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‘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…
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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 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…
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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,…
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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…
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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,…
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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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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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A little coincidence…
Bob Moyer keeps trying to catch up on all the books he’s read and intends to review, but there are so many ways to have fun and put off writing. … Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer SHELL GAME. By Sara Paretsky. William Morrow. 385 pages. $27.95 Over the course of 17 novels, she’s been beat…
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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…