The Last Queen by C.W. Gortner

First Line: Tordesillas, 1550. Midnight has become my favorite hour.

C.W. Gortner does an excellent job of throwing light on a woman who has been shrouded in myth for centuries. Juana of Castile, daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella, was married to Phillip, the archduke of Flanders and sole heir to the Habsburg Empire. Juana's parents needed to strengthen their country, hence Juana's marriage and the marriage of her younger sister Catherine of Aragon to Arthur, heir to the throne of England.

At first Juana's marriage is very happy, and she is content to be a wife and mother. When Queen Isabella dies and Juana becomes the last queen of Spanish blood to inherit her country's throne, her life is thrown into chaos. 

The wealthy grandees who were supplanted by Juana's parents want their old rights and privileges back. Ferdinand is too busy trying to keep the various bits of the country together to help his daughter, and Juana's husband-- within the blink of an eye-- has turned power mad. He wants to be King of Spain, he wants it now, and he will stop at nothing to achieve it. Nothing.

I read quite a bit of European history when I was in high school and college, and all I knew of Juana of Castile was her nickname: Juana La Loca-- Joanna the Mad. The nickname intrigued me because even then I knew that everyone who was referred to as mad wasn't necessarily so. If someone has something that you want, one of the best ways to get it from them is to make people believe they're crazy. 

Gortner portrays Juana as a brave, intelligent, and passionate woman whose strengths were used against her. The story is told from Juana's point of view, and as I read I became her staunch defender. I kept wondering why Isabella would send her daughter off with-- basically-- no weapons in her arsenal, no champions of substance to fight in her corner. It's as though Isabella thought she had super blood that would transmit everything to her offspring that her daughter could possibly need. As my own levels of anger and frustration mounted, I kept reminding myself of my reading all those years ago, those random mentions of Juana La Loca, and I knew what would happen, but that didn't keep me from becoming emotionally involved in a centuries-old story.

It is true that winners are the ones who write the histories, but thanks to historians, teachers, and the talents of authors like C.W. Gortner, we can still learn about the losers, many of whom deserved much better than they received.
 

The Last Queen by C.W. Gortner

eISBN: 9780345507419

Ballantine Books © 2008

eBook, 438 pages

Historical Fiction

Rating: A

Source: Purchased from Amazon. 

Scene of the Crime with Dawn Eastman!

Ever since I read Dawn Eastman's first Family Fortune mystery, Pall in the Family, I knew I would be contacting her for an interview. I just enjoy the cast of characters she's created so much-- and who wouldn't love a main character named Clytemnestra? (Oops. Don't tell "Clyde" I let that cat out of the bag!) When I enjoy characters like this, it means that I'll be sending an email to their creator, and I'm so happy that Dawn said yes!

Dawn Eastman

Very few authors have no internet presence. It's all part and parcel of letting us know they're here and getting their books noticed and sold. I'm all for helping them out. After all, it means they'll be able to keep writing the books we love to read, doesn't it?

I've gathered together a few links so you can learn even more about this talented writer and connect with her:

Dawn's website

Dawn on Facebook

Dawn on Twitter

Dawn on Goodreads

I know you're all looking forward to learning more about Dawn, so let's get to the interview!

What was the very first book you remember reading and loving? What makes that book so special?

Charlotte's Web, first edition

I discovered Charlotte’s Web when I was six or seven and can’t remember how many times I re-read it. It was the first book that transported me to a different world and I began to realize the power of fiction.

Outside of your writing and all associated commitments, what do you like to do in your free time?

My family keeps me pretty busy. And I am the primary support staff for the Bichon-Shih Tzu despot who lives with me. When I can, I love to knit, read, and watch British crime shows.

If I were to visit your hometown, where would you recommend that I go? (I like seeing and doing things that aren't in all the guide books.) 

Des Moines' East Village

I feel like I don’t have a true hometown because I moved a lot growing up. Michigan feels most like home to me. However, I have lived in Des Moines, Iowa for the past fifteen years and have watched the downtown area become a vibrant and fun place to be. The East Village has lots of quirky shops and restaurants. I’d recommend a stroll through the streets there.
 

You have total control over casting a movie based on your life. Which actor would you cast as you?

Sigourney Weaver

Sigourney Weaver from the Ghostbuster years. We had the same hair.

Who is your favorite recurring character in crime fiction?

There are so many! I love Stephanie Plum and Agatha Raisin for the humor. I’ve just started reading the Agatha Raisin books and love her jaded, yet hopeful view of the world. Mary Russell and Lady Georgiana Rannoch are my favorites for historical mysteries.

