I read a lot of books as I review books for an indie bookstore in SLC, Utah. I'm also a writer. The Mary Mac trilogy is out now.
The Nikki Doyle trilogy (Rollover, Thunderball and Ms. Scarlett) can also be found at your local indie. Excalibur - the Nikki/Mary crossover was just published.
N.B My blurbs give you just a taste of the plot. Reviews are a pretty subjective matter but the books you'll find here are books I have read and loved.
Dec 2, 2014
Moriarty, Anthony Horowitz
Changes
I am also looking into doing some book talks via FaceTime and posting some audio reviews on the website. The only review for this month is Moriarty by Anthony Horowitz, enjoy.
Sep 12, 2014
Stone Wife, Peter Lovesey
Hold The Dark, William Giraldi
The Secret Place, Tana French
The Button Man, Mark Pryor
Summer of the Dead, Julia Keller
Dead Line, Chris Ewan
A Deadly Wandering, Matt Richtel
Communications Breakdown
For those of us lucky enough to hang out with him, he was larger than life, full of energy, full of wisecracks too and he's the only guy I know whose name we could use as a verb. Safe travels Astro Boy.
Life however keeps going full throttle and so the September picks are a little late and mystery giveaway is being tweaked, enjoy.
Aug 5, 2014
And the winner is...
Jun 24, 2014
Recyling plot ideas
Here's the crazy thing, the next book (Excalibur) has a launch party close to the beginning and I'd been looking for a recognizable venue. Somewhere big enough to have a ton of guests but small enough to control access and keep the press at bay and I was going to use the naval academy at Greenwich because I was only there a couple of months ago and the details are still fresh. I started writing it and Greenwich wouldn't work, felt flat and then I remembered Battersea Power Station. I saw it every morning we were in London because our hotel room was high up and facing towards it. A quick search of my story idea folder and there it was, it needed a couple of character changes but it slotted right in. I wrote that nearly two years ago! How cool, and weird is that?
Jun 23, 2014
The Silkworm
Galbraith/Rowling develops both Strike and Robin (one review I read said Robin had nothing to do in this one, I disagree) Both have their backgrounds expanded, Strike's experiences in Afghanistan and Robin, oh and she's been taking some courses on the quiet I won't tell you which because I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise.
Jun 10, 2014
New Project
Jun 5, 2014
Amazon = Goliath
And we're back with everyone else. I speak as a recovering addict, ten years ago I used Amazon for everything and then we moved to the US and I started working in a bookstore and writing a novel and everything changed. First I had access to the trades, the blogs and newsletters that booksellers and librarians use and I didn't like what I was seeing. Also Amazon moved from being just a supplier to a publisher (Create space) self publishing was exploding and they wanted some of that action. And the fact that they don't pay sales tax and bricks and mortar stores do, that turned the tide for me. The thing that made me kick my Amazon habit completely was an article. Amazon uses books as 'loss leaders' it makes no profit whatsoever on books, it actually loses money. It makes money on all the other things you can buy on that site. Then came the e reader, where you 'rent' books from Amazon, yes I did say rent and that is because even though you have purchased the title if Amazon chooses to, they can take it off your e reader without your permission. Don't believe me? hop onto Google and search 'Amazon 1984 kindle' (yes the George Orwell title, pause for irony) oh and while you're there look up the definition of a 'monopsony' because that is what is happening in the publishing world right now. Amazon is now so powerful that it thinks it can dictate terms to publishers to drive down the price of books even more. If Hachette falls, then Penguin Random, and S&S etc aren't going to be far behind. In the short term consumers get cheap books but what happens when there is no competition left? Think about that for a minute. Amazon breakfast cereal, Amazon pants, Amazon furniture, Amazon smart phones (I'm extrapolating from where we are now.)
