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The Death Dealer by Heather Graham

Publisher: Mira Books  ISBN: 978-0-7783-2532-1

Reviewed by Kathryn Lawson, New Mystery Reader

The Death Dealer is the sequel to The Dead Room, in which readers were introduced to spunky Genevieve O’Brien.  Genevieve, a dedicated social worker freed from a ruthless killer after two months of captivity, returns with private investigator Joe Connolly to confront a new threat.  It seems that a killer is targeting the members of the New York Poe Society, the Ravens, and Genevieve worries that her mother may be the next victim.  This merciless menace is using Poe’s writings as a blueprint for violence, claiming a number of lives in a very short time period.  With the help of old-fashioned police work and some ghostly intervention, Joe and Genevieve work to identify the murderer and protect innocent lives.

Suspenseful and fast-paced, The Death Dealer has the rudimentary makings of another winner from prolific bestseller Heather Graham.  However, uneven character development, improbable plot twists, and unconvincing dialogue keep this book from realizing its potential.  Graham typically writes love scenes that scorch the pages, and she has a talent for keeping the sexual tension simmering between encounters.  In contrast, Joe and Genevieve have an uncomfortable relationship that is slow to ignite; their physical intimacy is vaguely disquieting in light of the quality of their other interactions.  By the end of the book, their passion does feel more authentic, strengthening a conclusion that otherwise falls short.  The motivation for the murders feels contrived.  Also, so many characters have psychic abilities (Joe, Genevieve, a hooker, a random runaway, etc.) that credibility is destroyed, even if one is receptive to a paranormal plotline.  A disappointing book from a writer who usually delivers the goods.

Tell Me, Pretty Maiden by Rhys Bowen

Publisher:  St. Martins Minotaur  ISBN:  13:  978-0-312-34943-1

Reviewed by Anne K. Edwards, New Mystery Reader

Molly Murphy is at it again—following the suitor of a daughter for one client and chasing ghosts at a supposedly haunted theater for an aging actress who is making a much needed comeback.  If she doesn’t take pneumonia from one case, will she be able to catch a ghost that is trying to harm the start of a new stage show?

If Molly isn’t worrying about too little work, she seems to have too much and enlists her police detective boyfriend to help her while waiting his reinstatement.  In a story peopled with interesting characters you will enjoy meeting, Molly tries to fit into her life a girl she rescued from a snowbank. The girl seems to have no memory and can’t talk. 

However much Molly has to do, she manages to add other tasks to the pile and the reader will have fun watching her try to stretch the day as she tries to help an acquaintance find her missing relative after his car is found abandoned.

The series of subplots will keep you reading.  You’ll want to know as I did how things work out for the client’s daughter and suitor, does Molly catch a ghost, does she find the missing relative and does she ever solve the identity of the girl she found? 

Talented author Rhys Bowen writes in her usual superb style a story that any reader will definitely enjoy and find it worth the time.  You’ll want to read her other books.  I’m pleased to highly recommend this book as a very worthwhile read.

Goodbye Sister Disco by James Patrick Hunt

Publisher: St. Martin’s Minotaur  ISBN: 978-0-312-36156-3

Reviewed by Kathryn Lawson, New Mystery Reader

Goodbye Sister Disco is a deftly paced story of sex, drugs, murder, prison breaks, ransom demands, revolutionary politics, and social-climbing ambition.  The engaging plot is complemented by a strong group of characters.  There’s shameless gold digger Lexie Penmark, married to Eugene Penmark after he made his considerable fortune.  There’s unfortunate first wife Adele Beckwith, discarded by Penmark once Lexie set her sights on him.  And there are the members of a counterculture group with poorly defined goals and sharply delineated factions.  Lieutenant George Hastings, the main character, is an intriguing man whose personal life (continuing ties with ex-wife Eileen, a new relationship with defense attorney Carol McGuire, parenting duties for 12 year-old Amy) is explored as the novel progresses through the investigation.  Hunt gives even minor characters unique attributes to make them memorable (such as an ex-high school football player brought to life in just a few incisive paragraphs).  The descriptions of the interactions between the different law enforcement agencies capture those ubiquitous tensions without descending into cheap stereotype.  A gritty and realistic read, Goodbye Sister Disco (the title comes from a song by The Who) is a compelling story of greed and ambition. 

