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Into the viper’s nest
Rarely is a history lesson as entertaining as in the Maggie Hope World War II novels. Here’s a review of the latest one, No. 3 in the series. Review by Linda C. Brinson HIS MAJESTY’S HOPE. By Susan Elia MacNeal. Bantam Trade Paperback Original. 354 pages. $15. Susan Elia MacNeal’s Maggie Hope novels just keep…
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For a great escape, try Dan Brown’s latest
Here’s a great vacation book, whether you listen to it, as I did, while driving, or read the print version. I enjoyed Dan Brown’s blockbuster The Da Vinci Code, especially, but I’ve somehow missed a couple of his other efforts. Judging from some reviews I’ve read of The Lost Symbol, missing that one might have…
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The prim, the proper, the depraved
Most of us know, through Charles Dickens or other sources, something of the seamy side of Victorian England and how difficult life was for the poor people of the day. Anne Perry’s two outstanding series of historical novels set in that period also shed light into some of the darker corners of life among the…
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A lesson in loyalty
Bob Moyer’s reviewing has gone to the dogs – in a good way. By Robert Moyer SUSPECT. By Robert Crais. Putnam. 312 pages. $27.95. “Bark bark arf. Bark.”—Spike “Yap yap yap. Yipyip.”—Princess “Woof, woof, wooof.” –Atticus I’m Nesta, and I’ve taken on Bob as my alpha. He asked me to collect a few critical comments…
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Dashiell Hammett, revisited
What could be better for a fan of hard-boiled detective stories than a novel about the daddy of them all: Dashiell Hammett? Bob Moyer writes that the book itself is a bit of a mystery. By Robert Moyer HAMMETT UNWRITTEN. By Owen Fitzstephen. Notes and Afterword by Gordon McAlpine. Seventh Street Books. 176 pages. $13.95.…
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Past glories, past sorrows
Every time I read a book by Deborah Crombie or Elizabeth George, I have a flash of envy. These women are Americans, but they write excellent police mystery/suspense fiction set in England. Even the British critics say they do a good job, getting the details right. Not only are they successful authors; they also get…
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Guns, mean guys and other lethal weapons
Bob Moyer is back, again, from wherever it is he’s been, again. I can’t keep up with his globe-trotting ways. I’m just grateful that he keeps reading and writing reviews. Here’s his latest, with his promises that there are more to come. By Robert Moyer THE THIRD BULLET. By Stephen Hunter. Simon and Schuster. 485 pages.…
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All this and a mystery, too
Novel readers are well acquainted with the darker side of Victorian England, the often-wretched lives of the poor and society’s gaping inequalities. We also may have had literary glimpses into the lives and adventures of those in government and law-enforcement circles. Julia Stuart’s hilarious novel offers a look at a slice of Victorian life that…
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Who’s dead, who’s missing?
By Linda C. Brinson I’ve read all Charles Todd’s books since that mother-son team’s first novel appeared in 1996. Now, we have the 15th in that first series (there’s now a Bess Crawford series as well). As with any series, some Inspector Ian Rutledge mysteries are better than others. But even those that might not…
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Out of retirement, into a mystery
Old detectives, it seems, are a lot like old soldiers – except that in addition to never dying, they rarely fade away. Tom Dillon reviews a new Ian Rankin book (published in Great Britain last year) in which John Rebus is back at work, at least for a while. By Tom Dillon STANDING IN ANOTHER…