Briar Patch Books

Category: Mysteries

  • Familiar, but new

    Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer HI FIVE. By Joe Ide. Mulholland Press. 337 pages. $27. He seems familiar, but Isaiah Quintabe is the most unusual private eye in current mystery fiction. Undersized and overbrained, this African-American unlicensed detective can solve any crime, and does — just for the sake of doing it. He’s been known…

  • Same old … with some twists

    Bob Moyer’s travels have been a bit curtailed by the pandemic, but the silver lining is that he has more time to read books and to write reviews. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer MUSEUM OF DESIRE. By Jonathan Kellerman. Ballantine Books. 368 pages. $28.99. Same old, same old. After forty-some entries, Alex Delaware mysteries take on a…

  • Bad guys, beware

    Bob Moyer invites us to follow the Hawk as she pursues her prey – and is pursued. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer A SMALL TOWN. By Thomas Perry. Mysterious Press. 320 pages. $26. The opening pages of this book might just be the most painful Thomas Perry has ever penned.  A gang of prisoners kills…

  • New offering from an old master

    Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer AGENT RUNNING IN THE FIELD. By John le Carre. Viking. 281 pages. $29. He’s 88, he’s written 25 books, and along the way he’s picked up a few tricks in more than one trade. Espionage is one of them. To stay at the top of the thriller game, Le Carre…

  • 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…

  • Amid the chaos…

    Wherever Jack Reacher goes – and that covers some pretty interesting and dangerous ground – Bob Moyer isn’t far behind. Here’s his review of No. 24 in the Reacher series. BLUE MOON. By Lee Child. Delacorte Press. 356 pages. $28.99. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer PFHHT!  BLAM! THUD! THUNK!  SNAP! CRACK! AIEEE! Did you hear…

  • It’s about the procedure

    Is the seasonal stress starting to get to you? Find a cozy warm spot and get caught up in a good novel about something entirely different. Bob Moyer has a suggestion for you.  Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer THE NIGHT FIRE. By Michael Connelly. Little, Brown. 405 pages. $29.  … down these mean streets a man must go…

  • Virgil Flowers takes on academia

    Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson BLOODY GENIUS. By John Sandford. Penguin Audio. 11 hours; 9 CDs. Read by Eric Conger. $40. Also available in print from G.P. Putnam’s Sons. First, Margaret Trane, the police officer who is handling the case, doesn’t really want his help and is annoyed that the governor has yielded to pressure…

  • 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…