Betrayal by John Lescroart

Publisher: Dutton Adult  ISBN-10: 0525950397

Reviewed by Harvey Lau, New Mystery Reader

A lawyer handling the murder case of Evan Schaller, a cop accused of killing ex-Navy SEAL Ron Nolan, has disappeared, and a judge persuades another lawyer, Dismas Hardy, to take over the case.

Evan was serving in Iraq at the time Nolan was there as a senior official with a major contractor in Iraq. Evan’s unit was assigned convoy duty to guard the trucks of the contractors, and he gets to know Nolan, whom he confides in about his girlfriend back home, Tara Wheatley. 

Back in the U.S., Nolan woos Tara and manages to break up the relationship by deceiving both Tara and

Evan. This is only the tip of the iceberg of deception where Nolan is concerned. We saw him shooting at civilians in Iraq before and killing three street thugs back in the U.S. There is also a question about his possible involvement in the murder of a wealthy Iraqi and his wife in the U.S.

When Nolan is found killed, the police focus on Evan, whose head injury from a military confrontation in Iraq results in his partial loss of memory. Did he or did he not kill Nolan after he got back to the States? Not even Evan is sure. All the evidence points to it, however. The court case is handled by lawyer Hardy.

The novel ends with a wind up of the case, the jury verdict and result, and a twist of plot at the end. It provides an interesting look at contractors in Iraq and the lack of controls in some areas that leads to excess and waste; however, the plot is not complex enough to support the length of the book or the extraneous detail of the contractors in Iraq, which is not really part of the story that essentially involves only Evan and Ron Nolan.

The Night Following by Morag Joss

Publisher: Delacorte  Press  ISBN-10: 0385341180

Reviewed by Dana King, New Mystery Reader

It’s nice to see not all books require a high body count, promiscuous sex, or gratuitous nasty language to get published. Morag Joss’s The Night Following has none of the above, but, unfortunately, lacks other elements that would make it a more satisfying read.

The first person narrator begins the story with what can safely be described as a bad day. She borrows her husband’s beloved car and horribly stains the leather upholstery. While burrowing through the glove box for a tissue, she finds an open condom wrapper, which was not opened for her benefit. On her way to confront him at the hospital where he works as an anesthesiologist, she strikes and kills a woman riding a bicycle, then leaves the scene.

The rest of the book consists of watching her be inexorably drawn toward her victim and, eventually, the victim’s husband, whose life has been irrevocably destroyed. The narrator eventually moves into Arthur’s life, keeping house for him on the sly, even when she comes to realize he thinks what she does has been done for him by Ruth’s ghost.

The story is told through three points of view: the first person narrator; Arthur, whose wife the narrator killed; and Ruth, the dead woman, who speaks through the unpublished manuscript of a book she has written. The narrative and Arthur’s letters build suspense by making the reader privy to information neither character has to keep the reader reasonably engaged.

The problem is, no true suspense exists. Arthur is in no physical danger from the benevolent stalking of his wife’s killer; only his sanity is at risk, and he had slipped well down that plane before the night visits started. The narrator is in no real jeopardy of arrest. No one suspects her, and we see no evidence the police are actively pursuing any investigation that might lead close to her. “Curiosity” might be a better word than “suspense” to describe the reader’s attitude.

Even the curiosity is tempered, largely because it’s hard to feel for the protagonist narrator. She’s not much offended by her husband’s infidelity, and whatever her remorse drives to do later, remains detached through the aftermath of the accident. She was on her way to confront her husband at the hospital when the accident occurred; sympathies there lie more with patients he will anesthetize afterward than with her situation. After the accident, she returns home to take her dispassionate vengeance on the car, never admitting the beating she gives it will nicely cover any traces of the accident. She’s never angry about her husband’s infidelity, and never seems to worry about Arthur’s sanity as she assumes Ruth’s role in his life, taking care of his physical needs while allowing him to think his dead wife really has come back to him.

