Another Very Entertaining Entry in the Tracy Crosswhite Series from Robert Dugoni

Fresh off a very difficult case, Seattle homicide detective Tracy Crosswhite finds herself entangled in two new cases, one contemporary and the other a forty-year-old cold case. In the first instance, a man is found shot to death in the home he once shared with his wife from whom he is now separated. The wife and their teenage son are present in the home when officers first arrive. They claim that the husband/father was abusive, that he attacked his wife, and that she shot him in self-defense. But what appears at first to be a fairly straightforward case soon turns out to be a lot more complicated.

At virtually the same time, Jenny Almond, who had been a classmate of Tracy's in the police academy, asks Tracy to take over the investigation of a cold case in rural Klickitat County. Forty years earlier, a Native American high school student went missing while walking home from work one night. She was later found dead floating in a river. The official verdict was suicide, the explanation being that the victim, Kimi Kanasket, was distraught because her boyfriend had just broken up with her.

Jenny Almond is now the sheriff of Klickitat County, following in the footsteps of her father, Buzz Almond. As a newbie sheriff's deputy, Buzz Almond had investigated the case of Kanasket's death, but was never satisfied with the official verdict. Given his position at the time, he couldn't challenge the conclusions of his superiors, but the case bothered him enough that he kept the file for all those years and his daughter found it after Buzz died. She'd like Tracy to review the file and see if anything can be done.

Once the book is underway, Dugoni allows the other members of Crosswhite's unit to pursue the contemporary case, and the bulk of the novel is devoted to Tracy's investigation of the cold case. It turns out to be a fascinating case and Dugoni very convincingly demonstrates how Tracy, with a lot of help, is able to apply new investigative techniques and technologies to a case that originally seems cut and dried and devoid of any new insights.

Like the first two books in the series, it's a very entertaining read that should appeal especially to any fan of police procedurals. I'm anxious to get to the next book in the series.

A British Jockey finds Himself in a Dangerous and Claustrophobic Situation in This Novel from Dick Francis

This is another fairly typical Dick Francis novel. The protagonist, Roland Britten, is an accountant by trade and an amateur jockey who loves to race. Like most Francis lead characters, Britten is single, a man who lives within himself and who few people know really well. He shares the courage and steel will of his fellow Francis protagonists--a man who will not be bullied or bribed and who will withstand almost any amount of pain or suffering rather than surrendering to the will of his adversaries.

As the book opens, Britten unexpectedly wins a very prestigious race. But even before he has a chance to celebrate his unlikely victory, he is kidnapped and rendered unconscious. He awakens to find himself bound in a sail locker of a yacht that is obviously out on the high seas. 

It's a dark, uncomfortable and claustrophobic situation, and Britten cannot figure out how or why he wound up there. "There was no one to pay millions for my release, no parents rich or poor ... I had no political significance and no special knowledge: I couldn't be bartered, didn't know any secrets, had no access to government papers or defense plans or scientific discoveries. No one would care more than a passing pang whether I lived or died ..."

Of course, he will live, at least for a while, or the novel would end after the second chapter. Britten will spend the rest of the book attempting to figure out how he wound up in the locker and who was responsible for putting him there. It's a good read although not one of Francis's best efforts, and fans of the author will know exactly what to expect.

A Very Good Mystery Set in South Africa

This novel was published in 1971 and is set in the South Africa of the Apartheid era. It features a biracial team of detectives, Lieutenant Kramer, an Afrikaner, and Sergeant Zondi, a Bantu who assists him. As the book opens, a beautiful blonde music teacher in her mid-twenties has been murdered by someone who poked a sharpened bicycle spoke into her heart. This is the technique of a Bantu gangster, but is this a gang-related killing, or is it just supposed to look that way in an effort to throw off the investigators?

The case turns out to be very complex and takes a number of unforeseen twists and turns before building to a very surprising conclusion. The strength of the book lies in its portrayal of life in South Africa during this era, and the relationship between Kramer and Zondi is especially revealing. In a society as carefully delineated as this one, each has a very specific role to play, and there can be no hope of solving this crime unless the two work in close harmony.

With the growing interest in international mysteries, it's nice to see an entry from South Africa. James McClure ultimately wrote eight books in this series, and I'll be looking forward to reading more of them.

Belfast Detective Sean Duffy Returns in Another Great Novel from Adrian McKinty

Adrian McKinty's series featuring Belfast detective Sean Duffy was originally conceived as a trilogy. Happily, McKinty changed his mind and has continued the series beyond the third book, In the Morning I'll be Gone. Gun Street Girl is the fourth in the series and is set in 1985. The Troubles still bedevil Northern Ireland and complicate enormously the lives of all the citizens, most especially that of Sean Duffy, a Catholic who had nerve enough (or who was crazy enough) to join the Royal Ulster Constabulary.

The novel opens with the discovery of two bodies, a man and his wife, who have been shot to death in their home. Their son, Michael, is missing and there is evidence to suggest that Michael killed his parents and fled after having a series of arguments with his father. A couple of days later, Michael turns up dead, having apparently committed suicide and leaving a note of confession behind.

The cases now appear to be concluded, but Duffy is not so sure. He and his team continue to poke and prod and discover that Michael left Oxford abruptly, just short of getting his degree, after attending a party where the daughter of a cabinet minister died of an overdose of heroin. The deeper Duffy digs, the more complicated the case becomes--and the more dangerous for Duffy himself. Along the way, he's managed to antagonize some powerful forces who don't want him mucking around in their business and who are determined to make him stop doing so, one way or another.

