Tag: Mysteries

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Karin Slaughter – Grant County and Will Trent Series

Karin Slaughter

The first time I met Sara Linton, Jeffrey Tolliver, and Lena Adams characters in Karin Slaughter’s Grant County series was in the book Kisscut.

About Kisscut – From Goodreads.

Saturday night dates at the skating rink have been a tradition in the small southern town of Heartsdale for as long as anyone can remember, but when a teenage quarrel explodes into a deadly shoot-out, Sara Linton–the town’s pediatrician and medical examiner–finds herself entangled in a terrible tragedy.

I enjoyed the book so much that I immediately found Blindsighted and started it as soon as I finished Kisscut and I have read everything she has written since then! Both the characters that she has created in Sara, Will Trent, Lena Adams and Jeffrey Tolliver have become a part of my life and a warning to all do not read Beyond Reach  first!!

Praise for Karin Slaughter

“Her is the equivalent of an Edgar Allen Poe or a Nathaniel Hawthorne… An exemplary storyteller, weaving her words with skill and intelligence. She will be recognized as one of the great talents of the twenty-first century and will hold an honored place in the realm of world literature.” – The Huffington Post

“An absolute master… [She] creates some wonderfully complex and mature female characters, a distinctive achievement in the world of thrillers.”
—Chicago Tribune

Main Character(s): Sara Linton, Will Trent
Occupation: Pedetrician, GBI Agent
Location: Grant Co, Ga. Atlanta

First Read – 2004

Links

Website
Facebook
Goodreads
Amazon
Wikipedia

This is Why We Lied - Karin Slaughter
Most Recent Read – 2024

Karin Slaughter Novels

Will Trent Series

TitleSeries No.Date PublishedDate ReadNotes
This Is Why We Lied#1220242025/02/05
After That Night#1120232023/10/29
The Silent Wife#1020202020/11/22
The Last Widow#920192019/10/07
The Kept Woman#820162016/11/08
Unseen#720132013/10/07
Criminal#620122012/07/22
Fallen#520112011/08/17
Broken#420102010/07/10
Undone#320092009/08/22
Fractured#220082009/07/10
Triptych#120062009/06/28

Grant County Series

TitleSeries No.Date PublishedDate ReadNotes
Beyond Reach#620072008/06/28
Faithless#520052008/07/01
Indelible#420042008/07/01
A Faint Cold Fear#320032008/07/01
Kisscut#220022004/5/2
Blindsighted#120012008/07/01

Andrea Oliver Series

TitleSeries No.Date PublishedDate ReadNotes
Girl, Forgotten#220222022/11/15
Pieces of Her#12018

Standalone Novels

TitleDate PublishedDate ReadNotes
Pretty Girls20152016/03/21Review
Cop Town20142014/08/31Review
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James Lee Burke – Dave Robicheaux and Others

James Lee Burke

In 1987, after having only one book published in fifteen years, James Lee Burke, at the suggestion of a friend, turned to writing crime fiction. In The Neon Rain, Burke introduced the world to Cajun recovering alcoholic police detective Dave Robicheaux and launched his career as a bestselling author. The first Robicheaux novel I read was the 1989 Edgar Award–winning Black Cherry Blues:

“. . . I had found the edge. The place where you unstrap all your fastenings to the earth, to what you are what you have been, where you flame out on the edge of the spheres, and the sun and moon become eclipsed and the world below is as dead and remote and without interest as if it were glazed with ice.”
— James Lee Burke, Black Cherry Blues

After reading writing like that, I quickly went back and read The Neon Rain and Heaven’s Prisoner. In the last twenty years I’ve read all but one of the books (Note to self: READ Burning Angel).

The books are gritty and steeped in the underbelly of New Orleans and New Iberia, Louisiana. Through Burke’s words, I’ve traveled back roads, crossed levees, and floated down bayous—watching Dave chase his demons, deal with personal loss, and confront mobsters, corrupt officials, and all manner of human darkness.

