Cadillac Beach by Tim Dorsey:  Tim Dorsey has really hit his stride with Cadillac Beach, another maniacal ride through the Florida scene. Serge the psychopathic history buff, has found his niche as a historical tour guide in Miami. Murph the Surf, the Beatles appearance on the Ed Sullivan show in Miami Beach and of course, just 92 miles across the sea, Fidel Castro. All are grist for Serge's mill.
    This time out, the ever-obsessive Serge is making a list - launch business, solve grandfather mystery, embarrass Castro, restore CIA pride (after the Bay of Pigs invasion), decimate mob, find gems. It is quite a list. But Serge has help - his sidekick Lenny Lipowicz, still smoking dope at 48 and still living with his parents - and the two cocaine "party girls," Town and Country.
    Just like Santa Claus, in his heart, Serge knows who is naughty and who is nice. Unlike Santa, the outcome for those who are not nice in Serge's universe is far worse than a lump of coal.
    Dorsey's pace is non-stop and each page is funnier than the next. Buy two copies of this book - one for yourself and one to send someone from out of state. Neither of you will regret it. 03/04 ~This review contributed by Geoffrey R. Hamlin.

A CALCULATED RISK by Katherine Neville:  If you enjoyed the 1999 film Entrapment starring Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta-Jones, you will love this one.  Verity (True) Banks is a 32 year old “bankette” who specializes in bank systems security and whose career path has just been short circuited by her bumbling jealous boss.  This leads her to accept a challenge from her former mentor, a reclusive computer genius/Renaissance man, Dr. Zoltan Tor.  Which of them can steal $1 billion, and invest it to earn $30 million in only three months? (Of course, the money will be returned, and no one will be injured.)  And so, the race is on.  I didn’t complete this one in a single night, only because #1 USC was playing and getting beaten by Oregon State.  I loved it. 10/08 Jack Quick   

CALIFORNIA GIRL by T. Jefferson Parker: Back in 1954, the Becker brothers, David, Nick, Clay and Andy, win a fight with the Vonn brothers at the Sunblesst orange packinghouse. Afterwards, the Vonns' little sisters, Lynette and Janelle, show up to throw rocks at the Beckers. In 1968, Janelle is back at the packinghouse, only now she's lying dead on the floor, her decapitated head several feet from her torso. Nick is with the county sheriff's department working his first case as lead detective, brother Clay has been killed in Vietnam, Andy is a reporter on a local newspaper and David is a minister. More twists and turns than a back mountain fire trail – can you believe Richard Nixon as a cameo? One of Parker’s best. 03/06 Jack Quick

CALCULATED LOSS by Linda L. Richards:  Madeline Carter's ex-husband committed suicide, or so she was told.  But her ex, the chef, certainly wouldn't have done it by preparing a poisonous duck à l'orange.  But the real giveaway that this suicide was really a murder?  The wine that was served with the duck was a shiraz, a definite no-no to any self-respecting chef.  Madeline goes to the police with her suspicions, but they blow her off.  Since theirs was an amicable divorce, Madeline feels determined to figure out what really happened to her ex.  This is a fun, fast mystery and book three of the series.  Hopefully, there will be more to come.  09/06 Stacy Alesi, AKA The BookBitch

CALCULATED LOSS By Linda L. Richards: Madeline Carter is a former New York stockbroker turned day trader, now living in Malibu. In this third outing she learns that Braydon, star of the Food Network and her former husband, is dead, officially a suicide. When she goes to Vancouver to the funeral, her ex-mother-in-law asks her to look into the business Braydon has built, thinking something is amiss. Those initial suspicions are confirmed when Madeline learns Braydon supposedly killed himself through dining on a poisoned duck a l'orange and beef Shiraz. Knowing Braydon would never have had that type of combination meal because of the conflicts in taste, she begins seriously investigating. This brings out all kinds of suspicions regarding possible financial malfeasance that led to the murder of Braydon and might even precipitate a second “suicide” if she isn’t careful. Well plotted and well written.  10/06 Jack Quick.

CALIBRE by Ken Bruen:  Using the same mechanism as Ed McBain’s 87^th Precinct outing, FAT OLLIE’S BOOK, Bruen has Inspector Brant writing his first crime novel, to be called CALIBRE.  Although Brant can’t write, he can pick up stories from his peers, and he can, in his own, blundering take-no-prisoners fashion catch criminals.  In this case, the “Manners Killer” (Jim Thompson’s THE KILLER INSIDE ME) who thinks anyone misbehaving in public is fair game to be added to his victim list.  With anyone else, this all might be derivative, but you can always count on Bruen to give it his own special nuance and with his unique sparse prose, pull it all together.  VIXEN was good but CALIBRE is better. 01/08 Jack Quick

CALUMET CITY by Charlie Newton:  What a great name for a mystery.  The book itself supports the title with cool artwork and pages that feel gritty and dirty.  Patti Black is Chicago's most decorated cop, with a secret past.  Several unrelated cases threaten to reveal her horrific childhood as an abused runaway and teenage rape victim, so Patti goes on the hunt for Roland Gantz, who she suspects is behind the crimes.  She must also find her adopted son whom she thinks Roland is also trying to find.  From Chicago to Calumet City to Arizona, a houseboat on Lake Michigan, a disintegrating slum building – a shoot out, a tornado.  I mean, what more could you possible expect.  If you can’t deal with violence, don’t even start. 08/08 Jack Quick

CANDLES BURNING by Tabitha King and Michael McDowell: On Calliope Carroll Dakin’s seventh birthday, her father is found murdered in a very “unpleasant” way. Upon the reading of his will, it is discovered that the family fortune is gone. Fearful, Calley and her mother flee to Merrymeeting, a boarding home in Pensacola Beach, Florida. Here, a rotating round of regular visitors, along with owner Merry Verlow, provide Calley with a sort of supportive family unit. The supernatural elements of this story are more peripheral than anything -- Calley is occasionally visited by ghosts but the purpose of these visits is usually unclear. There is talk of her large ears that enable her to hear the dead, an element that is not fully developed until the story is almost through. More than anything this is a strange sort of coming of age story. The pacing is somewhat slow, but deliberate, and forces you to savor the book. Though we can never know how the story may have progressed had the McDowell completed it prior to his death, I think King did a fantastic job. The transition between authors is, to me, seamless. Readers more familiar with either of these authors’ past works may be able to discern their individual styles but it won’t effect the overall enjoyment of the book. 11/06 Becky LeJeune