If you could have in your possession one signed first edition of any book in the world, which book would that be? Why that particular book?

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. I have an eighteen-year-old son and much of his childhood was enriched by the Harry Potter books. It was an amazing literary phenomenon to live through – the waiting between books to find out what would happen next. The discussions of how it would end and whether Snape was really as bad as he seemed were fun and engaging. My thirteen-year old missed out on that aspect as the whole series was completed by the time she was old enough to read them. Book 6 was my favorite. 

How did you celebrate when you first heard you were to be published? What did you do the first time you saw one of your books on a shelf in a bookstore? 

After I calmed down enough to think straight, I’m pretty sure champagne was involved. I did go to visit the book in the wild at a local bookstore the week it was released. I took pictures of it sitting on the shelf with all of its friends. It was a pretty surreal moment to see my book among a bunch of my own favorites.

Name one thing on your Bucket List.

Live in London for a year. I love the history, the museums, the parks, the accents. And you can visit the rest of Europe from there.
 

 

 

 

You've just received a $100 gift card to the bookstore of your choice. Which bookstore are you making a bee-line for?

Beaverdale Books. It’s a small, independent bookstore near me. I did my first author signing there and the owner is very supportive of local writers.

 

 

 

 

An extremely reliable source tells you that a thinly disguised you is a character in a book that's currently high up on the New York Times Bestseller List. What kind of character do you think you are?

The quiet one that you sort of suspect is up to no good… 

Available Now!

 

Thank you so much for spending this time with us, Dawn! It was a pleasure to be able to get to know you a little better.

May your book sales do nothing but increase!

 

 

 

A Hair-Raising Weekly Link Round-Up

Perhaps it's because I spent the first twenty years of my life further north, but the change from summer to autumn seems very sudden to me down here in Phoenix. One of the things I had the most difficulty adjusting to was the lack of any real dusk or twilight-- and the lack of lightning bugs (fireflies). The best time to hunt lightning bugs is at dusk. But there are no such varmints here. The sun either seems to be shining, or it's dark. One day it's not dark until 8 PM, and the next it's dark before 7:30 PM. Sometime last week, I'm pretty sure I heard the click when the earth settled on its axis and began downshifting for autumn. Before last week, when shadows covered the pool deck, it meant that it was past 6:30. Now it's 5:45. Part of me is already in mourning.

Yes, I know. There was nothing hair-raising in what I just said. That bit is coming now. Denis drives a rental car bus around the terminals at Sky Harbor Airport. Recently a monsoon storm struck-- literally. Denis was 100 feet away from a palm tree when it was struck by lightning. Big chunks of the tree were blown everywhere, and I would imagine Denis's heart went pitty-pat for a minute or two. I know mine would have! I thought you might like to see the event. The photo was taken by one of the airport surveillance cameras on the control tower. Yikes! (You can click on the photo and it will open in a new window automatically if you'd like to see more detail.)

 

►Books, Movies & Other Interesting Tidbits◄

• Can you identify these classic novels from their closing lines? 
• Here are the trailers for two films that I'm adding to my Must Watch List: Victor Frankenstein and The Martian. 
• Australian parents are angry over books being put in Happy Meals. 
• That time Yvonne Craig ran over Vincent Price with the Batgirlcycle. 
• Why you need an app to understand Iain Pears' latest novel. 
• Let authors take the quiet road. 
• Google's Project Sunroof tells you how much solar energy is hitting your rooftop.
• Should we care if yet another F. Scott Fitzgerald story is "discovered"? I'm a Fitzgerald lover, and my answer may surprise you. 
• If you like thrillers, you may want to take a look at The Big Thrill, the online publication of the International Thriller Writers.
• Beloit College has an annual mindset list for professors and counselors to show them which references no longer mean anything to incoming freshmen. If you take a look at the list, a few gray hairs may pop out on your head. 
• Kathleen and I are keeping an eye on the situation with Harper Lee. Seems that Lee's lawyer is creating quite the stir in Monroeville, Alabama.

►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄

• Scientists have found evidence of a prehistoric massacre in Europe. 
• Another crew of divers in Florida have found over 300 coins worth more than $4.5 million. 
• An archaeological dig at a Colonial battleground has uncovered a fort's stone walls. 
• The remains of a "warrior princess" have been found buried alongside a dagger and sword. 
• An ancient salamander preserved in amber has shocked scientists. 
• Two men in Poland have claimed that they know how to find a lost Nazi treasure train. 
• Marine researchers in the UK have received the oldest message in a bottle. 
• Archaeologists in Mexico have found the main skull rack at an Aztec temple complex.