Suspense is left unresolved throughout. The narrator gathers up Ruth’s papers after she kills her, then burns what she has at home. What she took was everything beyond Chapter 14 of the work-in-progress, leaving Arthur (and the reader) an incomplete tale of dubious significance to the greater story. The ending is anticlimactic, along the lines of “ I hope she’s not going to have it end like… she did.” The Night Following has aspirations in the direction of a “literary thriller,” which would remove the genre-imposed burden of closure, but the motivations and vagueness of the ending are eventually self-defeating.

The back cover of the advanced reader’s copy calls The Night Following a “haunting, Hitchcockian exploration of the intersection of two lives.” As Hitchcock is the acknowledged Master of Suspense, and the American Heritage Dictionary defines “suspense” as “anxiety or apprehension resulting from an uncertain, undecided, or mysterious situation,” then it is. The difference is that Hitchcock eventually delivered, releasing the suspense with a satisfying action. This is, ultimately, the failing of The Night Following.

The Fourth Man by K. O. Dahl

Publisher: St. Martin's Minotaur  ISBN-10: 0312375697

Reviewed by Stephanie Padilla, New Mystery Reader

In this stunning U.S. debut, readers are treated to one in a series that has already won acclaim from others world-wide, and after reading it, there’s no doubt as to why. 

When Oslo DI Frank Frolich saves a young and beautiful woman who gets caught up in the violence during a routine raid, he is unprepared for the erotic relationship that results.  But when finding out that his new lover is the sister of a criminal who is suspected in the murder of a security guard after she herself provides the suspect’s alibi, he’s about to learn what it’s like to be on the other side of crime and justice.  But when his lover disappears, and those involved in the crime begin to die suspicious deaths, and with his own innocence in question, he must find out the truth regardless of how much he might lose in the process.

This dark and atmospheric read is one that will easily be more than welcomed by those of us who are new readers of this outstanding author.  And while some U.S. readers might find the local and names a bit awkward to get through at times, through excellent plotting and characterization, Dahl puts forth a challenging and evocative mystery that’s full of hidden depths and compelling insights that prove to be more than enough to make it worth it.  Here’s to hoping we get to see more of this outstanding author’s work in the future.

A Prisoner of Birth by Jeffrey Archer

Publisher: St. Martin's Press  ISBN: 978-0-312-37929-2

Reviewed by Kathryn Lawson, New Mystery Reader

Danny Cartwright’s engagement celebration ended in the murder of his best friend in a senseless altercation outside a pub.  Framed for the murder and sentenced to 22 years in prison, Danny commits himself to clearing his name and to getting revenge on the powerful men who set him up to take the fall for their actions.  What follows is a fascinating tale filled with courtroom drama, family intrigues, jailhouse alliances, fraud, forgery, and a host of other illicit activities.  The story grabs the reader from the first page and doesn’t let go until the shocking conclusion.  Along the way, the plot whips through twist after twist, never predictable but always credible.  Characters are multidimensional and compelling, and the dialogue emphasizes their individual motivations and voices.  Archer also creates vivid descriptions of settings ranging from prison cells to Sotheby’s auctions to theater parties.  Overall, a juicy story of revenge and loyalty.  Highly recommended.

Twisted by Andrea Kane

Publisher: William Morrow  ISBN-10: 0061236780

Reviewed by Stephanie Padilla, New Mystery Reader

When Sloane Burbank, former FBI agent turned private consultant, is asked by the parents of an old friend to look into their daughter’s year-long disappearance, she is more than willing to oblige.  But when the case, one that has long grown cold with only the smallest of leads, and one in which the authorities remain skeptical of having involved foul play, begins to show signs of a much more deadlier truth, it becomes apparent that this was anything but a willful disappearance.  And when yet more young women begin to disappear, all with ties to Sloane herself, solving the case becomes more urgent than ever.  Complicating matters even further is her forced partnership with an old lover who has his own string of unsolved crimes to unravel, crimes which might just be connected to hers.  And as the danger creeps ever close to Sloane herself, it’ll become a race against time to find the madman responsible.          

