DADDY'S GIRL by Lisa Scottoline: Natalie Greco, better known as Nat, or as she thinks of herself, "gnat", is a young, timid law professor at the University of Pennsylvania - which happens to be Scottoline's alma mater and her current employer.  Her students don't seem to be too interested in the History of Law class she's teaching, so when a colleague asks her to be a guest lecturer in the law class he teaches at a nearby prison, she agrees.  While they are there, a prison riot breaks out and in the confusion, Nat finds herself trying to save the life of a prison guard who's been stabbed.  His final words are for his wife, and Nat tries to deliver the message but there are a few stumbling blocks along the way: threats, an attempt on her life and an eventual frame up for the murder.  Nat is too much of a meek mouse to make a strong protagonist, and while she often compares herself to Nancy Drew, she just doesn't have that kind of spunk.  Not Scottoline's best.  04/07 Stacy Alesi, AKA The BookBitch

DAEMON by Daniel Suarez:  Ever heard of a self-published book being picked up by a major publisher and re-released in hardcover?  If you are any kind of computer geek or just one who enjoys chills and thrills, you will quickly see why this unlikely chain of events occurred.  Gaming genius Matthew Sobol, the 34-year-old head of CyberStorm Entertainment, has just died of brain cancer, but death doesn't stop him from initiating an all-out Internet war against humanity.  When the authorities investigate Sobol's mansion in Thousand Oaks, Calif., they find themselves under attack from his empty house, aided by an unmanned Hummer that tears into the cops with staggering ferocity.  Sobol's weapon is a daemon, a kind of computer process that not only has taken over many of the world's computer systems but also enlists the help of superintelligent human henchmen willing to carry out his diabolical plan.  When it ends and you come back down to earth, don’t worry, a sequel has been promised. 04/09 Jack Quick 

DAMAGED by Pamela Callow: A part of Canadian Kate Lange’s motivation to become an attorney is the fact that her father was a convicted criminal.  Her ex-fiance’, a homicide detective, has broken up with her for that reason and now she has moved to a new high-powered law firm, with which Ethan has some bad history.  Stuck in family law, she discourages the grandmother of a lonely private school student in a proposed custody case. But then the teen is brutally murdered.  Not only Kate but also the firm's managing partner have doubts over how Kate has handled the matter.  Determined to salvage her reputation and for personal redemption, she pursues the case on her own.  Remember the movie scene in the haunted house where everyone is saying “Don’t Open That Door” – same logic applies here.  A bit too “chick-lit” for me, but not badly done. 06/10 Jack Quick

DAMNABLE by Hank Schwaeble: Jake Hatcher is serving out the remaining eight weeks of a sentence in military prison when he is granted leave to attend his brother’s funeral. Problem is, Jake never knew he had a brother. Garrett Hatcher was killed while trying to save a woman who was snatched in a coffee shop one afternoon. Garrett and the woman’s assailant were killed, but somehow the woman survived. Now, in an attempt to understand what happened and learn more about his brother, Jake has decided to track the mysterious woman down. While he is visiting her in the hospital though, another attempt is made on her life. This time it is Jake who saves her, but it doesn’t end there. The woman in question, and the local cops, would like Jake to stand in as her bodyguard while they try to figure out who is targeting her. Jake reluctantly agrees and soon finds himself an unwilling pawn in a dark and evil game. Hank Schwaeble’s debut is a gritty horror story with a quick plot. It’s also one of the first in what I suspect will be a big upcoming trend in the genre—demons and dark mythology in the Prophecy/Revelations vein. A sure hit for horror and thriller fans. 09/09 Becky Lejeune

THE DAMNATION GAME by Clive Barker: In Warsaw, following World War II, there are tales of an unbeatable cardplayer. To play this man is to gamble away your soul and one determined thief is about to do just that. He will learn the truth behind these tales and it will cost him his life. Years later, Marty Strauss is approached by a man named Mr. Toy and offered a deal on behalf of Toy’s employer, Joseph Whitehead. Strauss will serve as Whitehead’s personal bodyguard and, in exchange, he will be excused from the remainder of the prison term he has been serving. Whitehead, a rich and powerful man, has become eccentric since the death of his wife. He has become paranoid and begins to surround himself with security – dogs, cameras, fences, and bodyguards including Toy and Marty. Unfortunately, Whitehead is right to fear for his life and Marty is about to become an unfortunate pawn in a game that has been playing out for decades. The mythical card player is about to call in his debts and Marty is stuck in the middle. Barker’s debut novel is just a taste of what he would become in the following years. The Damnation Game is still shocking and disturbing even for today’s readers. Barker pushes you beyond the brink of terror and, in some cases, may just take it too far. Not for the faint of heart. 08/07 Becky Lejeune

DANCING ABOVE THE WAVES by Susan Walerstein:  Wealthy Bostonian Jack "Scooter" McCalister has it all - a degree from Brown, a Vassar graduate trophy wife, houses in Boston, Clary’s Cove, Palm Springs, Maui and Aspen; a Commander 24 powerboat, a restored Porsche Speedster, enough money to cash in stocks for $500,000 without a problem, and a mistress who was once “the prettiest girl on the Island.”  But now it all comes crashing down as Jack, rushing to meet the ferry, hits a pedestrian with his car – a young girl, and then he leaves the scene, not knowing whether she is dead or alive.  There are witnesses – the girl’s boyfriend, and Jack’s pregnant mistress who starts having second thoughts about Jack’s suitability as a father.  There are problems at the magazine he and his wife co-manage, a blackmailer appears, and Jack’s once wonderful life is now going down the tubes.  An interesting psychological thriller, although there are truly few sympathetic characters.  Even the dead teenager had sneaked out of her home and was high on drugs when the accident occurred.  Enough suspense to keep you going to the end of this debut novel. 05/08 Jack Quick 

A DANGEROUS AFFAIR by Caro Peacock: After the death of her father, Liberty Lane finds that she has a penchant for solving problems. Still, it’s not a respectable way for a lady to earn a living, and she takes her cases with reluctance. When a politician approaches her, requesting that she learn more about a certain dancer with a colored past, Liberty’s immediate reaction is to decline. Her curiosity gets the better of her, however, and she soon finds herself snooping around backstage at the “lady’s” latest show. Columbine, or Margaret Priddy, the dancer in question, is a woman loathed by many. It seems Columbine has made many enemies in her past and one of them has set their sights on revenge. When she is discovered dead, the result of poison, a young dancer by the name of Jenny Jarvis stands accused. Liberty is convinced of the girl’s innocence and decides to pursue the mystery further, but each new lead seems to be a dead end and time is running out for Jenny. A Dangerous Affair (published as Death of a Dancer in the UK) can be read on its own but is actually a sequel to A Foreign Affair (aka Death at Dawn) in which Liberty investigates the death of her own father. Readers who enjoy period mysteries are sure to embrace Liberty Lane and her adventures. Peacock has created a heroine that readers will root for and want to see more of. 03/09 Becky Lejeune  

DARK HARBOR by David Hosp:  Scott Finn has come a long way since his days as a Boston tough, part of the Irish gangs that grew up into organized crime.  He's a successful lawyer whose life takes a turn for the worse when his ex-girlfriend Natalie turns up dead.  There's a serial killer on the loose, nicknamed "Little Jack" after Jack the Ripper, but did he kill Natalie?  Hosp pens a scarily believable tale of intrigue that will keep you riveted until the last page.  And did I mention this is a first novel?  A really good read. 05/05 Stacy Alesi, AKA The BookBitch

DARK HARBOR by Stuart Woods:  Stone Barrington’s cousin and his family are found murdered at their house in Dark Harbor, Maine. The local police think it was a murder-suicide, but when Stone learns from his CIA contact that cousin Dick was working covertly for the CIA, Stone decides to look into matters himself. Accompanied by Lance Cabot of the CIA and other series regulars Holly Barker and Dino Bacchetti, Stone heads up to Maine.  The more Stone examines Dick's house and learns about his life, the less convinced Stone is that Dick killed his family and himself.  Stone's worries increase even more when additional bodies turn up and Holly disappears after going out jogging.  Either you like Woods (I do) or you don’t.  This one breaks no new ground but feels awfully comfortable. 06/06 Jack Quick

DARK LEGACY by Anna DeStefano: Once upon a time, twin sisters Maddie and Sarah Temple came across a letter written long ago by one of their ancestors. Long forgotten now, Sarah lies in a coma and Maddie is trying to get beyond the accident that took her father and her sister from her. Maddie has worked hard to get where she is today: a resident in the ER with an astonishing ability to diagnose patients’ traumas. But Maddie’s nightmares have started keeping her up at night, and the effects of these terrible dreams are becoming apparent in her everyday life. Maddie always shared a link with her twin sister, but now it seems as though she is becoming Sarah, as she was before the accident—temperamental, moody, and at times violent. What Maddie doesn’t know is that Sarah has been part of a government experiment involving lucid dreaming. And that letter they found all those years ago was in fact a legacy that can bring about great things for the Temple sisters, or can be used against them for serious destruction. Dark Legacy is paranormal romance with a Firestarter twist. First in a promising new series.  08/09 Becky Lejeune

DARK LIGHT by Randy Wayne White:  Doc Ford is picking up in the aftermath of a hurricane that's ravaged the Florida coast when he and his dive team discover Nazi artifacts inside the old wreck of a pleasure craft, the Dark Light.  Ford runs into trouble immediately from Bern Heller, a nearby marina owner who claims his company has rights to the wreck site and doesn't hesitate to use violence to get his way.  Ford soon discovers, it is not about Lugers, war medals and a few gold bars.  What is at stake is the ownership of thousands of acres of Florida beachfront property.  White just keeps getting better and better. 04/06 Jack Quick 

DARK OF THE MOON by P. J. Parrish:  In this series opener, Louis Kincaid is the product of an alcoholic black mother and an absent white father.  He returns to Black Pool, Mississippi from Detroit to take care of his dying mother. In Detroit, Kincaid was on the police force so it is only naturally that he applies for a similar position in Blackpool.   Sound familiar so far.  It gets even more so when the remains of an apparent lynching victim are discovered.   Louis attempts to establish the man's identity and the motive for his killing but meets stiff resistance from diplomatic good-old-boy sheriff Sam Dodie and shifty local politicos who consider the past "over, totally irrelevant, and certainly not worth digging up."  As the investigation progresses Louis’ efforts are soon compounded by the suspicious deaths of several town elders, which suggest the desperate attempt of someone, possibly the mayor or the district attorney, to keep the town's dark and dirty history secret.   So while Louis is not Virgil Tibbs (In  the Heat of the Night), this reads like a script from that television series starring Carroll O’Connor and Howard Rollins. (In the premiere episode, Tibbs had traveled to Sparta, Mississippi for his mother's funeral. He was persuaded to remain by the city government, which wanted to make its police department more diverse.)  Hopefully future episodes will allow Kincaid to develop and become a character in his own right. 10/09 Jack Quick

DARK OF THE MOON by John Sandford:  Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension investigator Virgil Flowers who played a minor role in Invisible Prey moves into the spotlight for this adventure.  While enroute to rural Bluestem to assist local law enforcement with the murder of an elderly couple, he happens upon a fatal house fire on the edge of town.  Bill Judd was an elderly recluse who, back in his youth, ran an elaborate pyramid scheme and simultaneously bedded half the women in town.  After a murder free half century in Bluestem, there are now three in one week.  Coincidence?  Hardly.  Flowers begins digging into the situation seeking connections.  An unexpected one is with the sister of the local police chief.  Although I am still a Lucas Davenport fan, it will be interesting to see where Sandford takes Flowers who is a totally different type of hero. 11/07 Jack Quick

DARK PLACES by Gillian Flynn: Libby Day is broke. It's been almost twenty-five years since her brother, Ben, murdered her family and each time the story was told, people pitched in to help out the surviving Day. But now, a grown woman (and not a very likable one at that), Libby has used up all of her funds. Then she is contacted by the Kill Club—a group obsessed with true crime—and they are interested in Libby's story. They have their own theories about what happened that night and none of them believes that Ben is the killer. In fact, they vehemently insist that Libby was either coached or flat out lied about that night. Truth is Libby witnessed nothing at all. Libby's plan to make money is to begin investigating on her own, with the Kill Club funding her every step, but as she begins digging deeper into the ages-old murder, even she starts to doubt her own testimony. Flynn’s second release is a dark twist on the classic cold case mystery, and a great follow-up to Sharp Objects. Flynn is not at all afraid to dig into the dark depths of the human psyche and her heroine is not spared. In spite of this, I rooted for Libby Day and thought her brutal honesty was refreshing in some ways. 04/09 Becky Lejeune   

THE DARK RIVER by John Twelve Hawks: In book two of the Fourth Realm Trilogy, The Tabula have taken steps to eliminate any and all persons who may have had contact with, and therefore support, the Traveler known as Gabriel Corrigan.  When it is learned that not only did the community of New Harmony offer shelter and support to Gabriel, but that the leader may have received correspondence from Gabriel’s long lost father, Matthew, The Tabula sends in a team of mercenaries to find out what they know and wipe them out.  The Corrigan family was attacked when Gabriel and Michael were young boys; Matthew’s body was never recovered.  Though the boys always believed that their father somehow survived the attack, there was never any evidence to support this theory.  After learning of the massacre at New Harmony, Gabriel and his remaining team of supporters are forced to flee their hideout in New York City.  When they become separated, Gabriel decides to follow the only clue to his father’s whereabouts and travel to England in search of the elder Traveler.  Meanwhile, despite the occurrences of book one, The Tabula is moving forward with their plan to launch the virtual Panopticon - a system that will not only allow them to tap into every existing eye in the sky, but will also allow them access to information on every single person.  Hawks’s vision of the future is creepy to say the least.  This modern day 1984 contains a certain a sense of realism in that Hawks shows how all this is possible with existing, as well as some as yet non-existing, technology. 07/07 Becky Lejeune

DARK ROOM by Andrea Kane: Kane brings back Pete “Monty” Montgomery, the ex-cop turned private investigator from her book, Wrong Place, Wrong Time, to appear in a terrific romantic suspense novel. Morgan Winter was just ten when she found her parents murdered in a basement on Christmas Eve. Seventeen years later, it’s discovered that the man who confessed to the killings was actually killing a cop at the time of the deaths. There’s a killer out there, and Morgan turns to Monty for help. He was the cop on the scene when she was ten. He brings a professional photographer, his son Lane, into the case. Somewhere in the past, in the crime scene photos, is a clue to the murderer. Monty, Morgan and Lane are determined to find the killer, the person who destroyed a young girl’s life. Morgan may have been raised by her parents’ best friends, but she still yearns for answers. Kane has written a compelling story, one that draws the reader in. The three lead characters are strong and likeable, and they work well together. And, for those of us who hate women who allow themselves to become victims by doing stupid things, such as answering the door, or running off in the dark to meet the killer, Morgan is a treat. She’s smart and savvy, and doesn’t take stupid risks. Andrea Kane’s Dark Room is an enjoyable, intriguing story. 04/07 Lesa Holstine

THE DARK ROOM by Minette Walters: On the evening of June 13, 1994, Jinx Kingsley is discovered unconscious in an abandoned airfield, apparently having been thrown from her car during a suicide attempt.  Upon waking, she can remember nothing following June 4, when she left for a weeklong visit at her father’s house.  She cannot remember her fiancé Leo calling off the wedding, nor can she remember his revelation that he has been having an affair with her best friend Meg.  Jinx can’t remember her first suicide attempt either, the one where she tried to kill herself in her garage.  In fact, when she is told all of this, she can’t believe that she would try to kill herself at all.  She’s not particularly bothered by the fact that Leo was leaving her either.  She claims that she was going to call the whole thing off herself.  Leo and Meg cannot be reached for any help, as they seem to be vacationing in France, or are they?  Barely a week has passed since Jinx’s accident when two bodies are discovered in the woods just miles from the airfield.  The bodies are identified as Leo and Meg.  Evidence seems to point to Jinx’s involvement especially since the two have been killed in the same manner as Jinx’s first husband.  Is Jinx a cold, calculated murderer?  The police seem to think so.  With leads pointing in so many different directions, it’s anyone’s guess what the investigation will reveal next.  Is Jinx lying or is she telling the truth?  Is she faking or is she hiding a terrible secret?  Walters is one of the masters of psychological suspense.  This tangled tale of deception will leave readers guessing until the very end. 04/07 Becky Lejeune

DARK SECRETS OF THE OLD OAK TREE by Dolores J. Wilson: Evie Carson’s had a rough time of it lately: her father has recently passed away and she’s in the midst of divorce proceedings with her husband. In an effort to recapture some of the spirit of her youth, Evie climbs the old oak tree behind her childhood home. But once she gets to a resting point, she hears a noise in the clearing below and witnesses something that will change things forever. A local man Evie has known all her life buries the dead body of Evie’s best friend just below the oak tree. Though Evie is certain the man couldn’t have been responsible for the murder, he’s the prime suspect until he himself turns up dead. Now Evie is determined to expose her friend’s killer at any cost. Wilson’s characters are well built, but the mystery itself was lacking spark. An easy read, but unfortunately not a stand out. 03/10 Becky Lejeune 

Dark Side of the Moon by J. Carson Black: Laura Cardinal, a Detective with the Dept. of Public Safety in Arizona, is suffering from the effects of the case she worked on in Black’s first mystery, Darkness on the Edge of Town. She’s investigating the murder of two young people, shot to death in a tent in Williams, AZ, but she’s continually sidetracked by other issues, including her failing relationship back in Tucson. Cardinal shows poor judgment at times, and it affects her decisions. As much as I wanted to like this novel, it felt disjointed with too many side issues. There’s a conspiracy, an issue with a sick child, an old case of drowning, Laura’s vision problems, her relationship problems, and difficulties with her partner. The storylines don’t come together smoothly in this book with too many problems thrown into it. 01/06 Lesa Holstine

DARK STAR by Alan Furst:  The year is 1933.  The location is Europe.  Andre Szara is a Polish born Jew, a foreign correspondent for Pravda, and he becomes a spy.  A small espionage task for the NKVD leads to his becoming a key figure in efforts to obtain information of German aircraft production by tracking stainless steel wire production figures from a Jewish German industrialist.  Complicating the situation is that Szara has strong feelings for Marta, the daughter of the wire maker.  Furst captures the uncertainty of these times beautifully as the alliances shift and fortunes ebb and flow on a daily basis. Szara’s juggling act of a life gets even more complex when a wealthy Jewish Frenchman pleads for Szara to honor his own Jewish heritage by trading his steel wire information to the British in exchange for desperately needed immigration certificates to mandated Palestine.  As the darkness of war descends on the continent of Europe, Szara clings to life while trying to decipher what it all means.  Extremely well written. 09/08 Jack Quick

THE DARK TIDE by Andrew Gross:  Gross’s compelling second solo novel begins with a bang and escalates from there. Karen Friedman is in her daily yoga class when reports come over the news that there has been an explosion in Grand Central Station. Only moments later, Karen realizes that her husband Charles took the train into work that morning. Months go by and she is finally coming to grips with the fact that her husband is gone, when two men show up on her doorstep claiming that Charles stole $250 million from their employer. The executor of Charles’s estate swears that everything is on the up and up and the two men are not heard from again. Almost a year after the explosion, though, Karen makes a startling discovery about her husband’s death and the men reappear. She and her children’s lives are threatened and Karen turns to the only person she can trust, Ty Hauck, head of Greenwich’s Violent Crime Unit. Ty had been investigating a link between Charles and a hit-and-run accident that occurred the same day as the explosion, but what seemed at first to have been a strange coincidence now appears to be much more. With more twists and turns than a Six-Flags roller coaster, The Dark Tide kept me up reading into the wee hours. Gross, co-author of six best-selling novels with James Patterson, made his solo debut last year with the highly anticipated The Blue Zone. Thriller fans who haven’t read Gross’s work are seriously missing out.  03/08 Becky Lejeune

THE DARK TIDE by Andrew Gross:  Andrew Gross without James Patterson is much better than he was partnered with James Patterson.  In this thriller, Charles Friedman, a New York hedge fund trader, dies when a bombing at Grand Central Station destroys the railroad car in which he was riding one morning from his home in Greenwich, Conn.  Ty Hauck, head of the Greenwich police's violent crime unit, enters the picture when Friedman’s death is linked, vaguely to a hit-and-run accident.  Next, Friedman's widow and her kids are threatened by men searching for vast sums of money her late husband never earned.  From there on its hang on to the fast finish.  Not the most intellectually stimulating book out there, but good for a weekend getaway. 02/09 Jack Quick

DARK TIME: MORTAL PATH BOOK ONE by Dakota Banks: In 1632, Susannah Layhem was burned at the stake for a crime she did not commit. Accused of witchcraft, this healer devoted to helping her fellow townsfolk was pushed to the utter brink when she lost her child while in prison, something she could never forgive her accusers for. At the moment of her death, a demon appeared to Susannah, offering her a reprieve: if she carried out his work, she could have her revenge and live forever. She accepted. Over three centuries later, however, Susannah longs for death. The fate that awaits her for her crimes is a truly terrible prospect, though, and she is given one last chance to undo what has been done. In order to restore the balance, Susannah must save lives instead of take them. But no one has ever succeeded in setting right their wrong. Determined to be the first, Susannah begins anew as Maliha Crayne: an author by day and vigilante by night. This first in a projected two-part series is a great concept and a fun read; an original story with just the right blend of action, suspense, mythology, and romance. 08/09 Becky Lejeune

DARKBORN by Alison Sinclair: In this first book of a new trilogy, Alison Sinclair weaves a tale of political intrigue and social upheaval set in a world with a fascinating history. Ages ago, the people of this world were cursed, leaving two races: The Darkborn and the Lightborn. Darkborn can never go into the light; they see through sound and abhor the magic that left them they way they are. They live in a dark world that the Lightborn can never enter. The Lightborn revel in their magical abilities, just one more reason for the Darkborn to fear their differences. For the most part, these two races live completely separate, but in the town of Minhorn they live side by side. Physician Balthasar Hearne has become friends with his own Lightborn neighbor and this friendship will be his saving grace. When thugs attack Bal looking for information on a recent patient, it is his neighbor who comes to his aid. His wife, Telmaine, a woman with significant magical abilities that have been thus far successfully hidden, even from Bal himself, manages to save him with the help of another. Sadly, though, one of their daughters has been taken hostage and they are all about to become pawns in a game that could mean the end of peace between the races. This rich and creative tale is just the beginning and readers will be as anxious as I am to continue the series. 05/09 Becky Lejeune  

