May 2007

We at the Morgue don't believe in that "merry, merry month of May" stuff; we like a nice grisly murder to brighten up our Spring. That's why you'll find no fewer than 23 mystery book reviews in this month's edition, from such authors as Harlan Coben, Hailey Lind, Chris Grabenstein, Donald Westlake and David Baldacci.

There's also a new "How I Write" essay that you won't want to miss from J.B. Stanley, author of Carbs and Cadavers, and a new interview with Jane K. Cleland, author of A Deadly Appraisal.

Indulge your passion for thrills, chills and... something that rhymes with "ills" in this month's Mystery Morgue!

In this month's issue:

How I Write, by J.B. Stanley
The Mystery Morgue Interview: Jane K. Cleland

Reviews:
Simple Genius by David Baldacci
Blood Matters by Taffy Cannon
Deadly Appraisal by Jane K. Cleland
The Woods by Harlan Coben
The Hayloft by Alan Cook
Sleeping with Strangers by Eric Jerome Dickey
Whack A Mole by Chris Grabenstein
A Stolen Season by Steve Hamilton
Looking Good Dead by Peter James
Defending Violet by Jennifer Louise Jefferson
The Cold Dish by Craig Johnson
Pressed to Kill by Dolores Johnson
A House Divided by Deborah LeBlanc
Shooting Gallery by Hailey Lind
Destroying Angels by Gail Lukasik
Bleak Water by Danuta Reah
Gun Shy by Ben Rehder
Dangerous Outsider by Graeme Roe
Deadman's Switch by Barbara Seranella
Carbs & Cadavers by J.B. Stanley
Lights Out by Jason Starr
Shoot from the Lip by Leann Sweeney
What's So Funny by Donald E. Westlake

Link to Archives

 

How I Write
by J.B. Stanley

J.B. Stanley was educated in writing from an early age. One of her favorite ways to spend time with her grandfather was to sit on his lap in front of the typewriter and write stories with his help.

After she got married, Stanley moved to Richmond, VA, and it was during her first year there that she began to write her first novel, A Killer Collection. She had decided to take a break from teaching and also because she missed North Carolina.

A former middle school English teacher, Stanley has dabbled in the antiques and collectible world by trading on eBay, working part-time at auction houses, and contributing articles for Antiqueweek. For more information, please visit jbstanley.com.

Beware: A Writer May Be Watching You!

A few weeks back, when I was about midway into the first draft of the third book in my supper club series, Chili Con Corpses, I found myself in search of a villain. Literally. I wanted to drive around until I found someone malicious enough to fit the bill of a swindling, low-life, user as I happily didn't know anyone like that in my personal circle.

Instead, I ended up staring blankly at my laptop in a Barnes and Noble café until my heavily creamed coffee grew tepid.

"Writer's block?" one of the booksellers asked teasingly, gesturing at my screensaver.

As I am a regular fixture in this store, most of the employees know me. However, this particular employee was rather surprised when I picked up a pile of stray magazines and began to help her reshelf them.

When she looked at me askance, I smiled and showed her what a nice person I was by refilling copies of Wine Spectator, Maxim, Sports Illustrated (the swimsuit edition, of course), and GQ. "Can I ask you an odd question?"

"Those are the best kind," she replied (to my delight).

"Can you think back to high school or junior high and tell me if there was someone who was especially mean to you? You know," I plowed on, "that bully, that jerk, that kid that made you feel like crap? There's always one."

Slightly suspicious, she nodded. "Yeah, sure. I knew someone like that. Why do you want to know?"

"Well, I've already based characters on people who have wronged me or my husband or my family members. Right now, I happen to be fresh out of villains. So," I persisted. "You knew someone who seemed to have an extra supply of cruelty?"

She nodded immediately. "In high school. His name was Gary."

Gary? Perfect. My antagonist had a first name. I'd make up his last name later. "What did he look like?"

"He was stocky with reddish hair and freckles. He only smiled when he thought he was hurting someone's feelings or getting away with something behind a teacher's back." She paused in the middle of straightening a row of Seventeen magazines. "He was ugly. Like a little frog."

I could picture him already, but as a grown man in his late twenties or early thirties. That was the age I needed him to be in my book. "What kind of things did he tease you about?"

The bookseller's face clouded over. I could see that Gary's words still haunted her and she was in her mid-forties. High school was a long time ago for her. "He told me that no one would ever ask me out. He said that I looked like a fat boy. He made noises when I didn't give the right answers in class, made fun of my dad's job, my clothes, anything! He taunted me all the time. In the halls, in town, whenever he could. I really hated him. He made me cry a lot." She gazed out the window and then turned back to me. "You know what? I still hate him."

I moved closer to her, my heart already hardened against this Gary brute. "How would you like a little revenge?" I inquired. "I need a bad guy for my next book and I think Gary would make a terrific scoundrel."

Her eyes lit up. "Are you going to kill him?"

I laughed a little nervously at her eagerness. "I don't know. I haven't plotted out the end yet. But he'll get his comeuppance somehow or another."

"Thanks," she said, smiling shyly. "He deserves it. I wasn't the only one he was mean to. He was really good at making people feel small."

"And for the record," I told her before returning to my laptop, "You're not the slightest bit overweight, you don't look at all like a boy, and I think you're cool."

This is a true story, folks. I do oddball stuff like this all the time. Sure, many of the ideas appearing in my books, whether in my antiques and collectibles series, the supper club series, or my bible study mystery series that will debut in 2008, come from my own experiences, but not all. I've overheard snippets of gossip in eateries that I know could plump up the dialogue of one of my ongoing scenes, I've seen how rude people can be when talking on their cell phones and have planned on teaching one of my characters a lesson about etiquette as a result, and I've studied the quirks and mannerisms of people at work. In short, I spy on people all the time and I borrow upon these real-time observations to color my narrative. Sometimes I'm just shopping for a physical description. If I cast my eyes around the bank or the grocery store or the gym, my eyes will alight on someone whose unique appearance will transfer well into fiction in a few, succinct sentences. My job is like the most rewarding form of people watching.

