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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…
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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…
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‘A friend to anarchy’
BIG SKY. By Kate Atkinson. Little Brown. 386 pages. $28. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer Most mystery novelists move their minor characters around the chessboard of their story like pawns, always highlighting the kings and queens of their plots. Not Kate Atkinson. She delves deep into the lives of what seem minor characters far from…
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The legacy continues
I could be angry. I loved Tony Hillerman’s mysteries, reviewed many of them for newspapers, and even had the pleasure of meeting and interviewing Hillerman once. When his daughter, Anne, took up the torch and tried continuing her late fathers series, I reviewed her first couple of efforts on this blog. So how did Bob…
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The food! The romance! The murder….
Hungry for good books? How about good food? This review should have you drooling. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer THE BODY IN THE CASTLE WELL: A Bruno, Chief of Police Novel. By Martin Walker. Knopf. 337 pages. $25.95. Did you know Josephine Baker owned a house in the Perigord? The expatriate American chanteuse’s home is now…
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Survivalist in a high-tech world
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson THE NEVER GAME. By Jeffery Deaver. Penguin Audio. 11 ½ hours; 9 CDs. Read by Kaled Griffith. $40. Also available in print from G.P. Putnam’s Sons. Jeffery Deaver gives us not only a gripping thriller but also a timely story in The Never Game, the first novel in his new…
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A fitting farewell
Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer I love it when Bob Moyer is in reading/reviewing mode. So many books to add to my list…. METROPOLIS. By Philip Kerr. Putnam. 381 pages. $28. In 13 books, Philip Kerr established detective Bernie Gunther as a German noir detective equivalent to Raymond Chandler’s Marlowe. He also established himself as not just…
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On the rough streets of D.C.
Bob Moyer is on a roll when it comes to book reviews. Here he takes a look at the latest installment in a crime series that’s worth a try. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer TRIGGER. By David Swinson. Mulholland Books. 352 pages. $27. Frank Marr is a good detective with some bad habits – Laphroag 18,…
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Putting those skills to work
It’s so nice to have Bob Moyer busy reviewing books again. Now, if we can just keep him from gallivanting around the world for a while…. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer THE BURGLAR. By Thomas Perry. Mysterious Press. 288 pages. $26. Thomas Perry sure knows how to keep his readers turning the pages. He’s used the…
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Tangled web, suburban style
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson SOMEONE KNOWS. By Lisa Scottoline. Penguin Audio. 11 ½ hours; 10 CDs. Read by Ari Fliakos and Brittany Pressley. $45. Also available in print from G.P. Putnam’s Sons. Lisa Scottoline has written more than 30 novels, been on best-seller lists forever and won lots of big awards. She was a…