Along the way, Clete Purcell has been at Dave’s side (sometimes taking things a tad too far), while Bootsie, Alafair, Tripod the raccoon, and Batiste at the bait shop have been sources of comfort. Memorable moments range from conversations with General John B. Hood (In the Electric Mist with Confederate Dead) to the devastation of Hurricane Katrina (The Tin Roof Blowdown).

Main Characters: Dave Robicheaux, Hackberry Holland
Occupation: Detective
Location: New Iberia & New Orleans, LA

Links for Further Exploration

Website • Facebook • Goodreads • Amazon • Wikipedia

Dave Robicheaux Novels

Hackberry Holland Novels

TitleSeries/No.Year PublishedDate ReadNotes
Clete (Dave Robicheaux, #24)20242024/07/31
A Private Cathedral) (Dave Robicheaux, #2320202020/11/29
The New Iberia Blues )(Dave Robicheaux, #2220192019/03/06
Robicheaux (Dave Robichau, #21)20182018/03/28
Light of the World (Dave Robicheaux, #20)20132014/04/10
Creole Belle (Dave Robicheaux, #19)20122013/04/28
The Glass Rainbow (Dave Robicheaux, #18)20102010/08/16
Swan Peak (Dave Robicheaux, #17)20082008/08/16
The Tin Roof Blowdown Dave Robicheaux, #16)20072007/11/01
Pegasus Descending (Dave Robicheaux, #15)20062006/11/05
Crusader’s Cross (Dave Robicheaux, #14)20062005/09/19
Last Car to Elysian Fields (Dave Robicheaux, #13)20042004/02/25
Jolie Blon’s Bounce (Dave Robicheaux, #12)20032003/09/15
Purple Cane Road (Dave Robicheaux, #11)20012000/11/01
Sunset Limited (Dave Robicheaux, #10)20021998/09/13
Cadillac Jukebox (Dave Robicheaux, #9)19971997/08/22
Burning Angel (Dave Robicheaux, #8)19962018/08/23
Dixie City Jam (Dave Robicheaux, #7)19951994/08/28
In the Electric Mist With Confederate Dead (Dave Robicheaux, #6)19971993/05/15
A Stained White Radiance (Dave Robicheaux, #5)19921992/05/25
A Morning for Flamingos (Dave Robicheaux, #4)20051991/08/19
Black Cherry Blues (Dave Robicheaux, #3)19901990/12/26
Heaven’s Prisoners(Dave Robicheaux, #2)20021992/05/03
The Neon Rain(Dave Robicheaux, #1)20051990/12/08
BookYearDate ReadNotes
Rain Gods (#2)2009
Feast Day of Fools (#3)2011
Every Cloak Rolled in Blood (Holland Family Saga, #4)
TitleYearDate ReadNotes
Flags on the Bayou20232023/10/17


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Missing You by Harlan Coben – Journeys into the Past are necessary and often painful!

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Missing YouWhen NYPD Detective Kat Donovan sends her ex-fiancée Jeff Raynes “Their Video” on the dating site  You are just my type.com and his response is “It’s Cute”, Kat doesn’t understand his response.

Eighteen years earlier, before he dumped her and left town, their love was real and magical. Sure his dating site biography says he is a widower, but should his response be that lame?

Well, he just wants to move on thinks Kat and so does Kat.  She has more important things to do too, her father’s murderer is dying and she needs to visit one more time before he dies.  When she does the hit man who killed her father, once again proclaims his innocence.

Soon the son of a woman who has gone from her Connecticut home visits Kat in hopes that she will help him find his mother. Why thinks Kat- because the man she ran away with is none other than Jeff Raynes!  So begins Kat’s quest in Harlan Coben‘s latest  Missing You!. Maybe I should say quests because Kat needs to know what happened on the night of her father’s murder, along with what happened to Dana Phelps, the missing Connecticut woman and Brandon’s mother along with the reason that Jeff ran out on her with no explanation.  None of the quests are free from potential pain to those involved!!

So once again Harlan Coben builds  great story around a simple action i.e. a friend signs you up for an on-line dating service and the first time you go in you find an old love. How will he or she react?  Is it better to leave the past behind??? This time throws a potential danger in getting carried away by an on-line dating service!! The book is Harlan Coben at his best and is one of the few books that I couldn’t put down this year!! When I found the book in the library I had a few days previously checked out two other books. I thought no I’ll just wait and read it later. Then I thought, no it’s Harlan Coben, it will go fast and it will be great! I was right on both counts.

