April not the cruelest month

April has not been the cruelest month in terms of reading. All stellar books.

First, before the trip to Minneapolis, I finished the latest Spenser novel, Cold Service. Robert Parker is in good form here. Hawk has been seriously injured, and Spenser helps him seek his revenge.

Then, finally I got my hands on the new Robert Crais, The Forgotten Man. His works get better and better all the time (although LA Requiem is still the masterpiece of the series). Elvis Cole gets a call in the middle of the night; a man killed in a skid row area has made a dying declaration that he is Elvis' father. Compelled to investigate, Elvis is drawn into something that is not what it appears and twice as sinister. As he has done in the last few novels, Crais offers up a few more details about Elvis' childhood and adolescence for us here.

Followed by the new Elizabeth George, With No One as Witness. Havers, still suffering her demotion, and Lynley team up to track down a serial killer; a copycat case has links to a pedophilia ring. Toward the end, something awful happens, no spoiler here, but the closing of the novel is tragic and heartbreaking.

Next up was the latest Peter Robinson, Strange Affair. After receiving an odd phone call from his brother, Banks heads to London. Meanwhile, a woman is pursued to Eastvale and killed. Banks'address is found on her body. The two cases pull together and Banks uncovers a heinous crime. Poignantly, he comes to know his brother well, although it's too late.

Let the feast continue - next in my bonanza of hold books from the library was Jan Burke's recent Irene Kelly, Bloodlines. This series gets better and better and better, and this one is beyond all expectations. The first segment is set in 1958, with extensive flashbacks to the 1930s. We meet Conn O'Connor, Irene's mentor, who, as you recall, was killed before the first book begins; solving his murder is Irene's first case. Two mysteries haunt O'Connor throughout his life: the murder of his sister in 1950 and a complicated case of murder, kidnapping and disappearances related to a prominent family that occurs in 1958. The middle segment takes place in 1978, when Irene is new to her career in journalism. She gains O'Connor's respect and helps him investigate the complex crime surrounding the Ducane family. The final segment takes place in 2000, and Irene is able to tie all the threads together, completely solving the Ducane case and finding the truth about Maureen's murder. There is so much more here, particularly in the first and third segments, which could have been a novel beyond the mystery elements. Burke has outdone herself.