Although it had a sludgier start than the pre-title page encomiums indicated, it did ramp up to a head-spinning pace. The twisty plot was populated wiAlthough it had a sludgier start than the pre-title page encomiums indicated, it did ramp up to a head-spinning pace. The twisty plot was populated with interesting and tragic figures on all sides of this enjoyable political thriller....more
Summerset sees the murder board in Lt. Eve Dallas's home office and goes pale because the murdered man, along with himself, had been part of The TwelvSummerset sees the murder board in Lt. Eve Dallas's home office and goes pale because the murdered man, along with himself, had been part of The Twelve, a group of underground operatives in London almost 40 years earlier during the Urban Wars of the late 2020s. One of their group had been a traitor and, thought dead, had actually escaped prison and started murdering those who had testified against him. Very exciting....more
Walker packs so many events and plots and subplots and charm and people and places and food and wine and history, and more, into less than 300 pages, Walker packs so many events and plots and subplots and charm and people and places and food and wine and history, and more, into less than 300 pages, [The last numbered page says 287.] and still manages suspense, a fast pace, and yet a relaxing read. He really is amazing!...more
This latest addition to the Scarpetta series is categorized as a mystery but really skews more towards speculative fiction (UFOs, a Nobel laureate astThis latest addition to the Scarpetta series is categorized as a mystery but really skews more towards speculative fiction (UFOs, a Nobel laureate astrophysicist the media has dubbed the "E. T. whisperer") or thriller (close calls in a helicopter near tornados, during an underwater body recovery, and in a cave) on the genre spectrum. It was exciting and fascinating, but the title was not at all appropriate....more
This hilarious satire about foreign correspondents is the perfect companion to Prof. Deborah Cohen's Last Call at the Hotel Imperial, as her history/jThis hilarious satire about foreign correspondents is the perfect companion to Prof. Deborah Cohen's Last Call at the Hotel Imperial, as her history/joint biography on the same subject mentions this book and its author several times. It is reminiscent of Wodehouse but a bit meatier.
CAUTION: This does use the racist vocabulary typical in some works of this period....more
The inside flap of the front cover calls this a thriller, but it reads more like a cerebral conspiracy mystery with romantic-suspense overtones. Also,The inside flap of the front cover calls this a thriller, but it reads more like a cerebral conspiracy mystery with romantic-suspense overtones. Also, it is definitely a digging-up-the-past, personal cold-case novel. Set in New Jersey, it features a police detective investigating the death of his twin fifteen years earlier....more
What an unusual story, about being stranded in a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger for 7 months! But then, at the end, Pi gives a different account to the What an unusual story, about being stranded in a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger for 7 months! But then, at the end, Pi gives a different account to the Japanese insurance investigators, one of greater horror and guilt and pain that the multiply religious (Hindu/Christian/Muslim) Pi cannot really bear to contemplate....more
The title comes from a sacred place being defiled by an oil pipeline despite the work of protesters and also from the Native American view of death. DThe title comes from a sacred place being defiled by an oil pipeline despite the work of protesters and also from the Native American view of death. Deaths are many in this book, from those involving old bones of Ojibwe and white women through the murders and self-defense deaths that occur during the investigation, culminating in the epilogue with the expected death of Cork's daughter Annie from cancer....more
This is an excellent group biography, although the subtitle stretches things a bit. Saying "remade England" would be closer to the truth. Many of the This is an excellent group biography, although the subtitle stretches things a bit. Saying "remade England" would be closer to the truth. Many of the group were lifelong friends of DLS....more
This was an absolutely fascinating book for one whose elementary school looked out on the river three blocks away, even though it did throw more shadeThis was an absolutely fascinating book for one whose elementary school looked out on the river three blocks away, even though it did throw more shade on one of my childhood heroes, Thomas Jefferson, and attributed some deeply regretful acts to another, George Rogers Clark. It did provide a new hero though, the self-educated engineer James Buchanan Eads, whose St. Louis bridge was the first major steel structure in the world. The information about Cahokia was actually more enlightening than my visit there, and the current quandary about the mouth of the river and imperiled New Orleans is another view of the climate crisis. Definitely worth reading!...more