A DARKER PLACE by Jack Higgins: Dillon, et. al. are involved in arranging the defection of a  famous Russian writer and ex-paratrooper named Alexander Kurbsky.  As usual the “Prime Minister’s private army” is ultimately successful after a number of twists and turns.  Of interest to fans is the inclusion of the backstory of the wheelchair bound Major Giles Roper.  Fast and enjoyable read as usual with Higgins work. 02/09 Jack Quick

THE DARKER SIDE by Cody McFayden:  Agent Smoky Barrett and her band of merry men (and woman) are on the trail of a serial killer.  It starts with the in-flight stabbing of the transsexual child of Texas Congressman Dillon Reid, front-runner for the Democratic Presidential nomination.  Barrett, specifically requested for the case by the grieving mother of the late Lisa/Dexter Reid, learns from the medical examiner that Lisa/Dexter met her/his maker in a window seat and that the killer stuffed a wee crucifix in the fatal stab wound before disappearing. Further investigation shows that there have been scores of earlier crucifix-stuffed victims, perhaps as many as 150.  So the search is on.  Lots of actions but few thrills.  Probably my last McFayden.  While the plots are good, the execution leaves much to be desired.  It becomes the kind of book where you are ready for a break after every chapter rather than feeling a desire to keep turning pages. 12/08 Jack Quick

THE DARKEST NIGHT by Gena Showalter: They were ancient warriors of the highest order until jealousy prompted an irreversible mistake. The story of Pandora and her box is well known, but Showalter adds another twist to this famous myth. Pandora was one of these ancient warriors, set to guard a box housing all of the evils of the world. Maddox, a fellow warrior is so incensed over Pandora’s assignment that he and his fellow warriors steal the box, accidentally releasing the demons housed within. As punishment, each of the warriors must house within them one of the demons from the box. Maddox’s punishment is the demon of violence. As further punishment for killing Pandora, he is murdered every night at midnight, his soul sent to hell, and resurrected each morning. The men live in a tower in Budapest, surprisingly supportive of the surrounding community who view them as angels. Ashlyn Darrow has been plagued with psychic abilities – she hears voices and conversations everywhere she goes. She seeks out the men in hopes that they may be able to help her and gets much more than she bargained for. She and Maddox are instantly drawn to one another, which could mean real problems since the men have taken great pains to avoid bringing outsiders into their sanctuary. This is an intriguing concept for a romance series, and it’s going to be a definite favorite amongst fans of the paranormal.  05/08 Becky Lejeune  

THE DARKROOM OF DAMOCLES by W. F. Hermans:  Written in Dutch in the 1950’s by Hermans and newly released in English, this thriller evokes comparison to other noirish works about World War II.  The mysterious Dorbeck visits tobacconist Henri Osewondt during the German occupation of Holland.  Dorbeck gives Osewondt a series of missions involving helping British agents and eliminating traitors, which ultimately leads to Osewondt killing his own wife after she denounces him to the Germans.  At war’ end, Osewondt is taken for a traitor and captured.  When he tries to prove his innocence he finds there is no evidence of Dorbeck ever existing and no available photos, which is interesting because Dorbeck is Oswewondt’s spitting image – in reverse.  Osewondt is blond, effeminate, and beardless – Dorbeck, dark, masculine and bearded.  So, is Osewondt a hero or a villain?  A patriot or a psychopath?  Did Dorbeck exist or not?  Draw your own conclusions.  08/07 Jack Quick  

DARLING JIM by Christian Moerk:  This dark and intense debut is a story of absolute love and unforgiving hate. It begins with a shocking discovery in a small Irish town. A local postman has found a dead body. When police open up the house where the body is found, they discover that the woman has suffered a brutal beating. But there’s much worse hidden in this unassuming house. Upstairs there are two more bodies. Both are younger women who appear to have been poisoned and starved. One has suffered multiple stabbings and her condition is so bad that they can’t determine the true cause of death. Shackles and locks are present throughout the house and the only keys lie around the neck of the first dead body. The police finally find the connection between the women, they are an aunt and her two nieces, but no one knows what really happened in the house. No one, that is, until a young postal employee discovers a “dead letter” with the name of one of the murdered women on the outside. Inside, the young man discovers a journal chronicling the events leading up to the women’s final days. This tragic and chilling tale is easily one of the best debuts I’ve read so far this year. From page one, Moerk weaves a tale that is so completely enthralling that you won’t want to stop until you turn the final page. 04/09 Becky Lejeune  

DARLING JIM by Christian Moerk:  From beyond the grave Fiona Walsh provides the means for Niall, a young mailman in Dublin, to solve the mystery of the murder of Fiona, her sister and her aunt, while maybe saving the remaining sister. Jim is an itinerant story teller who leaves behind young female victims.  It seems that his macabre mythic narratives are more fact than fiction, as Niall learns from a diary found in the dead letter box after Fiona’s death.  Will Niall become another victim of Darling Jim, or will he be able to unravel the Celtic knot? Moerk captures the darkness as well as the light that combine to form the Irish spirit. Nicely done. 06/09 Jack Quick 

THE DARWIN CONSPIRACY by John Darnton: This compelling story is a difficult one to summarize. Darnton links three storylines to unveil a mystery behind Charles Darwin and his theories. Hugo Kellem and Beth Dulcimer meet while working with finches on Sin Nombre, an island in the Galapagos. They later team up to search for a secret about Darwin that his daughter Elizabeth discovered. Darnton relates the story of Darwin’s travels as a young man, while Elizabeth writes in a journal of her own search for the truth about her father. The plotlines slowly intertwine until Hugo’s own personal struggles are paralleled with the story behind Darwin’s discoveries. It takes a novel to reveal that no one really knows the truth behind another person’s life. 10/05 ~This review contributed by Lesa Holstine.

DARWIN’S RADIO by Greg Bear:  We are about to face our greatest crisis, caused by a virus that has been passed from generation to generation since before the dawn of humankind.  Now it’s active and there are three people standing between us and the end of our race.  Mitch Rafelson is a discredited anthropologist who discovers the mummified remains of a Neanderthal couple in the Alps.  Kaye Lang is a molecular biologist specializing in retroviruses, who has postulated that so-called junk DNA may actually have an unknown purpose in the scheme of life.  Christopher Dicken is a virus hunter at the National Center for Infectious Diseases in Atlanta, hot in pursuit of a mysterious illness, dubbed Herod's flu, which seems to strike only expectant mothers and their fetuses.  Gradually, as these three scientists pool their results, it becomes clear that unless a cure is found, our days on the planet are numbered.  Well written although a bit heavy on the science side.  Hopefully, the sequel, DARWIN’S CHILDREN, will be as interesting. 01/08 Jack Quick

DATES FROM HELL by Kim Harrison, Lynsay Sands, Kelley Armstrong and Lori Handeland: If you love supernatural romance or have ever been the unfortunate victim of a really bad date, this is the anthology for you.
In “Undead in the Garden of Good and Evil,” Kim Harrison treats readers to a rare look at Ivy and the events that lead up to her partnership with Rachel. Ivy knows that her best shot at a promotion has nothing to do with her job performance. When her arrogant boss takes things just a bit too far, she plans the perfect revenge.    Unfortunately, her plan will either ensure her path to the top or get her demoted straight down to the bottom.
In Lynsay Sands’ “The Clair Switch Project,” an accident at work causes some interesting side effects for Claire Bennett, and on the same day as her high school reunion, too. When her longtime crush finally asks her out on a date, Claire can’t refuse. Too bad a favor promised to a best friend could ruin the whole thing in this quite funny tale of a strange “double” date.
    Kelley Armstrong’s “Chaotic” features a half-demon tabloid reporter who feeds on chaos. A terribly boring blind date is about to turn into an unexpected adventure for Hope when she tracks a jewel thief at a museum gala. Karl Marsten is much more than he seems, however, and Hope soon finds herself in the middle of deadly game of revenge.
    Finally, in Lori Handeland’s “Dead Man Dating” Mara Naomi Elizabeth (call me Kit) Morelli is a literary agent who hasn’t had much luck in the dating department, until now. A blind date through truelove.com has finally landed this plain Jane a real hottie. Too bad Eric Leaventhall is a total jerk but that could be because he’s dead. If you’re looking for something to wind down with, but you don’t feel like you have much time, this book is perfect. Each story makes a great light read and they are each the perfect length for bedtime reading. 05/07 Becky Lejeune 

DATING IS MURDER by Harley Jane Kozak: Imagine being saddled with a name like Wollstonecraft Shelly!  Fortunately, she goes by Wollie which is much easier to wrap your eyes around - and so is the statuesque blond bombshell that is the heroine of this second novel by Kozak.  Wollie is a Renaissance woman, L.A. style; a greeting card designer, part time muralist, part time returning college student and one of the stars of a super low budget reality TV show called Biological Clock.  As bad as that sounds, it is a step up from her last part time job of serial dating (in the awesome debut Dating Dead Men).  This time out Wollie's math tutor, who is also a German au pair for a wealthy California family, goes missing and no one seems terribly concerned.  Wollie goes on the hunt for her and stumbles into the middle of a joint FBI/DEA drug investigation.  Luckily, she also meets a rather sexy Fed named Simon and she is gaining ground as the favorite on Biological Clock.  Lots of laughs, a little romance, and a real surprise ending put Kozak firmly in the must be read category, an elite place indeed.  Very well done.  03/05

The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown:  I loved the first third of this book, with its intricate twists and fascinating look at art and the Louvre and Paris and the depth of research into the history of the Catholic Church.  But then it just started getting to be too much; too many details, too many symbols, too many cliffhangers until I found myself exhausted by it all, yet still racing through it just to see how it would be resolved - but it really wasn't worth the race. 

The curator of the Louvre is found murdered in a locked room, so to speak - and in a macabre start, leaves clues drawn in his own blood, including the name Robert Langdon.  Langdon is a professor from Harvard visiting Paris to give a lecture on religious symbolism, and coincidentally had an appointment with the murder victim, who of course failed to show.  The victim's granddaughter, Sophie Neveu, is a cryptographer with the Paris equivalent of the F.B.I. but the two of them become the chief suspects in the murder.  Their only hope is to solve it themselves, but with the cops hot on their tail they have to stay one step ahead as they race their way through France, then England, in this complex yet ultimately disappointing thriller.

THE DARK LANTERN by Gerri Brightwell: This historical thriller and debut by Brightwell is an enthralling read. In the late 1800s a lot depended on a person’s past and family histories. For the most part, your future was decided by your station in life and you would never break free of it. Young Jane Wilbred was born to most unfortunate circumstances - her mother stabbed a man and was hanged for her crime. Jane was raised in an orphanage with that stain already attached to her name. She gains employment with a family who makes it clear that she will never escape the “natural” suspicion inherited from her mother’s deeds. Jane does escape, though. She is hired on at the Bentley home, after some finagling of the recommendation letter written by her former employer. Jane soon learns that the Bentley home is full of its own secrets. The mistress of the house has been sickly and her daughter-in-law, Mina, suspects that the servants have been taking advantage. She asks Jane to be her eyes and ears in the home, a task that Jane is not thrilled to be assigned with. The other Bentley son is soon to return from India, but the family is informed that he has been killed in a most ill fated accident. Surprisingly, it is revealed that he left behind a widow who will soon be arriving at the home. Mina’s suspicious nature rears its ugly head once again and Jane begins to wonder what Mina herself may be trying to hide. A late-Victorian era mystery that’s brings to mind the film Gosford Park with slight gothic undertones.  03/08 Becky Lejeune 

DAWN PATROL by Don Winslow:  Three words: epic macking crunchy.  That’s “surfbonics” for big, freaking, wave.  Take a dip into Southern Cal’s insular surf culture with Don Winslow’s latest, Dawn Patrol.  The biggest wave of the last decade is headed toward Pacific Beach and the gremmies are stoked to go down on their guns.  Sadly, a stripper’s death gets between local legend, Boone Daniels, and the ride of a lifetime.  Boone and his gang, the dawn patrol, set out to solve the murder.  These cool cats and kittens meet up with angry Samoans, illegal aliens, drug dealers, shady attorneys, and child slave traders.  These divergent paths all lead to a satisfying climax as the big wave finally reaches the beach.  Meticulously researched.  Funny.  Sad.  Poignant. Brilliant.  06/08 Dan Cawley

THE DAWN PATROL by Don Winslow:  A gnarly rad epic that is macking crunchy.  Don’t worry, if you, like me, don’t speak surfer.  There is an on-going surfer-English dictionary embedded in the book.  Unfortunately this tends to take away from the flow of a nicely done P.I/police procedural with some really neat characters.  Boone Daniels was conceived on the beach to surfer parents, has lived all his life where he can hear the waves, and lives to surf.  He is a key member of the Dawn Patrol, a mixed bag of aficionados that start each day with a “run” on Pacific Beach.  Some of the members have j-o-b-s, but for Boone, all he wants is to make enough for fish tacos and wetsuits, and to be n the water to surf.  Nevertheless, this ex-cop is actually a pretty good investigator, working primarily for a surfing lawyer bud that has asked him to find a missing stripper the lawyer needs to testify at an upcoming trial.  When one of the stripper’s friends is murdered in a possible case of mistaken identity, Boone becomes obsessed with solving the case, even if it means dealing with a gorgeous, but bossy, female lawyer from Great Britain, who thinks that anyone still remaining in the pool, must be an evolutionary reject.  All in all an excellent book that truly is macking crunchy. 09/08 Jack Quick 

DAY AFTER NIGHT by Anita Diamant: Another fascinating portrait of women from the author of the The Red Tent and Last Days of Dogtown, only this time the setting is Palestine, just at the end of WWII. A group of women forge a friendship while waiting to escape from Atlit, a British detention center for illegal immigrants. While the majority of prisoners there are men, there are about 70 young women, some have been released from concentration camps, others have been hiding throughout Europe, but all have their horrors that they want to forget. At Atlit, they are not mistreated, but they are still prisoners.  All they want is normalcy again, to make their home on a kibbutz, get married, have children and start their lives. Their stories are varied but all are interesting, and in Diamant's skilled hands, unforgettable. I was surprised to find myself weeping at the end. 10/09 Stacy Alesi, AKA The BookBitch

THE DAY THE MUSIC DIED by Ed Gorman:  It is a cold day in Iowa, in February, 19858. Specifically, it is the day after Sam McCain, a small town lawyer who earns most of his income working as an investigator in Black River Falls for the wealthy and eccentric Judge Esme Anne Whitney, attended the last concert of Buddy Holly before he died in a plane crash along with Richie Valens and the Big Bopper.  Judge Whitney has sent McCain to check on her rotten nephew Kenny.  At Kenny’s McCain discovers the body of Kenny’s wife, and then is unable to stop Kenny from killing himself. Everybody, including the local police chief, is sure that Kenny murdered his wife, but McCain has his doubts.  Black River Falls is populated with a wealth of characters which Gorman describes in great detail.  This looks to be the start of an interesting series. I look forward to Number 2 – Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow. 12/09 Jack Quick 

DAYS OF RAGE by Kris Nelscott: The time is fall 1969, and Smokey and his adopted son have fled Memphis for Chicago. Dalton is an African-American private investigator on Chicago’s South Side, maintaining a low profile because of his knowledge of the Martin Luther King, Jr. assassination which threatens his life and that of his adopted son, Jimmy. Dalton is working for on-again-off-again girlfriend Laura Hathaway. Laura has inherited her father’s business empire only to learn that it was built on less than firm moral ground. She is trying to right past wrongs with Smokey’s help, while also making sure she doesn’t push so hard that the entire structure tumbles. In this environment, Smokey is contributing by inspecting rental property’s for Laura’s company, Sturdy Investments, when he discovers three corpses in the basement of one of the buildings. This gruesome find quickly becomes worse as more bodies are found. On the one hand, Dalton and Hathaway know this needs to be taken to the authorities and the families of the victims are entitled to some kind of closure. On the other hand, the Chicago Police have not proven themselves to be beyond reproach and if the discovery can be tied to Laura’s father, she may lose everything. All the action occurs against the backdrop of the Weathermen sponsored “Days of Rage” demonstrations in Chicago after the earlier Democratic convention and its high profile confrontations. Over all, a well-written book as Nelscott, skillfully interweaves “headline news” and its impact on the lives of ordinary people as they try to live their normal lives.  09/06 Jack Quick

Days of Summer by Jill Barnett: In 1957, an automobile accident destroyed two families, leaving Kathryn Peyton widowed with a daughter, and millionaire Victor Banning to raise his two grandsons. Thirteen years later, Laurel Peyton meets Jud and Cale Banning, and is torn between the two of them. Barnett’s first romance in four years spans three generations and almost forty years as it tells of the repercussions of the accident. As Laurel discovers in this enjoyable story, people can build on their shared past, or allow it to destroy them. 06/06 Lesa Holstine

D.C. NOIR edited by George Pelecanos:  Apparently the prosperous Northwest section of D.C. isn’t a perfect place to live after all.  Ten of the sixteen stories in Akashic’s salute to the U.S. capital are set there, although Georgetown, Mt. Pleasant, Chevy Chase, the Hill and other sections of D.C. are also represented.  Highlighted by Pelecanos and Washington area native Laura Lippman, D.C. NOIR also includes first-rate offerings from Robert Andrews, Jim Beane, Ruben Castaneda, Richard Currey, Jim Fusilli, James Grady, Jennifer Howard, Lester Irby, Kenji Jasper, Norman Kelley, Jim Patton, Quintin Peterson, David Slater and Robert Wisdom. 01/08 Jack Quick

Dead Aim by Thomas Perry:  Perry is yet another mystery writer who has turned his hand to more lucrative suspense thrillers.  I have been hooked on his work since Metzger's Dog (which is actually the name of a cat that gets thrown at an intruder.)  His Jane Whitfield books, including Vanishing Act, were also well-received.
       Dead Aim is the story of Robert Mallon who saves a would-be suicide from drowning.  After she runs away again, he becomes determined to find out the reasons for her wanting to die.  The answers lie in a paramilitary "self-defense" training camp in California where spoiled thrill-seekers are taught the ultimate hunt.  As you might suspect, Mallon soon becomes the quarry.  The police refuse to accept his story and he is alone with nowhere to turn and no one that he can trust.
       Perry is a fine story teller and this book is hard to put down. I think that one of the reasons I liked Dead Aim was because it does have a lot of the elements of a vintage California mystery story.  The solitary hero with some sadness from his past.  An encounter with a beautiful woman that comes to naught when she is found dead.  And plenty of mayhem committed by frighteningly well-trained killers. This review contributed by Geoffrey R. Hamlin.

