January 2004

In this month's issue:

Reviews:
Dead Wives Society, by Sharon Duncan
Equivocal Death, by Amy Gutman
A Long December, by Donald Harstad
What Others Know, by L.C. Hayden
The Ghost and Mrs. McClure, by Alice Kimberly
Dead and Breakfast, by Robert Nordan
Across The Years, by Tracie Peterson
And Not a Penny More, by Kathryn R. Wall
Up In Smoke, by Charlene Weir

Reviews

Dead Wives Society
by Sharon Duncan
Signet
Paperback, 273 pages, $5.99
ISBN: 0451209494
Reviewed by Dawn Dowdle

Scotia MacKinnon is a private investigator in Friday Harbor on San Juan Island. She doesn't like her new client Dr. Chantel Rousseau, who asks Scotia to locate her ex-husband Forbes Cameron. He has taken all their money, her mom's wedding dowry, antique tapestries, and her son's college fund. When Forbes' ex-wives start turning up dead, Scotia must help find him before Dr. Rousseau can become a victim.

Scotia lives on her sailboat The Dragon Spray. Her office mate Zelda Jones is a great research assistant and helps Scotia in many ways.

Scotia met Dr. Rousseau through her Seattle maritime attorney and significant other Nicholas Anastazi. That's part of the reason she doesn't like Rousseau: she kept making eyes at Nick. Now, Scotia finds herself in danger before she can locate Forbes.

This is the first book I've read in this series. I truly enjoyed it, look forward to future books, and recommend it. Scotia is such an enjoyable protagonist and Friday Harbor is a beautiful setting. There are many tentacles in this story and Duncan weaves them together in a great fashion.

Equivocal Death
by Amy Gutman
Warner Books
Paperback, 431 pp., $6.99
ISBN: 0446609056
Reviewed by Theodore Feit, Esq.

Kate Paine is a first-year associate at a top New York white shoe law firm, fresh out of Harvard Law. She's grinding away hours, doing scut work and generally doing what all neophyte lawyers do to earn their spurs. Then the managing partner, who interviewed and hired Kate at Harvard, calls her in on an important sexual harassment case, asking her to join his team under the leading female litigation partner.

Almost immediately, the female partner, who had previously had a love affair with the managing partner while both were married, is brutally murdered, and he is the chief suspect. Kate does not believe him to be the culprit, but can't uncover much in the way of clues. Then, during the firm's annual cocktail party, she enters the managing partner's office, to discuss her suspicions, only to find him shot to death. It looks like suicide, and the police chalk it up to remorse over the old assignation and perhaps the murder as well.

Amy Gutman demonstrates firm control of descriptions of life in a big law firm, and sprinkles her narrative with just the right images of the Upper West Side of New York City, including Zabar's, the eclectic food emporium, H&H Bagels, a landmark, the West Side subway, even extending the flavor with the view from Kate's office window west across the Hudson River and south to the Statue of Liberty.

Equivocal Death is a novel in the legal genre so popularized by Grisham. Gutman moves the story along swiftly without the usual weight of dry legalese.

The unfolding of the mystery takes an unexpected twist, as does Kate's career decision later in the book.

A Long December
By Donald Harstad
Rugged Land, LLC
Hardcover, 307 pages, $24.95
ISBN: 1590710134
Reviewed by Jim Strickland

This book starts off with gunfire and a hail of bullets and doesn't slow down until the last sentence. I am only sorry that I've only been able to read this, the fifth book that Harstad has written with his character, Carl Houseman. This story is set in Nation County, Iowa. It's not that much different than thousands of other rural counties, and for that reason, this story is one that will have you thinking long and hard about whether we're safe from terrorism anywhere.

The book starts in the present, where Houseman and three other police officers are pinned down by automatic weapons fire. Harstad does a marvelous job of weaving what is happening in the here and now with flashbacks to the events that led up to the present situation. It's fast-paced, well written, and never boring. The amount of detail that's present as Houseman and Hester Gorse (an Iowa Department of Criminal Investigation agent) begin to investigate what at first appears to be a drug-related murder really gives the reader a chance to form his or her own opinions about what's happening and why. As the two go deeper into the investigation, it takes a chilling turn as they are drawn into a terrorist plot that parallels today's headlines. The involvement of many Federal agencies, the types of responses, and the sense of urgency that permeate this story, set in the December after 9/11, bring back memories of how this country felt at that time.

