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Mystery and suspense, with a bow and a cup of tea
Bob Moyer reviews something that is new to me: I’ve never read a Japanese police procedural. It sounds as though it’s worth a try. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer THE FINAL CURTAIN: A Mystery (The Kyoichiro Kaga Series, Book 4). By Keigo Higashino. Minotaur. 400 pages. $29. Don’t worry. It will all become clear. The reader…
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From chaos, violence comes a brilliant novel
Bob Moyer reviews the latest novel by one of his favorite authors. One note: Despite what Bob writes, not all Southerners called the conflict of the 1860s the War Between the States. Some – I think particularly of an elderly woman who owned a historic house in downtown Charleston that a group of graduate students…
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A gift for mystery lovers: Hercule Poirot, on the case
HERCULE POIROT’S SILENT NIGHT. By Sophie Hannah. William Morrow. 362 pages. $30. Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson Yes, that’s right. Just in time for Christmas, there’s a new mystery out starring Agatha Christie’s inimitable Hercule Poirot, the eccentric, dandified little Belgian detective with the egg-shaped head, turned-up moustache and busy “little grey cells” that solve…
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Facing the challenges of our times
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson STARDUST AND SCAR TISSUE: Rambles, Ruminations and the Search for an Authentic Culture of Life. By Mick Scott. Opine Press, an imprint of Press 53. 201 pages. $19.95, paperback. Reading Stardust and Scar Tissue, Mick Scott’s new collection of essays, is good for the soul in these challenging times. First,…
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Barbs of truth, from a woman
Rob Moyer reviews a brief but powerful book by Nobel Prize winner Annie Ernaux,. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer THE YOUNG MAN. By Annie Ernaux. Seven Stories Press. 64 pages. $13.95. In 2022, Annie Ernaux became the first French woman to win the Nobel Prize in literature. She earned it by writing books in French…
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Hell on Earth
Bob Moyer takes a look at the latest book by an award-winning and best-selling crime novelist from southeastern Virginia, and likes what he reads. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer ALL THE SINNERS BLEED. By S.A. Cosby. Flatiron Books (Macmillan). 352 pages. $27.99 Charon County, the fictional Virginia setting of this novel, seems a typical Southern…
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Good cop, bad system
Bob Moyer reviews No. 10 in a popular mystery/international thriller series that provides insights into contemporary Russia along with a gripping story. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer INDEPENDENCE SQUARE. By Martin Cruz Smith. Simon & Schuster. 272 pages. $26.99 Moscow policeman Arkady Renko has been a good cop in a bad system, surviving and fighting…
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A fitting sendoff
If you missed this book when it was published in 2016, or over the years since, you may join Bob Moyer as he savors Richard Russo’s last, skillful look at his memorable literary creation, Donald “Sully” Sullivan of North Bath. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer EVERYBOODY’S FOOL. By Richard Russo. Alfred A. Knopf. 451 pages.$29.…