If you have not read a John Rebus book, and if you like hard-hitting, fast-paced British mysteries, then you have a treat in store for you. I highly recommend Edinburgh's Dick Tracy (DI John...
I've read a few of these. Worst one I've read is Mortal Causes, which is pretty lame. This one is up there with the best as its pretty tight and features a great villain, Big Ger Cafferty. I also...
Author of a Gold Dagger Winner and Edgar nominee, Ian Rankin writes of a detective in Scotland that champions a 5-year old murder investigation. John Rebus, the protagonist, is a rough-hewn...
I originally discovered the Cliff Janeway series by John Dunning when a coworker gave me one for my birthday. I enjoyed that one (The Bookman's Promise, I think), and moved on to The Bookwoman's...
It's a good thing I didn't read the Janeway series in sequence because if I'd started with this I'd never have read another. And that would be a shame, because his writing gets better as the years...
John Dunning's "Booked to Die" was a New York Times best seller, and also won the prestigious Nero Wolfe Award. It is one in his series of Denver police procedurals featuring homicide detective...
Normally I find a plot with so many characters muddled and confusing. No so here! The characters are so well drawn and interesting, each stands clearly on it's own, yet they weave together to...
The small town of Angustias, Puerto Rico has many eccentric residents, but few that are dangerous. The predators come from the United States as Sheriff Luis Gonzales faces a crime wave like none...
This book was recently republished in paperback as Message in the Flames and should be noted in advertisements to avoid dual purchases. Although identified as book three in the series, it was...
"Acqua Alta" is Donna Leon's fifth novel, and in this one she is not plotting at the top of her form. The book has more melodrama than drama; the art fraud schemes seem far-fetched; and the...
I had discovered Donna Leon only recently and most of the books I have read I have really enjoyed. However this one I simply could not get into. It seemed long, drawn out and boring to...
This author does not cease to amaze me. Her books are extremely enjoyable and they are even getting better and better. Usually, in each installment we get to see a particular feature of Venice...
A suspicious death, Scotland Yard, and a full cast of suspects make for an enjoyable whodunit. Kincaid and James as the main police characters are not as vivid as Elizabeth George's Thomas Lynley...
This is the second Deborah Crombie I've read, as I intended to work my way through the series. It is definitely a better book than the first, but still weak in its development of character and...
Jasmine Dent has terminal lung cancer, so her neighbor Duncan Kincaid is not surprised to find her dead body in her apartment one morning. But several small details make Duncan uneasy, and as a...
KJ Erickson is a relatively recent arrival on the scene, but she has certainly hit the ground running. Her writing is crisp and clear, and crackles with authenticity. The dialogue is believable and...
Detectives Mars Bahr and Nettie Fritsch are working the Cold Case Unit in the Minneapolis Police Department. Their assignment is to investigate the sixteen-year old disappearance of convenience...
This is one of James Pattersons greatest books. Alex Cross comes alive in this book. I could not put it down it was that great. I would recommend it to anyone and everyone.
I have a brother who is really interestedin crime fiction and he has spoken highly of this series so I read the books not in order however. this is where you should start.the murderer is an...
This is the first book that I've read by this author, and most definitely the last. It is completely devoid of any craftsmanship;the plot is unbelievably sloppily laid out;the characters are...
I bought two Alleyn books, for the very first time, because they were being compared favorably to Christie. Scales of justice and this book. I was very dissapointed. These books are very...
This novel, which relates the first meeting between Scotland Yard Inspector Roderick Alleyn and the artist Agatha Troy, is both a good mystery and a good picture of what kind of book was popular in...
The Bookcassette Adapter gives you balance control on your headphones and is so easy to use: Plug it into the stereo jack of your personal tapeplayer and then plug your headphones into the other...
I like Pearson. He is better at character development than Michael Connelly. But with this particular novel, there is too much time spent in character development. And there are several characters,...
Sgt. Boldt plunges right into a frightening case full of the fear of fatally frying in fire, friends and foes alike. "Overwrought" for a Pearson novel, that is (Sgt. Boldt is immediately panicked...
After coming across the frozen bodies of two cousins who had gone missing after a string of burglaries, local Sheriff Carl Houseman soon discovers that there's a lot more going on in this rural...
These cops sure do like to eat, with Deputy Sheriff Carl Houseman leading the way to the buffet. This adds a feeling of realism to this entertaining novel set in a truly godforsaken sounding part...
Thirty years ago Julian Symons wrote of police procedurals that "A fair degree of realism is possible, but it cannot be pushed too far for fear that the book might be as dull as the actual days of...
This is the sixth book in the John Rebus series, but I felt like I was reading a different book this time. Rankin appears to have turned a corner with his character with this book. I always loved...
This work by the Scottish author is a good read for the patient reader. Like many works in this genre, there are numerous plots going on that converge about two thirds of the way through this work....
It is my first and last book of Ian Rankin. The book is extremely boring, full of useless subplots, and I could not finish it. Everything goes around the personality of Detective Rebus, who...
This is only the third Connelly book I have read, after reading Echo Park and City Of Bones, I decided to go to the beginning of the series. Bosch is a Vietnam vet and a highly skilled detective in...
The story is fine but half the length of the unabridged Audible.com version. Many books can be improved by being abridged, this was probably not one of those.
I was expecting a lot more after Forty Words for Sorrow, but with this novel Blunt moves a little closer to the paint-by-numbers "genre novel" and a little farther away from what would be a true...
