Briar Patch Books

Category: Mysteries

  • A simply delicious novel

    It’s quite evident that Bob Moyer read this latest Bruno novel with relish. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer THE PATRIARCH. By Martin Walker. Knopf. 321 pages. $24.95 When Martin Walker concocts a Bruno, Chief of Police novel, he tosses in so many appetizing ingredients — French culture, French history, his love of cooking, Bruno’s love…

  • Elizabeth George back in top form with her new novel

    Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson A BANQUET OF CONSEQUENCES. By Elizabeth George. Read by John Lee. 18 CDs; 21 ½ hours. $50. Also available in print from Viking. Fans of Elizabeth George’s long-running British detective series starring Inspector Thomas Lynley and company can rejoice. A Banquet of Consequences is the best novel in this series…

  • The deepest mystery of all

    Bob Moyer takes a look at a new stand-alone novel by the author of one of his favorite series, and he likes what he sees. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer THE MURDERER’S DAUGHTER. By Jonathan Kellerman. Ballantine Books. 364 pages. $28. Early in this one-off, stand-alone book, the new kid, The Murderer’s Daughter, meets with…

  • Another romp with Fox and O’Hare

    Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson Some books are perfect for listening while driving on long interstate stretches or crammed into an airplane seat. Janet Evanovich’s various series fit this category well. They’re highly entertaining, and they don’t require deep thinking. Stephanie Plum, Evanovich’s intrepid bounty hunter and endearing klutz, is by far my favorite, but…

  • Shhh!: Librarians tracking killers

    Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson BOOKS CAN BE DECEIVING. By Jenn McKinlay. Read by Allyson Ryan. Books on Tape (Penguin Random House).  Six CDS; 7 ½ hours.  Also available in print. Sometimes, you just need a light, cozy mystery to entertain you. For a lover of books, if that mystery has a library as a…

  • Hardboiled, served up right

    Whether he’s in L.A. with Easy Rawlins or Manhattan with Leonid McGill, Walter Mosley delivers some fine books. Bob Moyer has a great time with the latest. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer AND SOMETIMES I WONDER ABOUT YOU. By Walter Mosley. Doubleday. 272 ages $26.95. What’s happened to the gunsels, the dames, the twists, the…

  • A delicious tale

    Crime fiction, the lovely French countryside, a sense of history AND lavish meals – there’s a lot to like in the Bruno books, and Bob Moyer relishes the opportunity to review another book in the series. THE CHILDREN RETURN. By Martin Walker. Knopf. 320 pages. $24.95 ‘To Protect and To Serve.” Police forces around the…

  • X is for ….

    Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson X. By Sue Grafton. Read by Judy Kaye. Random House Audio. 11 CDS, 13 ½ hours. $45. Also available in print from Putnam. So much for speculation about what Sue Grafton would make “X” stand for in her long-running series of alphabet-named detective stories, dating back to A Is for…

  • Mystery and history

    Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson TAIL GATE. By Rita Mae Brown & Sneaky Pie Brown. Bantam. 307 pages. $26. Mystery fans probably already know whether they like Rita Mae Brown’s Mrs. Murphy series. The books, set in a small town on the edge of Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains and close to the university town of…

  • Sleuthing for the Nazis

    Bob Moyer has a wide range of reading favorites that includes mystery/thrillers and books about the Holocaust. Philip Kerr’s Bernie Gunther series deftly combines these two interests. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer THE LADY FROM ZAGREB. By Philip Kerr. Putnam. 421 pages. $26.95. It’s 1942, the beginning of the end, the Soviet Union has not…