Koncocoo

Best Cozy Mysteries

The Leper of Saint Giles (The Chronicles of Brother Cadfael Book 5)
In this mystery in the award-winning series featuring a twelfth-century Benedictine monk, Brother Cadfael must travel to the heart of a leper colony to root out the secret behind a savage murder. Pargeter won an Edgar Award in 1963 for Death and the Joyful Woman , and in 1993 she won the Cartier Diamond Dagger, an annual award given by the Crime Writers’ Association of Great Britain. She was appointed officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1994, and in 1999 the British Crime Writers’ Association established the Ellis Peters Historical Dagger award, later called the Ellis Peters Historical Award.
Reviews
"A solid Cadfael story, in which Cadfael must sort it all out without the help of Hugh Berringar."
"Good story, well told."
"Always enjoy Brother Cadfael stories."
"I love the chronicles of Cadfael."
"What can I say, it is Brother Cadfael."
"Wish the rest of Ellis Peters Kindel books on Brother Cadfael were not so expensive."
"Ellis Peter's is one of my favorites so maybe I am prejudiced."
"While it's sometimes a bit dry or a little slow, there is no series of historical mysteries that is as good as the Brother Cadfael novels."
Find Best Price at Amazon
Any Witch Way You Can (Wicked Witches of the Midwest Book 1)
Between the suspicious townspeople, the befuddled police presence and that random hot biker guy that may or may not have something to do with the murder -- Bay has her hands full. I'm a longtime newspaper reporter, an avid reader and a voracious science fiction fanatic.
Reviews
"So, Bay and her family are witches, they live in a town that knows they are witches and despite the town being re-branded as a "witch town" they are distrustful of Bay and her family. Bay discovers the body and since Bay can see ghosts and discovers the ghost of the boy at the murder scene she is of course entangled in the web of the murder. Because Bay and her family are really close (and in a lot of cozy mysteries I read it's always like that) and while I don't mind it, the CONSTANT back and forth banter with her cousins (Thistle and Clove, why always weird names?)."
"In the middle of all this mess, Bay finds out there is a rogue gang of meth dealers in her quiet little town."
"Bay and her cousins have to deal with Great Aunt Tillie's pranks weekly, making their lives miserable with random pimples or pants that won't fit. One day, a corn maze opens for Halloween in their town and Bay attends so she can write an article on it. But there's a few problems - She has to figure out if that good looking motorcycle dude is a friend or foe when he keeps ending up in places that he shouldn't be. The chemistry between Bay and the motorcycle dude is great, even though you're always wondering if he's the actual bad guy."
"The newspaper woman returns that night with her cousins and meets the ghost, but he can't see his killers clearly."
Find Best Price at Amazon
Murder on the Orient Express: A Hercule Poirot Mystery (Hercule Poirot series Book 10)
By morning, the millionaire Samuel Edward Ratchett lies dead in his compartment, stabbed a dozen times, his door locked from the inside. Isolated by the storm, detective Hercule Poirot must find the killer among a dozen of the dead man's enemies, before the murderer decides to strike again. “A brilliantly ingenious story.” (Dorothy L. Sayers, Daily Herald (UK)). “It’s tempting to say that Agatha Christie is a genius and let it go at that, but the world’s had plenty of geniuses. Agatha Christie is something special.” (Lawrence Block, New York Times bestselling author). Mrs Christie makes an improbable tale very real, and keeps her readers enthralled and guessing to the end.” ( Times Literary Supplement (London)). “Reading a perfectly plotted Agatha Christie is like crunching into a perfect apple: that pure, crisp, absolute satisfaction.” (Tana French , New York Times -bestselling author of the Dublin Murder Squad novels). “Agatha Christie taught me many important lessons about the inner workings of the mystery novel before it ever occurred to me that I might one day be writing mysteries myself.” (Sue Grafton, #1 New York Times -bestselling author of the Kinsey Millhone novels).
Reviews
"I have been since I was a 10-year-old girl and I watched Death on the Nile on the big screen. I began reading her books and short stories, even if I didn't understand them all. I have the Death on the Nile Kindle edition and to my dismay, it's missing a key part of the book! Grab yourself a hot cup of tea or coffee, find a nice comfy, chair, couch or even a bed, curl your feet up under you and enjoy the show."
"Number four: you enjoy the scene, the place, in this case, the train surrounded and stopped by a blizzard of snow. Altogether, a great classic novel of mystery and suspense with an ending that is the major plot twist of the book."
"This is my first time to read Agatha Christie, the writing is definitely a throw back and takes some getting used to bit it was almost as fun to read about the exotic travel to places that are now war zones than to solve the mystery."
"Read it for a book club after seeing the movie."
"I read the book in one day and you absolutely need to read the book if you saw the movie they don't end the same way."
"I had forgotten how enjoyable Agatha Christie books are."
"good book for traveling- compact and easy read on a long flight."
"The quality of this is like something you would find at the dollar store."
Find Best Price at Amazon