Now, it may sound like I'm out there hunting down all the condescending, catty, impolite, or most physically interesting people in the city of Richmond to use in my books, and to some extent I am. But I'm also always on the lookout for exhibitions of warmth, generosity, courtesy, and, truth be told, pubic displays of affection (though preferably not from teenagers. Even I will blush and turn away during Saturday evening petting sessions at our outdoor mall).

One of my favorite places to witness loving behavior between couples and among family members and friends is at the church playground. Once Sunday school has let out and worship service is over, people hug and kiss one another's cheeks and speak in effusively affectionate voices replete with a sincerity that can often be lost in the struggle of the hectic business of the workweek. I also like the pure happiness folks illustrate at bakeries or ice cream parlors. Have you ever seen a person sitting outside at a patio table shaded by a yellow and white striped umbrella, and licking a chocolate-dipped vanilla soft serve cone? Do they look unhappy to you? Never. They look so content that you want to pull into the nearest parking space and get yourself some of what they've got!

I also enjoy staking out pizza joints, Mexican restaurants, (how can you resist being loquacious and chipper with margaritas, warm chips, and salsa on the table while papier mache piñatas of bulls and parrots pivot lazily above your head?), and breakfast buffets. This part of my investigation is where I get into trouble. After spending so much time at these eateries, I naturally tend to sample their wares. It's no wonder that the characters in my supper club mysteries are always trying out a new diet or exercise program. That's one area of fiction that is very autobiographical. I like junk food and I hate dieting and exercise. I do both, grudgingly, because I have two little kids and I want to live to be an old lady who has authored a whole pile of books.

In any case, beware of what you say in public, for a mystery writer may be watching and listening. It's what we do when we're trying to bring the real world into our books while spicing up the characters, plot, and dialogue that have sprung from our imagination. Now you know how I behave in public and if you're willing to people watch and you find yourself in Richmond, VA and would like to sit by a swimming pool, drink a margarita while eating pizza and ice cream, give me a call. I can always write off our lunch as research.

 

The Mystery Morgue Interview: Jane K. Cleland

Jane K. Cleland, author, curriculum developer, and corporate trainer and facilitator, has more than 20 years experience, but she never stops adding accomplishments. She specializes in management (i.e., developing supervision skills, facilitating meetings, priority and time management), marketing (i.e., creating effective marketing plans, marketing to tourists, ROI marketing), and business communications (i.e., writing, listening, and presentation skills).

Her first mystery novel, Consigned to Death, published by St. Martin's Minotaur, is in its third printing, and a second novel, A Deadly Appraisal (St. Martin's), continues the series.

Building on her experience owning an antiques store in New Hampshire, Cleland creates a sleuth who deals in antiques but finds herself involved with a brand-new murder.

Jane's had four books published and has scripted and presented two training videos on communication topics, most recently, Business Writing for Results (McGraw Hill). Other titles include Putting First What Matters Most, How to Create High-Impact Design and How to Create High-Impact Newsletters. In addition, she has written articles published in professional journals and magazines on meeting facilitation, time management, priority-setting, customer service, and niche marketing.

How did you select New Hampshire as the setting for your books?  Is it a result of your having attended Babson in Wellesley, MA?

I owned and ran a rare bookstore in Portsmouth, New Hampshire for four years many years ago. When I was thinking about selecting a setting for an antiques business, Portsmouth seemed like a good choice. I know the area and its supportive business climate.

Have you taken any formal writing courses, participated in any writers' conferences or workshops?

No. My undergrad degree is in theatre, and my MBA is in marketing and management.

How/when did you become interested in mysteries?

I've always loved mysteries. My mom was a mystery writer, too.

What did you try writing before your first novel?

I have four non-fiction books published, most recently Business Writing for Results (McGraw Hill).

What did you learn writing Consigned to Death?  Deadly Appraisal?

I learned so much, I hardly know where to start. I learned the importance of structure, techniques for planting clues, and how to add action, for example.

How long did each take to write?

Consigned to Death took eight months; Deadly Appraisal took ten months... not a good trend, by the way. I'm just about done with the third Josie Prescott Antiques Mystery, Lethal Legacy. It took about eight months, so I'm back on track!

Does your having lived in various different parts of the country play any part in your writing?

That's an interesting question. I do think people are drawn to different areas of the country based on how the geography and people fit their preferences and needs, so I do have a sense of what people in New Hampshire are like.

Have you traveled?  If so, has it contributed to the content of your book?

I've traveled extensively. I've been around the world twice, and I've spent a lot of time in Asia and Europe. Traveling broadens perspectives. I don't mean to sound trite, but I believe it to be true. Also, from a practical point of view, I know a bit about antiques of other countries.

How do you do your research?

I'm fortunate to work with a wonderful antiques auction house, Leslie Hindman Auctioneers, out of Chicago. Leslie's firm has been enormously helpful in appraising specific objects.

Where did you get the idea for each of your novels?

I don't know. I think and ideas come. One trick I've learned is to think specifically. I don't challenge myself to come up with an idea such as "Who should die?" I challenge myself to come up with an answer to a specific question such as "Why should Mary die?" I ask "what if" questions a lot.

When you create a character, how much of that character comes from your personal experience?  Are your characters just an extension of your own life and are their experiences from your own life, or are they completely fictional?

I don't know the answer to this one either. I don't consciously try to use real people, but I think we all write based on the compilation of who we are and what we've learned about other people. As far as I know everything I write is fictional.

How do your management, marketing and communications efforts assist in writing fiction, if at all?

I am market driven. By that I mean that I want to write books that people want to read. Therefore, it's important to me to know enough about people's preferences so that I can write to satisfy those expectations. I think of my marketing and promotional work as "Introducing people to Josie." I really like Josie. She'd be my friend if she were real. It's a joy to introduce her to people. I hope they like her, too. If not, that's okay; I'm just appreciative they took a moment to check her out!

 

Reviews

Simple Genius
by David Baldacci
Warner Books
Hardcover, 432 pages, $26.99
ISBN: 0446580341
Reviewed by Theodore Feit

Michelle Maxwell is suffering from the aftermath of events which transpired in the preceding novel in the series, Hour Game, as well as personal demons resulting from a childhood trauma.  As a result she undergoes psychiatric therapy to start off this tale.  Meanwhile, her partner, Sean King, accepts an assignment to investigate the apparent suicide of a brilliant scientist at a think tank in Tidewater, Virginia, on the opposite side of the river from Camp Peary, also known as The Farm, site of the CIA headquarters and training ground.

