A Murder In Passing-Mark de Castrique

A Murder In Passing


Mark de Castrique

Poisoned Pen, Jul 2 2013, $24.95

ISBN: 9781464201516



In Asheville, North Carolina, Sam Blackman and Nakayla Robertson have no clients. Sam is bored so Nakayla suggests they close the Blackman & Robertson Detective Agency for the day and go on a mushroom hunt on the historic Kingdom of the Happy Land. Thinking this venture will increase his ennui, Sam goes anyway. Sam finds human skeletal remains on the freed-slave commune property. Henderson County Sheriff Deputy Overcash, who hates Sam for solving a case of his, warns the two private investigators to stay out of their inquiry; though jurisdiction may belong to Greenville County, South Carolina as the boundary is right at the hollow log containing the corpse.



Marsha Montgomery arrives at the office of Blackman & Robertson Detective Agency wanting to hire Sam and Nakayla to investigate a burglary at her mother Lucille’s home in 1967. She explains someone stole a rifle and a photograph of her mother, grandmother, and great grandmother taken in 1932 at The Kingdom of the Happy Land by famous photographer Doris Ulmann. The police arrest African-American octogenarian Lucille for the murder of her white lover Jimmy Lang over forty years ago. Sam and Nakayla investigate the cold case murder.



The fourth B & R mystery (see The Sandburg Connection, Blackman's Coffin and The Fitzgerald Ruse) is an engaging investigative whodunit with the artist being the famous Appalachia photographer rather than a writer. Fast-paced from the moment Sam finds a body and never slowing down even with some repetitive back story, fans will enjoy this tale that links several decades at a place where former slaves created The Kingdom of the Happy Land.



Harriet Klausner

The Terrorist Next Door-Sheldon Siegel

The Terrorist Next Door

Sheldon Siegel

Poisoned Pen, Jul 2 2013, $24.95

ISBN: 9781464201646



Chicago PD Homicide Detective David Gold receives a Medal of Valor in a public ceremony for stopping student Hassan Al-Shahid from bombing the Art Institute of Chicago, but his partner and best friend Paulie Loszewski died. As he gives a short uncomfortable speech, a car bomb explodes and a text arrives claiming it is not over. His boss Maloney calls in the Feds as terrorism has come to South Chicago.



Other car bombs explode near landmarks with the motive to force the city to free Al-Shahid. As the city lives in fear with deaths mounting and no place safe, Gold, his new partner A.C. Battle and the FBI pursue a clever Muslim extremist terrorist thought to be related to Al-Shahid.



The Boston marathon bombing makes the first Gold police procedural appear authentic as terrorism shuts down a major American city. The lead cops have plenty of personal tsuris but remain focused on taking down the brilliant predator while their insight into Chicago (Cubs or Sox) brings depth to the mix. Although late happenchance detracts from the excitement and Mike Daley is on recess, readers will enjoy the taut Terrorist Next Door which warns Americans to avoid stereotyping the enemy.



Harriet Klausner

The Right Side Of Wrong-Reavis Z. Wortham

The Right Side Of Wrong

Reavis Z. Wortham

Poisoned Pen, Jul 2 2013, $24.95

ISBN: 9781464201486



In 1966, twenty-four year old Constable Cody Parker is stunned by the snow piling up as it rarely comes down let alone sticks in Center Spring, Texas on the south side of the Red River. He notices tire marks in the snow so he follows them using his wife Norma Faye’s vehicle as his car’s battery died due to the freezing temperature. When he sees the sedan parked, Cody down shifts but skids anyway. The other driver fires a 12 gauge through the windshield hitting Cody whose Plymouth crashes. A starving pack of abandoned dogs fights over his injured body until elderly newcomer Tom Bell kills the alpha and another sending the rest fleeing.



Cody’s Uncle Constable Ned Parker and deputy sheriff John Washington lead investigations into the near fatal attack and other homicides in the area. Each concludes that a new type of trafficker had come to Red River; these homicidal predators sell drugs that they obtain in Mexico. Still upset with the assault that nearly killed him, Cody follows suspects south of the border. Ned follows his foolish nephew to save him from killers.



The third Parker clan historical police procedural (see The Rock Hole and Burrows) is a great 1960s period piece thriller with segregation remaining strictly enforced; for instance Washington is the Jackie Robinson of law enforcement in the area but separate facilities for whites and coloreds remain in place a dozen years after the Brown ruling. The drug trafficking is also just beginning to find favorite lethal migratory paths. The cast is solid as is the investigation, but it is the vivid look at 1966 Red River shootout that makes for a super entertaining tale.



