Reviews from VERNA SUIT
JANUARY - FEBRUARY REVIEWS
BILL CRIDER
OF
ALL SAD WORDS
BILL CRIDER
St. Martin
’s Minotaur February, 2008
Sheriff
Dan Rhodes is back in his 15th outing, telling about the latest
ripples that disturb the little pond that is
Blacklin County,
Texas. This time his recently created Citizen Sheriff’s Academy that “seemed like
a good idea at the time” has come back to bite him. One or two of the
Academy’s graduates have now come to think of themselves as law enforcement
professionals. When a mobile home that some suspected of being a meth lab
explodes, these overenthusiastic Academy grads are suspected of dispensing
vigilante justice. Things get more serious when one of the mobile home’s
owners is found dead.
Another murder, a deadly rogue truck, a whiskey still, possums in an attic and
flying saucers become all in a day’s work for Sheriff Rhodes. Familiar
characters from earlier books show their faces again, along with untested new
residents and some old enemies. Among the returning characters are fledgling
mystery authors Jan and Claudia, who are thrilled to see publication of their
first book. They have invited the Sheriff to be guest of honor at their first
signing, to be held at the local Wal-Mart.
OF ALL SAD WORDS is a laid-back,
enjoyable visit to rural East Texas, where life moves at a slower pace. The
story moseys along with time for the Sheriff to discuss the merits of Dr.
Pepper, do some match-making, and play with his two loyal dogs. It’s a welcome
weekend getaway when the world is too much with you.
- Verna Suit
WILD
INFERNO
SANDI AULT
Berkley
Prime Crime February, 2008
Jamaica
Wild, a resource protection agent for the Bureau of Land Management, is
currently helping fight a forest fire raging through the Ute Reservation in
southern
Colorado. Her duties mainly involve acting as liaison with a group of Indians who are
participating in the Lunar Standstill ceremonies on Chimney Rock, and who may
refuse to leave even in the face of fire.
Jamaica
is especially concerned because the group includes her pet wolf Mountain and
her beloved
Pueblo
mentor, Momma Anna.
Jamaica
is also trying to solve the mystery of an old Indian called Grampa Ned, who
inexplicably rushed into the fire zone and got burnt up. Someone killed him
before the fire got to him, however, and now someone is apparently trying to
kill Jamaica. Ned had many enemies who might have wanted to kill him, but
Jamaica
has no idea who would be targeting her, or why.
WILD INFERNO, like Ault’s earlier WILD
INDIGO, is packed with Native American stories and lore. The reader also
learns lots about the operation of a fire camp and fire-fighting strategy. The
unpredictable wildfire with its demonic power provides all the danger and
urgency that an outdoor action thriller could want, as well as a truly exciting
climax.
- Verna Suit
DEATH
WAS THE OTHER WOMAN
LINDA L. RICHARDS
St.
Martin’s Minotaur
January, 2008
Katherine
Pangborn was comfortably set in 1929, winding up her studies at Mrs.
Beeson’s Finishing School for Young Ladies and planning to go east to college,
when the stock market crashed and her life changed. Her father responded to the
crisis by jumping out a window and leaving Katherine a penniless orphan.
Fortunately, a sharp-eyed “fixer” spots Katherine’s potential and recruits
her to work as secretary to his old army pal Dex Theroux, who’s now a PI in
Los Angeles
. Dex is also a lush and is haunted by tragic memories. He needs someone to keep
him and his office organized and Katherine is more than equal to the job.
When
a woman of dubious character hires Dex to follow her married boyfriend, a rich
businessman named Harrison Dempsey, Katherine goes along on the job because Dex
is too drunk to drive. They find Dempsey murdered. Soon after, Dempsey’s wife
hires Dex to find her husband, who apparently went missing before he went dead.
Meanwhile the body has disappeared. Katherine and Dex go on the trail of the
missing dead man, which involves a trip up to
San Francisco
that gives Katherine a chance to party with her old school pals.