DEAD AIR by Ed Goldberg:  Anyone who dedicates their crime novel to the memory of their cat can’t be all bad, and this particular crime novel isn’t bad either.  Lenny Schneider leaves the Big Apple to go all the way cross country to Portland, Oregon, so obviously he is smart.  He moves in with his buddy Walter, a controversial radio show host at the aptly named KOOK-FM.  Before you know it two of Walter's colleagues have been killed with a bayonet from Walter's knife collection, and Lenny may be the next request on the murderer's "hit" list.  Originally released in 1998, this was a review copy of the apparent planned re-release next year.  10/07 Jack Quick 

THE DEAD by Ingrid Black: Irish author Black invades Val McDermid territory and comes out a winner in this first mystery set in gritty, moody Dublin. Saxon (no first name given) is a former FBI agent turned true-crime writer. Her lover, Detective Chief Superintendent Grace Fitzgerald has persuaded her to remain in Dublin after her unsuccessful attempt to write a book about vanished Dubliner Ed Fagan, a vicious, Bible-quoting serial killer. Newspaper reporter Nick Elliott, whose book on Fagan was a success, gets a letter with a threat to kill five prostitutes. With each murder the killer taunts the police. Fitzgerald pulls Saxon into the investigation and Saxon determines this is a copycat killer. A true mystery as well as a crime novel, worthy of comparison to the efforts of Val McDermid. 08/06 Jack Quick

DEAD CENTER by David Rosenfelt:  I just love Andy Carpenter, the smart-ass New Jersey lawyer with the huge inheritance that allows him the luxury of working - or not.  When his ex-girlfriend Laurie calls to say she thinks she's arrested the wrong guy for murder and needs some help, Andy and his beloved dog Tara are on their way to Findlay, Wisconsin to lend a hand.  Laurie dumped Andy and moved back home when she was offered the job as Findlay Chief of Police, but Andy still has feelings for her.  Nevertheless he gets to work, investigating the victims who were both members of a religious sect called the Centurions.  Smart, engaging characters, lots of laughs, some nice plot twists and simply superb storytelling make Dead Center irresistible.  (Make sure you read the acknowledgments page - Rosenfelt manages to turn that into entertainment and I'm not just saying that because I'm first...)  05/06 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

DEAD CENTER by David Rosenfelt:  “Sex without love is just not what I’m looking for anymore, those days are behind me.” Those are the words that form in my mind but don’t actually come out of my mouth.  What my mouth ends up saying is, “Absolutely, check please.”  When New Jersey defense lawyer Andy Carpenter gets a call from his former lover, Laurie, a police detective who has moved home to Wisconsin, to tell him she may have arrested an innocent man for murder he packs his bags and sets off for the Midwest to lend a hand.  He quickly finds himself going up against a very shady religious group, but it's his feelings for Laurie that cause him the most distress.  Another strong outing for what is becoming my favorite wisecracking attorney who only works on what interests him, having made his fortune earlier in the series.  Would that I could also. 05/06 Jack Quick

DEAD HEAD by Allen Wyler: Brain surgeon Russell Lawton must develop an innovative computer that can manipulate a robot by using brain activity. Otherwise the terrorists who have kidnapped his eight year old daughter Angela will bury her alive.  When he learns how the terrorists plan to use his work, he knows that not only is his daughter’s life at stake, but also the lives of millions of other innocent people.  Although well written, I couldn’t stay with the plot.  A claustrophobic who sees too much medicine in real life, I couldn’t relax and enjoy this one at all.  Not for me. 02/07 Jack Quick

DEAD IN RED by L.L. Bartlett: Jeff Resnick suffered a head injury when he was mugged, and, as a result, he has a “sixth sense” that flashes pictures of events associated with violence and murder.  When he accepts a job as bartender, the tavern owner asks him to look into his cousin’s murder.  Before he can go to far, a homeless man is arrested, and everyone seems satisfied.  But, Jeff’s image of a red stiletto high heel, and, later, bloody hands shows him that the murderer is still out there.  Despite their differences,  Jeff and his brother team up, even going so far as to go to gay bars, to find a killer.  This is a solid entry in the series about two brothers, who care for each other, no matter what. 08/08 Lesa Holstine

DEAD IN RED by L.L. Bartlett:  Second full length outing for Bartlett’s Jeff Resnick, a former insurance investigator who acquired certain psychic “powers” as the result of brain injuries incurred during a mugging.  Let me say at the outset, I am not much for so-called “paranormal” phenomena but Bartlett does this so well it is largely reminiscent of a Matthew Scudder tale.  Resnick has been hired to look into the murder of a part-time bartender by the victim’s cousin who also engages Resnick to replace the cousin as part-time bartender.  This gets him somewhat out from underfoot on his brother and brother’s girlfriend with whom he has been living since the events first set forth in Murder on the Mind.  Visions of bloody hands and red rhinestone studded stiletto lead him into the world of drag queens and foot fetishists.  Richard insists on helping and the two end up on the dark side.  Not my favorite book ever, but nicely done and well written. 09/08 Jack Quick 

DEAD MADONNA by Victoria Houston: Houston takes readers back to Loon Lake, Wisconsin in the eighth book in this enjoyable mystery series. If you like small town mysteries, outdoors series, or interesting characters, you might want to try Houston’s books. Lew Ferris is the Police Chief of Loon Lake, an expert at fly fishing, and a mature woman working on her relationship with a widower, retired dentist Paul Osborne. Chief Ferris is also extremely shorthanded when a crime wave hits Loon Lake. Two murders and a bank scam are a little much to handle when the coroner is off at a polka festival. Lew deputizes Doc Osborne as acting coroner. She’s also forced to deputize Roy Pradt, a fishing guide with an eye for the ladies, who has been known to skirt the law. As the friends work together, they discover that Dee Dee Kurland, one of the victims, was not the saintly Madonna that her parents thought she was. But, who would have wanted to murder local resident Nora Loomis, and deface her in the same manner as Dee Dee? Fortunately, Chief Ferris has friends to watch her back during the investigation. The murderer may be evident to the reader, but part of the enjoyment of Houston’s book is her wonderful characters. Pick up Dead Madonna for the mystery, but you’ll return to Loon Lake for the people. 05/07 Lesa Holstine

DEAD MAN RISING by Lilith Saintcrow:  While still mourning the death of her demon lover, Tierce Japhrimel, Dante is once again dragged into the middle of a mystery that threatens her very own. Danny has been neglecting her necromance skills in fear of meeting Japhrimel on the other side. Instead, she has been throwing herself into bounty hunting, taking one job after another to keep herself busy. Jace, the Shaman, has given up his place at the head of his mob family in order to work alongside Danny. The bounties have been visibly wearing him out and though Danny’s newfound demon powers keep her from being physically exhausted, she is pretty close to a mental breakdown. Then, Danny is hired to help solve a series of mysterious deaths in Saint City. Three bodies have been discovered, gruesomely shredded to pieces, and the clues seem to point back to Rigger Hall, the government run school where psion orphans were sent to learn to use their powers. Danny had managed to block all memories of the horrible events that took place there, until now. All the secrets of Rigger Hall will once again be revealed and Danny will finally have to face them, or die trying. Saintcrow has created an intriguing alternate universe with a complex history and mythology of its own. Part sci-fi/fantasy, part mystery, this series is one of the best amongst the many that have shown up on the urban fantasy scene lately.  01/08 Becky Lejeune

Dead Man Running by Rett MacPherson: Torie O’Shea’s archenemy, the mayor of New Kassel, Missouri, is running against her stepfather in the mayoral race. The ninth in the Torie O’Shea mystery series is the darkest one yet. Torie is torn emotionally as she watches her daughter date for the first time, builds a new house, and continues to feud with the mayor. When asked to investigate the genealogy of the two candidates, she discovers problems with the mayor’s chart, but before she can talk to him about it, bodies start appearing, and the mayor disappears. MacPherson’s latest book is a satisfying story that continues to develop Torie as a person with a complicated life. This is the strongest entry in the series so far. 05/06 Lesa Holstine

DEAD MAN’S DUST by Matt Hilton: If you find Jack Reacher somewhat boring and Ted Bundy kind of ho-hum, this one is for you. Ex-military and ex-CIA Joe Hunter, defender of the weak and hero to those who need help, is out to rescue his half-brother John who has a gambling jones and a habit of getting into trouble. This time his trouble is really serious as he has stolen the Bowie knife of psychopathic serial killer Tubal Cain, who wants to become America’s most noted mass murderer. As Joe and his friend Jared “Rink” Rington follow John's trail from Arkansas to the Mojave Desert, they come to realize that John's troubles run deeper than just unpaid debts. At the inevitable showdown in Southern California it is up to Hunter to end Cain’s spree. Frankly, this was somewhat of a FATLUTE for me – FAilure To Live Up To Expectations. 03/10 Jack Quick 

DEAD ON by Robert W. Walker:  Walker credits Ed Gorman for the idea and inspiration for this first of a new series. Thank you Mr. Walker and thank you, Mr. Gorman.    Marcus Rydell is a disgraced ex-cop and failed PI on the verge of suicide, and Kat Holley is an attractive doctor bent on revenge.  They join together to pursue Iden Cantu, a psychopathic killer who four years earlier, slew six people in an Atlanta bloodbath, among them was  Rydell's then police partner and Holley's cop husband.  The chase leads to a remote cabin in Georgia's Blue Ridge Lake area where Rydell, Holley and another at-risk couple have taken refuge.  Besieged and taunted by Cantu, Rydell and Holley seek to turn the tables on the sadistic hunter. Uneven in places, but I think this one has potential as an evolving series.  Good descriptions of Atlanta and its environs. 08/09 Jack Quick

DEAD STREET by Mickey Spillane: (Hardcase Crime 37).  Mulligan:  In golf, a "do-over."  Hit a bad shot?  Take a mulligan and hit it again.  For twenty years NYPD detective Jack Stang fears his old fiancée, Bettie, is dead, killed in a kidnapping gone wrong.  Now, soon after his retirement, he is told that Bettie is, in fact, alive and living in Florida.  However, she is blind and suffers from amnesia from the car crash that killed her abductors.  However, the men who arranged the abduction would still like her dead, so Stang has the opportunity to try to save her this time, an opportunity he missed twenty years ago.  One of a handful of novels he was working on at the time of his death DEAD STREET was prepared for publication by Hard Case vet Max Allan Collins.  It is solidly Spillane with dolls, louses, and the hero packing a trusty .45.  If it is, in fact, the last one, it’s a damn good one. 11/07 Jack Quick  

THE DEAD-TOSSED WAVES by Carrie Ryan: It’s been years since the Return and Gabry has only ever known safety within the confines of the Barrier. She and her friends were taught to fear the Breakers and the Mudo. They were trained to fight them. They were told the rules of living in Vista. But one night, they throw everything away for some fun beyond the Barrier. No one expected to be attacked, but in the end, two of their friends are left dead, two are missing and sure to be infected, and the rest are caught by the Militiamen. Gabry escapes and the others agree to keep her secret, but only if Gabry will cross the Barrier once again to find one of the missing. Gabry’s loyalty to her friends will prove to be the catalyst that changes her life forever. Now, with the Recruiters chasing her, she will have to fight for everything she loves and face a future that’s more uncertain than ever. Amazing. Simply amazing. This companion to Ryan’s debut, The Forest of Hands and Teeth, is every bit as fantastic as its predecessor. I’m blown away by Ryan’s worldbuilding and imagery. Ryan’s is a talent that completely amazes me. 03/10 Becky Lejeune 

THE DEAD TRAVEL FAST by Deanna Raybourn: After the death of her grandfather, Theodora Lestrange receives an invitation to visit a school friend at her family’s estate in Romania. Theodora has long planned to write a novel of her very own and believes that this trip could provide the inspiration she’s needed to get started. Upon arrival, she realizes just how correct this assessment was. The estate proves to be a moldering castle on the brink of ruin and the village is filled with superstitious and cautious folk. Theodora also finds that Count Andrei, her friend’s betrothed and master of the estate, is the perfect model for a gothic hero. But matters become complicated when a servant girl is murdered within the castle walls and rumors of vampires begin to stir. Because of her loyalty to her friend, Theodora finds herself unable to cut ties and run, but can she help unmask the real killer before things get completely out of hand? The Dead Travel Fast is a wholly satisfying read. Raybourn expertly captures the style and tone of traditional gothic literature. A note to fans: this is a standalone, but a new Lady Julia Grey book is said to be in the works. 03/10 Becky Lejeune

DEADFALL by Robert Liparulo:  I swear I heard dueling banjos mid-way through this book.  Think Deliverance in Canada.  Four middle aged Colorado buddies are braving the remote wilds of North Saskatchewan when they encounter a crazed millionaire who plans to obliterate an entire town and its 242 inhabitants using a space-based laser.  (James Bond, where are you when we really need you?)  Anyway, bow-hunter and journalist John Huthinson leads his buddies in a battle for survival.  Some questionable technological assumptions and an extremely predictable ending tend to work toward offsetting neat guy toys and good writing.  It’s better than the reading the Yellow Pages, but no threat to my top ten list. 01/08 Jack Quick

THE DEADLIER SEX by Randy Wayne White:  In this Randy Striker penned outing, Dusty MacMorgan and his pal Westy O'Davis catch a naked woman while fishing along South Florida's Ten Thousand Island coast.  A nearby trawler explodes, but that is nothing compared to the tale she tells MacMorgan and O’Davis.  It seems there is a hard-core women's group secreted on a local key.  When Mac and Westy escort the lady home, they quickly learn that not all is as it appears and maybe they would have been better off throwing their catch back.  A fun read that no one would ever classify as great literature. 01/09 Jack Quick

DEADLINE MAN by Jon Talton: Writing a newspaper column is like writing in chalk on a sidewalk.  The time is here and the place is Seattle.  A life long newspaper man known only as “the columnist” joins with an aggressive young reporter to see if one explosive story can save a newspaper.  It’s the deadline of their lives, and it all starts when “a source” takes a dive off a downtown skyscraper.  Will the newspaper survive? Will the two newsmen survive?  There are mysterious forces at work including federal agents, corporate schemers, and murder intrigue and secrets everywhere.  And what is eleven-eleven?   I don’t usually do “newspaper” books, but this is one has it – in spades. 05/10 Jack Quick 

DEADLY CODES by J P O’Donnell:  When Jennifer Clark is killed in a car bombing in her own driveway, was she the intended victim or was the bomb meant for her husband.  Bill Clark holds a top-secret position in the counter-intelligence division of the National Security Agency and the bomb was planted in his car, so logically he should be the target. However, Jeanne Campbell, Jennifer's twin sister thinks the mysterious woman, Jennifer's secret lesbian lover, who vanished immediately after the bombing is the key to finding out what is going on.  She hires Daniel Cormac Gallagher, Jr., a Boston private eye, to look into the matter since the authorities are only pursuing their suspicions that the terrorist act was intended for Jennifer's husband.  Gallaher soon learns that a bounty has been placed on his own head and the car bombing is only a backdrop to a complex, treasonous scheme to sell code-breaking formulas to a hostile enemy nation.  Nicely done. 11/09 Jack Quick  

DEADLY NIGHT by Heather Graham: The Flynn brothers; Aiden, Jeremy, and Zachary, learn they have inherited a plantation home from an aunt in New Orleans they never knew. At first, they contemplate selling the house, but upon seeing it, decide to fix it up instead. Aiden, the oldest, finds human bones on the property. His instincts as a private investigator kick in and he begins to research the history of the home, and of missing persons in the area. He soon learns of decades of missing women, all last seen in New Orleans. With the help of Kendall, a local tarot card reader who has close ties to Aiden's aunt and the plantation, Aiden reveals the plantation's dark history. He is aware of the rumors that the plantation is haunted, but he refuses to believe in ghosts. That is, until Kendell starts seeing things during her tarot card readings. Women she does readings for disappear. Is it all tied to the Flynn plantation? This was my first taste of Heather Graham's writing. It is obvious that she did a lot of research into New Orleans, and the civil war, in preparation for writing this book. The storyline and characters were well thought out and developed. I've read many a mystery, and most I've figured out before I reach the book's halfway point. This one intrigued me up until the end. I'm looking forward to starting the next in the Flynn Brothers series, HAUNTED HARVEST. 11/08 Jennifer Lawrence

DEADMAN’S BLUFF by James Swain: In this follow-up to Deadman’s Poker, a legally blind poker player named Skip DeMarco is scamming the world’s largest poker tournament in Las Vegas, and cheating-expert Tony Valentine and his son, Gerry, have been hired to find out how. DeMarco is tied to some dangerous characters who will go to extremes – even cold-blooded murder–to ensure that he wins big.  While Gerry works in Atlantic City, Valentine stays in Vegas and teams up with an aging grifter named Rufus Steele, who has his own score to settle with DeMarco.  On opposite sides of a deadly game, father and son work their way through a colorful landscape of conmen and hitmen. Together, they will have to prove there’s more to any game of chance than meets the eye. 06/06 Jack Quick

DEADMAN’S SWITCH by Barbara Seranella: Charlotte Lyon, victim of obsessive compulsive disorder, has turned her illness into a career, as a crisis management specialist. No matter how bad the situation, Charlotte can think up even more dire scenarios. This case involves a train wreck, a Hollywood star who is fatally injured, possible sabotage, and even a new love interest for the widowed Lyon. Throw in Charlotte’s dysfunctional mother and voluntarily absent sister, and you have quite a cast. Unfortunately it ends all far too quickly.  From The Big Chill: Richard is having a late-night snack while talking to Sam and Nick “There's some asshole at work you have to kowtow to, and you find yourself doing things you thought you'd never do. But you try and minimize that stuff; be the best person you can be. But you set your priorities. And that's the way life is. I wonder if your friend Alex knew that. One thing's for sure, he couldn't live with it. I know I shouldn't talk; you guys knew him. But the thing is... no one ever said it would be fun. At least... no one ever said it to me.” Barbara, no one ever said it would be fun, and no one ever said it would be fair, but you were a winner and went out at the top. God Bless. She saved her best for last. 05/07 Jack Quick

DEADMAN'S SWITCH by Barbara Seranella: Barbara Seranella died earlier this year, so the first Charlotte Lyon mystery will also be the last one. It’s sad that the world lost a gifted author. But, it’s also sad to know there will not be a second mystery featuring this interesting protagonist.
    Charlotte Lyon deals with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). However, she has made her problem work for her successfully, since she is in disaster-planning crisis management. When the Sunliner passenger train derails on its way to an Indian casino in Palm Springs, CA, Charlotte is hired to do story control, crisis management and investigation. It’s fascinating to watch Charlotte work with experts from the NTSB, and other agencies as they investigate the disaster. Problems get worse when it’s discovered that a beloved actress was one of two fatalities. Deadman’s Switch shows how Charlotte copes with problems, both professionally and personally. Seranella was even able to make the investigation of a train derailment interesting. It’s a fascinating book, with an equally fascinating character. Barbara Seranella will be missed as an author. 04/07 Lesa Holstine

DEAD RUN by P. J. Tracy: The mother/daughter writing duo, P. J. Tracy (Monkeewrench, Live Bait), has once again penned a furiously paced tale with their trademarked humor and quirky characters, only this time adding a personal twist. Deputy Sharon Mueller suspects a serial killer at work and asks prickly, paranoid Grace McBride and Queen-size sexpot Annie Belinsky of Monkeewrench fame to accompany her to Green Bay to try and get to the bottom of it – but they never make it there. Their car breaks down in the tiny town of Four Corners, which appears to be a recently vacated ghost town. They quickly find out that they are not alone, however; an extremist paramilitary group has garrisoned the town and is hunting them down with orders to shoot on sight. The men they left behind grow concerned when the women don’t arrive in Green Bay and set out after them, but this is no damsel in distress tale. These women are smart and feisty, but there is a much bigger problem afoot than they realize. Four Corners is just part of a much larger terrorist plot that takes the combined efforts of the sheriff’s department, the FBI and the Monkeewrench crew to resolve. 04/05 Copyright © 2005 Cahners Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc.  Reprinted with permission. 

DEAD RUN by P.J. Tracy: Grace and Annie of Monkeewrench and Wisconsin deputy Sharon Mueller are headed to Green Bay, where Sharon believes a serial killer has set up shop.  After Grace's Range Rover breaks down the women seek refuge up in the town of Four Corners, which is abandoned.  They discover all the phone lines have been cut and then witness the cold blooded killing of a couple.  Soon Federal, state and local authorities are all involved while our three heroines remain at risk right in the middle of the action.  Tracy’s work just gets better and better. 01/06 Jack Quick

DEAD WATCH by John Sandford:  The president hires Jake Winter to investigate the disappearance of former Virginia senator Lincoln Bowe.  Bowe’s wife, Madison, believes his bitter political rival, Governor Arlo Goodman, is behind her husband’s disappearance and eventual murder.  Bowe was not a saint: he was obsessed with destroying Goodman's political career.  This may have driven him to contemplate political blackmail, which could have cost him his life.  Sandford shows that he knows insider Washington just as well as his more familiar Minneapolis.  There’s dirt enough to cover everyone, although not enough to cover the odor of day-to-day political infighting.  A first rate book.  Lets hope it is not a stand-alone and we will see more of Mr. Winter. 07/06 Jack Quick 

DEADLOCK by Robert Liparulo:  “The mission was simple – kill everyone. The complications came in the details, such as the directive to keep it quiet.” No “dark and stormy night” here, just the beginning of an action packed thriller that makes Rambo read like a nursery rhyme.  Brendan Page is a billionaire military industrialist who is used to getting what he wants.  What he wants now is to teach John “Hutch” Hutchinson as lesson. Hutch has uncovered some dirt that jeopardizes Page’s empire – specifically that Page is using a private army to settle his own scores. But Page’s teaching operation goes terribly wrong, and Hutch's son is kidnapped.  Now it’s Die Hard, Mission Impossible, and every other unrealistic but satisfying foray in which one determined man overcomes all obstacles and exacts his own brand of revenge.  I wore my seat belt throughout this one. 06/09 Jack Quick

DEADLY ADVICE by Roberta Isleib: Isleib introduces Dr. Rebecca Butterman, a psychologist who also writes an advice column. The mystery focues on Butterman's role as a columnist, and her personal life. When her neighbor is found dead, the woman's mother asks Butterman to investigate because she doesn't believe her daughter could have committed suicide. Feeling guilty because she didn't get to know her, Butterman agrees to pry into her personal life. Her discovery of Madeline's dating history coincides with an assignment to cover the dating scene for her advice column. Unfortunately, Dr. Rebecca Butterman seems ill-equipped to investigate, date, or offer anyone advice. She's an insecure character, with a troubled background, and she doesn't seem prepared to assist anyone, let alone herself. Dr. Rebecca Butterman needs to become a stronger character before she is able to function as an amateur detective. At the present time, the Advice Column mysteries need a stronger character to provide that advice. 04/07 Lesa Holstine

DEADLY ADVICE by Roberta Isleib: Dr. Rebecca Butterman has her own problems – a recent divorce, her practice as a psychotherapist, and her advice column for Bloom magazine. Now she finds that her next-door neighbor, Madeline, has been found dead, under circumstances that suggest suicide. Madeline’s mother insists that the suicide note wasn’t written by her daughter and after having talked Butterman into taking care of Madeline’s cat, also persuades her to look into her late daughter’s life. What Butterman finds in Madeline’s blog – a lively and up to date chronicle of dating adventures, causes her to wonder, as well, since there are no signs of depression. When Butterman’s editor assigns her to do a column on the modern singles scene, Rebecca finds out just how deadly some advice can be. 06/07 Jack Quick

DEADLY APPRAISAL by Jane K. Cleland: Jane Cleland, author of the Agatha award nominated Consigned to Death, brings back Josie Prescott, antiques appraiser, in this second mystery. Josie is just settling in comfortably to her new home and business in New Hampshire, enjoying her romance with Rocky Point Police Chief Ty Alvarez. While Ty’s out of town dealing with a family health crisis, Josie hosts the Portsmouth Women’s Guild’s Gala at her auction hall. When Maisy Gaylor dies on stage that evening, Josie’s past is slammed back in her face. Is she a suspect in the murder, or is she a possible victim herself? Josie’s former boss has just been released from prison, a man she testified against. Who was the actual target the night of the Gala? With Ty gone, Josie turns for help to a newspaper reporter, a man who can help her dig into the past. Cleland continues to reveal more about Josie, while adding tidbits of antiques information in each enjoyable mystery. 04/07 Lesa Holstine

DEADLY BELOVED by Max Allan Collins:  Number 38 in the Hard Case Crime series is the first Ms. Tree novel.  Ms. Tree, aka Ms. Michael Tree, is the groundbreaking female P.I. featured in the longest running private-eye comic book series of all time.  Not a kids’ comic here.  Ms. Tree is investigating a conspiracy that involves murder.  Marcy Addwatter shot and killed her husband in the motel room where he was entertaining a blonde hooker.  Shot the hooker, too.  But before she gets sent away, Ms. Tree is going to dig out the truth – or die trying.  Another Hard Case winner, with lines like “Dr. Sander’s icy smile, however, wasn’t that soothing – her lipstick was dark red and the effect was that of a cut in her face…Her laugh was as chilly as her smile.”  Where is my trench coat and gat? 11/07 Jack Quick   

DEADLY BEAUTIFUL by Sam Baker: Annie Anderson has traded in her investigative journalist shoes for a pair of high heeled Jimmy Choos. Her current assignment has her at New York’s Fashion Week reporting on some of the lesser-known designers at Bryant Park (her boss gets the A-list). But when her best friend and fellow reporter, Lou McCartney, comes to her for help, Annie can’t resist. See Lou’s been holding out on Annie. It seems Lou McCartney is really Luella Ulrich, the abandoned daughter of rich industrialist Rufus Ulrich. That means that Lou’s little sister is Scarlett Ulrich, the world-famous child model. Scarlett, or Lettie as Lou calls her, would appear to have all the luck until she goes missing in Tokyo. Despite Lou’s attempts to appear otherwise, she is worried about her little sister, and Annie has a history of being able to track down hard-to-find people. Annie’s fear lies in the fact that all of those people she tracked down were dead. Two bodies have already been found in Tokyo and Annie sincerely hopes that Lettie won’t be next. Sam Baker, editor-in-chief of Red, draws on her own experience as a journalist to give readers a glimpse of the dirty side of the fashion industry and skillfully wraps it up in a thrilling package. You can read more about Annie in Baker’s debut, Fashion Victim, or you can read Beautiful all on its own. Deadly Beautiful has been published as This Year’s Model in the UK.  08/08 Becky Lejeune

DEADLY COLLECTION by Elaine Flinn:  This is the third installment in Flinn's Molly Doyle mystery series and they just keep getting better.  This one has an interesting twist; Molly's twelve-year-old niece Emma is helping her aunt with the antique store she runs, and with the murder she stumbles over.  Molly is commissioned to sell the contents of an estate in Carmel, California.  The owner is an old friend-of-a-friend of Molly's, so even though she doesn't really like the woman Molly agrees to take on the sale - and the commission doesn't hurt either.  But a murder, a fire and other mysterious happenings spoil the sale and create a lot of tension for Molly and her friends.  A good mystery in an appealing setting and strong, believable characters add up to another great read from Elaine Flinn. 10/05

DEADLY COLLECTION by Elaine Flinn: I don’t do cozies but my sweet wife opines that this is the best Molly Doyle yet.  Taking away nothing from the first two books, but in this one the characters really seem to come to life.  She said even after she figured out whodunit, she never figured out the whydunit.  Five stars according to my bride of many years, with whom I never disagree. 11/05 ~This review contributed by Jack Quick.

