Nyssa
2018-04-06 23:03:48 UTC
Another long posting coming. You have been warned.
As we left the last installment of Recent Finishes, this intrepid
reader was in the middle of Philip Kerr's (RIP) "The Lady from
Zagreb" from the Bernie Gunther mystery series.
As befitting the time and place in which the book was set (1943
Germany, Yugoslavia, and Switzerland) the overall mood was dark
and brooding as our hero, Bernie, found ways to navigate around
the Nazi regime he despised while trying to survive and to do the
part of his job that still related to solving murders and other
violent crimes.
In this one Bernie is tasked by his ultimate boss, Propaganda
Minister Joseph Goebbels with finding the estranged father of a
rising movie star, Dalia Dresner, whom Herr Goebbels has taken a
fancy to. Anything to keep his star happy and on set working on
his next blockbuster propaganda film. So Bernie finds himself
dodging both Croats and Serbs while trying to find the missing man
in an area that not only is fighting World War II, but each other.
There are several murders to solve, lies to tell, and dots to
connect. It was a satisfying set of mysteries to solve while being
grateful that the reader has the knowledge that the Nazis ultimately
lose in the end. Poor Bernie always tries to do the right thing in
spite of it all, but finds that his good deeds usually ends up with
him paying the price in a time when the good guys aren't in charge.
Next up was neither a mystery nor a thriller, but a memoir.
"There Are Worse Things I Could Do" by Adrienne Barbeau turned
out to be a well written book about a California girl who was
determined to be an actress and reached her goal from coast-to-
coast.
I'll admit to only knowing the actress from her appearances
on the sitcom "Maude," so I was surprised to find that she had
a long resume that included several on and off Broadway musicals
and a list of movies and other TV shows I've never seen. A nice
change from the depressing world of Nazi Germany.
It seems that Ms. Barbeau has also authored a short series of
murder mysteries set in Hollywood. Unfortunately they seem to
feature vampires, so I won't be sampling them. Dracula was fun,
but it's best to leave the classic alone and leave Hollywood
to its own unique types of horrors.
Back to the world of mysteries in "Case of the Strawberry Cream
Stabbing" by Jessica Lansberry. This was the first book in the
Cookie Club Cozy Mystery series, and as that suggests, it was
a candidate for the Cookie Cutter Mystery Club. It was awful.
The characters are unlikeable and there were continuity problems
with the details of the story's action.
To give you a hint of how bad this was, this group of <ah-hem>
ladies called themselves the Cookie Club because they will often
sit around and get drunk while stuffing themselves with cookies.
And these aren't twenty-somethings blowing off steam; they're
in their sixties and one would have hoped they would have found
better things to do with their time at their age. <sarcasm> Yep,
just the type of people I'd like to read about. </sarcasm> Added
to that they all seem to be on the hunt for a man, and the murder
centers around a specific man who has been playing fast and loose
with several of the club members, among others. Stay far away from
this one unless you absolutely don't have anything else to
read in the house. Even reading toilet paper wrappers would be
better than this one.
After the previous disaster, I needed something quick and that
hopefully did not involve a cookie cutter or drunken cookie eaters.
A short story prequel to the Frannie Shoemaker Campground Mysteries
"We Are NOT Buying a Camper" by Karen Musser Nortman fit the bill.
While this story didn't have any full blown mystery, it did do
a good job of introducing the characters and how they ended up
becoming avid campers. There was a missing child to be found,
but no dead bodies in the bushes to ruin a picnic. It at least
let me know that it might be worth my time to try the first
full book in the series, which luckily I already have in
my Kindle collection. Something for the virtual TBR pile.
My refuge is always in a tried and true series, so I dove into
"Point Taken" by Ben Rehder from my beloved Blanco County series
next. This one didn't disappoint me and had the usual good balance
of murder mystery being solved by Game Warden John Marlin and comic
relief provided by the local good ol' boys, Red and Billy Don.
The points referenced in the title are artifact arrow heads and
similar items that are often found and sold for considerable sums.
