Category: Police procedural

  • Mystery and suspense, with a bow and a cup of tea

    Bob Moyer reviews something that is new to me: I’ve never read a Japanese police procedural. It sounds as though it’s worth a try. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer THE FINAL CURTAIN: A Mystery (The Kyoichiro Kaga Series, Book 4). By Keigo Higashino. Minotaur. 400 pages. $29. Don’t worry. It will all become clear. The reader…

  • Past and present collide in Bruno’s Perigord

    Bob Moyer and I share a love for Martin Walker’s Bruno novels. Once again, he got hold of the new one before I did. I must catch up. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer. A CHATEAU UNDER SIEGE: A Bruno, Chief of Police Novel. By Martin Walker. Knopf.  308 pages.  $28. Every Bruno, Chief of Police…

  • Hell on Earth

    Bob Moyer takes a look at the latest book by an award-winning and best-selling crime novelist from southeastern Virginia, and likes what he reads. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer ALL THE SINNERS BLEED. By S.A. Cosby. Flatiron Books (Macmillan).  352 pages. $27.99 Charon County, the fictional Virginia setting of this novel, seems a typical Southern…

  • Good guys few and far between

    Bob Moyer takes a look at a novel with Reed Parrel Coleman’s latest hero – or is it antihero? Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer SLEEPLESS CITY. By Reed Farrel Coleman. Blackstone Publishing. 321 pages. $26.99. No one wears a white hat in the Sleepless City known as New York. Not even Nick Ryan, the latest…

  • Soldiers, assassins, music and food – Bruno is on the case again

    What can persuade Bob Moyer to take time out from his busy schedule to read a book and write a review? The answer is simple: a new Bruno, Chief of Police novel by Martin Walker. The Bruno novels are always a delicious treat, and it sounds as though this one keeps the tradition alive. Reviewed…

  • Honoring the traditions

    Bob Moyer reviews the latest in a venerable series that’s long been one of my favorites. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer STARGAZER. By Anne Hillerman. Harper. 312 pages. $27.99 Any writer tackling the takeover of a series started by another writer usually has two challenges—keep the qualities that made it popular, and keep the series…

  • It’s about the procedure

    Is the seasonal stress starting to get to you? Find a cozy warm spot and get caught up in a good novel about something entirely different. Bob Moyer has a suggestion for you.  Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer THE NIGHT FIRE. By Michael Connelly. Little, Brown. 405 pages. $29.  … down these mean streets a man must go…

  • Gamache amid the storms

    Gamache amid the storms

    Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson A BETTER MAN. By Louise Penny. Minotaur Books. 437 pages. $28.99. Some critics are calling this, the 15th in Louise Penny’s Inspector Gamache series, one of her best. Others are pointing out what they consider minor weaknesses and saying maybe A Better Man isn’t quite up to Penny’s highest standards. My take? There…

  • The legacy continues

    I could be angry. I loved Tony Hillerman’s mysteries, reviewed many of them for newspapers, and even had the pleasure of meeting and interviewing Hillerman once. When his daughter, Anne, took up the torch and tried continuing her late fathers series, I reviewed her first couple of efforts on this blog. So how did Bob…

  • The food! The romance! The murder….

    Hungry for good books? How about good food? This review should have you drooling. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer THE BODY IN THE CASTLE WELL:  A Bruno, Chief of Police Novel. By Martin Walker. Knopf. 337 pages. $25.95. Did you know Josephine Baker owned a house in the Perigord? The expatriate American chanteuse’s home is now…