This is book 19 for 2014 – if I can finish to more before the end of the month I’ll be averaging 3 books a month and that will be a great recovery considering the way that the year started!! It is also the 19th Harlan Coben book that is one my Goodreads bookshelf and they all are good reads!!!

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 Best Mystery Authors – Part One – The Ranker List – What Do You Think??

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Ok so I have visited the Ranker site before, but today and yesterday, I spent some time on the site looking at various list that would pertain to this blog. The following list is one of them. I am in total agreement that Agatha Christie is the greatest mystery writer of all time, but many of the writers that I have read over the years are not even on the list!! and if they are they are well below where they would be on my personal list of the best mystery writers of all time. So I will break this post down into two posts, this is the first, duh! and in it I am presenting the Ranker listing and would ask for your thoughts or comments! The second list will be the Me, Myself and Mysteries list. But you will have to wait until after my 6 and 1/2 hour break! So for now the question is What Do You Think??? No James Lee Burke??

[rnkrwp id=”1007481″ format=”grid” url=”http://www.ranker.com/list/best-mystery-authors/ranker-books?format=GRID&action=tab&type=embed” name=”The Best Mystery Authors”]

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Alex Berenson – John Wells

I started this series with the Alex’s first book,The Faithful Spy, which won the Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for Best First Novel.His latest book is the eighth in the series. I started book #7 The Night Ranger last year, got distracted and I didn’t get far in the book. It’s probably time to go back and read #7 and then 8!

Main Characters: John Wells

Setting:Washington D.C, Around the World

LINKS

Website
Bio from Website
Wikipedia
Amazon
Goodreads

Books I have read by Alex Berenson

The Shadow Patrol (John Wells, #6)
The Secret Soldier (John Wells, #5)
The Midnight House (John Wells, #4)
The Silent Man (John Wells, #3)
The Ghost War (John Wells, #2)

Latest Release: The Counterfeit Spy (John Wells #8)

Edward is missing The Night Ranger (John Wells #7)
The Faithful Spy (John Wells, #1)

 Posts featuring the books of Alex Berenson

 

Alex Berenson - Th Secret Soldier

The Secret Soldier – Alex Berenson (John Wells #5)

Ok, quick quiz , Who is the current King of Saudi Arabia? Who is his son? Brother? Dis everyone get ...
The Midnight - House Alex Berenson

The Midnight House – Alex Berenson (John Wells #4)

So, four weeks plus later and two books read in between, I finally finished Alex Berenson's The Midnight House. The ...

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Michael Robotham – Joseph O’Loughlin/Cyrus Haven

Michael Robotham

Michael Robotham

The Suspect launches the Joe O’Loughlin series—and what a way to start. Robotham kept that momentum through all nine O’Loughlin novels and into his next series with forensic psychologist Cyrus Haven.

Joseph O’Loughlin

Joe is a clinical psychologist who keeps getting pulled into homicide cases—by the police, through patients, personal connections, and sometimes sheer bad luck. He also lives with Parkinson’s disease. Having seen close family members experience Parkinson’s, I feel for him; it adds gravity without turning the stories into issue novels.

Cyrus Haven & Evie Cormac

Cyrus is a forensic psychologist who consults for the police while struggling with a trauma that changed his life. Evie—rescued from a hidden room after a horrific crime—has survived abduction and trafficking and has a razor-sharp lie-detection intuition. Cyrus has taken her under his wing; together they fight their demons and the bad guys.