Best Cozy Animal Mysteries

Every Breath You Take (An Under Suspicion Novel)
New York Times Bestseller “Queen of Suspense” Mary Higgins Clark and Alafair Burke are back with their fourth book in the New York Times bestselling Under Suspicion series; Every Breath You Take follows television producer’s Laurie Moran investigation of the unsolved Met Gala murder—in which a wealthy widow was pushed to her death from the famous museum’s rooftop. Laurie Moran could not ignore the satisfied expression on her nine-year-old son’s face as he watched the waiter place her breakfast on their table. “Well thank you so much,” Laurie said, pleased, even as she reflected on the fact that Timmy’s use of the word cool was another sign that he was growing up. Timmy had been to Sarabeth’s restaurant for breakfast at least twenty times, but never approved of Laurie’s choice of the eggs benedict with salmon. If Laurie had to handpick a rival for her son’s affections, she couldn’t have chosen a better role model than her father, Leo Farley. “Hate to tell you this, kiddo,” Leo said crisply, “but you can’t keep eating pancakes with chocolate and powdered sugar on them for the rest of your life. Thirty years from now, you’ll understand why your mom’s eating fish, and I’m pretending to enjoy this turkey bacon that tastes like paper.”. Laurie was the producer of Under Suspicion, a series of true crime–based television “news specials” focusing on cold cases. The show’s title reflected its format of working directly with the people who were unofficial suspects in the investigations. “We’ll have roast chicken?” She constantly felt guilty for not preparing more healthy meals for her son. “I was starting to wonder if you were coming in.” It was Ryan Nichols, calling out to her from his office as she passed his door. He had been hired as the host of her television show a mere three months earlier, and she still had no idea what he was doing at the studio full-time.
Reviews
"Laurie Moran’s new on-air legal expert for her TV show Under Suspicion, Ryan Nichols, has suggested they next examine the cold case of the wealthy widow Virginia Wakeling being pushed from the roof of the Metropolitan Museum of Art some three years ago."
"Mary Higgins Clark is one of my favorite authors and she doesn't disappoint with the latest Under Suspicion novel."
"These are an updated, intriguing version of Mary Higgins Clark books."
"I have been a Mary Highins Clark fan since book 1 and will always eagerly await her next one."
"As always, interesting characters and storylines make the book difficult to put down."
"This book definitely had a way of making you want to keep reading at the end of each chapter, however, the ending fell flat."
"Great story."
"I have read all of these novels and this was the least exciting..."
Find Best Price at Amazon

Best Cozy Craft & Hobby Mysteries

Alias Grace: A Novel
Now a 6-part Netflix original mini-series: in Alias Grace , the bestselling author of The Handmaid's Tale takes readers into the life of one of the most notorious women of the nineteenth century. "A stunning novel full of sly wit, compassion and insight, boasting writing that is lyrical, assured, evocative of time and place, and seductive in its power to engage us." "Atwood provides the elements of a walloping good read: suspense, mystery, titillation, and a fully crafted but never ponderous historical milieu."
Reviews
"Having really enjoyed The Handmaid's Tale, I was very excited to read Alias Grace and to see that it is a new series on Netflix. Grace Marks is a prisoner, having been found guilty of the grisly murder of her employer and his housekeeper. She is said to have committed the murders of Nancy Montgomery and Thomas Kinnear with her coworker, James McDermott, who is a surly and jealous man. Years later, a young psychiatrist is brought in by a group trying to prove her innocence to try to help her remember more about the crime."
"The fictionalized account allows readers to draw their own conclusions; which might sound trite, but is interesting for the many fans who enjoy the genre."
"Nevertheless, I felt that the promise of some kind of disclosure, or revelation, was dangled in front of the reader throughout the book, but in the end there is no real conclusion."
"Read this for one of my bookclubs."
"Her reinventions of the characters' dreams, fantasies, and immersion in sensory detail are both poetic and disturbing: Grace's red fabric peonies that grow on her prison walls and in her dreams of the multiple deaths she has witnessed; Dr Jordan's childhood furtive probing into the white underthings of the servant girls that return as symbols in his adult dreams."
"Margaret takes a long time to get to the point."
"The story of the murders itself is as riveting as any good Gothic mystery rife with gender and class conflicts, seances and smelling salts, but the writing is never stodgy or fusty."
"I liked the characterization of Grace."
Find Best Price at Amazon