CANDY APPLE DEAD by Sammi Carter: Abby Shaw is a snoop. However, she has a good reason. When the owner of a men’s clothing store in Paradise, Colorado dies in a fire, Abby’s brother is the primary suspect. Abby isn’t as familiar with town politics as she thought, since she just moved home and took over Divinity, her aunt’s candy shop. She butts heads with some of the other store owners, as well as with the policeman investigating the case. This is a fun mystery with an intriguing main character. Abby has problems and weaknesses in her personal life, but she is strong enough to try to prove to the community that her brother is not a murderer. As has become common, Carter includes a few candy recipes in this debut mystery. Abby Shaw is an interesting new addition to the mystery field in the first “Candy Shop Mystery.” 12/05 Lesa Holstine

CANDY FROM STRANGERS by Mark Coggins:  Veteran P.I. Augustus Riordan is trying to help his cross-dressing friend and assistant, Chris Duckworth, avoid a beating when he discovers the fresh corpse of a missing teenage girl in a San Francisco alley.  Then Ellen Stockwell calls.  Her husband is a Palo Alto police lieutenant and their daughter Caroline, an 18-year old art school student, hasn’t been seen in three weeks.  Riordan’s search for Caroline leads him to additional gruesome discoveries and into the undercover world of Internet sexual predators.  Is Riordan San Francisco’s version of Robert Parker’s Boston PI, Spenser?  Could be, could be.  At least this is his third strong outing so far.  12/07 Jack Quick

CAPE PERDIDO by Marcia Muller: Muller steps outside her Sharon McCone series for a new adventure in Northern California’s Soledad County – this one pitting environmental interests against the plans of developers. In this case international developers want to harvest water from the Perdido River and transport it in huge bladders down the coast to the Southern California cities that need it. The locals know this will destroy the remnants of their tourist-based economy. This book is interesting in that succeeding chapters are written from the standpoint of different characters, and today’s events are the natural outcome of a single night many years ago. A different pace but still the same strong talent. 08/05 ~This review contributed by Jack Quick.

CARNIVAL by Elizabeth Bear: I don’t mind books that are challenging to read, as long as they reward you for your hard work. This book, though, just seemed difficult for no reason.
    It has a great premise—two gay men are sent as diplomats from Earth to a planet that is entirely run by women, since they will not allow any straight men from outside to visit. All them men on the planet are more or less slaves, most required to fight in gladiator-style tests until they retire to father children for the women. The women are the political and business leaders, and they’re really badass—they fight duels and wear pistols and get involved with all kinds of political machinations.
    Then there’s this whole other thing, where the city they live in is kind of a sentient entity, and there are these dragon things that…protect them? Or something? And the earth government is run by computers that were invented by environmental extremists who killed off almost the entire population except for the creative geniuses, I think.
    The main problem I had was that there was just too much going on, and I couldn’t tell what the characters were even trying to do, much less what their loyalties were. Even the ending was confusing. Still, I did finish it, and I would probably read something else by the author, since I like her ideas. 05/07 Jenne Bergstrom

CARPE DEMON: Adventures of a Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom by Julie Kenner: Carpe Demon had a great deal of potential. Kate Connor retired from her career as a demon hunter to raise a family in San Diablo, CA. She let her hunting skills lapse, and she’s perfectly happy throwing cocktail parties, raising a toddler and carpooling for a teenage daughter. She’s not prepared when a demon attacks her in her own kitchen. As much as I wanted to like this book, there’s too much suburban mom and not enough demon hunter. Kate’s fears for her family cloud her judgment, but too much family clouds the story. 08/05 ~This review contributed by Lesa Holstine.

A CARRION DEATH by Michael Stanley:  Michael Stanley is the pen name of the writing team of Michael Sears and Stanley Trollop.  Sears lives in South Africa and Trollop divides his time between South Africa and Minneapolis.  I include this information because there is no trace of Minnesota in this first outing by the duo.  Its strictly Africa and you can feel the heat, smell the dank vegetation and acrid animal smell on every page.  This is home for Detective David “Kubu” Bengu of the Botswana Criminal Investigation Department.  Like the hippopotamus ("Kubu" is Setswana for "hippopotamus") that lives in his native land Bengu conceals a deceptively dangerous streak beneath a placid exterior.  His large size is in keeping with his presence, whether it is on the sun-baked and blood soaked plains of the Kalahrai riverbeds or the plush and lavish offices of international conglomerates, Kubu will follow the trail to its end.  A welcome addition to the likes of Kaminsky’s Porfiry Rostnikov, Martin Cruz Smith’s Arkady Renko, and even Ian Rankin’s John Rebus as larger than life, imminently entertaining but also flawed detectives who can’t be bought, or scared off.  Looking forward to the next outing. 06/08 Jack Quick  

CARROT CAKE MURDER by Joanne Fluke: Family reunions can be deadly, especially when the black sheep returns. Hannah Swensen’s business partner took time off for a family reunion, but no one expected Uncle Gus to return to Lake Eden, Minnesota. When he does show up, it turns out there are a number of people with reasons to hate him, from the women he dumped, to the men he borrowed money from. After he’s killed, though, the women turn to Hannah for help in the investigation. Fluke’s latest mystery has terrific looking recipes, as usual. However, Hannah still can’t decide if she’s in love with Norman or Mike, and this is starting to become an issue for Fluke’s readers. This cozy mystery series is starting to drag. 04/08 Lesa Holstine

