Briar Patch Books

Category: Detective fiction

  • A voice of pain and passion

    Bob Moyer reviews the latest in a venerable detective series that’s set decades ago but, he finds, has much to say that’s relevant to today’s readers. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer BLOOD GROVE. By Walter Mosley/ Mulholland Books. 307 pages. $27. Long before Black Lives Matter, before George Floyd, a voice articulated the plight of…

  • The most important client

    Bob Moyer has a way of making we want to get a book and start reading right away! This one sounds particularly good. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer THE LAW OF INNOCENCE. By Michael Connelly. Little, Brown. 42 pages. $29. Mickey Haller is the Lincoln lawyer. He does most of his business in the back…

  • Has crime fighting ever been so enchanting?

    What could be better than to be transported to the Perigord in France at a time not so long ago when no one had heard of COVID-19 and spend a little time with Bruno, chief of police and chef extraordinaire as he solves crimes, prepares delicacies and lives the good life? Bob Moyer suggests that…

  • Not Bosch, but a determined reporter

    If you need a good detective story to read, Bob Moyer can help you out. Here he takes a look at the latest from Michael Connelly. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer FAIR WARNING. By Michael Connelly. Little, Brown and Company. 417 pages. $29. He’s not Harry Bosch. Poor Jack McEvoy. He has appeared in only three Michael…

  • A dangerous trap

    Bob Moyer reviews the latest John Sandford Prey novel starring Lucas Davenport. If you like what he’s describing, and haven’t yet encountered this series, you have some reading to do. Enjoy. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer MASKED PREY. By John Sandford. G.P. Putnam. 416 pages. $29. Over the course of 29 previous Prey novels, John Sandford…

  • Watch out, Chicago…

    Bob Moyer is my hero. Undeterred by all that’s going on in the world around us, he keeps  reviewing books so the rest of us will have some idea of what to read when we want some respite. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer DEAD LAND. By Sara Paretsky. William Morrow. 405 pages. $28.99 Private eye…

  • Business as usual – or is it?

    Thanks to Bob Moyer, here’s another British detective novel series I’ll have to try.  Hmm, I see it’s been a TV series too.  Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer MANY RIVERS TO CROSS: A DCI Banks Novel. By Peter Robinson. William Morrow. 336 pages. $28.99. In the beginning, a young Syrian boy is found stuffed in a garbage bin.  In the end —…

  • Short and not sweet

    Bob Moyer just keeps on reading, finding books to recommend for the entertainment and edification of the rest of us socially distanced folks. He’s a trouper! Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer TROUBLE IS WHAT I DO. By Walter Mosley. Mulholland Books. 176 pages. $24. It’s too short. The brevity of Walter Mosley’s latest book deprives…

  • Familiar, but new

    Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer HI FIVE. By Joe Ide. Mulholland Press. 337 pages. $27. He seems familiar, but Isaiah Quintabe is the most unusual private eye in current mystery fiction. Undersized and overbrained, this African-American unlicensed detective can solve any crime, and does — just for the sake of doing it. He’s been known…

  • Same old … with some twists

    Bob Moyer’s travels have been a bit curtailed by the pandemic, but the silver lining is that he has more time to read books and to write reviews. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer MUSEUM OF DESIRE. By Jonathan Kellerman. Ballantine Books. 368 pages. $28.99. Same old, same old. After forty-some entries, Alex Delaware mysteries take on a…