April 2007

This introduction will not contain any April Fool's jokes. That lasts one day; this issue of Mystery Morgue will be here for 30 (give or take). So relax: it's all true.

April may be the cruelest month, but look at the bright side: we love cruelty here at the Morgue! And this month, we've got tons of it: 19 mystery book reviews, from authors like Roberta Isleib, Lisa Scottoline, Hailey Lind, Mindy Starns Clark, Sandra Parshall and Elaine Viets, as well as the final book in Gillian Roberts' Amanda Pepper series.

There's also a telling "How I Write" essay by Reed Farrel Coleman, whose latest Moe Praeger book, Soul Patch, will be published this month.

So turn off the baseball game and get reading!

In this month's issue:

How I Write, by Reed Farrel Coleman

Reviews:
Nerve Damage by Peter Abrahams
Hades by Russell Andrews
Invitation to Murder by Elizabeth Bright
Village Affairs by Cassandra Chan
Elementary, My Dear Watkins by Mindy Starns Clark
Rachel's War By Barbara Colley
47 Rules of Highly Effective Bank Robbers by Troy Cook
Relentless Pursuit by Kevin Flynn
Death Comes for the Fat Man by Reginald Hill
Deadly Advice by Roberta Isleib
Dead Simple by Peter James
Con Ed by Matthew Klein
Swapping Paint by Joyce and Jim Lavene
Feint of Art by Hailey Lind
Disturbing the Dead by Sandra Parshall
All's Well That Ends by Gillian Roberts
Daddy's Girl by Lisa Scottoline
A Fatal Appraisal by J.B. Stanley
High Heels are Murder by Elaine Viets

Link to Archives

 

How I Write
by Reed Farrel Coleman

Reed Farrel Coleman is the former Executive Vice President of Mystery Writers of America.  His third Moe Prager novel, The James Deans, won the Shamus, Barry, and Anthony Awards and was nominated for the Edgar, Macavity, and Gumshoe Awards.  He is the editor of the short story anthology Hardboiled Brooklyn. His short stories and essays appear in Wall Street Noir, These Guns For Hire, Dublin Noir, Damn Near Dead, Brooklyn Noir 3, The Darker Mask, and Crime Spree Magazine.  Reed also writes under the pen name Tony Spinosa.  His next Moe Prager Mystery, Soul Patch, will be released this month.  He lives on Long Island with his wife and two teenage children.

One might think that after writing poetry on and off for thirty-seven years and fiction for twenty, that a "How I Write" essay would be a snap.  Sure, I could give you a string of glib answers and axioms, but to what end?  The fact is that the subject of how a writer writes can be answered very narrowly—in crayon—or very broadly—After I settle on an idea, I do a ten page synopsis and then a thirty page, single spaced outline.  Just for the record, I don't write in crayon or do thirty page outlines.

Usually, writers break this matter down into two component parts: routine and process.  Routine is, of course, the less glamorous and less exciting piece of the creative equation.  And there's certainly nothing particularly fascinating about my routine.  After some initial fiddling around early on in my career due to minor annoyances like marriage, children, jobs, money, school schedules, cooking, and shopping, my routine has remained relatively unchanged for quite some time.  It's stable, static, stagnant, and downright boring.  I get up early, drink two cups of coffee, read Newsday cover to cover, do the crossword puzzle, make sure my wife leaves for work and my kids for school.  Then I go down to my office, answer my emails, and get to work.  Like I said, boring.  Although routine isn't the sexy piece of the puzzle, I'd be lost without it.

Whereas my routine has gone unchanged for years, my process is continually evolving.  Process is also far more esoteric than routine.  For me, it's difficult to fully differentiate process from product.  For instance, I was once asked if there is any of my own work I find unreadable.  The answer is yes.  I cringe when I try to read my first novel, Life Goes Sleeping.  It's terribly overwritten and the plot... Oy!  The problem is that when I wrote that book I lacked certain skills.  And I lacked those skills because I was inexperienced and my fiction writing process was in its infancy. 

When I was writing Life Goes Sleeping and I'd find that I had painted characters  into a corner, I simply built more house instead of backtracking.  My early plots tended to resemble the Winchester House in California.  Built by the heir to Winchester rifle fortune, the house has hundreds of rooms, many of which lead nowhere and serve little purpose.  But I learned from this and adapted my editorial process.  I learned to start my writing day by rereading much as the previous fifty pages in order to build momentum, get a better feel for how the story was developing, and to anticipate the corners before I built them.

