BreakThrough Promotions: Mystery Morgue: April 2008

April 2008

It's an embarrassment of riches now that Spring has sprung here at the Morgue!

Besides the overabundance of mystery book reviews this month (with titles from Joyce and Jim Lavene, Lisa Scottoline, Frankie Y. Bailey, Betty Webb and many others), you'll find an incisive "How I Write" essay by Neil Plakcy, author of the Hawai'ian-based Mahu series that details his process from the time he started writing in high school until today.

And there's a penetrating interview with the eclectic Clare Langley-Hawthorne, author of historical mysteries like the upcoming The Serpent and The Scorpion, that combines her background in a number of cultures with her love of history.

Sure, the weather's great, but take the laptop outside and keep up with the latest in mystery and crime fiction right here at the Morgue!

In this month's issue:

The Mystery Morgue Interview: Clare Langley-Hawthorne
How I Write, by Neil Plakcy

Reviews:
Memories are Murder Wild Inferno You Should Have The Marathon Murders Of All Sad Words Nameless Night Now You See Him Pushing Up Daisies KIA Jar City Silent Counsel The Vagabond Virgins Perfect Poison: Lifelines Murder Melts in Your Mouth Notorious The First Patient Say Goodbye Friend of the Devil Lady Killer The Sex Club Tie Dyed and Dead A Prayer For The Damned Desert Noir by Lou Allin
by Sandi Ault
Died On Monday by Frankie Y. Bailey
by Chester D. Campbell
by Bill Crider
by G.M. Ford
by Eli Gottlieb
by Rosemary Harris
by Thomas Holland
by Arnaldur Indridason
by Ken Isaacson
by Ken Kuhlken
a Peggy Lee Garden Mystery by Joyce and Jim Lavene
by C.J. Lyons
by Nancy Martin
by Michele Martinez
by Michael Palmer
by E.J. Rand
by Peter Robinson
by Lisa Scottoline
by L.J. Sellers
by Sharon Short
by Peter Tremayne
by Betty Webb

Link to Archives

The Mystery Morgue Interview: Clare Langley-Hawthorne

As the child of British parents, Clare Langley-Hawthorne grew up in Australia with a strong sense of history. Her parents had emigrated to Canada from England in the mid 1960's, where she was born, returned to England and then emigrated to Australia in the early 1970s.
Clare's mother, a history teacher, and father, an economics professor, instilled in their daughter a love of art, history, and literature. She dreamed of being a writer but instead studied law at the University of Melbourne in Australia. Clare practiced commercial law before switching careers and moving to the United States in 1995.
Her first novel, Consequences of Sin, was published in 2007 and is now available in paperback. Despite being the mother of two active toddlers, Clare still has a passion for travel and regularly visits family in England and Australia.

You grew up in Great Britain, Canada and Australia before moving to the U.S. in the mid-90s. How does that "nomadic" experience influence your writing?

I think it influences the extent to which I weave my family's background, history and experiences in my books. As someone who doesn't really have a strong sense of "home" I think it also makes me much more open to examining a wide range of perspectives. I often feel that I can be the "outsider" looking in and this gives me plenty of scope for creativity in my writing.

Your first novel, Consequences of Sin, is a historical mystery, as is the upcoming The Serpent and the Scorpion. What draws you to a certain time period, and how do you research it to keep your setting accurate?

I was drawn to the late Edwardian period (1910-1914) as it is often overlooked in history books—many consider the period from 1900 to the death of King Edward VII and then move straight to the First World War. I was intrigued by this discreet period in British history as it marks, I think, the end of the illusion of the glorious, opulent British Empire. It was a time of great turmoil and uncertainty and this allows me to explore a range of issues—from the role of women in society to the rise of trade unionism. I like to examine lesser known time periods in history as they provide a challenge as well as a fascinating backdrop for a mystery.

Historical research is critical and I try to access as many primary and secondary sources to help immerse myself in the time and place but it's important to balance this with the story and the characters. I visit the British Library as often as I can and love reading newspapers, women's journals and magazines of the time period to get a flavor for what everyday real life was like. I also enjoy reading academic journal articles to gain different perspectives on events during the time period. Given my main female characters are ardent feminists, I wanted to make sure I accurately reflected the way they would have perceived and discussed issues at the time.

In Consequences of Sin, your heroine is less interested in settling down with a husband and having babies than in trying to be a journalist and Suffragette. Is that period when women began to explore alternatives to the traditional life, or is she meant to be an unusual maverick?

I wanted to make my heroine, Ursula Marlow, a realistic representation of a woman of her day who was genuinely conflicted about how she should live her life. She has graduated from Oxford, wants to be taken seriously as a journalist but faces, like many women of her day, societal constraints in achieving that. At the same time she is the daughter of a wealthy industrialist, so she knows that her father expects her to make a prudent marriage. I didn't want her to be a maverick who acted more modern than her time, so Ursula respects her father's position even in the face of her own inner conflict.

You now live in California, and have twin toddler sons. That must be quite a culture shock, and a huge change in your life. How do you continue to write and promote books? And will your Ph.D dissertation ever get done?

I've lived in California for nearly eight years now but having twins was certainly a huge change in my life. I found out I was pregnant just as I finished writing Consequences of Sin and found my agent—so it was a whirlwind—having twins, making final revisions and then landing a two-book deal with Viking/Penguin. I think it's safe to say that my Ph.D is on permanent hold and as for balancing mummy duties, writing and promotion—well, I'm still trying to juggle all of that! Ask me this question in a year and perhaps I will have found the answer!

What is more difficult for you to write: the mystery plot, or the historical setting?

The plot is the hardest for me, as I find my mind works on a very visual and intuitive basis. The historical setting comes to me much more easily and I struggle to simplify some of my convoluted plot ideas before getting totally tied up in them once I start writing. It was easier with the second book, The Serpent and the Scorpion, as I had a written outline that I followed. Even so I found I had to change course three-quarters of the way through when the plot didn't pan out the way I wanted it! The setting and character development aspects didn't need the same amount of fine tuning, thankfully.

How do you balance character and plot? Many authors find it difficult to pay adequate attention to both.

It is difficult, particularly to ensure that the story continues to pull the reader in. I would probably like to spend way more time exploring my characters but realize that this cannot occur at the expense of the plot (or vice versa). I use the editing process to try and check this balance and so, if I'm unsatisfied with a character or plot point, I go back and try and do them better justice. I also have a great group of early readers of drafts who have no compunction in telling me if I haven't paid adequate attention to the plot or a particular character.