This first in a new series featuring Sloane Burbank, is sure to draw a decent following from Kane’s fans of her previous thrillers.  Admittedly, while Kane’s portrayal of this near-perfect protagonist in her early 30s who can jog 7miles, kill a man with her bare hands, speak several languages, and profile the most heinous criminals before 10 am can be a bit off-putting at times, she does eventually show Sloane’s vulnerability and human flaws when it comes to her inability to partake in the more emotional side of life.  Ultimately, when looking past the sometimes one-dimensional characters, there is some growth going on here, as well as a suspenseful and satisfying read that holds much promise for the next.          

Maximum Ride: The Final Warning by James Patterson

Publishers: Little Brown,  ISBN: 978-0-316-00286-8-9

Reviewed by Narayan Radhakrishnan, New Mystery Reader

7^th HEAVEN by James Patterson published in February 2008 spent only about 20 days as No.1 in the bestseller category. And that’s surprising, for a James Patterson work is bound to do well in the market. So was 7^th Heaven a dud, you might ask…..No, No, No is the answer; the bestseller position has just been taken over by another James Patterson work- the book under review MAXIMUM RIDE: THE FINAL WARNING.

Max and company have endeared themselves to readers worldwide through their 3 previous adventure outings, as well through the two novels THE LAKE HOUSE and WHEN THE WIND BLOWS. Through these endearing kids, James Patterson has wings to one of man’s greatest dreams- the power to fly. Max, Fang, Ingy, Angel, and Gasman are normal kids in every manner, except that they are 98% human and 2% bird, and as such, have the ability to fly.  Their ability coming from the creation of some devious scientists, and one that has made life a bit difficult and far from normal the kids; whether it’s fighting Erasers, Wolfmen, or evil clones. But the greater the danger, the greater the freedom and independence the kids enjoy.

This time round Patterson provides the most challenging danger the five kids could ever encounter- the danger of global warming - when the kids are sent to Antarctica to study the effects of it by a team of scientists.  Of course there are the other villains, such as the “flyboys,” who are almost like erasers but are really basically machines, and a few others thrown in as well.

But what makes this fight for survival more than just your everyday adventure is James Patterson’s challenging and provocative attempt to educate us all on the dangers of global warming- and what better way rather than fiction to convey that point. Kudos to James Patterson- and if ever there is an award for the best environmental thriller writer around- Patterson is up there with the best of them.  And without being a spoilsport, let me also add that there is plenty of room left here for another thrilling adventure featuring this engaging cast of kids.

Another Thing To Fall by Laura Lippman

Publisher: William Morrow  ISBN-10: 0061128872

Reviewed by Stephanie Padilla, New Mystery Reader

In her latest outing featuring Baltimore PI Tess Monaghan, Lippman brings Hollywood to town in a scintillating mystery that goes behind the camera to reveal some of its more scandalous and, in this case, deadly secrets. 

It all begins when Tess is nearly run down by a shooting crew filming a scene on the river where she’s doing her morning row, an event that leads to her being hired to watch over the young Brittney Spears-like female star of the show.  It seems the set has been plagued by someone who is out to sabotage the new TV series, and the producers have their fears as to who is doing it and why, a fear only worsened when a crew member is murdered.  And the deeper Tess gets involved, the more she’ll discover that just about everyone involved has secrets to hide, some worth killing for.

While Lippman’s latest might not be as emotionally satisfying as some of her previous outings, with the tone being a bit more light-hearted than usual, it still proves to be a stimulating read.  Offering plenty of suspects to choose from, she provides a guessing game that makes for an interesting puzzle for readers to solve; a challenge that’s made even more entertaining by the insider’s view of what goes on behind the scenes in a Hollywood production.  Lippman’s return to her vivid and lively depictions of Baltimore, along with her fresh and provocative look at Hollywood, will easily please her old fans while no doubt garnering a new batch for the next.