DEADLY ERRORS by Allen Wyler: A scary thriller that will cause you to have second thoughts about going to the hospital. .A comatose man is given a fatal dose of insulin in the Emergency Room---even though he isn't diabetic. An ulcer patient dies of hemolytic shock after receiving a transfusion---of the wrong blood type. A recovering heart patient receives a double dose of the same medication---triggering a fatal cardiac arrest. When the doctors and nurses at Seattle's prestigious Maynard Medical Center start making preventable drug and treatment errors that kill their patients, neurosurgeon Dr. Tyler Mathews suspects that something is murderously wrong with the hospital's highly touted new "Med-InDx" electronic medical record. But when he airs his concerns to the hospital's upper management, he's met with stonewalling, skepticism---and threats. Millions of dollars, and the future of Med-InDx, are at stake. Powerful corporate forces aren't about to let their potential profits evaporate. Tyler soon finds that his career, his marriage, and his very life are in jeopardy---along with the lives of countless innocent patients. Will the last surviving patient please turn out the light? An excellent read. 10/06 Jack Quick

DEADLY EXCHANGE by Geoffrey M. Gluckman:  Of course this is a work of fiction, isn’t it? Jennifer Chance is a world-renowned motivational speaker who is not who she seems.  She works for Lectures and More, Inc., a company representing the world’s top motivational speakers. Ulrich Rogers who spearheads the company and its reeducation programs has a new technological advance: a mind-altering radio frequency device sold as a work-site enhancement product. Jennifer learns of Rogers’ plan to use the device to take control of America. She teams up with Frank Revere, an enigmatic former government counterintelligence agent, as they try to untangle deception.  Gluckman is a former federal agent and international lecturer. Although you may think his premise somewhat absurd, a reminder that an injectable sub-dermal RFID (Radio Frequency Identification Device) the size of a grain of rice which can send and receive data and be tracked by Global Positioning Systems has been around since early 2002. Makes you wonder.  06/09 Jack Quick

DEADLY GAMBLE by Connie Shelton: Charlie Parker and her brother Ron are RJP Investigations in Albuquerque. Normally Ron handles the detecting while Charlie, a CPA, handles the financial end. Unfortunately Ron is out of town when Stacy North shows up needing RJP to find a missing Rolex watch. Unfortunately, because ten years earlier Stacy had eloped with Brad, Charlie’s fiancé. Needless to say, Charlie is somewhat reluctant to get involved but does so, against her better judgment. Things start to get sticky when she does, in fact, find the watch in a pawn shop where the alleged thief sold it. The “thief”, it turns out, is having an affair with Stacy and when he is killed, Stacy is immediately a suspect. Charlie soldiers on and additional murders occur. This is quite different from pushing numbers around a spreadsheet. First installment in what looks to be an interesting series. 08/06 Jack Quick

DEADLY HARVEST by Heather Graham:  The second installment of the Flynn Brothers Trilogy has middle brother Jeremy Flynn traveling to Salem, Massachusetts to help his old partner whose wife has gone missing. Rowenna Cavanaugh, a native of Salem, has been living in New Orleans and met Jeremy through her friend Kendall (of Deadly Night). Ro has a gift that allows her to see things. She says it is simply the fact that she can easily get into the victim’s mindset and that there is nothing supernatural about her ability, but her almost-father-in-law, a Salem detective, has used her help in many investigations. Jeremy is definitely a skeptic when it comes to all paranormal mojo and initially believes that Rowenna is an attention-seeker who should be avoided at all cost, in spite of his attraction to her. Upon learning that they will both be working the case in Salem, however, the two finally give in to temptation. Their burgeoning relationship becomes fraught with tension when Ro discovers a body in a local cornfield. Though the body is not that of Jeremy’s friend, it’s clear that someone is stalking women in Salem and that she, or even Ro, could be the next victim. The light paranormal aspect to this trilogy is great. It’s not overpowering, but still fits easily within the stories. Plot-wise, I love that each of these tales fits around a different holiday, thus far. Deadly Night is set in New Orleans around Halloween and was released in October and now Deadly Harvest deals with the Fall Harvest Festival in Salem in the month of November. We’ll see if the holiday link continues with the final installment, Deadly Gift, coming in December. 10/08 Becky Lejeune

DEADLY INTEREST by Julie Hyzy: Hyzy brings back Alex St. James in this latest mystery, a researcher for a news magazine show in Chicago. Alex reluctantly helps her neighbor, Mrs. Vicks, one evening by crawling in a window when the woman was locked out of her house. Then she rushed out to attend an awards banquet. It doesn’t make her feel good when she gets home and learns Mrs. Vicks has been murdered. Suddenly she feels guilty that she brushed aside the concerns about bank papers. Did her neighbor know something that led to her death? Alex reluctantly agrees to investigate on behalf of the bank, while keeping the investigating detective, Detective Lubinski, informed of her progress. When she’s threatened, beaten up, and finds another body, she realizes, “This isn’t the job I signed on for, you know. News research isn’t supposed to be a life-threatening occupation.” Alex St. James is an appealing amateur detective, carrying a burden of responsibility. If you’re looking for a detective that knows her own weaknesses, check out Deadly Interest. 11/06 Lesa Holstine

DEADLY INTEREST by Julie Hyzy:  People are always asking me how to spell my last name, and I suspect Ms. Hyzy has the same problem.  Fortunately, her heroine, Chicago TV reporter Alex St. James doesn’t seem to have that problem.  Everyone seems to know who she is because of her work on Midwest Focus News Magazine.  When Alex’ neighbor Evelyn Vicks is murdered, Alex becomes involved whether she wants to or not.  She is stalked by an ex-con and has to deal with Evelyn’s estranged son.  Combined with romance and caring for her handicapped sister, its all part of the complicated life she leads.  Relatively fast paced for a cozy, Deadly Interest will probably have greater appeal to the female reader who would have a greater appreciation for the angst of broken fingernails and unruly hair than do I.  Still a quality read, and second in the series after Deadly Blessings.  A third, Deadly Messages, is in the works.  08/07 Jack Quick  

DEADLY LAWS by Jim Hansen:  Fourth in the Laws series, drawing us again into the life and work of hard charging, coffee drinking, womanizing, homicide solving Denver detective Bryson Coventry.  A man is abducting women, and then calling other women to go rescue them.  If the proposed rescuer refuses, the abducted woman dies.  One such rescue leads to the killing of a rapist, which brings Coventry onto the scene.  A security camera video leads him to the “rescuer” and the most recent victim.  They don’t want to cooperate, because of the circumstances of the rapist’s death, and because they have vowed to find and kill the abductor themselves.  So Coventry begins a long, drawn out investigation/ assignation, the latter of which is thoroughly enjoyed by all concerned.  In the meantime, the ladies are trying to use to get more information on the abductor, as well as.......  Crisp as a Rocky Mountain morning and as exciting as a new powder run at Vail, this is the best “Law” yet.  10/07 Jack Quick 

DEADLY NIGHT by Heather Graham:  The Flynn brothers have just inherited a home in New Orleans that has a quite sordid history. Locals say that the Flynn’s ancestors have haunted the home since the end of the Civil War when two cousins, a confederate and a union soldier, killed each other and one of their wives threw herself over the home’s balcony. For Aiden, Jeremy, and Zachary, news of the family estate and its history come as something of a surprise; they only learned of the home after the death of an unknown aunt. The three are all formerly involved in law enforcement and run a successful private investigations firm. When Aiden, the eldest Flynn, discovers two human femur bones on the same day, one on the estate itself and another nearby, he comes to believe that there is something fishy going on. Local agencies chalk it up to Katrina damage on graveyards, but Aiden soon uncovers evidence that suggests someone has been stalking women in the Big Easy and possibly using the estate as their dumping ground. This first in a new trilogy proved to be a great read. Graham ties in a slight paranormal storyline that works to the book’s advantage. She is true to her setting, post-Katrina New Orleans, something that is much appreciated by this Louisiana native. The subsequent titles leave the south for other locales, but I’m really looking forward to continuing the Flynn brothers’ adventures. 10/08 Becky Lejeune  

DEADLY VINTAGE: A MOLLY DOYLE MYSTERY by Elaine Flinn: I'm not a fan of traditional mysteries, yet there are a few series that I really look forward to and enjoy and this is one of them.  While the mystery aspect is always interesting in this series, it's the characters that keep pulling me back. Molly Doyle is an antiques dealer with a troubled past who settles in Carmel, California, to manage the antique store of an old friend.  She makes some good friends in this small town, including the chief of police who'd like to be more than a friend.  Along the way she also inherited her niece, a dream child who adds to the richness of the story.  This time out Molly is trying to expand her bank account and takes on a decorating project for the tasting room at a local winery.  But the owner's husband is abusive, and Molly has a very loud, very public fight with him.  When he gets killed, Molly is high on the suspect list.  This a terrific read and a must for any mystery fan. 12/07 Stacy Alesi, AKA The BookBitch

DEADLY WILL by Marion Moore Hill: This is the first in the Deadly Past mystery series, in which Millie Kirchner will travel to historic sites, and discover mystery along the way. In 1789, Nathan Henry, an admiring acquaintance of Benjamin Franklin's, devised a will that would leave keepsakes to his descendants generations later. In 2001, Millie Kirchner, a single mother receives notification that she is one of Henry's descendants, and she's invited to Philadelphia for the reading of the will. While the heirs spend a week learning about their inheritance, someone is spending the time killing off heirs. Millie is afraid to trust any of her fellow heirs since any of them could be the killer. I had high hopes for the historical aspects of this mystery, and I was disappointed in that aspect, as well as the plot. There was not enough history, and the plot has been done better by other authors. Unfortunately, this was a tired plot with stereotypical characters. 01/06 Lesa Holstine

DEADMAN’S POKER by James Swain: Gerry, son of gambling expert, casino consultant and retired cop Tony Valentine, has a lifelong friend, Jack Donovan, who tells Gerry he's concocted an undetectable scheme that "can beat any poker player in the world," but dies before he can let Gerry in on it. Gerry is convinced Jack was murdered and his investigation leads him and his reluctant father to the World Poker Showdown in Las Vegas, where they encounter tournament darling Skip DeMarco, the legally blind nephew of a notorious mobster. Every expert Tony and Gerry speak with thinks Skip is cheating, but no one can prove it. Swain's knowledge of the con, and of his leads, make this one another winner. 05/06 Jack Quick

THE DEAL KILLER by Jack Bludis:  Its 1951 and Hollywood P.I. Brian Kane has been hired for the princely sum of $50 per day to find out who is threatening Hungarian born actress Hanna Mills.  Before he can even get all the basics Hanna’s fellow Hungarian and friend is ambushed and killed, followed by a kidnapping.  There are also contract issues and lots of money involved as Kane is up against the postwar Hungarian mob.  His life and the fate of the studio hang on the ruse of Kitty Chaney, Kane’s high priced lady friend.  After reading THE BIG SWITCH and this one, I wish we could persuade Jack Bludis to give us more.  Recommended. 03/08 Jack Quick 

DEARLY DEVOTED DEXTER by Jeff Lindsay: You have to give credit to an author who can make you feel sympathetic towards the plight of a stone cold serial killer who has to “act” human because he has none of the normal range of emotions. In Dexter’s second outing he helps sister Deborah and the Miami police deal with a South American monster who is now loose in their area. In the meantime he pursues his own hobby of providing permanent solutions to child molesters. Actually, Lindsay doesn’t really portray Dexter in a sympathetic fashion, but more in the sense of an unemotional occurrence, like a thunderstorm or avalanche. Dexter just happens and while the results aren’t pretty you can’t really blame him, just as you couldn’t blame an errant gust of wind. In the meantime, the police procedural written around Dexter is as good as any. 08/05 ~This review contributed by Jack Quick.

DEATH AND HONOR by W.E.B. Griffin:  Only Griffin can write the same story so many times and keep the concept fresh and freely flowing.  This is the fourth in the Honor Bound saga of World War II espionage in Germany and Argentina.  Cletus Frade, a wealthy Marine pilot recruited by the OSS, with strong family ties to Argentina, has a lot on his hands.  OSS chief Wild Bill Donovan has asked him to set up his own (and OSS) airline in Argentina, using “loaned” Lockheed Lodestars and Constellations.  This is in furtherance of the overall war effort but also tied to two Nazi inspired operations that the OSS is trying to get into. The first allows Jews outside the Fatherland to purchase the freedom of their relatives in concentration camps, who will then be transported to Argentina and Uruguay. The second, called Operation Phoenix, involves the use of these funds to establish a sanctuary for senior Nazi officials in South America.  Another great outing from a master.  06/08 Jack Quick

DEATH AND LIFE OF BOBBY Z by Don Winslow:  About the only thing worse than being a three-time loser facing life without parole at age 27 is being a three-time loser, facing life without parole in California where the Aryan Nation has a hit order out on you.  So when the man wants to talk to Tim Kearny, an admitted career screw-up, Tim listens.  He has won a get Out of Jail Free card, if he will serve as a lookalike in a hostage switch with a Mexican drug lord.  You see no one has actually seen the legendary Laguna Beach surfer-turned-drug dealer Bobby Zacharias for years.  Kearny quickly learns that the Hell’s Angels want to terminate him/Bobby Z, so it’s not all fun and games.  Fantastic ending is the icing on the cake of this great outing by Winslow. 03/10 Jack Quick 

DEATH BEFORE DINNER by Gerald Anderson: In some circles, parting the chef’s hair and head with a meat cleaver after the meal might be considered as a form of criticism. When it is done before the meal and inside the chef’s locked kitchen in the heart of rural Minnesota, Sheriff Palmer Knutson considers it homicide. The victim is the self-serving widely disliked President of Fergus Falls State University and there is no shortage of suspects – basically everyone who has ever come into contact with Dr. George Gherkin -with a name like a pickle, he has to be sour - (sorry, my bad). Knudson’s dilemma, after determining that Gherkin was not in fact cooking up Hot Dish, isn’t about motive or opportunity, but how did the killer gain access and who, of the many suspects, actually did the deed. A most interesting variant on both the traditional locked room and culinary sub-genres. I’d vote for Sheriff Knutson again – and avoid breaking any laws in his territory.  05/07 Jack Quick

DEATH BY HOLLYWOOD by Steve Boccho:  If you witness a murder, you normally would call the police and report it, unless you are a down and out Hollywood screen writer.  Bobby Newman’s career is in the tank, he’s drinking too much and his wife is finding comfort outside the marriage bed.  So when he sees a neighbor kill her lover with an acting trophy, Bobby sees this as a chance to both solve his writer’s block and propel him to the top of the heap in Hollywood.  Told by Newman’s agent, it is a typical Hollywood tale, but very well done.  The author, Steve Boccho, has produced Hill Street Blues, NYPD and other crime shows, and knows his way around a mystery. 12/05 ~This review contributed by Jack Quick.

THE DEATH COLLECTORS by Jack Kerley: Kerley, author of the successful mystery, The Hundredth Man, brings back Mobile, Alambama police officers Carson Ryder and Harry Nautilus in another creepy story. Together they form the entire Psychopathological and Sociopathological Investigative Team to look into unusual crimes, often involving serial killers. A woman's body found in a motel, surrounded by candles and flowers, leads the two men to a thirty-year-old murder and a group of people called Death Collectors who buy serial-killer memorabilia. Reluctantly, Ryder once more reaches out to his brother for help, the man who killed their father and five women, but can still offer hints as to the mind of other psychotic killers. Kerley's novels are police procedurals much more than The Silence of the Lambs was, but readers who enjoyed Thomas Harris may want to try The Hundredth Man and The Death Collectors. 07/05 ~This review contributed by Lesa Holstine.

THE DEATH COLLECTORS by Jack Kerley: Mobile, Ala., PD detectives Carson Ryder and Harry Nautilus are tracking a serial killer who leaves a tiny beautiful painting with each body. Retired police detective Jacob C. Willow hears of the murder/painting connection and tells Carson he thinks it has something to do with a serial killer case he worked early in his career. That killer has been dead for years, but a peculiar group of collectors specializing in murder memorabilia is keeping his memory alive. Another excellent outing from the author of The Hundredth Man. 03/06 Jack Quick

DEATH ON THE FAMILY TREE by Patricia Sprinkle: Sprinkle debuts a new Family Tree mystery series with the story of Katharine Murray’s inheritance, research, and resulting troubles. Murray is a well-off married woman, living in Buckhead, a suburb of Atlanta, in a house where she’s rattling around. Her two children are grown, and her husband spends weeks in Washington, D.C. as a lobbyist. She just lost the last of her elderly aunts, so she’s feeling lonely and sorry for herself when she inherits a box containing a necklace and a diary. Her research shows they might be traced back to Austria around 1846, when a Celtic village was uncovered that existed from 1000-400 B.C. Unfortunately for Katharine, her research also attracted a great deal of attention. She’s followed, her house is broken into, and events go from bad to worse. Soon, Katharine doesn’t know who she can trust. And, as she continues to dig, she realizes she can’t even trust her own family history. Sometimes, secrets are better left hidden. 03/07 Lesa Holstine

Dealing in Murder by Elaine Flinn: I just loved this first novel and terrific mystery.  Molly Doyle is a disgraced antique dealer in Carmel, California (with that famous mayor, Clint Eastwood).  A friend is helping her get back on her feet and has her manage a shop that has been woefully neglected.  Molly hits the garage sales and finds a good desk, but when she gets it back to the shop the drawers are locked.  She returns for the key, a woman dies in her arms, and things get a bit sticky after that.  Lots of nice twists, interesting characters and terrific tips on the antique business make this a fun, fast read.  This book has been nominated for several awards.

