Lowly’s Book Blog

I think I made a mistake. Although several books have been reviewed in between the two, I actually read Bones straight after Obsession. And that was a mistake. I have been reading Kellerman’s Alex Delaware novels every year for the past 20 years, and loving each book in its turn. However, two in a row pointed out the formula Kellerman uses just too obviously.

Innocent youth brutally murdered by a serial killer with a shadowy past. That is the basic plot of all of Kellerman’s works. However, this time the serial killer had been practicing his craft for decades before anyone caught on. And of course it was Alex who decided to go back through the personal backgrounds of everyone even remotely connected to the case and find the link.

This book did introduce a new team of detectives, Moses and Aaron. Moses, or Moe, is a police detective, young and talented, or at least Sturgis thinks so. Aaron was a police detective but long ago left the plodding routine for a much more exciting, or at least profitable, career as a private investigator. Together all four work together and uncover the series of crimes and who-dun-it.

This is an entertaining read, and had I read it as it was released rather than just after Obsession, I am sure that I would have thoroughly enjoyed this like so many other Kellerman novels. And I am not worried by an entertaining read. Sometimes it is nice to have dessert after meat and potatoes.

I have had this book on my personal ‘read when I get time’ shelf for a year now. And this week I was sent Kellerman’s latest Alex Delaware for review. Since I have been reading the whole series, in order, this book had to come first.

To summarize the plot of a Kellerman novel is easy. Murder happens in chapter one. Body discovered chapter 2. Case rapidly gets very difficult so LAPD hand it to Milo, who calls in his friend Alex. More murders, either freshly committed, bodies found or cold cases linked. In this book, all three of the above. However, Alex’s insight into deviant behavior combined with Milo’s dogged policework, get the bad guy in the end, and before he has the chance to murder the sympathetic witness.

I think this is number 22 in the series. Someone is sure to correct me if I am wrong. And sitting on my reading mountain are books 23 and 24. I have read and enjoyed them all. Escapism, yes. This is real page turning mystery. Nothing too subtle. Usually I can work out the bad guy well before the final chapter. This book was no exception. But that doesn’t make it a bad book.

And now for the other Lisa Jackson I read this month. Another crime novel, but this one a little heavier on the romance. A little more illogical, but a lot less killing.

Two twins, both of mature years, but estranged as their personalities grew more and more different. Mary Theresa has changed her name to Marquise (a la Madonna) and moves in minor celebrity circles. As she is getting older she is desperate to hang onto her fame and nothing is too far-fetched to keep her name in the media. Maggie is a single mother raising a 13 year old daughter on a farming property in Idaho. Isolation suits her just fine as she earns her money writing true crime books. But one day she hears MT’s call for help. A psychic link they have shared in times of extreme stress since they were teenagers.

Minutes later MT’s first husband drives up the drive and tells Maggie that her sister has disappeared. She hasn’t been seen for days and her car has been found wrecked. Thane is suspected of foul play, and he wants Maggie to vouch for his reliable character. But Maggie and Thane also have ‘history’. In spite of her misgivings, Maggie sends her daughter to her auntie’s for a visit and heads to Denver with Thane to find out from the police exactly what happened to her sister.

I think this book should really be considered a romance novel. Jackson spends at least as much time rekindling the romance between Maggie and Thane as she does revealing clues to MT’s kidnapping. In fact the solution to the crime is revealed so quickly that it loses all impact. It is as though Jackson wanted to get the plot over quick so she could write another love scene. 

The best bit of this whole story is the beautifully drawn character of Marquise. She is consistently selfish, arrogant and vain. Nothing in the whole world matters, except what she wants. Very rarely does an author take the opportunity to create such an unlovely character and then portray her through the eyes of those who may try to love her.

It is not very often that I receive a book one week and get the review published by then next. But for some reason this Lisa Jackson book appealed to me, so I thought I would get it read and reviewed before the publication date for a change.

Detective Rick Bentz is back, or at least those who have managed to read her US backlist. But as he comes out of a coma, he is certain that he sees his ex-wife in the room. Ex-wife as in buried twelve years ago. As he goes through physio and tries to get back to work, the woman appears again and again, always on the edge of his vision. But then the photos arrive…

Bentz heads to California to get to the bottom of everything. Unfortunately he has history there. He was a cop caught in bad press and with the death of his wife, he sought comfort in the bottle. When a double murder investigation turned cold, Bentz was made a scapegoat for LAPD and left town. When he comes back, no one wants to know. 

So he starts off on his own investigation. He is a detective so he does what he knows best. But then the witnesses he interviews start turning up dead, and Bentz becomes a suspect. 

