Briar Patch Books

Category: Mysteries

  • Originality – the spice of spy fiction

    World traveler Paul O’Connor reads a lot of popular fiction these days, maybe while stranded in airports when flights are canceled. Fortunately for fellow fans, he also sometimes finds the time to write reviews and alert us to diversions we might enjoy.  Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor PARIAH. By Dan Fesperman. Knopf. 369 pages. $30,…

  • A Southern town afire

    Bob Moyer reviews a new novel that seems to fit into a genre that might be called Southern noir psychological family drama – or thriller. Whatever the classification, the book sounds well written. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer KING OF ASHES. By S.A. Cosby. Flatiron Books: Pine & Cedar. 333 pages. $28.99 Everything burns. In…

  • A 14-year-old girl tackles the forces of evil

    James Lee Burke has a new novel out, so, fortunately for Burke fans and anyone looking for a good historical mystery/thriller to read, Bob Moyer has a new review. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer DON’T FORGET ME, LITTLE BESSIE. By James Lee Burke. Atlantic Monthly Press. 360 pages. $28. Reading a James Lee Burke novel takes…

  • Murder most foul – yet again – in that Scottish village

    I’ve enjoyed many of the books in the Hamish Macbeth series, and now that Bob Moyer has let me know about this latest, I will be looking for it. I have two questions: What would I do without Bob? and How does he get hold of these books before I do? Reviewed by Robert P.…

  • One corpse after another

    Are you a fan of Alex Delaware books? Bob Moyer is, and he’s just read No. 40 in the series. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer OPEN SEASON. By Jonathan Kellerman. Penguin Random House. 273 pages. $30. Possible to probable to resolution. That’s how most mysteries proceed, from the moment the crime comes to the attention…

  • A detective in island exile

    Michael Connelly introduces a new detective, and reviewer Bob Moyer is on the case. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer NIGHTSHADE. By Michael Connelly. Little, Brown. 241 pages. $30. He’s not like Harry Bosch, Michael Connelly”s hard-boiled, hard-bitten ex-LAPD detective, who drives an old jeep around, drives women away and lives on a downtown hillside. Los…

  • More murder and mystery in the desert Southwest

    Bob Moyer and I are both loyal fans of the late Tony Hillerman and his mysteries featuring the Navajo Nation Police. I have read one or two of the mysteries added to the series since Hillerman’s daughter Anne since her father died, but Bob beat me to this latest one. I will have to catch…

  • A murder mystery with much to discover

    Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson DETECTIVE AUNTY. By Uzma Jalaluddin. Harper Perennial. 324 pages. $17.99, trade paperback original. Uzma Jalaluddin’s debut murder mystery is both familiar and different, a well plotted and well written whodunit that should appeal both to mystery fans and to readers who have enjoyed Jalaluddin’s earlier novels, which are generally considered…

  • So many clues, so many possibilities

    Looking for a good mystery? Paul O’Connor takes a look at a 2024 book by a mystery author who’s new to me. Sounds intriguing. Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor THE GOD OF THE WOODS. By Liz Moore. Riverhead Books. 476 pages. $30, hardcover. Liz Moore can really tell a story, as anyone who read her…

  • Good story, great writing

    Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer BEEN WRONG SO LONG IT FEELS LIKE RIGHT: A King Oliver Novel.  By Walter Mosley. Mulholland Books. 336 pages. $29. “You been wrong so long it feels like right to you.” That’s just one of the great sentences in book three of Walter Mosley’s Joe King Oliver series, in which…