Briar Patch Books

Category: Mysteries

  • 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…

  • Walter Mosley, the short version

    Years ago, a review by Bob Moyer introduced me to the works of Walter Mosley. Since then, I have read many of Mosley’s outstanding  and evocative mysteries, including many  of the early ones I had missed.  Now I’ll have to add this book of stories to my reading list. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer THE…

  • Not for the faint hearted

    There were the holidays, you know. Oh, and he recently moved to a new house. And other things intervened. But Bob Moyer is back in book-reviewing mode now, and the world rejoices. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer DEAD GIRL BLUES. By Lawrence Block. LB Productions. 218 pages. $24.99. She’s dead. Her blues are over. The…

  • In the swamps, Burke takes it up a notch

    Bob Moyer has been busy, moving to a new home and doing all the other things Bob Moyer does. Including reading. Now, at last, he’s found time again to write some book reviews and share his literary finds with us. Thank goodness. Reviewed by Robert P.  Moyer A PRIVATE CATHEDRAL: A Dave Robicheaux Novel. By…

  • Law, order, love and money, Stone Barrington style

    Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson SHAKEUP. By Stuart Woods. Penguin Audio. Read by Tony Roberts. 7 hours; 6 CDs. $35. Also available in print from G.P. Putnam’s Sons. OK, here’s the book to take you from the craziness we are in to a fantasy world in which the United States has just inaugurated its second…

  • A story for our times

    I’ve enjoyed many of Chris Bohjalian’s books, some more than others. This one sounds especially — even oddly — timely, and pretty scary. I’m not sure I want to read it, but I’ll pay attention to what Bob Moyer has to say. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer RED LOTUS. By Chris Bohjalian. Doubleday. 367 pages.…

  • 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…