CASANEGRA by Blair Underwood, Steven Barnes, Tananarive Due: Casablanca is Spanish for white house, casanegra means black house. In this black oriented adventure Actor Underwood (Sex and the City, etc.) teams up with accomplished authors Due and Barnes to produce a romp through Hollywood. Tennyson Hardwick, a semi-successful actor, ex-gigolo and incipient sleuth has to clear himself from a murder charge using his good looks and charm, a $2.5 million house inherited from a devoted client, martial arts skills and connections on both sides of the law. All the elements are there to create an on-going series -- the sex for pay industry, the grind and glitz of Hollywood and the rap biz, some black film history, and a cool dude with a future. Could this be the John Shaft of the new millennium? 09/07 Jack Quick 

CASE HISTORIES by Kate Atkinson:  Private detective Jackson Brodie is trying to resolve three old London cases.  Two sisters are looking for their missing sister, a retired lawyer is seeking the killer of his adult daughter, and the sibling of a killer is trying to reunite with a niece who witnessed the murder as a baby.  Brodie’s efforts heat up all three cases in this tale of family dysfunction and random fate.  To me, the book suffers from too many characters.  Although well-written, you have to maintain a scorecard to keep up with the shifting cast.  A case of too much spice and not enough stew. 01/06 Jack Quick

A Case of Imagination by Jane Tesh: Madeline Maclin Investigations is floundering, so the former beauty queen turned detective agrees to accompany her “psychic” friend Jerry to the house he inherited in Celosia, North Carolina. Despite her distaste for anything related to beauty pageants, Madeline immediately accepts a job to determine who is trying to sabotage the local contest. At the same time, she worries about Jerry, whose failing relationship brings out the oddest suggestions from him. Together, they investigate his house, and the “haunted house” of a local poet. Tesh’s first mystery features a unique voice, a divorced beauty queen who became an investigator. Madeline’s struggles with her relationships will be welcome features in future books. 03/06 Lesa Holstine

THE CAT DANCERS by P.T. Deutermann:  Two lowlifes escape punishment after robbing a gas station, murdering the attendant, and incinerating bystanders when they shoot up the gas pumps, because the Manceford County, North Carolina, police failed to read the suspects their rights. Soon thereafter, a mysterious e-mail arrives in the department, a link to a video of one of the murderers being executed in a homemade electric chair, ending with a voice announcing, “That’s one.” The shocking video spreads throughout the Internet, drawing the attention of local, state, and federal authorities and national media, and putting intense pressure on these same authorities to find the vigilante before he claims his second victim. Outstanding.  05/06 Jack Quick

The Cat Who Dropped a Bombshell by Lilian Jackson Braun: Pickax City is celebrating it’s sesquicentennial in the latest book in the series featuring a newspaper man, Qwilleran, and his two Siamese cats, Koko and Yum Yum. As in recent books, the mystery is so slight that it’s not even important. This is just a return to familiar territory and beloved characters for all of us who faithfully read this fluffy series just for that. How will Koko indicate a crime has been committed? What are Qwill, Polly, Arch, Mildred and the rest of the residents of Pickax City doing this year? It’s a light, one night, comfort story when that’s all the reader needs. 01/06 Lesa Holstine

Cattery Row by Clea Simon: Theda Krakow, freelance journalist, music and cat lover, returns in the successful sequel to Mew Is For Murder. As Theda struggles with a flagging career and problems with her relationship with her boyfriend, she realizes she still has her friends and love of music. Those interests collide with her new magazine assignment, to update the profiles of four career women. Theda learns that two of those women have been threatened, and then she discovers the body of her friend Rose, breeder of pedigreed cats. When she probes further, she learns pedigreed cats have been stolen lately from catteries. Simon’s story is more polished in this sequel, as Theda struggles to bring her worlds together in an intriguing mystery for cat lovers or mystery readers who appreciate interesting characters.  09/06 Lesa Holstine

CELEBUTANTES by Amanda Goldberg and Ruthanna Khalighi Hopper: Hollywood's newest generation takes a swipe at life in La La Land; Goldberg is the offspring of über-producer Leonard Goldberg, and Hopper is Easy Rider Dennis Hopper's progeny. Together they've penned the story of Lola Santisi, daughter of a powerful director who's up for his second Oscar.  The story is set during Oscar week, and each chapter counts down the days and hours until the big event.  Every party, picnic and religious event is documented with inside dirt, dish and name dropping galore, along with some thinly veiled pseudonyms - even though I was completely out of my element, I managed to pick up on the "Uncle Jon"/Jack Nicholson reference.  After flopping big in her acting debut, Lola turns her talents to helping her Best Gay Forever friend Julian Tennant, wannabe fashion designer to the stars, by getting one of the A-List celebrities to wear one of his gowns on the red carpet at the Oscars.  If you read People magazine religiously and channel surf between ET, Showbiz Tonight or whatever celebrity gossip shows there are out there, then this is the book for you.  For me, reading this book was rather like watching a train wreck; I was disturbed, shocked, even horrified at times, but couldn't stop looking.  03/08 Stacy Alesi, AKA The BookBitch

CERTAIN GIRLS by Jennifer Weiner:  Weiner writes good chick-lit.  She's the author of In Her Shoes, which became a blockbuster movie with Cameron Diaz and Toni Collette.  Weiner's first novel was the chick-lit bestseller Good in Bed and Certain Girls is the sequel. In Good in Bed, our heroine Candace "Cannie" Shapiro gets dumped and reads about it in a magazine article written by the dumper.  In retaliation, she writes a very angry, very funny novel that becomes a huge bestseller.  Now we meet up with Cannie about 10 years later, as she's getting ready for her daughter Joy's bat mitzvah.  The story is told in alternating first person chapters between Joy and Cannie, so we get both perspectives of the coming-of-age, mother-daughter relationship in all its glory.  Being a mother of a 15 year old who went through the bat mitzvah process not that long ago, I could easily relate.  Cannie has been pseudonymously writing a young adult sci-fi series for years and reveling in being a wife and mother.  The angst arises when Joy gets hold of a copy of her mother's bestseller, which raises all sorts of questions about her family.  Certain Girls has lots of angst, lots of laughs and a very bittersweet ending - I loved it. 05/08 Stacy Alesi, AKA The BookBitch