Cross by Ken Bruen

Publisher: St. Martin's Minotaur  ISBN-10: 0312341423

Reviewed by Stephanie Padilla, New Mystery Reader

To say that Bruen’s Jack Taylor has an attitude would be the understatement of the decade.  And after seeing the man fall and rise as a result of his addictions, precarious relationships, and confrontations with death more times than most could survive through, one would think he’d be dead by now.  But in Bruen’s latest, he once again returns with a vengeance, and literally so.  With his protégé in the hospital near death from a situation most likely caused by one of Jack’s many lethal mistakes, a new case involving the brutal murder of  a young man found crucified, and his ongoing battle against the temptation of drink and drugs, Jack once again faces critical mass.

As is usual with Bruen’s darkly noir outings featuring Galway’s Jack Taylor, the reader is treated to more of an expose on Ireland’s latest grievances, along with the murmurings of a man who daily walks along both the edges of his disappearing country and the ruins of his past, than a mystery full of investigative detail.  And, as usual, this is more than welcomed.  Some readers might be put-off by the violence, the language, and the brutal insights that Bruen unapologetically offers up by way of Jack and his travails, and for those that do, they’re missing out on a read that has as much impact as a punch in the gut.  Bruen, again, doesn’t make it easy for the reader to empathize, nor would we want him to, which is to say he does it up right yet again.

Charley’s Web by Joy Fielding

Publisher: Atria  ISBN-10: 074329601X

Reviewed by Stephanie Padilla, New Mystery Reader

Thirty year old Florida columnist and single mother Charley Web has spent most of her adult life cynically regarding the ties that bind family, friends, and neighbors. An attitude she feels is more than defensible considering that years before her mother had abandoned the family to start a new life, leaving her and her siblings behind to deal with their emotionally distant and bitter father.  An event that has left them scarred and estranged from each other to this very day.  

But when Charley is contacted by a young woman on death row who wants her to write a book about her part in the brutal slayings of three young children, with the tantalizing promise of revealing the identity of her partner in crime, Charley’s going to learn a lot more of just how much the past can influence what comes after.  And the further she gets into the mind of this charming sociopath, the closer she comes to danger, because the second killer is much closer than she could possibly have imagined.

There’s no doubt that Joy Fielding’s previous suspense novels have been some of the best in the genre; however, fans might find this latest to be just a smidgeon short of the quality they’re used to.  While she does provide a challenging and suspenseful read, and does somewhat convincingly use the theme of how we all have a choice in determining our future regardless of how ugly our past, by the end it just seems a little too forced and tidy. 

The parallels drawn between the two women and others with similar pasts and who they have become, are provocative, to say the least, but it still seems as though there’s another side of the concept that’s being left out when it comes to the final denouement.  While it’s all good and fine to conclude that we do have a choice in how much we’re swayed by the past, the question then of why some might actually choose to go horribly bad is not really answered.  So considering that this is a question that has yet to be answered by even the most learned scholars on the subject, some might feel ultimately frustrated by Fielding’s over simplified conclusion to what has to be one of the most challenging questions of the ages. 

However, putting all this philosophical gesturing aside, if all you’re looking for is a suspenseful and thrilling read, this one actually provides that pretty well, with the pages flying by at the alarming rate that Fielding is known and loved for.    

Killer Heat by Linda Fairstein

Publisher: Doubleday  ISBN-10: 0385523971

Reviewed by Stephanie Padilla, New Mystery Reader

With the savage heat of a New York City summer bringing out the worst in everybody, it’s no surprise when the body of a young woman is found brutally murdered.  But when another and then yet another body shows up, it becomes all too apparent to D.A. Alex Cooper and her buddy investigators Mike Chapman and Mercer Wallace that this is not your run-of-the-mill killer, but instead one who has just begun his reign of terror.  And as the investigation leads them through the abandoned islands surrounding the city, the heat put on them to find the killer will make the temperature outside seem like winter.

