Category: Roots Books

NYPD Puzzle by Parnell Hall -(Puzzle Lady #15)

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NYPD Puzzle by Parnell Hall – (Puzzle Lady #15)

NYPD Puzzle

Through the years, one of my favorite mystery series has been Parnell Hall’s Stanley Hastings books. Looking at my Goodreads shelf, I see there are 18 in the series — and I’ve read all but one! (Note to self: finally read Caper — I could have sworn I had??) That’s not the case with Hall’s Puzzle Lady series. There are 15 entries, and I’ve only read three (#1, #8, and #15). The most recent for me was NYPD Puzzle, which also became book #11 on my 2014 reads list.

Why Fewer Puzzle Lady Reads?

I’m not really sure. Maybe it’s because I felt a little resentful that Parnell seemed to forget Stanley and preferred the Puzzle Lady, Cora Felton. Between 1987 and 1998, Hall wrote 13 Stanley Hastings mysteries. Then, starting in 1999, the Puzzle Lady books appeared annually throughout the 2000s, while there were sometimes four-year gaps between Hastings novels. Probably the Puzzle Lady was just more popular — and more profitable. (It’s the same reason Linwood Barclay abandoned Zack Walker in favor of standalones, which I grudgingly admit turned out better. But what do I know…)

The Mystery

NYPD Puzzle is a quick, fun cozy mystery. Attorney Becky Baldwin hires Cora to accompany her to New York to meet a new client. When they arrive, they find the man dead with a crossword puzzle on his chest. Cora hears the killer in the next room, barges in, shoots, misses, and watches the suspect escape out a penthouse window — leaving her standing with a smoking gun. Is it the murder weapon? The police can’t prove otherwise — the bullet is too badly damaged to rule it out. Suddenly, Cora’s a prime suspect.

Cora, along with NYC Sergeant Crowley and others, sets out to clear her name. The killer plays cat and mouse, leaving crossword puzzles and even some Sudoku (created by Will Shortz!) between New York City and Bakerhaven. Another body drops — the Bakerhaven Town Clerk, with whom Cora just happened to argue. The twists and turns pile up as Cora fights to prove her innocence and unmask the murderer.

What I Enjoy

Cora Felton is a fun character, always ready with a wisecrack. Hall’s humor shines through her dialogue, and the supporting cast — Sergeant Crowley and Chief Harper of Bakerhaven — provide plenty of friction and comic relief as they bicker over protecting Cora. She isn’t worried, though. After all, she has her guns… but will that be enough?

Bottom Line

NYPD Puzzle captures exactly what makes the Puzzle Lady books fun: witty dialogue, cozy mystery pacing, and playful puzzle tie-ins. It’s not as dear to me as the Stanley Hastings series, but it’s still a lighthearted, entertaining read that fans of humorous mysteries will enjoy.

NYPD Puzzle captures exactly what makes the Puzzle Lady books fun: witty dialogue, cozy mystery pacing, and playful puzzle tie-ins. It’s not as dear to me as the Stanley Hastings series, but it’s still a lighthearted, entertaining read that fans of humorous mysteries will enjoy.


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The Moses Expedition – Juan Gomez-Jurado

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Book 23 of 2012, is on of the books that I picked up in Williamsburg several weeks ago, The Moses Expedition by Juan Gomez-Jurado.

 From the book cover of the book:

After fifty years in hiding, the Nazi war criminal known as the Butcher of Spiegelgrund has finally been found, and with him the candle covered filigree gold that was stolen from a Jewish family. But it isn’t the gold that Father Anthony Fowler,a C.I.A. operative and the Vatican’s secret service, is seeking. As he holds the flame to wax, the candle unveils the missing fragment of an ancient map that reveals the location of the Ten Commandments tablets.

Soon Father Fowler is part of a mission financed by a recluse American billionaire to the desert of Jordan to discover the tablets. Accompanying him is journalist Andrea Otero, whose life Fowler saved in Gomez-Jurardo’s  début novel God’s Spy. But not everybody wants the tablets found, including a terrorist group whose leader is hidden within the members of the mission, waiting for the moment to strike!