The characters are all well rounded, with personalities that set them apart from each other as human beings and not just characters in a book. You will find yourself despising the terrorists and their ultimate plot and quite moved by some of what happens. I don't know about Harstad's other books, but this one was hard to put down. I would without hesitation recommend it to a friend or family member. There aren't many books that cause my heart to beat faster as I read them, making me feel like I'm right beside Houseman as they try and survive a bad situation. Do yourself a favor and, if you like mystery/suspense/thrillers, get this book and enjoy it as much as I did.

What Others Know
by L.C. Hayden
Top Publications, Ltd.
Trade paperback, 295 pages, $14.95
ISBN: 1929976267
Reviewed by Cindy Daniel

Seven years ago a young reporter decided he was going to expose the drugs and corruption in Las Vegas and, in spite of threats to his life, wrote an article listing names, facts, and figures. The article cost Dan Springer the life of his wife and the daily torture of wondering who had kidnapped his little girl and where she was.

Now, when the son of a local mob boss is kidnapped, Dan decides this is a way to get someone to listen to him—someone with influence to help him find his daughter. All he needs to do is stage a rescue and return the son to his grateful father, who has the power Dan so desperately needs. Seems logical.

However, the grateful father has a bizarre way of showing appreciation and before long the body count starts rising, and once again Dan is endangering the woman he loves in his quest for justice. Lucky for him, Detective Harry Bronson is in Las Vegas on vacation to do some fishing; catching more than he ever bargained for.

Harry teams up with Dan and his girlfriend Debbie as they follow the twisting trails leading to the girl, wandering down paths to corrupt cops, violent attacks, and just maybe some peace of mind.

L.C. Hayden writes characters with emotion—in a story that could only be told in Las Vegas. You definitely want to find out What Others Know.

The Ghost and Mrs. McClure
by Alice Kimberly
Berkley
Paperback, 272 pages, $5.99
ISBN: 0425194612
Reviewed by Dawn Dowdle

This was a fabulous first mystery. I read it in one day. I can't wait for another in this series.

Penelope Thornton-McClure has returned to Quindicott, Rhode Island, to become co-owner of Buy the Book bookstore with her Aunt Sadie. Penelope brought her seven-year-old son Spencer with her. Penelope's husband Calvin recently killed himself.

To help increase business, Penelope sets up an author appearance by Timothy Brennan, renowned author of the Detective Jack Shield stories. Unfortunately Timothy chokes during his talk and dies.

The next morning when Penelope wakes with a hangover, she figures his death will be the end of Buy the Book. Boy, is she wrong.

Every copy of Brennan's new book and all of his previous books have sold.

Then the State Police determine Brennan was killed and arrest his daughter, Diedre. She and her husband Kenneth had arrived with Brennan and Shelby Cabot from the publisher's the night of Brennan's talk.

About 50 years ago P.I. Jack Shepard had been shot in a bookstore in this same location. Apparently Brennan's Jack Shield character was built off of Jack Shepard.

Penelope starts conversing with Jack Shepard in her head. Most of the time she is trying to stop hearing him, but he is very persistent.

I like the interaction of Penelope and Jack, even though he's a ghost. This is such a well-written cozy. She has created likeable characters, including a ghost, but it isn't scary in the least. Matter of fact, I found it funny.

The interaction between the other characters is well written as well. I also like the setting of a small Rhode Island town. The bookstore setting gives it charm.

Kimberly has a real winner! I highly recommend this; you won't want to put it down.

Dead and Breakfast
by Robert Nordan
Worldwide Publishing
Paperback, 250 pages, $5.99
ISBN: 0373264658
Reviewed By Shannon Robertson

Mavis Lashley, a strong, golden-aged widow, enjoys her quiet life in North Carolina. In this book, fate proves to her once again that her life cannot remain quiet for long. Her longest known friend, Eileen Hollowell telephones her late one night with one eerie message: "I need you now." Not asking too many questions, Mavis hops immediately on a bus that flies through the countryside, across the state, to see what is the matter.

All seems to be well upon first arriving, but this, like the quiet in her life, is quick to change. Eileen has great plans to turn her beautiful mountainside home into a bed and breakfast, but someone strongly opposes, and is more than willing to demonstrate this in acts of vandalism, and worse. When a local teenage girl turns up dead, police quickly point the finger at Eileen's mentally challenged son, Claude. Mavis knows this just can't be true. Laugh and cry with the characters, full of true grit and spirit, and be prepared to be kept guessing through this excellent book.

Join Mavis Lashley on her latest adventure through the mystery of her life, flavored with murder, mayhem, and excitement.

Dead and Breakfast is a book I personally enjoyed very much. It is quite a page turner, with well developed characters, and a plot that thickens as it flows. A cleverly written mystery, Robert Nordan has really done it with this one. I recommend it to anyone who has some time to sit down and really get lost in an exceptional story. If you live for a good mystery novel, this one is for you.