Fairstein again puts out a well-researched investigative tale, managing to throw in some interesting history surrounding these lost islands, along with some tidbits on military battles and strategy that might appeal to those who like that kinda stuff.  And even though she takes a pretty big jump to get there, it’s soon forgiven when it proves to be the right jump.  But while this read goes down quick and smooth, there’s really not a whole lot to distinguish it from what’s come before.  If anything, Mike Chapman grates on the nerves a bit more than last time, his tendency to use words like “broad” and “chow” along with his other flippant remarks only getting increasingly annoying as the read goes on.  But, overall, while this isn’t a great read, it’s a good enough one that will easily entertain.   

The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny

Publisher: St. Martin's Minotaur  ISBN-10: 0312352573

Reviewed by Stephanie Padilla, New Mystery Reader

Penny returns with her third outing in this outstanding series featuring the idyllic community of Three Pines and the Montreal Chief Inspector Armand Gamache who is always ready to lend a hand to solve their occasional bouts with deadly crime. 

This time out, it’s springtime, and as this eccentric cast of villagers prepare for their annual Easter egg hunt, they have no idea that murder is once again about to shake up their contended lives.  It all begins with the arrival of a seemingly harmless psychic who, after a bit of prompting, agrees to hold a séance in the village pub.  But when the séance proves to be less than exciting, the villagers agree to hold yet another, this time in the abandoned house on the hill that has been the scene of more than one incidence of evil and madness.  And when a local villager dies in the middle of it all, the hunt is on for the killer, a killer who must be one of their own, and one who has been hiding a life’s worth of rage behind a façade of innocence for years.

With the aide of Chief Inspector Gamache, the town might be able to find the traitor in their midst, even as Gamache himself much search out the turncoat on his own team of investigators; one whose identity will unmask the biggest betrayer of all, the person who wants nothing more but to see Gamache’s happy existence ruined and shattered for good.

If you’ve never read one of Penny’s Three Pine mysteries, you’re missing out on one of the best series out there.  Her ability to combine a stunning setting, eccentric characters, and fine investigative detail with such poignant and evocative themes as love, loyalty, jealousy, grief, and madness make each of these reads a rare treat.  This is a place you’ll wish really existed, and these are people you’ll wish you could someday meet, and with Penny’s vivid and lively storytelling, you’ll be surprised at just how close you’ll end up feeling that you actually did.   

The Killer’s Wife by Bill Floyd

Publisher: St. Martin's Minotaur  ISBN-10: 0312373392

Reviewed by Stephanie Padilla, New Mystery Reader

In his debut novel, Floyd takes the typical novel of a psychotic serial killer and gives it a new twist by telling his tale from the point of view rarely seen – the person once closest to the killer. In this case that would be the killer’s wife, Leigh Wren, a woman who once thought she had the perfect family, including a new baby, a beautiful home, and a handsome husband; a perfect dream that ended six years previously when she slowly awakened to the fact that her perfect husband might instead be the monster behind several horrific murders.  But it doesn’t end there, because even though now it’s been six years since she brought his crimes to light and helped put him on death row, and moved to a new town and changed her name, it’s all about to come back when she’s exposed for who she once was and finds herself threatened by a killer who wants to do it all again.

With scenes alternating between past and present, Floyd easily convinces the reader how it was that Leigh was able to maintain her denial of the horror that resided inside the man she loved for several years; convincingly portraying her and her family as the neighbors next door, or perhaps those living even closer.  Provocative questions of how well we can really know someone, and how far we might go to avoid answering those questions, make this a suspenseful and daring read.  An enthralling first effort that promises great things ahead; this one’s a winner.

The Price of Blood by Declan Hughes

Publisher: William Morrow  ISBN-10: 0060825510

Reviewed by Dana King, New Mystery Reader

The writing of Irish crime novelist Declan Hughes captures much of Raymond Chandler’s mean streets’ poetry. Harder edged than the lyricism of James Lee Burke. With the possible exception of compatriot John Connolly, no one sets a mood better than Hughes. His third book, The Price of Blood, rises to the level of his original (The Wrong Kind of Blood) after a minor drop-off in The Color of Blood.

