Laura Lippman
Fiction, Mystery/Thriller
What would you do with a pedophile? Pretend to be underage, meet him in a bar, slip him his own date-rape drug, then use a depilatory cream to remove all the hair from his body? That's what Tess Monaghan did... and now she's in anger-management counseling after the jerk pressed charges. So when her friend Whitney gives her a research job - investigating domestic killings - she jumps at the chance to be active instead of sitting and brooding.
But the five cases don't seem to be related. In fact, one of the "victims" is still alive. But as Tess starts investigating the reasons these cases were given to her, she finds out that they are related more closely than she thought... and there could be a serial killer on the loose. One who has her picked out to be next.
Lippman's prose is engaging, and quickly draws you in. The moments spent in the mind of the stalker seem so reasonable that one can imagine the justifications that such a killer makes in his own mind. Tess comes across as principled and yes, a little angry, but who wouldn't want to see people get what they deserve? All in all, this is an entertaining read.
****/*****
Showing posts with label mystery. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mystery. Show all posts
Saturday, July 22, 2006
Friday, July 21, 2006
A Faint Cold Fear
Karin Slaughter
Fiction, Mystery/Thriller
Let me begin by saying what a great name "Slaughter" is for a mystery writer. This book all but lives up to the name, as character after character gets killed, usually in highly graphic fashion.
Sara Linton is a medical doctor and coroner, and she gets called to the scene of an apparent suicide while on an outing with her pregnant sister. During her examination of the body, her sister is stabbed, leading her to believe that the suicide could be faked. As more and more people die (and the university president scrambles to cover up the deaths), Sara and her ex, Jeffrey, scramble to put together the clues needed to stop the killer.
This is apparently the third book in the series, and we have been introduced to the characters before. Nevertheless, there is plenty to draw in a new reader, especially one who is apt to watch CSI or other fairly graphic material.
***/****
Fiction, Mystery/Thriller
Let me begin by saying what a great name "Slaughter" is for a mystery writer. This book all but lives up to the name, as character after character gets killed, usually in highly graphic fashion.
Sara Linton is a medical doctor and coroner, and she gets called to the scene of an apparent suicide while on an outing with her pregnant sister. During her examination of the body, her sister is stabbed, leading her to believe that the suicide could be faked. As more and more people die (and the university president scrambles to cover up the deaths), Sara and her ex, Jeffrey, scramble to put together the clues needed to stop the killer.
This is apparently the third book in the series, and we have been introduced to the characters before. Nevertheless, there is plenty to draw in a new reader, especially one who is apt to watch CSI or other fairly graphic material.
***/****
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
To Catch a Cat
Marian Babson
Fiction, Mystery
You know the drill. In an effort to win favor with the local kids in a new town, our eleven-year-old has to perform some stunt in order to 'join the gang.' This stunt is usually designed to be scary to the person in question, so he has to climb a tree (he's afraid of heights) and break into a house in order to steal (for a day or two) a particular cat. And of course, the owners are home.
However, in this case, the man has a literally murderous temper, and our protagonist Robin, while grabbing the cat, hears and sees a few things he shouldn't, and is spied in return. He runs away, and because he is nervous about the relatives he is staying with, says nothing, leaving the murder to be blamed on an "intruder." The rest of the novel is an exercise in suspense to see who will be discovered first, Robin or the murderous husband.
As with many of Marian Babson's "mysteries", there is no real mystery to be solved. She just ups the tension in little notches, setting up near misses and misconceptions and interior monologues of the murderer until you realize that there's no way the two cannot meet, and one can only hope that there are police at the scene when the final meeting does occur.
***.5/*****
Fiction, Mystery
You know the drill. In an effort to win favor with the local kids in a new town, our eleven-year-old has to perform some stunt in order to 'join the gang.' This stunt is usually designed to be scary to the person in question, so he has to climb a tree (he's afraid of heights) and break into a house in order to steal (for a day or two) a particular cat. And of course, the owners are home.
