Book Review: Wedding Cake Murder, by Joanne Fluke

This is the 21st Hannah Swenson mystery and includes 21 delicious-sounding recipes to try when the weather is cooler! This time Hannah has been selected to appear on the Food Channel’s Dessert Chef contest and she is eager to win and have some of the TV show segments taped in her home town, Lake Eden, Minnesota. Also, to be determined, will Hannah make it to the altar to wed sweetheart Ross or will cold feet, her affection for former boyfriends Mike and Norman, or even chasing down a murderer derail the wedding plans? Read this one when you need a break from election politics and other scary things.

RATING: * * * A good read

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Reviewed by: kh

Book Review: The Waters of Eternal Youth: A Commissario Guido Brunetti Mystery, by Donna Leon

Leon is closing in on 30 books about the Commissario and still in top form. The same themes appear and we greet the characters like old friends. This time the aged, wealthy, Contessa Demetriana Lando-Continui, a close friend of Brunetti’s mother in law wants to find the truth about the tragic accident that left her then teenaged granddaughter brain damaged some 15 years earlier. Brunetti is not optimistic about discovering new information given the state of the Italian bureaucracy and indeed the police report about the accident has fallen victim to a computer malfunction. But Brunetti does know how to work the system in search of the truth. Well written and atmospheric as they are, I always enjoy the books in this series. I appreciate Brunetti’s abiding sense of what is right and wrong.

Rating: * * * A good read

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Reviewed by: kh

Review: Career of Evil, by Robert Galbraith

This is the third novel in the Cormoran Strike series. Galbraith is a pen name for J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter books. In this novel we learn more of Strike’s and his secretary, now partner, Robin Ellacott’s background. A package is delivered to Robin at the office in London of their detective agency which Robin assumes to contain favors for her upcoming wedding to Matthew. Instead there is a severed woman’s leg. Strike is convinced that one of three dangerous, violent men from his past has sent the gruesome package. Rowling shows here that she can write suspense novels as well as she has written about the fantasy world of Harry Potter.

Rating: * * * * Very, very good

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Reviewed by: kh

Review: Interred With Their Bones, by Jennifer Lee Carrell

This novel has a split personality crisis. It is a murder mystery crossed with The Da Vinci Code crossed with a Shakespearean criticism tome. I think it would have been better with the Shakespearean puzzle but without the murders. The victims are good friends of our heroine but she has an “Oh well, too bad for them” attitude that I found off-putting. There is a lot of interesting information about Shakespeare and his times but the characters tend to run on in too great detail at the drop of a hat–or gun or knife–about Elizabethan theater, historical personages or contenders for the real author of Shakespeare’s plays. That said, I did enjoy the book on CD version. The narrator, Kathleen McNenny, gave each character his or her own voice and appropriate personality.

RATING: * * * A good read

Reviewed by: kh

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Review: Reykjavik Nights, by Arnaldur Indridason

This novel was published in Iceland in 2012 and translated into English in 2014. It is the second of the “Young Erlendur” books featuring Inspector Erlendur who is also the main character in eleven other mysteries set in Iceland, nine of which have been translated into English. Erlendur, one of the brooding, introspective, Scandinavian policemen is haunted by the long ago disappearance of his younger brother when they were both children. In this case, Erlandur investigates the drowning death of a homeless man which has been written off as an accident or suicide by the authorities. No one seems to think this man’s death is of any consequence, but Erlandur uncovers a larger web of crime as he conducts his interviews with other homeless and alcoholic of Reykjavik.

RATING: * * * A good read

Reviewed by: kh

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Review: Murder in Mind, by Lyndon Stacey

This mystery is set in the rural West Country of England amid horse farms and steeplechase race courses. Matthew, a leading jockey, finds his good friend and fellow jockey, Jamie, accused of a shocking crime. As Matt attempts to delve into the circumstances of the crime, someone is trying to derail his career and personal life. If you enjoy the Dick Francis stories, this is one for you to try. I listened to the book on CD and the narrator, Jonathan Keegle, was excellent.

RATING: * * * A good read

Reviewed by: kh

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Review: Missing You, by Harlan Coben

I was familiar with Coben as a popular author but hadn’t read any books by him. In this one New York City Police Detective Kat Donovan had a friend who gives her a subscription to an Internet dating site. One of the first matches sent to Kat is that of an ex-boyfriend from years ago, Jeff was the one true love of her life. But the bad guys have found a way to exploit these longings for romance and the plot races away from here. My advice, make sure you meet your next Internet date at a coffee shop before planning any weekend getaways! I didn’t care for the violence but it wasn’t too over the top and the story definitely keeps you turning the pages.

RATING: * * * * Very, very good

Reviewed by: kh

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Review: A Murder of Magpies, by Judith Flanders

I have enjoyed Flanders’ nonfiction books on Victorian society so I was eager to read this one, her first novel. Main character, Samantha Clair is a book editor, mostly of “women’s fiction” in present day London. As the author of several books, Flanders must be well acquainted with the publishing industry and here she portrays them, warts and all. but with sly humor. The plot involves the sudden disappearance of one of Samantha’s authors, fashion journalist Kit Lowell, whose new book is an expose of a recent fashion industry scandal involving the mysterious death of a high profile Spanish designer. The police are not taking Kit’s disappearance too seriously so Samantha decides to do some digging into it on her own. If Flanders writes another novel, I would definitely put it on my “must read” list.

RATING: * * * * Very, very good

Reviewed by: kh

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Review: Uniform Justice: A Commissario Brunetti Novel, by Donna Leon

Originally published in 2003, and number twelve of now 23 mysteries set in present-day Venice, this volume tackles the question of the military mindset and how it fits into larger Italian society. Another theme here which Leon often touches on is the rampant corruption in Italy’s government and bureaucracy. A cadet, of the same age as Brunetti’s son, is found hanged, presumably a suicide. His father served briefly in the Italian parliament, and was the rarest of all birds there, an honest politician. For this particular book you may download the eBook or audiobook to your electronic device, read the paperback, hardcover or large print edition, or listen to the book on audio CDs.

RATING: * * * * Very, very good

Reviewed by: kh

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Review: Inspector Ghote’s First Case, by H.R.F. Keating

Keating was a prolific British crime fiction writer and the author of twenty-six Inspector Ghote novels. Though titled “First Case,” this book from 2008 was the twenty-fifth written in the series. Ghote has just been promoted to the rank of Inspector in the Bombay Criminal Investigation Department and he and his wife Protima are expecting the arrival of their first baby. Retired chief of the Bombay police, Sir Rustom Engineer, asks Ghote to investigate the apparent suicide of the young wife of a longtime friend of his, English ex-patriot Robert Dawkins. Protima is not happy to be left alone so close to her due date as Ghote travels north to the Dawkins’ home but Ghote is determined to thoroughly investigate the death of Iris Dawkins. I listened to the book on CD and the narrator, Sam Dastor, a Bombay native, did an excellent job.

RATING: * * * A good read

Reviewed by: kh

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