►Channeling My Inner Elly Mae Clampett◄

• Photos have shown the first wild California wolf pack in nearly a century. 
• Although long misunderstood, we are learning that a hummingbird tongue works like a micropump.
• I don't drink coffee (told you I was strange), but I'd patronize this Japanese coffee shop because of its mascots! 
• After three long years, this Army dog gets the homecoming he well deserves.

►The Happy Wanderer◄

• The best New York City novels by neighborhood. 
• Tourism gone vintage. (I love old travel posters.) 
• Earth in July was the hottest month on record. (August hasn't exactly been a picnic either. Phoenix had a four-day stretch this month where the average temperature was 103.7°.) 
• The 50 most visited national parks. (I shouldn't have been surprised at #1.) 
• Do you want to take a vacation and sell books? I'd be tempted simply because I'd be going to Wigtown-- the booktown of Scotland. 
• There's a city in Romania that gives free bus rides if you read a book.

►I ♥ Lists◄

• 18 movies book lovers will appreciate. 
•  What ten more books were almost called.

►Book Candy◄

• A Parisian flat designed for a couple with two children (and books)! 
• Inspiring workspaces. (If this opens and just looks like a narrow ribbon, click on the ribbon and it should open to full size for you.)
• Book cover twins. (You may have to scroll down a bit. This site has a Donald Trump ego-sized header.)
• Inside the Folger Library's beautiful reading room.

That's all for now. Don't forget to stop by next Friday when I'll be sharing a freshly selected batch of links for your surfing pleasure!

Have a great weekend, and read something fabulous!

Death in August by Marco Vichi

First Line: Inspector Bordelli entered his office at eight o'clock in the morning after an almost sleepless night, spent tossing and turning between sweat-soaked sheets.

It's the summer of 1963 in Florence, Italy, and Inspector Bordelli is one of the few detectives left in the city. If it weren't for the relentless heat, he'd really enjoy the nearly deserted streets. As it is, he is looking forward to a holiday at the beach once everyone else has returned to town.

The only thing to keep him from routine paperwork is the death of a wealthy elderly woman. Her companion says the woman was murdered. The postmortem is in favor of natural causes. However, once Bordelli begins looking around inside the dead woman's villa and taking a look at the woman's family, he very quickly sees that things just don't add up. With all this heat, Bordelli can't sleep anyway, so he may as well solve a murder.

When I saw that Death in August was translated by Stephen Sartarelli, I could have done a happy dance. Sartarelli is a superb translator, and I love the work he's done with Andrea Camilleri's Inspector Montalbano mysteries. Then I began to read. I was hooked by page three and the description of Bordelli's meeting with his boss. There is wit and humor in this book, and I loved every bit of it.

Inspector Bordelli is fifty-three, and although he's still looking for Miss Right, he's beginning to wonder if he's too old for her. His investigation is not told in a linear fashion either, but interspersed with his dreams, his childhood memories, and memories of fighting in World War II.

Although the heat could be considered a character in this book, I was rather disappointed that its setting of Florence didn't have a more commanding presence. However, the most charming scene in Death in August is the dinner party Bordelli has for his friends. Not only is it a celebration of wonderful food and drink, but quite an eclectic-- and happy-- gathering of people as well.

The investigation quickly proves that Bordelli doesn't have to figure out WHOdunnit, but HOW they done it, and the way he does so is rather ingenious and certainly entertaining. Piras, the young policeman who helps him solve the crime, brightens things up for Bordelli, especially when the inspector finds out he is the son of his old war buddy. 

Although there are some similarities to Camilleri's Montalbano mysteries, I did not find this book to be a pale imitation. In its own way Death in August is every bit as good as its Sicilian counterpart, and I certainly look forward to reading more.

Death in August by Marco Vichi

Translated from the Italian by Stephen Sartarelli

ISBN: 9781444712216

Hodder and Stoughton © 2011

Paperback, 240 pages

Historical Mystery/Police Procedural

#1 Inspector Bordelli mystery

Rating: A

Source: Paperback Swap 

The Boy in the Snow by M.J. McGrath

First Line: Edie Kiglatuk had no way of knowing how long the bear had been looking at her.

Against her better judgement, Edie Kiglatuk promised her ex-husband that she would help him in his bid to win the Iditarod-- the most famous sled dog race in the world. Edie's never been so far from home, and she misses it terribly, especially when she stumbles upon the frozen body of an infant on land belonging to an exiled Russian Orthodox religious sect.