I can hear you wondering why I don't outline or, at the very least, do a plot synopsis.  As recently as eighteen months ago, I would have said, "Bah humbug!  I never do outlines.  They kill all the fun."  Well, I still don't like 'em, but my process has evolved to the point where, dependant upon the project, I do sometimes see the benefit in doing at least a rough outline or plot synopsis.  What changed?  I began collaborating on projects: a graphic novel and two other more traditional novels.  And when you work on projects with a writing partner, you need to work from a common plan or you'd spend the bulk of your time reconciling the two disparate visions of the collaborators.  I've also begun to do proposals, hence I've found the need to develop the skill to write a clear, coherent synopsis.   

There are aspects of my process that went through drastic change early but have now remained nearly as stabile as my routine.  For instance, I've found that my writing comes from the inside out and not the other way around.  Frankly, I believe most, if not all, good writing is internal.  My characters don't feel anything I'm not feeling or, to be more accurate, they experience genuine emotion not based upon something I've witnessed, but something I've felt.  The depth and believability of characters comes not from an ability to describe their looks or dress or behavior, but from the authenticity of their emotional cores.  Yet early on in my fiction writing career, I was so influenced by Chandler and Hammett, and still in search for my own identity as a writer, that whole chunks of my early product were reprocessed imitations.  Once I discovered my own voice as a writer, however, the need to go outside diminished.

None of this is to say that I don't adapt and learn from what other writers do differently or better than I do.  My work continues to be influenced by what and who I read.  When I read, I often wonder to myself, "How did she do that?"  And, once I work out the how, I wonder if I can make it work for me, can I incorporate it into what I do without it coming off as mere imitation?  Can I make it my own?  In the last five years my work has been influenced, to a greater or lesser extent, by the writing of Peter Blauner, SJ Rozan, Jim Fusilli, Ken Bruen, and Peter Spiegelman.  The influence might be technical or stylistic in nature, something as narrow as punctuation or as broad as theme.  Yes, these folks are friends and award winners all, but they've informed my work because of an underlying commonality I've been able to tap into.  On the other hand, there are writers like Daniel Woodrell, Pete Dexter, Lee Child, and Megan Abbott whose works and talent I love and envy, but who have influenced me more as reader than writer. 

Ultimately, how I write is a matter of chemistry, the proper blending of stability and change, of stage and action, of launchpad and launch.  Routine is the stepchild, the runt of the litter, but without routine, I'd be lost.  Most writers will tell you that they have periods when things click and the work just flows.  During those periods, routine seems a lot less crucial.  However, those same writers will tell you that these magic periods when it all works are few and far between.  The sexiest, most fascinating, nimble, adabtable process isn't what meets the deadlines.  You can't build muscle unless you actually go to the gym.  You'll never improve your perimeter game unless you actually get to the court and play.  Let me leave off with something I heard Harlan Coben say.  It may not be an exact quote, but it's close.  "Thinking isn't writing.  Research isn't writing.  Outlining isn't writing.  Only writing is writing." 

 

Reviews

Nerve Damage
by Peter Abrahams
William Morrow
Hardcover, 304 pages, $24.95
ISBN: 0061137979
Reviewed by Gloria Feit

Roy Valois, a 47-year-old Vermont sculptor, has just completed his masterpiece, entitled "Delia," the name of the wife he adored who died nearly fifteen years ago in a helicopter crash in Venezuela.  She was a few months pregnant at the time, making the tragedy even worse. 

Roy has never gotten over his loss, although he begins to feel that with the completion of this piece, he may begin to move forward with his life, perhaps with Jen, the woman he has been seeing.  Just when he contemplates marrying Jen, he gets a terrifying medical diagnosis, which leads him to speculation and curiosity about the obituary he is told probably exists in a newspaper's computers, as is commonly done, especially likely in the case of an artist who has achieved some degree of fame. 

When he manages to hack into the paper's obits, he finds something puzzling: Delia, who had a Ph.D. in economics from Georgetown and had worked at  a think tank specializing in third-world economic problems, is described in the obit as having been employed by the United Nations.  He tries to clear up what he sees as a simple mistake, that doesn't appear to be the case at all: her former colleagues deny ever knowing her, the building that housed the think tank ostensibly is and has for decades been the office of another organization entirely and Roy cannot find any records that the Hobbes Institute had ever actually existed.