What is the premise of each novel, and how did the germ of the idea plant itself in your imagination?

For Consequences of Sin, the first chapter came to me the very first night I sat down and started to type it but I think the germ of the idea formed when I went down the Orinoco River in Venezuela and thought it was a terrific place to set a mystery. For The Serpent and the Scorpion the germ was in some historical research I was doing—I found references to some of the first waves of immigration to Israel and the debate in England (leading to the Balfour declaration of 1917) on establishing a Jewish homeland.

You've practiced commercial law and been an economist in the health care industry. How does each of those backgrounds manifest in your fiction?

I like to call myself a "recovering attorney" but although I keep vowing I will never practice law again, I keep getting drawn into it. I even made my main male protagonist a barrister. I think my experiences in both law and economics has provided a solid grounding for researching social issues for my books and I think I will always find my characters having fairly strong political, economic and social views.

Consequences of Sin, you've said, contains some family history, particularly about your grandparents' experiences in the North and South of England. How does The Serpent and the Scorpion draw on personal history?

The Serpent and the Scorpion probably draws upon aspects of my personal and family history in that it explores a young woman seeking independence and success as a businesswoman. I continue to explore class issues and Ursula's experiences mimic in many ways my own family's experiences as "outsiders."

Does your travel to visit family around the globe mean we'll be seeing novels set in Australia, England, Canada and elsewhere in the future?

Of course! I also plan on exploring exotic locales that I would love to visit (all in the name of research, you understand). I have already proposed setting one Ursula Marlow mystery at least partly in Australia and I have other proposals for books that include both English and Australian settings. I haven't quite incorporated Canada yet but I'm sure it will happen.

How I Write
by Neil Plakcy

Neil Plakcy is the author of Mahu and Mahu Surfer, mystery novels set in Honolulu, and co-editor of Paws and Reflect: Exploring the Bond Between Gay Men and Their Dogs. He is also the editor of the forthcoming erotica anthology, Hard Hats (Cleis Press). His fiction has appeared in many publications, including Blithe House Quarterly, Verbsap and In The Family, and anthologized in My First Time 2; Men Seeking Men; Cowboys: Gay Erotic Stories; Travelrotica for Gay Men; Best Gay Love Stories: New York City; Ultimate Undies; and By The Chimney With Care. His website is mahubooks.com.

In short:

For the most part, with my laptop
At Starbucks, with a grande raspberry mocha by my side
Away from the distractions of house, dog and partner
Almost every day—sometimes I take a break on Sundays

When I first began writing as a teenager, I used whatever was handy: notebooks, pads, backs of advertising flyers. When I went to college, my parents bought me a portable electric typewriter—light blue, with a black carrying case and a removable ink cartridge that looked something like a gun. You could swap it out for a correcting cartridge that was the electric equivalent of white-out.

My sophomore year at the University of Pennsylvania, I lived in my favorite dorm room ever. It was painted a sunny light yellow, under the eaves on the fourth floor of Speakman, a dorm in the Quad, and overlooked the medical school and the tree-lined Hamilton Walk. I set the typewriter on a rickety metal table in the dormer and set out to write my magnum opus.

That typewriter served me well, until I replaced it with my first computer. It was 1983, and upon graduation from business school at Columbia, I treated myself to a Commodore 64 computer. I bought the monitor and the hard drive, and my parents gave me the 5 ¼" floppy drive as a graduation gift. A dot-matrix printer completed the package.

There have been a progression of computers and printers since then. Yes, sometimes I still scrawl notes on scrap paper (my wallet has a notepad and a pen attached to it) but eventually everything goes digital.

My MFA thesis advisor, the mystery novelist James W. Hall, told us in class one day how his writing process had been revolutionized by the concept of block cut and paste, and I related completely. I used to sit and consider where my story began—and sometimes I just didn't know, so I couldn't get started at all. Sometimes I'd slide a piece of paper into that electric typewriter and start typing—and then realize that my story actually began a scene or a page earlier.

I'd have to rip the page out of the typewriter, tear it up, and start over again. But as Jim Hall discovered, with a computer, I could simply move the cursor up to the top of the screen and start typing. Or cut what I'd written and move it where it belonged. Today I couldn't consider writing anything longer than a thank you note without using the computer (and quite often I just use email for that purpose anyway.)

For structure, I rely on a technique I learned from Les Standiford, director of the MFA program and a writer of mystery novels and biographical non-fiction. I think in terms of plot points—the times during my novel when something will happen that shifts the action of the story. As in film, there are usually two of these—1/3 and 2/3 of the way through. I figure that I've got to take about 100 pages to get to each plot point, and start writing in that direction.

In my third mystery, Mahu Fire, I knew that the action was going to kick off with a bombing at a charity event in support of gay marriage. Hawai'i was the first state to consider legalizing same-sex marriage, and though the Aloha State eventually lagged behind the mainland, same-sex marriage was a very contentious issue. Since my hero is an openly gay homicide detective who's considering the possibility that someday he might want to get married, it seemed like fertile ground for me.

One of the things drilled into us in the MFA program was that your hero had to have a personal stake in the plot. It wasn't enough that a homicide detective had to solve a murder just because it was his job. So for me, the first plot point was when my hero, Kimo Kanapa'aka, saw people he knew and loved in the hospital after this bombing, and took on finding the perpetrators as a personal crusade.

That realization became my first plot point. The second plot point came when Kimo was able to identify the perpetrators of the crime—turning the last third of the book into a tense chase. Will he catch the bad guys before they kill again? How many more of Kimo's family and friends can I put in danger to amp up the stakes?

That's the way I approach any book—come up with the protagonist, the antagonist, and the setting (in my Hawai'i mysteries, the first and third are givens) and then start moving toward the first plot point. I don't outline, because I'm telling myself the story as I go, and what keeps me writing is wanting to know what happens next. When I've tried to outline in the past, I've lost the spark that keeps me writing. I hope that this strategy also keeps the reader turning the pages.

After years of resisting the dictum that you should write every day, I've finally given in. I try to write every morning, and I find that for me, the coffee shop setting not only frees me from the distractions of everyday life, but by making an appointment, so to speak, with writing, the muse is there waiting for me. I've trained my brain that when the laptop goes on and the coffee's hot, it's time to report for work.