Best Cozy Culinary Mysteries

Killer Takeout (Key West Food Critic)
It’s Fantasy Fest at Key West, and food critic Hayley Snow is ready to celebrate. What more could a reader ask for?”— New York Times bestselling author Lorna Barrett. “The victim may not be coming back for seconds, but readers certainly will!”— New York Times Bestselling Author Julie Hyzy. “Lucy Burdette is skilled at creating interesting characters who are very real and familiar.”—The Mystery Reader Clinical psychologist Roberta Isleib, aka Lucy Burdette , is the author of the Key West Food Critic Mysteries.
Reviews
"She beautifully describes Key West in the entire series and it makes the reader really feel they are in the middle of the action as each mystery progresses!"
"Wanting to avoid all the people Hayley researches takeout restaurants for an article for Key Zest magazine where she works as a food critic."
"Hayley Snow is back again in this fun series set in Key West."
"Haley is a social hurricane, knows everyone on her island, and goes through the hurricane, the wedding, and solves the case."
"Pleasant mystery with interesting characters."
"Haley is a busy gal — her mother and Sam’s wedding, magazine politics, lots of food, a hurricane, and murder."
"What’s a book series set in Florida without the obligatory hurricane, even in ever-resilient Key West?"
"Very good story line, and as always our heroin and her gang of family and friends set out to solve the murder/mystery."
Find Best Price at Amazon

Best Fiction Urban Life

The Wrong Side of Goodbye (A Harry Bosch Novel)
Desperate to know whether he has an heir, the dying magnate hires Bosch, the only person he can trust. At the same time, unable to leave cop work behind completely, he volunteers as an investigator for a tiny cash-strapped police department and finds himself tracking a serial rapist who is one of the most baffling and dangerous foes he has ever faced. Swift, unpredictable, and thrilling, The Wrong Side of Goodbye shows that Michael Connelly "continues to amaze with his consistent skill and sizzle" ( Cleveland Plain Dealer ). Few mystery novelists make background facts and simple descriptions sing the way this writer does. And no writer exploits Los Angeles - its geography, its historical power wars, its celebrity culture, its lore - as compellingly as Connelly....he must be read." "If any novelist is worthy to walk once more through the front door of Raymond Chandler's iconic Sternwood mansion, it's Michael Connelly. For over two decades, Connelly has been brilliantly updating and enlarging the possibilities of the classic L.A. hard-boiled novel, first bestowed upon the world in 1939 with Chandler's debut, The Big Sleep . Moving effortlessly between Bosch's private and public cases, he ratchets up the tension...pulling off in the final few chapters a California noir sleight of hand that would make Ross Macdonald envious." "In each novel, Connelly has dug deeper into Harry's psyche, as he skillfully does in The Wrong Side of Goodbye ....Connelly's melding of the police procedural, private detective novel and intense character study remains solid. "....it is immensely satisfying to see Bosch's sustained and deepened passion for his mission- "Everybody count or nobody counts" - undiminished by age or circumstance, even as a younger generation of detectives of all colors and orientations share the stage to carry on the work that has given Bosch, and this series, such an enduring appeal.
Reviews
"In The Wrong Side of Goodbye, former LAPD detective Harry Bosch is hired as a private eye to find out whether a reclusive billionaire has an heir related to him by blood. The investigation will also expose him and his teenage daughter to great danger, as the board members of the billionaire’s company seek to protect their access to wealth and power."
"In his private investigator role, he is invited to meet an aging aviation billionaire, Whitney Vance, who has a proposition - find out if he has any surviving offspring who could become the heir to his huge fortune. At the same time, Bosch gets tied up almost full time with a major case for the small police force of San Fernando - a serial rapist who gains entry by cutting through the screen door of victims' houses. The hunt for the "Screen Cutter" heats up when more victims are identified and a criminal profile suggests that it is only a matter of time before the rapist also becomes a killer."
"After years of reading all of Connelly's books, including the Haller series, Bosch just keeps piling on layers of character development extensions which keep adding higher resolution to our fully fleshed out detective. Add competent and realistic storylines that don't rely on manipulation of invention, nor alterations to the standard laws of physics, but an assemblage of process and reasoning in which you share with an intimate narrator, and you have a book you can sink your brain into, every time."
"He also fills in his time working as a private detective, in the course of which he's called to see an elderly billionaire, Wilbur Vance, who wants him to track down an heir."
Find Best Price at Amazon