CHAIN OF COMMAND by Caspar Weinberger and Peter Schweizer: A former Secretary of Defense working with an experienced author yields a debut political thriller of the first magnitude. The weapon of Secret Service Special Agent Michael Delaney is used to killed the President and wound the Vice-President. The new President declares a state of national emergency, putting the entire nation under martial law, and then prepares to take out a right-wing militia he claims is responsible. Delaney and others have doubts that quickly grow in proportion to the new President’s actions. All the action takes place in a hectic nine-day span. Maybe the dialogue isn’t the greatest but what a plot. 02/06 Jack Quick

CITY OF FIRE by Robert Ellis: Ellis’ latest thriller has graphic violence, and is not for the weak at heart. But, if you’re a thriller reader, it will keep you turning pages as the tension builds. LAPD Detective Lena Gamble is 29, alone in the world since her brother’s murder five years earlier. And, that murder is one more reason she’s a member of the Homicide Special Squad. She and her partner, Hank Novak, are called in when a woman is found murdered in her bed. Although the husband is the prime suspect, Lena sees connections to an earlier crime. Before long, the police are on the trail of a serial killer dubbed “Romeo.” And, Lena finds herself working two cases, the Romeo case, and her brother’s cold case when a friend is found dead. It angers Lena when she finds someone in the police department is trying to shut down the connection to her brother. Tension builds, and Ellis uses the flames of the Santa Ana fires to build that tension. City of Fire is a perfect escape for anyone who wants a thriller that is hard to put down. 06/07 Lesa Holstine

City of Light by Lauren Belfer: Historical mystery set at Niagara Falls, fascinating read! 

CITY OF THE SUN by David Levien: Jamie Gabriel lives in a community where boys still have paper routes; that is, until he and his bike vanish while delivering papers early one morning. His parents, Paul and Carol, report his disappearance to the police, but after a brief search leads nowhere, the authorities move on to other cases. More than a year later, on the advice of one of the deputies, the parents hire private investigator and former cop Frank Behr. Behr brings some baggage to the table; he's divorced, and his son is dead. While he empathizes with the tragedy of not knowing what happened to Jamie, he is hesitant to take the case, warning that closure will undoubtedly be ugly. Tormented by the strain of having a missing child, Paul and Carol each try to cope in their own way, and their marriage suffers for it. Eventually, Paul starts working with Behr, and despite the cold trail, their quest leads them to some very troubling answers and a somewhat predictable ending. Nevertheless, in his fiction debut screenwriter Levien (who cowrote Ocean's Thirteen, Runaway Jury, and Rounders) captures the hopelessness of the situation well, the pacing is relentless, and the story gripping and altogether disturbing. Highly recommended. 03/08 Stacy Alesi, AKA The BookBitch Copyright © 2008 Cahners Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc.  Reprinted with permission. 

CITY OF THE SUN by David Levien:  United States statistics show that 2,300 people are reported missing every day. The first 24-72 hours of these cases are critical. Often, if the person is not recovered in that time period, they never will be. Jamie Gabriel is one of these people. He left this morning, just like every morning - picking up the papers for his route and riding off on his bike. Unlike every other morning, though, something happened to Jamie. A year later, his parents are ready to give up the search for their missing son. The police have no leads and have never made any progress on the case. In a last ditch effort, the couple hires PI Frank Behr. Behr initially refuses the case, but his guilt over the death of his own son compels him to try. Amazingly, he makes progress, but his investigation has stirred up a hornet’s nest of trouble. While both shocking and disturbing in subject matter, this thriller is wholly rewarding. I can imagine a grizzled Bruce Willis playing Behr in the movie. 03/08 Becky Lejeune 

CITY OF TINY LIGHTS by Patrick Neate: Tommy Akhtar claims to be the best Ugandan Indian private eye in London and he probably is. After all, he was also a mujahideen in Afghanistan. He likes Wild Turkey and Benson & Hedges and cricket. His current case involves finding a missing hooker but quickly escalates with MI5 and CIA involvement. Speaking of hookers, Tommy imparts this knowledge to us: black hookers are always Melody, Harmony, Bianca, Ebony, Naomi or Tyra. Blonde ones are inevitably Marilyn, Caprice, Helene or Elle. Hispanics are Sandra or Salma or else named for cars - Fiesta, Sierra or Cleo. Petite girls? Kylie, always Kylie. Akhtar is truly one-of-a-kind, and the terrorist threat plot is right out of today's newspapers. Although Neate calls this "Another Tommy Akhtar Investigation" it is apparently the first in a series. Let us hope so anyway. 08/06 Jack Quick

Claire Marvel by John Burnham Schwartz, Nan A. Talese:  If you aren't in love with our heroine Claire Marvel within the 40 pages or so of Schwartz's new novel you are heartless. I also haven't loved Cambridge, MA and Harvard this much since LOVE STORY and some of Kaysen's work. However, I wouldn't mind taking a swing at the nose of our hero (?) Julian Rose. Julian is . . . well exasperating to begin with, also a democrat who quickly puts aside his convictions to take a job in the republican world (during the Reagan Years to boot), and a boy who isn't nice to his mother (alright, he has good reason for that). There is terrific writing here! Great characters too! So here is what I would do - - - wait to buy this when it comes in paperback. Then get all your friends buy it and read it. Then duke it out over WHEN Julian became a wimp. Then let me know why they needed to go all the way to France.  PS: Schwartz wrote BICYCLE DAYS and RESERVATION ROAD (just too sad a premise for me to read). Both received great reviews. His publisher seems to look to this as his commerical breakout book. ~This review contributed by Ann Nappa