It is hard to believe that this excellent series has already reached episode #33, and that the author is older than President Biden! In this book, BruIt is hard to believe that this excellent series has already reached episode #33, and that the author is older than President Biden! In this book, Brunetti and Griffoni deal with teenage gangs in the present and art smugglers of the past, and Brunetti ruminates on heroism and the cultural or human value of works of art....more
Set at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles & environs and written with this author's trademark meticulous sensory details, this is the story of a Set at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles & environs and written with this author's trademark meticulous sensory details, this is the story of a romance developing between an Olympic equestrienne and an undercover agent working to prevent a terrorist attack there....more
I usually don't like ping-pong timelines, but in this book the main plot, set back in May 1964 when Walt Longmire and Henry Standing Bear were newly gI usually don't like ping-pong timelines, but in this book the main plot, set back in May 1964 when Walt Longmire and Henry Standing Bear were newly graduated from college and on the road to basic training in Parris Island and Fort Polk, was so exciting and also interesting because of learning more about their past, that I did not much mind the back and forth. Atrocities at a Japanese internment camp in Arizona are still bearing poison fruit 20 years later when car trouble strands the pair in Bone Valley....more
Although it has romance subplots, this is basically a really good novel about the airline industry in the wake of 9/11. I learned so much and found itAlthough it has romance subplots, this is basically a really good novel about the airline industry in the wake of 9/11. I learned so much and found it fascinating. The book begins in Phoenix, includes a lot of travel, but is mainly set in Las Vegas....more
A newly unemployed bookseller in Sweden accepts her pen pal's invitation to visit her in Iowa for a few weeks, but Sara arrives in Broken Wheel just aA newly unemployed bookseller in Sweden accepts her pen pal's invitation to visit her in Iowa for a few weeks, but Sara arrives in Broken Wheel just as Amy's funeral is concluding. Amy's nephew Tom and the other villagers insist she stay in Amy's house as planned. To keep busy, Sara creates a bookshop in Amy's closed store and begins distributing Amy's huge collection of books, while falling for Tom....more
A rape occurs upstairs above a restaurant where the Women's Murder Club are gathered, so Sgt. Lindsey Boxer is on hand to make the arrest and ME ClairA rape occurs upstairs above a restaurant where the Women's Murder Club are gathered, so Sgt. Lindsey Boxer is on hand to make the arrest and ME Claire Washburn to render first aid. Lindsey's murder case is stalled--until the victim's husband is killed in the same way. There's also a wedding at the end, as well as a new job in the offing for Lindsey's husband. I never did catch the reference that justified the title's containing "24."...more
This is really just two mysteries interleaved, their only connection being that the FBI agents dealing separately with them happen to be husband and wThis is really just two mysteries interleaved, their only connection being that the FBI agents dealing separately with them happen to be husband and wife. It was nice to see the wealthy, entitled politician get justice for his sexual sins....more
Longtime friends from CIA training have over the years retired to the area of a Maine coastal village. Now one of them, Maggie, has been targeted, havLongtime friends from CIA training have over the years retired to the area of a Maine coastal village. Now one of them, Maggie, has been targeted, having a body dumped in her driveway, and the others rally around, to the consternation of the local police chief--but their international resources are needed in the investigation. The rating was downgraded due to the irritating multi-timeline set-up....more
Feeling like a broken person after her last tragic case, V. I. reluctantly goes to Kansas for a sports event for her honorary goddaughter and thus getFeeling like a broken person after her last tragic case, V. I. reluctantly goes to Kansas for a sports event for her honorary goddaughter and thus gets swept into situations in which she rescues another college girl and finds a murder victim. Her investigation to clear herself uncovers corruption and a decades-old land-grab scandal....more
After a bizarrely slow start, this started coasting slightly more swiftly around Chapter 17, but it didn't really reach a normal suspenseful/eventful After a bizarrely slow start, this started coasting slightly more swiftly around Chapter 17, but it didn't really reach a normal suspenseful/eventful speed until halfway through the book. It has the same hero, John Corey, as Plum Island, but quite disappointingly, in no way the same pace....more
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