Now the cynics among you will be saying, 'she's jealous of the competition' nothing could be further from the truth. My passion is books, bookselling is in my DNA, it took me a long time to realize that I am a born book seller. I read voraciously, I get behind authors you've never heard of because I love what they write, their inventiveness. Authors are like rock stars to me, and I get to interact with book lovers like myself every time I go to work. Our dining room table is covered in books. Do you know how long it takes to write a book? For some it can take years, each book, each writer is unique in their style of writing, in their plots, in the times and places they write. Their ideas can inspire new authors, change lives, there is no way to put words in a blender and come up with a book, one size is never going to fit all.
Just one last question before I pack up my soap box. Today, how many of you have commented on 'Goodreads', shopped on 'Zappos' bought second hand books from 'Abebooks', used 'IMDb' to look up a movie or tv show, purchased audiobooks from 'Audible.com' used 'Zyna', 'Netflix' ('LoveFilm' in the UK) 'Foursquare' or 'Dropbox'? Then you have wittingly or unwittingly had an Amazon experience today. Do we really want a world where everything comes from or goes through Amazon? Bez-topia? Bor-ing!
Please note that this article has been researched and written by me, my opinions may not match yours but isn't that what debate is all about?
Jun 2, 2014
The Late Scholar, Jill Patton Walsh
His Grace, wife Harriet Vane and their faithful manservant Bunter travel to Oxford and between then uncover a seething fury beneath the veneer of the gentlemen scholars, and more than one murder.
N.B This is the second of Jill Patton Walsh's continuation of Dorothy L Sayers beloved series.
Canyon Sacrifice, Scott Graham
Chuck is keen to show his new wife and ready-made family the beauties of the Grand Canyon, but he is still stumbling over the dual roles of husband and father. When one of the girls goes missing Chuck is certain that someone close to him has guessed his secret, a find he chanced upon deep in the Canyon many years ago. Something precious to the Anasazi, something he is determined to preserve. He knows will sacrifice anything to get his daughter back but even he isn’t prepared for the actions, or identity, of her captor.
The Director, David Ignatius
Weber has a mountain to climb; the old guard don’t want him to shake things up as he has promised to do. Some want him to succeed, most want him to fail. As Weber’s tenure begins, a scruffy young kid walks into the US embassy in Berlin with a message for the new broom. “The CIA has been hacked, we’re reading all of your encrypted data.”
Weber has to use all the analogue assets he has to find the leak before an army of hackers launches an all-out assault on a pillar of anglo-US co-operation that goes all the way back to 1945. If they can bring it down a new era will begin and Weber may be powerless to stop them.
Identity, Ingrid Thoft
Fina is hired by the dead man’s son, on the understanding that nothing is off limits if he wants to find his father’s killer. As she starts turning over rocks all kinds of suspects and motives emerge. Fina knows she’s getting close when the killer threatens her, that she can handle, but when the target moves to her niece Haley, Fina has to take action.
Action is required on the home front too, because Fina’s brother Rand is determined to worm his way back into the family and her father seems ready to put out the welcome mat and for Haley’s sake Fina cannot let that happen.
Vertigo 42 (A Richard Jury mystery), Martha Grimes
Jury’s initial investigations seem to point in that direction. He also uncovers another ‘accidental death’, this time a drowning on that same estate. Five years before her death Tess held a party for six local children and one little girl died. Jury and Wiggins, his sergeant, try and track down the other kids at the same time as Jury pokes his nose into an apparent suicide close to his friend Melrose Plant’s North Hampshire home. Just when Richard Jury thinks he has worked out the identity of the guilty party the case takes a twist worthy of Hitchcock.
If this is your first Richard Jury mystery (how could I have missed this gem of a series?) then go back to the beginning and pick up The Man with a Load of Mischief, the first Richard Jury novel.
An update and new for June
Our second thing was two readings by authors who have been to TKE before (Chris Ewan (with author James Carroll) and Peter Lovesey.) Due to a baby (Chris) and no current plans to come to the US (Peter) we went to them. Both readings, at Waterstones flagship store in Piccadilly, were fantastic, although I learned from Chris that the Good Thief's Guide series is pretty much dead. He will continue to write stand alone novels, I have a copy of Dead Line to read and review.