CLEA’S MOON by Ed Wright: After being blacklisted, sent to jail on an assault rap, and abandoned by his wife, Ray Horn is a long, long way from his early success as a hero in B-movie westerns. Now he works as a debt collector for his former faithful Indian sidekick turned casino owner. It's a short jump to sleuthing, and when an old friend approaches him with a problem, Horn is ready to go. The friend's father, a real estate mogul, has died, leaving behind boxes of disturbing photos of young girls, one of whom is Horn's stepdaughter. The friend gets pushed out a window, Horn's stepdaughter goes missing, and Horn is forced into finding the link between the pictures, the girl, and the friend. A first rate first outing. 04/06 Jack Quick 

A CLEAN KILL by Leslie Glass: Lieutenant April Woo of the NYPD is planning a delayed honeymoon with new husband Captain Mike Sanchez in this latest installment. Their plans face a major disruption 5 days before they intend to leave when two socialites are killed on consecutive days. While the cause of death is different, the victims are best friends and in both cases the bodies and their surroundings have been meticulously cleaned. April and Mike soon find other common denominators – the same personal trainer, nannies from the same upscale service, the same drug habits. April gets pulled into the investigation although the crimes are outside her precinct. Balancing duties, trying to have a private life, worrying about subordinates and the political ramifications of the “not by the book” investigation keep April on edge. Add in Skinny Dragon mother’s openly stated desire for her daughter to immediately become pregnant and get out of police work and you can see why April and Mike really could use the honeymoon. Will they get it? Who will be the next victim? And why? 08/05 ~This review contributed by Jack Quick.

THE CLEANUP by Sean Doolittle: Matthew Worth has been relegated to security detail at a local grocery store after punching another cop – a cop that just happens to be sleeping with his wife. Worth spends his days helping bag groceries at the checkout, waiting for his probation period to end. When Gwen Mullen comes into work one day covered in bruises, Worth is reminded of a case from early in his career. The murder of Tiffany Pine has haunted Worth for years. As a result, Worth is determined to help Gwen at any cost. Gwen won’t have to worry about suffering any further abuse at the hands of her boyfriend, though. She’s taken care of that problem herself. Against his better judgment, Worth decides to protect Gwen from the inevitable fallout she would suffer as a result of killing her abusive boyfriend. Doolittle’s dark tale of crime and cover-ups is an engrossing and satisfying read. 03/07 Becky Lejeune

CLOSE CASE by Alafair Burke: District Attorney Samantha Kincaid is back in her third outing (Judgment Calls, Missing Justice) in this twisty tale of law and order. A white police officer, Geoffrey Hamilton, shoots an African American woman to death during a routine traffic stop, bringing some stepped up racial tension to Portland politics. Then local hero, Oregonian newspaper reporter Percy Crenshaw, is bludgeoned to death in his own driveway, the same night the race riots heat up. Caught on TV are two young men doing some damage with a baseball bat, and Samantha’s new live-in boyfriend, Detective Chuck Forbes, watches his partner, Detective Mike Calabrese, wrangle a confession to the Crenshaw murder out of one of the boys, using questionable methods at best. Samantha has to deal with the suspicious shooting and the quasi-confession, causing Chuck to wonder where her loyalties lie. Junior reporter Heidi Hatmaker has Crenshaw’s notes and is trying to put together a story for herself but is unwittingly endangering everyone involved. The first person narration works beautifully but alternating with occasional third person narration for the Hatmaker storyline feels awkward in this otherwise superb legal thriller. Highly recommended for all fiction collections. Copyright © 2005 Cahners Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc.  Reprinted with permission.  07/05

CLOSE CASE by Alafair Burke: With each new outing, Burke grows stronger. Although her main character Samantha Kincaid still seems a bit naive to be thirty-two years old, she is acquiring some of the toughness she will need to succeed as a prosecutor. She can stand up to those within her office but still has problems relating to outsiders. In this episode seemingly unrelated cases come together at a terrible cost, in bodies and destroyed friendships. A murdered reporter, a “forced” confession, and an officer-involved shooting all swirl around Kincaid. Confessed murder suspects have airtight alibis and possibly corrupt police are difficult to identify. At each step more and more of her associates are alienated, some permanently. Yet in the end, the outcome is not only believable, but also seemingly inevitable. Recommended. 07/05 ~This review contributed by Jack Quick.

THE CLOSERS by Michael Connelly: This is the 11th entry in the Harry Bosch series and it's still working.  Harry has his badge back and is working with his old partner, Kiz Rider, for the Open-Unsolved Unit, working on cold cases.  First up is a 17 year old murder that was never solved, but DNA evidence has moved the case to the top of the pile.  But nothing is as easy as it first seems, and this case is no different.  I guess I hold Connelly to a higher standard than most because I know how tremendously talented he is, but while this is a very good book and an enjoyable read, it's just not his best.  The book plods along in places, and the writing is clunky at times.  I expect more.  05/05

THE CLOSERS By Michael Connelly: "Leave it to Michael Connelly to reinvent the police procedural... He artfully reclaims the genre." NY TIMES.  Detective Harry Bosch has been on a self imposed 3 year exile from police work. The new Chief of the LAPD summons him to his office via a "26" call, and hands him back his badge. He's assigned to the Open/Unsolved unit and reunited with his old partner, Kiz Rider. The case they're tasked with solving is a years old murder of a young girl dragged to her death and left on Oat mountain.  As per the Chief's edict, Harry has to play within the rules this time. Both he and Kiz go back through the murder book, and find discrepancies and errors. Meanwhile, Harry has a chance run in with his old nemesis, Deputy Chief Irving. Harsh words are exchanged, and the stage is set for battle.  All great stories have a beginning, middle, and an end; Connelly has broken this tale down into three separate books: you could call them facts, problems and resolution. This case evolves as Harry and Kiz chase down what they think are leads, but as usual, things are not what they seem. And, as usual, innocent people end up dead. But Harry and Kiz press on to the solution of the matter, no matter where it takes them. The ending here is alternately one of the most satisfying, and tragic, ever penned.  Connelly hits a grand slam here.  I hope he writes more of these... 03/06 DOC

THE CLOSERS by Michael Connelly: LAPD detective Harry Bosch is back on the force assigned with former partner Kiz Rider to the Cold Case unit. Their first case back involves the killing of a bi-racial high school girl 17 years before, reopened because of a DNA match to blood found on the murder gun. The blood on the gun belongs to Roland Mackey, a local lowlife white supremacist. Connelly meticulously leads the reader along with Bosch and Rider as they explore the links to Mackey and along the way connect the initial investigation of the crime to a police conspiracy. In the process Bosch and Rider gain a better understanding of their own purposes in life. One of Connelly’s best and Bosch is back on the job, thank goodness. As he says, without the weight of his gun, he limps.  05/06 Jack Quick

The Clothes They Stood Up In by Alan Bennett:  Adorable fable about dealing with the loss of possessions.  Zen with a twist!

