REVIEWS FROM VERNA SUIT
LASSITER
PAUL LEVINE
Bantam Books September, 2011
Eighteen years ago, when Jake Lassiter was a linebacker for the Miami Dolphins and a wild party-er, he connected one night with beautiful, underage Krista Larkin. To his regret, he didn't take her seriously when she begged him not to take her home to her apartment the next morning. She was never seen again. Now he's a defense lawyer. When Krista's sister Amy is arrested for killing the man who may have killed Krista, Jake atones for his past lapse by helping her find out what really happened to Krista and defending Amy in court.
Everyone involved in Krista's disappearance is reformed now and leading a new life.
Charlie Ziegler, who got Krista into porn and prostitution, made a fortune in cable and gives millions to charity. Lassiter himself long ago gave up his wild ways. So did his old buddy Alex Castiel, who is now the State Attorney and whom Lassiter is counting on to help him dig into the past. But Alex rebuffs Jake's requests, making him wonder if payola has tainted his friend as it has so many other public figures.
Lassiter is a likeable, offbeat character who makes no bones about who he is: born a Florida cracker and now a shyster. But he does right by his clients who, admittedly, are more likely to be fighting DUIs than insider trading accusations. Amy is less sympathetic, flying off the handle one minute and almost a sphinx the next. She becomes a total enigma when she refuses to offer an alibi or participate in her defense.
LASSITER probably has a male target audience in mind, with a story heavy on guy scenes and lots of talk about sports, cars, fighting, betting and, of course, sex. But anyone who enjoys Lee Child's Reacher series will probably enjoy reading about Lassiter. There are nice family scenes involving Jake's granny and nephew, with whom he lives, and a significant amount of humor. The main mystery is what really happened to Krista Larkin all those years ago and the answer holds many surprises.
LASSITER is 7th in the Jake Lassiter series, which won the John D. MacDonald Award, and the first Lassiter book since 1997. RECOMMENDED.
- Verna Suit
Verna's review of
THE GOOSEBERRY FOOL
by James McClure
appears in
CLASSIC CORNER
.
STOLEN HEARTS
JANE TESH
Poisoned Pen Press October, 2011
David Randall's second marriage has just broken up and he's homeless. He's also office-less since he ran his fledgling PI business out of his home. Fortunately, his friend Camden offers him sleeping and work space in his big informal boarding house that already serves as a haven of peace for an odd assortment of strays.
Almost immediately David gets a new client, Melanie Gentry, who is trying to prove that her great-grandmother, Laura Gentry, is the real author of certain folk songs attributed to her lover, John Burrows Ashford. Not long after, two folk music experts are murdered and their libraries rifled. David can't help suspecting that their deaths are somehow related to his client's quest.
The plot of STOLEN HEARTS is complex with lots of back stories and many mysteries. Several mysteries are related to suspicious deaths: the murders of the two music experts, the alleged long ago suicides of Laura Gentry and her lover, and the accidental death of David's daughter Lindsay. Other mysteries involve the authorship of the old songs, what someone is really looking for in old music notebooks, Cam's parentage, and things that mysteriously go missing from the house of another of David's clients.
Camden, besides being a generous friend, is also a psychic. He knows what people are thinking and what is troubling them. He himself is also vulnerable to being taken over by willful spirits. He faces his own crises in the book but manages to help David come to terms with his guilt over his daughter's death, which broke up his first marriage and continues to haunt him.
STOLEN HEARTS has a light tone and a gentle, slow-paced story that matches the small-town North Carolina setting. An underlying theme is the search for peace and finding one's soul mate. In this appealing first book of a new series, David keeps saying his stay at Cam's is temporary. But it feels more and more like home to him, so Cam's boarding house is likely to be a constant in future books. I foresee a rotating cast of residents who have problems, which between Cam's psychic abilities and David's PI skills, will likely find satisfactory resolutions. RECOMMENDED.
THREE STATIONS
MARTIN CRUZ SMITH
Pocket Trade pb 9/11
Fifteen-year-old Maya is on a train headed for Moscow with her 3-month old baby, Katya. Maya falls asleep and Katya disappears. For the rest of the book Maya searches frantically for her baby. She's aided in her search by another 15-year-old, Zhenya, who is a child of the streets and hustles at chess games to get by. Fortunately for Zhenya, he has earlier been taken under the wing of Arkady Renko, Senior Investigator in the prosecutor's office.
Arkady has been suspended from his job but persists in investigating the curious murder of a young woman alleged to be a prostitute but not looking like one. He becomes aware of the search for Maya's lost baby and eventually, against all odds, the two cases intersect, along with several other threads in the story.