He begins to doubt that he ever really knew anything about the woman he'd been married to and loved for years. He determines that in the time he has left, he must find the answers to these questions. Given the awful way in which the book opens for its protagonist, one cannot see any way in which it can end well for him.  It's not like anything he finds out can make things better, change his prognosis.  Nonetheless, the author maintains and steadily builds the suspense, in a well-written and engrossing tale. 

Peter Abrahams, the author of numerous earlier novels, has given us a psychological thriller entirely gripping, creating layer upon layer of intrigue and unlikely events that perhaps are not that unlikely after all, and still manages a final twist.

 

Hades
by Russell Andrews
Mysterious Press
Hardcover, 368 pages, $24.95
ISBN: 0-89296-021-3
Reviewed by Theodore Feit

The goal in this novel is truth; truth is also all that Justin Westwood, chief of police of East End Harbor, seeks.  It is an elusive quality both in life and in this piece of fiction.  The multi-layered plot involves the murder of the husband of the woman with whom Justin is having an affair—in fact, they are in bed together the night the man is killed.  Justin is suspended and has to clear himself of possible complicity.

In the wake of Justin's efforts, he uncovers an international financial conspiracy.  Along the way, his brother-in-law and a female FBI agent are murdered.  Before she dies, she writes some mysterious clues in her own blood on her skin, including the word "Hades."  Are all these elements separate events or related?

Justin teams up with an FBI agent with whom he previously had a history, including a brief love affair and also an altercation which contributes to a degree of mistrust.  Mixed in with all of these factors is Justin's own past and two young sinister and mysterious young Chinese assassins

The novel moves forward with suspense.  The writing is fluid and the plot solid, reaching a conclusion that is hardly predictable.

Recommended.

 

Invitation to Murder
by Elizabeth Bright
Signet
Paperback, 240 pages, $6.99
ISBN: 04151216342
Reviewed by Clara Johnston

Jennifer Shane receives a haunting, desperate phone call, a wrong number. Rebel Forge, Virginia is the home of her handcrafted greeting card shop.  Business is starting a little slowly but she has great drive to make this work. 

Her sister Sara Lynn has a scrapbook shop that is very successful.  Jennifer's brother, Bradford, is the sheriff. When a murder occurs, the reader knows this is serious business.

Aunt Lillian comes to the rescue to assist Jennifer.  There is a bonus of card making skills and directions gently woven into the story.  Aunt Lillian becomes adept at making cards and even comes up with her own special twist for a card line.  Jennifer's main interest from customers is for wedding invitations. 

At one such wedding, a bridesmaid is found dead and the wedding is still going strong with a few adjustments here and there as Jennifer does some amateur sleuthing.  Important clues can be revealed especially since there is an active accomplice like Lillian.  Jennifer has a few different people watching out for her—members of her family, a former fiancé and even a sheriff's deputy.

I thoroughly enjoyed this cast of characters.  I like the way Jennifer's siblings play such an important part in her life without going over the line.  Their camaraderie and humor is well appreciated.  Jennifer's former fiancé plays a minor role but I think he may return; I hope so.

Enjoy this first installment in a series by Elizabeth Bright.

 

Village Affairs
by Cassandra Chan
St. Martin's Minotaur
Hardcover, 342 pages, $23.95
ISBN: 0312337507
Reviewed by Kerry Hammond

Phillip Bethancourt accompanies his girlfriend, a fashion model, to the town of Chipping Chedding in the English Cotswolds for a photo shoot.  While he's there, Charles Bingham, one of the town's residents, is found dead in his cottage.  The death appears questionable and Scotland Yard is called in.  Detective Jack Gibbons, Phillip Bethancourt's very good friend, is sent to investigate.  Phillip, unable to keep his curiosity to himself, stays to help Gibbons with his investigation.

Chipping Chedding is much like any other country village.  The Vicar and his wife are well liked, the local pub is the favorite gathering place and much can be learned from village gossip.  To add to the talk, Joan Bonner, a famous actress, owns a home there and frequently visits her two children, who live in the home with their housekeeper.  When Gibbons begins to ask around, he is puzzled by Bingham's mysterious death as he realizes that the man was well liked by everyone in the village.  It soon comes to light that Bingham may have been involved with an unknown woman and that she could prove to be a suspect in his death.

Chan's second novel with Detective Gibbons and his friend Bethancourt has all the components of a traditional British mystery.  The village setting is quaint and the characters, diverse and interesting, are introduced through the elements of daily village life—with a little murder thrown in for good measure.  The story is a very enjoyable read and the characters both likeable and sympathetic.  I would like to see more of Detective Gibbons and his sidekick in future books.

