Monthly Archives: July 2015

“Double Mint” by Gretchen Archer is a mile-a-minute funny whodunnit mystery. While I had no problems picking up the action in this fourth in the series book (and my first read by this author), I highly suggest reading the books in order. I will be reading and laughing my way through the three prior books shortly.

Davis Way Cole is the top seniority casino security personnel at the Bellissimo Resort and Casino. She is also married to the casino manager but due to her job, no one (well, almost no one) can know who she is or see her in the casino managers suite of rooms. The suite of rooms she wishes she didn’t have to live in because it is an over-the-top representation of a New Orleans Mardi Gras nightmare.

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“Killing Secrets” is the latest entry in the Nan Vining mystery series by Dianne Embley. While it is the first of her books that I have read, it was not at all difficult to read it as a stand-alone book. I could tell from references in the story that there was a long and varied back history for the characters.

In this story, Detective Nan Vining is called to the scene of a possible murder-suicide. It turns out that Nan’s daughter and her daughter’s boyfriend were the ones to find the horrific scene. It also turns out that Nan had no idea that her daughter even had a boyfriend.

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“Wings in the Dark” is like a visit back to the old Hollywood version of the 1930’s where men were the tough and silent types who could take it on the chin and the women were good hearted dames who knew their way around an investigation or two.

Jake Donovan is a mystery writer (though previously a Pinkerton detective and a former police detective.) He and his newly married wife, Laura Wilson, are on their honeymoon in Hawaii. Laura is an up-and-coming actress who has a big fan base and, fortunately or not, the two of them keep running into those fans throughout the story.

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“Beyond A Doubt” is the second in the Carol Childs mystery series by Nancy Cole Silverman. Carol is a reporter for a local radio station which seems to be located in Culver City, California. While some of the directions to and from the station (and to a degree, around the Southland) seem a little off to me (I lived in Culver City for almost 30 years and got to know the lay of the land fairly well), the vibe and the personalities of the individuals in the story are dead on for the area.

In this story, Carol has been tasked with reporting on the rash of missing young women and girls who have disappeared in recent months. The story begins with her reporting of the finding of a body of one of the young women, the daughter of a local and prominent judge. The story involves the requisite “whodunnit” which is solved fairly early and then turns on the how and why it was done.

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