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.