Elementary, My Dear Watkins
by Mindy Starns Clark
Harvest House Publishers
Paperback, 310 pages, $12.99
ISBN: 0736914870
Reviewed by Theodore Feit

Jo Tulip and Danny Watkins finally found true love in the previous novel in the series, only to find themselves separated at the beginning of this new entry.  Danny is in Paris on a three-month internship on a magazine, and Jo is recuperating from her injuries sustained in the preceding novel.  But even in separation, each continues to suffer trials and tribulations.

Jo is confronted with the more serious of the problems.  It seems someone wants to kill her.  Danny only has to cope with the pressure of his job and ominous signs reaching him about Jo.  The plot stems from an inheritance that is due Jo if she is married, but falls to the wayside if she is single at the time of her death.  The balance of power in the family's business shifts depending on the outcome.  Danny only faces interference in his internship and the possibility that he will lose it when he decides to return to the States to help Jo.

Since this is the final book of the Smart Chick series, a lot is covered to reach the conclusion.  As in previous volumes, the story flows with assorted twists, adventure and religion.  Faith and ingenuity combine to solve the questions of who is trying to kill Jo and why. Will Jo and Danny finally get together, and does he fulfill his professional dreams?  Read on and find out. 

 

Rachel's War
By Barbara Colley
Harlequin
Paperback, 435 pages, $5.99
ISBN: 0373198566
Reviewed by Clara Johnston

Rachel loves her best friend, Tim.  She is nine and he is eleven, and they are dirt poor in rural Louisiana.  Every time she suffers one more indignity, she holds on to the fact that some day she and Tim will marry and get away from this poverty stricken life.  Later, Tim is drafted; they marry and she stays with Tim's family. They are happy for a short time, then Rachel's world changes drastically. 

Feeling all alone, she knows she needs to support herself, and does so as a waitress. Rachel meets Jonathan who is extremely kind to her.  An offer for a job from him takes Rachel to Atlanta.

Now, Rachel sits in a hospital room with her husband, Jonathan.  He is in critical condition and she doesn't know if he will ever wake up again.  Having her son, daughter and granddaughter with her is a comfort.  Each one of these five characters have has a wounded heart and a unique story.  Broken family connections and lies have played into their past and present.  Just when you think you know the whole story, there is another surprise around the corner. 

Chapters wind from present to past, giving the readers a sense of where they are today and how they arrived there.  Pulling you into the story line, you experience each characters struggle and suffering.  I see Rachel as a heroine.  She needs a lot of strength for her life and does what needs to be done.  As more truths emerge, Rachel shows her true colors as a survivor and champion. 

Barbara Colley writes romance novels under her name and pseudonym, Anne Logan.  She also writes one of my favorite cozy mystery series, featuring Charlotte Larue as a maid in New Orleans, Louisiana. 

47 Rules of Highly Effective Bank Robbers
by Troy Cook
Capitol Crime Press
Paperback, 282 pages, $14.95
ISBN: 0977627667
Reviewed by Clara Johnston

What a great lead-in to a story: "At the tender age of nine, Tara Evans was one of the youngest bank robbers in history." Wyatt is teaching his daughter, Tara, a craft and skill.  He thinks it will be lucrative and something that she can do for a long time to earn her living.

Dressing the part of a cowboy, Tara tires of this adventure, especially when she sees blood.  Sometimes there are even tears after the robbery.  Now she's twenty-two and on occasion she finds this life of crime more than boring; at other times, this robbery business is an adrenaline high.  Ever on the move, Wyatt consistently and strategically plans their next heist. 

There are several factions in this story—of course, Wyatt and his daughter, Tara, are one.  In another setting are Wyatt's ex-partners, contemplating how they can benefit from the robberies without doing any of the thefts.  Throw into the mix some FBI agents and some romance when Tara falls for a bystander.  Of course, anyone interested in Tara must go through the routine of dealing with her father and that is no easy task.

When Tara decides she needs to make some changes, she and her beau set out for an unforgettable adventure.  Of course, it is not simple.  This is a family story that is unlike any family you may know.  If you are a Carl Hiaasen fan, you will enjoy this book (but it is not set in Florida).  It can be an earthy romp and as the yarn progresses, Tara learns that there are many different ways to be a thief.  You will want to keep turning the pages to see what else can happen next. 