Juan Gomez-Jurado’s work has been published in more than forty countries and while this is my first of his books I’ve read, it will not be the last. It was a page turner for me. I enjoyed the characters and the history woven into the story. I think I would have prefered to have started with God’s Spy just to know the history between Father Fowler and Otero, but I will go back and catch-up before moving on to Gomez-Jurado’s latest The Traitor’s Emblem. Here’s what some others have to say about the book:

“A true masterpiece. A brilliant thriller-sharp, suspenseful, and engrossing” – Brad Thor

“Settle back and savor this perfect piece of entertainment” – Steve Berry.

“A perfectly balanced, fast-paced, and compiling thriller” – Booklist, starred review

So check it out! As for me, I’ve moved on to Book 24 of 2012 – Bleed For Me – from Michael Robotham! (I’m almost back to 3 books per month!)

Feast Day of Fools – James Lee Burke

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Feast Day of Fools - Ja,mes Lee Burke Cover

Book 12 for 2012 Feast Day of Fools is book three in another of Burke’s series featuring Hackberry Holland,  and I must say that this series is just as good,  if not better than the Robicheaux

Looking back through my Goodreads.com bookshelf,  I see that I read my first James Lee Burke book, The Neon Rain and was introduced to the world of Dave Robicheaux in 1990!

Now 22 years and 17 books later, I still can’t wait for the next book Creole Belle which is due out in July! In the meantime, I figured I’d read a book from Burke’s Hackberry Holland  series!

Hackberry Holland first appeared in Burke’s 1971’s Lay Down My Sword and Shield and didn’t appear again until the release of Rain Gods last year! Holland is the sheriff in a small southern Texas border town and in this book he faces some pretty nasty villains!

 The Synopsis from Burke’s website:

When alcoholic ex-boxer Danny Boy Lorca witnesses a man tortured to death in the desert and reports it, Hack’s investigation to the home of Anton Ling, a regal, mysterious Chinese woman whom the locals refer to as La Magdalena and who is known for sheltering illegals. Ling denies having seen the victims or perpetrators, but there is something in her steely demeanor and aristocratic beauty that compels Hackberry to return to her home again and again as the investigation unfolds. Could it be that the Sheriff is so taken in by this creature who reminds him of his deceased wife, that he would ignore the possibility that she is just as dangerous as the men she harbors?

Danny Boy Lorca is only one of the many memorial character in a book that is loaded with them. Others include a Mexican named Krill. and his comparde Negrito, Reverand Cody Daniels,  an evil Russian mobster, but perhaps the most memorial one is Preacher Jack Collins, Holland’s nemesis in Rain Gods. Collins was thought to be dead  at the end of Rain Gods, but he is far from dead and he and his Thompson machine gun rip it up in this book. It seems that the majority of characters including Hack are flawed, and they are haunted by their past, as they battle for the future!  Overall, this is one of the best books that I’ve read in a long time!!

Again from Burke’s website!

 Praised by Joyce Carol Oates for “the luminosity of his writerly voice” James Lee Burke returns with his most allegorical novel to date, illuminating vital issues of our time—immigration, energy, religious freedom—with the rich atmosphere and devastatingly flawed, authentic characters that readers have come to celebrate during the five decades of his brilliant career.

If you’ve never read a James Lee Burke book this is a great place to start and if you do read it,  I know you’ll be back for more!!!

 

Darkness on the Edge of Town – J Carson Black

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Darkness on the Edge of Town- J Carson Black

So several weeks ago I was browsing the list of  Mystery and Thriller Books in the Amazon Kindle store and came across Book 1 in the Laura Cardinal series Darkness on the Edge of Town by J Carson Black.  

The author and series were  new to me but the price was right 99 cents. So having money left from the  gift card Peter  gave me for Father’s Day,  I quickly made the purchase.

What I found was a terrific read (Book 22 for 2011) and another series to follow (like I need another!) The series features Laura Cardinal a top investigator in the Arizona Department of Public Safety (DPS) stationed in Tuscon.

From Goodreads.com………

When Arizona DPS investigator Laura Cardinal is sent to Bisbee, Arizona, to investigate the murder of a fourteen-year-old girl found in the park band shell, she knows immediately what she’s up against: a cunning sexual predator. But why is she plagued by the abduction of a schoolmate eighteen years earlier? In a runaway case that propels Laura from a lavish Tucson estate to the secretive heart of a north Florida town, she must confront the ghosts of her own past. Then another child goes missing–and Laura must race the clock to find her!

