A Deathly Silence - Jane Isaac

A Deathly Silence - Jane Isaac

Publication Date: Oct. 15, 2019

She read

When a police officer’s dead body is found, DCI Helen Lavery is on the case.  The officer had been tortured and as the investigation proceeds, she is found to have been harboring some secrets.  

This is the third in the Helen Lavery series, but the first one I have read.   It is a solid police procedural that keeps you focused and guessing. I liked it. 

Helen is a strong, confident female character.  I’ve read too many authors with female leads who have flaws in the their personality make up.  Yes, she is dealing with raising her two sons after her husband was killed and has just returned to work after being injured, but she is an emotionally mature individual and I look forward to reading more in this series. 

I Will Make You Pay - Teresa Driscoll

I Will Make You Pay - Teresa Driscoll

Publication Date: Oct. 10, 2019

She read

Journalist Alice Henderson has a stalker.  Threats and actions come only on Wednesdays. Is it someone from her past, an acquaintance,  someone she has angered with her writings, or just random?   Does Alice have something to hide? The case is investigated by PI Matthew Hill,  and DI Melanie Sanders, recurring characters in other of Teresa Driscoll’s books. 

The story is told from alternating viewpoints, moving between past and present, devices that have become quite popular with many of today's authors.  The story is revealed layer by layer, with surprises and red herrings.

This is an engrossing psychological thriller; I didn’t want to put it down.  Alice can be a bit of an annoying character, making some questionable decisions probably due to her continually reminding the reader that she is stubborn.  

*****

Sins of the Father - J.A. Jance

Sins of the Father - J.A. Jance

Publication Date: September 24, 2019

She read

This is the latest in the J.P. Beaumont novel by prolific writer J.A. Jance.  

Encouraged by his wife, J.P. Beaumont, retired homicide detective and former alcoholic, has started a new career as a private investigator.  One of his first cases is to find the missing daughter of someone from his past.  The missing daughter gave birth to a methadone addicted baby and then abandoned the baby at the hospital.  With baby in tow, the grandfather upends Beaumont’s life as the search leads to a personal revelation for him as well as the discovery of fraud and multiple homicides.  

Although he faced some rough times growing up as well as early in his career, Beaumont now appears to live a more charmed life with the financial resources to easily solve any problem or concern that he encounters.  That helps everything fall into place and all loose ends are tied up in a neat package.  It is all almost too good to be believable.  

Well written, this is a fast, engrossing read. I liked that despite this being the 24th book in the series, the author filled in necessary character background history so that it worked well as a standalone.  

A Bitter Feast - Deborah Crombie

A Bitter Feast - Deborah Crombie

Publication Date:  Oct. 8, 2019

She read

This is the 18th in Deborah Crombie’s Duncan Kincaid/Gemma James series.  It is the first one that I have read…how did I miss her all these years?

Set in the Cotswolds, the Kincaid/James family has been invited to the estate owned by the parents of Melody Talbot, Gemma’s DS, for a weekend featuring a charity luncheon. A local chef, once an up and coming culinary star in London who has retreated to a quiet life in the country, has been tapped for this event. When a character from her past shows up and ends up dead, the mystery begins.  A car accident, a hit and run, and an attempted murder ensue.

I enjoyed this police procedural.  It was a fast, engrossing read.  Crombie captured the ambience of life in the Cotswolds and featured some colorful characters.  Nothing too heavy here, but a step up from “cosy” mysteries….although there was a lot of tea served!

I realize that by the 18th novel, the author should expect readers to know the characters’ backstories, but I do wish I knew more about the histories of the Kincaid/James children.  Although there were some hints, there was an air of mystery about how the family came to be.  I guess I will have to go back and read this series from the beginning!

Olive, Again - Elizabeth Street

Olive, Again - Elizabeth Strout

Publication Date:  Oct. 15, 2019

He and she read

What a wonderful book!  Thank you, Elizabeth Strout, for letting us visit once again with the eccentric, but painfully truthful Olive Kitteridge and other denizens of Crosby, Maine.

Written with humor and pathos, this picks up Olive’s life as she ages and faces so many situations that resonate with us all either through experiences with parents or our own advancing conditions.

As with Olive Kitteridge, some chapters focus on Olive, others are interwoven vignettes about people who have crossed paths with Olive as students of hers, co workers, neighbors, or fleeting acquaintances.  

This is truly a don’t miss book.

By they way, he loved it as well.......

Takes One to Know One - Susan Isaacs

Takes One to Know One - Susan Isaacs

Publication Date:  Oct. 1, 2019

She read

Corie Geller has traded in her FBI career for marriage and step parenthood.  Fluent in Arabic, she reviews books in that language for possible publication in English.  Her mundane life includes weekly lunches with a group of people who all work from home.  Something seems suspect with one of the attendees and soon Corie plunges into her own investigation.

I have enjoyed Susan Isaacs books in the past; this one was a bit of a disappointment.  While it does contain Isaacs signature biting wit with some amusing laugh out loud moments, it was also on the tedious side.  I also found it a bit hard to believe that Corie had been a capable, high functioning FBI agent…..being home raising a child must have turned her brain to a bit of mush.  

***

Nothing Ventured - Jeffrey Archer

Nothing Ventured - Jeffrey Archer

He and she read

This is the first in a new series by prolific author, Jeffrey Archer.  Taking place in the time period late 1970s to the early 80s, it traces the beginning career of a detective, William Warwick.  Archer hints that a good future is in store for Warwick, the son of a well known attorney. 

Well written with good character development, this was an engrossing, quick read.  Archer has said that he has already begun the second book in this series, and I look forward to it!

He liked it as well.