Three Stations is the local nickname for Komsomol Square in Moscow, where three railroad lines intersect. It is where Maya first arrives in the city. It is also where the dregs of Moscow life accumulate, making it an apt metaphor for the book. (Those looking for religious significance might want to explore parallels with three stations of the cross, Maya as a modern Madonna figure, etc.)
THREE STATIONS is a bleak book that captures the decay of modern Moscow. It is packed with irony, not the least of which is Arkady's position as an investigator who's given nothing to investigate. At one point Arkady attends a Luxury Fair where the city's nouveau riche spend huge amounts of money on luxury goods, the proceeds of which are to go to Moscow's street children (who figure prominently in the story). In a surprise to no one, the money finds its way into private pockets instead. In a later scene at a race course, the PA system pours recorded sounds of cheering crowds over nearly empty stands.
The poignancy of Maya's search for her lost baby and the parallel journey of the baby herself provide welcome emotional content. The streetwise young chess prodigy Zhenya also proves to be an appealing character. But most of the rest of the book is dark and depressing, with the story becoming rather minimalist and disjointed towards the end. Arkady Renko fans, however, may find this just the way they like it.
- Verna Suit
THREE-DAY TOWN
MARGARET MARON
Grand Central Publishing November, 2011
A year after their wedding, Deborah Knott and Dwight Bryant are finally going on a honeymoon thanks to a family member's offer of a week in her vacant Manhattan apartment. They have one small favor to discharge while there. An elderly friend has asked them to deliver a package containing a small statue. But before they can, the statue disappears from the apartment and is replaced by the dead body of Phil Lundigren, the building's popular superintendent.
The intended recipient of the package is the sender's daughter Anne who, as it happens, is out of town. Anne's daughter Sigrid offers to pick up the package for her mother. That is how clever Margaret Maron arranges to unite the protagonists of her two series in one book. Homicide detective Lt. Sigrid Harald of the NYPD, with an assist from Judge Deborah Knott and Sheriff's Deputy Dwight Bryant, jointly solve the mysteries of Phil's murder and the gift statue's disappearance. The point of view alternates between Deborah and Sigrid, allowing readers who up to now have only known Deborah to get to know Sigrid, too, and to appreciate how different the two characters are.
But the star of the book is neither Sigrid nor Deborah. It is New York City. Detailed descriptions of city sights, getting around town, dining at various cafes and restaurants, the marvels of a local deli, and an actress-neighbor's party bring the city to life. The operation of a New York City co-op apartment building is examined in detail, since it is the murder scene and employees are key figures. The story takes place in January and the night of the murder coincides with a heavy snowfall, adding the special delight of New York City in snow. Reading THREE-DAY TOWN makes one want to start planning a winter visit to the Big Apple. RECOMMENDED.
CHELSEA MANSIONS
BARRY MAITLAND
Minotaur Books November, 2011
American tourist Nancy Haynes has come to London for the Chelsea Flower Show. On her way back to her hotel one day, the seventy-year-old woman is picked up and deliberately thrown in front of a bus. Two days later, Russian oligarch Mikhail Moszynski is stabbed to death as he sits in a garden enjoying his cigar. The only thing linking the two murders is that both victims resided in Chelsea Mansions, Mrs. Haynes as a hotel guest and Moszynski as the owner of seven of the eight buildings. No motive is obvious for Mrs. Haynes' murder, while numerous reasons can be imagined for someone to want the rich Russian dead. DI Kathy Kolla and DCI David Brock of Scotland Yard's Serious Crimes unit think the two crimes are connected but they don't know how.
A lingering question is why Mrs. Haynes insisted on staying at the Chelsea Mansions Hotel, an old place that has seen better days. Also curious is the high degree of interest Canadian tourist John Greenslade shows in the case. After Mrs. Haynes' death he moves into her vacant hotel room and manages to be hired on as a linguistic consultant in the case. The reader wants to warn the detectives to beware of Greenslade because he may have ulterior motives. It turns out he does.
In this 11th Brock and Kolla police procedural, Kathy Kolla takes the lead in the investigation out of necessity when Brock becomes ill. She feels the weight of the responsibility and worries that her performance will fall short. She also must deal with professional jealousies within the Yard and with the ever present media.
The multitude of suspects and possible motives in CHELSEA MANSIONS ensures that the identity of the murderer(s) remains a mystery until nearly the end of the book. An impressive aspect of the police work is the effective use made of London's wide web of electronic surveillance. The final solution to the murders and explanation of why things happened is tangled, bizarre, and a little murky, but getting there, and getting to know Kolla and Brock, is quite enjoyable. RECOMMENDED.