July reading

Val McDermid – The Distant Echo – A

Standalone, about four young men who find a murdered woman in 1978 and become suspects, although the case is never solved; years later, the case is reopened under a cold case squad and someone is killing off the four former suspects…

Jill Churchill – A Midsummer Night’s Scream – B

Jane and Shelly get involved in a case involving an amateur theatre production. I don’t read a lot of cozies but I’ve always liked this series.

Joseph Finder – Company Man – A-

Very suspenseful tale of a widower who is dealing with corporate backstabbing and troubled kids. Then one night, his life gets very complicated. The ending was a little too conveniently happy, but what a nail-biter this one was.

Joan Brady – Bleedout – A

Intriguing. Parallel narratives of a blind lawyer who is murdered and the man he saved from wrongful conviction. One of the story lines is in the present with the man working to solve the murder of the lawyer, while the other story line is the lawyer’s diary, recounting the past and all events up until his murder.

Martha Grimes – The Old Silent – B

Ran a bit long, but was enjoyable. The rock music references were soooo dated.

Martha Grimes – The Old Contemptibles – A-

Melrose goes undercover searching for clues about the suicide? murder? of a woman Jury had begun a relationship with. Ending somewhat unsatisfying as a cast of kids and seniors take justice into their own hands at the end.

Susan Wittig Albert – Dead Man’s Bones – B+

Most recent China Bayles – an old crime and a new case merge together. Not the greatest entry in the series but enjoyable.

Lee Child – One Shot - A

Usual reaction: WOW. Reacher is summoned to a town in Southern Indiana (unidentified, but seemed like Evansville to me) that has suffered a sniper attack.

Denise Mina – Garnethill - A

First in the trilogy about Maureen O’Donnell, a troubled woman who finds her ex-boyfriend murdered in her kitchen. Everyone, even Maureen’s mother, thinks she did it, so to clear her name, she stumbles into investigating the case. Excellent writing, interesting characters. Not a lot of gory or gratuitous violence, but Mina describes a bleak urban world in Glasgow, the mistreatment of mentally ill patients and surviving sexual abuse in a blunt, relentless fashion.

Martha Grimes – The Horse You Came In On – C

A rather generous grade, considering that I didn’t really finish this one. I expected to like it, as I usually do enjoy mysteries with an Edgar Allan Poe theme, but Jury and the gang in Baltimore was just annoying. Skimmed to see whodunit.

Denise Mina – Deception – A+

Standalone. A psychologist is convicted of murdering a patient, who had been convicted of serial killings but later released. Her husband begins going through her files, looking for material for her appeal, and uncovers all sorts of things. The novel is written as his diary, and he is not a reliable narrator, which makes the suspense even more intense.

Denise Mina – Exile – A

Second in the O’Donnell trilogy. Maureen and her friend Leslie look into the disappearance of a woman who had been at the domestic violence shelter they work at. Maureen ends up in London tracking down a killer.

Leslie Glass - A Clean Kill - A-

Latest in the April Woo/Mike Sanchez series. A wealthy woman is killed and her nanny is the prime suspect. Then her friend is killed and her nanny looks to be the prime suspect. Quite suspenseful, with a twist at the end.

Julia Spencer-Fleming - To Darkness and to Death– A+

#4 in the Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne series. An excellent mystery, with lots of twists and turns. The initial case is not what it seems, and in the meantime, two other cases emerge. The whole novel takes place in one day. Cliffhanger at the end regarding Clare and Russ and their relationship.

June book-list

Mary Higgins Clark, No Place Like Home, A-
A woman with a secret past returns to her hometown. I feel really old when I think about how many summers of my life have included the latest MHC!

Robert Barnard, The Graveyard Position, A-
A man returns home for his aunt’s funeral but some members of the family think he’s an impostor. Excellent British suspense. Actually part of the Detective Charlie Pease series, but we don’t see much of Charlie in this one.

Michael Connelly, The Closers, A+
I love this seres, and I’m a sucker for “cold case” books. Bosch returns to the force and teams up again with Kiz Ryder on a cold case squad. He outdoes himself with every book.

Martha Grimes, The Anodyne Necklace, A-
Another entertaining outing with Jury and Plant.

David Rosenfelt, Sudden Death, B+
Latest in the Andy Carpenter series. Andy and the crew take on the legal defense of a pro football player accused of murder. Good but not as good as the earlier ones.

Marttha Grimes, The Dirty Duck, A-
Jury and Plant take on another case. (These all sort of blur together for me - can’t quite remember which plot is which !)

Rett MacPherson, Thicker than Water, B+
Recent in the Torie O’Shea series - don’t read too many cozies, but these have a good sense of humor. Torie is facing a number of concerns in this book, including an extended visit from her mother-in-law.

Martha Grimes, Jerusalem Inn, A
The plots are beginning to get meatier. It’s always interesting to start a long-running series long after the fact and watch the entires get thicker and thicker.

CJ Box, Out of Range, A
When another forest ranger dies under mysterious circumstances, Joe is sent to Jackson to fill in. He finds himself involved in several cases while being out of his element in the tourist town. Excellent series with strong characters and settings.

Cara Black, Murder in the Marais, A-
Set in Paris in 1993, Aimee Leduc runs an investigative agency that deals with corporate security. When a friend of her deceased father asks her to take on a case, she ends up chasing Nazis from the past and present. Intriguing setting and characters.

Martha Grimes, Help the Poor Struggler, A-
More antics from Jury and Plant and the rest.

Martha Grimes, The Deer Leap, A
A more serious plot, involving a young gitl who may or may not be the heir to a fortune.

Monica Ferris, Embroidered Truths, B+
Another of the few cozy series I read, this one because of my interest in needlework. In this outing, Betsy must solve the case to save Goddy, who is looking like a prime suspect in a murder.

Martha Grimes, I Am the Only Running Footman, A-
Sense a pattern? :-)

Carlos Ruiz Zafon, The Shadow of the Wind, A+
An excellent novel set in Spain during and after the Civil War. Has mystery elements, but I’d class it as fiction. A young boy finds a rare book and begins a decades-long quest to find out who the author really was. Filled with romance, intrigue, and humor, it is also one of the best coming of age stories I’ve read in a long while.

Cara Black, Murder in Belleville, A-
Second Aimee Leduc, this time a personal favor pulls her into a case involving immigrants and politiical corruption.

Martha Grimes, The Five Bells and the Bladebone, A-
Another enjoyable outing with the crew. Have to love Wiggins and his complete hypochondria.