Murder in Grant County, GA where a sadistic rapist attacks a blind college professor, leaving her in the bathroom of the local diner. She is found by Dr. Sarah Linton, pediatrician and coroner. A short time later another victim is left on Dr. Linton’s car.
This is the first novel, beginning a series featuring Dr. Linton, her ex-husband Police Chief Jeffrey Tolliver and detective Lena Adams. Well written and plotted, if on the gorey side. Slaughter was obviously a fan of Emily Bronte, as the doctor’s mother is Cathy Linton and she has a cousin named Hareton Earnshaw - maybe Heathcliff shows up in a later book. That aside, I have volume 2, Kisscut in my queue. I do want to know if the doctor and her ex reconnect.
When Superintendent Thomas Lynley’s pregnant wife was murdered, he resigned from Scotland Yard and went home to Cornwall. Unable to bear the sympathy of family and friends he went off on a coast walk. 40 some days of walking later he finds a body on the beach which sets in motion a chain of events which will bring him back to life, reconnect him with Barbara Havers and probably revive his career.
I thought we had seen the last of Lynley, and am pleased to find him again in this, one of the best of the series. A well plotted, compelling story with many likeable characters (aside from the angry-macho female detective who orders the super about) , far less of the self-conscious angst that makes me cringe, and fairly happy endings for all the deserving. I look forward to more of this Lynley.
This is the first in a delightful series featuring Benjamin Franklin in London as an ambassador for Pennsylvania in an effort to sway public opinion about the Penns and their treatment of the colonists. We meet Nicholas Handy, and orphaned printer’s helper, who we discover is Franklin’s natural son. The fiction of a hidden journal is used as the basis for the stories that unfold (proving the truth of the family legend passed down to the 20th century Handy who finds the book.)
Franklin is presented as a delightful sleuth, astute, observant, brilliant and eccentric. And quite the ladies man. All told I have read 5 books in the series (Murder at Drury Lane, Benjamin Franklin and a case of Christmas murder, Benjamin Franklin and a case of Artful Murder, Murder by the Waters). There are still a few to go.
Thoroughly entertaining, light mystery fare, liberally sprinkled with views of life in 18th century London.
Red Princess Liu Hulan, Inspector in China’s Ministry of Public Security and husband David Stark, American attorney assigned to China are sent to to investigate two deaths at an archaelogical site. Smuggling artifacts, a Chinese religious cult, antipathy between China and foreigners, personal demons are elements of the story. I was attracted to the book by its promise of an view of Chinese culture and I was not disappointed. This was the second in a series featuring Liu Hulan and her husband. I plan to read the first. Well written fiction is a painless way to develop an enjoyment history and cultural differences.
Abu-Jaber writes about my native hometown of Syracuse, New York in this spellbinding mystery. Lena Dawson, a quiet fingerprint examiner, finds herself enmeshed in a slew of cases involving babies that had been presumed to be SIDS victims. Lena’s intuition tells her that these cases share too many commonalities to be unrelated or accidental. As she investigates, she finds herself embroiled deep into a complex mystery and must explore her own past to find the answer in this chilling case.
Fans of forensic or court dramas should enjoy this quick page-turner.
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In the latest installment of the Dexter series, we start pondering the bigger questions. Always comfortable with the idea that he was what he was, Dexter never had reason to question where his Dark Passenger had come from, and what, it anything, that might mean. But when a new case leaves him feeling cold, off, and worst of all, alone, suddenly questions are all Dexter has.
Nothing about the burnt corpses with their ceramic bull heads is really all that much worse than any other case. In fact it all seems pretty much run-of-the-mill, except for the feeling that something about it is all wrong. And since Dexter doesn’t feel…well, you can see how he’d be a little upset.
Lost without his inner companion, Dexter divides his time between searching in vain for answers, attempting to go along with plans for his wedding, and mentoring Cody and Astor, whose impatience nearly lands them in a world of trouble.
Some fans may find this installment irritating. Dexter, without half of himself, is not himself. I know of one reader who found him annoying and just wanted it to be over with. Myself, while he certainly is a changed Dexter, I found his questioning and insecurity to be perfectly understandable, and his search for answers is fairly compelling. And the Astor and Cody story line certainly keeps things interesting.
Not necessarily my favorite of the three, but definitely a good read. I’m very interested to see where this will go next.
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I find Dexter to be a really likable guy, despite his serial killer nature. I’m interested to see where the TV show has gone in its second chapter, as it didn’t stick with the books. After reading the story, I can see how it might be extremely traumatic if translated to television, though with the amount of violence people watch today, I’m not sure it really would have mattered.
