In The Missing Piece, defense attorney (and former District Attorney) Wes Farrell is feeling burnt out representing people he believes are guilty. Wes’ latest client, Doug Rush, is accused of murdering recently exonerated Paul Riley. Riley served eleven years for raping and murdering Doug’s daughter. The Exoneration Initiative (a thinlyContinue Reading
The Resting Place has tons of atmosphere but little substance. Eleanor spends her life being confused. She cannot recognize faces. One day, she passes someone coming out of her grandmother’s apartment and then finds her grandmother murdered. Knowing she probably saw the murderer but cannot describe them to the policeContinue Reading
Jacob Elliott picked a bad day to begin working as a temporary mailroom clerk at Delphi Enterprises. First, he went to the wrong entrance of the massive campus. After being directed to the correct location, he arrived late. All the permanent employees were leaving to hear the company’s CEO speakContinue Reading
What do you feel like reading? A Los Angeles-set noir? Historical fiction? A murder mystery? An alternate history that feels scarily relevant to today’s world? With Beat the Devils, you can get all of this and more in one book. Mo Baker is a holocaust survivor and an LAPD detectiveContinue Reading
Stephanie Plum’s creator comes up with a new free-spirited female character in Gabriella Rose, The Recovery Agent. Gabriella finds lost things as a profession but this time it’s personal. Gabriella’s grandmother has a kooky idea to save their small Southern fishing town from developers. So, Gabriella is soon searching forContinue Reading
Secret rooms, a dead body hidden behind wall, a family curse, and magicians? All this and more are included within Under Lock & Skeleton Key. Tempest is from a family of magicians. She had a successful act in Las Vegas until she is betrayed by her jealous assistant. Tempest hasContinue Reading
Secret Identity is an exposé of comic publishing in the 1970s by someone that was there. But it also is a feminist statement and a full-blown female noir. I can’t imagine a better book for my tastes. It’s 1975. New York City is at its grimy and murderous best. CarmenContinue Reading
My Review Cozy mysteries have a familiar structure. A woman runs her own business with support of her family and friends. She has a habit of finding dead bodies early in the plot and then feeling compelled to find the murderer herself. Casino Queen has few of those elements. Instead,Continue Reading
Thirty-four relatives of employees at a Nevada state prison are traveling by bus to the prison’s annual inmate vs. guard baseball game. The bus driver is shot and the bus veers off the road before coming to a stop. A man calls the prison’s warden. He wants all the prisonersContinue Reading
My Review Koby and Keaton are male/female twins who were put into foster care at age two. Keaton was soon adopted. But Koby spent the rest of his childhood in foster care. His best friend and foster brother is Reef. Now grown up and reunited, Koby, a chef, and Keaton,Continue Reading
“Quantum Girl Theory: Once she is gone, a missing girl becomes everything that everyone thinks she might be; our theories create her fate.” Mary is a psychic in 1961. She is trying to help find a missing girl in North Carolina even though she is eyed with suspicion by theContinue Reading
From the outside, Matthew and Marissa appear to be The Golden Couple. They make a fateful decision to do couples therapy with Avery. Avery has lost her therapist license for her unusual therapeutic techniques. In just ten sessions, she can send your marital partnership in a new direction. But itContinue Reading
Ellen blames Kieran for her son’s death. So, she kills him. Imagine her surprise when she sees him two years later standing on a nearby building. Surprise soon turns to murderous rage as Ellen decides to kill Kieran again in The Heights. I usually love this author’s books. However, TheContinue Reading
Chilling! Thrilling! Sundial is a genuinely frightening tale of a family gone horribly wrong. If everyone around you is mad, is the best response to go mad yourself? Rob is worried. Her daughter, Callie, is acting strangely. Her husband, Irving, is cheating on her…again. Unfortunately, Rob can’t divorce Irving becauseContinue Reading
Jill is the owner of Coffee, Books, and More in the small coastal California tourist town, South Cove. She is the new fiancée of the town’s police chief, Greg. Jill also has a habit of finding dead bodies. In Wedding Bell Blues, Jill finds the new owner of Exquisite GownsContinue Reading
It’s New Year’s Eve 1999. Ella is in the bathroom after working The Night Shift at a New Jersey Blockbuster Video store. When she comes out, the rest of the staff is dead. She is left for dead but recovers. Fifteen years later, a similar event occurs as an iceContinue Reading