Harriet Klausner

My Education-Susan Choi

My Education


Susan Choi

Viking, Jul 2 2013, $26.95

ISBN 9780670024902



In 1992, for her first week at the university, new graduate student Regina Gottlieb attends orientation. The most interesting information she received was the excessively oft repeated warning to keep her distance from Professor Nicholas Brodeur; impossible to do as he her instructor.



Lacking confidence that she belongs at this school, Regina is stunned as no one added the label to the warnings that Brodeur was gorgeous. Her only friend so far Casper summed it up between bedding the hunk and being the hunk. When Brodeur offers her the position of his teaching assistant, Regina’s self-esteem rises immensely. Her roommate Dutra tells her to accept and take more from him. Though his TA, Regina avoids him on a personal level. However when she meets Brodeur’s wife Martha, Regina cannot resist the attraction. The two women begin a heated affair that both know but each ignores the warning that this can only end badly for them.



Though the intriguing storyline follows the anticipated course, My Education is a strong drama due the fully developed caring cast, especially the lead couple. Character driven by the charismatic professor’s spouse and the under confident needy student, readers will appreciate this enticing romance that seems destined for doom.



Harriet Klausner

The Lemon Orchard-Luanne Rice

The Lemon Orchard


Luanne Rice

Pamela Dorman Books/Viking, Jul 2 2013, $27.99

ISBN: 9780670025275



In 2007 in New England, sixteen year old Jenny drives while her dad Peter sits in the passenger seat. In another car are Jenny’s mom Priscilla and the family dog Bonnie Blue. Staying with the family is Priscilla’s aunt and uncle from California as he is a guest lecturer at Yale. Peter plans to move out of their home in Black Hall. Instead, an accident leaves Jenny and Peter dead.



Five years later, Julia still grieves her loss. Currently she resides with Bonnie Blue at the Malibu estate of her aunt and uncle while they are away. A migration anthologist, Julia is an expert on the Irish movement to America in the nineteenth century. She meets undocumented Mexican immigrant Roberto, who is the estate manager. They share in common the loss of a child as his daughter vanished during their illegal crossing. His efforts to find her while staying beneath the ICE radar have proven futile. Meanwhile Julia studies the underground Mexican migration and sees similar trends and patterns to that of the Irish; she also concludes Roberto’s child is alive.



The Lemon Orchard is a fascinating drama that combines a wonderful refreshing romance with a deep look at nationalities’ migratory movements; the comparative analysis between the Irish and Mexican migration over a century apart is incredibly interesting. Though there is some unnecessary padding to add tension, fans will enjoy the profound The Lemon Orchard.



Harriet Klausner

Constellation-Sharon Lee & Steve Miller

Constellation


Sharon Lee & Steve Miller

Baen, Jul 2 2013, $15.00

ISBN: 9781451639230



Constellation, Volume 1 (2013) provides fans of the Liaden Universe with seventeen previously printed short stories that fill some of the gaps in the novels especially background of the key cast. The stories’ dates range from 1995 to 2002 with ten of the entries released in the nineties. Val Con and Edger meet for the first time in "To Cut an Edge" while in "Where the Goddess Sends" provides the initial encounter between Moonhawk and Lute as she asks him why a great magician like him cannot conjure up their breakfast instead of using illusions to obtain eggs from the appreciated audience of villagers; they also co-star in "A Spell for Lost." My personal favorites are Priscilla y Mendoza’s recent trials and tribulation in "Moonphase" and the short version of "Balance of Trade" (which readers will compare with the 2006 novel). Obviously targeting Liaden Universe travelers, Constellation is a fabulous anthology.



Harriet Klausner

A Spy To Die For-Kris DeLake

A Spy To Die For


Kris DeLake

Sourcebooks, Jul 2 2013, $6.99

ISBN: 9781402262852



Skylight “Sky” Jones may be the offspring of two assassins but killing someone is not in her nature. Thus, Sky works as a spy for the Assassins Guild to pay back what she owes them. She is at Starcatcher Restaurant on the grimy Krell Space Station eating a delicious bacon double cheeseburger when Rovers unsanctioned assassin Jack Hunter asks the waitress to serve him outside the diner because of his humongous height and size. Sky allows him to sit at her table.



Jack and Sky are instantly attracted to one another. However, working for assassin organizations, regardless which one, means trust no one; and working for rival assassin organizations means especially don’t trust your heart. When elite assassins target the pair, each realizes survival means teaming up for a chance to live or dying alone.



The second Assassins Guild romantic science fiction romance (see Assassins in Love) is an engaging thriller based on the generally accepted concept by society that assassinations are normal and that a dive on a slimy rock makes the best burgers in the universe. The two fully developed espionage agents are a wonderful pairing of “unreliable” rivals forced to unite against common foes. Although the main adversary is underdeveloped, readers will appreciate this enjoyable space station gender war.



Harriet Klausner