Best Supernatural Mysteries

The Hangman's Daughter: [Kindle in Motion] (A Hangman's Daughter Tale Book 1)
Germany, 1660: When a dying boy is pulled from the river with a mark crudely tattooed on his shoulder, hangman Jakob Kuisl is called upon to investigate whether witchcraft is at. play in his small Bavarian town. Amazon Exclusive: A Q&A with Author Oliver PötzschQuestion: What initially inspired you to write this story? But I also look up to many authors of the fantasy genre such as Tolkien, Terry Pratchett, and the almost forgotten Fritz Leiber. In his life he built an enormous archive of information about my ancestors and the hangman profession, and I have been allowed free use of this resource. Also, during my career as a journalist I made several radio programs on this topic, talking to herb women and guardians of cultural heritage and searching in many archives of Bavarian cities for my ancestors. Oliver Pötzsch: After the thriller about Ludwig II, I am writing the fourth novel in the Hangman series. "A brilliantly-researched and exciting story of a formative era of history when witches were hunted and the inquisitors had little belief in their methods beyond their effect in pacifying superstitious townspeople . Pötzsch, actually descended from a line of hangmen, delivers a fantastically fast-paced read, rife with details on the social and power structures in the town as well as dichotomy between university medicine and the traditional remedies, which are skillfully communicated through character interactions, particularly that of Magdalena and Simon. The shocking motivations from unlikely players provide for a twist that will leave readers admiring this complex tale from a talented new voice."
Reviews
"I liked the start of this story, the basic idea of the tale, a hangman searching for the truth. The title of this story suggests this daughter has a major role, but quite frankly she doesn't. In fact, the hangman's daughter is such a minor character, she could be removed completely from the story and the novel would be virtually the same. She has a scene towards the end of the book where she's captured as a hostage, but it's so forced and unnecessary, it's more like a "women in refrigerators" moment. In the meantime, if you're a minor character living in this historical world, it seems like your only purpose is to be to chased, tortured, threatened with rape, or face being burnt alive as a witch. Yes, the hangman's daughter manages to escape, but the scene adds nothing to the novel. The second woman, the hangman's daughter, captured and threatened, was an unnecessary cliché. Instead of tying up loose ends, there's more drama, then everything is miraculously solved behind the scenes. The female characters could be replaced with potted plants, so I can't see myself recommending it to any of the women in my life."
"People assume witches were involved except Jacob who does not believe in witches and is determined to discover the truth and uncover the murder."
"I stayed up several night's reading this exciting mystery set in Bavaria of the 1600s."
"Good book."
"Once the action started and the mystery began to unravel I couldn't put the book down!"
"It also gave me hope that I could learn more of his genealogy through his family that still lives in this small town."
"OK, the romance developing with the hangman's daughter and the radical young physician is a bit overly romantic and strains disbelief at times, but they're great characters and you enjoy their unlikely adventures."
"A story of sixteenth century German history of town living and witchcraft with mystery and romance thrown in to keep it interesting."
Find Best Price at Amazon

Best Mystery Anthologies

Hercule Poirot: The Complete Short Stories: A Hercule Poirot Collection with Foreword by Charles Todd (Hercule Poirot Mysteries)
At last, a single volume that gathers together all of the short stories featuring Agatha Christie's most famous creation, Hercule Poirot.
Reviews
"Nothing is better than Christie & Poirot-except maybe Christie & Marple."
"I wish i was able to havve all Agatha Christie as this collection."
"Excellent collection of Agatha Christie's short stories on Hercule Poirot."
"Wonderful anthology."
"It's Agatha Christie and the famous Hercule Poirot."
"I just love all the stories and how it turns from being simple incidents to a more complicated murder mystery."
"An excellent compendium of Perot short stories."
"Classic Christie in one volume...Great!"
Find Best Price at Amazon

Best Hard-Boiled Mystery

The Last Girl (The Dominion Trilogy Book 1)
Medical science and governments around the world scramble in an effort to solve the problem, but twenty-five years later there is no cure, and an entire generation grows up with a population of fewer than a thousand women. She's been held in the prison her entire life, along with a few other girls who disappear after the coming-of-age ceremony. Zoey and her new friends must break into the compound and rescue the other female prisoners.
Reviews
"Zoey is probably one of the strongest female characters I have found in any book I've ever read."
"(trying not to spoil too much). Hart seizes on the fears of a populace dealing with population control issues and shows us what can happen when control is removed from our hands."
"It is written in present tense, a fad I keep hoping will die, because it is so difficult to write well and, more often than not, just grates on the nerves. As a result she ends up as a rather non-entity and frankly, being a woman myself, I found her a pretty insultingly insipid female protagonist. Thus the few remaining female infants are gathered up and raised in puritanical prison conditions with severe punishments if they ask questions. Instead of investing time on actually developing the main character in thoughts, actions, and feelings that would let the reader get to know her and like her in and of herself, he just added a scene with mean girls picking on an outcast and let the main character show some pitiful token defense so that the reader knows that our heroine is the "good girl." Note to male authors: women can and very often do form very strong, healthy, and supportive relationships with one another and elevating your female protagonist by juxtaposing her next to catty, mean girls is taking the cheap way out."
"Have you ever read a book and been like, what made me read that? I think I have to tell you a little bit about the book to let you know why I am so disappointed in it."
"The treatment of the girls just seemed like an excuse for the author to imagine torturing women. I ended up skipping lots of pages just hoping that this story would finally make sense, but it never did."
Find Best Price at Amazon

