Pinkerton's Great Detective by Beau Riffenburgh

Hard as it is to believe, the detective has not existed as an occupation for that long.  When one considers that many city police departments came into existence in the late 1800's, it is less surprising to hear that detectives, as we now know them,  also got their start in this same time period.  Pinkerton, the ultimate name in private detective agencies, started in the 1850's.  It rose to national prominence largely due to the sensational cases that featured the agency's first famous detective, James McParland.

McParland was an Irish immigrant, who came to the United States with his brother.  After trying several occupations, he realized that his talents were best used as an investigator.  At this time, the private detective had as much power as did the police, and often handled cases that were beyond the resources of local law enforcement.  McParland parleyed his first big case into national fame and then rose in the ranks of the agency.  He remained a detective for the rest of his life.

The book is broken into three sections, each featuring one of the large cases McParland worked on.  Each case took months or even years of effort to bring the criminals to justice.  The first case was that of the coal miners in Pennsylvania.  The miners were attempting to start the first union to represent the working men against the owners of the mines.  Most miners were Irish, especially those involved in the secret organization called the Molly Maguires.  The mine owners wanted to break up the Maguires, as they suspected them of crimes such as intimidation, thievery and even murder.  McParland was sent in undercover to learn the inner workings of the Maguires and to help control them.  He spent months in this nerve-wracking occupation, playing each side against the other while learning the innermost secrets of the organization.  When he left the organization, he was key in the many trials that accused Maguire leaders of organized murders and maimings.  This case was so sensational that McParland's name became known across the country, and he became the epitome of law and justice in the 1870's.

McParland was too notorious after this to work again in the East, so the company moved him out to a Western office, where he soon became one of the main managers.  Under his management, the second big case occurred.  The Pinkerton's were hired to track and catch the Hole In The Wall Gang, better known today as Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid.  Their organization of loosely joined outlaws terrorized the West, robbing banks and trains and murdering those who got in their way.  While the main individuals escaped to South America, McParlane's investigation succeeded in breaking the back of the gang and bringing most of the men to justice.

After this, McParland returned to his roots and worked on the case of the miners attempting to organize in Colorado and Idaho.  The same tactics as he had seen in Pennsylvania were taking place, with murders and beatings commonplace.  The job increased in prominence when a former governor of Idaho, Frank Steunenberg, was assassinated.  McParland again used his tactics of coercing confessions from those in the mining organizations against the leaders, as he had done in Pennsylvania. 

McParland's fame, or notoriety, helped define what a private detective was, and what role he could play in society.  Most saw McParland as a hero, who used whatever means were available to crush organizations that terrorized entire states, and that local law enforcement were often powerless against.  Yet, those on the opposite side saw him as a traitor and a rat, an informer of the worst sort, who would stop at nothing to gain his wins.  These two opposing viewpoints are still prevalent today, depending on one's view of the labor wars.
Beau Riffenburgh has written a meticulously researched history of James McParland, and the large cases that consumed the country as law enforcement became stronger and the unions and the capitalists fought their battles.  The reader is given all the facts and left to make their own decision on whether McParland is a hero or a horror.  This book is recommended for history lovers and for those interested in the law enforcement occupation. 

The Absence Of Mercy by John Burley

Dr. Ben Stevenson lives a  normal life.  The county's medical examiner, he is married to Susan who is also a doctor.  They have two bright, energetic sons.  Thomas is sixteen and Joel is eight.  The Stevensons left the hustle of the city and traded in their stressful lives for the easy day-to-day life of a small town, one where everyone knows everyone else and not much happens.

That all changes one day when a teenage boy goes missing and is found killed in the woods.  Not just killed, but brutally mutilated.  Ben is drawn into the case since he has to do the autopsy, and he can't stop seeing the horrors inflicted on this child.  He becomes defensive, wanting his wife to take the boys and leave town but she convinces him this was a random act that won't reoccur.

Until it does.  The next victim is a girl whose attack is also savage, although she barely escapes with her life.  Her parents are close friends with the Stevensons, drawing them even further into the investigation.  A suspect is located but escapes the police.  The town starts to change, with fewer people outside and everyone starting to look askance at their neighbors.  Trust is starting to dissipate, and there are murmurs against those heading up the investigation. 

John Burley has written a chilling look at how quickly our everyday routine lives can change and how quickly neighbor can be set against neighbor.  He explores the parental responsibility in such a situation and how differing parental styles can create stress in a marriage.  The reader is caught up in a situation that he can barely imagine, and yet can imagine only too well.  This book is recommended for mystery lovers.

On The Horizon 11/20/13

Time for another listing of books I've purchased or otherwise acquired in the past few weeks.  These will be reviewed as I can get to them.

1.  Still Life With Bread Crumbs, Anna Quindlen, Shelf Awareness book
2.  The Housemaid's Daughter, Barbara Mutch, Shelf Awareness book
3.  Psychotherapy Of Character, Robert Berezin, sent by author
4.  This Dark Road To Mercy, Wiley Cash, sent by publisher
5.  After I'm Gone, Laura Lippman, sent by publisher
6.  Princesses Behaving Badly, Linda Rodriguez McRobbie, sent by publisher
7.  Commodore, Simon Sobo, sent by publisher
8.  Neope's War, Tod Langley, sent by publisher
9.  Little Failure, Gary Shteyngart, Shelf Awareness book
10.  Philida, Andre Brink, Paperbackswap book
11.  The Black Isle, Sandi Tan, Paperbackswap book
12.  Day For Night, Frederick Reiken, Paperbackswap book
13.  Organized To Death, Jan Christensen, sent by author
14.  The Book Of Jonah, Joshua Max Feldman, sent by publisher

I'm especially excited to have received Neope's War by Tod Langley.  This is the final book in his The Erinia Saga and I've read and reviewed the first two.  Add to that, Tod is a super nice guy and you'll see why I can't wait to read this one!

Enon by Paul Harding

Charlie Crosby is an average guy.  His wife, Susan, is a teacher, and Charlie runs a landscaping business.  They live in Charlie's hometown and have one daughter, Kate.  They don't have much materially, but what they have is enough.  Kate is the best thing they've done in their lives and is the center of their existence.  Charlie loves the town and its history and spends lots of time with his daughter introducing her to the land and the history.  When Kate is thirteen, she is struck on her bicycle by a car and killed.  Enon is the story of the year that follows.

It is clear fairly quickly that Kate was the reason for their marriage; the glue that held it together.  Susan goes home to her family for a visit soon afterwards, and never returns.  Charlie is left to himself, to endlessly replay the shining moments he shared with Kate and to experience the fathomless grief that overwhelms him.  Work falls by the wayside first.  Then he falls into addiction as he attempts to get past the rock that crushes him, the fact that stares him in the face every moment he is awake. 

Soon Charlie spends his nights wandering the towns, walking miles in an attempt to recreate past moments of happiness and to avoid remembering the hell his life has become.  He takes no care of himself and is soon gaunt and unkempt.  As the year progresses, he falls further and further outside his previous existence, as he tries to chase down the meaning of what has occurred and how he can ever start to live life again.

Paul Harding is that rare author who strikes gold with his debut novel.  Tinkers won the Pulitzer Prize the year it was published, and was an American Library Association Notable Book.  Harding won the Pen/Robert Bingham Fellowship For Writers.  In this second novel, he returns to the New England environment and the family of that book; Charlie is the grandson of the protagonist of Tinkers. 