However, in this case, the man has a literally murderous temper, and our protagonist Robin, while grabbing the cat, hears and sees a few things he shouldn't, and is spied in return. He runs away, and because he is nervous about the relatives he is staying with, says nothing, leaving the murder to be blamed on an "intruder." The rest of the novel is an exercise in suspense to see who will be discovered first, Robin or the murderous husband.
As with many of Marian Babson's "mysteries", there is no real mystery to be solved. She just ups the tension in little notches, setting up near misses and misconceptions and interior monologues of the murderer until you realize that there's no way the two cannot meet, and one can only hope that there are police at the scene when the final meeting does occur.
***.5/*****
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Murder At the Cat Show
Marian Babson
Fiction, Mystery
Marian Babson is a master of the genteel English murder. Not that the deaths in question are quiet - in this novel, the victim is clubbed over the head and shoved into the tigers' cage - but the novels themselves are more about the people than the victim. Often, there is no mystery to the identity of the murderer, or the protagonist is not the one who solves the case, but the novels are interesting in spite of - or because of - that.
In this novel, Doug Perkins has been hired to do publicity for a cat show. He doesn't care for cats, which as any cat lover can tell you means that the proper cat will find him before the novel's end. The show has bickering 'stage mom' cat owners, a pair of barely-tame tigers, and an emerald-eyed golden statue... a perfect setup for murder. Which, of course, happens to one of the most obnoxious members of the show - and the owner of the cat who has attached herself to Doug.
As with most of Babson's books, this one is under 200 pages and a quick read. If you like cats, give it a go, and if you loathe cats, the antics of the show members could be fairly amusing.
****/*****
Fiction, Mystery
Marian Babson is a master of the genteel English murder. Not that the deaths in question are quiet - in this novel, the victim is clubbed over the head and shoved into the tigers' cage - but the novels themselves are more about the people than the victim. Often, there is no mystery to the identity of the murderer, or the protagonist is not the one who solves the case, but the novels are interesting in spite of - or because of - that.
In this novel, Doug Perkins has been hired to do publicity for a cat show. He doesn't care for cats, which as any cat lover can tell you means that the proper cat will find him before the novel's end. The show has bickering 'stage mom' cat owners, a pair of barely-tame tigers, and an emerald-eyed golden statue... a perfect setup for murder. Which, of course, happens to one of the most obnoxious members of the show - and the owner of the cat who has attached herself to Doug.
As with most of Babson's books, this one is under 200 pages and a quick read. If you like cats, give it a go, and if you loathe cats, the antics of the show members could be fairly amusing.
****/*****
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Every Secret Thing
Laura Lippman
Fiction, Thriller
This novel cuts to the heart of a question we have yet to answer: How can children be killers? Two little girls, seemingly normal, encounter a baby in a carriage, all alone, and take her. The baby is not found alive, and when the truth comes out, the girls are imprisoned until they reach majority. The novel takes place after they are released - and another little girl disappears, leaving the reader to wonder if killers, however young, can be rehabilitated.
Lippman's novel is intriguing in that there are no truly sympathetic characters for most of the book. She introduces the mother of the abducted and slain infant, and she is shrewish and selfish, wanting the girls to suffer for what they did - and she doesn't care if they are rehabilitated or not. The single mother of the "nice girl" could have been merely an eclectic, principled teacher, but Lippman shows us how she looks down on her students and worries about how people will see her when her daughter comes home. She also displays an inability to understand her daughter's longing for popularity and acceptance, and never quite grasps why her daughter isn't more eclectic and unique - like herself. The "bad girl's" family isn't worth much text, but the little there is shows them to be the epitome of "white trash." And the girls themselves are an enigma, their years of incarceration making them withdrawn and difficult to connect with.
Somehow these unlikeable characters are made compelling through Lippman's prose, and the book is propelled toward the truth of the first baby's death. As in real life, however, there are few happy endings, and one wonders how lives so deceptively strong can be so fragile.
****.5/*****
Fiction, Thriller
This novel cuts to the heart of a question we have yet to answer: How can children be killers? Two little girls, seemingly normal, encounter a baby in a carriage, all alone, and take her. The baby is not found alive, and when the truth comes out, the girls are imprisoned until they reach majority. The novel takes place after they are released - and another little girl disappears, leaving the reader to wonder if killers, however young, can be rehabilitated.
