Briar Patch Books

Category: Popular fiction

  • A beach read, and more

    I’ve followed Kristy Woodson Harvey’s writing career from the beginning, and I’ve enjoyed every step of the journey. Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson FEELS LIKE FALLING. By Kristy Woodson Harvey. Gallery Books, Simon & Schuster. 384 pages. $16.99, paperback. Whether you’re heading to one of the recently re-opened beaches or passing the time at home,…

  • Spies and lovers

    Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson TREASON. By Stuart Woods. Penguin Audio. Read by Tony Roberts. 7 ½ hours; 6 CDs. $35. Also available in print from G.P. Putnam’s Sons. There are Stone Barrington novels, and then there are Stone Barrington novels.  This is one of the meatier Stone Barrington novels, enlivened by politics and international…

  • Bad guys, beware

    I can’t keep up with the peripatetic Bob Moyer as he travels hither and yon, going to exotic places and doing interesting things, but I’m always glad when he finds time to send a book review. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer A DANGEROUS MAN. By Robert Crais. Putnam. 339 pages. $28. Joe Pike is indeed A…

  • 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…

  • ‘A friend to anarchy’

    BIG SKY. By Kate Atkinson. Little Brown. 386 pages. $28. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer Most mystery novelists move their minor characters around the chessboard of their story like pawns, always highlighting the kings and queens of their plots. Not Kate Atkinson. She delves deep into the lives of what seem minor characters far from…

  • 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…

  • A fitting farewell

    Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer I love it when Bob Moyer is in reading/reviewing mode. So many books to add to my list…. METROPOLIS. By Philip Kerr. Putnam. 381 pages. $28. In 13 books, Philip Kerr established detective Bernie Gunther as a German noir  detective equivalent to Raymond Chandler’s Marlowe. He also established himself as not just…

  • On the rough streets of D.C.

    Bob Moyer is on a roll when it comes to book reviews. Here he takes a look at the latest installment in a crime series that’s worth a try. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer TRIGGER. By David Swinson. Mulholland Books. 352 pages. $27. Frank Marr is a good detective with some bad habits – Laphroag 18,…

  • Tangled web, suburban style

    Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson SOMEONE KNOWS. By Lisa Scottoline. Penguin Audio. 11 ½ hours; 10 CDs. Read by Ari Fliakos and Brittany Pressley. $45. Also available in print from G.P. Putnam’s Sons. Lisa Scottoline has written more than 30 novels, been on best-seller lists forever and won lots of big awards. She was a…

  • Betting on a killer

    Bob Moyer is flushed with pleasure after reading this novel, and he hopes you’ll go straight out to get a copy. More poker puns welcomed. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer BLUFF. By Jane Stanton Hitchcock. Poisoned Pen Press. 264 pages. $26.99. When “Mad” Maud steps into a Manhattan restaurant and shoots billionaire financier Sun Sunderland,…