Peter's reading was great too, he joked that there were so many familiar faces in the audience that he was expecting a hand on his shoulder and "Peter Lovesey, this is your life," to be intoned by whoever is doing that show now!
You'd think that would be plenty for one month, but no. We also had Jenny Milchman, author of Cover of Snow (Mary Higgins Clark award-winner at this year's Edgars!) come back to TKE for her new book Ruin Falls. Jenny is in the midst of another long 'all over america' book tour. As I'm writing this she and the family have reached California and they are not done yet. Jenny has been incredibly supportive of my writing, even though she has yet to read any of it (!!) I did the intro for Jenny and we had a pretty good turnout for a Friday evening.
I also joined Sisters in Crime and have just written a two page piece for their newsletter. Those of you who know how long it takes me to write a five minute intro can guess how long that took! Add to that a bathroom remodel and a land rover safari and May was just packed. Enjoy these new releases!
May 5, 2014
The Skin Collector, Jeffery Deaver
In the depths of a brutal New York fall, a killer stalks the underground passages and basements of the city. He literally inks his victims to death, using a tattoo gun loaded with poison. Lincoln Rhyme is drawn into the case and he and his partner Amelia Sachs are soon on the killer’s tail. What is the significance of the killer’s message, the locations, the fascination he seems to hold for the Bone Collector, the case that brought Rhyme and Sachs together in the first place.
Oblivious New Yorkers face a threat of biblical proportions, one that only Rhyme can detect and stop, and the killer knows where he lives.
The Son, Jo Nesbo
And for some people that would be very bad news indeed.
N.B. This is not a Harry Hole novel.
The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair, Joel Dicker
Enfolded in the small seaside town of Somerset, Marcus stumbles on a stunning fact. Harry had an affair with 15 year old Nola Kellergan, a waitress at Clarks diner and when a body is found on Harry’s property clutching a damning piece of evidence the writer is arrested, his book withdrawn from sale. In the court of public opinion he’s already been found guilty.
Marcus begins his own investigation into Harry and Nola, juggling ever approaching deadlines and legal threats with discovering the secret that someone killed to keep hidden 33 years ago. Can Marcus save the man he owes his writing career to and what will that do to their friendship? This book within a book (which unseated Dan Brown from the top spot in Europe) has twists, turns and surprises galore and will keep you guessing right up to the final page.
The Devil’s Workshop, Alex Grecian
While Inspector Day’s officers are determined to recapture them, Day himself finds his investigations hampered by an old mentor who seeks a different kind of justice for the escapees.
And deep below London’s streets waits the unthinkable, one whose name caused a city wide panic, now freed to kill again.
Invisible City, Julia Dahl
23 years later Rebekah, now a stringer for the NY Tribune is called to report on a murder. The victim, Rivka Mendelssohn is removed from the crime scene by Hasidics and Rebekah, aided by an old friend of her mother’s is drawn into their closed world, where people like her mother suffocated under the secretive religion and mental disorders are allowed to run unchecked.
The story has everything a cub reporter could need to make their career, corruption, murder, madness but will Rebekah break the story before it breaks her?
Water Rat of Wanchai, Ian Hamilton
Ava makes quick work of tracking the money the hard part is going to be getting the account holder out of his bolt hole in Guyana and convincing him to give the money back. To do that Ava has to deal with Captain Roberts and his little brother Jack, who think they can push Ava around. Big mistake.
Jack of Spies, David Downing
Jack falls for Caitlin but she may not feel the same way. Her San Francisco based family has ties to some dangerous alliances, connections that Jack may have to exploit to complete his mission. The world is lurching towards war; and Jack’s got to choose between his personal and professional lives, and either decision will cost him dearly.
I Am Pilgrim, Terry Hayes
Fasting moving and chillingly plausible, Hayes delivers a thrilling debut.