THE CLOVIS INCIDENT by Pari Noskin Taichert: At page 20 I didn't care for this book -- aliens, UFO's and hallucinations. At page 40, as the plot began to thicken, I began to change my mind. At page 64 I hit the paragraph that convinced me this was a good book worth reading to the end. "If aliens were so advanced, with technology that far exceeded our own, why did they make a habit of snatching dowdy girls and pasty boys for their experiments? Why didn't they go for nuclear physicists or Nobel Prize winners! And why was it always small town hicks?" Sasha Solomon, PR consultant and amateur sleuth, goes to Clovis looking for a job, only to learn her friend Mae not only has discovered a dead body on her dairy farm but has also been "abducted" by aliens. As Sasha gets drawn deeper and deeper into the case it seems every government agency and half the town's leading citizens are already involved, all with different agendas. The ending is satisfying and startling, you might even say unreal. A must read. 06/05 ~This review contributed by Jack Quick.

CLUBBED TO DEATH by Elaine Viets: In this latest addition to the Dead-End Job series, Helen Hawthorne is working at the Superior Country Club in the customer service, AKA the complaint department.  At one time this was a club that catered to old money, but hard times has fallen on the club and now they let anyone who can afford their dues in - drug money is welcome.  Helen is still in hiding from her ex-husband, so she's shocked when she runs into him in the parking lot of the country club.  His new wife, known as the Black Widow due to her string of dead husbands, has docked her yacht at the club.  Helen and her ex get into it, she socks him in the nose in front of her ambitious boss, and takes off.  When he turns up missing, Helen is the prime suspect.  Anyone who has ever worked in customer service will appreciate the lament of the clientele at the club: "Do you know who I am?" Lots of laughs in this twisty mystery, along with a dose of reality.  Another winner from Viets. 05/08 Stacy Alesi, AKA The BookBitch

COAL RUN by Tawni O’Dell: O'Dell returns to the dreary world of a tiny Pennsylvania coal-mining town in her second novel (after BACK ROADS). The book opens with a bang in a flashback that recalls the tragic underground explosion that took the life of the father of Ivan Zoschenko and 96 other men from Coal Run. Some 15 years later, just after college football hero Zoschenko is drafted by the Chicago Bears, his knee is crushed in an accident in the same mines. Zoschenko can’t deal with the result and he ends up in Florida, an alcoholic pest exterminator. When he learns that a former schoolmate, Reese Raynor, serving time for beating his wife into a coma, is being released, he returns to Pennsylvania. In spite of his drinking problem, Zoschenko is hired as a deputy by the local sheriff, leading to the inevitable brutal collision with Raynor. Hard folks surviving hard times in this gritty portrayal of life without much hope. Miss O’Dell has improved as a writer from her introductory work, but still too grim for many. I liked the book, but wouldn’t want a steady diet of this type. 12/06 Jack Quick

THE COAST ROAD by Peter Corris:  Ace private detective Cliff Hardy is working on two cases in this outing.  The daughter of a wealthy retired real estate maven is convinced her father’s death in a cottage fire was not accidental and hires Hardy to prove her stepmother was responsible.  Hardy finds the police strangely uncooperative as he tries to find the truth.  At the same time, he is searching for the precocious daughter of Marisha Karatsky, who has gotten into drugs and who knows what else.  Its typical Hardy - corrupt coppers, compromised insurance agents, bikers as well as a few good guys.  People get disturbed and people get killed as Hardy plods along seeking justice and resolution.  Reading Corris is like reading Ed. McBain, you really know what to expect, but it manages to be refreshing and maintains your attention throughout. 11/07 Jack Quick   

CODEBREAKER by Katherine Myers: Meg Parrish is the subject of the book’s title. She is working undercover at Portland, Oregon’s Signet Corporation software firm. She penetrates computer security and copies a database so valuable that the company’s CEO sends his security chief to kill her and recover the information. Co-worker Ross Eckland saves her from rape and murder and the two take flight from Signet, from federal intelligence agents, and from threatening strangers who seem to have their own agenda. The two survive multiple car chases, pursuit by helicopter and various other dangers. In the process they also fall in love. It’s definitely a suspense thriller even with the romance angle and a first rate read. Before its over you will find out more than perhaps you really want to know about electronic surveillance and tracking, encryption, DNA and genetics research, the federal intelligence community and the ethics of cloning. Lets hope its all fiction. 11/06 Jack Quick

CODEX 632 by Jose Rodrigues dos Santos: Historian Martinho Toscano has been hired by a certain organization to research the original discovery of Brazil. In his studies, he comes across some surprising information in regards to Christopher Columbus and his voyage to the Americas. Unfortunately, Toscano passes away due to natural causes before he can reveal his discovery. It seems the historian was an extremely careful and paranoid man since he kept all of his notes in code. So, the organization approaches scholar and professor Thomas Noronha, a specialist in cryptography, to decode the notes and finish Toscano’s research. Noronha discovers that there is some question as to Columbus’s true identity and he is soon thoroughly enmeshed in the same mystery that so consumed Toscano. Codex 632 is touted as the “book that outsold Harry Potter in Portugal.” Unfortunately, I can’t really see why. At best the book reads like an interesting history lesson. At worst, it is a meandering and repetitive story with flat characters. The last few chapters seem like an attempt to finally flesh out Noronha and his family, but it is both awkward and too little too late.  04/08 Becky Lejeune 