I thoroughly enjoyed this who-dun-it. I never picked the bad guy, right to the end. And the climax was riveting. Even when the baddie was revealed, there was good suspense as Bentz tried to rescue the last innocent victim. The motives for everybody were believable and the characters were well drawn. I was a little confused about Montoya’s involvement, but everything else was so good I can forgive that.

I did say that I was going to prioritise crime fiction this month. Brownlee is a newcomer to the genre, and he has produced a page turner here.

The book opens with a murder, actually someone being gutted like a fish. And that is only the first of a string of murders, each trying to cover up the first. The setting is Kenya, and the investigation ends up the responsibility of the only honest cop in town. As his investigations continue, he mets an ex-London policeman who has retired to run a big game fishing charter. Jack and Jouma make a powerful team that eventually get to the bottom of the mess. But not before virtually the whole criminal organization gets trigger happy and kill each other off.

As you can see, this is a very bloody book. But the string of murders stayed within character and remained very logical. I have read many sillier plotlines from Agatha Christie, and she is supposedly an authority. However, there was one coincidence that I found hard to swallow. The overall big boss of the organization did not seem credible, it was just one too many neatly tied ends.

I will admit that this book kept me reading. I started and finished it within 24 hours. There was no way I could stop once I started.

I have decided this month to clear the reading pile of all the crime fiction, so look out, Lowly is immersed in murder.

Fat Tuesday starts out in court, unusual. The crim that the cops know is guilty of multiple murders, walks again thanks to his crafty lawyer. But this time it is different. The victim was from the cops, and his partner Burke Basile will not let the killing go unpunished. Basile quits the force and plans his revenge. How to get to the fancy lawyer? He is always surrounded by henchmen, but his wife only has a single bodyguard. Basile figures that kidnapping the wife will be the most effective revenge possible. And he is right, except that once the wife is taken, she is considered damaged goods and her husband demands her death, as well as Basile’s.

Set in the lush richness of New Orleans, at least the idealised one pre-Katrina, and the surrounding bayou, this book is an excellent suspense thriller. No one is exactly as he appears. The twists and double twists keep the pages turning.

As usual, I don’t think much of the cover. It makes it look very chick lit. But wrap the book in plain paper and enjoy a good story.

Interesting read. A little horror, a little romance, a whole lot of police procedural, well kind of, and simply a good read. I think I like this new series of books from Saintcrow.

But I should begin at the beginning. Jill Kismet is a special assistant to the police. She is a Hunter, specially trained to deal with demons, and all forms of hellbreeds. She has been trained by the best, and a good thing too, because her city keeps her very busy, fighting at night and investigating by day. As this story opens, something strange is loose and cops are dying. Jill is determined to stop it, them, whatever it is. What follows is an action adventure that is refreshingly different from many of the other gothic horrors that I have read in the last 12 months.

Saintcrow doesn’t waste a lot of time clearly identifying her evil creatures, vampire, demon, and everything evil is simply hellbreed. Weres can be any animal, not just a wolf, and generally they have established rules and move freely around human society. This provides her with a simple platform to simply get into the action and the adventure. Mostly the good guys and the bad guys are nice and obvious. But our Hunter is definitely a shade of grey.

I really enjoyed reading this book. It never took itself too seriously. Unfortunately however, I doubt very much that I will ever have the time to continue with the series. However, if you are interested, I believe book two is available.

There is no need to introduce this author to anybody. If you have seen the remake of 3.10 to Yuma, or 2 Fast 2 Furious, or even the recently released Wanted, then you have already encountered Derek Haas writing. But the Silver Bear is his first novel, and as you might expect it is a good thriller that won’t make you think too hard.

Columbus is a hitman, very experienced and very creative. He has killed many times using many weapons, including his bare hands. He is at the top of his chosen profession, immune to pressure and untouched by law enforcement. He is what the Russians call a Silver Bear. 

His next hit might just be a little difficult. He has been hired to kill a Presidential candidate while on the campaign trail. But there’s an added incentive, this man happens to be the man who dropped his pregnant girlfriend just before her son was born. This son grew up and now calls himself Columbus.

This book is set in the eight weeks between the acceptance of the job and it’s execution. Most of that time is spent shadowing the target, getting inside his head. If that was all the story contained, it would be a really slow 250 pages. But Haas keeps the story interesting by filling in Columbus’ backstory; his recruitment, first love, mistakes and successes. And the climax has a great twist.

If you are looking for a lightweight, page turner that can be read quickly, this is a good choice.