 

Relentless Pursuit
by Kevin Flynn
Hardcover, 384 pages, $25.95
G.P. Putnam's Sons
ISBN: 039915406X
Reviewed by Theodore Feit

This book is a non-fiction case study of two brutal murders, the indictment and conviction of the murderer and the impact on the work and lives of the prosecutor, detectives and family of the victims. It was written more than a decade after the fact, indicating its effect on the author, the homicide prosecutor.  It is instructive, informative and insightful.

The case involved the brutal murders of a black woman and her daughter by the woman's one-time lover by whom she had a son (she had several other children by two other men).  The elder victim and the murderer were scheduled to appear in court the next day in Washington, D.C., for a hearing on child support for his son.  In the past he had strongly objected to paying child support as mandated by the courts and was heard to threaten violence against the victim, as well as the specific method of killing.

The book relates to the relentless pursuit of evidence in what amounted to a circumstantial case, along with the effects of these efforts on the lives of the various participants.  It is a gripping tale, well-told, although in a few instances repetition of facts might have been edited out (unless it was felt the repetition was warranted).  While the bulk of the book is devoted to the prosecutor's presentation of the case, and the problems encountered in the course of the trial, short shrift is given to the defense attorney's side (although great praise is offered to the female lawyer, a leading defense attorney in the nation's capital).  Nevertheless, the narrative flows smoothly, and justice is done.

 

Death Comes for the Fat Man
by Reginald Hill
HarperCollins
Hardcover, 416 pages, $24.95
ISBN: 0060820829
Reviewed by Theodore Feit

The Fat Man—Andy Dalziel—spends this novel in a coma amid various reveries which give his colleague, Peter Pascoe, the limelight.  Andy and Peter were victims of an explosion set off by terrorists and Peter, who was behind the Fat Man, was shielded from the force of the blast.  Andy was not so lucky.

After recuperating, Pascoe is obsessed with finding out what happened.  In part he is stimulated in his efforts by the irrational belief that such endeavors would keep Andy alive.  The culprits are a group called The Templars, named after the first of the Crusaders.  Their victims are Muslims who escape conviction in the courts.

In his investigation, Pascoe is, to some extent, hampered by the British spy service in which, he is convinced, there is a mole supporting The Templars.  The plot is complex, and is only relieved by asides to the humor of the Fat Man as recalled by Pascoe or in the brief episodes depicting his reveries as he lies comatose.   Pascoe uses Andy's condition to help him unravel some of the plot, enabling Pascoe to move forward.  Then come the surprises and an explosive conclusion.

Highly recommended.

 

Deadly Advice
by Roberta Isleib
Berkley Prime Crime
Paperback, 272 pages, $6.99
ISBN:  0425214745
Reviewed by Gloria Feit

Roberta Isleib, the author of five novels in the Golf Lover's Mysteries series, here introduces what one may hope is the first of many in the Advice Column Mysteries.  Her protagonist is the psychologist/advice columnist Dr. Rebecca Butterman, who pens a column called "Late Bloomer," aimed primarily at lonely housewives, for the online magazine "Bloom!," dispensing advice under the nom de plume of Dr. Aster. 

She returns to her home in Guilford, Connecticut one evening only to find that her next-door neighbor has apparently committed suicide.  Though she had not been close to the women, Rebecca, a clinical psychologist specializing in anxiety, depression and marital problems [she is also an adjunct faculty member at Yale], feels a responsibility, questioning her own abilities in not discerning what must have been severe depression in her neighbor.  Beyond that, the woman's mother is convinced that what seems to be a suicide note was not actually written by her daughter.

To complicate her already crowded life, her editor wants Rebecca, herself a divorced single woman, to explore the singles scene, online and otherwise, and write an article with follow-ups on her findings, which turn up scenes more interesting than even she would have wished.  

Rebecca is an interesting protagonist, with her busy multi-faceted life.  Parenthetically, I loved the brief appearance made in the book by Cassie Burdette, the protagonist of this author's other series.  The book is well-written and interesting, and the culprit an unexpected one.  And the author gives us an intriguing glimpse of what may be an interesting romantic liaison for Rebecca in future books.

