Category Archives: Mystery/Suspense/Thriller

“Little Pretty Things” is a murder mystery and much more. The story revolves around two runners, Maddy and Juliet, who were track stars on their high school team ten years before. Maddy, who was always first and the superstar, moved away from their little town and seemed to have gotten things together in a big way. Juliet, always second to Maddy, ended up leaving college when her father passed away and is stuck in the town and in a job that she can’t stand with a mother who can’t get beyond her husband’s death.

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“Take Another Look” is a psychological thriller that asks whether or not evil is genetic or whether it is a product of environment.

Jane is a young woman, just out of college, when she meets Frank. At first, the police officer seems to be a dream guy but very soon, Jane realizes the dream is really a nightmare. She escapes from him when he tries to force her into an abortion. She runs away from her old life and finds that she is going to have twins. She can’t afford both children, so she gives one up for adoption, Louisa and keeps the other, Harper.

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I have read all of the stories in the Vanessa Michael Munroe series by Taylor Stevens. As a character, Munroe is a bit of a puzzle. She is a woman who has horribly abused in the past. It has taught her to strike before being struck. To kill before being killed. Both her body and her mind are covered in scars but she is trying to find her way to a life where she doesn’t have to be on guard at all times. She has become an expert with knives – a real killing machine. She has also picked up martial arts street fighting skills that put her at an advantage in most fights.

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While I think that the writing style of this book is very good, I have a hard time accepting much of the action. I am a reader of mysteries who wants them to make sense. I want to feel that the characters could be real and that I can follow their actions. Unfortunately, that wasn’t true in this story.

It seemed as if no one in the book did anything approaching reality. The police were constantly breaking rules. If someone was told not to do something, on the next page, that is exactly what they did. I can take a little rule breaking but this went beyond that.

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This is the first book I have read by Alan Cupp. While “Scheduled to Die” is the second book in a series by Mr. Cupp, I found that it was very readable as a stand-alone book. I think that, perhaps, reading the first book would flesh out the character of Carter Mays (the private detective), it wasn’t necessary for this story. Having read and enjoyed this book, I will go back and read the first book in the series, too.

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“The Rhyme of the Magpie” is a first in a series of new books by Marty Wingate. It is also the first book I have read by this author but I will certainly be picking up her previous series based on how much I enjoyed this book.

The story is a delicious cozy mystery involving wind farm developers, bird enthusiasts, “typical” small village citizens, and even an Earl. It was a fun book to read, with lots of laughs and giggles. While I was able to figure out whodunnit, I had a blast reading through the rest of the book as the characters and the story were charming.

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“Second Street Station” is the first of the Mary Handley mysteries. It is also the debut novel by Lawrence H. Levy. The character, Mary Handley, is loosely based on a real life individual of the same name who was involved in a murder case upon which this story is also based.

Presumably, future novels will be completely fictional as I could not find further evidence that Ms. Handley pursued her work as a detective following the events described in this novel. Certainly, there is nothing to suggest that she was involved with such personages as Thomas Edison, J.P. Morgan, George Westinghouse, etc.

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“Tail Gait” is the latest in a long series of books by Rita Mae Brown (and apparently, Sneaky Pie Brown, too.) It is, however, the first book I have read by Ms. Brown. I often read a book out of order in a series to see how readable it is as a stand-alone book but it is rare that I will choose to read a book as far into as series as this one is (number 24.) Interestingly enough, I had no problem picking up the story, the characters, or the plot. As a stand-alone book, it is very readable. I’m sure that I am missing much in the terms of history of the characters but enough is provided by the author to make it still an enjoyable read.

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“Trident Code” is the follow up to last year’s mile a minute cyber attack thriller, “Lethal Code”. As with the previous book, “Trident Code” was pretty intense and required the reader to suspend reality and to accept some rather unlikely scenarios.

While the previous book involved multiple cyperattacks, in this book there is really just one, but it involves a nuclear submarine. Yet again, the US is portrayed as woefully unprepared and once again it is only a handful of heroes who can save the day. To say that this doesn’t seem credible is putting it mildly. However, if you are willing suspend reality and accept the worst case scenarios presented by the author as you read the book, then it becomes a fun race-to-the-end story.

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This is a fast-paced police procedural that spans a two day period. DS Allie Shenton is at a cross roads in her life. Her beloved sister, who was horribly brain-damaged in an attack seventeen years before, has taken a turn for the worse and may not have much more time.

Even though her personal life is at a breaking point, Allie is called in to help solve a puzzling murder. The story takes us through the almost hourly process of finding clues, processing information, and interviewing suspects. We get to see how the picture of the crime is reconstructed from the bits and pieces and how each bit of information reveals the next step in solving the crime.

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