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Sailing toward death, in fine style
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson DEATH ON THE LUSITANIA. By R.L. Graham. Macmillan. 381 pages. $18.99. On May 1, 1915, the RMS Lusitania, one of the most luxurious ocean liners then sailing the seas, left New York City, bound for Liverpool, England. Six days later, on the afternoon of May 7, as the Lusitania was…
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A gift for mystery lovers: Hercule Poirot, on the case
HERCULE POIROT’S SILENT NIGHT. By Sophie Hannah. William Morrow. 362 pages. $30. Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson Yes, that’s right. Just in time for Christmas, there’s a new mystery out starring Agatha Christie’s inimitable Hercule Poirot, the eccentric, dandified little Belgian detective with the egg-shaped head, turned-up moustache and busy “little grey cells” that solve…
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Flag waving, patriotism and spies
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson THE HOLLYWOOD SPY: A Maggie Hope Mystery. By Susan Elia MacNeal. Bantam. 352 pages. $27. If you believe the inspiring old stories about how patriotism united America during World War II, Susan Elia MacNeal’s latest Maggie Hope suspense novel will be an eye-opener. When we last spent time with Maggie,…
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The ticking bombs…
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson THE KING’S JUSTICE. By Susan Elia MacNeal. Bantam Books. $17, paperback. Over the course of eight previous novels, Maggie Hope has been an assistant to Prime Minister Winston Churchill, a code breaker, a spy, a prisoner…. She’s come way too close for comfort to a serial killer trying to emulate…
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Business as usual – or is it?
Thanks to Bob Moyer, here’s another British detective novel series I’ll have to try. Hmm, I see it’s been a TV series too. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer MANY RIVERS TO CROSS: A DCI Banks Novel. By Peter Robinson. William Morrow. 336 pages. $28.99. In the beginning, a young Syrian boy is found stuffed in a garbage bin. In the end —…
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Flavia on the case(s)
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson THE GOLDEN TRESSES OF THE DEAD. By Alan Bradley. Random House Audio. Read by Jayne Entwistle. 9 hours; 7 CDs. $35. Also available in print from Delacorte Press, 323 pages. $26. A new novel starring Flavia de Luce, the precocious young English girl who uses her extensive knowledge of chemistry…
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There’s nothing like a murder to make life worth living
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson THE GRAVE’S A FINE AND PRIVATE PLACE. By Alan Bradley. Random House Audio. Read by Jayne Entwistle. 10 hours; 8 CDs. $35. Also available in print from Delacorte Press. 363 pages. $26. Things are grim in Flavia de Luce’s world. A few months earlier, her father died unexpectedly, leaving Flavia…
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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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What the tide brings
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson BRYANT & MAY: STRANGE TIDE. By Christopher Fowler. Bantam. 436 pages. $27 Confession: I was so despondent upon finishing Christopher Fowler’s Bryant & May and the Burning Man last year that I never wrote the review. Something terrible had happened to Arthur Bryant,…
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“Jack is back,” and fortunately, so is Maggie Hope
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson THE QUEEN’S ACCOMPLICE. By Susan Elia MacNeal. Read by Susan Duerden. Books on Tape. 10 ½ hours; 9 CDs. Also available in paperback from Bantam Books, $16. Maggie Hope, intrepid spy, code-breaker and all-around spunky young woman, is at it again, in the thick of World War II action and…