Main Characters: Joe O’Loughlin, Vincent Ruiz; Cyrus Haven, Evie Cormac
Setting: London, England (primarily)

Website
Goodreads
Amazon
Wikipedia

Joe O’Loughlin Series

BookYearDate ReadNotes
Suspect (Joe O’Loughlin #1)20052008
Lost (Joe O’Loughlin #2)20062008
Shatter (Joe O’Loughlin #3)20082009
Bleed for Me (Joe O’Loughlin #4)20122012Review
The Wreckage (Joe O’Loughlin #5)—Not read
Say You’re Sorry (Joe O’Loughlin #6)20122012Review
Watching You (Joe O’Loughlin #7)20132013Review
Close Your Eyes (Joe O’Loughlin #8)2016—Review
The Other Wife (Joe O’Loughlin #9)20182019

Cyrus Haven Series

BookYearDate ReadNotes
Good Girl, Bad Girl (Cyrus Haven #1)20192020
When She Was Good (Cyrus Haven #2)20202020
Lying Beside You (Cyrus Haven #3)20232023
Storm Child (Cyrus Haven #4)20242024

Philomena McCarthy (Developing)

BookYearStatusNotes
When You Are Mine (Philomena McCarthy #1)2021Read 2022
The White Crow (Philomena McCarthy #2)2025Read Jan 2026Review

Standalone Novels

TITLEDate PublishedDate ReadNotes
The Secrets She Keeps20172017/08/27Review
Life or Death20142016/02/01
The Night Ferry20072008/06/20

Awards and Nominations

  • Ned Kelly Awards for Crime Writing, Best Novel, 2005: winner for Lost[9]
  • Ned Kelly Awards for Crime Writing, Best Novel, 2007: shortlisted for The Night Ferry[10]
  • Crime Writers’ Association (UK), Ian Fleming Steel Dagger, 2007: shortlisted for The Night Ferry[11]
  • Ned Kelly Awards for Crime Writing, Best Novel, 2008: winner for Shatter[12]
  • Crime Writers’ Association (UK), The CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger, Best Thriller, 2008: shortlisted for Shatter[13]
  • ITV Thriller Awards (UK), Breakthrough Novelist 2008: shortlisted for Shatter
  • Crime Writers’ Association (UK), The CWA Gold Dagger, Best Crime Novel, 2013: shortlisted for Say You’re Sorry[14]
  • Crime Writers’ Association (UK), The CWA Gold Dagger, Best Crime Novel, 2015: winner for Life or Death[15]
  • Edgar Award for Best Novel, 2020: finalist for Good Girl, Bad Girl[16]
  • Crime Writers’ Association (UK), The CWA Gold Dagger, Best Crime Novel, 2020: winner for Good Girl Bad Girl[17][18]
  • Crime Writers Association (UK), Ian Fleming Steel Dagger, 2021: winner for When She Was Good[19]
  • More at Wikipedia
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Breaking Point – C.J. Box – Joe Pickett # 13

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Breaking Point- C.J. Box

Book 25 for the year is Breaking Point, the 13 the in C.J.Box’s great series and it’s another good one. I had checked the book out a couple of weeks ago, but I got immersed in two other books and it sat on the shelf. Finally, a few nights ago I picked it up and I don’t think I set it down until I was done! Box can really tell a story with believable characters and suspense that doesn’t let up!

The Story

This story revolves around Butch and Pam Roberson, whose daughter Hannah is best friends with Joe’s daughter Lucy. Butch and Pam set out to build their dream house only to be sited by the EPA for illegally filling wetands, after a year-long battle and skyrocketing fines, two EPA agents set out from the Denver office to deliver a compliance letter to the Robersons, only to end up dead on the Robeson’s property and Butch is the only suspect!! Soon there is a manhunt of epic proportions for Butch who has taken flight to the rugged woods and mountains that surround his home. Joe’s official job is to lead the group chasing Butch, but Joe’s real job to save Butch’s life so he can find out the true story about what happened!!

My Thoughts

While the action and suspense was non-stop and I devoured the book super quickly, I did think that the portrayal of the EPA both from a compliance standpoint and the manhunt was a little over the top. As a wetlands delineator and having dealt with NJDEP for the last 25 years, I thought the whole EPA issue could have been handled quickly. But then again considering the other case The Sacketts cited in the book and the premise of this book is taken from a true story maybe not!! Either way the book is a fantastic read, so check it out!