Edie's blocked at almost every turn in her attempt to find out what happened to the baby. It's election time, and candidate Chuck Hillingberg doesn't want an inconvenience like a dead child to damage his chances of becoming the next governor of Alaska. Hillingberg hasn't come up against anyone quite so stubborn as this half-Inuit, half-white woman though. Edie's not going to quit. Because she's not only fighting for justice for an innocent child, she's fighting demons from her own past.

Anchorage, Alaska is the farthest south Edie Kiglatuk has ever been, and she doesn't like it much. For one thing, there's too many trees. For another, it's almost impossible to find anything that's fit to eat. A good deal of my enjoyment in reading The Boy in the Snow came from watching her try to acclimatize to Alaska. It's something that I certainly would have to do as a bonafide desert dweller, but I'd certainly be coming at it from an entirely different direction!

I was rather sad that the book has more to do with politics and greed than it does the Iditarod, but that's the way this story panned out, and I adjusted well. McGrath shows that Alaska still has ties to Russia (something that I hadn't thought of but should have), and if anything there were a few too many bad guys roaming around. I almost needed a scorecard.

Having read the first book in this series, White Heat, as well as a short story, I found that I had the most difficulty with Edie herself. I don't remember her being quite so ill-tempered and combative. Of course, her behavior undoubtedly has a lot to do with those demons from her past, the dead baby, and her dislike of Alaska. Edie is used to getting from place to place on foot, with a dogsled, or possibly on a snowmobile, but here she has to drive cars and trucks. This isn't a good mix for woman nor machine. As someone with her says, "Edie doesn't drive. She bulldozes." And that's how Edie investigates, too. She doesn't pay attention to the good advice her friends give her; friends who'd help her more if she let them. All in all, Edie is her own worst enemy here, and I'm hoping that she's on a more even keel in the third book.

The Boy in the Snow by M.J. McGrath

ISBN: 9780670023691

Viking © 2012

Hardcover, 384 pages

Native American Mystery, #2 Edie Kiglatuk mystery

Rating: B+

Source: Purchased from Book Outlet. 

September 2015 New Mystery Releases!

In many areas of the world, summer is already waning, but fortunately for me my favorite season still has most of the month of September to run. I'll have to drain what I can of it to the very dregs because I'm going to be incredibly busy this month-- so much so that it will be October before I can tell you what I've been up to.

But no matter how busy I am, you know that I always keep my eyes peeled for new crime fiction! These are my picks for new mysteries being released during the month of September. I've grouped them by release date, and I've included all the information you'll need to find them at all your favorite "book procurement" sites. Book synopses are courtesy of Amazon. 

Happy Reading!

=== September 1 ===

Title: A Curious Beginning
Author: Deanna Raybourn
Series: #1 in the Veronica Speedwell series set in Victorian England
ISBN: 9780451476012
Publisher: NAL
Hardcover, 352 pages

Synopsis: "London, 1887. As the city prepares to celebrate Queen Victoria’s golden jubilee, Veronica Speedwell is marking a milestone of her own. After burying her spinster aunt, the orphaned Veronica is free to resume her world travels in pursuit of scientific inquiry—and the occasional romantic dalliance. As familiar with hunting butterflies as she is fending off admirers, Veronica wields her butterfly net and a sharpened hatpin with equal aplomb, and with her last connection to England now gone, she intends to embark upon the journey of a lifetime.

But fate has other plans, as Veronica discovers when she thwarts her own abduction with the help of an enigmatic German baron with ties to her mysterious past. Promising to reveal in time what he knows of the plot against her, the baron offers her temporary sanctuary in the care of his friend Stoker—a reclusive natural historian as intriguing as he is bad-tempered. But before the baron can deliver on his tantalizing vow to reveal the secrets he has concealed for decades, he is found murdered. Suddenly Veronica and Stoker are forced to go on the run from an elusive assailant, wary partners in search of the villainous truth. " 

Title: All Sales Final
Author: Josie Belle (AKA Jenn McKinlay)
Series: #5 in the Good Buy Girls cozy series set in Virginia
ISBN: 9780425271377
Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime
Mass Market Paperback, 288 pages

Synopsis: "There’s something 100% off about Maggie and her fiancé Sam’s new dream home in the historic section of St. Stanley. The lights flicker, the doors blow shut, and their cat, Marshall Dillon, hisses at empty space. And there’s something in the basement that’s definitely not a bargain . . .

After Maggie discovers a skeleton in the root cellar, she’s convinced her house is haunted by a murdered man’s ghost. With the help of her Good Buy Girls, Maggie works to tag a killer. But she’ll need to be careful as she digs into the history of her new digs. Someone is willing to keep the truth buried at all costs . . ." 