Readers will be taken into the intimate, soul-wrenching events that occur after the death of a child.  It is a harrowing read at times, but tells the truth of those parents who have lost their child.  There is no grief that can compare, and that grief is a greedy one.  In addition to the child, it can eat up marriages, jobs, health, and the will to live.  This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction, and those who want to know what this life event is like from the raw inside. 

Cinnamon And Gunpowder by Eli Brown

Woe has befallen Owen Wedgwood.  It is 1819, and he has just been kidnapped by the notorious female pirate, Hannah Mabbot, the redheaded scourge of the seas.  A sworn enemy of his employer, Lord Ramsey, and the Pendleton Trading Company, Mabbot has made it her task to plunder and sink every trade ship of the company she encounters.  Now she has captured Ramsey and his crew, and wastes no time executing them all.  All except Wedgwood, Ramsey's famous chef.  To him, Mabbot makes a deal.  She will keep him alive for as long as he makes her a gourmet meal once a week.

Thus begins the story of the pirate and the chef.  As the days turn into weeks and then months, Owen's initial fear and loathing of Mabbot turns into something more like admiration.  She does have the love and loyalty of her crew, and it isn't an easy job to win the hearts of a pirate crew.  She does love his food.  Who wouldn't?  Here is the description of one meal:

"Three courses," I announced.  "Herring pate with rosemary on walnut bread.  Tea-smoked eel ravioli seared with caramelized garlic and bay leaf.  As as touché finale, rum-poached figs stuffed with Pilfered Blue cheese and drizzled with honey."

As time goes by, Owen makes grudging friendships with the pirates and learns more of Mabbot's story.  Rather than being a miscreant out solely for treasure and impelled by greed, she fights Ramsey's company due to their trade in opium and the lives they destroy with this trade.  She also fights Ramsey for the Brass Fox, the only other pirate feared and admired as she is.  They both want to find the Fox and win him to their side in their war.

Eli Brown has written a lilting, adventurous tale of pirates and treasure, of loyalty and treachery, of food and friendship and a different way of life.  The characters are larger than life, and the reader is drawn into their world, fascinated by this glimpse into another way of life.  This book is recommended for readers interested in adventure and those looking for a book that is just plain fun.  For above all, Brown has created a fun tale that will leave the reader smiling as they close the book for the last time. 

The House Of Journalists by Tim Finch

The House Of Journalists is a government sponsored organization in London set up to provide shelter for refugee journalists who had been forced out of their own countries by political actions of the government.  Many of these men and women had lost their families, had been tortured and reviled, and escaped at great personal cost to a country where they hope to find refuge.  The House is set up to provide that refuge and to give these journalists a place to freely express the stories that were prohibited in their own countries.

The stories are horrendous.  There is Mr. Stan, a journalist who was born afflicted with a crippling disease.  Almost the only part of his body unaffected were his beautiful hands and his active mind.  When he is arrested and held by the government, his torturers ruined his hands, beating them with hammers until they are nothing more than stumps.  Mustapha is grateful for the shelter, but he misses the family he has left behind so badly that he spends many days in his room, too depressed to interact with others.  Agnes, a photojournalist, has escaped at great personal cost, and of course the atrocities visited on women differ from those meted out to men, including sexual abuse. 

All are grateful to have found the House of Journalists, and its freedom.  But are they really free here?  Their days are structured by the rules and regulations of the House, and their stories are co-opted by those who would use them for their own purposes.  There is Julian, who created the House and now rules it with an iron fist.  There is Edward Crumb, a liberal novelist who sees the chance to use these stories for his next big book. 

Tim Finch has written an interesting look at the refugee issue that explores this problem from all sides.  The stories are compelling, but before a refugee is granted a permanent stay, the validity of that story must be decided on by a committee who grants extension, or deports the individual before them.  The refugees are grateful, but also realize the freedoms they are giving up to be sheltered by others.  This book is recommended for readers interested in the world and how political wars and governments shifts can impact the population of those living there, and what those of us lucky enough to avoid such titanic shifts owe to those caught up in this nightmare.

This Is The Story Of A Happy Marriage by Ann Patchett

Ann Patchett is known these days as the voice of the independent bookseller after opening a successful bookstore in Nashville.  She claims that title with pride, but of course, she is also one of this country's preeminent novelists.  In This Is The Story Of A Happy Marriage, Patchett lets the reader into her life.  The book is a collection of essays she has written at various times, and is an exploration of her life. 

One of the early essays is titled The Getaway Car.  In it, Patchett explores her writing life; how she learned to write by starting with short stories, the mentors she had such as Allen Gurganus and Grace Paley, and the friends she made such as Elizabeth McCraken who sustained her as she found her writing voice.  She talks about her time in education, both on the undergraduate level and in a MFA program.  Along with these memories, she dispenses writing advice to those interested in becoming authors; what worked for her and what she has found unhelpful.

Other essays explore her childhood in Tennessee, her first disastrous marriage, the jobs she took in order to support herself as she got established as a writer, and her family relationships.  She discusses the love she has for her mother and father and the great influence her grandmother had on her life.  Patchett writes about her successful second marriage.  She also writes about one of the other loves of her life, her dog.

In 2006, Patchett's book about her friendship with Lucy Grealy was chosen as the freshman required read at Clemson University in South Carolina.  Lucy was also a writer, and her life was marked by her childhood bout with cancer, and the years of surgery and chemotherapy that cured her, but only after disfiguring her severely.  After her death, Patchett wrote the book Truth And Beauty to memorialize Lucy's life.  Fundamentalists in South Carolina disapproved of the book which had sex and drugs in it, and attempted to get Clemson to rescind the selection and ban Patchett from the campus.  She writes about this time in her life, and the convocation speech she gave to that freshman class.  It is a stirring indictment of ignorance and how a writer should respond to such criticism.

This book is highly recommended for both readers and writers.  What shines through is Patchett's true vocation as an author; one that she was willing to make any sacrifice for.  It is interesting to note the loyalty she gives to anything she takes up; her family, her pet, her marriage, her friends, even her city of Nashville, Tennessee.  It is rewarding for readers to hear about the authors she thinks are good authors, and validating for those who also appreciate them.  The reader will finish this book with a new appreciation for Patchett and her mark on American literature. 

Miranda's Big Mistake by Jill Mansell

Miranda can't seem to catch a break.  She's the lowest rung on the totem pole in Fenn's successful hair salon, mostly stocking shelves and washing hair when she knows she could be a great hair stylist.  She can't afford a place of her own, but luckily has found accommodations with an older woman who needs some help about her place.  Her best friend, Chloe, has just had her husband walk out when hears the news that Chloe is pregnant.  Worst of all, Miranda can't find her own true love.

Then things seem to change.  She meets and falls for Greg, who seems to be the man of her dreams.  He even asks her to marry him and gives her a ring.  The thing is, he is the cad that just walked out on Chloe, and when that comes to light, obviously the relationship is over.  Miranda meets other men, some attractive, some not, some interested, some not, and continues seeking for the true love that will change her life.

Jill Mansell cannot write a bad book.  Her novels are the ultimate feel-good, picker-upper books when one needs some relief from the unending drama of heavier novels.  The characters are always engaging and endearing.  The plots are complicated, yet all seems to end up well, with the good guys always triumphing in the end.  Readers will turn the last page with a smile on their face, satisfied that all has worked out for the best.  This book is recommended for readers who enjoy a light optimistic read which leaves them feeling that all is right with the world.