Even when I don't really want to leave the house—it's hot, or it's raining, or I'm tired—the reward of that coffee and the sense of accomplishment once the words are on the page keep me trudging out to the car. I think every writer has to find his or her own way to get the writing done; I'm grateful that I've found my own way, and that it has led to three published mysteries so far.

Reviews

Memories are Murder
by Lou Allin
Napoleon Publishing/RendezVous Press
Paperback, 282 pages, $14.95
ISBN: 1894917339
Reviewed by Gloria Feit

This is the fifth and apparently final book in the Belle Palmer series, which takes place in the nickel-mining community of Sudbury, Ontario, where Belle is a real estate agent. No sooner does she unexpectedly reconnect with an old heartthrob, Gary Myers (the school valedictorian with whom she went to the prom, or the "grad dance" as it's apparently called in Canada), than his body is discovered in an isolated area, apparently the victim of an accidental drowning.

His partner of several years, a murder-mystery author disconcertingly nicknamed "Mutt," joins Belle in going over the research the zoologist was doing, and some disquieting clues present themselves.

After a burglary at the house where Gary had been staying and some suspicious findings from his wilderness studies, it appears that there is more to his death than at first met the eye, and Belle becomes the target of someone who wishes her ill. The question is whether it is connected with an environmental report she made that could put someone is jail, or if it is related to her investigation into Gary's death.

The book exudes a wonderful sense of place—I could see the beauty of the lakes and feel the sting of the early season insects that swarm periodically and with great intensity, as well as the flora and fauna of the forests of the North, in the process learning the names of more growing things than I knew existed. A very pleasant read.

Wild Inferno
by Sandi Ault
Berkley
Hardcover, 287 pages, $23.95
ISBN: 978-042519225
Reviewed by Caryn St.Clair

Often the books following great debuts are great letdowns. That is definitely not the case with Ault's Wild Inferno. This second entry in the Jamaica Wild series is in many ways even better than the debut, Wild Indigo. Jamaica has grown into her potential as a character and Mountain, Jamaica's wolf has settled down into a companion role. Jamaica's relationship with the Native American community seems to just "fit" better this time out. Make no mistake, this reviewer thought the first book was terrific, but this one seems smoother over all.

In this outing, Jamaica has been called to the Southern Ute Reservation in Southwestern Colorado to work as a liaison between the various tribes present for a sacred ceremony taking place on top of Chimney Rock and the government agencies in the area to fight a raging wild fire. Her first job is to try and locate a man last seen entering the fire zone. What she finds is a fireman trying to out run the approaching fire. Just before the man collapses, he says to Jamaica, "save the grandmother." She has no idea what the man meant, nor do the other firefighters. However, there are a few people who do know, and are determined to keep Jamaica from finding out the truth. That one statement is the key to much of what happens in the rest of the book.

There is of course a mystery to be solved in this book. But Wild Inferno offers so much more to readers. Set against the wild fires burning through the west, the book is a fascinating look at both how the fires burn and how the fires are fought. Also, the Native American ceremony taking place involved several different tribes. It was as interesting look at how individual tribal traditions have managed to survive in spite of governmental policies. And for animal lovers, the relationship between Jamaica and her wolf, Mountain is a special treat.

Readers of Tony Hillerman, James Doss or Nevada Barr should definitely try Ault's books. They won't be disappointed.

You Should Have Died On Monday
by Frankie Y. Bailey
Silver Dagger Mysteries
Trade paperback, 217 pages, $9.95
ISBN: 978-1570723193
Reviewed by Janet Koch

Professor Elizabeth Stuart has a successful career, a comfortable home, and a man who loves her. Life is good, except for the one thing she can't forget—four days after Lizzie was born, her mother abandoned her for the lights of 1969 Chicago.

Thirty-nine years later, with marriage hovering, Lizzie gives in to her need to find Becca. "She sure didn't want to be nobody's mama," Lizzie is told. Okay, maybe she's too old for a mama, but she's past old enough to know who her father is. Her only knowledge of the man who fathered her is her dead grandmother's scornful: "Your daddy was the devil."

Leaving her Virginia home behind, Lizzie travels to Chicago and retraces her mother's life. Becca sang sultry blues in a supper club, breaking men's hearts left and right, until the night one of her conquests was murdered. The next day Becca disappeared.

Every new scrap of information uncovers more unsavory details Lizzie isn't sure she wants to know. The man who confessed to the murder could have been innocent, but does that means her mother was guilty? Lizzie quickly discovers that "Aspirin was not designed to deal with a stress headache caused by learning that your mother might have killed a man."

Lizzie's search takes her from Chicago to Delaware to New Orleans, a search that grows more dangerous by the day. A home is burglarized. A P.I. helping her is attacked. But it's when a woman dies in a fire that Lizzie truly begins to fear what her mother could be.

In You Should Have Died on Monday, author Frankie Y. Bailey takes her readers on a journey of discovery that reveals how the past can affect the present and the future. Various settings are anchored with tactile details, and Lizzie's increasing anguish is a rising source of tension.

In Lizzie, Bailey has created a solid character at a crossroads, a character who can't move forward and can't go back until she comes to the end of her journey, a trail of blues and betrayal... and death.

The Marathon Murders
by Chester D. Campbell
Night Shadows Press
Paperback, 224 pages, $14.95
ISBN: 978-0979916700
Reviewed by Gloria Feit

Greg McKenzie, retired Lieutenant Colonel where he was an agent with the OSI (Office of Special Investigations), is contacted by a former colleague from the Air Force and asked to investigate a matter for his girlfriend, one Kelli Kane. Greg and his wife, Jill, live in Nashville, TN, where they opened a PI agency about seven months ago.

Kelli herself has a background that includes working undercover for some Federal Agency, whether CIA or otherwise is unclear. It seems that her great-great-grandfather had been accused of embezzlement when a large sum of money went missing from the company for which he worked as assistant treasurer, Marathon Motor Works, ultimately resulting in its declaring bankruptcy.

Her grandfather, now 84 and in a nursing home, has been contacted by the job foreman for a company renovating the building which had housed that company ninety years ago, telling him that some papers had been found, hidden in a wall, attached to which was a handwritten note indicating that the papers were to be turned over to the District Attorney's office.

