Ideas, Opinions, Genealogy, and Book Reviews
Val McDermid is one of my favorite writers. So I jumped at the chance to read her latest. I thank Netgalley for that chance Of course my experience with her writing is limited to 3 mysteries in the same series (see reviews at https://www.jackreidy.com/blog/2020/10/05/still-life-by-val-mcdermid/).
Continue reading “1979 by Val McDermid”
Mystery, thriller, and genealogy all in one fascinating story. The book is The Family Tree by Steph Mullin and Nicole Mabry. It centered around the hunt for a mass murderer with an important genealogy mystery also at the heart of the story.
I did not know what to expect but was very glad I tried it. I thank Netgalley for a chance to read this book before publication.
Continue reading “The Family Tree”
This book is both a good mystery novel and historical fiction.
Anne Emery’s The Keening: A Mystery of Gaelic Ireland, has 2 storylines involving the Tierney family one in the later 1500s and early 1600s when the Gaelic era was ending and the other in the modern era. These interwoven stories the modern family guest house threatened by development and a murder in Gaelic times near an earlier version of the guest house.
Continue reading “The Keening: A Mystery of Gaelic Ireland by Anne Emery”
I’ve enjoyed the Scotland mysteries I’ve read so I thought I would try a new series and I did like the first one. I just finished The Suspects by Jodie Lawrance. I enjoyed this book and thank Netgalley and Joffe books for the chance to read it before publication.
Detective Sergeant Helen Carter is the central character in this series. Like the earlier books in this series it is set in Edinburgh in the 1970s when it was unusual to see a woman in her role. Work is often difficult for her in this male dominated environment but in this third book in the series she is more accepted on her own merits.
The main story focuses on the return a major criminal and suspected cop-killer to Edinburgh, probably to collect some of the loot from a 1971 robbery. Of course there are a number of other crimes occurring shortly after his return which may or may not be related to his return. Like the other in this series I have read. this is a good detective story that is engaging and well written,
I believe each book can stand on its own but would suggest reading the first in the series before reading this one. It is not at all that following the mysteries in this book is dependent on prior books but reading the first will give you useful background on DS Helen Carter.
I’ve enjoyed the Scotland mysteries I’ve read so I thought I would give this new series a try. The book is THE UNIFORM by Jodie Lawrance. I enjoyed this book and thank Netgalley and Joffe books for the chance to read it before publication.
Detective Sergeant Helen Carter is having a hard time . It is not just that she is working a very difficult case. There is also the difficulty she is having with co-workers, including her boss. This mystery is set back in the day when a female detective is a very unusual addition to the mostly male police force. To make matters worse her father was high-up in the police and some believe she got job because of nepotism. Then there is her fiancé who would like her to quit her job and be the lady of his house.
A very good detective story with a character that is engaging and well written. It is a promising beginning to a new series: I am looking forward to the second.
Lieutenant Cassandra Morse, USN came from a Navy family, three generations of Admirals. She was on track to be the fourth until she was suspected of spying and forced out of the Navy. The same terrible event that ended her Navy career left her with terrible nightmares that predicted horrific events.
Cassie works to solve the mystery of what happened to her and works to understand her dream and prevent a disaster. I found the book hard to put down.
I recommend this book and thank Netgalley for the chance to read it before publication.
I especially enjoyed the strong characters and the humour. It was a fast paced thriller and seems to be a great deal. When I looked today, the Kindle version was 99 cents. It was free for those with the kindle unlimited program.
I don’t think I read anything by Harlan Coben before but I was looking for a good mystery/thriller and this was available on Netgalley. I knew Harlan Coben was a best selling author of this type of book so I thought I’d give Win a try. I’m glad I did. I highly recommend this book and thank Netgalley for the chance to read it before publication.
Continue reading “Win by Harlan Coben”
The Scorpion’s Tail is another great mystery by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. I reviewed the first in this series about 18 months back. At the time I remarked “Preston and Child are about all you need to hear to know it is going to be a good, and likely great, mystery novel. Their collaboration is simply amazing.”
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Still Life is the third novel I have read and reviewed in the Karen Pirie series by Val McDermid.
The other two are Broken Ground and The Distant Echo . The first was because someone had suggested this book and the second was because I wanted to read more of the series.
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Last year I reviewed a new book by Ann Cleeves I had read. I gave it a try as I liked the TV adaption of Shetland which was based on another series of her books. I liked it very much so when I saw another Ann Cleeves book on Netgalley, I jumped at the chance to read another.
The Darkest Evening is part of the Vera Stanhope series. I had heard of this series but had not read any or watched the TV adaption. I was very pleased with the book. Now I’ll have to give the TV show a try.
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This is the third book about reporter Jack McEvoy. I first encountered Jack in The Poet many years ago. It was a very good book as I recall. He had a second book on Jack McEvoy called The Scarecrow but I didn’t read that one. When I saw there was a third book I decided it was time to revisit Jack, the reporter, and Rachel, the former FBI agent who lost her job with the FBI because of Jack.
Continue reading “Fair Warning by Michael Connelly”
Telling the Archbishop to “Fuck off’ is an unusual way to start a story. Then when it is followed by a dead body it peaks your interest right away. Postmark Berlin is my third book by Anne Emery, all have been in Collins-Burke Mystery Series, and I have enjoyed all three. I’ll also add that Anne Emery is an award winning writer of Crime fiction.
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This is the fifth in a series. I liked the first three and somehow missed the 4th. I liked them so much I eagerly jumped at the chance to read and review an ARC of Brooklyn Legacies: An Erica Donato Mystery #5 by Triss Stein. It will be out in early December.
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Preston and Child are about all you need to hear to know it is going to be a good, and likely great, mystery novel. Their collaboration is simply amazing. The new book is Old Bones by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. This is a new one in the Nora Kelly series and is scheduled to be out on August 20, 2019
If you have read many of my reviews, you know that I occasionally buy a book but more often my reading matter comes from the library or reading advance reader copies (ARC) that I find on NetGalley ( https://www.netgalley.com/ ). A few weeks ago I was perusing Netgalley to see if they had anything interesting. Of the hundreds of books available there the Preston and Child book stood out.
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The Long Call is my first Ann Cleeves book. It is also a first for these characters as she is starting a new series of crime mysteries (The 2 Rivers Series).
But I did see Shetland, a TV series based on a series of her books. I liked the TV series do I decided I’d try one of her books.
Continue reading “Ann Cleeves new series of crime mysteries”