This installment centers around relationships, and a mystery killer who enjoys mutilating and dicing his victims, leaving them alive but witless with terror. For those who are squeamish, this might not be the best read, since there is a fair amount of detail to the distressing murders throughout.
On the flip side is the fun of seeing Deb in a relationship, and not only as a macho cop, and Dexter getting himself unwittingly engaged. Really.
I’m not sure I liked this as much as the first, but I did like it better than the most recent installment to the series.
Anyone who likes a great mystery, or the irony of a good serial killer, or a loveable bad guy, will enjoy Dearly Devoted Dexter for sure.
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I was first introduced to Dexter in a trailer for the series coming to Showtime. Sadly, that is not a channel included in my cable lineup, and I had to wait until I could Netflix it to check it out. But it was well worth the wait. It may be one of my all-time favorites ever. And the idea of a lovable Sociopathic Serial-Murder….well who could not be intrigued by that?
Knowing the Dexter, Season 1 was based on Darkly Dreaming Dexter, I was very curious to check out the book and see how it might vary. I love the show Bones, for example, but have never read Kathy Reichs. My mother has read all the books, and hated the show, because they apparently changed just about everything. So I was pleased to work my way through Darkly Dreaming Dexter and find not so many changes. Or changes that at least held true to the stories and characters, making it easy for the show fans to love the books, and vice versa.
With Dexter already set in my head as Michael C. Hall, there were a few times where I felt as if the book version wasn’t holding up. But only a few moments. And they may just stem from the fact that every first book comes with a few of those moments. Every book period may come with them.
But he was still the same darkly twisted good bad guy. Silently ridding the world of evil men at set intervals. Always carefully. Except for that once.
The character development was not as much as in the TV show, but had I not seen it I wouldn’t know that, so it couldn’t have bothered me. And since I have seen it, and did know, it didn’t bother me.
It’s very hard to do Dexter real justice, as he’s very much something you have to experience. Yeah, there’s some gore, but even the squeamish will likely take to him. Because even Dexter doesn’t really like gore.
Any mystery fan should definitely enjoy this series, and I think any great story fan will as well.
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Having just recovered his father from a years-long enchantment, Charlie is on his own again—his parents have gone off for a second honeymoon. But there’s plenty to look forward to. Once they’re back, the family will be moving into its old home. Which, as Charlie and Uncle Paton find out while visiting, has been recently vandalized. By something not quite human, if the glimpse Charlie gets of two figures scurrying away is right.
At school, things aren’t going so well either. The appearance of a boy called Dagbert Endless has everyone ill at ease. Cook, because she knew his father. Charlie, because Dagbert has attached himself to him and is insulting all his friends. Charlie’s friends because…they’re being insulted. But the boy’s plot fails. He can’t actually break up Charlie and his gang, since they know it’s what he’s up to, and they aren’t falling for it.
Charlie’s aunt has also remarried, and is now step-mother to a sweet girl, and rather questionable boy, who happens to be under Manfred Bloor’s control.
But the real key to the story is the beast. Asa, after helping Charlie save his father, hasn’t been seen since. But mournful howls can be heard filling the air every night. The townspeople get themselves into a panic and go out on a hunt, after which Charlie knows he just has to find Asa. And thanks to Mr. Ominous, he has a plan.
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Sequel to Blue Bloods, this is a title I’d been waiting for awhile. And in no way did it disappoint.
Schuyler, off in Italy searching for her grandfather with best friend Ollie, is missing school, and all the preparations for the Four Hundred Ball. And the even more exclusive party Mimi Force has decided to throw afterwards. With Cordelia dead, Schuyler is pretty much alone in the world, and growing desperate that her search has led her nowhere. Even worse…when she does finally find what she’s looking for, it leaves her only more disappointed.
Back in NYC, rumors of the Silver Bloods still abound, and still the Committee claims there’s no need to worry. Only when they lose one of their own do they sit up and take notice.
Schuyler’s grandfather, ashamed at the words she’d left him with in Venice, has come home. He alone believed in the Silver Bloods, and took steps to train Schuyler against an attack. When the attack comes, he moves for a vote of new leadership of the Committee. In the meantime, he’s embroiled in a personal battle–the battle for custody of Schuyler. With Cordelia gone, Charles Force has petitioned the court for custody of Schuyler. Schuyler wants none of it.
There’s no lack of tension in this story, between the mystery, the danger, the love triangle, and the subplots. Blue Bloods fans will be well pleased, and left hanging, looking forward to what’s next.
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