The job foreman, a man named Bradley, was to have brought the papers to Kelli's grandfather, but never kept his appointment. Greg and his wife are asked to find Bradley and the papers which they believe will exonerate her relative and clear the family name.

It is not long before Bradley's body is found, and his house is discovered to have been ransacked, as is Kelli's grandfather's house. And of course the papers that might solve the mystery of the missing money are nowhere to be found. Complicating matters is the fact that as the investigation progresses it appears that the old man had a propensity for alienating a wide range of people, as had Bradley himself, and his being targeted may have had nothing to do with the Marathon investigation, but simply a matter of vandalism. But then another body is discovered.

Marathon Motor Works was a real company, and in fact it produced the only car completely built in the South. Nashville and its environs are lovingly described by the author, who has given us a very good mystery, well-written and suspenseful, and one I enjoyed a great deal.

Of All Sad Words
by Bill Crider
St. Martin's Minotaur
Hardcover, 264 pages, $23.95
ISBN: 978-0312348106
Reviewed by Theodore Feit

The easy going Sheriff, Dan Rhodes, of Blacklin County, TX, has to fight not only crime and murder in the sparsely populated county, but also the humor of his deputies and the harping of the commissioners. Somehow, he manages to deal with all of it with grace and good humor.

The commissioners challenge his idea for a Citizen's Sheriff's Academy, but in the end the students help him. When a mobile home explodes, it exposes what appears to be murder and a crime wave. Then there's the problem of developing a web page for the Sheriff's office, citizens who are lonely and call for help from non-existent animals, and flying saucers.

All told in an entertaining manner, the daily activities of the Sheriff move forward, even in the face of physical danger. And in addition, the hero of a mystery by two neophyte authors who also attended the academy is patterned on him. A quick and jolly read, and recommended.

Nameless Night
by G.M. Ford
William Morrow
Hardcover, 352 pages, $23.95
ISBN: 978-0060874421
Reviewed by Gloria Feit

G.M. Ford's first standalone novel, after his two wonderful series featuring Frank Corso and Leo Waterman, opens with a startling scenario: The man known as Paul Hardy had been found near death in a railroad car, patched up as well as possible, his injuries so severe that he is described in the first pages as follows: "...he smiled, or maybe grimaced. With all that scar tissue on his face, it was hard to tell. Looked like somebody had crushed the front of his skull with a crowbar or something, pushed everything back so far it was both a wonder he was alive and a mercy he wasn't tuned to the same channel as the rest of humanity."

He had been put in a group home for the adult disabled, almost completely unresponsive. Even his name is unknown—"Paul Hardy" was picked for him at random. Now, seven years later and probably in his mid-thirties, he is the victim of a horrific car accident.

The resulting surgeries (paid for by the anguished driver who had caused the incident) have completely altered his appearance and much more, to the extent that, as one of his doctors says, "this is a brand-new person, somebody who never existed before... six months from now, not even his own mother would recognize this guy." His already crushed face and skull have been radically changed well beyond plastic surgery. The person who had been called Paul Hardy is now a thinking, aware and questioning man with the tiniest fragment of a memory of his life before the past seven years, and determined to find out what that life was, and who he is. He embarks on a search for the answers to those questions, with unimagined and unimaginable consequences. That pursuit gives rise to a novel that is as well-written and suspenseful as anything that this author has previously written, and that is saying quite a lot.

The scenario that plays out after the scene described above seemed to me at first to be like something straight out of George Orwell, only to find that prescient soul's name invoked soon after. But of course Orwell's day didn't have current technology available nor a post-911 era to justify its ubiquitous use. And in no time at all, as the author's storytelling skills quiet assert themselves, this riveting tale, all about "memory" and "reality," has the reader completely in its grip. I loved the book, and it is highly recommended.

Now You See Him
by Eli Gottlieb
William Morrow
Hardcover, 262 pages, $22.95
ISBN: 978-0061284649
Reviewed by Theodore Feit

A twisted saga of two families in the small upstate New York town of Monarch revolves around Rob Castor, who became sort of a cult figure when he wrote a book of stories about what supposedly was his home town. Nick Framingham grew up with Rob—they lived across the street from each other—and they were the best of friends.

While Rob left Monarch for New York City, Nick remained living in town, marrying his college sweetheart and fathering two boys. When Rob's meteoric rise to fame begins to sputter, he becomes despondent as he tries to cope with writer's block. Further driving him to the edge is his breakup with and new-found success of his writer-girlfriend. He murders her and returns to Monarch, sought by authorities as a fugitive.

Nick reels from the tragedy of his boyhood friend, whom he idolized. Searching the past for clues as to how their idyllic life could deteriorate in such fashion, Nick begins to re-evaluate his own life, his marriage, memories of Rob and the relationship of the two families. In a contorted psychological analysis, Nick discovers a family secret that pushes him over the brink. The novel is a deep exploration of what moves people to act as they do. Astonishing revelations unfold to an unanticipated conclusion. Written with deep insights, full of pathos, the novel is recommended.

Pushing Up Daisies
by Rosemary Harris
Thomas Dunne Books
Hardcover, 291 pages, $23.95
ISBN: 978-0312369675
Reviewed by Gloria Feit

The subtitle of Rosemary Harris' debut novel is A Dirty Business Mystery: Paula Holliday is a gardener in the town of Springfield, Connecticut. The owner of her own small landscaping business, after less than four years in town she succeeds in getting the job of restoring the garden at the home of one of the most prestigious families in town when its last known surviving member dies. The house had been built in the 1830s on a lush piece of property.

On her first day on the job, Paula unearths a skull apparently belonging to a newborn baby, buried in the garden. She muses that "everything pointed to its being evidence of someone's old secret, as opposed to someone's new crime." It soon appears, however, that it is tied in to the mysterious disappearance of a young Mexican woman some thirty years prior.

Having recently broken up with her boyfriend, Paula describes herself as a "single woman, thirties, no kids, no cats." She spends much of her down time at the Paradise Diner, the social hub of the town, owned by Paula's friend, "Babe," quite a character all by herself—former backup singer for a metal band and the mother of twin sons, now grown, named Dylan and Daltry.

When someone locks Paula in the greenhouse of the mansion, soon followed by a stabbing which results in the arrest of one of Paula's friends, she tries to get to the bottom of the mystery. Hidden secrets are ultimately revealed. As Paula says, "It is a nice town. It's like the garden, though: everything looks beautiful from a distance. It's only when you look closely that you see the snakes."