Michelle soon checks out of the facility and joins Sean at the secret enclave of scientific geniuses, seeking to create the world's most sophisticated microprocessor.  The interplay between these efforts and the possible involvement of the CIA in the scientist's death sets off all kinds of dangers to the pair, as well as to an innocent young girl.

The story and writing are up to the customary Baldacci standards, and while the conclusion is exciting, it may be considered by some a bit far-fetched.  But it is good fun and fast-paced.

Blood Matters
by Taffy Cannon
Perseverance Press
Paperback, 248 pages, $14.95
ISBN: 1880284863
Reviewed by Gloria Feit

Blood Matters is Taffy Cannon's 14th novel and the second in her Roxanne Prescott series.  Roxanne, a fourth-generation cop, is with the San Diego Sherriff's Department, self-described as the lowest detective on the Homicide totem pole. 

As the book opens, she is called to the scene of a murder, the victim being the head of a La Jolla, CA, firm named Adoption Central.  He had been an inveterate if not compulsive collector, and was beaten to death with an item from one of his collections: a Michael Jackson statuette.  His company provided services, mostly investigative, assisting people in locating their birth parents as well as handling actual adoptions, many of them international, the newest expansion of his enterprise dealing with the use of frozen embryos by those with fertility problems.

The novel is a good old-fashioned police procedural, with the only violence the murder around which the plot revolves, and virtually no profanity; though not at all something one would describe as a cozy, this is a novel with good characterizations, plotting and a satisfying whodunit.  The descriptions of police work and routines sounded to this reader authentic and realistic, and unlike TV depictions thereof.  Blood Matters is a good read, and is recommended.

Deadly Appraisal
by Jane K. Cleland
St. Martin's Minotaur
Hardcover, 288 pages, $23.95
ISBN: 0312343663
Reviewed by Theodore Feit

For a sedate antiques dealer and appraiser, Josie Prescott gets herself into plenty of dangerous and precarious situations.  In the debut novel in the series, Consigned to Death, she was involved in a murder.  In this sequel, Josie is again in the midst of a murder investigation—even as a possible suspect—when a friend is poisoned at a gala charity benefit she is hosting at her establishment.  And the murder is complicated by the question:  Who was the intended victim, Josie or the person actually killed?

The plot builds slowly, with clues—both true and false—strewn along the way.  Building to a completely unexpected conclusion, the story is well-told and carefully constructed. The author's expertise derived from owning and operating a rare bookstore in Portsmouth, NH, many years ago shines throughout.

 

The Woods
by Harlan Coben
Dutton
Hardcover, 404 pages, $26.95
ISBN: 0525950125
Reviewed by Gloria Feit

The very first mental picture given to the reader in the prologue of The Woods is of 18-year-old Paul "Cope" Copeland, watching his father in the titular woods, savagely striking a shovel blade into the ground while tears course down his face.  Digging.  The background is this: Two young couples sneaked into the woods at a summer camp where Paul worked as a counselor.  They were never seen alive again, the bodies of one of the girls and one of the boys having been later found with their throats slashed and the remaining two, one being Paul's teenage sister, never having been found.  At one point Paul had become a suspect in the investigation.  Ultimately the supposed killer, another counselor at the camp, was tried and convicted and is serving his sentence, though he has maintained his innocence.

Twenty years later, Cope is now the county prosecutor in Essex County, New Jersey, with political ambitions beyond that position.  When a police investigation into a murder committed in New York City turns up evidence linking the victim to Cope, the police come to question him, and the media spotlight that has never really left him for two decades once more finds him.  Cope's present life is a fractured one:  His father has recently died, his mother having disappeared many years previously when apparently she could no longer handle the uncertainty surrounding her daughter's fate, his wife died five years ago from cancer and he has been raising their six-year-old daughter alone.  And now once again that tragic event from so many years ago is about to ensnare him.

A parallel story line deals with the high visibility trial Cope is in the midst of, the most important of his career, with a Duke University-like rape case involving some of the wealthiest and most influential families in the city, who will go to any lengths to protect their sons, including threatening the prosecutor with unearthing any skeletons in his or his family's closets.  And everything comes back to the woods.

As one character muses, "We all find our ways to cope, to adapt and survive," and The Woods demonstrates exactly how true that is.

This was a book I couldn't put down.  It was not an action tale such as that woven so well by a Lee Child or Barry Eisler, as wonderful as those authors are, but a story so gripping that this reader raced along literally turning pages as quickly as I could because I had to find out what happens next.  The ending is a shocker—although all the clues had been there, most of it only dawned on me one page before the author divulged it.  But even then he had still another twist to deliver. Coben has written a novel as good as anything he's done before, and that's saying quite a lot.

 

The Hayloft
by Alan Cook
AuthorHouse
Paperback, 254 pages,  $14.49
ISBN: 1725942210
Reviewed by Suzanne Epstein

Gary Blanchard is a popular high school basketball player. Shortly after beginning his senior year at Atherton High in upstate New York, he is expelled (for a reason which isn't explained until halfway through the book). He goes to live with his aunt and uncle on their farm and enrolls in Carter High School where his cousin Ralph died in a mysterious accident the year before. The new principal makes it very clear to Gary that he can stay under the condition that he report back to him on any suspicious behavior that he observes, especially relating to Sylvia, the student council president.

It is the early 1950's, the Cold War is underway, and Senator Joe McCarthy has made it clear that the communist threat has insidiously permeated our nation. Sylvia introduces Gary to various classmates, including another distant cousin, Ed Drukher, whose family moved from England several years earlier. He tells Gary about a diamond necklace that someone from their family supposedly brought from Europe several generations earlier, and might be hidden on the farm.

Gary tells the book in the first person. He is an intelligent, athletic, hormonal teenager. As he adjusts to his new school, he begins to suspect that Ralph's death was no accident, and although he is frequently distracted by nubile young female classmates, he slowly uncovers the truth.

