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Bruno, chief of police, is at it again
Bob Moyer reviews the latest in a much loved series rich in with French history, culture, food and, oh yes, crime. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer. A GRAVE IN THE WOODS. By Martin Walker. Knopf. 283 page. $29. The past is never past; it is always present. In this charming, slightly addictive (to some) series,…
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Classic hard-boiled detective – deftly updated
Like a fast-paced, atmospheric, well written detective story? Bob Moyer has found a series that’s all that while adapted to our modern age. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer BLIND TO MIDNIGHT. By Reed Farrell Coleman. Black Stone Publishing. 291 pages. $26.99 Back in the good old days, a hard-boiled detective wore a fedora, drank cheap…
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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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Meanwhile, don’t miss this uplifting novel
Bob Moyer reviews a new novel that sounds like the book we need to read these days. It is a joy to read, he says. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer HOW TO READ A BOOK. By Monica Wood. Mariner Books. 273 pages. $28.00 Coincidence. When it happens in our lives, it is remarkable. The phone…
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Vanished without a trace…
Iceland’s most successful author has teamed up with the country’s prime minister to write a mystery/crime thriller that’s one of the best books I’ve read in quite a while. Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson REYKJAVIK. By Ranger Jonasson and Katrin Jakobsdottir. Minotaur Books. 363 pages. $19, paperback. It’s 1956, and Kristjan Krisjtansson, a rookie policeman…
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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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She got by with a little help from her corgi
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson THE QUEEN’S FAITHFUL COMPANION. By Eliza Knight. William Morrow. 368 pages. $18.99, trade paperback. I was between books, looking for something engaging and not too heavy, when the mail lady delivered an advance proof of The Queen’s Faithful Companion. The subtitle read: “A Novel of Queen Elizabeth II and her…
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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…