DEATH WAS THE OTHER
WOMAN
brings to life the LA and
San Francisco
of the 1930s. Highpoints are Katherine’s adventurous forays into
prohibition-era nightclubs, her daily commute on the unique Angels Flight
tramway, and accounts of day-to-day life during the Depression. Dialog is
peppered with the language of the times, marred slightly by a few phrases that
sound anachronistically modern. Despite some initial geographic confusion and a
complicated plot that’s still confused at the end, this feminine twist on the
hard-boiled PI novel gives a stylish glimpse into an intriguing time.
- Verna Suit
THE
CHAMELEON’S SHADOW
MINETTE WALTERS
Alfred A. Knopf January, 2008
Lt.
Charles Acland remembers nothing of the roadside bomb in
Iraq
that left half his face hideously disfigured and took an eye. But the ordeal
changed him more than physically. Where he used to be popular and
outgoing, now he is an angry, introspective rebel who resents women and hates to
be touched. Charles resists treatment by the hospital psychiatrist, but after
release allows himself to come under the protection of a no-nonsense lesbian
weight-lifting doctor called
Jackson
.
Meanwhile, London
police investigate a series of murders of gay men. Charles repeatedly comes
under suspicion because he was either in the area or had some connection to the
victims, yet he always seems to have an alibi. The police do have other
suspects, mostly people Charles has encountered among
London’s homeless population. Perhaps the murderer is the grizzled Corporal Chalkey,
or the rude teenage runaway Ben. But perhaps Charles is somehow actually
responsible for the deaths and Dr. Jackson is putting herself in grave danger
through their close relationship. To add to the uncertainty, several bags of
objects pertinent to the case are moved around like a shell game. And Charles’
ex-fiancée Jen calls him a chameleon who projects different images of himself
to different people.
THE CHAMELEON’S SHADOW is
constructed in typical Walters style, with much information presented through a
patchwork of police reports, psychological evaluations, and other official
records. This evidence of cooperation among medical and other government
personnel does show the possibilities of an inclusive National Health Care
system, but the documentary presentation of the story gives the novel the
clinical feel of conversations among psychiatric professionals. Some readers may
find this tiresome. But loyal Minette Walters fans who groove on just this kind
of psychological study will no doubt be thrilled with her latest offering.
- Verna Suit
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NOVEMBER - DECEMBER REVIEWS
BROKEN
HEARTLAND
J. M. HAYES
Poisoned Pen Press November, 2007
ISBN:
978-1-59058-452-1
It’s
Election Day in the town of
Buffalo
Springs, located in
Benteen County,
Kansas.
Benteen
County
has always been conservative, but lately it’s been besieged by intolerance
and nasty politics. Sheriff English doubts he’ll hold onto his office because
his opponent is a local war hero who’s backed by the radical religious right,
and together they’re spreading malicious rumors about the sheriff and his
family. But the election is the last thing on his mind today because strange
things are happening: A school bus inexplicably full of kids at 3 in the morning
is broad-sided by a police car, the music teacher and chorus are AWOL, there’s
a shooter loose in the high school, etc. And the day has just gotten started.
Fortunately for the sheriff, powerful reinforcements are on the way. His two
daughters, both named Heather, and his half-brother Mad Dog all sense that the
sheriff needs help, so they drop what they’re doing to come home to Buffalo
Springs to be by his side. Heather One and Heather Two prove quick-witted and
heroic in the face of danger. Mad Dog has his own secret weapon: Hailey the
Wonder Wolf, his trusty wolf-dog hybrid who has ESP and who knows what other
special powers.
BROKEN HEARTLAND grabs the reader on
page one and becomes impossible to put down. Its rollicking, non-stop
excitement, with crisis after crisis, make it one of the most original and
funniest books I’ve read in a long time. Amid the mayhem are truly hilarious
scenes and deftly drawn quirky characters. Not the least of these is Mad Dog,
who is getting in touch with his part-Cheyenne heritage and definitely marches
to his own drum. His car has a bumper sticker that reads, “Jesus would use his
turn signals.”