Black Fly Season was also my first introduction to the author. I agree with Gary in all respects. I would add that the emotional portraits of both the...
I really enjoyed FORTY WORDS FOR SORROW, my first exposure to Giles Blunt, and have looked forward to his subsequent work. However, this novel more closely resembles Delicate Storm the Forty...
After years of reading George Pelecanos, James Lee Burke, John Harvery, George V. Higgins, Raymond Chandler, Ross Thomas, and others who can turn a phrase while inducing me to turn a page, I've...
#9 Chief Inspector Alan Banks British police procedural. A young man is found beaten to death in an alley, and and after identifying him, it's discovered that Jason Fox was a member of a white...
This is far from being a favorite among british detective novels. Too much space devoted to side plots, not enough of the whodunnit quality. Definitely not is the same class with Christie, Sayers,...
In his novel, Krueger pays particular attention to the special bond between fathers and daughters, the anguished language of loss, the intricacies of human behavior and the personal flaws that...
If I had to draw up a list of underappreciated crime writers, I think T. Jefferson Parker's name would probably be near the top. Despite the fact that he's written a large number of first-rate...
I've just finished this. And thought that it was really good. I am a big John Sanford/Lucas Davenport fan, and this book was a good substitute. Interesting characters. And I liked how Parker put...
Did I read the same book as all the folks who gave it 4 and 5 stars?
I read the book first and then read the customer reviews. Lately, I've done the opposite, which has spared me from getting stuck with some really bad books. But it wouldn't have mattered with this...
Very poorly written. Loose ends abound. Boring travel to Florence. Side plots not relevant; just filling up pages. Will not read any more Martha Grimes books. They had already become...
I've read about a dozen of the Richard Jury series by Martha Grimes. I'd place this about the middle of the pack. The proposition - unearthed body from a bombed-out WW2 pub may reveal an...
A disjointed departure from the usually outstanding Lew Griffin novels
The fifth book published of the Lew Griffin novels, Bluebottle begins with Lew having just been shot and taken to the hospital. Over the next year as he slowly recovers from his injuries and...
Sallis is clearly at the top of his game (a height most of his peers will never come close to) in this wonderful read. You can taste and smell everything Griffin does ... and the trips back and...
Bluebottle takes place in New Orleans, circa 1975. The main character is Lew Griffin, an African-American PI with an eclectic literary taste. Griffin is shot by an unknown sniper as he exits a...
Bluegate Fields-one of the best in the Pitt series
This book is one of the best in the Pitt series. It is a page turner and kept me entralled to the very last page. I highly recommend reading this book and the Pitt series. I am reading them in order.
Bluegate Fields has an unusual story structure. There are two investigations for one mystery. That device makes what would otherwise be a pretty boring book more interesting.
I am enjoying this in audiobook format. The only disappointment I have is that Charlotte is barely mentioned (I've listened to half of the cd's). Other than that, it is a very good story.
I've read the other reviews and I'm surprised that no one else mentioned the contradictions in this book to previous books regarding the character, Dominic Corde! When Charlotte mentions to...
As a fan of Anne Perry, I look forward to read one of the adventures of Thomas and Charlotte Pitt. However, this latest novel is so disappointing that I am not sure I will ever read another one. As...
A friend is currently working his way through the whole of the Burke body of work. I'm not nearly that dedicated, but I do like his books quite a bit. I believe that I've said before that the best...
Unfortunately, a lot of this sounds like the same old story
Once again JLB has Dave dealing with people he knew back in New Orleans and Vietnam. Again it's some one who grew up around the Mafia in NO and he dealt with when he was in NOPD. Again it's a...
I should have given up on this early on but I finished it and now I feel completely robbed of time that could have gone elsewhere. The only upside is I listened to this in the car...
Story about an 'old flame' isn't Mark's hottest novel
Mark Billingham is one of those authors on my 'Buy Everything he Writes' list - he made a strong impact on me with his earlier works (Sleepy Head, Scaredy Cat and, in particular, Lazy Bones) and I...
Oy vey! This is my first--and last--Martha Grimes. No respect for forensics. Tedious characters (the Scotland Yard guy hires an illiterate numbskull with illegible handwriting for his...
I hadn't read a Martha Grimes Richard Jury mystery in some time, but I found her even better than I had remembered. All the characters seemed compelling, interestingly developed, and except for...
I will admit that NOT ONLY have I NOT read all of Grimes' work, but that what I have read has been all out of order. In her works before 2000, that didn't seem to matter too much. There was some...
Seldom can anything achieve perfection in this mundane world, but this delicious mystery comes very close. In this enjoyable story, Dee sets out on his first posting as a district magistrate but...
This book is typical Stuart Woods. It is good and enjoyable as a day read kind of book. Lots of sex, money and power, and then more casual sex. There was enough suspense to keep my interest, just...
I read this book OVER 10 years ago. My father made me read it to keep me busy during a road trip. I loved the book but I was never big on reading AT THE TIME.. Needless to say, the next year I...
While waiting for some other books to arrive, I found this one burried in my book bin and decided to give it a try. While it was not a total waste of time, I can say for certain that I will never...
I love Marsh and thought this mystery would be good for the story basically had Troy as a major character. But it was too confusing by going back and forth with Alleyn teaching a class and then...
This is a lovely, well-written mystery with a somewhat unusual structure. It vacillates between Superintendent Alleyn instructing a police course and the events (told as if in the present)...
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