This book has an excellent plot, with plenty of red (no pun intended) herrings and unexpected revelations to keep the pages turning. Especially satisfying were two suspenseful scenes near the end of the book.  I didn't totally believe the voice, as the language seemed to often emanate from an older, more sophisticated mind trying to remember his teenage years. I know the 50s were a more innocent time, but feelings and impulses haven't changed over the years. I felt that the author held back a lot of emotion that could have given the book more color and believability. Dropping in the names of popular songs of the era didn't quite convey the time for me. Also, there was nothing that made the setting unique. It could have taken place anywhere in rural America.

Sleeping with Strangers
by Eric Jerome Dickey
Dutton
Hardcover, 316 pages, $24.95
ISBN: 0525949992
Reviewed by Gloria Feit

A man whose latest identity is, simply, "Gideon" is the protagonist in this newest novel by Eric Jerome Dickey. He is a young black man who has been a paid killer since childhood.  The book follows him through various cities in the US and on to London and other parts of Europe, going wherever the contracts take him.  We are introduced also to the various women in his life, some having staked out places there over the years, such as Arizona, the Filipina woman who is his contractor from time to time, and Thelma, the woman he hates and whose death he vows to bring about and with whom he is obsessed, an elusive figure whose place in his life is only explained in the latter parts of the book, as well as two intriguing woman who are seated in the seats surrounding his on a transatlantic flight. 

I was disappointed with this book on a number of counts:  The action bounces around in time and place, disorienting this reader.  I felt the language to be self-consciously and gratuitously vulgar, employing a quantity of sex bordering on the erotic as well as much use of "black" street talk, idiom and references which for the most part went right over my head.  I found the writing pretentious at times: "contemplation is prelude to commission," "desire is a beast that must be fed," and awkward at others, e.g., "he never spied my way," and describing how a man "went and looked" in a room.

On the positive side, Gideon is an interesting protagonist, and there is plenty of action, treachery and excitement.  The author is apparently very successful, having been on the New York Times bestseller list nine times, and the publisher is planning to bring out the rest of Gideon's story in the sequel to this novel, entitled Waking with Enemies, in August.  As to that, the conclusion of the present book leaves several key issues unresolved, which one assumes will be wrapped up in the next book.

 

Whack A Mole
by Chris Grabenstein
Carroll & Graf
Hardcover, 280 pages, $24.95
ISBN: 0786718188
Reviewed by Jeffrey Cohen

The third John Ceepak mystery (following Tilt-A-Whirl and Mad Mouse) begins with a jolt: Ceepak's partner Danny Boyle, recently promoted to full-time cop in Sea Haven, New Jersey, says he's "done the worst thing any human being can possibly do."

Then things get nasty.

Ceepak, the straight-arrow cop with a penchant for Springsteen—as any good Jersey boy has—comes across a vintage high school graduation ring, and overgrown Boy Scout that he is, seeks out the owner to return it, a mere 24 years late. This leads to the investigation of a possible serial killer who might have terrorized the area in the 80's, and could very well be planning to strike again.

As the characters in his series progress, Grabenstein grows as an author, and he was very good to start—Tilt-A-Whirl won the Anthony Award and was nominated for others. He has a humorous touch, although the books are hardly comedies, and he never strikes a wrong character note.

Here, a killer who taunts the police with public displays of his handiwork (a severed ear here, a removed nose there) has an unknown motive and hasn't been active in over two decades, but he (or she) is just as menacing as a more contemporary villain.

As ever, Grabenstein gets the atmosphere right. He knows the area we Jerseyans call "down the shore" well, and he writes it as it is. And while Sea Haven may be the most snakebit town on the Atlantic coast, as people just keep getting killed there, it has a very strong series character in John Ceepak.

Danny, who narrates the story in first person (and present tense, for you fanatics), is growing as a character, as well. He is learning from Ceepak, growing up and taking things more seriously. His asides still lean toward the "party animal" attitude, but his actions belie that facade.

Whack A Mole is a great page-turner, with characters who go deeper than the pages on which they're printed. It's always good to hear from old friends, even if they have done the worst thing any human being can possibly do. They are good company.

A Stolen Season
by Steve Hamilton
St. Martin's Minotaur
Hardcover, 304 pages, $22.95
ISBN: 031235360X
Reviewed by Caryn St.Clair

It's the Fourth of July in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and summer has yet to come. Rental cabins are standing empty, the Indian casinos are missing the tourists' dollars and the permanent residents of Paradise are feeling left out in the cold as the brief window for their summer season slips by. Thus Hamilton sets the mood for A Stolen Season, the seventh Alex McKnight mystery.

In retrospect, Alex McKnight realized he should have followed his first instincts and just stayed at home by the fire on this cold miserable Fourth of July evening. Alex was depressed because he hadn't heard from his girlfriend, Natalie, who was working undercover in Toronto trying to catch a gun dealer.  So instead of staying home, he went out with his two friends and ended up rescuing three drunken boaters involved in a serious accident. Although initially grateful for the help, the boaters sought out their rescuers the next day and accused them of stealing an airtight lock box from the boat. Wondering what could be so important to the three men, Alex and his friends Leon and Vinnie start to investigate What they find develops into a plot with so many surprising twists that it is nearly impossible to put the book down until the it's finished.

Hamilton's Alex McKnight series has always been character driven, but with this book, Hamilton takes character development to a whole new level. The reader is inside McKnight's head as he suffers, recovers from and finally seeks revenge for a terrible personal loss. After being stunned at the turn of events in this book, I was left pondering the ending of the book for days after I finished reading it. I am very interested to see what Hamilton has in store for readers in the next book of the series.

Looking Good Dead
by Peter James
Carroll & Graf
Hardcover, 416 pages, $26.95
ISBN: 0786718803
Reviewed by Gloria Feit

The reader is reminded at this outset of this novel of the ubiquity of electronics in our world—incessant cellphone chattering, texting, laptops. Some of the uglier abilities are made all too clear when Tom Bryce discovers that a CD left behind by a passenger on the train with him, which he picked up with the best of intentions to try to return to its owner, holds what appears to be a snuff film, depicting the brutal stabbing death of a beautiful young woman as she is in the act of undressing. A horrified Bryce is soon warned, through e-mail, not to pursue what he has seen, nor to contact the police, on threat of dire consequences to himself and his family.