My Thoughts

I really liked this book.  I enjoyed the character of Laura Cardinal – tough when she needs to be but displaying  a tender side, too.  I thought the story line moved along well and kept the book consistently interesting. Sometimes early in the book things were a little confusing and I found myself saying who? what? But as the book progressed things became clearer.  I’m not sure what I think of the ghostly specter of Frank Endicott, who visits Laura! But I do know I’ll go back to Tuscon for another visit!

Chris Mooney – Remembering Sarah

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Thriller book cover with eerie forest

Chris Mooney’s Remembering Sarah has been on my To Be Read pile for some time now. But the other day after moving some books around it was sitting out, so after finishing, The Baxter Trust I picked it up and for a couple of days I couldn’t put it down.

The story begins when Mike Sullivan promises to take six year old daughter Sarah sledding on The Hill. When his overprotective wife Jess  hears about the outing, she tells Mike no way!

So like a good husband Mike waits until Jess leaves and then sneaks out with Sarah to the hill! At the hill, Sarah, ever the strong willed and independent girl, wants to go up the hill by herself. Mike always encouraging her independence and strong will lets her go .Then the worst happens, Sarah never comes down

! The book takes off from there as, Mike, with his marriage falling apart relentlessly searches for Sarah investigating every lead he can to find her. Mike, and everyone in town, is convinced that the Father Jonah, who has already been linked to the disappearance of three other girls is the culprit. But Jonas is dying and Mike must find out what he knows before he passes on or will lose Sarah forever!

 Amidst all this Mike is also dealing with a mother that left him when he was twelve and a criminal and abusive father, not much on his plate, huh! Like I said I just couldn’t put the book down last night until I finished!

While the blurbs on the back of books are always gushing, I thought two of them on the back of this book hit the nail on the head!

“At the core of this gut-wrenching thriller is something rare: a poignant examination of parental love and parental folly. Chris Mooney has written his finest novel and that’s saying something indeed” – Dennis Lahane

“Remembering Sarah is harrowing, gripping, haunting, gut-wrenching, beautifully written, and one of the best thrillers – maybe the best I’ve read this year” – Harlan Coben

My Thoughts

Some praise from two of my favorites! I thoroughly enjoyed the book, everything, the characters, the setting and the pace of the storyline! If you’re like me and love Harlan Coben’s standalones and Linwood Barclay’s books, you’ll love Remembering Sarah.

While I was looking up other books I’ve read by Chris Moody on Goodreads.com,  of which there is only one The Missing (Darby McCormick #1) I saw that that series is now up to Book # 4 can you say “Too Many books, not enough time!” oh well, off to the library to pick up the new Karin Slaughter novel Fallen

Post Update: Chris Monney’s Darby McCormick series sits at 8 books. The last book The Snow Girls was released in 2018. While his latest standalone Blood World was released in 2020.

The Baxter Trust – Parnell Hall – Steve Winslow He’s Funny, Too!

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The Baxter Trust - Parnell Hall

So one of my favorite mystery series is Parnell Hall’s Stanley Hasting series. Well now Mr. Hall wishes to be the “King of Kindle” and as such he has placed his books at the Kindle store at bargain prices.

In addition, he has put up a series he wrote under the name of J.P Hailey. These books feature a down on his luck lawyer, actor, and cab driver named Steve Winslow. Book 20 for 2011 is the first of these book The Baxter Trust and while it may not be  great literature, it is great fun!