Best Private Investigator Mysteries

Y is for Yesterday (A Kinsey Millhone Novel)
Private investigator Kinsey Millhone confronts her darkest and most disturbing case in this #1 New York Times bestseller from Sue Grafton. Moody, unrepentant, and angry, he is a virtual prisoner of his ever-watchful parents—until a copy of the missing tape arrives with a ransom demand. Y Is For Yesterday might make you wish the alphabet had a few more letters.”— Tampa Bay Times-Review More Praise for Sue Grafton and the Alphabet Series “Grafton’s endless resourcefulness in varying her pitches in this landmark series, graced by her trademark self-deprecating humor, is one of the seven wonders of the genre.”— Kirkus Reviews.
Reviews
"*. It's hard for me to rate this book because I've been one of fictional Kinsey Millhone's fans since 1982. 1) It is not " true" to the other books in the series because this book has chapters of graphic sexual violence. 2) Kinsey can't " remember" to take her gun with her even though a psychopath from an earlier book is clearly stalking her fearlessly. Earlier books in the series did have some shooting in them, so I am not sure if this is the author's anti- gun statement built into the book, or a possible pro- gun statement since not having a weapon was bound to happen and put Kinsey in the climatic dangerous situation with a madman, or if the equally successful " Stephanie Plum" series gave Ms. Grafton the " oops, left that new gun at home" idea to the author. When we are reading in the " present time" of 1989, Kinsey could somehow determine that copies of the prurient video were or could have been made using hand held video cameras and a projector, while hand held video cameras of the type being described in the book didn't yet exist. 4) Another factoid in this book which didn't seem true to Henry and Kinsey's shared green space and Henry's gardening at all was the very frequent reminders that Henry, who is quite a dapper gentleman ( lest we forget we are reminded a few times in every single book with just those words, instead of his actions speaking for his poise and manners), completely abandons his beloved lawn. Both Henry and Kinsey didn't love the important things in their lives in this one book. I didn't feel that Kinsey, Henry, their friends, or the town of Saint Theresa were at all enhanced by the P. I. work that fell into Kinsey's lap in this book. I'm glad I read it, as I am a completist about books in a series, but this 35 year relationship with Kinsey isn't really going in the ways I had hoped. Down through the years, there have been glimpses of Kinsey getting at least one fun friend in her age group, a nice guy or two taking her out, even a decent car in some of the books. I also learned that she never allowed any ghostwriting in her manuscripts, so there will not be a posthumus book featuring Kinsey but authored by someone else."
"I have long been a Sue Grafton fan and have read all of the books in the Kinsey Millhone series. The subject matter is indeed dark and disturbing, involving an amateur porno tape and a high school murder. I do admit that the ending of Y Is for Yesterday is, for the most part, satisfying, so that gives me reason for hope that Grafton will wrap up the series in style."
"Kinsey, in 1989, references found footage, hand held type movies which weren't around yet and molded plastic lawn chairs before they were in use. I have loved Grafton for years, and continue to do so, as this book was an anomaly, and Kinsey's personality was still fairly vivid, but honestly -- if it had been any other author."
"The flashback chapters added nothing and I was particularly unhappy that Sue Grafton chose to repeat over and over the graphic content of a tape of sexual abuse. Every time a new person views the tape it gets described, in addition to detailing the actual event in the flashback chapters."
Find Best Price at Amazon

Best Mystery Reference

The Sherlock Holmes Book (Big Ideas Simply Explained)
The Sherlock Holmes Book , the latest in DK's award-winning Big Ideas Simply Explained series, tackles the most "elementary" of subjects — the world of Sherlock Holmes, as told by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. "All in all, it's an absolute stunning resource for any Sherlock fan, and a perfect companion to offer any new reader of the original Doyle stories." "[A]n encyclopedic, illustrated exploration of the entire canon of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's tales of Sherlock and Dr.
Reviews
"The book is laid out to give an overview of Doyle himself and narratives on major characters - Sherlock, Watson, Moriarity, Lestrade. There are some good pieces on the influence that Doyle's writings and characters continue to have on his readers and other writers as well."
"If you're a Holmes fan you need this in your library."
"Gave this as a gift."
"Purchased for my wife."
"Great book for all fans of Sherlock."
"Great book for anyone interested in learning more about Sherlock Holmes, his origins & stories."
Find Best Price at Amazon