The novel is replete with gardening information. This novel was a fun read. Paula is an original and interesting protagonist, and the author's sly humor is much in evidence.

KIA
by Thomas Holland
Simon & Schuster
Hardcover, 336 pages, $25.00
ISBN: 978-0743280013
Reviewed by Theodore Feit

During the Vietnam War, five high-ranking South Vietnam officers, an American Master Sergeant in charge of a large supply depot and a mysterious American formed a brotherhood to steal all sorts of supplies and send them to the north in exchange for free passage of contraband drugs across the Laotian border. The supply NCO finally "chickened out" on an extraordinary request and "disappeared." First listed as Missing in Action, his case was later reviewed and changed to "presumed Killed in Action."

Many years later the Asians have relocated to the United States and started successful businesses. Meanwhile a body is recovered and Dr. Kel McKelvey, forensic anthropologist in charge of the Army's Central Identification Laboratory, gets the task of determining whether the remains are those of the supply NCO. At the same time a series of murders takes place on or near various Army bases, bringing in Chief Warrant Officer Tom "Shuck" Deveroux as the CID investigator.

The two men combine to run down clues and facts to bring about a conclusion both as to murders as well as the identity of the remains, which appear to be linked. It is an exciting, well-constructed chase, leading to a most unexpected denouement. Switching from the 1970s to more than a decade later, back and forth, keeps the reader enthralled. An excellent read.

Jar City
by Arnaldur Indridason
Picador
Paperback, 275 pages, $14.00
ISBN: 0312426380
Reviewed by Kerry Hammond

Inspector Erlendur of the Reykjavik police department is called to the scene of a murder. A man's body is found in his apartment, dead from a head wound. On the body is a note and a photo of a gravesite. Upon investigation, Erlendur learns that the dead man was accused of a violent rape over 30 years earlier, but the police never convicted him. Convinced that this is an important part of why he died, the Inspector starts to dig up the past. He tracks down the people who were involved in the events so long ago, hoping to find a clue that will lead him to the solution to the present murder.

What he finds is a trail that leads him from an unconvicted rape to the grave of a little girl, and the story of people's lives ripped apart by violence and loss. During Erlendur's investigation, he is confronted with his own feeling of loss as he copes with his daughter and her drug addiction. Feeling guilty for not being involved in her upbringing due to his own past mistakes, he tries to compensate and protect her as an adult.

Erlendur is a very real, very conflicted man who just wants to do what is right. The story delves not only into the murder and the lives of those involved, but Erlendur's life and his own regrets. The author takes you through a cold case linked to very recent events as Erlendur pieces the information together, learning that justice isn't always what it seems and those entrusted to punish the guilty don't always do their jobs. It's a gritty and entertaining read with many twists and turns, some expected and some not. Recommended.

Silent Counsel
by Ken Isaacson
Windimere Press
Hardcover, 332 pages, $25.95
ISBN: 978-0978862244
Review by Carl Brookins

This is a very powerful first novel. It is also a very long and somewhat difficult novel. The novel is about lawyers, the law and the ways in which our laws often seem to unnecessarily protect the guilty at the direct expense of the well-being of the innocent.

A man carelessly runs down and kills a small boy in the street. He leaves the scene of the accident. The killer understands that coming forward now could result in a long prison term and the destruction of his family and his privileged life. He and his lawyer devise a scheme in which he will come forward only after a deal is made with the state. A plea bargain. The ensuing legal action revolves around the fundamental precept that any communication between lawyer and client is private and may not be revealed by the attorney. Including the name of the law-breaker. The penalty to the lawyer for revealing such information is extreme, unless ordered by a court. Does privilege extend to the name of the client?

Enter the mother of the murdered child. Most of the story concerns the mounting pressure she tries to exert on the lawyer for the hit-run driver to tell her the name of the man who destroyed her child. One of the result of her ever more dangerous acts against the attorney is legal involvement, from restraining orders to arrest for trespassing. We are also treated to the gradual deterioration of the woman's circumstance and of her mental stability.

The final result, more death, incorporates stunning twists to a dark drama that by now compels a reader to keep reading.

Silent Counsel is a richly rewarding and gripping novel that raises interesting questions in the context of a thoughtful crime novel.

The Vagabond Virgins
by Ken Kuhlken
Poisoned Pen Press
Hardcover, 244 pages, $24.95
ISBN: 978-1590584613
Reviewed by Theodore Feit

The novel is set during 1979, shortly before elections in Mexico. Appearances by the Holy Virgin have taken place in various parts of Baja California, urging defeat of the dominant PRI party. A few days before the Sunday voting, a beautiful lady—Lourdes Shuler—appears in Alvaro Hickey's office, asking him to help find her sister.

Their adventures are endless in trailing what turns out to be the various appearances of the Virgin, in reality the apparition of Lourdes' sister Lupe. As they progress, he is torn with doubts—is Lourdes the Virgin? What is the true story behind her efforts? Who killed their father? What is the source of eight gold bars Lourdes was carrying when they met?

In the end, the entire Hickey family is involved in this, the fifth in the series chronicling the history of Southern California in the form of private eye stories about the family. It is an exciting tale, full of danger and disappointments. Of course, defeat of the PRI will have to wait for a future volume, since it did not take place in 1979, but later on. Meanwhile, the violence and corruption in the Mexican border area is depicted with graphic detail. It is well written, and recommended.

Perfect Poison: a Peggy Lee Garden Mystery
by Joyce and Jim Lavene
Berkley
Paperback, 304 pages, $7.99
ISBN: 978-0425221273
Reviewed by Clara Johnston

Peggy attends a funeral for the former mayor as the story commences. A plea for help goes out for a diver who has not surfaced. Off they go. They learn that this is not the first person who was lost near the dam. Peggy was recently hired to be a forensics botanist examiner; this will be her first case. The deceased diver's wife and daughter come.

For those of you returning to this series, you will welcome several familiar faces. Paul, Peggy's son, is here, as is Steve, the veterinarian love interest. The more I see of Steve, the more I like him. Sam and Selena are at the Potting Shed, Peggy's garden and landscaping business. They still like to bicker. The Potting Shed business idea came from Peggy's deceased husband, John, and whenever she wearies with the business, she remembers why she is here. Also one more character that is primary is Shakespeare, Peggy's 140 pound Great Dane.