Ed Loy is still living in his dead mother’s house, taking work as a PI. A local priest no one much cares for pays him €5,000 and gives him only a name: Patrick Hutton. Doesn’t say what he wants to know, if he wants Hutton found, or what Loy should do about anything he finds. Ed subscribes to The Maltese Falcon school of accepting cases: the five grand is more than the case is worth, and enough more to make it all right.

Then again, maybe not. The priest is the estranged brother of the local master horse trainer, whose training, stud, and resort operation pretty much governs the local economy. Soon Loy is drawn into overlapping Venn diagrams of deceit containing fixed horse races, dead bodies, and a woman who looks disconcertingly like his ex-wife.

Loy is a good hero for a gritty series. He drinks too much, not an alcoholic. Troubled, not paralyzed with self-analysis. Tough, not superhuman. His sidekick, Tommy Owens, is good enough to provide support, without being the avenging Angel of Death sidekicks so often become. Frankly, it’s a bit of a surprise when Tommy comes through, partly because he doesn’t all the time, another nice touch.

Hughes has a knack for writing female leads who are no good for Loy. He knows it, can’t quite stay away, and Hughes is good enough to keep them from becoming formulaic. The supporting cast is varied and well-developed. Hughes isn’t afraid to drop a scene in just for the characters, advancing the plot no more than a hair, yet never making it feel as though the pace has slowed.

Another American master can be found between the lines of all three books. Like Ross Macdonald’s work, the stories are about family ills that go beyond dysfunction to touch on depravity. Hushed up, possibly through generations, until some external event brings them to the light. It lends a visceral impact to his work; we all have families, and the thought, however subconscious, of what Hughes’s families are put through will make anyone uncomfortable.

He does get a trifle more complicated than he needs to, sending you flipping back a page or ten, wondering if you missed something. You’re never abandoned, but you have to read for plot, too, and not let his use of the language lull you into reading just for the sake of letting his words run through your mind. Chandler and Macdonald were guilty of the same; worse things can happen.

Another problem is that much of the ending happens to someone other than Ed, and we only hear about it later. It’s admirable that Hughes didn’t feel the need to get Ed implausibly out of a situation just so he could be around for the pay-off; it also diminishes the impact to the reader.

No book is perfect, and neither of the above faults break the compact Hughes establishes with the reader from Page One. The Price of Blood continues Ed Loy’s progress into the first rank of contemporary mystery protagonists. The humor is dry, genuine, and unforced; Loy’s attraction to Miranda Hart is understandable, as are its consequences; the friendship with Tommy is real, which means occasionally strained. Hughes and Loy show no signs of bleeding out any time soon, which is good news for all.

City of the Sun by David Levien

Publisher: Doubleday  ISBN-10: 0385523661

Reviewed by Stephanie Padilla, New Mystery Reader

When Paul and Susan Gabriel’s 12 year old son Jason doesn’t come home from his early morning newspaper deliver job, it’s immediately apparent to this stable middle-class couple that something is direly wrong.  And when the days turn into weeks, then months, with still not a single clue as to his whereabouts, the couple, whose marriage is slowly dying with their ever growing grief, will have to confront the possibility that he might never be found. 

But after 14 months of going nowhere and discovering just how little the investigators of the case actually did, the Gabriels, in a last ditch effort, hire PI Frank Behr, a man with many of his own demons and regrets to look into it.  And so the heart rendering search begins; a search that might end in complete pain or full of joy, the first outcome being the most likely, but one that must be come to some conclusion no matter what the cost if life is to ever move forward for these three very broken people.

From the beginning, this gut wrenching and altogether electrifying suspenseful novel takes hold and then easily maintains its steadfast grip right until its explosive ending.  Levien manages to create not just some fictional family whose kid goes missing, but a family that could easily include just about each one you might know, especially those who live a stable but contented life, and who would be completely unprepared for the changes that terror and grief can wreak upon such an ordinary existence. 