Police by Jo Nesbo

Things are going pretty well for Harry Hole these days.  He's off active duty in the police department where the stress and danger almost killed him.  Instead, he is teaching at the police academy, much healthier and happier.  He is back with Rakel, his longtime love, and her son, Oleg, who he considers his own. 

And yet.  It would be foolish to say Harry didn't miss the department and active investigations.  When you are the best at something, it's hard to put it down.  He still has secrets and enemies more than ready to reveal them if he comes back.  How he manages to make enemies of people like the Chief of Police and his right-hand man is hard to understand for those who don't know him.

Then the unimaginable happens.  Police are being targeted and killed.  Not just shot in the commission of a crime, but lured to the scene of former murders and killed in an imitation of the previous crime.  No one who knows and loves Harry wants to pull him back, but when they are stumped, it just is inevitable to ask.  Harry resists, but as the crimes start striking closer and closer to him and targeting his former friends and colleagues, he is pulled back into the investigation.

This is the tenth Harry Hole mystery, and the reader turns the last page eager and impatient for the next.  Jo Nesbo is at the top of the crime writers' game.  His lead character is distinct yet believable, and his loyalty to those he loves is admirable.  The crimes are unusual and the solutions always a surprise.  This book is recommended for mystery lovers.

The Whole Golden World by Kristina Riggle

Imagine, if you can.  You're a typical middle-class family in a small town.  You run a small business and your husband is the assistant principal at the local high school.  You have twin sons just starting high school and a daughter who is graduating.  She excels both in music and grades, and has a bright future in front of her.

Now imagine that you are in a courtroom.  The crime?  A young high school teacher is on trial for sexual crimes against a teenager.  Your teenager, your bright golden girl.  Now imagine she walks into the courtroom and instead of sitting with you and your husband, marches over and sits behind the defendant, showing the entire court that she is on his side, and that she insists they are in love.  He insists that it never happened, that your daughter had a wildly inappropriate crush on him and made advances but that he never responded.

This is the nightmare that Kristina Riggle serves up in The Whole Golden World.  She explores the feelings of all affected.  Seventeen-year-old Morgan Monetti is determined to stand by the man the world thinks has ruined her life.  The family must move from a typical life with friendships in a small town taken for granted, to a life where whispers and comments about them are the norm.  The family of the teacher, TJ Hill, are also affected, so embarrassed and shamed that they want to disappear.  Except for his wife, Rain, who also believes in him and is determined to stand by him.

Readers of family dramas and parents will find this novel riveting.  As much as one wants to believe it could never happen to them, Riggle makes it plain that it could happen to anyone when circumstances line up perfectly for disaster. Morgan feels neglected in her family, looked over in favor of her brothers.  TJ is struggling in his first year of teaching calculus and as his marriage is strained by everyday events, looks elsewhere for validation.  His wife is determined to make her marriage work and have the family she always dreamed of.  All must look inside themselves to discover what led to this place and how to move on from it.  This book is recommended for those interested in family dynamics and how to survive a tragedy. 

On The Horizon, October 30, 2013

This week was an explosion of books!  Most were either Vine review books from Amazon or review books for the site Curled Up With A Good Book.  I've got my work cut out for me!

1.  The Republic Of Thieves, Scott Lynch, Vine
2.  The Explanation For Everything, Lauren Grodstein, Vine
3.  Guests On Earth, Lee Smith, Vine
4.  The Kept, James Scott, Vine
5.  30 Days In Sydney, Peter Carey, Paperback Swap
6.  The Child's Child, Barbara Vine, Paperback Swap
7.  The Mirrored World, Debra Dean, Curled Up With A Good Book
8.  The Kill Room, Jeffrey Deaver, Curled Up With A Good Book
9. The Small Hand And Dolly, Susan Hill, Curled Up With A Good Book
10.  Steelheart, Brandon Sanderson, Curled Up With A Good Book
11.  Field Notes From A Hidden City, Esther Woolfson, Curled Up With A Good Book
12.  Best Food Writing 2013, Holly Hughes, Curled Up With A Good Book
13.  Farthing, Jo Walton, Curled Up With A Good Book
14.  The Bones Of Paris, Laurie R. King, Curled Up With A Good Book
15.  Under The Wide And Starry Sky, Nancy Horan, Curled Up With A Good Book
16.  Our Picnics In The Sun, Morag Joss, Curled Up With A Good Book
17.  Ghosts Know, Ramsey Campbell, Curled Up With A Good Book
18.  City Of Lost Dreams, Magnus Flyte, sent by publisher
19.  The Deepest Secret, Carla Buckley, sent by publisher
20.  The Family, David Laskin, sent by publisher
21.  Surviving 26th Street, Carol June Stover, sent by author
22.  Andrew's Brain, E.L. Doctorow, sent by publisher
23. The Last Enchantments, Charles Finch, sent by publisher
24.  Darshan, Amrit Chima, sent by author
25.  White Fire, Preston & Child, sent by publisher

Visit in the coming weeks and months for reviews!

The Wicked Girls by Alex Marwood

Twenty-five years ago, Jade Walker and Annabel Oldacre were the most famous and most reviled children in England.  Left to their own devices by uncaring parents, they had drifted together for an afternoon; an afternoon that ended in the death of a five year old child they were watching.  The country exploded into recriminations and discussions about whether an individual can be born wicked.  The girls were sent into the prison system and released when they were adults, with new names and the hope that they could live reformed lives.

Now there is a murderer in the coastal town of Whitmouth.  Whitmouth is a tourist town, cheap for those without the means to go overseas.  It is a collection of take-away food, cheap amusements such as pubs and Funnland and the wax museum.  Four women have been killed by the man the press is calling The Seaside Strangler. 

This case will have far-reaching effects beyond that of the murder case itself.  For the girls, who haven't seen each other since their trial, will both be drawn in.  Annabel is now Amber Gordon, the head cleaner at Funnland.  She spends her nights cleaning and has carved out a small life for herself, with a live-in boyfriend and two dogs to spend her affection on.  Jade has done a bit better; she is now Kristy Lindsay, a journalist who is assigned to the case.  Kristy has clawed her way into the middle class, with a husband, children and a respectable job. 

The women run into each other in the course of the investigation, and realize the truth of who each one is.  They have no desire to see each other again; each is a reminder of the worst day of their lives and all that they have fought to overcome.  Yet circumstances force them together and before everything is over, they will have to decide if they are still the wicked girls or if they have learned a new way of living life.

Alex Marwood has written a suspenseful story that captures the reader at the first chapter and never lets go of them.  The reader can emphasize with each of the women and with what is happening to them as the investigation pulls their lives out of control.  It brings up the question of nature vs. nurture and how one can redeem an evil act.  This book is recommended for suspense readers.

We Are Water by Wally Lamb

Twenty-seven years into a marriage everyone assumed was solid, Annie and Orion Oh have split up.  They seemed the perfect family.  Orion was a psychologist and Annie a rising star in the art world.  They have three children, male and female twins and a younger daughter.  Not only are they breaking up, but Annie is getting remarried.  She is marrying the woman who represents her art, Viveca.

Shaken to the core, the family looks backward to see if they can determine what went wrong.  Orion was the typical work obsessed husband and father, leaving most of the child care to Annie.  Annie resented her long hours at home with three small children when she was consumed with her artistic vision.  She is also haunted by her family background; her mother's early death and father's subsequent disappearance into a bottle, leaving Annie to be raised in foster families.