It's fascinating to eavesdrop on Peggy's botanical experiments. Kept in the basement, there are a variety of interesting plants, including a potato that may be able to grow underwater.

Asked to become very involved in the diver's death, Peggy thinks it does have the earmarks of a murder. This is a visual story. You can see the various settings and would know the characters if you met them on the street. Peggy shows her heart time and time again. Even though she can be tough, her character and compassion for others shines through. Relationships are a strong part of this series. It is a wonder that she and Steve have time for anything due to their busy and often, weird schedules.

Peggy Lee needs to take care of some problems at the Potting Shed and also is deeply involved with the two cases that may have a link. At the end of this wonderful story, there is a summer garden question and answer section. Enjoy!

Lifelines
by C.J. Lyons
Berkley
Paperback, 416 pages, $7.99
ISBN:978-0-425-22082-5
Reviewed by Caryn St. Clair

From the very first sentence I was sucked unto Lifelines. The book opens, "July 1st is the most dangerous day of the year." The first day of July is transition day in hospitals, the day that medical students become interns. And according to the Lyons at least, it is the most dangerous day of the year to be a hospital patient.

July 1st is also the day that Lydia Fiore starts her new job at Pittsburgh's Angels of Mercy Hospital as the new ER attending physician. Almost immediately Lydia is faced with two unusual emergencies: First Lydia awes the staff by making a lifesaving call on a young man in full cardiac arrest, but in doing so she violated protocol—something charge nurse Nora doesn't soon forget.

The next patient was also a young man but this time, the outcome is not nearly as good. Worse, the patient turned out to be Jonah Weiss, the son of Dr. Elliot Weiss, Chief of Surgery. As a result, Dr. Weiss is determined to have Lydia at least fired, possibly prosecuted.

The strength of Lifelines is the fast pace of the book. The constant string of medical emergencies, both in the hospital and with the EMT unit, keeps the pages flying. It has all of the suspense of the first few seasons of the TV show ER, when viewers were on the edge of their seats for the entire hour. The reader is right there in the center of the medical emergencies and can't help but feel the mounting tension as the medical personnel work to save the patients' lives.

The characters are also an interesting group. The core group include Lydia, charge nurse Nora, medical student Amanda, resident Gina and EMT Trey Garrison. We get just snippets about most of their histories, but enough to let us understand some of their motivations and weaknesses. Hopefully there will be many more books in the series allowing readers, over time, to get to know more about them and the many other characters connected to the Angels of Mercy.

Overall, Lifelines is an excellent series debut.

Murder Melts in Your Mouth
by Nancy Martin
Obsidian
Hardcover, 282 pages, $22.95
ISBN: 978-0-451-22311-1
Reviewed by Caryn St.Clair

Nora Blackbird and her sisters Emma and Libby have done a remarkable job of putting their lives back together. Given the fact that their parents scandalized polite mainline Philadelphia society, by running through the family fortune and then leaving the country one step ahead of the feds, it's surprising really that the girls are able to even live in Philadelphia, let alone thrive.

Through six previous books, readers have been with the sisters through their struggles. Nora attends the social functions she was raised with—only now as a society reporter, not a guest, Emma runs through jobs and men weekly, and "The Blackbird Curse" continues to plague the men Libby marries causing her to acquire new husbands (and children) at an alarming rate.

As Murder Melts in Your Mouth opens, Nora is trying to recover from two major heartbreaks. Nora and Michael, her most inappropriate lover, have split up after they suffered a devastating loss. Emma has supposedly settled in running a riding school at Blackbird Farm but not surprisingly seems to be missing. And Libby, after being hit by a car, has found yet another man to pursue, while leaving her children for Nora to tend. However, the most surprising development in this book, is the return to Philadelphia of the long gone Blackbird parents. While their return is great fun for readers, it creates great stress for the girls—especially Nora. She discovers her parents have returned, when she opens a closet door at her friend Lexie's investment firm, and finds her father... smoking pot. This can't be good. Lexie's business partner has fallen or been pushed from the balcony of her office, and now Nora's father is back-and at the scene of the crime.

The fact that Murder Melts in Your Mouth takes place during a chocolate festival is just one of of the things that makes this book a fun read. There are many surprises for readers involving Nora and her fabulously dysfunctional family. Her parents are not the only people from her past to come back into her life, while someone dear to her is nearly lost. Oh yes, and the Blackbird family even adds yet another member in this book. Martin's books are so much fun to read, it's hard as a fan to wait for the next book!

Notorious
by Michele Martinez
William Morrow
Hardcover, 352 pages, $23.95
ISBN: 978-0060899028
Reviewed by Theodore Feit

Melanie Vargas makes her fourth appearance in this novel, this time as the chief assistant in her role as an U.S. Assistant Attorney in New York City. As its predecessors, Notorious is highly readable, well-plotted and swift reading. And it starts off with a bang—literally. Melanie is heading up the prosecution team in a murder trial, with a much-loved rap star as the defendant. While standing in front the court house in Foley Square after speaking with defense counsel, she witnesses his murder when he enters his car and it explodes.

No novel in the series is without all sorts of complications, and this one is no exception. To begin with, who is responsible for defense counsel's murder? The defendant? His new counsel, who was sort of the former attorney's partner? Then there is the question of intimidation (or even possible elimination) of witnesses. And, of course, no plot is complete without danger posed to the protagonist. Or without a potential love interest.

As in previous entries in the series, the basic cast of characters remains familiar, even Melanie's "former" love, an FBI agent she has "spurned." This leads to some "schmaltzy" reactions on Melanie's part which in a way reflect badly on her character and really have nothing to do with the plot; one assumes they are put there to humanize her. Nevertheless, the book is on a par with its predecessors, and is recommended.

The First Patient
by Michael Palmer
St. Martin's Press
Hardcover, 371 pages, $25.95
ISBN: 0312343531
Reviewed by Caryn St.Clair

What if the President of the United States was slowly going insane? Worse, what if enemies of the state were causing it it happen? This is the basic premise in Palmer's newest medical thriller, The First Patient. The author gives readers much to think about by raising all sorts of questions about when and by whom the 25th Amendment is invoked.

Gabe Singleton and Drew Stoddard have been friends since Annapolis. They've shared many things over the years including a tragic accident that left a woman and her unborn child dead. As a result, Gabe's Naval career was over before it began, he spent time in prison and then went home to Montana to practice medicine. Drew became the President of the United States.