Best International Mystery & Crime

The Hangman's Daughter: [Kindle in Motion] (A Hangman's Daughter Tale Book 1)
Germany, 1660: When a dying boy is pulled from the river with a mark crudely tattooed on his shoulder, hangman Jakob Kuisl is called upon to investigate whether witchcraft is at. play in his small Bavarian town. Amazon Exclusive: A Q&A with Author Oliver Pötzsch Question: What initially inspired you to write this story? But I also look up to many authors of the fantasy genre such as Tolkien, Terry Pratchett, and the almost forgotten Fritz Leiber. In his life he built an enormous archive of information about my ancestors and the hangman profession, and I have been allowed free use of this resource. Also, during my career as a journalist I made several radio programs on this topic, talking to herb women and guardians of cultural heritage and searching in many archives of Bavarian cities for my ancestors. Oliver Pötzsch: After the thriller about Ludwig II, I am writing the fourth novel in the Hangman series. "A brilliantly-researched and exciting story of a formative era of history when witches were hunted and the inquisitors had little belief in their methods beyond their effect in pacifying superstitious townspeople . Pötzsch, actually descended from a line of hangmen, delivers a fantastically fast-paced read, rife with details on the social and power structures in the town as well as dichotomy between university medicine and the traditional remedies, which are skillfully communicated through character interactions, particularly that of Magdalena and Simon. The shocking motivations from unlikely players provide for a twist that will leave readers admiring this complex tale from a talented new voice."
Reviews
"I liked the start of this story, the basic idea of the tale, a hangman searching for the truth. The title of this story suggests this daughter has a major role, but quite frankly she doesn't. In fact, the hangman's daughter is such a minor character, she could be removed completely from the story and the novel would be virtually the same. She has a scene towards the end of the book where she's captured as a hostage, but it's so forced and unnecessary, it's more like a "women in refrigerators" moment. In the meantime, if you're a minor character living in this historical world, it seems like your only purpose is to be to chased, tortured, threatened with rape, or face being burnt alive as a witch. Yes, the hangman's daughter manages to escape, but the scene adds nothing to the novel. The second woman, the hangman's daughter, captured and threatened, was an unnecessary cliché. Instead of tying up loose ends, there's more drama, then everything is miraculously solved behind the scenes. The female characters could be replaced with potted plants, so I can't see myself recommending it to any of the women in my life."
"The writing is quite well done...I feel like I'm in a movie and I can see this becoming, possibly, a mini-series on a venue like FreeForm."
"I happened upon Oliver Potzsch's The Hangman's Daughter one day when I opened up my Kindle to find Amazon pushing it on the splash screen. Hoping for something closer to Iain Pear's Stones Fall, but with fresh memories of Orhan Pamuk's abominable My Name is Red, I waded once again into a historical mystery. The start was promising, but The Hangman's Daughter soon became bogged down by very bad writing and a poor, improbable plot. The banter is thick with that kind of cheesy bravado one finds in badly dubbed martial arts movies of the 70's. For example, we learn that the body of a highwayman has been prominently left hanging on the gallows tree to serve as an example for those passing by on their way to Schongau. In the very next paragraph the author tells us that a band of criminals has chosen the area around the gallows tree as a hideout because no one ever ventures there. Most are superstitious knuckle draggers who see the devil behind every tree and want to burn as a witch any woman who exhibits suspicious behavior, like laughing. I wondered, as the hangman laid back in the grass for the umpteenth time to smoke his pipe and grin at the great unwashed going about their business in complete ignorance, how the hell it took this legend in his own mind more than 400 pages to catch the perps. Although I obviously can't say for sure, my feeling is that back in that day, anyone open-minded enough to swim against the tide of backwardness of those times did so, out of necessity, with a bit of caution and humility."
"The author does a fair job of describing what it was like to exist when torture was a natural way of life, although it could be set almost anywhere in Europe. The writing style is clumsy and repetetive, as if the author is trying to fill space or has forgotten he's already said something."
Find Best Price at Amazon