And when combined with the rueful and emotionally lost PI Behr with his humanity and compassion, not too mention his ability to lay the enemy flat with a couple of well placed punches, you have yet another character to keep the reading compulsively addictive.  Let’s hope this is only the first chance go around from this talented author who at this rate has a long successful career in the novel writing business ahead of him.    

Friend of the Devil by Peter Robinson

Publisher: William Morrow  ISBN-10: 0060544376

Reviewed by Stephanie Padilla, New Mystery Reader

Robinson brings back detectives Alan Banks and Annie Cabbot in another investigative outing that is sure to please his many fans.  This time out, Cabbot is on loan to another department in the English countryside when she's called to investigate the murder of a young paraplegic woman found dead near a seaside cliff.  At first, it seems an impossible case, the woman having no known relatives, friends, or enemies.  But after digging deeper, Cabbot is shocked to learn the true identity of the woman, an identity whose past is tied to a bout of vicious killings just years before.

Meanwhile, Banks is investigating the murder of a young woman whose body was found after a night of wild partying in the village's labyrinth area called "The Maze."  And when Banks also finds little to go on, he too faces an almost unsolvable mystery.

At first it seems these cases are unrelated, but further discovered clues will prove that they have some very nefarious connections to cases long past, cases that involved more than one serial killer, and cases that have long remained without answers.  And so it seems that the only way to solve one case will be in the solving of the other, putting these two ex-lovers on a shared trail in tracking down the truth.

While this latest is, as usual, a well presented and detailed look at investigative procedure, it does at times become a bit convoluted with all the connections between past and present cases.  With more than one too many killers and victims, it was a bit of a challenge to recall just who was connected to whom, and when and why, with the concerted effort it took to connect them a bit of a distraction from an otherwise clever plot.  A little less would have sufficed in this latest, but still, as fans will surely attest, any Robinson at all is always a treat, no matter what.               

Dead Time by Stephen White

Publisher: Dutton Adult  ISBN-10: 0525950060

Reviewed by Stephanie Padilla, New Mystery Reader

After the death of his good friend and neighbor from a bombing in Israel, Boulder psychologist Alan Gregory suddenly finds himself not only dealing with the ongoing issues that seem to be threatening his marriage, but also with the added pressure of his newly appointed role as guardian of his murdered friend’s young son.  But things are only about to get even more complicated when his ex-wife calls him a few weeks later asking his help in finding the surrogate mother of her unborn child. And so as his wife and daughter head unexpectedly choose this time to head off in one direction in search of the adoptive daughter his wife gave up years before, Alan heads off in another in his attempt to track down the missing pregnant woman.

With his search taking him from New York to LA, and with a little help from his friend Sam, it doesn’t take long for the pair to begin to see a connection between this disappearance and those of a few other young adults that had all been part of a camping group in the Grand Canyon just a few short years earlier.  And as the truth slowly reveals itself, not only will Gregory be forced to confront the possibility that his ex-wife’s fiancé might be somehow involved, but that he too is not safe from a killer who will do anything to keep his secrets from being revealed.      

As always, White not only provides a creative and suspenseful read that is difficult to put down, but again shares some interesting insights into the psychology behind marriage, friendship, trust, and the ties that bind.  And so being fortified with these worthy aspects, it’s not too difficult to forgive White’s fantastical forays into the magical land where he and Sam get hit on by just about every woman they cross paths with; a plot ploy most likely meant to test and prove their commitments, but one that instead comes off as sounding like a wishful fantasy that only grows more and more unconvincing with each occurrence.  But that aside, he keeps the story flowing with his narrative’s altering perspectives from some pretty interesting characters, some very stimulating action sequences both past and present, and a plethora of secondary lively characters that all seamlessly combine for another worthwhile read from this very talented author.     

New Mystery Reader Magazine  editor@newmysteryreader.com