Marvelous May reads
I took the opportunity to do a bit of research for book #4, managed to communicate in Dutch without making an ass of myself. So there is my excuse for the May post being late, it's a pretty impressive one:-)
Apr 2, 2014
The Intern’s Handbook, Shane Kuhn
One of three high powered NY lawyers is selling off witness protection files to the highest bidder, HR Inc task John to discover the partner’s identity and then kill him. Problem is that the FBI is already on the case in the seductive shape of Alice, she’s just John’s type but he’s not sure how far down this particular rabbit hole he’s prepared to go.
John throws his readers plenty of twists, turns and curveballs but will he make it to retirement or is The Intern’s Handbook posthumous? I guarantee you’ll never look at an intern the same way again.
Ruin Falls, Jenny Milchman
Liz starts to look through Paul’s papers, his laptop and what she finds paints a disturbing picture. How long has he been planning this? And then the warnings start, if Liz digs too deep into Paul’s past she will be stopped. Liz is determined to risk everything to get her kids back-even her own life. But Paul has put his entire family in danger, because it wasn’t his plan…
The Collector of Dying Breaths, M J Rose
When she meets the owner, an eccentric heiress, Jac learns of Rene la Florentine, plucked from a death sentence to become perfumier to Catherine de Medici. The queen didn’t just use him to make perfumes and he pursued the heresy that a person’s soul could be preserved and transferred to another body, just by capturing their last breath. Robbie and Jac’s friend and lover Griffin North were in the midst of recreating that formula.
As Jac watches Rene’s heartbreaking story play out, the heiress becomes increasingly erratic. The woman will do anything to preserve her legacy no matter who is in her way. But as Jac’s time lines criss-cross she learns Rene’s terrible secret and this could cost her Griffin’s life.
Under A Silent Moon, Elizabeth Haynes
Operation Nettle; DCI Louisa Smith’s first murder case as lead investigator. Polly was a vital young woman who didn’t know the meaning of the word monogamy. According to the village gossips of Briarstone, Polly had slept with half the population. Did one of them kill her? Complicating Lou’s case is the apparent suicide of Polly’s next door neighbour. Polly’s employer is Nigel Maitland, a crooked farmer with lawyers on tap, his daughter was in a relationship with Polly.
Lou needs a result before the case goes cold and her resources get re-assigned. She’d be happy to lose her DI, Andy Hamilton, the pair have some uncomfortable history, but one of her team is about to get themselves in way over their head.
The Word Exchange, Alena Graedon
Ana, her friend Bart and the dwindling members of the Diachronic Society are the only obstacles standing in the path of the mighty Synchronic Corporation’s crusade to own language but even Synchronic have no idea of the firestorm they are about to unleash.
Graedon has taken our current technology obsession and extrapolated from there, you might cut down on your smartphone use after reading this.
Mar 2, 2014
Murder in Pigalle, Cara Black
A serial rapist is attacking young girls in their own homes and when he escalates to murder and Zazie, the daughter of the proprieter of Aimee’s favourite cafĂ© goes missing, Aimee isn’t going to wait around like the flics. Zazie is running out of time, it may already be too late.
The Enchanted, Rene Denfeld
Not all are prisoners. There are the fallen priest, the warden, the corrupt guard and the lady. The prisoner worries for the lady, her job is to exonerate death row inmates and her latest project is York, who thinks the world would be better without him in it.
The enchanted is a strangely beautiful little novel about life, death and redemption.
The Accident, Chris Pavone
Some say it’s a hoax. Isabel is convinced that this is the real deal but even she never anticipated the shocking truths and lies exposed by the author.
Settle in for this literary thrill ride, from the author of The Expats.
Blood Will Out, Walter Kirn
At the time Kirn was an aspiring author ‘Up In the Air’ hadn’t happened yet and he helped out with the dog thing as a favour for some friends in his new home of Montana. When Clark asks if he can come to stay for a couple of weeks Kirn, now a new father with writing deadlines to meet turns him down and as we’ll see it’s a good job he did.
Knightley and Son, Rohan Gavin
Darkus, now living with his mum Jackie and stepfather Clive (a TV presenter on a cut-price version of Top Gear) has been reading his dad’s case files, unknowingly adding ‘the knowledge’ to his already agile brain.