The action in Looking Good Dead begins the day after the resolution of the crime depicted in Dead Simple, this author's excellent first book in the Detective Superintendent Roy Grace series.  Grace is immediately plunged into a new murder investigation when a woman's dismembered torso is discovered where it had been dumped in farmland in a suburb of Brighton, England. Is it the same woman Tom had earlier witnessed being murdered?  The reader isn't told (well, not for a while, anyway).

Grace's thoughts are, of course, still preoccupied with his wife who has been missing without a trace for nearly nine years, and wondering if she is alive or dead, while trying to move on with his life and risk new romantic entanglements, something he has till now resisted (for the most part).  At the same time trying to solve his newest murder case.  As in the earlier novel but in a relatively small way, Grace's tentative belief in the occult comes into play.

The author raises the question: "Do we all have a hidden dark side?"  The suspense in intense, the writing is wonderful—I loved the author's descriptions, e.g., a tie is described as looking "like it had been designed by a colour-blind chimpanzee on crack" (although I must admit I'm still trying to figure out the hue of eyes described as ‘the colour of sunlight on ice"), and his invoking of one of my favorite lines ever, from Conan Doyle: "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."  Looking Good Dead is a wonderful follow-up to a terrific first novel. 

(Caveat: Don't read the flyleaf – Spoiler contained therein.)

Defending Violet
by Jennifer Louise Jefferson
Five Star Publishing
Hardcover, 281 pages, $25.95
ISBN: 1594145369
Reviewed by Caryn St.Clair

Shaken Baby Syndrome stories hit the airwaves and newspapers all too often. Usually the parents of the child are the prime suspects in the case. Often they are young, poorly educated and under all sorts of stress. But what happens after the charges are filed? What becomes of those accused? What if the wrong person is arrested? And more importantly, how does the justice system sort it all out?

Violet is the young mother of Teddy, a victim of shaken baby syndrome. Teddy's father A.J., is not married to Violet and in fact has a completely different family. He also has a violent temper. When Violet is charged, she refuses to tell anyone, including her attorneys what really happened the night Teddy was hurt. Is she covering for A.J. or is she herself guilty?

Defending Violet follows Attorney Ginger Rae Reddy through the case and lets the reader see how difficult domestic violence and child endangerment cases can be on all of the parties involved. Ginger endangers her marriage and relationships with her associates as she deals with the emotional fallout from the case. The book gives the reader an inside look at how the legal system deals with domestic violence and child endangerment cases, and calls into question if justice is truly served in the end.

Books written about child abuse or other domestic violence cases can be hard to read. The subject matter tears at the reader's sense of well being. Jefferson uses her experiences as an attorney working on child abuse and domestic violence cases in New Jersey's Family Courts to portray a case of Shaken Baby Syndrome in Defending Violet, her first book.  The author uses great skill to guide readers through the story by having us meet the characters and follow the disintegration of their lives as the case progresses. It's not always comfortable reading, but it is gripping. This is a very hard book to put down.

 

The Cold Dish
by Craig Johnson
Penguin Mystery
Trade paperback, 354 pages, $14
ISBN: 0143036424
Reviewed b y Carl Brookins

Long-time Absaroka County Sheriff Walt Longmire is getting tired. He's been the head of law enforcement in this Wyoming county for over twenty-five years. He figures it's about time to step down and let some of the youngsters take a crack at maintaining peace in the valleys. Besides, he figures he's seen about everything in the way of criminal activity there is. He's dealt with ranchers, rambunctious teenagers, prejudice, conflicts between environmentalists and cowboys, rich and poor. What else could there be? Turns out, he hasn't seen it all.

Cody Pritchard is a young, mean, nasty individual. Now he's also dead, shot through the body from a very long range by a large-caliber slug. Why he's dead, even though he's probably one of the most universally disliked men in the county, is as unclear as the overhead sky where serious snow storms are building. Finding any real evidence at the crime scene is almost immediately a real problem; the body has been "used" for a whole day by a herd of sheep in the valley. Not a pleasant situation.

On learning of Cody's demise, Sheriff Longmire is quickly suspicious of the "accidental" aspect of the death. Two years earlier Cody Pritchard was one of a gang of four local boys who brutalized a young Cheyenne girl in a most horrible way. Pritchard and the other three received suspended sentences for the crimes. A revenge killing?  But by whom?

The novel is told in easy-going, almost laconic fashion, evoking the classic, slow-talking cowboy of the old West. And the meandering plot lines are reflective of Jack London's style, but this story is firmly rooted in the twenty-first century. There a several fine characters whose different attitudes toward their lives and the events of the story will keep readers interested and on their toes. One of the most enjoyable aspects of the novel is that the author has a deep understanding of the traditions and the clichés of the Western Novel and is not afraid to turn some of those traditions on their ears when it serves his purpose. The result is a fine mystery full of unusual characters, odd idiosyncrasies and relationships, and thus a novel to be savored by mystery and western readers alike.

 

Pressed to Kill
by Dolores Johnson
Thomas Dunne Books 
Hardcover, 229 pages , $23.95
Reviewed by Terri M. Tumlin

Mandy Dyer is into her eighth adventure with the customers and workers of the Dyer's Cleaners when a regular customer, Ardith Brewster, first improves her wardrobe and then ends up dead.  In response to a compliment on her new look, Ardith put the responsibility for the wardrobe change on Mandy because the first fateful meeting with the new boyfriend took place at the cleaners.  Ordinarily the death of a customer does not greatly concern the business owner unless it happens on the premises.  This time, however, there is a complication.  It has happened before.  The same thing happened to another of Mandy's customers a few years ago.   The idea that a serial killer is using the cleaners as a stalking ground is something that she just can't accept.  Besides, the killer could be one of her customers as well. 

