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Tough times in the Big Easy
Bob Moyer reviews a thought-provoking, haunting novel about justice – and lack of it – in New Orleans. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer SERAPHIM. By Joshua Perry. Melville Press. 272 pages. $18.99 In post-Katrina New Orleans, a woman, a local legend, is shot and killed on the street. Sixteen-year-old Robert is arrested and confesses. Except…
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A look through different eyes
Every now and then, my husband, Lloyd, reads a book that impresses him so much that he volunteers to write a review for my blog. This is one of those rare finds. Reviewed by Lloyd Brinson JAMES: A Novel. By Percival Everett. Doubleday. 303 pages. $28, Often, after reading a really good book – fiction…
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Behind the glitter…
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson THE QUEEN CITY DETECTIVE AGENCY. By Snowden Wright. William Morrow. 260 pages. It’s 1985 in Meridian, Mississippi. It’s the Ronald Reagan era, morning in America, so they say. But in Meridian, once known as the Queen City but now more of a dump, there’s often more darkness than dawn, especially…
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Surprise! Be prepared…
Bob Moyer has found a new mystery/ thriller writer, and he likes her literary debut. It probably helps that the setting is Louisiana, one of Bob’s favorites. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer BROKEN BAYOU. By Jennifer Moorhead. Thomas & Mercer. 265 pages. $16.99. Very few writers can make a reader both gasp and wince. Jennifer…
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No rest for Sister Holiday
Bob Moyer loves to visit New Orleans, whether in person or through the novels he reads. Here he takes a look at the second in a quirky new New Orleans-set mystery series by Margot Douaihy. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer BLESSED WATER. By Margot Douaihy. Zando. 288 pages. $27.95 Fire first, then water. In her…
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In the eye of the beholder
One of Bob Moyer’s favorite detective series has a notable change in offering No 24, and Bob approaches the new twist with an 0pen — maybe even eager — mind. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer CLETE. A Dave Robicheaux Novel. By James Lee Burke. Atlantic Monthly Press. 336 pages. $28. He’s a mess, but he’s…
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From chaos, violence comes a brilliant novel
Bob Moyer reviews the latest novel by one of his favorite authors. One note: Despite what Bob writes, not all Southerners called the conflict of the 1860s the War Between the States. Some – I think particularly of an elderly woman who owned a historic house in downtown Charleston that a group of graduate students…
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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…