Now Drew needs Gabe to come to Washington and serve as his private physician. It isn't long before Gabe knows why Drew needed someone outside the Washington loop for the position. Within 24 hours of arriving in Washington, Gabe is summoned to the White House's private quarters to treat the President for what appears to be a mental breakdown. Gabe soon learns this is the fourth such episode the President has suffered.

There are some surprising twists as well many other questions for the reader to puzzle over besides whether the President is actually going insane or not. The doctor who served as Drew's physician before Gabe has disappeared. Did he go on his own or was he kidnapped? As is often the case, some characters have personal agendas or are not quite who they claim to be. The fast paced tempo of The First Patient will have readers staying up late into the night to finish this thriller for sure.

Say Goodbye
by E.J. Rand
Deadly Ink Press
Paperback, 268 pages, $12.95
ISBN: 978-0978744212
Reviewed by Gloria Feit

From a great opening sentence: "If Norman Lyons had known he was going to die that morning, he would have worn different clothes," the reader soon meets Gary Kemmerman, neighbor to the aforementioned Mr. Lyons. Gary and Norman had spoken for a few minutes that same morning, not long before the latter's car crashed in a fatal "accident," having been run off the road by another vehicle on a wintry morning in New Jersey. Gary has retired from his practice as a crisis consultant after the death of his beloved wife from cancer nearly a year ago—he left his practice in order to be with her during her final months, and is still mourning her deeply.

Gary is reluctantly pulled back into the world of the living when Norman's widow begs him to look into her husband's death, firmly convinced he has been murdered. He is assisted in this effort by another neighbor, a homicide lieutenant. What follows is another murder, an attempted murder, arson, and an attack on a witness, and that's only through the first half of the book. Other characters in the tale include a cold-blooded killer with a fondness for Disney songs, and a beautiful young woman who witnessed Norman's "accident" and causes Gary to deal with the question of whether he can finally put his demons—or his ghosts—to rest and fall in love again.

The narrative is tense and the book is very fast reading, and I liked the cast of characters. Despite the fact that at times I felt the writing was uneven and a bit melodramatic, it soon became much surer as the story continued and the suspense built up, to the point where I couldn't put the book down. This appears to be the first in an anticipated series featuring Gary Kemmerman, and I will look forward to the next entry.

Friend of the Devil
by Peter Robinson
William Morrow
Hardcover, 350 pages, $24.95
ISBN: 978-0060544379
Reviewed by Gloria Feit

Two weeks after she has been on loan from the Western Area HQ Eastvale police station to the Spring Hill police station in the Eastern Area, Annie Cabbot is assigned the murder investigation of a woman found in her wheelchair at the edge of a cliff, with her throat slit.

At first appearing to be about 40 years old, she is soon found to have been only 28, a quadriplegic who had been a resident in a care home nearby to the murder site. At the same time, Inspector Alan Banks, Annie's one-time lover, is investigating the brutal rape and murder of a 19-year-old girl in Eastvale. The investigations of the two cases are juxtaposed in alternating sections, with the lines at times conjoining.

Further inquiries in the "Wheelchair Murder," as it is dubbed by the press, result in the realization that the dead woman was involved in an infamous case six years earlier [and the subject of an earlier book], with which Cabbot and Banks were deeply involved, and the case immediately becomes much more complex. An underlying theme is "the secrets and burdens people carry around with them," and their memories.

All the favorite elements of this wonderful series are present here: The terrific writing, evocative descriptions of the English landscape and cityscape, Banks' indulging in his regular pint or glass of wine (general over-indulgence in alcohol palpable throughout), the marvelous backdrop of music by Bill Evans, Coltrane and Monk, among others. What is different in this newest series entry is the emphasis on the character and personality of Annie Cabbot. Although Banks is the usual protagonist, and an always fascinating one he is, allowing Annie to take her equal place at center stage here only adds one more dimension to this always excellent series.

Lady Killer
by Lisa Scottoline
Harper
Hardcover, 368 pages, $25.95
ISBN: 978-0060833206
Reviewed by Theodore Feit

A teenage indiscretion comes back to haunt Mary DiNunzio in her first appearance after the author took a four-book hiatus for the character. She is now the rainmaker for her law firm, but gets sidetracked when a high school classmate consults her about an abusive live-in "connected" boyfriend. Mary suggests disappearing for a while or getting an order of protection, either of which is impractical.

The woman then disappears on her birthday and all of South Philadelphia fears she has been murdered by the boyfriend. The police and FBI do little to unravel the mystery and it leaves only Mary to be a superhero, if that's possible.

The flavor of the novel is replete with South Philadelphia and its Italian-American population. But more important to the plot are Mary's efforts to find the missing woman, as well as learning something about herself and her "community"—the neighborhood in which she grew up. It is a well-told, engaging tale.

The Sex Club
by L.J. Sellers
Spellbinder Press
Paperback, 347 pages, $8.50
ISBN: 978-0979518202
Reviewed by Gloria Feit

The Sex Club is not the book one expects from the title, nor from the opening sentence, for that matter: "You can put your clothes back on, then we'll talk some more."

The words are spoken by Kera Kollmorgan, a registered nurse at the Planned Parenthood clinic in Eugene, Oregon, to a young girl of perhaps 14 years of age, who has come for treatment of an STD. The only thing more startling to the reader than the fact that a middle school student is sexually active is that she is only one of a group of similar barely-teenaged kids, churchgoing members of a bible study group who have all ostensibly taken vows of celibacy, in the "club."

Almost immediately after this encounter, a pipe bomb goes off, damaging the building and causing severe injuries to one patient. Things only get worse when the young girl's dead body is discovered the following day in a dumpster. And it appears that the bomber, dismayed that the clinic is still functioning, is not done with them, and Kera soon finds herself a target of the antiabortionist as well.

The dead girl had sent a personal e-mail to Kera shortly after her clinic visit and, when Kera is contacted by another young girl the next day near the school where the girls were both students, she "took that as a sign that both girls had wanted or needed something from her personally." The daughter of "hippies before it was popular to be hippies," she has always been committed to causes, spending five years in Rwanda before coming back home. She has lost a son to the war in Iraq, where her husband is now serving and where he has indicated he is going to stay—her dedication to her work and to the women who sought help at her clinic has become her whole life.