A body found in a field is traced to one of these artifact hunters
who had been digging illegally on a local ranch. The clues are
there to follow.
As a subplot, Red O'Brien has a dream of building a tree house in
his backyard, but not just any ordinary treehouse. He wants something
unique and meaningful to all true Texans: a replica of the Alamo.
Loved it, as expected.
And now for something completely different. "The Promotion" by Nan
Dale could best be labeled a financial thriller. What would you
be willing to do to get a partnership in a top investment firm?
And how far should founding partners in that firm go to ensure
that their newest partner-to-be is of sound character and a good
fit for the firm going forward?
John Beard is in line to make partner at the investment firm
he has been working for, and right on schedule with his long
term career plans.
The founding partners decide to test whether Beard is made of
the right stuff to eventually take over once they decide to
retire and have set up some pitfalls in his private life to
see how well he overcomes these problems. Things get out of
hand when an unrelated crime gets tangled up with the false leads
planted by the partners putting Beard and his family in mortal
danger.
This was a complex story and took some unexpected twists and
turns that kept up my interest. The characters were very likable,
and although not a cozy, the language is surprisingly mild with
a few exceptions. No sex scenes and the one bit with some gory
descriptions wasn't too graphic, so it could be considered
safe for all but the most squeamish cozy lovers. It looks like
there is a set up for a possible sequel, so I'll be on the lookout
for it going forward. Recommended.
"Death under the Fireworks" by Nancy McGovern is a novella mystery
that fits somewhere in the middle of the Murder in Milburn series.
This one doesn't happen in Milburn though since Nora has been invited
to the island estate of a friend for the Independence Day holiday.
Things turn nasty when the owner of the estate drops dead during dinner.
This is the type of mystery I especially like with clues that the
reader can use to follow along to reveal the perp. A good, logical
trail to find the murderer. Short and sweet, and can be read as a
stand alone story for those who haven't visited the series previously.
Another one to recommend.
Another shift in genre came with "A Quiet Coup: A Political Thriller"
by Rob Lubitz, but this one could be classified as just a plain
thriller, a conspiracy thriller, or even a speculative fiction
thriller. Whichever way you look at it, it was a good potboiler
centering around a couple living on Molokai, Bill and Cheryl Parker
who are not what they seem. But they don't know it.
When Connie Blythe, a reporter for an online DC newspaper sees
Bill and Cheryl on TV being rescued after a tsunami hits Molokai,
she thinks she recognizes them as Ryan Butler and Alana Shannon,
both of whom had been involved in a spectacular murder investigation
she had covered in North Carolina years ago. Pursuing that lead,
Connie opens a huge can of worms that is just not going to go
away and threatens her life and the lives of a circle of people
who know the truth.
This one was a page-turner, and I enjoyed the multiple layers
of plot and sub-plot that just kept going. It turns out that this
was the final book in a three book series, but outside of a few
references to things that happened to the characters, I didn't
feel lost by not having read the previous books. The author told
just enough about those previous important points without becoming
tedious with explanations or re-hashes of those parts of the story.
(Titles of the previous ones are "Breaking Free" and "Beyond Top
Secret" for anyone who would like to read the set.)
I needed to wind down after that wild ride, so "Last Laugh" by Ben
Rehder was next up. This book is the last (so far) in the Blanco County
series.
Game Warden Marlin finds a pool of blood in the middle of a
county road and it isn't deer season, so he has reason to be
suspicious that someone has been badly injured or worse. Tests
prove that it's human blood, and by coincidence a man living
down the road has gone missing. So where is the body? And who
did the suspected hit and run and possibly moved the body?
Meanwhile our favorite good ol' boys have given up the plans for an
Alamo treehouse, mostly because one of Red's buddies who was going
to help with the construction has hurt his back in a fall out of the
tree. What's worse is that he may be planning to sue Red for the
accident. No, it gets even worse than that when it turns out the
missing man is the same buddy who was planning to sue, making Red a
possible person of interest in the investigation.