Slowly, over a series of scenes from the past, the secrets of the family are uncovered.  Ariane, the elder daughter is a do-gooder who is letting her own life slip by as she tries to help others.  Her twin, Andrew, doesn't seem able to maintain a relationship.  The youngest, Marissa, is trying to become an actor to limited success.  Their failure to thrive is explained as the reader learns the family secrets and what went on in their childhood, tainted by Annie's own miserable childhood.

Wally Lamb has written a fascinating exploration of what makes a family, what holds it together and what tears it apart.  As more layers of family secrets are finally exposed, the family learns about each other in an unvarnished truth and how to find each other as adults.  The book explores the many facets of love; marital love, the love of a parent for a child, and of children working out adult relationships between each other.   It also details the unforeseen tragedies that can result from festering secrets.  This book is recommended for readers interested in family relationships and how we can help, not hurt, those we love most.

The Lola Quartet by Emily St. John Mandel

They were the Lola Quartet, a group of Florida high school seniors who came together  to make music.  Their futures were bright as they finished their high school careers before venturing out into the world.  Gavin is planning to escape the heat of Florida to his dream city of New York City to pursue journalism.  Sasha is planning a life of books as she pursues a degree in literature.  Daniel is planning a career in house construction.  Jack, the best musician of them all, is taking his talent to college for a music degree.  Then there is Anna, Gavin's girlfriend and Sasha's sister,  who is always around on the periphery, kind of a wild child who will be staying behind for another year.

Ten years later, the dreams have not materialized.  Gavin is a newspaper reporter until he commits a professional error that can't be forgiven and loses his job.  Jack is mired in drug addiction.  Daniel is now a policeman while Sasha is a waitress in an all night diner, recovering from out of control gambling.  No one is really sure what happened to Anna, who disappeared after that summer.  Some said she went to live with an aunt, some say she went out west, but no one is really sure exactly where she is or what happened to her.

All four are back in their small Florida town.  Gavin's sister finds a picture in a house she is viewing in her role as a real estate agent.  The little girl in the picture looks exactly like she and Gavin, and when she asks, the woman keeping the girl says her name is Chloe Montgomery.  Montgomery is Anna's last name.  Did Anna have Gavin's baby a decade ago without telling him?

This discovery fuels the rest of the novel.  Gavin is determined to find Anna and Chloe to make sure they don't need anything from him.  Daniel and Jack seem to know parts of the story, maybe even where Anna is, but won't tell him.  Jack is too caught up in his drug dreams, while Daniel seems hostile.  When Gavin finds Sasha, she starts to give him bits and pieces as he uses his investigative skills to extract the story of what happened all those years ago.  Gavin's investigation puts a deadly plan in place, as it is misinterpreted by the players as a danger to the secret they've all been hiding for a decade.

Mandel has written a novel that explores the way life turns out so differently from what we had planned and expected as young adults.  Dreams don't always come true, but there is comfort in ordinary lives as well.  Early ties can turn into adult relationships that can provide sustenance, both material and emotional.  Her strength is character development, and the reader inhabits the lives of all the main characters, understanding the motives that drive their actions and hoping for satisfactory resolutions.  This book is recommended to readers of literary fiction and those interested in how lives twist and turn as we constantly reinvent ourselves.

The Death Of Bees by Lisa O'Donnell

Today is Christmas Eve.  Today is my birthday. Today I am fifteen. Today I buried my parents in the backyard. Neither of them was beloved

This opening is one of the most startling beginnings I can remember. Marine has spent her childhood taking care of herself and her younger sister, Kelly. Their parents are drug addicts and it is never as important to provide for their children as it is to get the next fix. So when they die from their habits Marnie decides to just keep on taking care of her family and not risk being separated from her sister by the social services system.

Lennie is their next door neighbor, an elderly gay man whose partner has passed on.  He realises that the girls are alone, and starts to have them over to feed them. Soon a new family has formed. Kelly thrives under the attention and Marnie starts to relax.

Unfortunately, things don't last. It turns out her dad had stolen money from the local drug dealer and he wants it back.  The girls' grandfather shows up and wants them to move in with him although he is a stranger to them. Will the girls ever catch a break and find peace and a family to love?

Lisa O'Donnell has written a compelling novel about family and the lengths we will go to in order to feel we belong. Marnie is a tough, no nonsense heroine that the reader can't help but to cheer for. This book is recommended for readers ready for an uplifting book that will surprise and delight them.

In A Small Town by Marc A. Di Giacomo

Detective Matt Longo is shot with a shotgun blast as he goes to pick up a pizza.  A young detective, he now has a shattered shoulder.  As he recuperates, he starts to look back over his career, and the deaths he has attended as a policeman.  He thinks about his fellow officers, especially his partner Donny Mello, who is currently in Italy attending a family member's funeral.

Eventually, Matt goes back to work.  Donny returns from Italy, and all returns to normal.  Or at least that's how it seems at first.  Then Matt gets the word from a FBI agent that the agency has information that the shooter who tried to kill him is coming back to finish the job.  Matt will need all his skill and connections to make sure that the assassin isn't successful.

Marc Di Giacomo is a retired, highly decorated police detective who worked for a police department in an affluent community in New York.  He draws on his real life experiences to show the reader what the daily life of a police detective is like, as well as the heart stopping terror it can provide at any moment.  This book is recommended for readers who like hard-boiled mystery stories.

On The Horizon

Last week was a slow week in books in, which is good as it means I'll get a chance to catch up a bit.  Here's the weekly catch:

1.  The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt.  Won from Shelf Awareness
2. The Blooding Of Jack Absolute by C.C. Humphries.  Sent by publisher.
3.  The Geek's Guide To Dating by Eric Smith.  Sent by publisher.
4.  Pinkerton's Greatest Detective by Beau Riffenburgh.  Sent by publisher.
5.  Theft by Peter Carey.  Paperbackswap.

Here's what I'm reading this week:

1.  In A Small Town by Marc Di Giacomo
2.  The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson
3.  The Wicked Girls by Alec Garwood
4.  The Death Of Bees by Lisa O'Donnell
5.  The Lola Quartet by Emily St. John Mandel
6.  The Palaver Tree by Wendy Unsworth

Black Dog by Stephen Booth

The Peak District in England's Derbyshire usually faces only minor crime, such as stealing from tourist cars.  But that all changes when fifteen year old Laura Vernon, daughter of the area's wealthiest family, goes missing.  The police gear up for a major search, but the search turns into a murder investigation when her body is discovered.

Ben Cooper is the force's up and coming detective; a home town man familiar with the area and the people who live there.  His almost assured promotion to Sargent is put in danger by the arrival of Diane Fry, a driven detective who comes to area determined to make her way up the police ranks as quickly as possible.  The two detectives are teamed together but do not care for each other at all. 

As the investigation progresses, a multitude of suspects emerge.  There is the Vernon's gardener, a young man recently fired by Vernon and seen talking with Laura shortly before her disappearance.  The elderly man who found the shoe that led to the body's discovery, Harry Dickinson, is one of a trio of men who have no love for the Vernons and harbor a grudge against the family.  Graham Vernon has business associates who share secrets with him that they might kill to protect.  There is a local boyfriend who the family wouldn't have approved of, had they known about him.  All these suspects have Cooper and Fry spinning as they attempt to determine who killed Laura Vernon.