DEATH AND THE LIT CHICK by G. M. Malliet: Second outing for Detective Chief Inspector St. Just in this light mystery series which has been described as both a homage to and a parody of the traditional British mystery.  In this one, Lord Easterbrook, who is head of Deadly Dagger Publishing is hosting his annual Dead on Arrival Mystery Writers Conference with guest of honor, Kimberlee Kalder, the young chick lit author of Dying for a Latte.  Kalder is not the smoothest rock in the pile of assembled writers of damsel-in-distress bodice rippers, spy thrillers, prehistoric detectives and dark-and-no-loner edgy tomes, so it should come as no surprise when the late Ms. Kalder shows up in the dungeon – dead.  If you have ever read anything by Agatha Christie or Dorothy L. Sayers, you will recognize many of the characters and might even guess the identity of the evil-doer. Interesting, very interesting. 04/09 Jack Quick 

A DEATH AT THE ROSE PAPERWORKS by M.J. Zellnik: The title says cozy but the new effort from brother/sister team Miriam and Joseph Zellnik has more action than most. Amateur sleuth Libby Seale is working as a seamstress for the Rose family in turn of the century Portland, Oregon when her boss Hiram Rose is reported to have been killed – caught in machinery at his own paper mill. Minutes later, a healthy Mr. Rose walks through the front door. As continued murder attempts reveal a dark agenda, it is up to Seale and boyfriend Pere Eberle, a maverick reporter for the Portland Gazette, to solve the mystery. Portland, Oregon, 1894 – well depicted – if that’s your cup of tea. A bit too sweet for me. 10/06 Jack Quick

DEATH BOOKS A RETURN by Marion Moore Hill:  The second book in the Scrappy Librarian series allows Wyndham, Oklahoma librarian Juanita Wills to dig into the past while trying to write the town's history. Unfortunately, she hits a logjam when she gets to the brutal 1959 murder of a teenage black athlete. No one in Wyndham, or the neighboring town, wants to talk about the hate crime. Wills is persistent as she digs into the cold case. The story is interesting, but, as a librarian, I found Juanita a little unbelievable. She's a librarian with too little actual work, and too much time on her hands. Even so, it's an interesting look into racial tensions and feelings in the 1950s. 09/08 Lesa Holstine

THE DEATH CHAMBER by Sarah Rayne:  UK author, Sarah Rayne, returns with yet another chilling thriller about family secrets and the people who will do just about anything to make sure they stay forgotten. Georgina Grey has lost everything. Her business partner left with all the cash, and Georgina’s boyfriend, so it’s something of a saving grace when she receives a letter from the Caradoc Society. The society was set up ages ago to deal with psychic phenomena. It seems Georgina’s grandfather, a man she never met, left a good portion of money to the society – money that, after being used to pay off the society’s debts, will fall to Georgina. All Georgina knows about her grandfather is that he once served as the prison doctor at Calvary Gaol, a prison specifically for death row inmates. She makes the trip hoping to learn more about the man and meets TV host Chad Ingram. Ingram and his team are working on a show about Calvary and Georgina promises to let them use any relevant information she finds. Unfortunately for Georgina, this is one man’s worst nightmare - not only could his family’s terrible secrets be unearthed, but for them to be aired for national viewing is something he cannot, and will not, allow.  04/08 Becky Lejeune 

Death in Dublin by Bartholomew Gill: I should confess from the outset that I am a big McGarr fan. One of my favorite lines comes from an earlier book and involved the questioning of a bartender by the Irish police. He explains that at the time in question, he was at the trough in the bathroom. The policeman responds "I guess you have a cast-iron alibi, then." Death in Dublin was the last book written by Bartholomew Gill before his passing and I am going to miss him and his characters.
    The book starts with the theft of The Book of Kells from Trinity College and the literal sucking the life out of the watchman who admitted the crooks. Atlhough the signs point to a cult proclaiming itself to be the New Druids, the plot grows increasingly more complicated. It involves such current matters as oxycontin addiction and the Opus Dei organization and such old themes as lust, politics and money.
    McGarr's progress throughout this maze is monitored, assisted and hindered by a young aggressive female reporter and the rich, despicable, but politically-connected publisher of the newspaper for which she is working.
    McGarr is assisted in his investigation by two former members of his squad who were forced to resign from the Garda Soichana when their communal marriage was exposed by that newspaper. They become vital when a "pretty boy" on the way up is put in charge of the Guarda.
    By the end of the story, McGarr has not only solved the crime, but exposed corruption at the highest levels of government, religion and industry. And as a bonus, learned the true facts surrounding the earlier murder of his wife and father-in-law.
    As to whether he would have found love or happiness afterwards, we can only speculate. I hope so.  This review contributed by Geoffrey R. Hamlin.

DEATH IN SMALL DOSES by Bernard Steele:  This is either a work of Christian fiction occasionally interrupted by action sequences, or else a thriller in which characters periodically feel the need to moralize and preach.  The ploy idea is good – someone has created radioactive cocaine – which is even more deadly than the normal kind.  DEA officers are frantically trying to locate the source, aided by an incredible series of coincidences that further strain the imagination.  In the end it’s the Jihadists versus the good guys in the New York City subways.  Guess who wins? 10/08 Jack Quick 

THE DEATH LIST by Paul Johnston: Struggling author Matt Wells still gets the occasional e-mail from a devoted fan or new reader. With no new releases, however, hits to his site have dwindled. One devoted fan – he calls himself WD - has decided to help Matt combat his writer’s block. See, WD has been keeping a list of all the people who have wronged him throughout his life and he wants Matt to chronicle their punishment. To encourage Matt along the way, WD will be keeping an eye on him, as well as his family and friends. If Matt disappoints WD… well, there may be more additions to that list. To make matters worse, Matt suspects that WD may be setting him up to take the fall for the crimes. This gruesome and intense thriller is the first installment of a new series for Johnston. I raced through The Death List and I can’t wait for the next installment. I highly recommend this to anyone looking for what promises to be an exciting new series. 07/07 Becky Lejeune

DEATH OF A COZY WRITER by G.M. Malliet:  No, this actually is not THE CAT WHO KILLED LILLIAN JACKSON BRAUN.  It’s the first of a series featuring Detective Chief Inspector St. Just (with a name like that he’s got to be good).  Millionaire mystery writer Sir Adrian Beauclerk-Fisk gathers his four children together for a family dinner to announce a secret elopement with the beautiful Violet, who was once suspected of murdering her husband.  Within hours, eldest son and appointed heir Ruthven is found cleaved to death by a medieval mace.  Its just an typical English parlor mystery for St. Just until Sir Adrian himself is found slumped over his writing desk – an ornate knife thrust into his heart.  Who is the killer and who is the potential next victim? 12/08 Jack Quick 

DEATH OF A DISSIDENT by Stuart Kaminsky: The first of Kaminksy’s Porfiry Rostnikov police procedurals.  A dissident is murdered the day before a show trial where he had hoped to get his message to the western media.  It quickly becomes clear that this isn't a KGB murder but that a mad man is out there.  Kaminsky weaves and bobs us through multiple false clues and red herrings until the crime is finally solved.  Although he paints a dreary picture of Moscow, the dynamics of the police - crime interplay are universal. 01/06 Jack Quick 

Death of a Red Heroine by Qiu Xialong:  This strongly written mystery is set in contemporary China. Qiu takes the reader on a journey through Chinese culture and politics. Fascinating read.

DEATH OF A RUSSIAN PRIEST by Stuart Kaminsky: Inspector Porfiry Rostnikov investigates the murder of elderly, politically outspoken Father Vasili Merhum in the village of Arkush, while his deputy Sasha Tkach--newly and uncomfortably partnered with Elena Timofeyeva--competes with a stone killer to comb the hot-spots of Moscow searching for Amira Durahaman, daughter of the Syrian oil minister. The link between the two cases--the fact that Colonel Lunacharski of the KGB, hot for a public relations coup that will consolidate his conservative political position, is plotting to steal Rostnikov's credit for solving both of them. In his spare time Rostnikov reads 87th precinct procedurals while his day job is being in them. One of the best yet in this fine series. 02/07 Jack Quick

DEATH OF A WRITER by Michael Collins: It’s been years since E. Robert Pendleton has published anything of substance and he is now facing the loss of tenure in his position at Bannockburn College. Meanwhile, his former classmate Allan Horowitz has just released his latest bestseller. When Horowitz is invited to speak at Bannockburn, the chair of the college asks Pendleton to arrange it all. On the night of Horowitz’s arrival, Pendleton tries to kill himself. He leaves all of his published works to grad student Adi Wiltshire. Pendleton survives his suicide attempt but only just. Adi moves into his house and discovers boxes of a self-published book called Scream. With Horowitz’s help, Adi has the book re-released. A media frenzy and a nomination for the National Book Award follows. Adi knows all along that Pendleton used the murder of a local girl as inspiration for the novel. What she doesn’t know is that the release of the book will point police towards Pendleton as a suspect. Collins’ novel is a true literary mystery but also focuses on questions concerning moral responsibility. An intense read that will have readers wondering what they would do in similar situations. 10/06 Becky LeJeune

DEATH WAS THE OTHER WOMAN by Linda L. Richards:  Katherine “Kitty” Panghorn doesn’t drink bourbon.  Nor does she drink gasoline, which she suspects would taste a lot like bourbon, but she is still one tough cookie.  She has been orphaned by the financial crash of 1929, which led her wealthy father to take that big leap, having first lost his wife, and then his fortune.  A girl’s got to earn a living, particularly in a Depression, so Kitty is pretty lucky to have hooked up with Dexter “Dex” Theroux, practicing alcoholic and erstwhile Los Angeles gumshoe.  At least Kitty has done okay until Dex’s latest job – a woman hires him to tail her boyfriend, who turns out to be one of Los Angeles most corrupt businessmen.  When the bodies start appearing and disappearing, Kitty knows that she and Dex have to solve this one, because its far more than her paycheck that is at risk.  Nicely done and reminiscent of some of the pre World War II classics. 04/08 Jack Quick  

DEATH WILL GET YOU SOBER by Elizabeth Zelvin: Zelvin’s debut mystery is an insightful view into the world of the alcoholic and recovering alcoholic. Bruce Kohler wakes up on Christmas Day in a detox, and finds different people in the room with him in the next couple days. When he’s sober enough to talk to his roommate, he appreciates the latest one, Godfrey Brandon Kettleworth the Third, known as God or Guff. Bruce is still in detox when he stumbles over the body of a dead man, but it’s not a shocking death. Guff’s death stuns Kohler, and leads him to an investigation with his two best friends, another recovering alcoholic, and a counselor. Death Will Get You Sober is not only an intriguing mystery, but also a view into a world many of us never see. 04/08 Lesa Holstine

DEATH WORE WHITE by Jim Kelly:  Detective Inspector Peter Shaw and Detective Sergeant. George Valentine are following up on a report of barrels of contaminants showing up on the beach.  Actually, you might say Valentine is following the father’s footsteps as he had been the partner of Shaw's disgraced policeman father.  The two stumble on a corpse on the beach, get stuck in a blizzard, and soon discover another body.  Harvey Ellis, the driver nearest the downed tree which has blocked the road has been killed with a chisel blow to the eye.  Other bodies follow.  It seems no one is telling Shaw and Valentine the truth, which ultimately leads back to the child murder case that brought Shaw’s father down.  This is a delightfully twisty police procedural with well-defined characters. 07/09 Jack Quick 

DEATH’S LITTLE HELPERS by Peter Spiegelman: Marsh is looking for missing Wall Street analyst Gregory Danes. A once shining star, who came crashing down along with stock market, Danes has been frantically trying to return to glory, when suddenly the alimony checks to his ex-wife stop coming. What should be a relatively simple search become very complicated as evidence of business betrayals and deception along with the involvement of the Russian mob point Marsh into a morass of wrong doing. Nice follow-up to Black Maps.  08/05 ~This review contributed by Jack Quick.

THE DECEIVED by Brett Battles: Jonathan Quinn, introduced in The Cleaner, is a former CIA agent who cleans up shadowy government agency messes.  The job this time is to accept delivery of a container from overseas, and make the body inside it disappear.  Things go as planned except for one hitch; the body inside is a former agent who once saved Quinn's life.  Quinn determines to find the killer and a worldwide hunt is on.  He's aided by his apprentice Nate and a co-worker/romantic interest, Orlando.  Lots of action, gun fights, international locales and some nice twists make this tightly written, fast paced thriller a first rate read. 11/08 Stacy Alesi, AKA The BookBitch

DEDICATED MAN by Peter Robinson: (Second in the series) Detective Alan Banks is called to the scene after an old Yorkshire farmer, out herding his sheep, discovers a half-buried body – that of a local celebrity who had left his teaching job after inheriting a sizable sum of money. Who is responsible? Is it the wife who inherits, his long time publisher, one of his drinking buddies, a younger woman from his past? Banks has to sort through all the possibilities. Narrowing the list becomes a higher priority after a second victim is found. Excellent police procedural of the mold of Ed McBain, but with fewer characters. 09/06 Jack Quick

DEEP BLUE ALIBI by Paul Levine: Steve Solomon and Victoria Lord are back for another adventure in this  worthy sequel to the winsome Solomon vs. Lord.  Steve & Victoria are frolicking in the ocean when they are practically run down by a run away boat with Victoria's uncle - and their newest client - aboard.  Victoria thinks this will be her opportunity to break away from Steve and go out on her own, but of course, Steve has other ideas.  With Victoria dealing with a murder case, Steve decides to get to the bottom of his father's disbarment, against his father's wishes.  The plot thickens and churns but the laughs keep coming in this furiously fast paced, rollicking good read.  02/06 Stacy Alesi, AKA The BookBitch

THE DEEP BLUE ALIBI by Paul Levine:  Straight arrow Florida attorney Victoria Lord and her partner/lover, make-‘em-up-as-you-go Steve Solomon, get caught up in family matters in this second outing.  Victoria is defending. Hal Griffin, an entrepreneur and onetime business partner of Victoria's late father, who stands accused of murdering an EPA official with a spear gun.  Meanwhile, Steve is attempting to discover the truth behind his father's scandalous suspension from the Florida judicial bench.  In the process both uncover family secrets that have not seen the light of day in a long time.  Solomon and Lord – fast becoming my favorite odd couple. 06/06 Jack Quick

DEEP DISH by Mary Kay Andrews: I look forward to Andrews's books because they are usually romantic suspense that are fast and funny reads.  This one is not really any of those things.  I loved the premise, the two main characters are TV chefs who end up competing for their own show on "The Cooking Channel".  But that these two competitors would get together was apparent from day one, yet it just dragged on and on.  I kept waiting for a dead body to turn up or for something to happen, but it never did, so there was no suspense to speak of other than the how and/or when they would end up together. I was looking for some behind the scenes cooking show drama, and there really wasn't any of that either.  It was a quick read and there were a few laughs, but most of it just felt repetitive. All in all, it was a major disappointment. 04/08 Stacy Alesi, AKA The BookBitch

DEEP SHADOW by Randy Wayne White: Doc Ford's friend Arlis tells him he just bought some property with a lake that he believes is hiding a downed plane filled with gold from Cuba, before Castro. So Doc takes his old hippie friend Tomlinson and a new young friend on what's supposed to be an easy dive in the lake. But a cave collapses, trapping his two friends, and when Doc Ford gets back to shore for help, he's met by two ex-cons on the run from a killing spree. They have Arlis and want the gold, and don't really care who dies in the process. There appears to be some sort of giant swamp creature lurking about as well, ratcheting up the tension even more. An outstanding story and the 17th entry in the series, proving some authors just keep getting better. Don't miss it. 03/10 Stacy Alesi, AKA The BookBitch

THE DEEP SIX by Randy Wayne White: This is the second of White’s pre Doc Ford works originally published under the name of Randy Striker. A Key West scavenger, who has a golden chain that appears to be part of a bigger treasure, approaches Dusty MacMorgan. Before MacMorgan can learn more, the scavenger disappears. It’s too much of a coincidence for MacMorgan that the old man was killed by sharks – the marine variety at least. He sets out for vengeance fighting predators in and out of the water looking for the old man’s treasure. Obviously not as polished as the Doc Ford series, but still a good read if you like Florida danger and deception. 12/06 Jack Quick

DEEPER THAN THE DEAD by Tami Hoag: In 1984, four kids discover the body of a woman in a park. She was buried with only her neck & head showing, her mouth and eyes glued shut. Their teacher, Ann Navarre, heard the children scream and went to investigate. There's a hotshot new detective, who is into this new high tech strategy of profiling serial killers. He investigates and finds two other women have been killed in a similar manner. He calls in a friend from the FBI, who recently came back from medical leave after being shot in the head. Meanwhile, the entire town is in turmoil. The characters are really well developed, even the children who are often just used as props have their stories told in this fast paced, riveting yet somewhat predictable read. 01/10 Ariel Alesi

THE DEFECTOR by Daniel Silva: Should have the subtitle, Moscow Rules II. Russian defector and dissident Grigori Bulganov ended up in London after enigmatic assassin and art restorer Gabriel Allon saved his life in Moscow Rules.  Allon himself went into semi-retirement restoring artwork for the Vatican.  Then Bulganov disappears from London.  The Brits think he has re-defected after deceiving Allon and the intelligence services of both Britain and Israel.  Allon is not so sure.  His efforts to find Bulganov and the truth lead him straight into the path of Ivan Kharkov, the former KGB agent and Russian oligarch who opposed Allon in Moscow Rules. Reminiscent of the best of LeCarre, Silva just keeps getting better.  This is his ninth Allon and let us hope for another. 09/09 Jack Quick 

DEFENDING COLLEGE HEIGHTS by Stuart Nachbar:  Military recruiting in the sixties was hazardous duty on some college campuses. Now, Army Captain Kevin Callahan has survived Iraq only to be stabbed to death at Hudson Technical University, a small private engineering school located in College Heights, in New York’s Hudson River Valley.  A message left on Callahan’s shirt reads, “No more lies.”  Is this the result of opposition to the war and current recruiting practices as the news media and pro-military and anti-war activists believe, or is there more to this story?   Callahan’s uncle, Philadelphia area urban planner Jack Donnelly, is determined to find out. He takes the position of special assistant for campus planning at Hudson Tech, working with president Martina Tiernan.  Callahan isn’t sure about Tiernan’s motives, but he is determined to find why his nephew died. The answer shocked him and will surprise you. 06/09 Jack Quick 

DELETE ALL SUSPECTS by Donna Andrews: Turing Hopper, the Artificial Intelligent Personality (AIP), returns in the fourth book in this enjoyable mystery series. The latest one takes Turing’s business staff into an intimate mystery as they search through the computers and paperwork of the victim of a hit-and-run accident. As he lies in a hospital, they attempt to find out who might have wanted to kill him and why his computer business might have lead to attempted murder. Although Turing continues to hunt for her stolen clone, this book focuses more on the people she works with. Humor and the intimate atmosphere make this the best of the last few books. 11/05 ~This review contributed by Lesa Holstine.

DELICATE CHAOS by Jeff Buick: Leona Hewitt, Director of Corporate Acquisitions and Accounts at DC Trust bank, has just received a promotion. She will soon be elevated to the much lauded title of Vice President. The title, however, comes with one stipulation. In order to receive the promotion, she must handle a request on the part of one of the bank’s largest clients, Coal-Balt, Inc. Coal-Balt is a company that does double duty mining coal and then using that coal to produce electricity. Since it handles both aspects of the industry, they have been very successful, until now. A Utah senator is rallying for a new bill to be passed that would require Coal-Balt and other businesses like them to clean up their act in an effort to limit the amount of harmful waste that is being emitted into the atmosphere. Leona is in a position to make life very hard for Coal-Balt. The question is, does she comply and earn her promotion or does she fight for what she believes is right. There are many more aspects to this political/eco-thriller that make this a very interesting read. Buick has taken what could be some very complicated concepts for readers – clean-air requirements and “scrubbing” statistics - and presented them in a way that makes it easier to understand. He’s also focused on a very timely topic, that of the current state of the environment and how far some people are willing to go to earn a buck at the expense of others. 01/08 Becky Lejeune

DELICIOUS by Mark Haskell Smith: A familiar plot hilariously recounted. The mafia is trying to take over the catering trade in Hawaii and local businessmen fight back. But caught up in the madness are a trash-talking lap dance addicted stroke survivor, a gay TV producer whose recent breakup has led him to painfully overdose on Viagra; his homely assistant, who, on the advice of a local pimp, gets a wild haircut that turns her into an androgynous sex symbol; and a hit man who takes too much Ecstasy and paddles off into the sunset. What a cast of characters. Smith outdoes himself in this, his second outing after Moist. 03/06 Jack Quick

DELIVER US FROM EVIL by David Baldacci:  Baldacci's sequel to The Whole Truth (2008) is quite good, even though it feels like a transitional book to a new series. Evan Waller, outwardly a respectable Canadian businessman but secretly a human trafficker who sells children into prostitution, has expanded into arranging nuclear weapons deals with Islamic fundamentalists. Shaw, the lead of The Whole Truth, sets out to stop Evan, as does Regina “Reggie” Campion, a British femme fatale, who works for a clandestine group that tracks down and executes war criminals. Reggie and Shaw cross paths while maintaining their cover stories, when both move against Waller who is on vacation in Provence,. Shaw becomes attracted to Reggie, even as he fears that Evan, who's in fact a sadistic Ukrainian who served the Soviets, will abduct her. Better leave the lights on for this one which is reminiscent of some of the early Robert Ludlum thrillers. 07/10 Jack Quick 

THE DELUGE by Mark Morris:  It begins with a mysterious earthquake that shakes all of London. Then, floodwaters cover the city and thousands end up dead. The few survivors wait until, three days later, the water recedes. Many strike out to find others. Some do the best they can to make parts of London livable again – burning bodies to prevent contagion, cleaning buildings so they can start over. Some have other, more violent ideas about repopulating the world. Everyone’s main concern is survival, including those new inhabitants left behind by the flood. No one knows where they came from, or what they are exactly, but they feed on humans, and when they are done, they inhabit the body. Like a parasite, they use our own as bait luring more victims to feed on. Now the true test is whether humankind can survive this new enemy or if man’s time on earth has come to an end. Mark Morris reads like a great apocalyptic action flick. It’s fun, it’s uncomplicated, and there really is no explanation about the flood or the aliens – if that’s what they are, it could be that they have always been here – this leaves it open to the reader to come up with their own theories making it a plain fun read. 11/07 Becky Lejeune

DELUSION by Peter Abrahams:  Although not as powerful as James Lee Burke’s Tin Roof Blowdown, this Southern thriller is also set in the wake of a fictional Katrina type hurricane.  Twenty years ago Nell Jerrau’s eyewitness testimony sent Alvin “Pirate” Dupree to prison for the murder of her then boyfriend, Johnny Blanton.  In the process Nell also met Clay, her current husband, then detective and now Chief of Police of Belle Ville.  The flooding from the hurricane has unearthed potential exculpatory evidence that would free Dupree, if it is valid.  The stress from the resultant spotlight on their family adversely affects Norah, Nell’s daughter, who is Johnny’s biological child.  Nell knows she must uncover Johnny’s true killer if she will ever be able to regain control of her life.  Evocative of some of Greg Isles modern Southern gothic tales and quite readable. 04/08 Jack Quick  

Demolition Angel by Robert Crais:  I'm definitely in the mystery mode so far this year.  This is well written crime fiction, with a strong interesting female protagonist.  Non-stop action makes it easy to understand why it has already been optioned for a movie.   Don't miss his previous novel either, the Edgar Award nominated L.A. Requiem.

DENIAL by Stuart Kaminsky: This is Kaminsky’s fourth outing for Lew Fonesca, former investigator for Illinois' Cook County State's Attorney's Office, currently struggling to get by as a hard-up Sarasota, Florida process server consumed with grief over his wife's death in a hit-and-run accident.  In this one, he gets involved in looking for two murderers, one accused by a resident of Seaside Assisted Living of killing another resident, and the hit-and-run driver who killed a local actress' 14-year-old son.  With each succeeding book, Kaminksy brings Fonesca out a bit more and adds facets to the character.  Hopefully, since Kaminksy himself now lives in Sarasota, he and Lew will continue to entertain for a considerable time. 12/05 ~This review contributed by Jack Quick.