Dead Simple
by Peter James
Carroll & Graf
Paperback, 416 pages, $14.95
ISBN: 0786718498
Reviewed by Gloria Feit

Michael Harrison, a young but already wealthy property developer, is taken out by four of his best buddies for a stag night, preceding by a few days his impending marriage to Ashley.  He would seem to have it all: wealth, looks, money, and a gorgeous and loving fiancée.  But his friends' idea of fun is to bury him alive, in an act dubbed "Operation revenge!" and  planning to return two hours later to dig him out.  Michael, after all, is the one who planned the truly awful pranks played on the others before their marriages.  They leave him with a flashlight, a porn magazine, a walkie-talkie and a breathing tube. 

But things go awry when their car is involved in a horrendous crash just after leaving the forest in which the drunken men have buried their friend.  The only one of Michael's friends not present for the "fun" is his business partner, Mark Warren, who had actually organized the evening's events but had not been able to join them until later in the evening.  Knowing all the details, he lies to the police, whose investigation is headed up by Detective Superintendent Roy Grace, the protagonist in this new series.

Matters of the heart play a part in the plot, with doubt about Ashley's fidelity coming into question, as well as in D.S. Grace's private life:  Now 39 years old, and his wife having disappeared nearly nine years previously, he finds himself reluctantly embarking on romantic forays, juggling guilt with the feeling that perhaps it was time for him to "move on."

James accomplishes the difficult task of sustaining the suspense inherent in the situation throughout the book, tamping it down a bit here and there and just as suddenly ramping it up again, never quite letting the reader off the edge of his or her seat.

 

Con Ed
by Matthew Klein
Warner Books
Hardcover, 285 pages, $23.99
ISBN: 0446579556
Reviewed by Theodore Feit

First off, the title:  while the New York electric utility plays a minor role fairly deep in the novel, there is a double entendre involved.  The plot involves a confidence game, thus "Con."  "Ed" must refer to education, since there are all kinds of lessons and observations strewn throughout this amusing tale.

Kip Largo is an ex-con who served time in Federal prison for securities fraud.  He once was a highly successful entrepreneur who sold a deck of cards with "prompts" on each card as a "diet aid" to fatties through nighttime infomercials.  In an effort to expand his efforts he formulated a Ponzi scheme, raising more and more money to sponsor the commercials, using new proceeds to pay off old investors until, of course, time ran out.  On his release, he is determined to stay clean.  He starts a legitimate web business selling vitamins, netting a few dollars a day, the proceeds showing on a ping pong ball on his computer screen, while he works in a cleaning store for $10 an hour plus tips.  He asks: "Did you ever tip in a cleaning store?"

One day he is approached by a beautiful woman married to a Las Vegas casino owner, suggesting that he scam her husband out of $20 million.  This starts a web of intrigue.  After Kip rejects the offer, his son tells him he has a gambling debt to the Russian mafia and his life has been threatened.  In an effort to gain funds to free his son, Kip plans a complicated con and the fun begins. 

Con Ed is an enjoyable read.

 

Swapping Paint
by Joyce and Jim Lavene
Midnight Ink
Paperback, 288 pages, $12.95
ISBN: 0738710202 
Reviewed by Clara Johnston

Glad and Ruby live in NASCAR country. Ruby is seventeen years younger than Glad, a former Chicago cop.  He dubs her a frequent flyer in the land of trouble.  Here he is, in the South, married to a firecracker and so in awe of all these famous racecar drivers, like Ruby's brother Bobby.  One of the other drivers is found dead and it happens to be the same driver that Bobby fought with the day before. 

Following the racing circuit, Ruby and Glad lead a privileged and extraordinary life.  They see the rules and safety that are applied to this business as they encounter the realities of what it takes to win a race.  This is up close and personal; this business is not as easy as it may look.

Police Detective Frishburn converses with everyone to find some clues.  He has some interesting conversations with Glad, because of Glad's past experience. Of course, Glad looks at the crime scene differently than your average person. Watch the chemistry between the Detective and Glad; I really enjoy it.

Ruby decides they will be solving the murder. Protecting family is major for Ruby and they must find some answers since Bobby is framed for the murder.  In this process, the reader meets Ruby's family.  What an interesting group!  At this time, Glad is still an outsider.  He is referred to as Ruby's husband.  Ruby's parents are decent, law-abiding people and they have a lot of pride and honor. 

The planning, sleuthing, humor and the wide array of characters gives this first in the series an extra special start. The thrill of the race and the excitement are contagious.  Even if you don't know a lot about NASCAR, this installment will bring you full circle.  There is good information at the end of the story for all enthusiasts.

