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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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A taste of violence
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson NEON PREY. By John Sandford. Penguin Audio. Red by Richard Ferrone. 11 ½ hours; 9 CDs. $40. Also available in print from G.P. Putnam’s Sons. There’s no mystery why John Sandford’s thrillers routinely make it to the top of the best-seller lists. They are tautly written, with intriguing surprises and […]
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Bosch, times two, with a twist
Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer DARK SACRED NIGHT. By Michael Connelly. Little, Brown. 433 pages. $29. It’s fitting that Rene Ballard and Harry Bosch share a book. She’s the latest Michael Connelly character with one book under her belt, and Bosch has more than two dozen. They’re both cut from the same creative cloth Connelly has been […]
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Driving out the dark spirits
Don’t you just love it when a reviewer introduces you to a promising-sounding series with a lot of books in it? Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer DESOLATION MOUNTAIN. By William Kent Krueger. Atria Books. 320 pages. $26 When the mining company moved out of the Iron Lake area, it left behind a ravaged landscape and […]
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Murders and miracles
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson HOLY GHOST. By John Sandford. Penguin Audio. 10 hours; 8 CDs. Read by Eric Conger. $40. Also available in print from G.P. Putnam’s Sons. Virgil Flowers from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is back in one of his best novels yet. The setting is Wheatfield, Minn., a tiny, middle-of-nowhere […]