DEPARTMENT THIRTY by David Kent: Ryan Elder’s parents commit suicide literally minutes after he arrives home in Oklahoma City from UCLA for Thanksgiving. He begins an odyssey from radio station to radio station as a newsman. Seven years later a letter mailed by his mother the day before her death finally catches up with him. It contains a newspaper clipping and an Oklahoma City telephone number for Department Thirty. Elder calls the number and arranges a meeting in Cheyenne, Oklahoma, his father’s hometown, to try to find out what is going on, but the government agent he meets is shot and killed before he can explain anything to Ryan. Then things get interesting. Ryan hooks up with a mysterious woman whose father, an Alzheimer’s victim, insists that Ryan’s father is not from Cheyenne as Ryan always thought. An examination of the high school annuals supports Cassandra’s father’s claim. A sheriff’s deputy arrives and Ryan and Cassandra must leave to try to solve the mystery. Get the picture? A well-written thriller. E-book also available in print. 09/05 ~This review contributed by Jack Quick.

THE DEPARTMENT OF LOST & FOUND by Allison Wynn Scotch: Natalie Miller is the top aid of one of New York's women senators. She's devoted all of her time and energy to her career. Then she learns that she has breast cancer, and she's forced to devoting all her time and energy to her survival. She takes a look at the decisions she's made throughout her life and puts all of her energy into finding her past loves of her life so she can determine what went wrong. It turns out that she is the one to blame---she consistently chooses her job and her career over love and her own personal happiness. Natalie's therapist suggests that she use a journal to channel her pain into, rather than falling into a state of depression. She learns how to embrace life and live it at its fullest. This book was amazing. The journal entries allow the reader to witness the evolution Natalie goes through during this self-discovery. Rather than being a downer, this book was incredibly uplifting. It realistically portrayed the frightening truth behind cancer and its victims but still provided hope. 05/08 Jennifer Lawrence

DEPRAVED INDIFFERENCE by Joseph Teller: Rule number one – if your client is already widely known and has even been given a nickname by the press, specifically, the Audi Avenger, it is not a good thing. When you are asked by his wife with whom you are sharing a bed, to defend him, it is not a good thing.  When you are already on suspension for previous acts “unbecoming” by a member of the bar, accepting such a public challenge is not a good thing.  On the other hand criminal defense attorney Harrison J. Walker, Jaywalker to friends and colleagues alike, has never steered away from a fight – even when his client is charged with driving his Audi sports car at high speed on the wrong side of the road, and forcing an oncoming van off the road, killing all nine occupants ...eight of them children.  It’s a messy case and it may turn into a personal disaster, but if anyone can pull it off, it’s the Jaywalker. Outstanding. 04/10 Jack Quick

Derailed by James Siegel: Married man with some stress at home, and no, that's not redundant, commutes to work in New York City from Long Island by train, like thousands (millions?) of others.  But one day circumstances allow him to get involved with a gorgeous woman sharing his train car.  As Joe Average, our hero never wonders why this knockout thinks him "the sexiest man" she's ever met, and therein lies the premise, and the problem, of this twisty thriller.  Having taken that same train many times, I enjoyed the references to my hometown but that wasn't enough to override the fact that despite some nice twists along the way, the solution to this suspense story was rather obvious.  

THE DESERT by Bryon Morrigan: In Morrigan’s debut, two men on recon in Iraq discover a strange cave in the desert. Inside lie the remains of an American soldier who appears to be part of a troop that went missing in 2003 (it's now 2009). Along with the soldier, they also find a journal. Because no trace of the missing troop was ever found, the soldiers are hoping that the journal will give them some clue as to what happened six years ago. As they read and continue on their mission, they come across a town, the same town that is mentioned in the journal, the same town in which the journal stops. Before it ends, however, the dead officer has one last warning for the people reading and that is to stay high, and under no circumstances enter the hole in the ground that his fellow soldiers discovered in 2003. So what do these two new men do? The enter the hole. But they kind of have to because for some reason, when they try to drive away from the town, they end up back where they started. I love the blend of horror and military fiction in this novel. It’s not a combination that comes along very often, but it’s one I feel is perfect for the horror genre. Morrigan’s blend of the real horrors of war combined with the beasties and creepy crawlies of the paranormal world make for a great chilling read.  02/09 Becky Lejeune  

DESERT CUT by Betty Webb:  Webb’s mystery, Desert Wives, forced the state of Arizona to confront the evils of polygamy. Now, with her new Lena Jones book, she’s revealing a particularly heinous form of child abuse. When Lena finds the mutilated body of a young girl, the death torments her. Despite opposition from the sheriff of Los Perdidos, the closest town, she insists on investigating. Child abuse brings back such terrible memories for Lena, that she’s compelled to probe into a situation that tears the community apart. In doing so, she discovers a workforce of immigrants from Somali, Egypt and Africa working in low-paying jobs in a factory. Desert Cut reveals more than a culture clash. It’s a tragic story of unnecessary death, deaths that could be prevented. No one reveals the cultural issues destroying lives as well as Betty Webb does, first in Desert Wives, and, now in Desert Cut. 03/08 Lesa Holstine

DESERT NOIR by Betty Webb: Lena Jones of Desert Investigations sets out to track down the killer of her friend who runs a Scottsdale, AZ art gallery in this first outing. Lena is a former cop with plenty of contacts still on the force. She’ll need their help as she investigates Clarice Kobe’s abusive husband Jay,  Apache artist George Haozous whose paintings had been taken out of the gallery, as well as other members of Clarice’s family and the owner of the adjoining gallery. To top it off there may be a connection between this case and the shooting of Lena as a four year old child, who left for dead grew up in a series of foster homes. Well written with all the makings of a great series. 03/06 Jack Quick

Desert Run by Betty Webb: On December 24, 1944, twenty-eight Germans tunneled out of a POW camp in the Arizona desert, planning to escape to Mexico. By the time they were recaptured, a farm family had been murdered, but according to the police, the Germans did not do it. Yet, over sixty years later, when private detective Lena Jones acts as security on a movie set filming a documentary about the escape, there seems to be some connection. Why was a former POW murdered after appearing on the set? What links the events of 1944? Lena knows the primary suspect is innocent, so she delves into the past to find the truth. As always, Lena’s past haunts Webb’s intriguing mysteries. This time, she has written a top-notch story with an even more intriguing past. Readers interested in a little known event in American history will find the story enthralling. Those interested in cold cases will appreciate Lena’s research and investigation. The latest book in the Lena Jones mystery series can stand on its own, but most readers will find Lena mysterious enough that they’ll want to go back and read the earlier books in the series. They’re in for a treat. 03/06 Lesa Holstine

Desert Wives by Betty Webb:  A fascinating look at polygamy - yes, it is illegal but what is going on in this country will shock you, or it should.  This is fiction based on fact, and the author includes her sources at the end of the book.  But while it's  intriguing and very troubling politically, the writing is strictly mediocre.  Lena Jones is a private investigator with quite a past.  She is privately funded, thus enabling her to take on cases whether or not her clients can pay.  In this case, she's working for the mother of a 13-year old girl whose father is trying to marry her off in exchange for two 16-year old wives for himself.  Lena rescues the child but in the process finds the dead body of the leader of the polygamous splinter group.  Her client is the chief suspect, and even Lena isn't all that sure she didn't do it.  It's downhill from there, and with everyone involved from the cops to the politicians, there seems to be no way out.  Very disturbing stuff. Stacy Alesi, AKA The BookBitch

Destroying Angels by Gail Lukasik: Leigh Girard is an angry woman. When her life was disrupted by breast cancer, she left her job and her husband, and moved to Door County, Wisconsin to work as a journalist. When she’s given the job of writing obituaries, she discovers there is more behind some local deaths than the police suspect. Sarah Peck, the daughter of the first victim, is angry at her father for his abuse, and angry at Leigh for investigating. So many people in this book are unhappy and angry, from the local librarian to the newspaper editor to the nature columnist that it makes the reader wonder why anyone would ever want to live in Door County. Leigh expresses her own feelings, and admits that it’s easier to investigate other people than to fix yourself. This is an uncomfortable book to read because there is so much anger in it. 04/06 Lesa Holstine

DEVIANT WAY by Richard Montanari: Jack Paris is the classic alcoholic divorced cop wedded now to the job and his young daughter. A serial killer (?) is loose in Cleveland and it is up to Paris to find him. Just what he needs – extended time in high-class bars and nightclubs, since it appears that’s where the victims are being contacted. But it’s not a “him” that Paris is looking for, it’s a “them”, a couple whose kinky needs are turning the nightlife of Cleveland into a deathtrap. To make it even worse, Paris’ daughter is endangered. With each chapter the suspense gets ratcheted up another notch. Definitely a read in the daytime book, it will also discourage you from serious bar hopping – at least in Cleveland. Over a decade old, Deviant Way is still very much current. 07/06 Jack Quick

DEVIANT WAYS by Chris Mooney: July 4th starts with a real bang at Marblehead, Massachusetts where a serial killer sets off a bomb in an attempt to erase evidence of a multiple slaying. The bomb takes out several homes and brings in Jack Casey, a former hotshot FBI profiler who's attempting to mend his shattered life as a detective on the Marblehead police force. Six years earlier, he watched, bound and drugged, while a madman killed his wife and unborn child. When the house bombings continue Jack’s tenuous hold on reality starts to slip and he is in danger of losing a current romantic relationship. A wisecracking former profiler named Malcolm Fletcher provides some tension relief and the villain – the Sandman – is also an interesting character. Mooney’s style makes this read like a movie script and there is a temptation about mid-way to start casting the various characters. 07/06 Jack Quick.

THE DEVIL CAN WAIT by Marta Stephens:  A convoluted tale involving a cursed black pearl ring, a demonic prophecy and the bodies of three local teenagers washing ashore in Chandler, Massachusetts.  Newspaper reporter Jennifer Blake is captured by the story of the ring and tries to pick it up from a local pawnshop for her former college professor.  This makes her a primary suspect for homicide detective Sam Harper.  Throw in the Vatican, some drugs thefts, and a few other development and try to stay unconfused. Writing is pretty good, plot is not believable and book suffers from poor organization.  12/08 Jack Quick 

DEVIL MAY CARE by Sebastian Faulks:  You know this is the only series I’ve ever read where the characters are “locked” into my mind.  007 is Sean Connery and Sean Connery is 007.  In Devil May Care it’s Bond, James Bond, shaken not stirred, in this 22^nd Bond adventure released on May 28, which would have been Ian Fleming’s 100^th birthday.  Devil May Care picks up where Fleming left off in 1966 with Octopussy and The Living Daylights.  Bond is summoned back from a sabbatical in Italy to swinging London during the 1960s to foil an Eastern Bloc plot to flood the West with heroin.  The key villian is Dr. Julius Gorner, Scarlett Papava is the number one Bond girl, Moneypenny is Moneypenny and “M” is still “M”.  In the author notes, it says that Faulk frist encountered Bond as a twelve year old – the books were banned at his school, but he managed to read them by torchlight under the sheets.  Not the original but still as good read. 06/08 Jack Quick 

THE DEVIL YOU KNOW by Mike Carey: In Felix Castor’s world, ghosts, zombies, and weres are something of a normal occurrence. Castor himself is particularly sensitive to them and finds this useful in his work as an exorcist. Thing is, Felix has been pretty much retired since an incident left his best friend permanently sharing space with the demon Asmodeus. When the demon/friend warns him of an upcoming job that could mean his life, Felix is more than a little intrigued, but it’s his current financial position that is the deciding factor. The job seems simple at first: A ghost has been haunting a London archive and has recently turned violent. But when the ghost steps in and saves Felix after hours, he becomes curious about her identity and the cause of her situation. It’s exactly this that gets certain folks worried and puts Felix in trouble. Carey’s debut is a pretty much a traditional PI mystery wrapped in a paranormal package, and paired with Carey’s style, it works brilliantly. The Devil You Know is first in the Felix Castor series and is a must read for anyone who enjoys mysteries, PI or paranormal. 04/09 Becky Lejeune   

THE DEVIL’S BACKBONE by Kim Wozencraft: Katherine "Kit" Metcalf does pole dances at Blaze, "Austin Texas' premier gentleman's club," and is quickly becoming a total alcoholic. She was raped as a college student and is contending with post-traumatic stress. Kit’s sister, Jenny is an Austin police detective investigating a porn ring. Jenny’s fiancé, Luke Saner is an undercover cop looking into the murder of a Blaze regular. The girls’ father, Wade, is a Texas Ranger who hides immoral appetites behind a heroic image. Then Jenny is killed and her body is found in a Blanco County well. Kit finds herself in danger, along with her therapist. Who can she trust? Luke? Her dad? Herself? A first rate psychological thriller. 11/06 Jack Quick

DEVIL'S CORNER by Lisa Scottoline: No Rosato & Associates here; this is a stand-alone inspired by the drug trafficking trial of the one of the most violent gangs in Philadelphia - Scottoline watches trials for entertainment and found her inspiration for this novel.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Vicki Allegretti's father grew up in a poor area of Philadelphia known as Devil's Corner.  It has gone downhill since his childhood and has become a dangerous crack-infested neighborhood.  When Allegretti and her partner show up to interview a confidential informant, the partner & the CI are both killed.  Allegretti takes the law into her own hands to solve the murder of her partner as well as the mystery of the woman the CI ratted out, Reheema, who claims she doesn't even know the CI.  I found Allegretti's complete disregard for her own safety incredibly stupid for a Harvard lawyer (or for anyone with half a brain) and I had problems with her relationship with her boyfriend and all the lying that was going on.  And there is no carb counting on the South Beach Diet - where was the copy editor?  A cliffhanger ends just about every chapter in this fast paced, light novel of suspense and it makes for a compelling, entertaining read, despite way too much fem-jep. (females in jeopardy.) 05/05

THE DEVIL’S RIGHT HAND by Lilith Saintcrow:  The third book of the Dante Valentine series begins years after the events of Dead Man Rising. Danny has finally recovered after the horrific investigation that surrounded the events of her childhood school and has been traveling the world, relaxing and striving to learn more about demon lore. Her time of rest is brought to a shocking halt when Lucifer once again requests her help. It seems that since Dante thwarted Santino’s attempts to overthrow the dark lord in Working for the Devil, others have begun to try again. This time, the devil wants Danny to track down and kill four escaped demons. Reluctantly, Danny negotiates a deal with Lucifer, one that commits her to a seven-year contract. She has seven years in which to attempt to find and eliminate the demons in question. Once the contract is up, Danny is free. In return for her services, Lucifer promises to grant her safety. Dealing with the devil has its own price though and Danny soon finds herself the hunted one. Information uncovered in the course of the investigation makes Danny question where her own loyalties lie and may lead to her becoming enemy number one. The Devil’s Right Hand is an absolute cliffhanger. Extras in each of the Orbit releases provide sneak peeks into Danny’s world as well as a broader view of the happenings surrounding this series. They raise interesting questions that can only be answering in each subsequent book. 01/08 Becky Lejeune

The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger: This chic read is sure to take the fashion world by storm, although the literary world may find it lacking. Weisberger, former assistant to Vogue editor Anna Wintour, has created a fictionalized tell-all à la Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus's The Nanny Diaries.  Andrea is a nice Jewish girl from suburban Connecticut who, as Weisberger repeatedly tells us, lands “a job a million girls would die for” - assistant to Miranda Priestly, the imperious editor of “Runway” magazine. But the job is more like indentured servitude with a one-year contract; 14-hour days are de rigueur and encompass such delights as sorting Miranda’s laundry, fetching her lunch, and responding instantly to such commands as "Ahn-dre-ah, hand me a scarf."  The carrot at the end of the stick is the promise of a dream job with The New Yorker, which somehow makes palatable the ensuing downhill slide of Andrea’s personal life. This fast-paced black comedy has enough dirt to please any fashionista, but should serve as fair warning for every girl who dreams of working at a fashion magazine.  Despite the pedestrian writing, the prepublication buzz on this novel is big, so buy for demand.  Copyright © 2003 Cahners Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc.  Reprinted with permission.

THE DEVIL’S BONES by Jefferson Bass:  In this third addition to the fictitious Body Farm series, Dr. Bill Brockton is set to appear as a star witness against former ME, Dr. Garland Hamilton. Readers of the series will remember (or be reminded in the first chapter) that Hamilton, after botching up multiple cases, murdered Brockton’s lover out of revenge for his tarnished reputation. Just days prior to going to trial, however, Hamilton escapes putting everyone back on guard, especially Brockton. Not one to sit idly by, Brockton continues with his day-to-day work. A local woman is found burnt to death in her car and Brockton begins experimenting with cadavers at the famed Body Farm in order to help police with the case. In addition, newfound lawyer pal Burt DeVriess has a strange request for Brockton. Grease DeVriess has some doubts as to the contents of his dearly departed aunt’s urn and would like Bill to take a look. As always, the science is dead-on in this forensic series and the plot is wholly engaging. Unfortunately, Devil’s Bones is missing something - the wonderful character development that was there in Carved in Bone. It seems that in killing off Brockton’s love life the authors also have reverted to more dry and clinical writing. This isn’t entirely a bad thing, the story line itself makes up for some of it, but I sincerely hope it’s something that is remedied in book 4. 02/08 Becky Lejeune

THE DEVIL’S FEATHER by Minette Walters: When three local teens confess to the brutal murders of five women in Sierra Leone, Reuter’s correspondent Connie Burns has her doubts as to their reliability. Connie suspects that a particularly violent mercenary who goes by the name of John Harwood may be responsible. After being transferred to Baghdad, she runs into Harwood again. This time, the locals know him as Kenneth O’Connell. Subsequent research reveals two murders in Baghdad that bear a striking resemblance to those in Africa. While preparing to return to England, Connie is kidnapped. Three days later, she reappears, seemingly unharmed. She returns to England but refuses to speak of the incident. Connie rents a house in Dorset, under an assumed name, and continues her investigation into Harwood/O’Connell. Before long, she becomes convinced that Harwood is after her and her family. This is a taut thriller that concerns, not one, but two mysteries. The first is that of Connie, the truth behind her abduction, and Harwood. The second mystery concerns the house in Dorset and the owner, Lily, who is found, freezing and unconscious by the edge of a pond in the middle of the night. Was this the result of her fragile mental state – the confused wanderings of a sick old lady – or something more sinister? This is a fast-paced and engaging read that begs to be read in one sitting!  09/06 Becky LeJeune

THE DEVIL’S PITCHFORK by Mark Terry: Is there a scenario worse that terrorists gaining access to nuclear weapons? What if they had a man made virus that packed the worst characteristics of Ebola, hepatitis and bubonic plague? Chimera M13 has the potential to destroy humanity. One man stands between extinction and salvation, Derek Stillwater, a troubleshooter for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security who specializes in biological and chemical weapons. Stillwater, however, has his own problems with panic attacks and self doubts that hinder his effectiveness. He has no choice but to follow his instincts while scientists work on a vaccine in Washington, D.C. He just might have a chance in hell of ending the madness-if only the government's most experienced immunological researcher hadn't become infected. One of the better books of this sub-genre. Recommended.  10/06 Jack Quick

THE DEVOURING: SORRY NIGHT by Simon Holt:  Reggie Halloway and her family have been through the wringer lately. Her mother has walked out and Reggie, a freshman in high school, has taken up the mantle as “woman of the house,” which means that she’s responsible for all the housework, cooking, and her little brother Henry while their father works longer and longer hours. Reggie also works part-time at a local used bookstore that specializes in her favorite genre, horror. One evening, Reggie discovers an old journal in a new arrivals shipment at the store. Curious, she decides to borrow it for a few days. The journal says that on Sorry Night, December 22, something called the Vours will come. If they find you, they’ll eat your fear and steal your soul. In their infinite teenage wisdom, Reggie and best friend Aaron decide to tempt the Vours on Sorry Night. Nothing happens and they laugh it off, but then they begin to notice that Reggie’s brother is acting a little strange. Could it be that the Vours exist after all? This new YA novel is fun and satisfyingly creepy. The cryptic ending also suggests that this is just the beginning of Reggie’s tale. Great for young adult readers looking for a scary and highly original read. 09/08 Becky Lejeune 

DEXTER IN THE DARK by Jeff Lindsey: I was really looking forward to the new Dexter book as it's been a couple of years since the last one. After reading the prologue, I closed the book, planning on putting it away, unread forever. It was possibly the most annoying prologue I've ever read. Then I got an email about the book and noticed that the murders take place on the University of Miami campus, and since I went there (a very long time ago) I decided to give it another try. This is a different Dexter book, in that instead of killing people, Dexter loses his "Dark Passenger", the voice inside him that directs him to kill and that helps him solve crimes. So this becomes a very introspective book, despite the fact that Deborah, Dexter's sister, is put in charge of a murder spree at the UM campus and demands Dexter help figure out who is killing people, cutting off their heads and putting ceramic bulls on top of their necks instead. Meanwhile Rita, his fiancée, is planning their upcoming wedding along with his best man, and the South Beach prima donna caterer almost made up for the missing humor in the book. But mostly Dexter tries to figure out why his little voice is gone, what it was, and how he can get it back. A different sort of Dexter, and not one I liked as well. 10/07 Stacy Alesi, AKA The BookBitch

DIAL M FOR MEATLOAF by Ellen Hart: Sweet wife made me the proverbial offer on this one that she loved. If I would try the book, she would try one of the top three meatloaf recipes in the back. How could I lose? Cora Rombeck’s No-nonsense Meat Loaf is worth gathering all the ingredients together. With respect to the book, Cora’s husband has painted the kitchen egg yolk yellow. She doesn’t like it, but that isn’t enough reason for him to be blown up in his Ford Bronco, and is that connected with the beloved ex-mayor’s stroke that happened the same day. Best have a pencil and notebook handy to keep up with all the characters, and I do mean characters, but in the end, truth, justice and good old American comfort food cooking prevail. I give it 3 spoons, all heaping. 05/06 Jack Quick

The Diamond Conspiracy by Nicolas M. Kublicki:  This tightly written debut novel is a big, fast-paced Clancy-like thriller that takes the reader on a whirlwind, worldwide journey through corruption. Patrick Carlton is a Department of Justice maverick lawyer who is plucked from the biggest case of his career and thrust into a small antitrust case involving a diamond mine in, of all places, Arkansas. Carlton is suspicious when the shark law firm representing the mine agrees to a ridiculously high, ridiculously quick settlement, and he recruits the beautiful Erika Wassenaar, a newly minted DOJ lawyer, to help him out. Waterboer, the monopolistic diamond behemoth of the world, (think DeBeers) will stop at nothing to maintain its artificially inflated diamond prices, and Carlton suspects they are somehow involved with the Arkansas mine. Curiosity and determination lead him to pursue it further, uncovering a conspiracy that runs rampant through the upper echelons of the United States, South African, and Russian governments, but he gets assistance from the unlikely duo of the Mafia and the Vatican, with quite a few surprises along the way.  