This is the first of the Cooper and Fry series, which currently numbers thirteen novels.  It won the Barry Award for Best British Crime Novel and was a finalist for the Anthony Award for Best First Mystery.  The interplay between Cooper and Fry and the British setting are interesting, and the crime story is revealed at a pace that keeps the reader turning the pages.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.

The Rathbones by Janice Clark

The Rathbones are whalers.  No more needs to be said, they are made for whaling, and whaling is their life.  The patriarch, Moses, can sense a whale swimming deep.  He mans his ships with his own sons, taking wife and wife to fill his boats.  No one can touch the skill of the Rathbones, and it brings them wealth.

But years go by and the world turns, changing.  The whales are gone, and the Rathbones have dwindled.  Was it because the whales swam elsewhere?  Was it because the Rathbone men brought the golden sisters of the Starks to live in their mansion, and loving them so much, ignored the sea?  Was it because they abandoned the old ways?

Now, Mercy Rathbone is the only one left, she and her mother who waits endlessly for her father.  She has an uncle, Mordecai who lives in the attic, studying ancient tomes and learning the lore of sailing.  When a night of secrets breaks open, Mordecai and Mercy flee the Rathbone mansion, to sail in search of her father and to discover the truth of their family heritage.

Janice Clark has written a haunting, mystical, lilting novel of the whaling era and the men and women who made up a way of life.  The characters are original and the reader won't forget them.  As Mercy and Mordecai sail in search of their family's secrets, the reader is drawn along with them, eager to hear more about this family and how it lived.  This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction, and those who would learn about a way of life now extinct.

Backlash by Lynda La Plante

Police pull over a van being driven erratically in the London borough of Hackney.  Inside they find a woman's body and take the driver in for questioning.  He realizes that he is definitely going down for the murder and starts to brag about other murders he has committed.  He drops hints that one of his former victims may have been the station's most celebrated cold case; the kidnapping of a thirteen year old girl five years before. 

Before more details can be extracted, the murderer, Oates, changes his mind and recants everything he has said.  But the police inspector in charge, DCI Mike Lewis, believes the confessions and starts an inquiry into the possible other murders.  His Chief Inspector, James Langdon, was the DCI in charge of the young girl's disappearance, and his ability to solve the case has been a nagging issue for him.  Langdon is out on sick leave, but insists on being kept up to date on progress.  He also brings in his best detective, DCI Anna Travis, to concentrate on the girl's case while the other case inquiries proceed.  While there is some tension between Lewis and Travis, they soon realize that they need to work together as more and more layers of Oates crimes becomes apparent.  They soon realize that this is no common murderer, but a serial killer who has victims going back several years to his credit.

This is the eighth Anna Travis novel written by Lynda La Plante.  It is an engrossing police procedural, both pointing out the detailed investigation involved, and the constraints the police must work under.  Bits of evidence that seem to point to guilt can be turned around as proof of innocence or police harassment that can free a suspect.  The investigation is fascinating, and the interplay between the officers involved realistic.  The murder suspect and the way his mind and actions are revealed layer by layer are extremely well done.  This book is recommended for mystery lovers.

The Preservationist by Justin Kramon

It's fall, and new students have arrived on campuses across the nation, each ready to start a new chapter in their life.  This is a time for making new friends, for learning to make your own decisions about how you'll spend your time and studies, for finding a new group and attempting to fit in, maybe for a new love. 

Julia, Sam and Marcus have all arrived at the college town, each bringing with them hopes and dreams as well as the baggage of their past lives.  Each is a bit introverted, preferring their own company to that of the frantic parties and socializing that many freshman fall into.  Julia and Marcus are both students, each with a musical background.  Sam is something different.  About to turn forty, he drifts from college town to college town, always searching for what he missed in his youth, and for a woman who can make him whole.

Both men fall in love with Julia.  She is torn between them, and a rivalry develops.  Marcus is sure Sam is bad news, and Sam is determined to keep Marcus from compromising his relationship with Julia.  Things are tense and the atmosphere is not helped by a series of attacks on women on the campus.  Both men accuse the other of being the rapist, and both try to get Julia to stop seeing the other.  Is this a common rivalry or is one man correct in his assessment of the other as a threat?

Justin Kramon has written a taut, compelling thriller.  The reader is introduced to the characters and then slowly incidents and bits of past history are revealed that make one wonder if their thoughts about each person are correct.  By the end of the book, the reader is determined to discover who is doing what, and who can be trusted, if anyone.  The themes are self-forgiveness for past mistakes, and learning to trust your own decisions.  This book is recommended for thriller lovers who won't be disappointed in this believable step into a nightmare. 

Nemesis by Bill Pronzini

Jake Runyon is carrying most of the weight at the San Francisco detective agency these days.   Tamara is the office person who does the computer research.  Bill, the agency's founder, is only working once in a while.  Kerry, his wife, is recuperating and he is taking care of her while she does so. 

Verity Daniels comes into the agency with a big problem.  Newly wealthy due to an inheritance, she has only lived in San Francisco a few months.  She reports that she is being extorted by a man who calls and threatens her harm if she doesn't pay him money.  Verity has no idea who it could be, or what they think they have on her.  Runyon begins the case, putting traps on her phone and covering her on an attempt to deliver the money.  No calls are coming in, or at least none that show up on the recorders and the drop-off is a no-show.  Verity seems more interested in Jake than in her danger and things just aren't adding up.

When Jake decides to back off, Verity is incensed.  She files an assault case against him and then a civil case against the agency.  When she is murdered a few days later, the obvious suspect is Jake, who is arrested.  Bill must return to work and try to find out what Verity's game was, and who could have wanted to kill her.

Bill Pronzini has been writing about Bill, better known as 'The Nameless Detective' for many years, and this is the latest in the series.  Fans will be quick to obtain and read this novel, as the cast of characters are old friends.  Those who have not yet been introduced to Pronzini's detectives have a treat in store.  Pronzini has written thirty-five Nameless novels, mostly alone but some in collaboration with his wife, mystery writer Marcia Muller, and other collaborators.  He is a Mystery Writers of America Grand Master and no one writes better about the life of a private investigator.  This book is recommended for mystery fans.

On The Horizon October 9, 2013

This week's listing of new books that have managed to get in the door is skewed.  I won a gift certificate on Amazon so ordered several new books there.  Here's the list:

1.  How Should A Person Be?, Sheila Heti, purchased
2.  Mason's Retreat, Christopher Tilghman, purchased
3.  Civilization, Niall Ferguson, purchased
4.  The Right-Hand Shore, Christopher Tilghman, purchased
5.  Tides Of War, Stella Tillyard, purchased
6.  The Girl With A Clock For A Heart, Peter Swanson, sent by publisher
7.  In And Out, Mat Coward, paperbackswap
8.  Over And Under, Mat Coward, paperbackswap
9.  Up And Down, Mat Coward paperbackswap
10.  The Tale Of The Wulks, V.K. Green, sent by author
11.  The Absence Of Mercy, John Burley, sent by publisher
12.  Inferno, Dan Brown, sent by publisher
13.  Police, Jo Nesbo, sent by Vine review program on Amazon
14.  Prodigal Son, Debra Mullins, sent by publisher

Close To The Bone by Stuart MacBride

Things are chaotic in DS Logan McRae's Aberdeen, Scotland home.  Rival drug gangs are fighting over product and territory and the local crime lord wants McRae to mediate.  He has a new chief, DI Steele, who rides him day and night and makes the most outlandish requests.  There is a movie being filmed about witches in the city, and someone seems to be taking it way too seriously by imitating the scenes in the book.  Unfortunately, those scenes include murdering those the book's protagonist considers to be witches.  McRae's girlfriend is still in the hospital from his last case, and his apartment is still uninhabitable.  Finally, someone is leaving small bundles of tied bones around his temporary home.