At the same time, author J. M. Hayes addresses serious issues, including the
dangers of religious fanaticism, the ethics of medical transplants, and the
difficulty of being different in a small town in the heartland. In a welcome
afterword, he discusses several incidents in the story and his intentions in
writing the book. BROKEN HEARTLAND is
the fourth in Hayes’ Mad Dog and Englishman series. I can’t wait to read the
earlier three. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
- Verna Suit
MAUSOLEUM
JUSTIN
SCOTT
Poisoned Pen Press November, 2007
ISBN: 978-1-59058-468-2
Long-time
residents of quaint old
Newbury,
Connecticut, find themselves increasingly annoyed by newly rich arrivistes who tear down
salt boxes and replace them with McMansions. The final straw comes when a
certain new resident buys a cemetery plot and installs an imposing McTomb. It is
only fitting when said resident is found occupying his mausoleum prematurely,
shot to death.
Ben Abbott is a part-time realtor and part-time PI, descended from one of
Newbury’s founding families. Members of the Cemetery Association, therefore,
hire him, as one of their own, to investigate the crime and protect the
association’s good name. As Ben looks into the murder, he makes use of his
broad network of contacts that embraces both the highest and lowest society.
Justin Scott likes to get the murder out of the way on the first page. Then he
is free to devote his time to creating idiosyncratic characters and having them
interact with each other, which he does exceedingly well. Readers will enjoy
visiting again with Ben’s nonagenarian Aunt Connie, venturing among Ben’s
roughneck Chevalley relatives, and making the acquaintance of the esteemed
Cemetery Association. Ben’s
network of contacts also includes the Latino community, who are mostly invisible
to the rest of the town because of their menial jobs and limited English. A
minor theme of the book is the harassment and abuse of hardworking immigrants in
the name of ‘homeland security.’
The story has lots of treats and surprises as it meanders along its way. A
cooperative cooking session is as sensual and seductive as any sex scene and
will have you planning Moroccan Chicken for dinner. Justice is served at the
conclusion of the book, but in an unexpected way. Except for the off-putting
title, MAUSOLEUM is a thorough
delight – well written, cleverly crafted, and with a satisfying ending. HIGHLY
RECOMMENDED.
-
Verna Suit
WEB
OF EVIL
J. A. JANCE
Pocket Star pb 11/07
Former
TV anchorwoman Alison Reynolds returns to LA from her hometown of Sedona,
Arizona, for the court hearing that will finalize her divorce. She’s annoyed when
Paul, her soon-to-be ex, doesn’t show. Also annoyed is Paul’s very pregnant
fiancée April, who was to marry him the next day. It turns out Paul died the
day before in a dramatically staged murder, convenient to Ali’s driving route
from Sedona and occurring when she was on the road. That coincidence, plus the
fact that Ali and Paul were still legally married at the time of his death and
therefore she inherits his considerable estate, makes Ali the prime suspect in
his murder.
Ali turns to the web for support. When her cheating husband suddenly left her
and the TV station where she worked – and where Paul was an executive –
dumped her, she became a blogger and started cutlooseblog. Ali uses this new
media platform to vent her frustrations and has developed a loyal following that
offers sympathy and advice. However, baring her life on the internet for all to
examine creates new vulnerabilities. Ali gets other support from Dave Holman, a
family friend who’s a homicide detective back in Sedona and comes to LA to
help her out. He’s followed soon after by Ali’s mother and then her son.
WEB OF EVIL has lots of excitement
that keeps Ali and her posse on the move: another murder, a kidnapping or two, a
police raid, a spectacular explosion, etc. But often suspense on the page
doesn’t translate to emotional involvement of the reader. Partly this is the
fault of interspersed news and blog entries that slow down the pace and tell
rather than show events. Partly it’s generalizations like “sky high hourly rates” and “very generous” tips in place of concrete dollar
amounts that help keep the reader at arm’s length. But what WEB
OF EVIL does effectively is contrast the lives of the southern
California
rich and shallow with the close, supportive relationship Ali has with her
family and friends back in Sedona.
WEB OF EVIL is the second installment
in the Ali Reynolds series after EDGE OF EVIL.
-
Verna Suit
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