Carl Engel is hardly the typical hero of a mystery series but he's the main character in BANGKOK RULES by Harlan Wolff. The mostly drunk Brit has been in Bangkok for 30 years, surviving as a fixer who plays both sides of every local intrigue. He is well known to both...
Like spy and military thrillers? Books based on current events? Polished prose? Great plots? WEAPONS OF MASS DECEPTION is for you. WEAPONS is a high caliber thriller, using a very plausible Iraq War scenario as its core: Saddam’s sons move the country’s nuclear...
Based on a true family story, THE RAGMAN MURDERS is clearly a labor of love. The novel tells the story of two immigrant families, the Amatos and the Tassones, and the circumstances that bring them into conflict within Hartford CT’s teeming immigrant neighborhoods in...
If you want to understand Mexican culture, DEVOTED TO DEATH must be in your personal library. It is a detailed examination of Santa Muerte, Mexico’s most famous folk saint. Santa Muerte is regarded as the personification of death; a active deity with amazing powers. I...
The Orphan Uprising is the riveting last book in the Orphan Trilogy by the father-and-son writing duo of Lance and James Morcan from New Zealand. I hear they are making a movie based on the books and if so, it ought to be a blockbuster. The first two books, The Ninth...
Smokescreen by Khaled Talib is a thriller for today’s audience. It’s got a politically driven plot based on current events, an everyman hero, and enough double-dealing and deranged killers to keep the reader flipping pages and skipping meals. What makes Smokescreen...
The Stephanie Plum books are like Pringle’s potato chips—I can’t eat just one despite the fact I know they’ll be full of empty calories. Maybe it’s the salt. Whatever. Pass the can. Top Secret Twenty One is the latest in the Stephanie Plum bounty hunter series by...
The Witch of Napoli by Michael Schmicker is an unexpected trip to 1890’s Italy, when Garibaldi’s unification of the country was still tenuous and Italy’s city-states retained their strong regional rivalries and flavors. At the same time, the study of the occult was...
Up for a trip to southern France, where mirth, mayhem, and Champagne rule? C'est vraiment drole! Translation: keep reading. I not only write mysteries but I love reading them, too. My favorites are the ones that take me to new places and this week it's a trip to...
Not only do I write a mystery series, but I read them, too. My favorite mysteries are the ones that take me to new places. This week's book review is of THE CORONER's LUNCH by Colin Cotterill. Following the advice of a fellow book clubber, I downloaded it and was...
Not only do I write mysteries but I love reading them, too, especially the ones that take me to new places. This week's book review is of A COMMON EVIL by Billy Ray Chitwood, a gem I discovered via Twitter. There aren't many mysteries set in Mexico but Chitwood's...
Etta Lawrence has staked everything on a year at a prestigious writing academy in the rainy Oregon woods. But truth be told, she’s an indifferent writer. She’s also distracted by her roommate’s distraught behavior and has a crush on the academy’s cook, a Texan named...
The second Dana Hargrove legal thriller is a well paced, polished, and highly enjoyable read. I liked the first Dana Hargrove book, THURSDAY’S LIST, but Kemanis has hit her stride with HOMICIDE CHART. Related post: Book Review: Thursday's List by V.S. Kemanis Dana is...
SOMETHING LIKE A DREAM by Robert Richter is an unusual novel that crosses genres between international mystery and politically oriented literary fiction. It’s the 1980s in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, but the shadow of the 60’s and 70’s still hovers over Cotton Waters, a...
THE DOGS OF ROME is an unusual mystery, in that it has a narrow cast of characters, there's no climax, and the main character is not involved in the ultimate denouement. Does it work? I'll let you know. As soon as I decide. The main character, Alec Blume, is an...