Then the murders start.  The first is a derelict who is necklaced--fitted with a tire over his head trapping his arms and then set alight.  This scene is straight out of the movie.  A local teenager, who is off her meds, is missing, and she is convinced she is the true witch finder.  Is she responsible for the murder?  As the cases progress, more murders occur and time is running out for McRae.  Can he solve the cases before he is targeted himself?

Close To The Bone is the eighth Logan McRae novel, and fans will rejoice that he has returned.  Those who start with this book will be fine, except for one thing:  as soon as I turned the last page, I went out and bought the first three.  The dialect and conversation between McRae and those he works with and encounters are sterling.  McRae is a gritty hero with a good heart who works against time and those twists of fate that seem to occur regularly to solve the crimes that threaten his city.   Fans of Reginald Hill will be reminded of his Dalziel and Pascoe series, except no one would ever accuse McRae of being bookish like Pascoe.  This book is highly recommended for mystery readers.

America's Greatest Blunder by Burton Pines

In this well-researched and page-turning history of World War I, Burton Pines traces America's involvement in the war and the consequences of their decision to enter.  As most know, the war after several years had grown to a stalemate and trench warfare was the result.  Periodically, one side or the other would mount huge offenses to overrun the other side's trenches and force their army into the open but these offenses invariably failed at the expense of thousands of lives on each side.

America remained neutral for the first few years.  There was, Pines argues, no real American incentive to enter as the United States never faced any danger from the war and had no reason to enter.  Then slowly, as Woodrow Wilson moved further into his presidency, the tide shifted and America came to see itself as more aligned with France and Britain.  This perception was created by extensive British propaganda, by America's increasing financial ties with Britain and France, and by one of the most effective American propaganda campaigns to be seen.

Finally, the momentum tipped and America entered the war.  Although American troops never played a deciding role due to the amount of time it took to create a standing army and the logistical support necessary to put it overseas, the mere fact of one side getting millions of replacement troops while Germany had no way to compensate for their lost soldiers created a situation that ended the stalemate.  When new offensives were put in place by Germany in anticipation and failed, and Britain managed to force Germany from their defenses, the war was soon over.

The peace that resulted was, it was argued, a calamity that laid the groundwork for World War II and the Cold War that came after that.  The Treaty of Versailles was punitive in the extreme, forcing Germany to accept all blame, taking territory and natural resources and forcing exorbitant reparations on Germany.  Although the U.S. tried to mediate the terms, France and Britain were determined to force the German government to accept every demand they made.  This laid the groundwork for a weak German administration that fell prey to the appeal of fringe elements such as the Nazi Party.

Burton Pines has written a convincing, well-researched history that manages at the same time to be very understandable to the lay reader.  He has a varied background that makes him an excellent person to write such a book.  After majoring in history and teaching it in college, he moved to Time magazine where he was a reporter and later an editor.  He then spent more than a decade in Washington where he supervised a group of policy experts.  This book is recommended for readers interested in history and how decisions can have far-reaching consequences.

Billy Moon by Douglas Lain

Billy Moon follows the life of a grown-up Christopher Robin Milne, better known as the little boy in the Winnie the Pooh books.  While his father made him famous with the books, as Christopher grew to an adult, he found himself disconnected from life and the expectations others had of him.  They didn't see him as he was in reality; they saw the little boy from the books and expected him to be the same.  When he was a small child, he called himself Billy Moon.  As a man, he was married and ran a bookstore.  This quote from the book demonstrates his remoteness from the life he led:

"Christopher had received scores of fan letters since he's opened the bookshop.  Six-year-olds wrote him to ask about his bear.  Adults who'd read his father's books when they were young wrote to ask the same questions.  Everyone wanted pretty much the same thing, and Christopher couldn't give any answers.  He didn't know how to find the Hundred Acre Wood, and he didn't know where childhood went to over the years, or why it was so difficult to feel real joy.  He threw almost all of the letters away because they weren't for him at all, but were rally addressed to a boy Christopher's father had made up."

Gerrard Hand was a young revolutionary student in Paris.  In 1968, he writes to Chris (as Christopher chose to be named) and asked him to come to France.  Chris isn't sure why, but makes the journey.  He arrives just in time to be caught up in the student revolution of 1968, where schools, factories and government offices are taken over by the students, who wish to create a more liberated world.  Chris gets caught up in the revolution, almost by accident, and it allows him to define the difference between reality and expectation in his own life.

This is Douglas Lain's debut novel, and readers will find it to be an exploration of the world and how we perceive it.  It explores the dichotomy between dreaming and lucidity, between liberation and the confines of expectations, between being free or just thinking about it.  This book is recommended for readers of speculative fiction.

100 Ghosts by Doogie Horner

100 Ghosts by Doogie Horner is a whimsical look at ghosts in cartoon format; the perfect book for fall as Halloween is just around the corner.  Each page introduces the reader to another ghost; on one is the picture of the ghost while the facing page has the description or name.

Some of my favorites were a ghost as a lamp, an undercover cop, Marilyn Monroe and Charlie Brown, but in actuality, each page reveals a new take on ghosts that will have the reader smile or chuckle.  This book is recommended for everyone; children will love it while adults will get enjoyment also. 

Sea Change by S.M. Wheeler

Lilly is born to wealthy parents who reject her due a birth defect.  Alone and unloved, she flees to the beach that surrounds her house and there discovers her only friend, the kraken, Octavius.  From Octavius, she learns the meaning of friendship and love.

When Octavius is captured, Lilly sets forth on a quest to save him.  But this is not a magical fairy tale; it is instead a dark, haunting tale reminiscent of the bleakest of the Grimm fairy tales.  Lilly discovers who has Octavius; a circus master.  He agrees to set him free if she can bring him a magical coat of illusions.  This starts a chain of impossible tasks and an introduction to a myriad of strange folks.  There is the tailor, who wants the body of her undead husband who was captured by a witch.  The witch has been tricked of her skin, and wants it back.  It is held by two bandits. Lilly, or Lyle as she becomes known as on the trail, lives with the bandits as their servant, never sure which act or look might send them into a murderous rage.

But there are compensations also.  Lilly becomes strong with all the physical labor.  She learns who to trust and who never to trust.  She befriends an individual named Horace who has never known friendship before.  When she completes her quest, she learns the hardest lesson of all.  Sometimes even your best does not guarantee a happy ending.

S.M. Wheeler has written an amazing debut novel.  The reader will fall in love on the first page with the languorous, haunting language.  Lilly/Lyle is a character that one cannot help but cheer for as she/he navigates the various difficulties it takes to complete her quest.  There are magical beings; witches, animals turned into humans, automata soldiers, kraken who are more human than the humans who capture it.  This is one of the best fantasy novels of 2013; a true tour-de-force.  This book is recommended for fantasy readers.