Knightley senior emerges from his coma just as The Code a new self-help release tops the best seller lists. The book has been having a weird effect on select members of the public, making them do bad, sometimes unspeakable things. Knightley, convinced that shadowy organization ‘the combination’ are behind it somehow, picks up his investigation right where he left off, except the hard drive containing his case files has vanished. The only copy is in Darkus’s head, which puts Knightley junior and his brainy stepsister Tilly right in the firing line as Alan Knightley keeps dozing off at the most inopportune moments. The pair take on ‘the combination’ with the help of Uncle Bill from SO42, Knightley’s housekeeper Bogna who wields a mean frying pan and is also a great cook and occasional help from Jackie and hindrance from Clive.
Unlike some middle reader books where the adults are ciphers, Knightley and Son has a cast of rich characters, fun, excitement and dangerous situations all served up with lashings of humour, more please!
Feb 5, 2014
Seven Grams of Lead, Keith Thompson
A soviet scientist is dead and the while the media are busy blaming the Russians thereby jacking up the tension between Russia and the US, Thornton voices a different opinion causing someone high up to take a rather unusual interest in him. One of Thornton’s sources just got erased and he’s been turned into a walking transmitter. What Thornton discovers will bring a whole new meaning to the word ‘insider’ and what he doesn’t know is that he’s the only thing standing between a catastrophic attack that could wipe Washington DC off the map for good.
Jan 1, 2014
Shadow Protocol, Andy McDermott
New addition to Adam’s team Dr. Bianca Childs awakens the realization that he has no memory of who he was before he joined the ‘Persona’ program. Could it be that the greatest threat to America is Adam Grey himself?
Never heard of S J Bolton?
Having worked this out I ordered a copy of Now You See Me, the first in the Lacey Flint series and wow. Even though the book is about a serial killer who seems to want to keep young DC Flint very close to the case, it's not that gory, your imagination fills in the blanks. The plot is the definition of twisty turn-y and just when you think you know what's going on the action shifts. It's clever without arrows saying 'look at me I'm clever' I loved it. Dead Scared is on order. NB Bolton has written other stand alone books, including Awakening, Lost and Blood Sacrifice.
The Dead In Their Vaulted Arches, Alan Bradley
So says the stranger on the station platform. Before Flavia de Luce can find out more the man has an unfortunate accident. Harriet is coming home to Buckshaw one final time and to distract herself from her mother's impending return, Flavia raids the attic, unearthing an old reel of film. Footage of her mother and father in happier times.
As Harriet's funeral draws ever closer questions crowd Flavia's mind, who shot the footage? how many branches of the De Luce family are there? and why on earth are those in the know talking about pheasant sandwiches?
Flavia hatches a plan to resurrect her mother and the De Luce fortunes at a stroke, the plan veers off course but Flavia and her trusty bunsen burner are about to reveal a shocking secret one that could take her away from her beloved Buckshaw forever.
Blood Promise, Mark Pryor
The matter takes on a different complexion when fingerprints taken from the senator’s room link one of the guests at the Chateau to an unsolved crime. A murder that unearthed a secret dating back nearly two centuries; one that puts Hugo’s close friends in danger.
This is the third in the Hugo Marston series (Bookseller and Crypt Thief)
The Last Dead Girl, Harry Dolan
David begins obsessing about the same things Jana did, but as he retraces her steps, he doesn’t realize that Jana’s killer is watching his every move.
The Red Pole of Macau, Ian Hamilton
Michael and his business partner have money tied up in a lucrative land deal that is rapidly becoming a nightmare. Ava’s plan to rescue the business blows apart when kidnapping enters the equation. Hesitant to involved her partner Uncle in her family business Ava has to seek help from May Ling Wong who has her own reasons for wanting to mend fences with the forensic accountant. Ava is on a rescue mission and somebody is going to get hurt.
The Girl with a Clock for a Heart, Peter Swanson
Happy 2014!
There are many others so consider this a taster.
I do a regular 'mystery pick' on TKE's blog now and you can also find me on Riffle (which is way better than goodreads imho)