 

Feint of Art
by Hailey Lind
Signet
Paperback, 328 Pages, $6.99
ISBN: 0451216997
Reviewed by Kerry Hammond

Artist Annie Kincaid, owner of a faux finishing business in San Francisco, has a checkered past.  Under the wing of her French grandfather, and famous art forger, she painted a few fakes in her youth and got a reputation.  Now that she's back on the straight and narrow, she is nonetheless shunned from the art community.  She is surprised when her ex-boyfriend and museum curator, Ernst Pettigrew, calls and asks her to meet him at the museum after hours.  She shows up to find that he wants to get her opinion on a famous multi million dollar painting by Caravaggio that the museum recently purchased. 

All in one night, Annie identifies the painting as a fake, Ernst disappears and the night watchman who let her into the museum is found dead.  Afraid that her grandfather is somehow involved, and wondering what happened to Ernst, Annie tries to unravel the clues and find the missing painting.  This takes her deep into the world of forgeries again, where she runs into dead ends, more dead people and a man with no neck.

Lind's first book in the Annie Kincaid series is a wonderful tale with twists and turns.  Annie is an amazingly likeable character and her escapades are laugh out loud funny.  The cast of side characters is quirky and fun, and Annie even experiences a few sparks with the men in her life.  The plot is interesting and the book is hard to put down. 

Highly recommended—can't wait for the next in the series.

 

Disturbing the Dead
by Sandra Parshall
Poisoned Pen Press
Hardcover, 322 pages, $24.95
ISBN: 1590583787
Reviewed by Carl Brookins

Detailed, excellently written, carefully constructed, labyrinthine, multi-layered.  All adjectives one can apply to Parshall's latest novel set in the Blue Ridge hills of Virginia.  Almost everything in this fine well-designed mystery is calculated to carry the reader forward on a continually rising tide of concern, anxiety and ultimate tension.

There are so many twists and turns in the novel one is almost forced to make lists.  This is definitely not the kind of casual book one reads over many days or weeks with multiple distractions.  This is the kind of mystery one revels and sinks into, turning the pages long into the night, waiting and wondering what new twist will next leap off the page.

Racism and class bias take many forms and here Parshall deals in part with a nice blend of racial prejudice and stresses between the poor and the wealthy.  The story takes the form of a police investigation by Melungeon Tom Bridger who has returned home to work for the County Sheriff in a position similar to that held by his father years ago.  Bridger's father died having failed to solve one major case in his career, the disappearance of a Melungeon woman ten years earlier.  The woman had risen from her poor family roots to marry a banker in the community, a pillar of the county.

When the novel opens human bones have been discovered on a wild and remote mountain-side in the county.  The skull sustains the theory that the person was murdered.  Bridger then reopens his father's old unsolved case and out of the dusty pages, secrets begin to rise.  The more he delves, the  more uncertainties arise.  Bridger's life is further complicated by his growing attraction for a newcomer to the community, a woman veterinarian with a complicated past of her own.

There are too many ill-kept secrets in the town and gossip, secret and open besets Tom Bridger, sometimes sending him in the wrong direction, and at other times revealing new secrets.  Author Parshall has given us a varied cast of citizens with many different attitudes and problems.  The language, the pace and the many twists and turns all serve readers well and we'll wait anxiously for the next novel from this talented writer.

All's Well That Ends
by Gillian Roberts
Ballantine Books
Hardcover, 272 pages, $23.95
ISBN: 918034548021
Reviewed by Caryn St.Clair

It was with great sadness that I started reading All's Well That Ends, the fourteenth book and finale of the Amanda Pepper series. I was torn between reading slowly to savor the last investigation with Amanda and speeding through the book to see how Roberts ends the series.

Phoebe Ennis is dead and Amanda's friend Sasha is left with the task of clearing out her former step mother's house. Phoebe supposedly committed suicide, but those that knew her were shocked and raised doubts that Phoebe's death was a suicide at all. Sasha convinces Amanda to help her and before you know it the two of them are investigating Phoebe's death as a murder. The only problem is, the police don't seem to see things that way. When another corpse turns up in Phoebe's house the police finally begin to look into Phoebe's death and even briefly suspect Amanda and Sasha. Although preoccupied with his family's struggles to rebuild their lives in Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina MacKenzie turns up some interesting information on Sasha's step brother Dennis.

Once again Roberts has woven the threads of the mystery together in such a way as to keep the readers guessing until the very last pages.