On The Horizon--A New Weekly Feature At Booksie's Blog

One thing that book bloggers learn early--there are almost an infinite number of books that are yearning to be read and reviewed!  I get tons of books every week.  I buy a lot, work with many publishers, and get invitations from authors. I'm a Vine reviewer for Amazon and a reviewer for Curled Up With A Good Book.   I have way too many books, and don't accept everything I'm offered.  One of my firm rules is that I will eventually read and review everything I accept.  But that can take a while due to the sheer number of books rolling in.  Regardless of my intentions, I can't really read more than a dozen or so books a month.

So, I've decided to start a new feature.  Every week or so, I'll list the books that I've gotten that are joining the review pile.  Then I'll write the review as normal once I've had a chance to read the book.  That way, authors who have been kind enough to share their books with me but are patiently waiting for a review will at least get their books featured and my readers will know that the book has passed the first level of review with me--that of being accepted from the many that I'm offered.  Without further ado, here's the books that came in this week:

1.  Growing The Money Tree by John Svazic.  Sent by author.
2.  A Permanent Member Of The Family by Russell Banks.  Sent by publisher.
3.  The House Of Journalists by Tim Finch.  An Amazon Vine reviewer book.
4.  The Heavens Rise by Christopher Rice.  Sent by publisher.
5.  The Book Of Night Women by Marlon James.  Paperback Swap book.
6.  The Whole Golden World by Kristine Riggle.  Sent by publisher.
7.  Stone Cold Red Hot by Cath Staincliffe.  Paperback Swap book.
8.  The Peppered Moth by Margaret Drabble.  Paperback Swap book.
9.  Transgressions by Sarah Dunant.  Paperback Swap book.
10  A Glass Of Blessings by Barbara Pym.  Purchased on Kindle.
11.  The Flamethrowers by Rachel Kushner.  Purchased on Kindle.
12.  The Wettest Country In The World by Matt Bondurant.  Purchased on Kindle.
13.  Cold Granite by Stuart MacBride.  Purchased on Kindle.
13.  Dying Light by Stuart MacBride.  Purchased on Kindle.
14.  Broken Skin by Stuart MacBride.  Purchased on Kindle.

Whew!  So if you are an author waiting for a review, take heart.  I will get to you, but there are so many great books in the world that it may take a while. 

The Round House by Louise Erdrich

The year is 1988, and Joe Coutts and his buddies are doing what most 13 year old boys do during summer vacation.  They hang out together talking about girls and sports, they go swimming, they help their relatives and they watch the adults around them, curious about what adults do and what might be expected of them in a few short years.  Joe's father is a tribal judge on the reservation, and his mother work is validating the claims of Indian background that are presented.

One Sunday afternoon, everything changes.  Joe's mother goes to her office to retrieve a file and doesn't come home when expected.  When she manages to get home, it is obvious that she has been beaten and raped.  Joe's world falls apart.  His father, who Joe had admired, he now sees as weak, unable to protect his mother or wreak revenge on her attacker.  His mother goes from the warm, loving fount of his security to a woman holed up in bedroom, not speaking for days on end. 

As the days go by, it becomes clear to everyone around who committed this heinous act.  But due to confusion about whether the rape occurred on Indian land, state land or federal land, the jurisdiction is unclear and the criminal is not arrested.  Now Joe's family must deal with the fact that the man still walks among them, and that they might see him any day, any time they go out in public.  Joe feels impelled to correct the situation, and as the summer draws to a close, his childhood also flees and he joins the world of men, where actions are final and change one forever.

Louise Erdrich has written a compelling novel that outlines the issues still facing the Native Americans.  Small details catch at the reader's attention, such as the joy that is felt when a real grocery store opens and Native Americans can go grocery shopping like any other American.  This book won the National Book Award for fiction.  Readers will be caught up in Joe's life and his struggle to understand adult life and whether it means something different if you are a Native American.  This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction, and those interested in understanding more about the Native American culture.

The Cutting Season by Attica Locke

Everything is changing at Belle Vie, Louisiana.  A historical state site, it is a restored plantation and demonstrates life as it was lived in the antebellum South, complete with mansion, slave quarters, and all that went with maintaining the Southern planter's lifestyle.  Caren Gray is the manager of Belle Vie and lives there full-time with her daughter.  The plantation now has daily shows, and is a popular site for weddings and debutante balls.  Caren actually grew up on Belle Vie land.  Her mother was the cook for many decades and Caren can trace her relationship with Belle Vie back to her ancestors who lived there as slaves.

But all is changing.  A woman's body has been found on the land, and she was murdered.  Who killed this woman, a migrant worker who worked for Groveland?   Groveland is the large agricultural company that rents the Belle Vie land and grows sugar cane there.  There are rumors that the Claney family which has owned Belle Vie since the Civil War are thinking about selling out and closing it down. 

Caren gets caught up in the investigation when one of her workers is suspected of the murder.  Caren's life is also changing, and she isn't sure what she will be doing in the future. Her daughter's father is back in the picture, and their relationship is uncertain.  There are still embers in her former relationship with one of the Clancy brothers.  There is also a new man who she meets as she races to solve the murder before someone else is killed.

Attica Locke has written a tense, compelling mystery.  The atmosphere is moody and dark, the actions clothed in the mysteries of the past.  The changes in the plantation echo the changes Caren is undergoing in her life, and neither will be settled until she reconciles with the past of her family's relationship with the land.  This book is recommended for mystery lovers.

The Yard by Alex Grecian

The year is 1889 and Scotland Yard is just becoming organized as the crime fighting organization it is known as today.   The London Police are reeling from the loss of public confidence due to their lack in solving the Jack The Ripper case, and the new Murder Squad at the Yard is meant to solve the loss of confidence and decrease the crime rate.

Since the squad is new, so are the detectives making up the first group to be singled out as murder specialists.  There is Inspector Day, fresh to London from a more rural part of the country.  Hammersmith started life in a coal mining community and was determined to break away from the life his entire family knew as coal miners.  Blacker is not sure what he wants, but knows he is good at detecting.  Dr. Kingsley is the Yard's first medical examiner and is excited about a crime detection method he has just been introduced to--fingerprints.  Colonel Sir Edward Bradford is the head of the Yard, and has been given the job to develop it into the type of crime fighting unit London can be proud of.

There are, as always, plenty of crime to be solved.  The Murder Squad only has twelve detectives, and one of them has been murdered.  Such a murder makes the men determined to do whatever it takes to catch the killer.  But this isn't the only death they have to work on.  Bearded men are being killed off, and shaved before their throats are cut.  Children disappear from their families, sometimes to live on the streets, but sometimes for more chilling lives as victims. 

Alex Grecian has written a compelling crime novel that mixes history and heart-stopping thrills.  It is fascinating for those who follow crime to read about the start of one of the world's most pre-eminent crime fighting organizations, and the start of modern crime detection methods.  Each of the detectives in the novel have fully developed characters and the reader is pulled along to the end where all the disparate threads of various investigations are pulled together into a satisfactory ending.  This book is recommended for readers of historical mysteries.

Lineup by Liad Shoham

A brutal rape occurs in the northern part of Tel Aviv.  The young woman who is raped is a reluctant reporter, but her parents convince her to notify the police about what has occurred.  Detective Eli Nahum is assigned to the case and is determined to find the rapist.

