Category: Reviews

  • September Travel

    Next week we’re off to Spain & Portugal for some adventure. Our itinerary will include stops in: Barcelona, Valencia, Granada, Seville, and then into Lisbon. It’s our first time doing a small coach tour and we’re looking forward to some interesting times. I’ll be back in October with more recommended reading for you. Until then,…

  • Summer Read Ideas & Hiatus

    Summer Read Ideas & Hiatus

    “Live in the sunshine. Swim in the sea. Drink in the wild air.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson Time for my summer hiatus, but before I go here are a few recommendations for your consideration. Richard John Parfitt: Stray Dogs Raw, powerful, and the most apt book title ever. Teenage friends, drifters of sort, tasked with…

  • Deryn Collier: A Real Somebody

    Deryn Collier: A Real Somebody

    I’ll be going on summer hiatus but had to squeeze in this delightful mystery story by Deryn Collier, based on the true story of her aunt, June Grant. Grant is the breadwinner of her family in Montreal, as having fallen on hard times, the once wealthy family relies on her small salary to keep them…

  • David Bell: Try Not to Breathe

    David Bell: Try Not to Breathe

    Three sisters, Alisha, Avery, and Anna, who is their step-sister. Avery Rogers gives up her career with the Kentucky State Police after a near-death experience. She’s working as campus security – boring but safer. Her father, a retired police chief, says Anna is missing. He coerces Avery into looking for her. Anna Rogers is acting…

  • Hayley Scrivenor: Dirt Creek

    Hayley Scrivenor: Dirt Creek

    Ronnie and Ester are best friends and do most things together. They are lively girls, up for an adventure. The mothers of Ester and Ronnie are also best friends. Constance Bianchi is Esters mum, and Shelly McFarlane is Ronnie’s. The women and their children spend a lot of time together. Their husbands, not so much.…

  • Roger A. Canaff: City Dark

    Roger A. Canaff: City Dark

    The body of a woman is found on a beach at Coney Island. Every indication is that she was homeless. Part of the legions of the street. In her wallet, the business card of lawyer Joe DeSantos whose mother abandoned him and his brother 40-years ago. And yes, this is his mother Lois. DeSantos is…

  • Reed Farrel Coleman: Sleepless City

    Reed Farrel Coleman: Sleepless City

    ‘Called a hard-boiled poet by NPR, Reed Farrel Coleman is the New York Times-bestselling author of novels, short stories, poetry, and essays.’ And now his new series introduces: Nick Ryan. Available July 12, 2023 Pre-Order Here NYPD Detective Nick Ryan is more than his job, and more than his army background. Right now, he’s on the vocation…

  • Wendy Walker: What Remains

    Wendy Walker: What Remains

    Available June 13,2023 – Pre-Order Here Detective Elise Sutton is shopping for towels at a department store when she hears the gunshots. She locates the shooter and takes her shot putting him down. The impact of this exacerbates her anxiety condition and she fixates on the ‘tall man’ who had been in the shooter’s crosshairs.…

  • Joe Clifford: Say My Name

    Joe Clifford: Say My Name

    “Perception is nine tenths of the law.” An author has come back to his home town of Berlin, Connecticut. He’s just divorced, the house in California is sold, and he’s weary. Offered a teaching job meant coming home. Something he said he’d never do. And it has meaning, even if he’s not sure what. His…

  • Charles Salzberg: Man on the Run

    Charles Salzberg: Man on the Run

    “When I walk into a room, any room, I immediately know two things: where the exit is and exactly where everyone is standing.” By the quote above some would think it’s stated by a police officer, private investigator, or perhaps an operative. In fact, it’s the master burglar Francis Hoyt. He’s known for his skill,…

  • T. Jefferson Parker: The Rescue

    T. Jefferson Parker: The Rescue

    Available April, 25, 2023: Pre-Order Here Journalist Bettina Blazak is reporting on a Tijuana, Mexico, animal shelter when she sees him. A street dog she falls in love with and so takes him home with her, naming him Felix. There is much more to Felix than expected. He’s incredibly well trained, so curiosity about him…

  • James W. Ziskin: Bombay Monsoon

    James W. Ziskin: Bombay Monsoon

    India’s June 1975 ‘State Emergency’ is still debated as a dark era in the country’s history. It was a period of inordinate confinement, depression of civil rights, the silencing of opponents, and the deep censorship of the press. Into a volatile environment tyro reporter Danny Jacobs is sent to investigate and report. He arrives days…

  • From the Archives – Mike Knowles: Running from the Dead

    From the Archives – Mike Knowles: Running from the Dead

    Mike Knowles is one of my favourite writers, and this book is no exception to his craft. It’s been six years since Sam Jones has been looking for a missing boy. When he finds him, the truth is gut-wrenching. Lost in his actions the day Jones confronts the killer, he makes a mistake that he…

  • Sam Wiebe: Sunset and Jericho

    Available May 16, 2023: Pre-Order Here Dave is going through the motions at Wakeland & Chen. It’s good that the security side of the business has clients, as the private investigation cases are few and the compensation paltry. A call from the mayor’s office brings some movement. Her brother Jeremy Fell is missing and the…

  • Ripley Jones: Missing Clarissa

    Ripley Jones: Missing Clarissa

    Cam Muñoz and Blair Johnson are working on a journalism project assigned by their teacher. The subject, and how they choose to cover it, is up to them. Clarissa Campbell has been missing from Oreville, Washington, for more than 20-years. Muñoz thinks doing a podcast on this hometown girl could lead to fame and fortune,…