The Amanda Pepper books are what a mystery series should all be. The characters are strong and well defined. With each passing entry into the series, the reader finds out more about the main characters lives. Readers looked forward to "visiting" as Amanda solved the crime in each book. Roberts crafted the mysteries well, plotting them so that readers are given the clues along the way and the loose ends are wrapped up in the end. Each book was a fresh story. I never felt that I was reading the same book over and over as is the case with some long running series.

I chose to savor every last page as I said goodbye to Amanda, MacKenzie, McCavity the cat and Amanda's life at Philly Prep. Amanda Pepper and company will be sorely missed.

Daddy's Girl
by Lisa Scottoline
HarperCollins
Hardcover, 352 pages, $25.95
ISBN: 0060833149
Reviewed by Theodore Feit

Natalie Greco leads a quiet life, teaching law courses at the University of Pennsylvania Law School (as does the author), submerged in the boisterous milieu of her family, feeling insecure with the lack of response of her students in a seminar on truth and justice as illustrated in literature—and then all hell breaks loose, turning her life topsy-turvy.

She joins another faculty member in visiting a county prison one day, where she is nearly raped and is exposed to a prison riot and two murders, one of them a corrections officer whom she tries to save with CPR.  As the CO takes his last breaths, he gives Nat a message for his wife.  From this pont more complications arise than one can keep track of, including being framed for the murder of a state trooper, Nat taking it on the lam, an attempt on her life, trying to exonerate herself, and a whole assortment of other difficulties.

The novel is well-crafted, leading the reader to unanticipated situations—and an even more unexpected conclusion.  Nat faces a host of formidable challenges keeping the reader in complete suspense.

 

A Fatal Appraisal
by J.B. Stanley
The Berkley Publishing Group
Paperback, 210 pages, $6.99
ISBN: 0425212645
Reviewed by Kerry Hammond

In J.B. Stanley's second Collectible Mystery, Molly Applebee is on location in Richmond, Virginia.  The antique show Hidden Treasures is taping and Molly is there to write a story, and get in the middle of a murder.  Molly makes friends with several of the appraisers for the show and everything is going well, until the show's furniture appraiser, Frank Sterling, is found dead and everyone at the show is a suspect.  Molly doesn't want to suspect one of her new friends, but she doesn't have a choice when she realizes that one of them killed Frank.

To make matters worse, Molly has been unable to contact her sort-of boyfriend and co-worker, Mark, while Garrett, a handsome Englishman and coin expert, is making moves on her in Richmond.  Molly is torn between her hopes for a future with Mark and the flattery and attraction she feels for Garrett.  When a second of the appraisers for the show is found murdered, Molly's involvement starts to make things dangerous for her.

Stanley brings the world of antiques and collectibles to her readers through the eyes of a very likeable and very human character.  Molly Applebee is as amusing as she is quirky, never thinking twice about diving right into the middle of a police investigation.  The book is a very light and enjoyable read.

High Heels are Murder
by Elaine Viets
Signet Mystery
Paperback, 278 pages, $6.99
ISBN: 0451219880
Reviewed by Terri M. Tumlin

Josie Marcus, pursuing her job as Mystery Shopper, should be on a quest close to every woman's heart—buying beautiful and expensive shoes. This time, however, there have been complaints about Mel Poulaine, the shoe salesman.  He apparently is taken too much pleasure in his work. "Unhand that shoe, you heel!" Josie agrees completely and her report costs the man his job.  End of story—right?  Wrong. 

He is murdered and the prime suspect turns out to be Josie's worst enemy, Cheryl.  Cheryl has been a thorn in Josie's side since they were classmates together in grade school and the situation has only gotten worse over the years as Josie's mother thinks Cheryl is a perfect daughter.  So, of course, Josie is offered a payment she cannot refuse to prove that Cheryl didn't murder Mel. 

As the plot progresses, it turns out that there are quite a number of people who might have liked to murder Mel along with a wide smorgasbord of intriguing indiscretions including fetishes, gambling, prostitution (sort of), and status symbol china cabinets.  But every time Josie unearths a new clue, things look worse for Cheryl.  Josie gamely works her way through the St. Louis area and even ventures bravely across the river into the wilds of East St. Louis to solve the murder and win the promised reward aided and abetted by her sidekick Alyce.  Periodically, she pauses to refresh her spirits at the gourmet coffee shop, where the allure is more than the beverages on sale there.

High Heels are Murder is a delightful romp with a marvelously convoluted plot and a few well placed zingers on life behind the façade in modern suburbia.  A thoroughly enjoyable read.