Category: book reviews

I picked up this nonfiction book while trying to complete my Hudson Library Book Bingo card.   This book is from the 000 section of the card catalog which refers to Computer Science, Information and General Works.  It is an amusing, sometimes disgusting, sometimes heartwarming collection of anecdotes of library staff interactions with patrons.

Here’s one: a woman came into the library, set a stack of movies on the counter and loudly announced “I have watched all your good movies. Do you have any good books here?”  I’d share more, but though they are quick to read, they are not so quick to relate.

In some respects, this book reminded me of The Library Book by Susan Orlean that the Hudson Literary Guild read a while back.  That book discussed how libraries often act as a Community Center as well as a Center for information. After reading both of these books, I concluded that librarians are probably underrated and likely undervalued for their skills not only in checking out books, filing books, and choosing books, but also for their customer service, computer, and sometimes psychological skills in aiding customers.

This was a quick and easy to read book and although I admit I was looking for something fairly quick to read in the non-fiction it was still an enlightening collection of anecdotes.

I had a Christmas gift card burning a hole in my pocket when I found this at Barnes and Noble.  Needless to say, this book by one of my favorite authors jumped to the top of my reading stack. It’s the latest Harry Bosch/Renee Ballard mystery but could easily be read as a standalone story.

In this book, Ballard has returned to active duty to head a new cold case in the LAPD robbery homicide division. She insists on having retired homicide detective Harry Bosch as part of the team. He agreed to join the team as a volunteer, but one of his conditions for returning to work is that he be allowed to work on one of his old cases that had haunted him for years, the brutal murder and desert burial of a young family of four. Ballard agrees, but the new units first priority must be the decades old case involving the murder of a current LA councilman’s sister, since that Councilman is largely responsible for funding the new unit. When they get a “cold hit,” meaning a DNA match on a similar, still-unsolved crime, tensions run high as the team seeks a serial killer who had gone undetected for years.

This was excellent and I absolutely could not put it down. I thought I had guessed who the serial killer was, but I was wrong.

This is a Kay Scarpetta story, but complete and enjoyable on its own.

As the story opens, forensic pathologist Kay Scarpetta is testifying in a sensational and well publicized murder trial.  That trial has generated huge news stories and lots of protesters at the courthouse and throughout the community. Unfortunately, many of those protesters are armed.  To complicate matters further, the prosecuting attorney seems to be twisting Scarpetta’s testimony in an effort to get the scientific facts of the case to be disregarded. And a local reporter seems to be trying to damage the reputation of the judge in the case, and Scarpetta’s because of their prior relationship during their college days. 

After her testimony is completed, Scarpetta is called to the scene of a horrific murder and it’s the sister of the judge in the case. A mysterious weapon has killed not only the human victim, but scores of birds and insects and plants in the area and why are the CIA, FBI, and Secret Service so interested in this case?

 A very interesting and scary – especially about the weapon – story set against the current climate of violent protesters and so-called fake news.

Jack Reacher’s latest adventure starts in Colorado when he sees a woman being pushed under a bus to her death. But all the other evidence points to suicide, and he’s told by the local police to just forget about what he saw and leave town. Which he does, but not until after he learns that another death- ruled a heart attack- was more than likely murder too, and that both victims had some connection to a supposedly model prison in Mississippi.

That prison is preparing to release a prisoner who was found to be innocent, to enhance the prison’s public image. But there are secrets everywhere, and the prison’s secret is monstrous!

Will Reacher save the day? Of course he will and it’s always entertaining to see how he does it.

Will and Ella Sullivan live with their dad, Henry, in a big old house. There has been little joy in the house since their mom, Katie, passed away several years ago. Even though they have grown apart over the years, Ella and Will thought that if their dad had someone in his life, their lives would be better too. So, they created a profile for him on a dating app and got a response from a Ms. Truelove. 

But Henry catches them in the act of reviewing Ms. Truelove’s response and he fires off a message to Ms. Truelove confirming that his children had set up the profile and that he was not interested in anyone because he had already had one true love in his life that was now gone.