Toss in a local celebrity, a few affairs, and Billy Don becoming
a social media maven, and it's another fun visit to Blanco County.
Please, Mr. Rehder, write more Blanco County stories, the quicker
the better!
From hot and heavy Blanco County, Texas, to the cold, frozen wasteland
of northwest Wisconsin in "The Cabin: An Off the Grid Suspense Thriller"
by John Koloen.
Early retiree and recluse Jacob Alexander has his peaceful refuge
invaded when he sees some activity across the lake at what should be a
deserted cabin normally only used by summer tenants. Investigating, he
finds a horror of what appears to be two bodies, one bound to a chair.
Because of the isolated location, cell phone coverage is spotty, but
he does manage to get a partial message out to the local police
about the apparent situation. Going out to meet the police sent to
investigate, he watches in horror as the responding deputy is shot
and killed by a group of men in the same two SUVs he had seen earlier
at the cabin across the lake. When the men set the police car on fire,
Alexander knows that things just got even more dangerous for him and
that he's now on his own to figure out how to save himself.
This one was different. It had some aspects similar to some of the
dystopian fiction since the setting was off the grid and in adverse
conditions, and some parts were similar to action thriller fiction.
The clever ways Alexander found to use what was at hand against
the weather and the bad guys to buy time kept the story moving
along. It sure made me not want to rough it in a cabin in the woods,
especially in the middle of a blizzard or two without the comforts
of central heating and an Internet connection. Mildly recommended
to those who like man-against-the-elements stories along with a
good guy versus bad guys story.
"Death of a Kitchen Diva" by Lee Hollis is my current read, and I'm
only halfway through it. I'll simply say that so far I'm having trouble
getting into it mostly because of the silly things being done by
everyone. That and the main character is a klutz with a side order
of ditz which is never attractive to me. It might be okay for a sidekick
for comic relief, but in a main character I often find myself shaking
my head and rolling my eyes which makes it very hard to read.
Whew! That was tiring. I think I'll curl up and finish reading the
so-so cozy so I can move on to something better.
Nyssa, who wonders if her Kindles' batteries are going to hold up
under such heavy use
As we left the last installment of Recent Finishes, this intrepid
reader was in the middle of Philip Kerr's (RIP) "The Lady from
Zagreb" from the Bernie Gunther mystery series.
As befitting the time and place in which the book was set (1943
Germany, Yugoslavia, and Switzerland) the overall mood was dark
and brooding as our hero, Bernie, found ways to navigate around
the Nazi regime he despised while trying to survive and to do the
part of his job that still related to solving murders and other
violent crimes.
In this one Bernie is tasked by his ultimate boss, Propaganda
Minister Joseph Goebbels with finding the estranged father of a
rising movie star, Dalia Dresner, whom Herr Goebbels has taken a
fancy to. Anything to keep his star happy and on set working on
his next blockbuster propaganda film. So Bernie finds himself
dodging both Croats and Serbs while trying to find the missing man
in an area that not only is fighting World War II, but each other.
There are several murders to solve, lies to tell, and dots to
connect. It was a satisfying set of mysteries to solve while being
grateful that the reader has the knowledge that the Nazis ultimately
lose in the end. Poor Bernie always tries to do the right thing in
spite of it all, but finds that his good deeds usually ends up with
him paying the price in a time when the good guys aren't in charge.
Next up was neither a mystery nor a thriller, but a memoir.
"There Are Worse Things I Could Do" by Adrienne Barbeau turned
out to be a well written book about a California girl who was
determined to be an actress and reached her goal from coast-to-
coast.
I'll admit to only knowing the actress from her appearances
on the sitcom "Maude," so I was surprised to find that she had
a long resume that included several on and off Broadway musicals
and a list of movies and other TV shows I've never seen. A nice
change from the depressing world of Nazi Germany.
It seems that Ms. Barbeau has also authored a short series of
murder mysteries set in Hollywood. Unfortunately they seem to
feature vampires, so I won't be sampling them. Dracula was fun,
but it's best to leave the classic alone and leave Hollywood
to its own unique types of horrors.