The victim's father watches outside her apartment, and is rewarded with finding a man skulking around the area at night.  He takes a picture and follows him home, sure that he has found his daughter's assailant.  After confronting her with the picture and getting a reluctant identification, he calls Nahum and turns in the man, Ziv Nevo.

Nevo was in the area, but not as a rapist.  A year ago, he had been fine with a job he enjoyed and a marriage with a small son he adored.  But a series of bad decisions had taken away his job, his marriage and his son, and he is left destitute and unable to find work.  He reaches out to a former friend in the Army, and finds some work, but soon is wrapped up in the clutches of the Israeli mob.  Now Nevo is in fear of his life as both the police and the mob are sure he is someone they need to put away for a long time.

Liad Shoham is one of Israel's leading crime writers, and an attorney.  American readers who haven't had a chance to sample Israeli crime writing will be interested to read this novel, his fifth bestseller.  The plot is intricate, and the characters are finely drawn.  In addition to Nevo and Nahum, there are portraits of a crime reporter looking for a big break, a prosecuting attorney who knows something is wrong although she doesn't know what, the head of the Israeli mob, the editor of the local newspaper, and the other police Nehum works with.  All the threads are woven together into a garment sure to please the reader.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.

The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo

One evening Li Lan's father comes to her with a strange question.  He asked if she would like to become a ghost bride.  A ghost bride was a living woman married to a man who had already died.  The family of Lim Tian Ching had inquired of her father if he and Li Lan would be amenable to this request.  The Lim family was quite wealthy and Li Lan would have no material worries if she agreed.

But, she had no desire for such an inhuman mating.  Indeed, she had fallen in love with Tian Ching's cousin, Tian Bai, and he had been promised to her earlier before Ching had died.  The family now wanted to cancel that engagement and marry her to the dead man they missed so much as a son. 

Soon, Ching began haunting Li Lan's dreams, showing her the palaces and feasts she would have as his wife.  Scared, she got medicine from a medium, but one night when she was more terrified than normal, took too large a dose and her spirit slipped out of her physical body.

Li Lan goes to the Plains of the Dead, to try to determine how to get back into her body and how to ward off her unwelcome suitor.  While there, she tiptoes between those who would help her such as her own deceased relatives, and those that wished to do her harm.  Will she manage to get back into her body before demons claim her?  Can she ward off Ching and find happiness with her first promised mate, Tian Bai?

This is the debut novel by Yangsze Choo, and she shows promise of an intriguing career.  The writing is dreamy, captured in the mists of Chinese beliefs and superstitions.  The reader is caught up in Li Lan's quest, and cheers for her to gain what she most wants in life, someone to love who can love her back.  This book is recommended for readers of historical fiction and those interested in literary fiction.

The Redeemer by Jo Nesbo

Life is different for Inspector Harry Hole, but he is trying.  He has a new boss, as his old boss has been transferred to a quieter location than the Oslo murder division.  The new boss is spit and polish, by the book, and that means either he or Harry will need to change, and change isn't something one associates with Harry.  Harry is also trying sobriety, and that is also something the verdict is out on.

But one thing never changes and that is crime.  It becomes clear that there is a paid assassin operating in Oslo.  The strange thing is that he seems to be targeting Salvation Army officials, who seem an unlikely target for organized crime.  The bodies start to mount, and it becomes clear that this is a Croatian assassin, trained in the wars that tore his country apart.  A war where he got his nickname 'The Redeemer' for his agility and ability to kill the Croatian enemies in the brutal civil war that tore his country apart. 

This is a worthy opponent for Inspector Hole.  He tracks the killer, barely missing him over and over, while he tries to unravel the motives behind the crimes.  There is also a new woman in Harry's life, and perhaps this one will be the one to calm his soul and bring him happiness.  Can Harry find the assassin before he kills again?

This is the sixth of the ten Harry Hole novels by Jo Nesbo.  Fans of the series will be fascinated as always by the intricate plotting and the ways that Harry maneuvers in his job despite his personal failings.  The pace is jolting, and Nesbo spares no one in his storytelling.  This book is recommended for mystery lovers whether they have read prior Nesbo novels or not.  Those who pick up this book are in for a compelling read that will leave them breathless and satisfied.

Lowcountry Bombshell by Susan M. Boyer

Things are heating up in Liz Talbot's life.  After her grandmother's murder, she moved back to the small South Carolina island where her family has lived for decades, and decides to pursue her private investigator career from her home town.  Her new case promises to be challenging.  When she opens her door, her first instinct is shock.  Standing on her porch is Marilyn Monroe, or at least it seems that way.

Calista McQueen not only looks like Marilyn, she shares disturbing similarities to her life.  She was born at the exact date and time as Marilyn, her mother named her Norma Jeane, and she spent her childhood in foster homes.  Her second marriage was to a ballplayer, Joe.  Now Calista is worried that she will be murdered on the anniversary of Marilyn's death, and wants Liz to help her escape what she fears is her fate.

There are plenty of suspects.  There are her birth mother and her mother's best friend, the women who made it their lives' work to remake Calista into the spitting image of Marilyn.  Her first husband has been searching for her for years since she moved away.  Liz isn't happy about the current people surrounding Calista either.  There is a yoga instructor who is in and out of the house, a doctor who seems much too interested in his patient, and a housekeeper with ties to the island but who no one knows much about.  Strange things are occurring as the anniversary gets closer, and Liz is determined to find out who is behind them.

Liz's personal life is heating up also.  Her partner, Nate, has finally realized that they should be partners in life as well as business.  In the meantime, Matt, her ex, has decided to try to win her back.  Nate is her dream but comes at a price as he wants to move her off the island and back to 'civilization'.  Who will she choose?

Susan Boyer has written an engaging mystery that will have readers reaching for a glass of sweet iced tea as they relax on their porches.  Liz is the typical Southern belle, which means her charming exterior masks a steel interior and a determination to win whatever contest she engages in.  The mystery is intriguing, and the denouement is surprising.  This book is recommended for mystery lovers.

The Old Rectory by Julia Ibbotson

As Julia Ibbotson and her husband took stock once the children were gone, they decided that they wanted a change.  They decided what they really wanted as their lifestyle was to move to a more rural setting in England, one where they could be close to the land and its rhythms, where life was slower and easier to savor.  After an extensive search, they found what they thought was the perfect house.  A former rectory, it had been built in the late 1800's and offered the space and location they wanted.

The Old Rectory details the Ibbotson's acquisition and renovation of their dream house.  As one might expect, the house had significant flaws that had to be fixed; dampness and mold as well as antiquated wiring.  The couple wanted to not only modernize the house, but restore it to its original Georgian style.  They also wanted to restore the grounds to their former glory.

Julia is a woman who adores cooking, and each chapter details various traditional English dishes appropriate to the season in which the chapter is written.  The reader will learn how to make such dishes as the traditional English roast, lamb with mint jelly, lots of various fruit puddings, and other wonderful meals. 

As the couple worked on the house, they also became part of village life.  Soon they were involved in various village functions such as choirs, craft classes, a walking group and a group that went on outings.  They made new friends who shared their love of English culture and thought it worth fighting for. 

Ibbotson has written a charming account of how life can be changed as one moves into the later stages of one's life.  The renovation and research into the house's history are interesting, and the recipes are enticing.  American readers need to take extra care with details such as oven temperature and measurements and be sure they have correctly translated the measurements into their American equivalents.  This book is recommended for readers who enjoy cooking as well as those interested in history or how to enrich one's life after the work of raising children is over.