The Story

The book revolves around Sheila Baxter and the trust fund set up by her grandfather a multimillionaire. The trust will make Sheila a millionaire when she turns 35 but until then she lives on the money doled out by the trustee of the Trust her Uncle Max. Sheila is currently involved in a relationship with a married man John Dutton that revolves around sex and cocaine. When John flies to Reno for a couple of days to finalize his divorce, Sheila is left on her own. When she returns to her apartment there is a note in her mailbox that says “I KNOW ALL ABOUT YOU” !( What does he know, maybe the cocaine?) The note is followed up with a phone call and soon Sheila is headed for the police station. The cops of course can’t do anything and just tell her to go home and let them know if anything else happens. Well the next day something does,  Sheila returns home after begging for some money from Uncle Max and then scoring some cocaine, only to find a man face down on the floor of her apartment with a knife from her knife rack in his back! Soon Sheila knows she needs an attorney and finds one in Steve Winslow a down on his luck attorney, actor and cab driver. Soon Steve is faced with the task of defending Sheila from a murder rap!(Niece of millionaire murders blackmailer, an open and shut case, but is it? That’s what Steve has to find out! Oh, and there is a clause in the trust that the trust is null and void and the money goes to charity if Sheila is involved in any scandal!

My Thoughts

The book was a fast read and highly entertaining. I love the character of Steve Winslow, who is a little like Stanley Hastings, but his own character! The other characters are good too and the story line has some twists and turns as Steve is hit with evidence during the trial.

So go and support Parnell Hall and help make him the “King of Kindle” and for 99 cents you can’t go wrong! As for me I think I’ll move on to Steve Winslow’s second adventure!

Sara Davidson Leap and Paul Levine Riptide

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Leap -Sara Davidson


Leap! Sara Davidson

So 2010 ends with 44 books read down the stretch I finished two books No 43 was “LEAP “What Will We Do with the Rest of Our Lives” by Sara Davidson. Conducting over 150 interviews from 2003 to 2006 Sara Davidson has crafted a book that explores what us boomers will be facing as we approach the later parts of our lives. From the dust cover ” she explores such questions as:

How does a high powered person learn to walk down the ladder gracefully?

How can women continue to bew sensual and not touch deprived?

How do we arrange to grow old with friends? (this is my favorite part the idea is that friends with lots in common will agree to live in close proximity so that they can take care of each other as we age!)

What will be the fire at the center of our lives??

Why are we still here?

The book is full of great insight and stories from folks like me and many other approaching the big 60!! It’s left me with questions and I’ll probably re-read this one next year!!

Riptide Paul Levine

Riptide – Paul Levine

Book 44 was the first book I read on my new Kindle that son three Peter and his wife Missy gave to me for Christmas “Riptide” by Paul Levine. Ok so all through this book something seemed familiar so I did a quick look back at the old Lassiter titles and didn’t see the title – the book “Slashback”, which I read in 1995 seemed to be the closest and with good reason because that was the original tilte of the book! Anyway it was a fun good read from the Amazon review:

Someone ripped off Jake Lassiter’s favorite client, octogenarian Sam Kazdoy, stealing $1.6 million in negotiable bonds. Then Jake’s old Buddy, Berto Zaldivar, a lawyer-turned-smuggler, ends up dead. The trail of clues from both crimes leads to a sinister professional windsurfer and his companion, Lila Summers, herself a champion athlete and a lethal femme fatale. Jake chases the missing money and the mysterious woman from Miami to Bimini to Maui where, in an explosive finale he learns lessons never taught on the football field or in the courtroom.

“Irreverent…genuinely clever…great fun.” – The New York Times Book Review

“Take one part John Grisham, two parts Carl Hiaasen, throw in a dash of John D. MacDonald, and voila! You’ve got Jake Lassiter.” – Tulsa Sun

So if you’ve never read a Jake Lassiter book check one out and take it from me they’re as good the second time around as the first!!!

Virgin Heat – Lawrence Shames

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ok so I picked out some new names and listened to a couple of tracks from several albums but never got to listen that much to any of them. A slow connecting computer coupled with a good Phillies game and finishing Book 34 Virgin Heat kept me busy tonight!

The artist that I started to listen to included: Mark Scott LaMountain and the Blue Thunder Band and their album Guitars, Gun and Southern Women,

J.J Grey and Mofro’s album Georgia Warhorse, Jay Gaunt a blues harp player whose new album is on the Roots Music Blues Chart but Rhapsody only has some earlier albums and the one I was ready to listen to was Blown Away. Th

e last thing that I previewed today was Charlie Musselwhite’s new album The Well which sounded pretty good. So I will listen to these albums tomorrow and we’ll celebrate Blues Wednesday on Thursday!