Lippman's novel is intriguing in that there are no truly sympathetic characters for most of the book. She introduces the mother of the abducted and slain infant, and she is shrewish and selfish, wanting the girls to suffer for what they did - and she doesn't care if they are rehabilitated or not. The single mother of the "nice girl" could have been merely an eclectic, principled teacher, but Lippman shows us how she looks down on her students and worries about how people will see her when her daughter comes home. She also displays an inability to understand her daughter's longing for popularity and acceptance, and never quite grasps why her daughter isn't more eclectic and unique - like herself. The "bad girl's" family isn't worth much text, but the little there is shows them to be the epitome of "white trash." And the girls themselves are an enigma, their years of incarceration making them withdrawn and difficult to connect with.
Somehow these unlikeable characters are made compelling through Lippman's prose, and the book is propelled toward the truth of the first baby's death. As in real life, however, there are few happy endings, and one wonders how lives so deceptively strong can be so fragile.
****.5/*****
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Buried Evidence
Nancy Taylor Rosenberg
Fiction, Thriller
Things aren't going so well for DA Lily Forrester. Her divorced husband is sinking into insolvency and drunkenness. Her daughter's rapist is out on parole and possibly stalking her. And when her ex is accused of fatal hit-and-run, he pressures her to help him - or he'll expose a deed from the past that, while justified, will ruin her career and send her to prison.
I think the most amazing part about this book is that with such an involved and seemingly ludicrous premise, the author manages to pull off a plausible story. Lily is an amazingly strong character, and the story reflects that, but it also shows that she has her moments of idiocy or ill-temper, and that those moments often happen around her ex-husband, as though he manages to bring out her worst. Her ex is an ass, not totally irredeemable, but weak and likely to continue in the easy path despite his love for those who might get hurt by his actions.
The story works because within its context, it is solid in its assumptions. It does not give too much detail, and its foundations are based upon characters that are likely to jump to conclusions based on their personalities. It's a nice quick read.
***.5/*****
Fiction, Thriller
Things aren't going so well for DA Lily Forrester. Her divorced husband is sinking into insolvency and drunkenness. Her daughter's rapist is out on parole and possibly stalking her. And when her ex is accused of fatal hit-and-run, he pressures her to help him - or he'll expose a deed from the past that, while justified, will ruin her career and send her to prison.
I think the most amazing part about this book is that with such an involved and seemingly ludicrous premise, the author manages to pull off a plausible story. Lily is an amazingly strong character, and the story reflects that, but it also shows that she has her moments of idiocy or ill-temper, and that those moments often happen around her ex-husband, as though he manages to bring out her worst. Her ex is an ass, not totally irredeemable, but weak and likely to continue in the easy path despite his love for those who might get hurt by his actions.
The story works because within its context, it is solid in its assumptions. It does not give too much detail, and its foundations are based upon characters that are likely to jump to conclusions based on their personalities. It's a nice quick read.
***.5/*****
Monday, June 12, 2006
The Third Victim
Lisa Gardner
Fiction, Mystery/Thriller
This book was published in 2001, when people were afraid that school shootings were going to become the new paradigm. Every six months brought news of a new tragedy, or of an averted attempt, the latter becoming increasingly common as people learned to recognize danger signs. Now, three years after this story takes place, zero-tolerance laws get increasingly silly and we're beginning to worry more about the effect of school policies on our children's lives than of the distant fear that some bullet will end them.
But at the time of The Third Victim, the fear is still near and present, and the unthinkable happens when a school shooting happens in an Oregon farm town (in Tillamook country, if you're interested.) The trouble is, though the boy has confessed, there's more to the story than meets the eye - there's the possibility that he was coerced, and that a killer is loose in rural Oregon.
This is a very satisfying little thriller, including a protagonist with A Hidden Past™ that isn't nearly as bad as she thinks it is, a profiler whose dedication to his work helps him avoid the family problems he has at home, and a state investigator who is annoyed to find the local hick isn't as stupid and complacent as she was supposed to be. Gardner invests the characters with enough real personality that I am looking forward to her other books.