DIE A LITTLE by Megan Abbott:  Welcome back to Raymond Chandler’s world.  It's 1954, and Pasadena schoolteacher Lora King doesn’t care for Alice Steele, her brother’s new bride.  As ugly secrets seep out of Alice’s past Lora risks everything to uncover the truth, pocketing address books filled with cryptic code and tailing shady characters like a grown-up Nancy Drew.  It’s as smelly as last night’s last cigarette and reminds you of how bad gin tastes first thing in the morning.  There’s even an amoral press agent who probably wears an old overcoat and a snap-brim hat.  He looks a lot like Bogart, you know what I mean. 06/06 Jack Quick

DIE FOR YOU by Lisa Unger: Isabel Raines is a novelist in love with her husband of five years, Marcus.  Marcus is partners in a high tech computer game company and is on the verge of making the biggest sale of his career.  One morning he leaves for work, and disappears.  Isabel is frantic, the police won't help - men leave - so she goes down to his office to see what she can find out.  While she's there the FBI show up and lock her in an office while they tear the place apart.  They let her go, and she finally hears from Marcus, but before she can say anything, she hears a horrible scream and then the phone goes dead.  That's her last contact with her husband, but she won't rest until she finds out what happened to him. This is killer suspense, the pacing is just relentless, and the story is intense until the shocking ending.  Unger just keeps getting better and this is her best book yet.  06/09 Stacy Alesi, AKA The BookBitch.

DIE WITH ME by Elena Forbes:  This first effort from a British author involves falling from high places – literally.  Stubborn Detective Inspector Mark Tartaglia is assigned to investigate the death of a fourteen-year-old woman who has fallen from the balcony of a church.  Initially ruled suicide, a subsequent toxicology report reveals traces of GHB and alcohol in girl’s blood stream.  Then the investigating team discovers that Gemma Kramer was lured there to meet a man calling himself Tom, who apparently killed her.  Searching the records, Tartaglia and his team uncover two other victims, formerly classed as suicides, as well as another suspicious death Tartaglia thinks is also linked to “Tom.”  All involve female victims falling from high places.  A few rough places as with most first efforts, but all in all, a very satisfying police procedural.  Lets hope Ms. Forbes’ promised sequel comes soon. 11/07 Jack Quick   

DIED IN THE WOOL by Rett MacPherson: MacPherson brings back Torie O’Shea, genealogist and local historian in the tenth book in this series, which has grown stronger over the years. Torie owns Gaheimer House, a historic home in New Kassel, Missouri, and she finds herself bored, even though she’s involved in every activity in the small town of 1,000. So when the Kendall House comes up for sale, Torie is intrigued and interested. Stories say that the three Kendall siblings committed suicide in the years after World War I. Torie’s bothered by that story, and, since she wants to buy the house and offer tours, she’s determined to get to the bottom of it. In an enjoyable mystery that combines quilts, roses and Torie’s own family life, there’s a dark secret. The Torie O’Shea mysteries just get stronger and better, and this is one of the best yet.  03/07 Lesa Holstine

A DIET OF TREACLE by Lawrence Block:  Treacle is a thick sugary syrup, and there is something syrupy about this early Block outing, reprinted as Hard Case Crime Number 39.  Joe Milani and Leon “Shank” Marsten are stoners.  Unfortunately for Anita Carbone, her adventure into Greenwich Viallage leads her to these two and from there to murder.  In the meantime, everythung moves in the slow motion that seems to affect stoners, whether high or not.  This one shows some of Block’s promise, but is obviously an early effort and not nearly as polished as his later works.  I recommend it because its Block, but not the best Block.  01/08 Jack Quick

DIG by C.R. Corwin: Dig is the second mystery featuring “Morgue Mama,” Maddy Sprowls, newspaper librarian for the Hannawa Herald-Union in Ohio. This time Maddy’s own past comes back to haunt her when her college friend Gordon Sweet is found murdered at the site of his most recent archeological dig, the local dump. Could Gordon’s murder be linked to the murder of a college wrestler fifty years earlier? Even worse for Maddy, could it be linked to the Meriwether Square Baked Bean Existentialist Society, the group of bohemian students to which Maddy belonged? The sixty-eight year old librarian who pretends to be a curmudgeon is the perfect detective to dig around in old records and in the past. Dig is an intriguing mystery with humor and a strong sense of the past, with the stories of the campus bohemians and Jack Kerouac. 11/05 ~This review contributed by Lesa Holstine.

THE DIGITAL PLAGUE by Jeff Somers: This is a sequel to 2007's The Electric Church. Avery Cates is a killer-for-hire who sold his services to the shadowy System of Federated Nations and destroyed the Electric Church's plans to turn people into cyborg Monks. Now Cates has been infected with a plague of nanobots that kills anyone he encounters and then reanimates the corpses. The System authorities, who wonder why Cates himself has not fallen victim to the disease; keep him alive in an effort to identify a cure. With every moment bringing the human race closer to extinction, Cates finds himself in the role of both executioner and savior of the entire world. Middling good, somewhat uneven noirish techno-thriller. 09/09 Jack Quick

Dinner with Anna Karenina by Gloria Goldreich: A number of authors have written “book club” novels, but Goldreich’s is both entertaining and thought-provoking. Each of the six women in the book was once a lonely little girl who read to escape. As women, they meet to discuss books because literature is their shared passion. Jen describes her book-group friends as “Seekers, not finders, intense readers in search of endings, happy or otherwise, in their own lives, in the books they read.” During the course of a year, through discussions of books and authors such as Anna Karenina, Sylvia Plath and Little Women, the six women change their lives. Goldreich’s characters are individuals, with their own problems and needs, not just a group of women known as the “book group.” Those of us who were lonely little girl readers will gravitate to this story. 02/06 Lesa Holstine

THE DIRT-BROWN DERBY by Ed Lynskey: PI Frank Johnson is the real thing. In addition to a .357 tucked in his belt, he has a tire iron underneath the seat of his beat up old car, in case he needs to change a tire fast, or whatever. Mary Taliaferro, a wealthy aristocrat owning a horse estate near Middleburg, Virginia hires Johnson to look into the death of her teenaged daughter Emily in a riding tragedy. Things get complicated when Johnson’s first suspect, a stable manager who has been involved with Emily, is murdered one day after he starts his investigation. Frank soon discovers that there is much more going on here, and he is determined to get to the truth, even if it kills him. A worthy heir to some of the pulp’s best “eyes”. 09/06 Jack Quick

A DIRTY JOB by Christopher Moore: Charlie Asher has a problem. He's just become a death merchant. Whenever a person dies, their soul is held in an item that was special to them. It is Charlie's job to find collect the soul vessels and help the soul along to its next host. Charlie doesn't know all of this quite yet, though. All he knows is that a seven foot tall black man in a mint green suit was leaning over his wife Rachel just before she died, leaving him to raise their newborn baby girl, Sophie, all alone and apparently, Charlie is the only one who saw the whole thing happen. Matters are more complicated when Lily, one of Charlie's employees at his secondhand shop steals his new instruction manual. Eventually, Charlie gets the hang of his two new jobs as dad and death merchant, but as time goes by Sophie begins to show some strange abilities as well -- any time she points at a person and says the word kitty, they die. Then, something strange happens. People stop dying. At the same time, fellow death merchants in the city are being slaughtered and sightings of strangely dressed skeletal creatures are occurring all over the city. Hilarity ensues as good and evil duke it out in the city of San Francisco for control of the universe. Each new Christopher Moore title is even better than the guiltiest of pleasures and will leave you wanting more.

DIRTY MARTINI by J.A. Konrath: I heard that this book was different than the others in the series - a kinder, gentler Konrath, if you will. Well, maybe. There is still a serial killer, but instead of the usual blood and gore, this serial killer calls himself the "Chemist" and is poisoning the good people of Chicago. Lt. Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels is put in charge because of her popularity in solving other high profile cases, but she butts heads with the public relations expert hired by the mayor to keep things under wraps. A high body count, some laugh out loud moments and even a little sexual tension now and then makes this a fast, fun addition to this terrific series. 08/07 Stacy Alesi, AKA The BookBitch

DIRTY MONEY by Richard Stark:  Stark is also known as the Mystery Writers of America Grand Master, Donald Westlake.  There were about $2.2 million loose ends for Parker and his two partners at the conclusion of Nobody Runs Forever.  That’s the amount of poisoned (marked) loot from the armored car robbery they committed in Massachusetts.  Now its up to Parker to retrieve the cash and get it spread to the right parties to allow him to leave the Commonwealth alive and healthy.  A typical tale from a Master.  Satisfying, but leaves you ready for another outing, sooner rather than later.  05/08 Jack Quick 

DIRTY WORK By Stuart Woods: Ex-NYC-cop-turned-society-lawyer Stone Barrington gets a request from a well heeled client to investigate her husband's possible infidelity, so she can break the pre-nup.  He does not do this work himself, so he delegates the job to others.  A shlub of a photographer is hired to take some simple compromising pictures, but ends up falling through a weak skylight and landing on the subject he's supposed to be taking pictures of. He's arrested and causes major problems for Barrington, until it's learned that the subject was dead before the schlep hits the corpse. He managed to take four pictures before he fell, one of which shows the unseen face of one of the greatest assassins of all time, who happens to be a woman.  All hell breaks loose from here.  Stone's dating a woman called "Carpenter" who works for the very same folks. His ex-cop partner, Dino, is also involved heavily, because this happened on his NYC turf.  It turns out that this woman has an agenda and it involves British MI6.  It turns out that her mother and father were killed in an MI6 ambush and she's dropping everyone she can, quickly.  Have to cut it short here, again, can't blow the ending.  I haven't read any of the previous Barrington series, but as a stand-alone this works really well.  Recommended. Oh by the way, for you NYC folks, Woods writes in the real NYC world. 05/06 DOC

DISAPPEARING NIGHTLY by Laura Resnick: I didn't especially like this urban fantasy, but I think there are folks out there who will enjoy it.  DISAPPEARING NIGHTLY is the story of Esther, the aspiring New York actress who's appearing in a tacky show featuring a soon-to-be-famous (if his ambitious wife has anything to say about it) magician. She's understudying rock singer "Golly Gee" who disappears during the act one night. No, really disappears. Then Esther gets a threatening note, or is it a warning, not to do what her predecessor did - get into the magic box - or she'll be in danger.
    The sender of the note appears, much to Esther's stunned dismay. He's Maximillian Zadok, an alchemist who shall we say, has been around for a while. Zadok convinces her that yes, other people have disappeared during magic acts and Evil in involved. Esther tries to convince the hunky cop investigating Gee's disappearance of the danger which gets pretty complicated. Instead she, Zadok and a cast of strange people try to solve the mystery and find the missing people.
    I suspect the book would be described by some as "wacky" or "zany" or even "a romp". I hate romps. The tone here was too "hyuk-hyuk" for me and the characters too predictable; but if you don't mind the female amateur sleuth with a nagging mother (and who in my mind sounds horribly like a young version Fran Drescher's "Nanny" character) who's smitten by the good-looking cop with a nagging mother, and that the best-looking people in the story are the drag queens and everyone's just too broadly drawn, then read this book. It's breezy, the plot moves and clearly the author enjoyed writing it. It's just not for me. 01/06 Andi Shechter

DIXIE NOIR by Kirk Curnutt:  I enjoyed this debut but suspect it would not be for everyone. It is set in Montgomery, Alabama where I used to live.  Ennis Skinner is the son of a white civil rights hero and is the University of Alabama quarterback whose admission to using cocaine got probation for the University and made him one of the two most hated men in the state (George Wallace was the other one).  Now Ennis is out of prison and is looking for the mentally challenged 19-year-old Dixie James, daughter of his deceased drug addict lover, Alice Faye James, and High C, a former meth king who now peddles books like The Hit Man Handbook on the Web.  All of this is occurring in the middle of the Montgomery mayoral race between white incumbent Amory Justice and African-American Walk Compson, who may have a link to Dixie.  Throw in a little Zelda Fitzgerald and a few Hank Williams songs along with the simmering racial tensions in the South and you have about covered it all. I found it interesting, but parochial. 03/10 Jack Quick 

DOG ON IT by Spencer Quinn: Bernie Little runs the Little Detective Agency with his partner Chet, a police dog K-9 school dropout.  A woman hires Little because her teenage daughter is missing and the cops won't help - she's only been missing a few hours.  Little reluctantly takes the case and gets involved with this dysfunctional family. The thing that makes this book, the first of a series, different than most P.I. series is that Chet narrates the book, so it is told from a dog's eye view.  If you like cute, then this is your book.  I doubt I'd read another.  Interestingly enough, Quinn is a pseudonym for Peter Abrahams, who writes much darker books (End of Story, Oblivion). Read about his change of heart at the Daily Beast. 05/09 Stacy Alesi, AKA The BookBitch

DOG TOWN by Mercedes Lambert:  Douglas Anne Munson, writing as Mercedes Lambert while working as an attorney in the Los Angeles criminal court system only wrote three books, one of which was published after her untimely death.  The trilogy of Dog Town, Soul Town and Ghost Town form a noir set which is only now all in print at once for the first time.  In Dog Town, Attorney Whitney Logan teams up with a street-smart hooker named Lupe, to locate a glamorous L.A. "housewife's" Guatemalan maid.  John Lutz called Dog town “a crackerjack novel with insight into the human condition.  Lambert’s star should shine brighter and brighter for years to come.” Unfortunately, that was not to be. 07/08 Jack Quick 

THE DOG WHO BIT A POLICEMAN by Stuart Kaminsky: After eleven straight “winners”, I guess you have to expect a bummer.  Not that this book isn’t well written like the rest of this police procedural series.  It features top-flight Moscow cop Porfiry Rostnikov of the Office of Special Investigation and his staff, which includes a mad pathologist who talks to cadavers; an obsessive detective called Emil Karpo, "the Vampire," who spends "all his waking hours relentlessly pursuing criminals from both the past and present"; and Rostnikov's son Iosef, a failed actor/playwright and veteran of the conflict in Afghanistan.  As with previous works there are three main cases to be solved, which brings us to the problem.  Case number one involves trying to head off a war between two mafia leaders.  Okay.  Number two revolves around the latest disappearance of a popular, Yeltsin-esque politician with a drinking problem.  Fine.  Its the third case that gave me problems.  Two detectives are working undercover to infiltrate the growing business of illegal dog fighting.  If you can skim over those portions the rest of the book is up to Kaminsky’s normal award winning standards. 03/08 Jack Quick 

Dogs of Babel by Carolyn Parkhurst: This is an odd little book.  Its selection by Anna Quindlen for the Today Show book club was enough to get me to read it, but this was no Lovely Bones.  Linguistics Professor Paul Iverson is devastated when his wife, Lexy, is found dead in their yard, apparently from a fall from their apple tree.  The police rule it an accident but he can't help but wonder what really happened.  The more he digs, the more he finds odd about the days leading up to her death.  The only witness was their dog, Lorelei, a Rhodesian Ridgeback, and Paul gets obsessed with the idea of teaching her to talk so that she may tell him the truth of what happened to Lexy - was it an accident or suicide?  I wasn't initially aware of, but was very put off by, the abuse of animals in this book, so I feel compelled to mention it here, but despite that, parts of the book were really beautifully written.

Dolled Up for Murder by Deb Baker: Gretchen Birch has problems. Her mother is wanted for murder. She has a cheating long-term boyfriend. She’s out of a job, with a dwindling savings account. When her mother disappeared, following a death on Camelback Mountain, Gretchen’s Aunt Nina flew her to Phoenix. Caroline Birch, Gretchen’s mother, restores dolls, and the woman who died was a doll collector, last seen with Caroline. As Gretchen and her Aunt Nina investigate, they discover the picture of a valuable French doll, and other clues that only seem to further implicate Caroline. Tension builds as the police continue to look for Caroline, and Gretchen and her aunt look for someone involved with doll collecting who might know Carolyn’s whereabouts. Baker does an excellent job building the suspense, as she ends chapters with teasers as to what Carolyn might actually be doing. This is a strong introduction to a new series. It informs the readers about doll collecting, and, at the same time, it’s an intriguing, suspenseful mystery with fun characters. 10/06 Lesa Holstine

Don of the Dead by Casey Daniels: Pepper Martin is an appealing heroine in Daniels’ debut mystery, set in Cleveland, OH. Pepper took a job as a tour guide in a cemetery when her father went to prison for Medicare fraud, her mother escaped to Florida, and her boyfriend dumped her. When she tripped over a tombstone, she bumped her head, and now can see the ghost of Gus Scarpetti. Scarpetti was the head of the largest crime family in Cleveland until someone killed him thirty years earlier. Now he wants Pepper to find his killer. This is an enjoyable new cozy series that fans of Alice Kimberly’s Ghost and Mrs. McClure series will appreciate. 08/06 Lesa Holstine

DON’T CALL ME A CROOK by Bob Moore:  During the great depression my uncle traveled from Alabama to California selling encyclopedias by day and sleeping in jails (voluntarily) at night (hey, you were safe, and usually got coffee and baloney the next morning before you headed out.)  He would have enjoyed knowing Bob Moore, the Glaswegian author of this hardboiled noir memoir of a ramblin’ man who not only cheated death many times, but occasionally spit in the devil’s face as well.  Through good times and bad, one thing remained true – Moore was a Scotsman through and through. As was said in A Collection of Scotch Proverbs by Pappity Stampoy - A blind man should not judge of colours. Whether it is ashore in Shanghai, or the sinking of a magnificent yacht, Moore always had some appropriate observations to share like “The trouble with people when they drink is they have no sense of time” or ”I didn’t put her three hundred in a business after all. I spent it in Atlantic City, because it takes a lot of money to have a good time in Atlantic City…” 08/09 Jack Quick 

Don’t Look Down by Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer: When you put Jennifer Crusie, a romance writer, together with Bob Mayer, a writer and former Green Beret, you get a fun romance novel, heavy on the action. Put Lucy Armstrong, a strong film director together with J.T. Wilder, a Green Beret acting as a stunt double, and you get sparks. Throw in money, accidents on the set, kidnapping, the CIA, and a one-eyed alligator, and you get a fast-paced, fun, sexy adventure novel. 04/06 Lesa Holstine

DON’T LOOK TWICE by Andrew Gross:  The passenger in the red Ford F-250 pickup sprayed the convenience store with a hundred or so rounds of automatic fire.  Was his intended victim Detective Ty Hauck of the Greenwich, Connecticut police department who escaped with a grazed neck? Or was the target Federal Prosecutor David Sanger of the Hartford Connecticut office who was standing by Hauck and caught two in the chest?  Or was this something entirely different?  The trail leads Hauck first to an upstate casino gambling scheme and from there into a conspiracy of corruption which will rock this suburban town to its foundations. So far, the former James Patterson co-author, now out on his own, has the ability to entertain and thrill on his own.  Almost as good as some of the early Patterson’s before he became Patterson, Inc. 05/10 Jack Quick 

DON’T MURDER YOUR MYSTERY by Chris Riordan:  Winner of the 2007 Agatha Award for best Non-Fiction Book, this is a must read for aspiring mystery authors. Ms. Riordan is an experienced editor who offers good advice for beginning mystery writers to those who are trying to take it to the next level.  Sub-titled 24 Fiction-Writing techniques To Save Your Manuscript From Turning Up D.O.A., the book takes you through the process with catchy headings in the form of Clues like Hide the Evidence by Slicing, Dicing and Splicing, as a means of introducing backstory or Buried Agendas – Exposing a Tension Deficit Disorder.  Even though I do not aspire to be a writer, I enjoyed the book as a fan of mysteries because of the additional insights it provided into the mystery writing process. 08/09 Jack Quick 

THE DOOR TO BITTERNESS by Martin Limon:  Army CID cops George Sueno and Ernie Bascom are a couple of mismatched coppers in Korea in 1974.  George wakes up one morning in an alley with cuts and bruises and without his gun and his badge.  Two men who look a lot like George and Ernie soon use the gun in a casino robbery.  Why are George and Ernie being targeted? And what else is in store for them?  Again, having been there during this time period, I am truly impressed with Limon’s ability to portray the sights, sounds and smells of this exotic locale. 02/06 Jack Quick

THE DOUBLE AGENTS by W.E.B. Griffin:  The heroes of Griffin’s Men at War series must share the spotlight with real-life actors David Niven and Peter Ustinov, along with James Bond creator Ian Fleming, all of whom actually served Britain in WWII.  Its 1943 and the OSS's William J. “Wild Bill” Donovan is heading up a disinformation effort to trick the Nazis into believing that the western Allies won't invade the European continent through Sicily.  While the main gimmick of the story has been used in other World War II themed books, Griffin’s excellent writing still makes the tale worth repeating.  If you are not familiar with Griffin, most of his books are slow starters but then pick up pace rapidly.  I always force the first fifty pages and then I can’t put the book down until I have completely devoured it. 07/07 Jack Quick

DOUBLE BLACK by Wendy Clinch: Stacey Curtis wants to forget her cheating ex and live the life of a ski bum. And it’s working for her so far. Hitting the slopes by day and tending bar by night, she wants for nothing more than a warm place to spend her nights. When she finds the keys to the local condos, her dreams seem to have come true. But then she finds the body of a dead man and everything changes. Now she’s renting a room from the local sheriff and hoping that her identity as the body’s discoverer remains secret long enough for her to uncover the killer’s identity. This solid, if somewhat predictable, mystery makes for a satisfying series opener and Stacey Curtis is a likeable lead that will no doubt be a new favorite amongst cozy fans. 01/10 Becky Lejeune  

DOUBLE CROSS by James Patterson:  Alex Cross is drawn into his most complex case yet.  A criminal mastermind is orchestrating a series of elaborate murders in Washington D.C. that has the entire East Coast in an uproar.  Neither Alex nor his new girlfriend, Detective Brianna Stone, have ever run across a killer who adores an audience and turns his victims into gruesome spectacles.  The media hysteria he induces prompts Alex to realize that his foe is both a genius of terror and a seeker of fame.  And what role does former friend and now incarcerated serial killer Kyle Craig play in this killing extravaganza?  If only James Patterson had stuck with the Alex Cross series.  They are far and away the best of the books under his name. 01/08 Jack Quick

Down by the Riverside by Jackie Lynn: I wouldn’t call Lynn’s first mystery a cozy, but I would call it a gentle mystery. Lynn, who also writes under her own name of Lynne Hinton, tells the story of Rose Franklin, a divorced woman whose truck broke down on the way from North Carolina to Arizona. She ended up at the Shady Grove Campground in West Memphis, Arkansas, just in time to watch emergency crews pull a body from the river. She’s intrigued by the fact that the man was an undertaker whose last name was Franklin. She grows more interested when she begins to suspect it wasn’t suicide. Rose seeks the answers to that mystery, but also to her loneliness and problems in her life. Lynn’s mystery concentrates on the secrets of the heart as much as the secrets of crime. 08/06 Lesa Holstine

Down Here by Andrew Vachss: Vachss' latest Burke novel is well up to his usual high standard. The woman Burke has been carrying a torch for, the blonde former sex crimes prosecutor Wolfe, has been arrested for attempted murder. Her underground organization contacts him for help. The victim is someone that she had successfully prosecuted for rape and has been taunting and threatening her since his release after a successful appeal.
    As Burke commences his investigation, his crew, including Max the Silent, The Professor and The Mole all lend their special talents. Regular readers of the Burke novels will feel at home and new readers will be fascinated by this group living as an extended "family" in the attics, junkyards and Chinese restaurants of a hard city.
Burke quickly learns that not only was Wolfe not the shooter, but that the authorities know it and want to keep her locked up for purposes of their own.
    During the course of his search for the truth, Burke sets out to use the attractive and interesting sister of the accuser. But their relationship turns into something else and reaches Burke in that place he works so hard to keep untouched.
    Burke's discussions with the accuser's victims are especially poignant and good vehicles for him to express in some detail his feelings about crimes of this nature.  And from my point of view, the ending is a perfect classic private detective result. If you are a fan of hard-nosed crime fiction, put this one on your list.  04/04 ~This review contributed by Geoffrey R. Hamlin.