It's another great read from McKinty. Sean Duffy is a very engaging character--smart, witty, irreverent, and often funny as hell, even in the very difficult conditions under which he must live and work. His romantic life continues to be problematic and there's a long, hilarious scene in which he's persuaded to go to a social mixer where he might meet an eligible young lady. That chapter alone is worth the price of the book, and I can hardly wait to get to the next entry in the series.

Detective Harry Bosch Is Consumed by a Thirteen-Year-Old Case

This is another excellent entry in the Harry Bosch series. At this point in his career, Harry is working Open and Unsolved cases with his partner, Kiz Rider. One of the cases that has haunted him for years is the disappearance of a young woman named Marie Gesto, who disappeared after walking out of a market where she'd bought carrots to feed the horses she was going to tend. She was never seen again and, although her body was never found, Bosch has long assumed that she is dead, especially after her car was found in an apartment house garage with her clothes folded neatly inside.

Bosch has long suspected that the killer was the son of a wealthy and powerful man, though there was no solid evidence to connect the man to Gesto. Through the years, Harry has periodically returned to the case and questioned the suspect, to the point where the suspect's father has secured a restraining order against Bosch.

Now, out of the blue, a man arrested for a series of murders has admitted to killing Gesto as well. The man and his attorney are attempting to work out a deal with a politically ambitious prosecuting attorney that will enable the killer to escape the death penalty for his crimes. As the principal investigator in the Gesto case, Harry is involved in the negotiations and is stunned to learn that he may have missed an important clue years earlier that could have prevented several additional murders.

With that, the book is off and running, and it's another great ride. As always, Harry is determined to find the truth, no matter the consequences for the politicians, for the department, or for himself. The case reunites him with F.B.I. agent Rachel Walling and it's nice to see them working together again. As always in one of these novels, there are plenty of surprising twists and turns and lots of great action. I set everything else aside and devoured this book in a day, and it just made me that much more anxious to get back and re-read the next one in the series.

Detective John Rebus May Be Retired, But He Refuses to Give Up the Job

Edinburg detective John Rebus is officially retired and in the middle of a health scare. He's quit smoking and cut back on his drinking, but then a forty-year-old murder that was never solved captures his attention and he's off to the races again, even if he's not running quite as fast as he used to.

The victim was a beautiful married woman named Maria Turquand who had a date to meet her lover in a luxurious hotel. She was found strangled to death, but most of the obvious suspects had iron-clad alibis. Adding to the confusion was the fact that a famous rock star was staying at the hotel that day, and the place was a circus. In the end, there were too many possible suspects and too little evidence, and the case was never solved.

Rebus is recounting the mystery to his new lover over dinner one night in the restaurant of the hotel where the murder happened. This piques his curiosity and he starts digging into the old files on his own. No sooner does he do so, than someone close to the original crime is killed. Someone, it appears, would not like to see Maria's killer found.

At the same time Rebus begins digging into the Turquand case, an up and coming mobster named Darryl Christie is badly beaten outside his home. The case falls to Rebus's former understudy, Siobahn Clarke, and it appears that Rebus's old nemesis Big Ger Cafferty might have been involved. Rebus thus worms his was into Siobahn's investigation and is soon back on the job, albeit without a badge.

Finally, Rebus's adversary-turned grudging friend, Malcolm Fox, has received a big promotion and is working financial crimes. He's assigned to a money laundering investigation that appears to involve the aforementioned Darryl Christie. Almost immediately, his case is tied into Clarke's, and Rebus invites himself into that investigation as well.

The result is a very intricate but intriguing plot in which Rebus, Clarke and Fox combine forces in an effort to chase down any number of bad guys and resolve a number of complicated crimes. It's great fun watching them work together and the interaction among the three and their various targets is the highlight of the book. Rebus may be retired, but he still just keeps getting better and better.

Bachelors Get Lonely--and Sometimes Killed--in this Novel from A. A. Fair

This is a fairly typical entry in the Donald Lam/Bertha Cool series. Bertha is delighted to have found a new client for the firm--a fine, upstanding businessman named Montrose Carson. Bertha believes that the kind of clients they usually recruit keep getting the firm into trouble. A substantial, impeccable client like Carson will raise them above all that.

Carson is a developer who is suddenly facing a new competitor. Carson believes that someone in his office is leaking information to the competitor who is then stealing deals out from under Carson. Even before Donald can enter the picture, Bertha has already designed a plan to root out the leaker and is extremely proud of herself for doing so.

Inevitably, of course, the case will blow up; someone will be murdered; Donald will be left to pull the chestnuts out of the fire; Detective Frank Sellers will be in hot pursuit of Donald for any number of alleged infractions, and Bertha will be freaking out, believing Seller's accusations and accusing Donald of betraying her and the firm. The only question that remains is whether this will finally be the time when Donald is unable to do so.

It's a quick read that should appeal to any fan of the series. The plot is horribly convoluted, but no more so than most of those created by Erle Stanley Gardner. The edition I read was published in 1963. The book itself was first published in 1961, although it reads like a book written in the late 1940s. 

I believe I inherited this copy from my father, and bound in with the book is an opportunity to join the Detective Book Club. By doing so, you can get nine "great mysteries," including seven Perry Masons, for only a dollar. It's a "treasure chest of crackling, high-voltage mysteries at a sensational low introductory price," and so how could I resist? I've torn off the attached post card, filled it out, and will be dropping it into the mail tomorrow. 

I'm a little nervous because this offer seems to predate the invention of zip codes. The address is only "The Detective Book Club, Roslyn, L.I., New York." On the other hand, though, how many detective book clubs could there possibly be in Roslyn? I imagine the mail carrier will have no difficulty in finding them, and I can hardly wait to get my new books and have the chance to read and review them!