Across The Years
by Tracie Peterson
Bethany House
Paperback, 381 pages, $12.99
ISBN: 0764225189

Even though Ashley Reynolds has been disowned by her family for marrying the man she loves, she fights through the pain and holds on to the love of her young husband. When he's sent to war, her loneliness is relieved when she discovers she's pregnant with his child. Through a tragic accident, her husband is taken from her, but she consoles herself with her grandfather and her soon-coming child. Working as a Harvey Girl years later, Ashley gets news of her grandfather's failing health. Suddenly, she finds that she will have to confront her past before she can move forward.

Tracie Peterson's work is always comfortable and relaxing to fans of her writing. Across the Years has a slower pace than some, but the mention of the Harvey Girls brought a touch of the familiar. Fans of Peterson will be pleased with this new release and its diversity.

This book was a very comfortable relaxing read. Having read much of Tracie Peterson's work and loved it, this book surprised me. It seemed to move slower than her other work. I found I didn't feel as invested in the characters or as concerned about the outcome. For Tracie Peterson, her good, decent book can be a sensational book for someone else. The Harvey Girl addition helped to bring more of a touch of the familiar to this book as we read about in the Westward Chronicles. Overall a good read but it won't keep you on the edge of anything.

And Not a Penny More
by Kathryn R. Wall
Coastal Village Press
Paperback, 307 pages, $14.95
ISBN: 1882943120
Reviewed by Barbara F. Thompson

Lydia "Bay" Tanner gets involved in solving a series of murders involving widows on holiday in foreign countries arriving at their destinations via a certain cruise line. An old school friend returns home to South Carolina to ask Bay to investigate the death of her mother in South America. While the local authorities attribute her death to natural causes Bay's friend Jordan von Brandt believes otherwise.

Meanwhile Jordan's hotshot brother Tray is opposed to any investigation. Jordan's other brother, who handled the finances for the family owned business, asks the family attorney and Bay to settle the company's accounts before the estate can be settled. Bay is a former partner in a CPA firm out of Charleston but has been out of work the past year due to injuries she received solving a previous case in which her husband was apparently murdered. Bay is still in danger, holding sensitive papers in relation to that case.

While searching the Web for information on the cruise line, Bay learns of two other mysterious deaths attributed to similar circumstances. When Jordan decides to book Bay, Tray and herself for a cruise on the same liner, Bay decides this would be the perfect opportunity to rid herself of the incriminating papers.

Wall writes a good mystery. Her setting, Hilton Head, SC is similar to Carolyn's Hart's Broward's Rock, SC. I like Wall's main character Bay Tanner and her father, a retired judge. Bay can be quick with a retort to those who annoy her yet be understanding to people in need.

I have one minor complaint. Wall makes fleeting references to events from the first book but never fully explains what caused Bay's physical and emotional pain. A quick half page explanation would have made reading the book all that more enjoyable and still had me interested enough to want to go back and read the first book.

And Not a Penny More is the second book in the Bay Tanner series by Kathryn R. Wall. Her first book in the series, In for a Penny was her first mystery novel. The third book in the series is titled Like a Bad Penny. Be sure to read them all and recommend them to other mystery readers who enjoy small, coastal town settings and characters.

Up In Smoke
by Charlene Weir
St. Martin's Minotaur
Hardcover, 337 pages, $23.95
ISBN: 031231020X
Reviewed by Dawn Dowdle

Susan Wren is Chief of Police in Hampstead, Kansas. Governor Jack Garrett is running for President. He and his entourage have come back to Hampstead to kick off his campaign with a homecoming rally.

Susan's cousin Sean Donovan is in town as he is a reporter covering Garrett's campaign.

A woman calls 911 from the trunk of a car but no one can track down where she is located. She is later found murdered. Her niece Arlene Harlow (Moonbeam Melody as she prefers to be called) runs away and is later attacked by an unknown assailant. Officer Luke Demarco cares for her and becomes her friend. This relationship is believable in a small-town atmosphere. It lets us get to know Demarco a little better.

Then Wakely Fromm is found murdered. Susan has her work cut out for her to get to the truth and find the killer.

I find the books in this series a little hard to get into because there are so many different threads to the story, but once I'm in, I'm hooked! Weir has created fantastic characters for this story. Plus I really like Chief Susan. She has had hardship—she lost her husband of four weeks! She doesn't know if she wants to stay in Hampstead or return to San Francisco. The author has truly captured this struggle.

The various characters related to the governor are very well constructed and their interactions are so well written that I forgot they weren't real.

I highly recommend this book.

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