COFFIN COUNTY by Gary A. Braunbeck: Cedar Hill, specifically the area of town nicknamed Coffin County, has seen more than its fair share of human tragedy and misery. This is thanks to the fact that an ancient harbinger of death has taken a particular liking to the area. This entity has caused so many disastrous events, and yet no one has ever been able to make a connection – course, after centuries of mass killings, who would possibly suspect the same “person” would be behind them? Officer Ben Littlejohn is about to become one of the privileged few who learns the truth. It begins with a mass murder at a local diner; fingerprint analysis and video footage of the killing yield some pretty strange results. Before the local cops know it, they’ve got a multitude of crimes on their hands and Ben may be the only one who can put a stop to it. Braunbeck delivers an intensely creepy and truly original tale that’s guaranteed to give you chills late at night. Coffin County also comes with two additional Cedar Hill tales, I’ll Play the Blues for You and Union Dues.  06/08 Becky Lejeune  

THE COIL by Gayle Lynds: Although the name Gayle Lynds may not be top of mind, its hard to have missed her work. She has ghosted and co-authored many adventures including three Robert Ludlum’s and has four other thrillers out in her own name. In this, possibly her best work ever, Professor Liz Sansborough is trying to let bygones be bygones. She is no longer associated with the CIA and her father, a notorious Cold War assassin nicknamed Carnivore, is long dead. So why is everyone trying to kill her? It starts with the kidnapping of her cousin, Sarah. The ransom soon becomes apparent. Someone is looking for the files of the Carnivore. Just what is The Coil? Who are its members? How can Liz save her cousin and her own life? A high-speed version of The Davinci Code as Liz and her undercover companion, agent Simon Childs, try to escape death and The Coil. The ending will leave you breathless. Recommended. 07/05 ~This review contributed by Jack Quick.

COLD DAY IN HELL by Richard Hawke: This second outing, following Speak of the Devil, from the pseudonymous Richard Hawke (Tim Cockey), brings back New York City private investigator Fritz Malone in a slower paced, darker venue.  Marshall Fox is the star of a New York City based late night TV show, but his star has fallen since his arrest for the murders of two women he was having affairs with.  While he’s jailed, two more murders occur, causing speculation as to Fox’s guilt and the possibility of a copycat killer.  The newest victim was a neighbor of Fritz’s girlfriend Margo, and Fritz had been investigating some hate mail she had received prior to her murder.  NYPD detective Megan Lamb isn’t quite up to par since both her police and life partners were killed, so the police department is happy to have Fritz investigating the murders along side her as long as he shares what he finds.  Despite an attempt on his life, Fritz keeps on digging through Quaker meetings, Fox’s clandestine  affairs, kinky sex and the backstage maneuverings of the late night TV show.  Recommended. 03/07 Stacy Alesi, AKA The BookBitch. Copyright © 2007 Cahners Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc.  Reprinted with permission. 

COLD DAY IN HELL by Richard Hawke: Hawke brings back Fritz Malone, the private investigator who first appeared in Speak of the Devil. Malone is a rogue investigator who chooses to poke into problems, even if he doesn’t have a client. It angers his girlfriend, Margo, when he seems too interested in Robin Burrell, a woman who had turned to Fritz when she had hate mail. When Robin is murdered, Margo objects to Fritz’ investigation. But Robin was an important witness in a murder trial. Her lover, talk show host Marshall Fox, is on trial for murdering two former lovers. Robin’s copycat slaying means problems for the trial. When Fox’ attorney is killed, the media grows more excited. Fritz teams up with a homicide detective, Megan Lamb, who has her own issues. It’s a complicated storyline, with a number of characters, and four victims. What do they have in common, except for their link to Marshall Fox? Hawke keeps the suspense high, and even leaves Fritz’ fate dangling for chapters as he focuses on Megan. The reader will be left guessing right up to the end of this exciting thriller. 03/07 Lesa Holstine

COLD GRANITE by Stuart MacBride: Another Ian Rankin?  Scottish Detective Sergeant Logan McRae has returned to his Aberdeen beat after a year’s medical convalescence to tackle a case that makes even his most callous colleagues cringe: the strangling and mutilation of a four-year-old boy.  More children turn up missing and, then, dead and it is obvious the press has a pipeline into the police investigation.  Complicating the case is the fact that the forensic pathologist assigned to work with the investigators in McRae’s ex-girlfriend.  All in all, an impressive first outing. 02/06 Jack Quick

THE COLD MOON by Jeffery Deaver: The latest in the Sachs/Rhyme series finds the teams a bit at odds these days. Amelia is lead of her first investigation, the assumed suicide of a New York businessman. Based on the evidence, Amelia becomes convinced that this was no suicide, but rather a murder. Her investigation leads her to some very unexpected suspects when a request from on high forces her case to the back burner. A killer called the Watchmaker has left his mark on not one, but two crime scenes on the same night; a pier with a trail of blood leading to the water and an alleyway with a victim that has been strangely tortured. A strange moon faced clock, the Watchmaker’s calling card, is found at each scene. Rhyme and his team are joined by the amicable Kathryn Dance, a California cop whose specialty is reading body language. Deaver has always been a master of page turning suspense; do not read this book if you plan on getting any sleep.  09/06 Becky LeJeune

Cold Pursuit by T. Jefferson Parker: Terrific new thriller from the author of the Edgar Award winning Silent Joe.  San Diego homicide detective Tom McMichael is on rotation when Pete Braga is murdered.  The Portuguese Braga's and the Irish McMichael's have much in common with the Hatfield's & McCoy's, and the Montague's & Capulet's.  Despite all the bad blood, McMichael chooses to remain on the case and an intriguing case it is.  Braga is found bludgeoned to death by his nurse, who becomes the chief suspect and in an interesting twist, McMichael's love interest.  Conflict for sure, but that's only the tip of the iceberg as the clues start contradicting each other until the surprise ending.  But as always with Parker, it's the writing that grabs hold and won't let go.  For instance, after watching the autopsy of the murder victim, we get this fabulous line:  "McMichael left the building feeling like his soul had been cut out, weighed and thrown away."  This is visual, powerful writing. Stacy Alesi, AKA The BookBitch