DOWN RIVER by John Hart: Hart’s sophomore effort surpasses his debut, the multi-award nominated King of Lies. A small North Carolina town is torn apart when a power company wants to buy up all the farmland on the river; some cling to their bucolic way of life, while others only see dollar signs. Adam Chase’s family has owned the largest parcel in the area for centuries, and his father has no desire to sell. But tempers are flaring and soon a young woman is severely beaten, a body is found on the Chase farm, and Adam is the chief suspect. Newly arrived after five years away, Adam is the town pariah. His stepmother accused him of murdering a family friend, and while the court acquitted him, his family and friends did not. But time has softened some of them it seems, while others have just been storing up their anger and are ready to unleash it. Down River is reminiscent of Raymond Chandler, hard boiled and rich with evocative metaphors. Complex relationships blur the lines between friend and foe, heightening the suspense in this intricate, haunting story of a family in crisis, and the writing is simply superb. 10/07 Stacy Alesi, AKA The BookBitch Copyright © 2006 Cahners Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc.  Reprinted with permission. 

DOWN TO THE WIRE by David Rosenfelt:  Chris Turley is a reporter for a New Jersey newspaper, following in the larger than life footprints of his late father, a famous, Woodward-type journalist.  A planned meeting with a source turns into the biggest break in his career when the building across the street blows up and Chris ends up saving several of the occupants. Another tip about the mayor results in a huge political scandal and Chris is thinking his career is finally taking off, thanks to P.T., his anonymous source. But then people start dying, and P.T. seems to be why. The story flies at a breakneck pace, and the tension and the bodies keep piling up, counting down to a New Year's Eve climax in Times Square with plenty of surprises along the way. This second standalone thriller by the author of the fabulous Andy Carpenter series is breathtaking in intensity and just plain entertainment. 03/10 Stacy Alesi, AKA The BookBitch

THE DRACULA DOSSIER by James Reese: Jack the Ripper terrorized London’s Whitechapel district from Aug 31 to Nov 9, 1888. A total of five murders were attributed to the Ripper, but people speculate that he was actually responsible for up to six additional murders through 1891. There is no doubt that the identity of the Ripper will never be uncovered and that is what makes him such a popular topic of debate today. The Dracula Dossier is a fictional account of the possible meeting of Dracula creator, Bram Stoker, and the famed serial killer. In 1888, after time abroad with William Irving’s theater group, Stoker returns to London where friend and fellow author Sir Thomas Henry Hall Caine, asks Stoker to do him a favor and help entertain an American visitor and friend. The “friend,” a Dr. Francis Tumblety, creeps Stoker out, but he relents and agrees to the favor. Soon, Stoker begins to tie the recent murders to his own sightings of Tumblety. Written in the style of Stoker’s own Dracula, Reese’s latest is set under the guise of being Stoker’s own personal documents, diaries, and letters, written and compiled just prior to his famous work. Footnotes lend actual historical credence to facts set forth and help to transport readers back in time. A fun and “believable” tale of intrigue and literature. 10/08 Becky Lejeune 

DRAMA CITY by George Pelecanos: George Pelecanos is one of the treasures that the Bookbitch opened my eyes to. His latest, Drama City, is up to his hard-hitting standards. Although he has put some of his earlier characters on hold for this novel, his mean streets of choice are still located in Washington, D.C. They are still inhabited by youth gangs and drugs and violence and drawn well. But this time, something is different. For the first time, there seems to be a note of hope in Pelecanos' story-telling. I like it.
    The leading characters are Lorenzo Brown, a ex-con on parole and working hard at staying straight and his parole officer, a young woman named Rachel Lopez, who is not working so hard at staying straight. As each of them fight their inner demons and the harsh realities of a brutal inner city, some nobility shines through. Lots of people, some of them good to one degree or another get hurt or killed, but Pelecanos seems to be saying now that even in a very brutal world, we have choices and those choices matter. Ultimately, Lorenzo's choices put him in a position to save his parole officer and the ending is very satisfying.
    What a surprise, though. George Pelecanos saying that things are getting better. If you are a fan of Pelecanos also, you won't believe it. Until you read Drama City. 11/05 ~This review contributed by Geoffrey R. Hamlin.

THE DRAMATIST by Ken Bruen: The good news, kind of, is that Jack Taylor is off alcohol and heroin (since the arrest of his supplier). He still smokes and maintains his unique perspective on life. He is hired by his drug dealer to look into the death of the drug dealer’s sister when he accidentally gets involved in the life of old flame Ann Henderson. The resultant beating leaves him with some permanent damage, physically, and probably psychologically as well. But our injured tough guy soldiers on. I have about decided that the cushiest job in publishing must be that of Bruen’s editor – I mean how much can he/she cut out of this unbelievably tight prose. I’ve seen the one page chapter, now I’m waiting for the one sentence chapter and one word sentence. Another great Bruen. 08/06 Jack Quick

Dream House by Rochelle Krich:  This second installment in the Molly Blume series lives up to the promise of the first, Blues in the Night.  Molly is a modern Orthodox Jewish woman and a crime sheet reporter for a local Los Angeles rag.  She reports on vandalisms in some of L.A.'s swanky areas that are governed by HARP, the Historical Architectural Restoration and Preservation boards, then sells the L.A. Times an article about the controversy between HARP supporters and foes.  While visiting a HARP neighborhood, Molly meets retired Professor Oscar Linney when he jumps out in front of her car, apparently lost and confused.  By doing some gentle probing, she figures out where he lives and takes the old guy to his daughter's house, where he bangs on the door and yells until the neighbor comes out and explains that his daughter has been missing for several months.  A short time later the Professor is killed, and Molly can't help but wonder if her article contributed to his death.  Meanwhile, she's been dating her former high school heart throb, Orthodox rabbi Zack Abrams, and the relationship deepens here, despite Molly's short skirts and her obsession with the professor's death.  There are lots of suspects in this whodunit and Krich kept me guessing until the very end.  This book should hold strong appeal for Faye Kellerman fans, especially of her early works.  Note - there is lots of Jewish terminology sprinkled throughout the book, but Krich thoughtfully provides a pronunciation guide up front and a glossary in the back.

THE DREAM OF THE BROKEN HORSES by William Bayer:  David Weiss is a very successful forensic artist, but when the presiding judge in a celebrity murder trial in his Midwestern hometown of Calista bars cameras, Weiss gladly accepts an assignment on behalf of ABC as a courtroom sketch artist. His real interest in returning to Calista, however, is in another murder that occurred twenty five years earlier.  Barbara Fulraine and her lover, Tom Jessup, were gunned down in the cheap Flamingo Court motel.  Soon after the homicides David's father, who was also Barbara's therapist, committed suicide.  Weiss is convinced Barbara Fulraine's death was the cause of his family's breakup, but his attempts to learn more are rebuffed.  As he unravels the story of  Barbara Fulraine fueled by her diary which he has found,  he uncovers ample dirty laundry in what turns out to be a classy and compelling psycho erotic suspense tale. 05/09 Jack Quick 

DRIVEN by Eve Kenin:  In the bleak and icy landscape of the Northern Waste, Raina Bowen has only one hope for securing the future of a sister who has been kept a secret from her until now. Raina has never known the warmth or security of a loving family or friends, but it is her hope that her own young sister can know better life. Raina’s only hope is to win a dangerous long haul trucking race that would earn her enough money to ensure both of their futures. The race involves carrying a large shipment of genetically enhanced grain across the frozen tundra. Raina contacts one of her father's old acquaintances, a mysterious figure who calls himself Wizard, a man who may be able to guarantee her win. Raina is drawn to Wizard in spite of his strange demeanor and soon finds herself teaming up with him against ice pirates set on hijacking her shipment and corporate killers out to collect the bounty on her head. This steamy futuristic romance works on so many different levels. For one, it’s a complete surprise, readers may think they know what’s coming, but they can’t possibly predict where the story will lead them. Driven also takes readers directly into Kenin’s latest release, Hidden. It’s a fantastic premise and Kenin, aka Eve Silver, pulls it off with amazing skill. It’s romance on steroids. 07/08 Becky Lejeune 

DROOD by Dan Simmons: June 9, 1865, Charles Dickens, one of the most famous authors in the world, survives a train wreck that will forever change his life. At the crash scene, he meets a horrid beast, "cadaverously thin, almost shockingly pale,” with “eyes set deep under a pale, high brow that melded into a pale, bald scalp.” His nose was “mere black slits” and he had “small, sharp, irregular teeth, spaced too far apart.” Upon returning to his home, Dickens becomes obsessed with finding Drood, and pulls his good friend, Willkie Collins, into the hunt. This "hunt" forever alters the lives of both Dickens and Collins. DROOD is an amazing piece of literary fiction. Fans of classic fiction, including the work of Dickens and Collins, will be absorbed by the flavorful language. Fans of thriller and horror will be drawn in by the dark, dangerous and deadly DROOD character. Simmons is spot on with the historical details, the images of London, the characters of Charles Dickens and Willkie Collins. I can't say enough about this amazing piece of writing. Don't let the length of this book stop you from picking it up. I guarantee that DROOD is a piece of work that you won't forget for some time. 03/09 Jennifer Lawrence

THE DROP EDGE OF YONDER by Donis Casey: Casey just won the Arizona Book Award for Best Mystery for her debut, The Old Buzzard Had It Coming, but this third book in the Alafair Tucker series is even better. Alafair, the mother of ten, is a farm wife in Oklahoma in the early twentieth century. Casey does a wonderful job of bringing that time period and setting to life, while also writing a fascinating mystery story. Nothing is more important to Alafair than her family, so she’s immediately involved when her brother-in-law is murdered, and one of Alafair’s daughter is shot. Mary suffers from a head injury, but she journals her memories in order to try to remember what she saw the day of the shooting. Mary’s journal entries, combined with Alafair’s investigation, lead to a violent confrontation. Casey’s stories of an Oklahoma farm family are riveting accounts of life in the early twentieth century, but the suspense makes them topnotch books. 11/07 Lesa Holstine

The Drowning Man by Margaret Coel: Coel takes the reader back to Wyoming’s Wind River Reservation in her latest mystery. Once again, Arapaho attorney Vicky Holden and Father John O’Malley are caught up in the problems of the Arapaho and Shoshone tribes. Vicky is handling the tribes’ problems with the Bureau of Land Management, who wants to build a road for the lumber industry through the heart of the Red Cliff Canyon, which is sacred to the Indians. The Canyon is also the scene of a crime, when someone chisels a 2000 year old petroglyph out of the rock, and calls Father John, offering to sell it back to the tribes for a quarter of a million dollars. When a tribal elder hears about the theft, he contacts Vicky, insisting his grandson, who is serving time in prison, could not have been responsible for a murder seven years earlier, when another petroglyph disappeared. Despite opposition from her law partner and other tribal members, Vicky is determined to find out if the man was wrongly convicted. Troubles only mount for everyone when a retired priest arrives at the mission, a priest with a past. Coel’s books often leave the reader with a feeling of futility. The tribes always need to fight another war against the white man’s plans. Father John’s position at the mission is always in jeopardy. This time, the mission itself is in jeopardy. And Vicky continues to struggle for her place in the community as a respected Arapaho attorney. Despite, and because of, the continuous problems and struggles, these are compelling stories. The reader continues to hope for justice for the tribes, and satisfying lives for Father John and Vicky. 10/06 Lesa Holstine

DRY ICE by Stephen White: Michael McClelland, the brilliant, determined killer introduced in White’s first novel Privileged Information, has left the Colorado State Mental Hospital where he has been confined and is coming after Alan Gregory’s family. Alan is in a deeply vulnerable state, facing severe doubts about his professional life, his marriage, and his own psyche while McClelland holds the most powerful weapons of all, secrets from Alan’s past, secrets Alan thought he had successfully buried years ago. Time is running out as Alan scrambles to outwit his nemesis while confronting each of his worst nightmares. Dry Ice’ has got to be one of the most memorable of White’s efforts. 03/07 Jack Quick

DUBLIN NOIR edited by Ken Bruen:   Ken Bruen has assembled an awesome book with brand new stories by: Ken Bruen, Eoin Colfer, Jason Starr, Laura Lippman, Olen Steinhauer, Peter Spiegelman, Kevin Wignall, Jim Fusilli, John Rickards, Patrick J. Lambe, Charlie Stella, Ray Banks, James O. Born, Sarah Weinman, Pat Mullan, Gary Phillips, Craig McDonald, Duane Swierczynski, Reed Farrel Coleman, and others.  Each explores another aspect of Dublin.  Take a deep breath before you start and remember to periodically inhale and exhale. 02/06 Jack Quick

DUMA KEY by Stephen King: Edgar Freemantle had it all, a great job, a wonderful family, and the security and stability that everyone strives for in life. Eddie loses almost everything, though, when his truck is crushed in an on-site accident at work. As a result, Eddie loses his right arm and suffers a debilitating head injury that leaves him with speech impairment, short-term memory loss, and violent mood swings. In the midst of his difficult recovery, Edgar’s wife decides to leave. Realizing that Edgar is strongly considering suicide, his doctor makes two suggestions. First, that Eddie find something that he loves, some hobby to help him heal and recover. Second, he suggests to Eddie that a change of scenery might do him some good. Eddie takes the advice to heart and decides to rent a home on Duma Key, an almost uninhabited island off the coast of Florida. There he begins to sketch and paint, creating wonderful and disturbing images that are gaining him quite a bit of attention. But something dark lives on Duma Key, something that is infecting everyone on the island, something that might be coming for Eddie next. Every page of this story was a new and wonderful surprise, I had no idea where the story was taking me, but I enjoyed every minute of the ride! Duma Key is one of my new favorites! As creepy and enthralling as ever, Duma Key proves that King is still the best there is. 09/08 Becky Lejeune   

DUPLICITY DOGGED THE DACHSHUND by Blaize Clement: Dixie Hemingway, former Sarasota County deputy, and now a pet sitter, returns in Blaize Clement’s second mystery. While walking an aging dachshund one morning, Dixie waves and calls “Hey” to a speeding car, thinking she knows the driver. When Mame, the dachshund, finds a body, Dixie realizes she just waved and hollered at the killer. She finds herself threatened and followed, so she takes the investigation into her own hands, despite warnings from Lieutenant Guidry. Everyone is worried about Dixie’s safety, but she’s determined not to give into fear. She’s had to learn to come out of her shell in the years after her husband and daughter’s tragic deaths, and she’s not about to let a killer push her around. Clement digs deeper into Dixie’s personality in this book, and it’s worth reading to see the changes in her. Many readers will enjoy the Florida setting or the circus background. One warning, though, for animal lovers. Clement always does a wonderful job with the information about pets in her books. Dixie loves animals, and it shows. However, in this one, there is a natural tragedy dealing with an aging pet. It’s handled with dignity, but some readers won’t appreciate it. 04/07 Lesa Holstine

THE DYING HOUR by Rick Mofina: Jason Wade wants to be a reporter in the worst way – he’ll even work for the opportunity. His break may have come as he is the first with the story of Karen Harding, a Seattle college coed missing on a lonely stretch of highway in upstate Washington near the Canadian border. Working for the Seattle Mirror in cut throat competition with the other bigger local papers, Wade is determined to follow the story not knowing the toll its going to take on him and his cohorts. As a lowly intern, he knows that if he can pull this one off, he will reach his objective. A dark story that seems to fit the wild wet untamed Northwest. As a lifelong card carrying media member I usually prefer to read about other people’s occupations, but I think Mofina has nailed it with Wade. My first Rick Mofina, but certainly not my last. 04/07 Jack Quick

DYING IN STYLE by Elaine Viets: The author of the delightful Dead End Job series debuts a new series set in her hometown of St. Louis.  Josie Marcus, Mystery Shopper has what appears to be a dream job for most women: she gets paid to shop.  But it isn't as much fun as one might think.  Her job might take her from a fried chicken fast food establishment to a discount store to a swanky shop in the mall, and she needs to dress the part for each. But Josie is a single mom and likes the flexibility of her hours so she's determined to make a living at it and deals with having to wear disguises as needed.  There are three generations living under one roof with her precocious nine year old daughter and her mother living in the apartment upstairs to keep Josie on her toes.  After she gives a negative report on a very ritzy designer handbag store, Josie gets called on the carpet by her boss & confronted by the owner of the store.  Later that night the owner and her lover are found murdered and Josie becomes a suspect.  This mystery shopper deals with more than most and works hard to clear her name.  This light hearted romp has some very funny moments and a terrific surprise ending.  I'm looking forward to the next book in the series, especially since the first chapter is a tantalizing teaser at the end of the book!  11/05

DYING LIGHT by Stuart MacBride: You can’t judge a book by its cover, but sometimes a line or two is all it takes to know you have a good one. Dying Light opens with, “The street was dark as they entered the boarded up building: scruffy wee shites in their tatty jeans and hooded tops. Three men and two women, nearly identical with their long hair, pierced ears, pierced noses, and pierced God knows what else. Everything about them screamed ‘Kill me.’ He smiled. They would be screaming soon enough.” Detective Sergeant Logan Lazarus McRae has been demoted to the Grampian Police's "Screw-Up Squad," in Aberdeen, Scotland, after a sting operation he was manning left a senior officer near dead. He is faced with two grisly cases, either of which could be his ticket back to respectability or completely off the force. One is a fire that claimed six lives, the other a savage murder of a prostitute. Operating on a mixture of nicotine, dark ale, bacon sandwiches, and greasy chips, McRae and his bunch deals with sleazy journalists, drug-dealing grandmothers, and the world of corporate finance. No sophomore slump for MacBride after last year’s grim but entertaining Cold Granite. 09/06 Jack Quick

THE DYING OF MORTIMER POST by Barry W. Ozeroff: “Some deaths, I have learned, are slower than others.  Mine is such a death; I have been dying it since August 13, 1967 – thirty six years, three months and one day ago.”  Quite a powerful opening.   Mortimer Post, disgraced and terminated from his LAPD job because of a drunken accidental shooting, is about to “eat his gun.” In the brief time before he performs the act, he thinks through the terrible tragedy in 1967 that caused him to enlist in the Army; his experiences in Vietnam as a helicopter crew chief during the Tet Offensive, culminating with a grievous injury and the death of his best friend in a helicopter crash. Back in the states he adopts the younger brother of his friend who was killed in Vietnam, a poor black wheelchair-bound mentally handicapped boy from Tupelo, Mississippi.  Eventually he lands in Los Angeles in 1974 and joins the LAPD.  Alcohol, Rodney King, the Whittier earthquake and 911 all take a toll which brings the story up to his suicide at the beginning. Only then does Mortimer discover he has always had the one thing he has spent a lifetime seeking.  Powerful an painful for those of us who lived through some of these same events. 06/10 Jack Quick  

THE DYING TRADE by Peter Corris:  The first outing for Sydney, Australia’s tough guy private eye – Cliff Hardy.  Divorced and adept at dodging bullets, he drives a beat-up Falcon, smokes, drinks, and solves problems, like the one experienced by wealthy Bryan Gutteridge.  Gutteridge, a sea gull shooting real estate heir, is concerned about threats being received by his twin sister, Susan.  The butler apparently didn’t do it, since he is murdered.  Fists fly, bruises abound, and you begin to wonder who is a villain and who is a victim. Very, very good. 11/07 Jack Quick   

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