Comparing Joe Picket to Cork O’Connor

Joe Pickett is one of my favorite characters. He reminds me a lot of Cork O’Connor in William Kent Krueger’s books. Both have been in law enforcement Joe is a Game Warden and Cork an ex-sheriff. Both are good honest men with families. Joe has a wife Marybeth, two natural daughters and one foster daughter. While Cork has two daughters and a son. Both have trusted friends that help them.  Joe’s friend Nate (who makes a small appearance in this book) /Romanowski is just a tad (said with heavy sarcasm) more violent than Cork’s spiritual guide Henry Meloux! Throughout both series the well-developed characters have evolved, the children have grown up,  the families have dealt with typical family problems, and both men have dealt with the gray areas involved in their pursuit of justice!

While I don’t think that you necessarily need to read the earlier books to enjoy this one, I think that once you read it you’ll want to find out more about Joe and his friends, particularly Nate,  Joe’s mother-in-law Missy and Joe’s problems with his vehicles!!! Enjoy!!

-Stay Close – Harlan Coben

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Ray Levine an ex-photojournalist, who has now fallen so far that he is taking pictures as a fake paparazzi. Ray visits the same abandoned iron mill in the New Jersey Pines every year on February 18th. On that date, seventeen years earlier his life came crashing down, when his girlfriend found an abusive customer, Stewart Green, who she knew from the strip club  where she worked, lying in a pool of blood along the path that Ray was now walking. She ran to protect herself – to protect Ray.

 

Megan Pierce was that girlfriend,back then she was “Cassie”, now she is a mother two living the suburban life, with a loving husband and two children, with a wanderlust for the “old life”. When the old bartender at the club appears and tells her she may have seen the old customer alive, and another man goes missing on the same day as Stewart Green, Megan is drawn back to Atlantic City to try to help the police solve the case. The detective on the case is Broome, he has been haunted by the case since it happened, wanting to help the widow Green find closure. All three are drawn into the story woven from the mind of Harlan Coben in his latest novel Stay Close , book number 26 for 2012! Like most of Coben’s books this one is a page turner, the characters are well drawn and are three people living lives they never wanted, hiding secrets that even the closest to them would never suspect.

Coben writes with wit and irony, and his flair for exposing the frail balance point between order and chaos in our lives has never been stronger than in this suspenseful outing.- Publishers Weekly

Here is an interview from the Today Show with Al Roker and Harlan discussing Stay Close. The best news from this clip is that Harlan is working on adaptations of  both Tell No One and Stay Close. I can’t wait. If you’ve never read Harlan Coben, this is a good one to start with, actually, any of his books are great reads!!

 

 

Book 24 – Fallen – Karin Slaughter

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So for seven years and six books, Karin Slaughter entertained her readers with her Grant County series, featuring Sara Linton and her husband Jeffrey Tolliver. Jeffrey was a cop and Sara a pediatrician and a medical examiner. In 2006, she started another series featuring a dyslexic Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) agent Will Trent and his partner Faith Mitchell. In 2009 the two series merged (I’m not telling why) in Undone. Book 24 for the year is the 3rd book in this series Fallen This book had me from the first page and I zipped through the book looking forward to what was going to happen next.

The story revolves around the kidnapping of Faith’s mother Evelyn Mitchell, former head of the Narcotics Division of the Atlanta Police Department and best friend of Will and Faith’s boss Amanda Wagner. I said the story got my from the first few pages that’s when Faith arrives late at her mother’s house only to pull up and hear AC/DC Back in Black blaring from the house and blood on the door handle! When she enters the house she sees it’s been trashed and blood is everywhere. There’s a dead man in the laundry room and a man with a hostage in her mother’s bedroom. Quickly things get worse as Faith kills one man and then the other as he is trying to escape! But where is her mother and why was she kidnapped!

This book is as much about the people as it is the storyline. Sara and Will, Faith and her children Jeremy and Emma, Amanda and Evelyn and their interwoven histories! It’s a story about family, and friendship and the effects of drugs. I have loved Slaughter’s books from the first one I read which was book two in the Grant County series Kisscut. That book was quickly followed by Book 1Blindsighted and all the rest and the books just keep getting better and better and I can’t wait for the 2012 edition!

Here’s an interview with Karin talking about Fallen Lena Adams was a very important and interesting character in the Grant County Series!