Best Women Sleuths

My Sister's Grave (The Tracy Crosswhite Series Book 1)
Tracy Crosswhite has spent twenty years questioning the facts surrounding her sister Sarah’s disappearance and the murder trial that followed. “Dugoni does a superior job of positioning [the plot elements] for maximum impact, especially in a climactic scene set in an abandoned mine during a blizzard—which is melodramatic but nevertheless effective.” — Publishers Weekly. “ My Sister’s Grave is a chilling portrait shaded in neo-noir, as if someone had taken a knife to a Norman Rockwell painting by casting small town America as the place where bad guys blend into the landscape, establishing Dugoni as a force to be reckoned with outside the courtroom as well as in.” — Providence Journal. Robert Dugoni is the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and #1 Amazon Bestselling Author of the Tracy Crosswhite Series : My Sister's Grave, Her Final Breath (September 2015) and In the Woods (May 2016).
Reviews
"Also, the author needs to work on names and naming conventions. As I said, I'm not sorry I read the book and would recommend it to someone who was looking for a easy crime read."
"* Superior intelligence or strength (she shoots, she runs, she out wits the killer). * Invokes trust or likability (I would want her as my friend or CSI). The story begins with the discovery of the remains of Tracy’s murdered sister."
"This is the second of Robert Dugoni's book's that I've read from the Tracy Crosswhite series (I read the 3rd book first, don't ask me why!)."
"Told between present day events as well as flashbacks, this story reads exactly like a thriller movie with the courtroom scenes reading like a Law and Order episode. Dugoni did not create an overly complicated crime that made it hard to keep track of all the moving parts but he told a compelling story that kept me hooked until the very end."
"The connection between the two sisters is strong and the reader feels the family dynamics throughout the book."
"I have already purchased the second book and can't wait to read what Tracy Crosswhite's newest adventures are."
Find Best Price at Amazon

Best British Detectives

Glass Houses: A Novel (Chief Inspector Gamache Novel)
“Penny’s absorbing, intricately plotted 13th Gamache novel proves she only gets better at pursuing dark truths with compassion and grace.” — PEOPLE “Louise Penny wrote the book on escapist mysteries.” — The New York Times Book Review “You won't want Louise Penny's latest to end….Any plot summary of Penny’s novels inevitably falls short of conveying the dark magic of this series.... ‘Glass Houses,’ along with many of the other Gamache books, is so compelling that, for the space of reading it, you may well feel that much of what’s going on in the world outside the novel is ‘just noise.’” —Maureen Corrigan, The Washington Post When a mysterious figure appears in Three Pines one cold November day, Armand Gamache and the rest of the villagers are at first curious. In Glass Houses , her latest utterly gripping book , number-one New York Times bestselling author Louise Penny shatters the conventions of the crime novel to explore what Gandhi called the court of conscience. - AudioFile Editor's Pick "In his third narration of Louise Penny's popular Three Pines series, Robert Bathurst emphasizes the humanity and compassion of Chief Superintendent Armand Gamache . AudioFile , Earphones Award Winner "The audio book is splendidly read by Robert Bathurst." "Robert Bathurst puts his own indelible stamp on Chief Inspector Armand Gamache in Louise Penny's twelfth Three Pines puzzle. LOUISE PENNY is the #1 New York Times and Globe and Mail bestselling author of the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache novels ( Still Life, A Fatal Grace, and The Cruelest Month ).
Reviews
"There’s a lot going on here, with Gamache dealing with the murder and also with his duties as head of the Sûreté du Québec (as readers of the previous novels will remember that the Sûreté had a corruption problem that Gamache exposed.). However, if you haven’t read any Armand Gamache novels, I recommend you start with her first novel - Still Life - to really enjoy the series. I don’t want to say too much as much of the joy of the books in this series is how disparate plot points come together but I found myself frustrated that once again we have the clever Armand Gamache looking like he’s in over his head. I found myself putting the book down - needing a break from reading it. While this is one of those books that I’m glad I read, unlike some of the other books in the series, I don’t see myself reading it again."
"I consider myself fortunate to have read all the Inspector Gamache novels by Louise Penny. In this novel Inspector Gamache has taken over as head of the Surete after rooting out top level corruption. There are rumblings that Gamache hasn't really changed anything as crime is up, the drug trade is rampant and what is to be done? This blends into the second story of the drug trade and Gamache's plan to really put a dent in it, if not stop/slow it down for good."
"More than just a mystery - this is a book that takes you into the characters, challenges your assumptions and leaves you wondering who is as they appear, and who is genuine. I loved this latest in her series - as expected she picked up from recent events in the prior novel and goes to the task of writing a story that is both compelling and puzzling. She surprised me with the defendant on trial, and the ultimate set of villains in this book, while bringing along my favorite characters and developing them further. People with drug abuse, distrust of the police and their competence, the hard working and dedicated law enforcement officers, politicians you don't quite want to trust, and couples living marriage equality."
Find Best Price at Amazon