****/*****
Fiction, Mystery/Thriller
This book was published in 2001, when people were afraid that school shootings were going to become the new paradigm. Every six months brought news of a new tragedy, or of an averted attempt, the latter becoming increasingly common as people learned to recognize danger signs. Now, three years after this story takes place, zero-tolerance laws get increasingly silly and we're beginning to worry more about the effect of school policies on our children's lives than of the distant fear that some bullet will end them.
But at the time of The Third Victim, the fear is still near and present, and the unthinkable happens when a school shooting happens in an Oregon farm town (in Tillamook country, if you're interested.) The trouble is, though the boy has confessed, there's more to the story than meets the eye - there's the possibility that he was coerced, and that a killer is loose in rural Oregon.
This is a very satisfying little thriller, including a protagonist with A Hidden Past™ that isn't nearly as bad as she thinks it is, a profiler whose dedication to his work helps him avoid the family problems he has at home, and a state investigator who is annoyed to find the local hick isn't as stupid and complacent as she was supposed to be. Gardner invests the characters with enough real personality that I am looking forward to her other books.
****/*****
Sunday, June 11, 2006
Touching Evil
Kay Hooper
Fiction, Mystery/Thriller
Continuing on with her exploration of psychics in law enforcement, Kay Hooper gives us the story of Maggie Barnes, a sketch artist with surprisingly accurate depictions. Seattle is being stalked by a killer who removes his victims' eyes, a quirk that just happens to throw an unexpected problem into Maggie's path. Maggie is an empath - and she can only see what her victims did.
The difficulty for Maggie is that she doesn't just see her victims' sights; she feels their pain as well. And yet she feels driven to take others' pain and continue working with the police, as if expiating some forgotten crime from long ago...
I did not feel that the resolution of this story was as complete as the one in Stealing Shadows. There's a sense of urgency to the book that does not feel fully justified by the ending; while there is conflict, and the principle characters are in real and present danger, there are a few assumptions made at the end that deflate the tension a bit prematurely.
**.5/*****
Fiction, Mystery/Thriller
Continuing on with her exploration of psychics in law enforcement, Kay Hooper gives us the story of Maggie Barnes, a sketch artist with surprisingly accurate depictions. Seattle is being stalked by a killer who removes his victims' eyes, a quirk that just happens to throw an unexpected problem into Maggie's path. Maggie is an empath - and she can only see what her victims did.
The difficulty for Maggie is that she doesn't just see her victims' sights; she feels their pain as well. And yet she feels driven to take others' pain and continue working with the police, as if expiating some forgotten crime from long ago...
I did not feel that the resolution of this story was as complete as the one in Stealing Shadows. There's a sense of urgency to the book that does not feel fully justified by the ending; while there is conflict, and the principle characters are in real and present danger, there are a few assumptions made at the end that deflate the tension a bit prematurely.
**.5/*****
Saturday, June 10, 2006
Stealing Shadows
Kay Hooper
Fiction, Mystery/Thriller
A lot of people wonder what use psychics would be in police work. Kay Hooper explores the possibility of psychic talents, *real* psychic talents, helping detectives. How would they convince them that their powers were real? What could they do to help? And what are the consequences?
In Stealing Shadows, Kay Hooper's protagonist Cassie Neill has been helping police for years, submersing herself in killers' minds in an attempt to track them down before they kill again. However, she is traumatized enough by what she sees - and what she doesn't see in time - to leave that behind and move across the country in an attempt to escape her abilities. It goes without saying that she fails, and worse, that her past comes back to haunt her in a way that she was unable to foresee.
Hooper is smart enough to give her psychic protagonists more problems than benefits from their abilities. In Cassie's case, she is afraid that one day she will delve too deep and lose herself in the mind of a madman. The disbelief that she suffers in her longing to help only deepens the isolation that she feels. It's an interesting trap to get out of, and Hooper pulls it off believeably. If you don't mind a little fantasy in your mysteries, this is not a bad choice.
****/*****
Fiction, Mystery/Thriller
A lot of people wonder what use psychics would be in police work. Kay Hooper explores the possibility of psychic talents, *real* psychic talents, helping detectives. How would they convince them that their powers were real? What could they do to help? And what are the consequences?