Handling the bombing case for the cops initially is Detective Wade Jackson, later assigned to the young girl's homicide. He is himself the single father of a fourteen-year-old girl who had been a friend of the dead girl, separated from his alcoholic wife, with obvious conflicts on the case. The investigation turns out to have political implications, further complicating his job.

The author, a resident of Eugene, Oregon and, among other things, a political activist (no surprise there), has written a well-plotted, suspenseful tale with two very human and engaging protagonists, with a pulse-pounding ending. It would appear that a second book featuring Detective Jackson is on the horizon, and it should be another winner.

Tie Dyed and Dead
by Sharon Short
Avon
Paperback, 230 pages, $6.99
ISBN: 978-0060793289
Reviewed by Caryn St.Clair

Paradise, Ohio is the sort of small town where everybody knows your name as well as pretty much everything about you and your family. The community rally around each other when there is trouble and helps out whenever help is needed. But even in this tight knit community, people have secrets. However, even the closest held secret is often known by someone. And sometimes, that person decides to use that secret.

In Tie Dyed and Dead, the sixth book in Short's Josie Toadfern series, it's just such a secret that causes all of the trouble. In the 1950's and early 1960's, the Mayfair Sisters were a singing sensation. But during the 1960's change swept across the country, changing everything, including America's taste in music. Suddenly, the much sought after sister act was finished and the three Mayfair sisters, Cornelia, Candice and Constance, went their separate ways. Although their mother continued to live in Paradise, people pretty much forgot about the family. Until their mother Dora's health began to fail. Then the sisters decide to do one last concert, back home in Paradise, as a benefit to raise money for their mother's care. With them come some not so likable people, including the girls' former agent and Cornelia's husband.

Josie Toadfern runs the local laundromat and is a well known stain expert. Because her laundromat is situated on Main Street, she is literally right in the center of nearly everything that happens in Paradise. In this book, Josie becomes involved with the Mayfair family when she is asked to help prepare the vintage costumes for the concert. Unfortunately, this leads to her involvement in two murders. Worse yet, she's even a suspect in the first murder.

The ghost of Mrs. Oglevee, Josie's nemesis and former teacher, returns in this book to point Josie in the right direction in her personal life. Mrs. Oglevee, rather than being spooky, acts as sort of a moral compass for Josie.

Fans of Josie will be very pleased with this entry in the series. For people who have never tried Short's books, picking up Tie Dyed and Dead first will be fine. Though a series, the books can easily be read out of order because whatever background that a reader needs is replayed in each book.

A Prayer For The Damned
by Peter Tremayne
St. Martin's Minotaur
Hardcover, 304 pages, $24.95
ISBN: 0312348339
Reviewed by Kerry Hammond

Sister Fidelma of Cashel is not only a member of the religious order of 7th century Ireland, but is also a dálaigh, an advocate of the law. During the preparation for her own wedding ceremony, which due to her status as sister to a king has brought many people from all over Ireland, one of the guests is found stabbed in his bed chamber.

The dead man is an Abbot who was hated by everyone, giving many a motive. When it is reported that the King of Connacht was seen leaving the dead man's room, he is accused of the crime and asks Sister Fidelma to defend him. She agrees and the wedding is put on hold while she and Eadulf, her future husband, investigate the crime.

Fidelma and Eadulf learn what kind of man the Abbot really was as they question the witnesses, and his façade as a holy man starts to come into serious doubt. Even the members of his order and traveling group are suspect and have their own reasons to be happy that he is dead. Those assigned to be prosecutor and judge are rushing Fidelma to put on her case and she feels pressured to come to a quick conclusion without knowing all the facts. When a second murder is discovered, she must look at the entire event in a different light, rethinking her previous conclusions. Tremayne lays out the clues for Fidelma and the reader to see them, but they are in no way easy to find.

At first, I thought that the names and ancient words in the story would be hard to get used to and might take away from my enjoyment of the story. But once I started to accept the words, I was drawn into the mystery and its characters. The setting adds to the motivations of the characters and the time period to their goals and ambitions. However, the crime would easily have taken place in any century and the reasons behind it are also timeless. Sister Fidelma is a strong character who seeks justice, not a quick and easy solution to an inconvenient event. The is the 17th in the Mystery of Ancient Ireland series, but could easily be treated as a standalone and read out of order. I will definitely go back to the beginning and read more of her adventures—recommended.

Desert Noir
by Betty Webb
Poisoned Pen Press
Paperback, 252 pages, $14.95
ISBN: 1890208701
Reviewed by Terri M. Tumlin

Before the reader even gets into this novel, the title intrigues. The images of bright, hot sunshine in the desert and dark, hidden secret places seem at odds with one another. But, in Webb's first Lena Jones mystery, the blend is masterful.

The novel begins with the discovery of the battered body of Clarice Kobe, the beautiful art gallery owner and neighbor of Lena Jones. At first everything seems straightforward. There is an abusive, about-to-be ex-husband, Jay, in the picture and bloody footprints that match his shoes are found around the body. Jena would be glad to see that he gets what he deserves, but she is drawn, reluctantly, onto his defense team.

But Jay is released. He has an alibi. The field widens to other suspects, although Clarice's family remain convinced that Jay is the killer. As the story progresses and the reader learns more about Clarice and the various characters that interacted with her, a nicely complex plot unfolds and leads to an unexpected and satisfying conclusion.

Lena Jones, the protagonist of the novel, is a unique character. Found by the side of the road with a bullet wound to her forehead, Lena has been seeking information about her past through her years as a police officer and private investigator. She does not have to carry the story alone. Her partner in Desert Investigations is Jimmy Siswan, a Pima Indian computer geek who earns his keep by showing companies how vulnerable their computer systems are. And then there's her old boss, Captain Kryzinski, Lena's access to police information. The problem is Kryzinski wants her back in the department but Lena won't go back. Each character in the book is well drawn and unique.

In addition to the pleasure of a well constructed mystery, the author offers the reader a wealth of knowledge of Scottsdale, Arizona—both geographically and culturally. The setting of the story in the world of Southwestern art is enhanced by an intimate familiarity with the artists who work there. Although artists that are major characters in the plot are, of course, fictional, those whose paintings are in the local museum are real as are the types of pictures they paint.

Desert Noir is definitely a dark novel with ugly crimes and unpleasant secrets of the characters. But like the paintings of George Haozous in the story, even when the subject matter is ugly, the work itself is excellent and thoroughly enjoyable to read.