Title: Booked for Trouble
Author: Eva Gates (AKA Vicki Delany)
Series: #2 in the Lighthouse Library cozy series set on North Carolina's Outer Banks
ISBN: 9780451470942
Publisher: NAL
Mass Market Paperback, 304 pages

Synopsis: "Lucy has finally found her bliss as a librarian and resident of the Bodie Island Lighthouse. She loves walking on the beach, passing her evenings with the local book club, bonding with the library cat, Charles, and enjoying the attention of not one, but TWO eligible men. But then her socialite mother, Suzanne, unexpectedly drops in, determined to move Lucy back to Boston—and reunite her with her ex-fiancé.

To make matters worse, Suzanne picks a very public fight at the local hotel with her former classmate Karen Kivas. So, when Karen turns up dead outside the library the next morning, Suzanne is immediately at the top of the suspect list. Now Lucy must hunt down a dangerous killer—before the authorities throw the book at her poor mother…"

Title: Knot the Usual Suspects
Author: Molly MacRae
Series: #5 in the Haunted Yarn Shop cozy series set in Tennessee
ISBN: 9780451471314
Publisher: NAL
Mass Market Paperback, 352 pages

Synopsis: "It’s time for Handmade Blue Plum, an annual arts and crafts fair, and Kath and her knitting group TGIF (Thank Goodness It’s Fiber) plan to kick off the festivities with a yarn bombing. But they’re not the only ones needling Blue Plum. Bagpiper and former resident Hugh McPhee had just returned after a long absence, yet his reception is anything but cozy. The morning after his arrival, he’s found dead in full piper’s regalia.

Although shaken, Kath and her knitting group go forward with their yarn installation—only to hit a deadly snag. Now, with the help of Geneva, the ghost who haunts her shop, Kath and TGIF need to unravel the mystery before someone else gets kilt!" 

Title: The Darling Dahlias and the Eleven O'Clock Lady
Author: Susan Wittig Albert
Series: #6 in the Darling Dahlias series set in 1930s Alabama
ISBN: 9780425260623
Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime
Hardcover, 320 pages

Synopsis: "The eleven o’clock lady has always been one of garden club president Liz Lacy’s favorite spring wildflowers. The plant is so named because the white blossoms don’t open until the sun shines directly on them and wakes them up.

But another Eleven O’Clock Lady is never going to wake up again. Rona Jean Hancock—a telephone switchboard operator who earned her nickname because her shift ended at eleven, when her nightlife was just beginning—has been found strangled with her own silk stocking in a very unladylike position.

Gossip sprouts like weeds in a small town, and Rona Jean’s somewhat wild reputation is the topic of much speculation regarding who might have killed her. As the Darling Dahlias begin to sort through Rona Jean’s private affairs, it appears there may be a connection to some skullduggery at the local Civilian Conservation Corps camp. Working at the camp, garden club vice president Ophelia Snow digs around to expose the truth…before a killer pulls up stakes and gets away with murder." 

Title: The Girl in the Spider's Web
Author: David Lagercrantz
Series: #4 Lisbeth Salander mystery continuing Stieg Larsson's Millennium series
ISBN: 9780385354288
Publisher: Knopf
Hardcover, 416 pages

Synopsis: "She is the girl with the dragon tattoo—a genius hacker and uncompromising misfit. He is a crusading journalist whose championing of the truth often brings him to the brink of prosecution.

Late one night, Blomkvist receives a phone call from a source claiming to have information vital to the United States. The source has been in contact with a young female superhacker—a hacker resembling someone Blomkvist knows all too well. The implications are staggering. Blomkvist, in desperate need of a scoop for Millennium, turns to Salander for help. She, as usual, has her own agenda. The secret they are both chasing is at the center of a tangled web of spies, cybercriminals, and governments around the world, and someone is prepared to kill to protect it . . .

The duo who captivated millions of readers in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest join forces again in this adrenaline-charged, uniquely of-the-moment thriller." 

Title: The Marsh Madness
Author: Victoria Abbott
Series: #4 in the Book Collector cozy series set in New York State
ISBN: 9780425280348
Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime
Mass Market Paperback, 304 pages

Synopsis: "Jordan works hard to improve Vera Van Alst’s collection of classic detective stories. So when Chadwick Kauffman—heir to the Kauffman fortune—offers a very good price on a fine collection of Ngaio Marsh first editions owned by his recently deceased stepfather, she is thrilled to meet with him at his fabled summer estate, Summerlea.

