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Gifts: Good story and good advice
Philip Kerr, one of Bob Moyer’s favorite authors has died. Bob reviews his newly published book, amid reports that there may be one more yet to appear. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer GREEKS BEARING GIFTS. By Philip Kerr. Putnam. 511 pages. $27. During the course of this venerable series, Philip Kerr has given us a…
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Serving up justice
Water Mosley is another one of Bob Moyer’s favorite authors (I like him a lot, too), and here Bob takes a look at one of Mosley’s interesting and crusading detectives. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer DOWN THE RIVER UNTO THE SEA. By Walter Mosley. Mulholland Books. 322 pages. $27. Walter Mosley writes his best about African-American…
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Not about the bad guys
Bob Moyer is catching up with all the new books he missed while off gallivanting. Here’s the latest, No. 17, in Robert Crais’ long-running and best-selling Elvis Cole and Joe Pike private-eye series. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer THE WANTED. By Robert Crais. Putnam. 322 pages. $28. The dust jacket says it’s an Elvis Cole…
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Lies and other tangled webs
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson THE PUNISHMENT SHE DESERVES. By Elizabeth George. Penguin Audio. 23 hours; 18 CDs. Read by Simon Vance. $55. Also available in print from Viking. It’s been 30 years since Elizabeth George’s first introduced us to Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley, in A Great Deliverance, her widely praised debut novel. It’s been…
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No. 20: Inspector Rutledge, at his best
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson THE GATE KEEPER. By Charles Todd. William Morrow. 306 pages. $26.99. It’s hard to believe that The Gate Keeper is the 20th entry in Charles Todd’s mystery series starring Inspector Ian Rutledge, a British World War I veteran who’s now a Scotland Yard detective. But A Test of Wills, the debut novel,…
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Murder, sex and Barbie dolls
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson DEEP FREEZE. By John Sandford. Penguin Audio. Read by Eric Conger. 10 hours; 8 CDs. $40. If you don’t think murder and assorted lesser crimes can be funny, you haven’t read any of John Sandford’s Virgil Flowers detective novels. A detective with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, Virgil gets…
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Something’s rotten in Denmark…
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson THE SCARRED WOMAN. By Jussi Adler-Olsen. Penguin Audio. Read by Graeme Malcolm. 12 CDs; 14 ½ hours. $45. Only recently have I become aware of some of the fine mystery/detective fiction coming out of Scandinavia. Bob Moyer introduced me to the fiction of Norway’s Jo Nesbo, and that rewarding experience…
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Same place, new face
Bob Moyer takes time out from his traveling, petanquing, haikuing, swing dancing and other passions to get caught up on a book review. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer THE LATE SHOW. By Michael Connelly. Little, Brown. 405 pages. $28. Michael Connelly has been granted the mantle of successor to Raymond Chandler, and he has worn it…
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Beware the beasts
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson DEADFALL. By Linda Fairstein. Penguin Audio. Read by Barbara Rosenblat. 11 ½ hours; 10 CDs. $40. Alex Cooper is back – sort of – after her kidnapping ordeal, but she’s supposed to be on leave from work, and she’s struggling emotionally. A quiet time of healing is not in the…
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The sins of the past…
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson Y IS FOR YESTERDAY. By Sue Grafton. Random House Audio. Read by Judy Kaye. 17 hours; 14 CDs. $45. Also available in print from Putnam. You know how in stadiums after the rows of seats have been through the alphabet, the designation starts over with double letters – AA, BB,…