Back to the world of mysteries in "Case of the Strawberry Cream
Stabbing" by Jessica Lansberry. This was the first book in the
Cookie Club Cozy Mystery series, and as that suggests, it was
a candidate for the Cookie Cutter Mystery Club. It was awful.
The characters are unlikeable and there were continuity problems
with the details of the story's action.
To give you a hint of how bad this was, this group of <ah-hem>
ladies called themselves the Cookie Club because they will often
sit around and get drunk while stuffing themselves with cookies.
And these aren't twenty-somethings blowing off steam; they're
in their sixties and one would have hoped they would have found
better things to do with their time at their age. <sarcasm> Yep,
just the type of people I'd like to read about. </sarcasm> Added
to that they all seem to be on the hunt for a man, and the murder
centers around a specific man who has been playing fast and loose
with several of the club members, among others. Stay far away from
this one unless you absolutely don't have anything else to
read in the house. Even reading toilet paper wrappers would be
better than this one.
After the previous disaster, I needed something quick and that
hopefully did not involve a cookie cutter or drunken cookie eaters.
A short story prequel to the Frannie Shoemaker Campground Mysteries
"We Are NOT Buying a Camper" by Karen Musser Nortman fit the bill.
While this story didn't have any full blown mystery, it did do
a good job of introducing the characters and how they ended up
becoming avid campers. There was a missing child to be found,
but no dead bodies in the bushes to ruin a picnic. It at least
let me know that it might be worth my time to try the first
full book in the series, which luckily I already have in
my Kindle collection. Something for the virtual TBR pile.
My refuge is always in a tried and true series, so I dove into
"Point Taken" by Ben Rehder from my beloved Blanco County series
next. This one didn't disappoint me and had the usual good balance
of murder mystery being solved by Game Warden John Marlin and comic
relief provided by the local good ol' boys, Red and Billy Don.
The points referenced in the title are artifact arrow heads and
similar items that are often found and sold for considerable sums.
A body found in a field is traced to one of these artifact hunters
who had been digging illegally on a local ranch. The clues are
there to follow.
As a subplot, Red O'Brien has a dream of building a tree house in
his backyard, but not just any ordinary treehouse. He wants something
unique and meaningful to all true Texans: a replica of the Alamo.
Loved it, as expected.
And now for something completely different. "The Promotion" by Nan
Dale could best be labeled a financial thriller. What would you
be willing to do to get a partnership in a top investment firm?
And how far should founding partners in that firm go to ensure
that their newest partner-to-be is of sound character and a good
fit for the firm going forward?
John Beard is in line to make partner at the investment firm
he has been working for, and right on schedule with his long
term career plans.
The founding partners decide to test whether Beard is made of
the right stuff to eventually take over once they decide to
retire and have set up some pitfalls in his private life to
see how well he overcomes these problems. Things get out of
hand when an unrelated crime gets tangled up with the false leads
planted by the partners putting Beard and his family in mortal
danger.
This was a complex story and took some unexpected twists and
turns that kept up my interest. The characters were very likable,
and although not a cozy, the language is surprisingly mild with
a few exceptions. No sex scenes and the one bit with some gory
descriptions wasn't too graphic, so it could be considered
safe for all but the most squeamish cozy lovers. It looks like
there is a set up for a possible sequel, so I'll be on the lookout
for it going forward. Recommended.
"Death under the Fireworks" by Nancy McGovern is a novella mystery
that fits somewhere in the middle of the Murder in Milburn series.
This one doesn't happen in Milburn though since Nora has been invited
to the island estate of a friend for the Independence Day holiday.
Things turn nasty when the owner of the estate drops dead during dinner.
This is the type of mystery I especially like with clues that the
reader can use to follow along to reveal the perp. A good, logical
trail to find the murderer. Short and sweet, and can be read as a
stand alone story for those who haven't visited the series previously.
Another one to recommend.
