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One last taste…
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson THE PAINTED QUEEN. By Elizabeth Peters and Joan Hess. William Morrow. 352 pages. $27.99. Fans of Elizabeth Peters’ beloved Amelia Peabody series can enjoy this final installment if they read it as light entertainment, a glimpse of sorts of the beloved characters and perhaps a reminder of just how extraordinary…
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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…
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The sins of the past…
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson Y IS FOR YESTERDAY. By Sue Grafton. Random House Audio. Read by Judy Kaye. 17 hours; 14 CDs. $45. Also available in print from Putnam. You know how in stadiums after the rows of seats have been through the alphabet, the designation starts over with double letters – AA, BB,…
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History, mystery and French food
Where’s Bob, who might as well be Waldo? Japan? Michigan? Germany? In his heart and in his taste buds, at any rate, he’s lately been in the Perigord region of France, savoring the latest Bruno, chief of police, mystery. Here’s his review. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer THE TEMPLARS’ LAST SECRET. By Martin Walker. Knopf.…
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Out of the briar patch
Bob Moyer takes a look at the latest fine book in a series that he considers very good indeed. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer FALLOUT. By Sara Paretsky. William Morrow. 448 pages. $27.99. Private eye V.I. Warshawski, known as Vick to her friends, has been called a few other things by those who are not…
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Hot on the trail of a missing island
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson When Janet Ivanovich’s first Knight and Moon novel hit the stands a year ago, I quickly declared the new series my second favorite of Ivanovich’s prolific offerings (the Stephanie Plum books have a lock on No. 1). Now Dangerous Minds, the second in the series, has arrived, and, yep, it’s…
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Whom we love, what we see
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson WATCH ME DISAPPEAR. By Janelle Brown. Random House Audio. Read by Tavia Gilbert with Kaleo Griffith. 13 ½ hours; 11 CDs. $45. Also available in print from Spiegel & Grau. Billie Flanagan was a force of nature, almost larger than life. Everybody loved and admired her. Right? When Janelle Brown’s…
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A perilous “fairy story”
Bob Moyer may have been traveling in Japan in real time, but in his reading world, he’s been in post-war Germany, courtesy of the latest in one of his favorite series. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer PRUSSIAN BLUE. By Philip Kerr. Putnam. 523 pages. $27. In this now-venerable series, Bernie Gunther has made his melancholy way from…
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High (and sometimes deep) adventure
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson NIGHTHAWK. By Clive Cussler and Graham Brown. Penguin Audio. Read by Scott Brick. 11 ½ hours; 9 CDs. $45. Also available in hardcover from G.P. Putnam’s Sons. The United States’ most advanced aircraft/spacecraft has gone missing, and the Air Force and the National Security Agency have called on NUMA, the…
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War, independence and family ties
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson THE LOYAL SON: The War in Ben Franklin’s House. By Daniel Mark Epstein. Random House Audio. Read by Scott Brick. 16 ½ hours; 13 CDs. $60. Also available in hardback from Ballantine Books. Most of us probably think we know the story of Benjamin Franklin, and certainly the story of…