COLD PURSUIT by T. Jefferson Parker: The Portuguese Braga family and the Irish McMichael family have a rivalry going back two generations. Now old Pete Braga, a one time tuna fisherman who now moves in the city’s top financial circles, is murdered. Homicide detective Tom McMichael is “next man up” and draws the case. The history of the two families is a rich tapestry upon which the current story actually pales. Still a good read but not one of Parker’s best. 03/06 Jack Quick

THE COLDEST BLOOD by Jim Kelly:  Today is the seventh consecutive day with temperatures above 100 degrees and the forecast is for at least four more days of the same.  What better time than now to tackle this tale of an English cold snap, which causes a series of seemingly, weather related deaths.  Former Fleet Street Journalist Philip Dryden picks up on the fact that a pair of the victims is connected by more than just the cold. Both recently filed abuse charges against an orphanage where they lived as children. Dryden, now working at a lesser paper in the city of Ely, explores whether these two plaintiffs may have been murdered.  Kelly’s descriptions of the city and its inhabitants is bleak and reminiscent of works from a much earlier era.  This one caused a welcome shiver or two and kept me intrigued to the end.  08/07 Jack Quick 

Coldwater by Mardi McConnochie: I was disappointed in this novel that had a fictionalized family of three novel writing sisters, Charlotte, Ann and Emily, at it's center.  The only thing they had in common with the Bronte's were their names and the century in which they lived.

The Colonel’s Tale by S.H. Baker: In 1924, Dassas Cormier is Chief of Police in his hometown of Marshall’s Bayou, Louisiana. Family and community have become the most important part of Dallas’ life, since his love for a friend is unrequited. When his only sister writes that she’s stuck in Lake Charles, Texas, accompanied by the journalist Colonel Jedidiah Gilmore, Dallas makes the trip to bring them home for the Thanksgiving holiday.  Upon arrival, Cormier finds that Gilmore witnessed a bank robbery, and became the victim of muggers. Back in Marshall’s Bayou, Cormier listens to Gilmore’s tall tales, and begins to doubt his version of the robbery story. When prowlers and violence follows them home, Cormier starts to look into things. It’s easy to figure out the solution to this mystery. However, the story’s appeal lies in the character of Dallas Cormier. He’s a man who loves his family and his home. The relationships between people help him deal with crime in his hometown. And, the relationships between Dallas and his family members make this a warm, charming mystery. 10/06 Lesa Holstine

THE COLOR OF LAW by Mark Gimenez:  When I first moved to Dallas in the early 1980's, we passed a huge football stadium on the way to our new home.  We assumed it was where the Cowboys played and wondered why it was stuck in the middle of the suburbs.  We very quickly learned that it was, in fact, the high school football stadium, and thus we were introduced to Texas football, and Texas culture. 

    I was quickly brought back to that memory as I read The Color of Law.  Our hero, Scott Fenney, is a high-priced lawyer with a high-powered Dallas law firm.  Fenney has a poster sized enlargement of the record-breaking moment of his school football career plastered on his office wall; the record that has made him a Texas legend.  Those boys take their football seriously!  Fenney is not the easiest guy to like; he's all about the money, epitomizing all the bad lawyer jokes.  In his run for president of the Texas bar, Fenney makes a campaign speech espousing the lofty legal ideals of Atticus Finch, none of which he means, but a judge in the audience decides that this is the man he will appoint as counsel to a black indigent hooker who is accused of murder.  The victim is the good-for-nothing son of a Texas state senator who has a hankering to be President, and with $200 million of his own money to put into a campaign, he's got a good shot at it.  That is, unless his son's lifestyle comes out in the murder trial.  Fenney has to deal with a client he has no interest in defending until he starts getting pressured from every direction, forcing him to re-evaluate his morals, his priorities, and his life.  This is a top notch legal thriller from a Texas lawyer who knows his stuff about law, and writing.  12/05

THE COLORADO KID by Stephen King: I've got to share this line from Bookmarks Magazine because they said it best: "There’s nothing like a good noir crime novel, and The Colorado Kid is nothing like a good noir crime novel". It's a fast read, it's almost a sweet story, it's a prime example of the ease with which Stephen King can spin a yarn. But it was published under the Hard Case Crime series, as noir, as pulp fiction, with a cover depicting pulp fiction, and it is not. As King himself points out in the afterward, not all mysteries are solved and so it is with this one. Two old newspapermen from a small seaside town in Maine tell their protégé the story of a man who was found dead on the beach. Told primarily in dialogue, we learn that a good story needs a beginning, a middle and an end and this story really only has a middle. Despite all that, I liked it, which I guess just comes down to I like the way Stephen King writes.  01/06 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

COLORADO KID by Stephen King: Number thirteen in the Hard Case Crime series, this is not so much a mystery as a reasonably well-told tale. Intern Stephanie McCann gets the owner and the managing editor of her weekly newspaper in an obscure corner off the coast of Maine to share with her the story of two high school sweethearts who find a dead body on the beach. There was no identification, and only a few items found with the body gave any hope of telling where he was from. Eventually we learn the dead man was from Colorado, hence the name of the book. The good news is that the Hard Case Crime imprint can attract authors with King’s reputation. The bad news is this is a really weak outing for him, and for the series. 11/06 Jack Quick

Columbus Slaughters Braves by Mark Friedman: Very satisfying novel about two brothers, one of whom is a superstar athlete, and the other, the narrator, just a regular guy.   Their relationship, their lives, are described in almost embarrassingly, painfully honest, beautifully written prose.  This one is staying with me.

COMFORT & JOY by Kristin Hannah: Kristin Hannah kicks off the holiday reading season with the story of a woman who has lost her way. It’s Christmastime, and Joy Candellaro, a school librarian, realizes she has nothing to enjoy over the school break. She divorced her husband when she found