably want to read the whole series. It does contain information that can probably be construed as plot spoilers for the first books. I skimmed over those portions as I fully intend the read the prior three books. As soon as I finished reading “Fixed In Blood”, I purchased the three-book bundle which is available for the Kindle.

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“Chilling Effect” is the second book in the new Aroostine Higgins series by Melissa F. Miller. The character seems to have been introduced in a previous series by the author but I have yet to read that series. I did read the first book in this series, “Critical Vulnerability”. While I enjoyed the first book and I believe that it enhanced my reading of this book, I don’t think it is necessary to read the books in order to enjoy this story. There is enough background information given in this book to have it make sense and while there is information about the first book, I don’t consider the information to be a “spoiler” problem.

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“Critical Vulnerability” is the first book I have read by Melissa F. Miller. While it appears to be the first in a new series of books featuring Aroostine Higgins, it also seems that Aroostine and her husband Joe have been characters in a previous series of books by Ms. Miller. It did not seem necessary to have read that series to enjoy this new one but there are enough hooks in the story that to make me think that, as I enjoyed this book, I would also enjoy going back and reading the previous legal series featuring a character named Sasha McCandless.

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This is an engrossing psychological murder mystery by an author I have not read before. After having read the book and enjoyed it, I still do not understand the meaning of the title “The Bones of You.” I may be having a dense moment as I am definitely in the middle of a bad cold but it just doesn’t mean anything to me as there were no bones found. Apart from that, I was able to connect and appreciate the story and the story telling of the book.

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