But of course, that’s not the end of the story.  The next day the family received a mysterious gift. And the gifts continue each day, creating havoc among the family members, in their home, and in their lives.  

This is a sweet and funny story about loss and love that was very enjoyable.

Alex Cross is on the case again along with his friend and coworker, John Sampson. This serial killer is targeting entire families somehow triggering no alarms and leaving no physical evidence at the crime scenes. This killer has become known as the “Family Man Murderer.  And true crime author, Thomas Tull, wants to work with Cross and Sampson to write the true story of this killer. But then the Family Man Murderer puts the Cross family in his sights. Meanwhile, Cross’s wife, Bree Stone, now employed by a high-profile security firm, has her hands full with a case in New York City involving the fashion industry.

This is a typical James Patterson, very fast-paced and engrossing.

This is the first in the Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes series that I accidentally discovered from a volume much later in the series (The Murder of Mary Russell) that I read recently.

This story deals with how Mary Russell, a young, very young, orphaned American girl came to live in England with her only living relative, an aunt with whom she does not get along. While on a walk through the English countryside, Mary Russell meets the now retired famous detective, Sherlock Holmes. Their initial encounter takes place in the middle of a field where Holmes is studying the behavior of bees. It’s clear from their first meeting that Mary, aged only 15, has a similar intellect and capacity for deduction as the 54-year-old Holmes. This age difference bothered me a bit because he – on their very first meeting – invited her to his home and offered her wine to drink. But he was a perfect gentleman, and housekeeper Mrs. Hudson was on hand as chaperone.  But Holmes’s interest in Russell is purely intellectual as he begins to mentor her on his profession while she prepares for admission to Oxford University.

The story is engrossing and as the professional relationship between Sherlock Holmes and Russell develops, it culminates with them working on a case together- one in which both their lives are in grave danger. This is an engrossing book and an interesting take on the Sherlock Holmes legend from a relatively modern (post World War One) time period, as well as a young woman’s perspective.

This is the third William Warwick book, but complete on its own. In this story, the “choir boy” as Warwick was known in school based on his adherence to rules and the straight and narrow path he followed, has been given a new assignment.  William Warwick is now married and is the father of twins. His father is prosecutor for the crown Sir Julian Warwick, and his sister Grace, is Sir Julian’s second at trial. Warwick has also been promoted to Detective Inspector with the Metropolitan Police force in London following a successful drug raid and the arrest of the rings head, Assem Rashidi.  But in addition to helping prepare that case for trial he’s also now been given a secret assignment: investigating police corruption. His first case is to investigate a Detective Sergeant who had been at school with Warwick as a youth. As his investigative team is being assembled, Warwick’s wife, Beth, receives her own new job at the Art Museum where she works, in part due to her friendship with the former wife of criminal mastermind Miles Faulkner.

This is a British police procedural that keeps the reader interested till the very end… and wanting more!

This is yet another mystery where real life author, Anthony Horowitz, is both narrator and primary character.  Former London detective, Daniel Hawthorne, had requested Horowitz, the author, to write about the cases Hawthorne was working on since leaving the police force.  Their collaboration has already resulted in three books (The Word is Murder, The Sentence is Death, and A Line to Kill), but author Horowitz has now tired of following Hawthorne around without learning much about the man.

So, as this book opens, Horowitz has told Hawthorne that now that he has fulfilled their three-book deal, he’s done! But that decision made Hawthorne angry, and he refused to attend the London premiere of Horowitz’s new play, “Mind Game.”  The play had done well in out-of-town previews but unfortunately one London critic, Harriet Throsby, gave it a really terrible review.  Then the next day she is found murdered! The worst thing about her murder is that ALL the clues point to Horowitz as the killer!  Once he is arrested Horowitz knows that only Hawthorne can help him, but will he?

This is a fun mystery, as all the earlier Horowitz and Hawthorne collaborations have been. And, I never had any idea who the real killer was until the final pages.