-
What meets the eye
He’s back! After a couple of months gallivanting to Germany, Massachusetts and elsewhere, plus doing poetry things, the inimitable Bob Moyer is back reviewing books for Briar Patch Books. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer LITTLE FIRES EVERYWHERE. By Celeste Ng. Penguin Press. 338 pages. $27. Celeste Ng’s second book has hung near the top of…
-
There’s nothing like a murder to make life worth living
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson THE GRAVE’S A FINE AND PRIVATE PLACE. By Alan Bradley. Random House Audio. Read by Jayne Entwistle. 10 hours; 8 CDs. $35. Also available in print from Delacorte Press. 363 pages. $26. Things are grim in Flavia de Luce’s world. A few months earlier, her father died unexpectedly, leaving Flavia…
-
Lies and other tangled webs
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson THE PUNISHMENT SHE DESERVES. By Elizabeth George. Penguin Audio. 23 hours; 18 CDs. Read by Simon Vance. $55. Also available in print from Viking. It’s been 30 years since Elizabeth George’s first introduced us to Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley, in A Great Deliverance, her widely praised debut novel. It’s been…
-
No. 20: Inspector Rutledge, at his best
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson THE GATE KEEPER. By Charles Todd. William Morrow. 306 pages. $26.99. It’s hard to believe that The Gate Keeper is the 20th entry in Charles Todd’s mystery series starring Inspector Ian Rutledge, a British World War I veteran who’s now a Scotland Yard detective. But A Test of Wills, the debut novel,…
-
Prepare for turbulence
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson THE FLIGHT ATTENDANT. By Chris Bohjalian. Random House Audio. Read by Erin Spencer and Grace Experience, with Mark Deakins. 11 ½ hours; 9 CDs. $40. Also available in print form Doubleday. Chris Bohjalian is one of my favorite contemporary authors, not only because he’s a good writer, but also because…
-
The more things change…
Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer TWO KINDS OF TRUTH. By Michael Connelly. Little Brown. 402 pages. $29. ‘Things change.” On his way to downtown L.A. from San Fernando, Harry Bosch reflects on how the landscape, the office he’s going to, the former partner he’s meeting, have all changed. Not to mention his own life, of…
-
Waiting for the gun
Bob Moyer’s New Year’s resolution is to review more books even when he’s on the road, as he often is. He just doesn’t know about this resolution yet, but one hopes he will after reading this post. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer THE CUBAN AFFAIR. By Nelson DeMille. Simon and Schuster. 429 pages. $28.99. Looking…
-
Hard-won rewards
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson THE MIDNIGHT LINE. By Lee Child. Random House Audio. Read by Dick Hill. 13 hours; 11 CDs. $45. Also available in print from Delacorte Press. I’d heard about Lee Child’s Jack Reacher, of course – 21 or so best-selling thrillers, some short stories and, oh, a movie or two, among…
-
Murder, sex and Barbie dolls
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson DEEP FREEZE. By John Sandford. Penguin Audio. Read by Eric Conger. 10 hours; 8 CDs. $40. If you don’t think murder and assorted lesser crimes can be funny, you haven’t read any of John Sandford’s Virgil Flowers detective novels. A detective with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, Virgil gets…
-
The mysteries of life, solved – or are they?
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson ORIGIN. By Dan Brown. Random House Audio. Read by Paul Michael. 18 hours; 15 CDs. $50. Robert Langdon, intrepid Harvard professor of symbology and religious iconology, is at it again, with all the expected mystery, codes, drama, action, danger, beautiful women, evil villains, cosmic ideas and earth-shattering revelations. My audio…