Best Police Procedurals

Two Kinds of Truth (A Harry Bosch Novel)
A South Florida Sun-Sentinel Best Mystery of 2017. An Amazon Book of the Month Harry Bosch is back as a volunteer working cold cases for the San Fernando Police Department and is called out to a local drug store where a young pharmacist has been murdered. Meanwhile, an old case from Bosch's LAPD days comes back to haunt him when a long-imprisoned killer claims Harry framed him, and seems to have new evidence to prove it. "[Connelly's] immaculate plotting and gift for bringing procedural intricacies to life now seem as strong as ever...he writes the best detective novels around. "Harry Bosch is a one-of-a-kind hero who started out pretty wild when he returned from Vietnam to become a cop, but over the years he's developed into someone you want to ride with. "Connelly's immaculate plotting and gift for bringing procedural intricacies to life now seem as strong as ever...he writes the best detective novels around. "[Two Kinds of Truth] is a reflection of Connelly's talent that after 19 books chronicling Bosch's career, this iteration feels fresh and authentic. "Expertly juggling both plots, Connelly mines the double murder for fascinating and frightening details...Connelly remains atop a heap of contemporary crime writers thanks to his rare ability to combine master plotting and procedural detail with a literary novelist's feel for the inner lives of his or her characters.
Reviews
"Two Kinds of Truth is an outstanding addition to the fabulous Harry Bosch series. This mystery series is one of my very favorites; Connelly has managed to create an authentic, likeable main character in Harry Bosch and has successfully provided him with a career path that lends itself to interesting cases and story lines. In Two Kinds of Truth, Harry starts out revisiting a cold case for the San Fernando Police Department. The other part of Two Kinds of Truth that I loved was the resolution of the cold case Harry was pursuing. And the other, malleable truth of politicians, charlatans, corrupt lawyers, and their clients, bent and molded to serve whatever purpose is at hand.” As the mother of three children, I have had to spend an inordinate amount of time this past year making sure my kids understand how important the truth is and how important it is to refuse to accept those that attempt to corrupt truth."
"Two subplots share our attention in the book: (A) a double murder of a local father-son pharmacist team and (B) an attempt to get a 30-year old death sentence overturned based of alleged malfeasance by then-lead detective Bosch. Connelly crafts an intricate subplot that exposes his familiarity with police and courtroom procedures, and his understanding of the interpersonal relationships shared by investigators who cooperate, or compete, to solve complex crimes."
"I think the suggestion that a lender could impose a right to approve sale in a residential loan, particularly with the purpose of getting the home through foreclosure since the lender had prevented any sale, is pretty silly."
"I could not put it down- in this story some of his past partners show up and I like when his goes back in his history (after 20 Bosch books -plots and characters begin to merge or worse forgotten) Haller (Bosch’s half brother) is in the story and his daughter-the plot is fast paced and the resolution is smart and clever."
Find Best Price at Amazon

Best Amateur Sleuths

The Dead Key
Twenty years before, amid strange staff disappearances and allegations of fraud, panicked investors sold Cleveland’s largest bank in the middle of the night, locking out customers and employees, and thwarting a looming federal investigation. Iris, a young engineer working her first job out of the office, finds herself assigned to map out a floor plan for the bank building which has been empty for two decades. Just as Beatrice did 20 years before her, Iris quickly recognizes that there’s something not quite right at the bank and she soon learns that the building is not as empty as everyone thinks.
Reviews
"The story concept is interesting: an important bank mysteriously closes overnight. When I was about 1/3 into the story it seemed that n.o.t.h.i.n.g. Reading the early reviews, I was sure I was reading a different book. For example, in most instances, we don't read about the secretary's workday, we read about her thinking about her workday or thinking about the personalities of the people she works with, or wondering where her friend is, or wondering about the significance of papers she sees. For example, the engineer meets her boss at the building and explains to him some of the work she has done, but (from the reader perspective) this is merely retelling what the engineer already mused about in the previous pages: she went to the eighth floor, to the room on the left; it was dusty; she made some measurements; she went to the next room; she saw papers on the floor; she wondered why the papers were left behind; she made some measurements; she looked at some of the papers; she wondered what the papers meant; she decided to take some of the papers with her to look at later; she went to the next room; she made some measurements. I second that thought."
"The author thinks that if they have so many "problems" in life that the audience will resonate with at least one of them but a character with problems is only likable if they get over them, makes for a more interesting story and one that you can better connect with emotionally since then it gives you hope. Iris also practically refuses to interact with the story she's been pulled into, the mysteries behind the decaying First Bank of Cleveland which closed one day with no warning (which really did close in 1978 due to defaults, although the real life explanation is different than this fictional one, fewer bodies for one). Beatrice didn't intend to get wrapped up in the mystery as it was coming closer and closer to it's doomed day either but once she starts investigating a only tangentially related thread her caution and determination to see this through to the end make her half of the story by far the more interesting one."
Find Best Price at Amazon