Before any more customers can be killed, Mandy, with the overly enthusiastic help of some of her staff, sets out to investigate.  Betty, a rescued bag lady from the streets who marks the incoming laundry, is sure that she has the killer pegged and sets out to prove it to Mandy.  But then Travis, Mandy's boyfriend, was hanging around the outside of the cleaners at a critical time and lies to Mandy about being there.  Mack, the presser, is sure danger is in the air, but he is looking the wrong way when Julia, one of the other workers at the cleaners, is attacked. 

If murder and mayhem weren't enough, Mandy's mother insists on coming to town to take over the planning of Mandy's cousin's wedding.  Mother and Betty have hooked up before in a previous book and this pair working in tandem is the last thing Mandy needs.

Pressed to Kill is a delightfully funny cozy.  Ms. Johnson has done a fine job meshing a puzzle that will keep you guessing with a sure hand with her comedy.  And Rambo, Julia's canine companion, is not to be missed.  An enjoyable read in every sense.

 

A House Divided
by Deborah LeBlanc
Dorchester Publishing
Paperback, 326 pages, $6.99
ISBN: 0843957301
Reviewed by Kerry Hammond

Keith LaFleur, a Louisiana contractor, is given a house for free as long as he can move it off its current site.  Since he owns two lots very near each other, but neither is large enough for the whole house, he decides to cut it in half.  Matt and his son Seth rent one half to open a café and live in the apartment above.  Laura and her partner Tawana open the other as a beauty shop, living in the apartment above with Tawana's developmentally challenged cousin, Moweez.  None of them has met, but they soon become bonded by mysterious and unexplainable events that begin to happen to them and the town. 

Events set in motion over thirty years ago are somehow linked to the house and its division, causing death and destruction no one could have ever imagined.  The group living in each of the halves of the house band together to try and figure out why things are happening and what it all means.  They begin to discover the horrible event that took place in the house and how it affects each and every one of them.

LeBlanc provides a compelling set of characters and places them in unusual circumstances.  She is able to involve you in their lives to the extent that you feel affected by the events that are spiraling their lives out of control.  You learn to piece together the events as the characters do, experiencing the surprises as they happen.  The story provides twists and turns you won't see coming and an ending that will bring tears to your eyes.  A very enjoyable read.

 

Shooting Gallery
by Hailey Lind
Signet
Paperback, 339 pages, $6.99
ISBN: 0451219732
Reviewed by Kerry Hammond

Artist Annie Kincaid is the owner of a faux finishing business in San Francisco.  She also happens to have once dabbled in art forgery.  In Hailey Lind's second Art Lover's Mystery, Annie is still trying to stay on the right side of the law and decides to attend an art gallery event in order to network.  Instead of finding new clients, she finds a dead body hanging in a tree.  The dead man is Seamus McGraw, a well know sculptor and the artist in whose honor the party has been thrown. 

When her mother shows up in town for a visit, Annie learns that she knew Seamus and is somehow connected to the mysterious events surrounding his death.  Determined to figure out what is going on, and trying to make some side money by locating a sculptor who refuses to return one of his pieces to its rightful owner, Annie again delves into the world of art theft, forgery and murder. 

Lind's second novel is just as witty and laugh-out-loud funny as her first.  Annie entertains the reader with her sleuthing as she gets herself into some tight spots.  Her love life, or lack thereof, comes into play when she again runs into a certain attractive art thief.  Lind's characters make the book a page turner and the storyline is fresh and interesting.  An excellent read and highly recommended.

 

Destroying Angels
by Gail Lukasik
Five Star
Hardcover, 294 pages, $25.95
ISBN: 1594143609
Reviewed by Kerry Hammond

Leigh Girard, a breast cancer survivor who is unable to cope with the aftermath of the disease, decides to flee her life as a wife and reporter in Chicago.  She packs up her belongings and her dog and moves to Door County, Wisconsin, a very small and very remote town.  Settled into her new job as a reporter for the Door County Gazette, her first assignment is the obituary of a local man, Carl Peck.  The doctors say his liver gave out from alcohol, but his wife doesn't believe them.  Leigh finds herself beginning to investigate, feeling somehow entangled in the lives of these strangers—trying to focus on something outside her own personal torment and feelings about herself since her body betrayed her with cancer. 

What Leigh soon finds out, however, is that Door County is suspicious of outsiders.  Especially ones who go digging into their private lives and start questioning events they would rather keep in the past.  Everyone seems to want her to give up her questioning and she does not become popular with the local crowd.  As she digs deeper and uncovers more information, her life is threatened and she is run off the road into a ditch.  Her only allies are her boss at the newspaper, Jake Stevens, and a hospital nurse, Lydia Crane, who also fled Chicago and the big city for small town life.  However, even Jake and Lydia seem to want her to quit looking into Peck's death.  Advice, of course, that she does not heed.

Lukasik creates a wonderful character in Leigh; a breast cancer survivor struggling internally, never quite trusting that the disease is gone, and externally, against a new life and new surroundings.  She does a great job describing small town Wisconsin, its tight knit relationships and the hurdles of an outsider.  The characters are real and their lives so entangled that you need to look closely in order to lead yourself to what really happened to Carl Peck and why.  A very enjoyable story. 

Bleak Water
by Danuta Reah
Bloody Brits Press
Paperback, 288 pages, $13.95
ISBN:  1932859217
Reviewed by Shirley Wetzel

Eliza Eliot is excited about getting her dream job, as curator of the Second Site Gallery in Sheffield.  Second Site, a project of her former tutor, Jonathan Massey, is new, but with great promise, housed in a converted Victorian warehouse on the banks of a canal in a seedy area of Sheffield that is slowly being gentrified.

She had hoped to rekindle the close friendship she had with Maggie Chapman, a college chum, but now Maggie is dead, victim of a car crash which may well have been no accident.  Four years ago, Maggie's daughter Ellie was murdered, her body found months later in the canal near the gallery.  The man convicted of the crime was a close friend, Mark Fraser.  Maggie descended into an alcoholic haze of grief and guilt, and there was little Eliza could do to help.

There are many wounded souls in this story. Murder affects not only the victim and the killer, but all their family members and friends as well.  Kerry Fraser, Mark's daughter, was Ellie's best friend.  She is going through her own private hell, with her beloved father in prison and her mother neglecting her, spending her days drinking and opting out of life.

