Category: Mysteries

  • No. 2 in the spotlight

    Bob Moyer is prowling the mean streets again. By Robert Moyer THE SENTRY. By Robert Crais. Putnam. 320 pages. $26.95. For most of his life between the pages, Robert Crais’ Joe Pike has played a terse Tonto to Elvis Coles’ loose-lipped Lone Ranger.  Joe has a symbiotic albeit secondary relationship — Elvis detects, Joe protects.…

  • Victorian England as you’ve never seen it

    If you’re looking for a fictional change of pace, and want a heroine who’s definitely not like the girl next door, Carol K. Carr’s debut novel may be just your cup of tea – or perhaps, more aptly, your glass of whiskey. By Linda C. Brinson INDIA BLACK: A Novel of Espionage Mystery. By Carol…

  • A breakout book?

    Anne Barnhill, who spends much of her literary time these days in 16th-century England, steps into a different world to review a book by a fellow North Carolina writer. By Anne Barnhill THE BANKER’S GREED. By p.m. terrell and T. Randy Stevens. Drake Valley Press, Palari Publishing. 441 pages. $16.95, paperback. p.m. terrell is a…

  • Charles Todd – Two authors, two series

    Charles Todd – Two authors, two series

    Those who have access to the Greensboro News & Record can find my review of Charles Todd’s latest Inspector Rutledge mystery, A Lonely Death there today. And they also can read my interview with Charles Todd. Fans of Charles Todd will know that Charles Todd is the pen name for two people, a mother and…

  • Flavia de Luce rides (her bicycle Gladys) again!

    A new entry in one of my all-time favorite mystery series. An added bonus: The author was 70 when the first in the series was published. There’s hope for aging journalists who always wanted to write a novel but were too “busy.” By Linda C. Brinson A RED HERRING WITHOUT MUSTARD. By Alan Bradley. Delacorte…

  • Who did whatever it was?

    Paul O’Connor’s latest reading venture involved an actual book rather than the screen of his iPhone, and he moved from 19th century fiction to a real-life 20th century mystery. By Paul T. O’Connor DEATH OF A PINEHURST PRINCESS: The 1935 Elva Statler Davidson Mystery.  By Steve Bouser. The History Press. 206 pages. $19.99, trade paperback.…

  • The plain truth: A great new series

    Look in any bookstore or airport newsstand, or on the shelves of many variety, grocery and drugstores for that matter, and you will see that mystery series are flourishing.  Some are the more hard-boiled detective types; some are heavy on violence. There are also plenty of series for those of us who prefer the cozier…

  • Off to France

    Knowing Bob Moyer and how much he travels, I have a prediction: If Martin Walker’s mystery series has made Bob want to visit the Perigord region of France, Bob will be visiting the Perigord region of France. One day, I’ll be hard at work in Stokes County, N.C., and my phone will ring. When I…

  • Moonlight Mile

    World traveler Bob Moyer sometimes finds it hard to stay home long enough to write a review, but recently he touched down in Winston-Salem long enough to dish this one out. By Robert Moyer MOONLIGHT MILE. By Dennis Lehane. William Morrow. 324 pages. $26.99. It’s been 12 years since Patrick and Angie found the baby…

  • A Christmas Odyssey

    Anne Perry’s Christmas novels have become as much a part of the holiday tradition for me as cutting down and decorating the tree or hanging the stockings by the wood stove. Here’s a look at this year’s. By Linda Brinson A CHRISTMAS ODYSSEY. By Anne Perry. Ballantine Books. 193 pages. $18.  In Victorian England, it…