The next day, Jordan and Vera are shocked to read that Chadwick has died in a fall from the grand staircase at Summerlea. But when the picture in the paper is of a different man, it becomes clear that the ladies are victims of a scam. And they’ll have to unmask the imposter fast, because someone is trying to frame them for murder…" 

Title: Dark Places
Author: Reavis Z. Wortham
Series: #5 in the Red River historical series set in 1960s Texas
ISBN: 9781464204241

Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press

Paperback, 370 pages

 

Synopsis: "At the tail end of 1967, the Parker family once again finds it impossible to hide from a world spinning out of control. Fourteen-year-old Top still can't fit in with their Center Springs, Texas, community or forget recent, vicious crimes. His near-twin cousin Pepper, desperate to escape her own demons, rashly joins the Flower Children flocking to California―just as two businessmen are kidnapped and murdered in the Red River bottoms on the same night a deadly hit and run kills a farmer. Constable Ned Parker wonders if these crimes are connected, but he goes after Pepper, leaving the investigation in the hands of Sheriff Cody Parker. Parker hires Deputy Anna Sloan, an investigator with an eye toward detail as everyone is eyeing her. Yet it is instinct that propels her after killers through a world nearly forgotten, the hunt’s backdrop one of continuous rain, gloomy skies, and floods. When she’s ambushed, the investigation accelerates into gunfire, chases, and hair-raising suspense. What of Pepper? Out on Route 66, the Mother Road to California, a man named Crow isn't what he seems. Lies, deceptions, and a band of outlaw motorcyclists proves to the Parkers that no matter where you turn, no matter what you do, the world is full of such darkness that even grandmothers are capable of unspeakable deeds." 

 

 

Title: The Dungeon House

Author: Martin Edwards

Series: #7 in the Lake District series set in England and featuring historian Daniel Kind and DCI Hannah Scarlett

ISBN: 9781464203183

Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press

Hardcover, 276 pages

 

Synopsis: "The magnificent Dungeon House and gardens overlook Cumbria's remote western coast with its mix of beaches, dunes, and fells, Roman ruins, and nuclear plant. Twenty years ago the wealthy Whiteleys called it home. But not a happy one. Malcolm Whiteley had begun to disintegrate under financial and emotional pressures. He suspected various men in their social circle of being his wife's lover. After a disastrous party for the neighbours, Lysette told Malcolm their marriage was over. Sadly an old Winchester rifle he had been hiding was at hand…. Fast forward to today. Hannah Scarlett's cold case team is looking into the three-year old disappearance of Lily Elstone whose father Gray had been Malcolm's accountant. The investigation coincides with yet another disappearance of a teenage girl: Shona Whiteley, daughter of Malcolm's nephew Nigel, who now lives in the Dungeon House despite its tragic history. As Hannah's team digs down into the past, doubts arise about what really happened the night Malcolm killed his wife and 16-year-old daughter Amber, then himself. Most of the people once close to the Whiteleys still live nearby. And one Joanna Footit, and her secrets, now returns from London. While Hannah leads the complex police inquiries, it is her lover, historian Daniel Kind, who supplies Hannah with the lead that unlocks the whole. Does it come too late?"

 

 

Title: A Beam of Light

Author: Andrea Camilleri

Series: #19 in the Inspector Salvo Montalbano police procedural series set in Sicily

ISBN: 9780143126430

Publisher: Penguin Books

Paperback, 288 pages

 

Synopsis: "When Inspector Montalbano falls under the charms of beautiful gallery owner Marian, his longtime relationship with Livia comes under threat. Meanwhile, he is also troubled by a strange dream as three crimes demand his attention: the assault and robbery of a wealthy merchant's young wife, shady art deals, and a search for arms traffickers that leads him deep into the countryside, where the investigation takes a tragic turn." 

 

 

 

 

=== September 8 ===

 

 

Title: Make Me

Author: Lee Child

Series: #20 in the Jack Reacher series

ISBN: 9780804178778

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Hardcover, 416 pages

 

Synopsis: "“Why is this town called Mother’s Rest?” That’s all Reacher wants to know. But no one will tell him. It’s a tiny place hidden in a thousand square miles of wheat fields, with a railroad stop, and sullen and watchful people, and a worried woman named Michelle Chang, who mistakes him for someone else: her missing partner in a private investigation she thinks must have started small and then turned lethal.

Reacher has no particular place to go, and all the time in the world to get there, and there’s something about Chang . . . so he teams up with her and starts to ask around. He thinks: How bad can this thing be? But before long he’s plunged into a desperate race through LA, Chicago, Phoenix, and San Francisco, and through the hidden parts of the internet, up against thugs and assassins every step of the way—right back to where he started, in Mother’s Rest, where he must confront the worst nightmare he could imagine.