The gallery has obtained an important exhibition, thanks in part to Eliza's connection with the artist, Daniel Flynn, a former lover. When they meet again, it is apparent that there are still strong feelings between them.

 Daniel's exhibit, which reworks elements of Brueghel's painting in modern images, is central to the story.  The disturbing, violent images Daniel has created uncannily mirror a new series of murders on the canal.  When Eliza is alone in the dark building, the paintings she must pass going to and from her loft seem sinister, with danger lurking in the shadows.  Has the original killer returned, or is there another twisted soul imitating the earlier crimes?

Reah is a master of psychological terror and suspense, conjuring up childhood fears of monsters under the bed, ghosts in the shadows, boogie men in the dark.  This is her fourth novel. Bleak Water is a dark, mournful book, rich with atmosphere and human angst, well-written and well worth reading. 

Gun Shy
by Ben Rehder
St. Martin's Minotaur
Hardcover, 320 pages, $24.95
ISBN: 0312357524
Reviewed by Shirley Wetzel

Dale Allen Stubbs is a good ol' boy, the poster child for the second amendment, a card-carrying member of the NWA—that's National Weapons Alliance.  He loves guns, he loves Margie, his wife of twenty-five years, and he loves his twenty-four year old secretary, Tricia. He's enthusiastically backing Congressman Glenn Andrew Dobbins for governor of Texas.

Rising country star Mitch Campbell has offered his Blanco County ranch for a rally supporting Dobbins.  Mitch, born Norman Kleinschmidt in far northern Vermont, has reinvented himself.  His signature song, "My Cold, Dead Hands," is at the top of the country charts.  He's loving the high life, with all the booze, drugs and groupies he can handle.  It's starting to catch up with him, though, and he swears to clean up his act.  After just final gesture, one tiny bit of magic mushroom. 

John Marlin is the Blanco County game warden, a popular guest at social gatherings because of his interesting stories about his job. Luckily, murder is not something he has to deal with very often. 

Red O'Brien and Billy Don Craddock are two classic bubbas who are well-known to Marlin and other local authorities.  Billy Don would be content to live in their trailer and work as a security guard forever, but Red dreams of more.  He's written a song he just knows Mitch Campbell will love, and he's determined to find a way to get it to him. 

These are just a few of Gun Shy's colorful cast of characters, and just a sample of the many story lines that all converge, finally, in one bang-up Fourth of July celebration.  Rehder handles them all with a deft hand, providing one Texas-size good read.

Rehder is an equal-opportunity offender, and I mean that in a good way.  He handles the sensitive issue of gun control by showing that there are responsible, well-trained gun owners who have respect for the power of their weapons as well as careless idiots and bad guys who intend harm, and that there are gun opponents who have rational reasons for their stance as well as—well, idiots who take irrational and sometimes dangerous actions to make their point.  In John Marlin's case, he represents those who use their weapons cautiously as a tool for their jobs, while his lady love Nichole, even though she works in law enforcement, opposes firearms for a very personal reason.

This is the fifth in Rehder's John Marlin series, and he just keeps getting better.  

Dangerous Outsider
by Graeme Roe
Carroll & Graf
Hardcover, 336 pages, $24.95
ISBN: 0786719591
Reviewed by Theodore Feit

Inevitably, when the theme of a novel is set in the English horseracing territory, the comparison arises with the master of the genre, Dick Francis.  Dangerous Outsider is more than equal to the task.  A series of calamities befalls a well-known and -respected trainer for unknown reasons.

First a relatively unknown Irish trainer sets up shop nearby, luring away horses and spending unreasonable amounts of money to challenge Jay Jessop's successful operation.  Then an attempt is made to frame him with a drug rap.  A fire breaks out at the facility, horses are abducted, four New Zealand horses are killed for insurance money, an employee shot  and the top jockey lured away.  The plot is international—money to finance the endeavor seems to originate in Singapore, flowing through Swiss banks and Ireland.

As the story unfolds, facts are revealed to implicate an unlikely suspect and an even more unexpected conclusion.  One doesn't have to be a horse racing enthusiast to enjoy the racing scenes, which are exciting and worthy of the master.

Recommended.

Deadman's Switch
by Barbara Seranella
Thomas Dunne Books
Hardcover, 272 pages, $23.95
ISBN #0-312-36170-X
Reviewed by Gloria Feit

Charlotte Lyon makes for an intriguing protagonist in Deadman's Switch, the last book written by Barbara Seranella, published posthumously.  Charlotte is a crisis manager with a 100% success record who suffers from OCD and has been recently widowed.  She specializes in crisis response strategies, public relations, litigation support and investigation, and when there is a train derailment in Riverside County, CA, following which one passenger and the engineer are found dead, the rail line's attorney hires Charlotte on its behalf. 

The reader knows from the outset that this was no accident, and soon is told that there was an accomplice, an inside connection.  Whatever his agenda, it becomes clear that the killer is determined not to let anything, including Charlotte, interfere with his plans.  Charlotte meets and works with Todd Hannigan of the NTSB, and a growing attraction becomes apparent as the investigation proceeds.  Somewhat controlled by meds, her quirks only serve to make her more endearing, Monk-like.  She has a fascinating background, some explained and others only hinted at, including a period of time when she, her sister and their mother were in the Witness Protection Program, providing a tantalizing glimpse into what the future books in this planned series would have further delved into.

Wonderfully written, filled with suspense, this is a thoroughly enjoyable book, though at the risk of sounding maudlin, I must confess the underlying poignancy I could not escape while reading the novel, and the sadness which almost overshadowed my pleasure in the book at the almost overwhelming sense of the life and talent lost all too soon. Barbara Seranella passed away much too young in January of this year, and she is, and will be, missed.

Carbs & Cadavers
by J.B. Stanley
Midnight Ink
Paperback, 277 pages, $12.95
ISBN: 0738709131
Reviewed by Clara Johnston

James is definitely overweight.  All kinds of things are not working for him.  First, his wife divorces him, then his mother dies and now he has to care for his father.  His father is not a pleasant man; in fact, he is downright cranky.  What else can go wrong?