But tonight belonged to those Phils and Roy Oswalt as they extended their lead over my daughter’s team those Atlanta Braves.

Book 34 Virgin Heat. This is the first book I’ve read by Lawrence Shames and it won’t be the last! Set in Key West the book tells the tale of Angie Amaro who for years has pined for her lost love Sal Martucci. The reason she pines is that Sal is now living as Ziggy Maxx in Key West after ratting Angie’s father a mob member Paul Amaro and sending him to prison.

After Angie’s Uncle Louie visits Key West and returns with a video in which Angie recognizes Sal, she sets off for Florida to find her lover. Soon Uncle Louie takes off to find Angie and a good tale is told in the style of Elmore Leonard and Carl Hiaasen.

Ann Helmuth of the Orlando Sentinel calls it The Birdcage meets the Godfather and that’s appropriate for this often funny and touching book, full of good characters and wit! I enjoyed it and will certainly be on the look out for more Shames and there appears to be seven other books set in Key West!

Prince of Fire – Daniel Silva

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So like I said I didn’t put down the Prince of Fire by Daniel Silva yesterday until I finished what is Book 26 of 2010. Obviously like all of Silva’s books this one was a real page turner for me! But I think that in this book more than any of his books Silva based the storyline on the history of the Arab-Isreali conflict and why both sides fight as hard as they do! The enemy that Gabriel Allon faces is Khaled al -Khalifa who is the grandson of  Asad al-Khalifa.  Asad al-Khalifa  fought the Israeli’s and Gabriel’s mentor and boss. Ari Shamron in 1948 . While Gabriel assassinated Khaled’s father Sabri al-Khalifa for the later’s involvement in the attack on the 1972 Israeli Olympic Team. Both the Sheikh and Sabri were fighting for their Palestinian homeland and their home a village called Beit Sayeed (a fictional village created by Silva) that was wiped out under the Tochnit Dalet which was the real name for the plan to remove the hostile Arab population from centers from lands allocated for the new state of Israel. The characters of Asad and Khaled were based on a photograph of a young boy on the lap of Yasir Arafat at the funeral of his father in 1979. The father was terrorist Ali Hassan Salameh the mastermind of the 1972 Munich Olympic massacre.

Anyway this book was great and really showed the humanity on both sides of the struggle and maybe for the first time Gabriel questioned the actions of his country. The book is highly recommended and while the book is part of a series that is best read from the beginning I think you could read the book by itself and still enjoy it!

Finally, I went to Borders Saturday night and used the gift card my son Peter gave me for Father’s Day to buy Karin Slaughter’s new book Broken. It’s great to be back in Grant County and the world of Sara Litton, Lena Adams, Will Trent and all the other great characters of this wonderful series! I’m already about a 1/3 of the way through the book and can’t wait to get back to it!

Baja Florida – Bob Morris

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Baja Florida by Bob Morris is the fifth book in the Zack Chastain series and is Book 23 for 2010. This series is always a fun quick read filled with interesting characters including Zack, former Gator, former Dolphin (well at least I can partially root for him), Zack’s wife Barbara and daughter Shula, and his right hand man Taino Shaman Boggy. Zack’s previous adventures have been chronicled in books with titles like Bahamarama, JamaciaMeDead, and Bermuda Schwartz! Some how most of what Zack does always turns out wrong!

In this installment, Jack’s longtime friend Mickey Ryser, who is dying  pays Zack a visit and asks him to find his daughter Jen, who Mickey has not seen for twenty years and bring her to his island in the Bahama’s. Jen is a recent graduate of the College of Charleston and has set out on a cruise to the Caribbean with friends, only now she can’t be found and it appears that the detective that Mickey has hired is not doing well at finding her, hence the visit and request to Zack. So Zack and Boggy set off to find Jen and bring her to Mickey. Pretty easy huh, well not in Zack’s world!

Like all the books was a short 242 pages and relatively quick read but is a good fast paced story that keeps your interest, with good characters who have developed nicely over the series. There was more Boggy in this book than the last and that’ a good thing!

This is a series that while the characters have developed over the course of the series, I really don’t think that you have to necessarily read the books in order to enjoy them. So pick up the one nearest you, dive in and enjoy!