Walking away would have been easier. But as always, Reacher’s rule is: If you want me to stop, you’re going to have to make me."

 

 

=== September 15 ===

 

 

Title: The Zig Zag Girl

Author: Elly Griffiths

Series: #1 in the Magic Men historical series set in 1950s England

ISBN: 9780544527942

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Hardcover, 336 pages

 

*Review of UK edition

 

Synopsis: "Brighton, 1950. The body of a girl is found cut into three pieces. Detective Inspector Edgar Stephens is convinced the killer is mimicking a famous magic trick—the Zig Zag Girl. The inventor of the trick, Max Mephisto, is an old war friend of Edgar’s. They served together in a shadowy unit called the Magic Men, a special ops troop that used stage tricks to confound the enemy. 

  

Max is on the traveling show circuit, touring seaside towns with ventriloquists, sword-swallowers and dancing girls. He’s reluctant to leave this world to help Edgar investigate, but advises him to identify the victim quickly — it takes a special sidekick to do the Zig Zag Girl. Those words come back to haunt Max when the dead girl turns out to be Ethel, one of his best assistants to date. He’s soon at Edgar’s side, hunting for Ethel’s killer. 

  

Another death, another magic trick: Edgar and Max are sure the answer to the murders lies in their army days. And when Edgar receives a letter warning of another “trick” on the way — the Wolf Trap — he knows they’re all in the killer’s sights." 

=== September 22 ===

Title: Those We Left Behind

Author: Stuart Neville

Series: #4 in the Belfast series set in Ireland

ISBN: 9781616956363

Publisher: Soho Crime

Hardcover, 368 pages

 

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books

 

Synopsis: "Ciaran Devine, who made Belfast headlines seven years ago as the “schoolboy killer,” is about to walk free. At the age of twelve, he confessed to the brutal murder of his foster father; his testimony mitigated the sentence of his older brother, Thomas, who was also found at the crime scene, covered in blood. But DCI Serena Flanagan, the only officer who could convince a young, frightened Ciaran to speak, has silently harbored doubts about his confession all this time.

Ciaran’s release means several things: a long-anticipated reunion with Thomas, who still wields a dangerous influence over his younger brother; the call-to-action of a man bent on revenge for his father’s death; and major trouble for Ciaran’s assigned probation officer. Meanwhile, Serena Flanagan has just returned to the force from her battle with breast cancer, only to endure the pitying looks of her coworkers and a mountain of open case files. She will soon discover that even closed cases can unleash terror on the streets of Belfast."

 

 

 

Another good month for crime fiction, isn't it? Which books made it onto your wish lists? Inquiring minds would love to know!

 

 

Threads of Evidence by Lea Wait

First Line: One black Town Car, one blue Subaru, and a dented red pickup were parked in the driveway of the old Gardener estate.

Aurora, the crumbling Victorian mansion that's part of the old Gardener estate, has stood empty for the past quarter of a century. Some in Haven Harbor, Maine, say it's haunted by the ghost of young Jasmine Gardener who died there in 1970. But Aurora will no longer be cursed by neglect for famous Hollywood actress Skye West has bought it. Intending to renovate the old house, she asks Angie Curtis to appraise the house's contents so they can be cleared out and sold. She wants the remodel to begin as quickly as possible.

When Angie begins the process of restoring a series of needlepoint pictures created by the dead girl's mother, she finds clues that seem to point to the fact that Jasmine's death was murder, not an accident. When she tries to stitch everything together, it becomes crystal clear that the murderer wants the truth about Jasmine's death to remain buried.

With just two books in the Mainely Needlepoint series so far, I confess that I'm hooked. Lea Wait has a series that delivers when it comes to needlepoint (this time restoring old damaged pieces) without going overboard. That can be a tricky path to tread, but if there's needlepoint in the cozy I'm reading, I want its percentage to be somewhere between just walking past a shop window and saying, "Oh look at that needlepoint pillow!" and doing so much stitching that the characters don't have time to stick their noses outside to solve a murder. The author has the perfect blend in this series, and that really ups the enjoyment factor for me. 

Threads of Evidence also started like gangbusters with Angie and her friend clearing out that marvelous old house and getting ready for a sale. As long as that was going on, I refused any and all attempts to get me to come up for air. What's wonderful is that once the sale was over, the story and the characters assumed control and kept me turning the pages enthusiastically.