James leaves his professor job at Williamsburg but does take a job as head librarian in his hometown of Quincy Gap, Virginia.  Not too long after James moves back to his father's house, he is invited to join a supper club for dieters.  These five fascinating people name themselves the Flab Five.  You will meet each one of them and I absolutely enjoyed learning about them.  They no sooner start this group than a murder happens.  Off they go, to investigate what is really happening.  One of the members, Lucy, works for the sheriff department and she would love to come up with the real scoop.  Her goal is to become a deputy but she knows she will have to pass the physical.  Maybe procuring some needed information will gain favor for her.  Lucy and James have a special bond. 

Each chapter is titled with a wonderful sounding food, complete with nutritional facts.  Food, such as Cheetos (James' food choice), canned frosting, and other favorites, is considered to be hot buttons for the five. This dieting group is a boost for James.  He researches the food that is diet friendly.  He likes the praise and friendship he receives here.  James is not used to praise.  I like James' character.  He's very kind, competent and extremely vulnerable.  Flawed as his other four friends in the group, James exhibits hard work, cooperation, friendship and humor.  These are normal sounding people and you may feel like you know them personally.   

One of my favorite parts of the book involves the town parade.  Several floats, including one from the library, participate.  This will be an extra fun section for all readers to experience.  You will wish you were at the parade.

A multitude of secondary characters are introduced and you may find yourself cheering on their community efforts.  Watch James' father; I think he may surprise us all.  I, for one, will be awaiting another installment in anticipation of revisiting these people.

Lights Out
by Jason Starr
St. Martin's Minotaur
Paperback, 304 pages, $6.99
ISBN: 0312359721
Reviewed by Kim Reis

Jake Thomas and Ryan Rosetti played baseball together in high school.  Both went on to play professional ball but an injury sidelined Ryan while Jake rocketed to the big leagues.  Now Ryan is barely making a living as a house painter and living with his parents, but he does have one good thing in his life, Jake's fiancée Christina.  A long term friendship has become more for both of them.

Jake has the problems of celebrity. Too full of himself and feeling indestructible, past transgressions are sneaking up on him. To distract the media, he plans a weekend in the old neighborhood to finally set a wedding date with Christina, not knowing her plan is to break off their engagement.

When the lives of these three intersect with a neighborhood gang war there can only be more trouble.  What Jake had hoped to be a positive media spin goes quickly from bad to incredibly worse.

This novel is dark and brooding and an excellent example of great noir.  Starr brings together two very different cultures and handles each of them with an eye for detail.  He explores the cause and effect of what we say and what we do in our relationships with others and shows the consequences of not being honest with ourselves.

This was my first novel by this author but it won't be my last.

Shoot from the Lip
by Leann Sweeney
Signet
Paperback, 288 pages, $6.99
ISBN: 045122017X
By Clara Johnston

Abby Rose wants to grab hold of the American dream and help other people attain it.  She is not sitting around doing nothing, that's for sure.  Even though, Abby and her twin sister, Kate, have inherited a lot of money, they both have day jobs.  Abby is a private investigator specializing in adoption.  That is how she becomes absorbed in a very special case that involves a reality show.  Watch the sparks fly as she needs to work with the director who carries these sometimes sensational ideas into the show.  Emma Lopez is the subject for this new reality show; Emma raised her younger siblings and now has learned that there may be some shocking information both about her mother and a baby.  She asks Abby to help solve these mysteries.  When a surprise letter emerges, the mystery heightens. There should be a lot of people to aid in this investigation but sometimes these very people end up dead.

In the meantime, Abby's twin sister, Kate, moves in with her after a big fight with her boyfriend.  I like watching Kate and Abby.  They have such an unbelievable sibling bond but have some differences of opinion when Kate decides to date on the rebound.   Abby's boyfriend, Jeff, is in Seattle on a secretive mission. 

Reading this story makes me want to go back and read the three previous books in this series.  They are 1) Dead Giveaway, 2) A Wedding to Die For, and 3) Pick Your Poison.  The characters are realistic, it has a good storyline and there is just enough action.  I like the magic between Abby and Jeff.  Since Jeff is a policeman, the reader is able to visit the emotions and everyday life of some of Jeff's work friends.  As you follow the story of Emma Lopez and her family, you can see that even though the truth is not always what we want it to be, truth will set these people free.  As far as extraordinary characters, do watch for Abby's Aunt Caroline.  She is a force unlike anyone else in this book.  Enjoy this book!

 

What's So Funny
by Donald E. Westlake
Warner Books
Hardcover, 368 pages, $24.99
ISBN: 0892968036
Reviewed by Gloria Feit

What's So Funny brings the welcome return of John Dortmunder in this, the 13th entry in the series.  For those who have not previously had the pleasure, he is described by one man who is recommending his services to another thusly:  "John here is just about the best you can get.  He's a thief when he wakes up in the morning, and he's a thief when he goes to sleep at night.  An honest thought has never crossed his brain.  If he were any more crooked, you could open wine bottles with him.  In his early days he did some time, but he's learned how to avoid that now.  I guarantee him to be the least trustworthy, most criminal scalawag you'll ever meet."  With that testimonial, John is hired—sort of.  In the carrot-and-stick manner, he is kind of being blackmailed by a former cop (the one giving the referral above) into working for the man to whom his "praise" is given, the assignment being to "retrieve" a gold and jewel-studded chess set once intended as a birthday gift for the last Romanov czar—long story.  Reluctantly, John and his cronies embark on their mission, which is fraught with peril.

The author's "caper" novels have long been enjoyed and appreciated, and this offering is equally worthy.  Dortmunder's "faithful companion," May, is on hand to, among other things, "pull John out of the clutches of despair and goose him into forward motion once more.  After all, it isn't whether you win or lose, it's just you have to be in the goddamn game."  It is a book where one of its characters works for a law firm named Feinberg, Kleinberg, Rhineberg, Steinberg, Weinberg and Klatsch, there is a copy named Mologna, pronounced Maloney (think about it for a second), and where Dortmunder finds out the difference between being an independent contractor and an employee (besides the health benefits, retirement or softball team).  The answer to the titular question is, reliably, Donald E. Westlake and John Dortmunder.