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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…
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Back from the dead
I’m catching up with all the reviews Bob Moyer sent we when he was catching up. And now you can catch up on your pleasurable reading. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer ONLY TO SLEEP. A Philip Marlowe Novel. By Lawrence Osborne. Hogarth. 256 pages. $26. The world’s oldest hard-boiled detective is alive and living between…
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Flavia on the case(s)
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson THE GOLDEN TRESSES OF THE DEAD. By Alan Bradley. Random House Audio. Read by Jayne Entwistle. 9 hours; 7 CDs. $35. Also available in print from Delacorte Press, 323 pages. $26. A new novel starring Flavia de Luce, the precocious young English girl who uses her extensive knowledge of chemistry…
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Spenser: The magic continues
Bob Moyer takes a look at the latest Spenser novel and finds it worthy of the tradition. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer ROBERT B. PARKER’S OLD BLACK MAGIC (SPENSER). By Ace Atkins. G.P. Putnam’s Sons. 336 pages. $27. Spenser, the singularly named Boston P.I., shares both a name and a proclivity for poetic expression with…
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A tangled case, a lot of laughs
Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer Bob Moyer finds much to like in Jonathan Kellerman’s latest whodunit. NIGHT MOVES. By Jonathan Kellerman. Ballantine. 395 pages. $28.99 Psychologist Alex Delaware and LAPD Detective Milo Sturgis have been tackling tangled cases over a number of books, a number of years. The astute intuition of Alex, the steely procedure…
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Gifts: Good story and good advice
Philip Kerr, one of Bob Moyer’s favorite authors has died. Bob reviews his newly published book, amid reports that there may be one more yet to appear. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer GREEKS BEARING GIFTS. By Philip Kerr. Putnam. 511 pages. $27. During the course of this venerable series, Philip Kerr has given us a…
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Not about the bad guys
Bob Moyer is catching up with all the new books he missed while off gallivanting. Here’s the latest, No. 17, in Robert Crais’ long-running and best-selling Elvis Cole and Joe Pike private-eye series. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer THE WANTED. By Robert Crais. Putnam. 322 pages. $28. The dust jacket says it’s an Elvis Cole…
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Something’s rotten in Denmark…
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson THE SCARRED WOMAN. By Jussi Adler-Olsen. Penguin Audio. Read by Graeme Malcolm. 12 CDs; 14 ½ hours. $45. Only recently have I become aware of some of the fine mystery/detective fiction coming out of Scandinavia. Bob Moyer introduced me to the fiction of Norway’s Jo Nesbo, and that rewarding experience…
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Same place, new face
Bob Moyer takes time out from his traveling, petanquing, haikuing, swing dancing and other passions to get caught up on a book review. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer THE LATE SHOW. By Michael Connelly. Little, Brown. 405 pages. $28. Michael Connelly has been granted the mantle of successor to Raymond Chandler, and he has worn it…
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Beware the beasts
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson DEADFALL. By Linda Fairstein. Penguin Audio. Read by Barbara Rosenblat. 11 ½ hours; 10 CDs. $40. Alex Cooper is back – sort of – after her kidnapping ordeal, but she’s supposed to be on leave from work, and she’s struggling emotionally. A quiet time of healing is not in the…