Another shift in genre came with "A Quiet Coup: A Political Thriller"
by Rob Lubitz, but this one could be classified as just a plain
thriller, a conspiracy thriller, or even a speculative fiction
thriller. Whichever way you look at it, it was a good potboiler
centering around a couple living on Molokai, Bill and Cheryl Parker
who are not what they seem. But they don't know it.
When Connie Blythe, a reporter for an online DC newspaper sees
Bill and Cheryl on TV being rescued after a tsunami hits Molokai,
she thinks she recognizes them as Ryan Butler and Alana Shannon,
both of whom had been involved in a spectacular murder investigation
she had covered in North Carolina years ago. Pursuing that lead,
Connie opens a huge can of worms that is just not going to go
away and threatens her life and the lives of a circle of people
who know the truth.
This one was a page-turner, and I enjoyed the multiple layers
of plot and sub-plot that just kept going. It turns out that this
was the final book in a three book series, but outside of a few
references to things that happened to the characters, I didn't
feel lost by not having read the previous books. The author told
just enough about those previous important points without becoming
tedious with explanations or re-hashes of those parts of the story.
(Titles of the previous ones are "Breaking Free" and "Beyond Top
Secret" for anyone who would like to read the set.)
I needed to wind down after that wild ride, so "Last Laugh" by Ben
Rehder was next up. This book is the last (so far) in the Blanco County
series.
Game Warden Marlin finds a pool of blood in the middle of a
county road and it isn't deer season, so he has reason to be
suspicious that someone has been badly injured or worse. Tests
prove that it's human blood, and by coincidence a man living
down the road has gone missing. So where is the body? And who
did the suspected hit and run and possibly moved the body?
Meanwhile our favorite good ol' boys have given up the plans for an
Alamo treehouse, mostly because one of Red's buddies who was going
to help with the construction has hurt his back in a fall out of the
tree. What's worse is that he may be planning to sue Red for the
accident. No, it gets even worse than that when it turns out the
missing man is the same buddy who was planning to sue, making Red a
possible person of interest in the investigation.
Toss in a local celebrity, a few affairs, and Billy Don becoming
a social media maven, and it's another fun visit to Blanco County.
Please, Mr. Rehder, write more Blanco County stories, the quicker
the better!
From hot and heavy Blanco County, Texas, to the cold, frozen wasteland
of northwest Wisconsin in "The Cabin: An Off the Grid Suspense Thriller"
by John Koloen.
Early retiree and recluse Jacob Alexander has his peaceful refuge
invaded when he sees some activity across the lake at what should be a
deserted cabin normally only used by summer tenants. Investigating, he
finds a horror of what appears to be two bodies, one bound to a chair.
Because of the isolated location, cell phone coverage is spotty, but
he does manage to get a partial message out to the local police
about the apparent situation. Going out to meet the police sent to
investigate, he watches in horror as the responding deputy is shot
and killed by a group of men in the same two SUVs he had seen earlier
at the cabin across the lake. When the men set the police car on fire,
Alexander knows that things just got even more dangerous for him and
that he's now on his own to figure out how to save himself.
This one was different. It had some aspects similar to some of the
dystopian fiction since the setting was off the grid and in adverse
conditions, and some parts were similar to action thriller fiction.
The clever ways Alexander found to use what was at hand against
the weather and the bad guys to buy time kept the story moving
along. It sure made me not want to rough it in a cabin in the woods,
especially in the middle of a blizzard or two without the comforts
of central heating and an Internet connection. Mildly recommended
to those who like man-against-the-elements stories along with a
good guy versus bad guys story.
"Death of a Kitchen Diva" by Lee Hollis is my current read, and I'm
only halfway through it. I'll simply say that so far I'm having trouble
getting into it mostly because of the silly things being done by
everyone. That and the main character is a klutz with a side order
of ditz which is never attractive to me. It might be okay for a sidekick
for comic relief, but in a main character I often find myself shaking
my head and rolling my eyes which makes it very hard to read.
Whew! That was tiring. I think I'll curl up and finish reading the
so-so cozy so I can move on to something better.
Nyssa, who wonders if her Kindles' batteries are going to hold up
under such heavy use