Angie is one of the best amateur sleuths going because she worked for a private investigator in Arizona. She's familiar with how to do things, and if she needs some help, she can always phone up her former boss. She's also very level-headed and smart. Life dealt her some hard knocks rather early in life, so even though she's positive and upbeat, she's still a bit reserved. (Have some fun, but don't be surprised if someone wants to shove you into the handbasket to Hell.)

There's some competition between Angie and her friend, and other Mainely Needlepointers do their part to help solve the crime. If that's not enough, there's Angie's grandmother's wedding to keep tabs on. I only solved half the mystery which is always a plus-- and I have a confession to make. I wish that Hollywood actress had chosen a screen name that didn't make my eyes hiccup every time they saw it. It probably won't bother you a bit, but since I'm from Phoenix, Skye West just sounds like a blend of Sky Harbor Airport and the old America West Arena-- or the name of an airline. I know. Silly, aren't I?

What's not silly is how much I enjoyed this book, and how highly I rate this series. Bring on book three! I can't wait to see what happens next to Angie and the Mainely Needlepointers.

Threads of Evidence by Lea Wait

eISBN: 9781617730078

Kensington Books © 2015

eBook, 304 pages

Cozy Mystery, #2 Mainely Needlepoint mystery

Rating: A

Source: Net Galley 

Truth by Peter Temple

First Line: On the Westgate Bridge, behind them a flat in Altona, a dead woman, a girl really, dirty hair, dyed red, pale roots, she was stabbed too many times to count, stomach, chest, back, face.

Inspector Stephen Villani, head of homicide in Melbourne, Australia, feels as though he's in charge of keeping all those plates spinning in the air at the carnival, but there are too many, and some of them are beginning to wobble. A dead woman in a penthouse apartment. A failed marriage. Three men butchered in a rampage. A teenage daughter determined to run completely off the rails. And the shady world of political ambiguity.

Somehow, some way, Villani has navigate through a maze of inept police bureaucrats while maintaining an "all's well" facade to the press. It's the furthest thing from easy. His family, his workload, and his own past are conspiring to break him.

If you're the type of reader who prefers to have at least one likable character in the fiction you read, Truth may not be for you. There's not one single person I cared for in this book. If you're the type of reader who prefers a linear plot that moves straight and true from Point A to Point B, Truth may not be for you. Main character Stephen Villani has a tendency to wander back and forth between the present and various chapters in his past. If you're the type of reader who doesn't care for short, sharp sentences, or ones that look a lot like lists, Truth may not be for you. Peter Temple's writing style reminded me of another favorite author's-- Ken Bruen. And lastly, if you're the type of reader who is deeply offended at the liberal use of a four-letter obscenity that begins with "c," you should probably give Truth a miss. It's there, and in quantities that could easily put some readers off. I know I tired of it and wished that some of the characters would turn to the D's in their dictionaries.

Now that I've listed all the reasons why you shouldn't read Truth, let me tell you why I kept on reading from first page to last and wound up giving it a high rating: Peter Temple's story grabbed me by the throat and wouldn't let go.

When he was a boy, Stephen Villani and his father planted a forest:

"From the time the trees were head high, every time he walked the forest he heard new bird calls, saw new ground covers spreading, new plants sprung up, new droppings of different sizes and shapes, new burrowings, scrapings, scratchings, new holes, fallen feathers, drab ones and feathers that flashed sapphire, scarlet, blue, emerald, and soon there were tiny bones and spike-toothed skulls, signs of life and death and struggle among the arboreal mammals."

The forest represents all the promise of Villani's youth, all the goodness that his life can contain. When new to the force, he was trained by the legendary Singo, a police officer with the sensibilities of the USA's Harry Bosch. Everyone counts, or no one counts. Do the job right regardless what the brass tells you. But Villani's life is under serious threat-- just like the wildfires that are threatening his beloved forest. It is our job as readers to see the deadfall begin to accumulate, to watch as each fallen limb, each bit of dead brush, slowly chokes the goodness from this man's life and makes it ready for the flames. We can see how each decision he made slowly transformed him into a man we don't like very much.

The mystery's gripping, too, but for me this book is mainly a riveting character study of a man I'll not soon forget. Villani believes himself to be a blurred copy of all the important men in his life with their worst bits magnified. Is Stephen Villani beyond redemption? That's for you to discover for yourselves-- and I hope you do.
 

Truth by Peter Temple

ISBN: 9780374279370

Farrar, Straus and Giroux © 2010

Hardcover, 400 pages

Police Procedural, #2 Broken Shore mystery
(Reads very well as a standalone.)

Rating: A

Source: Purchased from Book Outlet