In Stealing Shadows, Kay Hooper's protagonist Cassie Neill has been helping police for years, submersing herself in killers' minds in an attempt to track them down before they kill again. However, she is traumatized enough by what she sees - and what she doesn't see in time - to leave that behind and move across the country in an attempt to escape her abilities. It goes without saying that she fails, and worse, that her past comes back to haunt her in a way that she was unable to foresee.
Hooper is smart enough to give her psychic protagonists more problems than benefits from their abilities. In Cassie's case, she is afraid that one day she will delve too deep and lose herself in the mind of a madman. The disbelief that she suffers in her longing to help only deepens the isolation that she feels. It's an interesting trap to get out of, and Hooper pulls it off believeably. If you don't mind a little fantasy in your mysteries, this is not a bad choice.
****/*****
Wednesday, June 07, 2006
Scent of Danger
Andrea Kane
Fiction, Mystery/Thriller
Lest you think that everything I read is scholarly (which is far from the truth, but I picked up a bunch of advance reader copies lately), it's time to delve into some of the other things I've been reading lately. When searching through a free book pile (yay! free books!), mysteries will always get consideration from me because they're usually fun.
Scent of Danger is your typical thriller. Someone gets shot in the opening pages, and much of the book is speculation as to who did it, as the protagonists end up in more and more danger. Typically, the protagonists include a very sharp, attractive woman, and a very sharp, attractive man. Not so typically, though their initial meeting is fraught with tension (*not* due to their personalities), they don't carp at each other before falling in love. Likewise atypically, though the cops don't solve the case, and though they don't make much progress along the way, they are generally considered to be competent at their job, and their missteps are chalked up to typical human inability to be perfect. That's fairly refreshing, and makes me suspect that the author has actually spent time in the presence of real police officers.
The book touches on a few topics that you wouldn't expect to see in a mystery novel, such as the process of kidney donation, and the morality of industrial espionage. It also touches on perfume - the person shot at the beginning of the novel is the CEO of a leading perfume manufacturer and, tellingly, the premiere fragrance of the company has a formula that only he knows. (This is what is known as a "trade secret" and enjoys permanent protection in courts until the secret is leaked. Coca-Cola's formula is a trade secret.) So the people in the book have to find out why the CEO was shot... and if someone will try to finish the job, and stop the production of the pheromone based perfume phenomenon.
Not a bad little book for a quick read. I didn't feel that the characters were ever in excessive danger, which tones down the thriller aspect some. Overall, I'd say ***.5/*****
Fiction, Mystery/Thriller
Lest you think that everything I read is scholarly (which is far from the truth, but I picked up a bunch of advance reader copies lately), it's time to delve into some of the other things I've been reading lately. When searching through a free book pile (yay! free books!), mysteries will always get consideration from me because they're usually fun.
Scent of Danger is your typical thriller. Someone gets shot in the opening pages, and much of the book is speculation as to who did it, as the protagonists end up in more and more danger. Typically, the protagonists include a very sharp, attractive woman, and a very sharp, attractive man. Not so typically, though their initial meeting is fraught with tension (*not* due to their personalities), they don't carp at each other before falling in love. Likewise atypically, though the cops don't solve the case, and though they don't make much progress along the way, they are generally considered to be competent at their job, and their missteps are chalked up to typical human inability to be perfect. That's fairly refreshing, and makes me suspect that the author has actually spent time in the presence of real police officers.
The book touches on a few topics that you wouldn't expect to see in a mystery novel, such as the process of kidney donation, and the morality of industrial espionage. It also touches on perfume - the person shot at the beginning of the novel is the CEO of a leading perfume manufacturer and, tellingly, the premiere fragrance of the company has a formula that only he knows. (This is what is known as a "trade secret" and enjoys permanent protection in courts until the secret is leaked. Coca-Cola's formula is a trade secret.) So the people in the book have to find out why the CEO was shot... and if someone will try to finish the job, and stop the production of the pheromone based perfume phenomenon.
Not a bad little book for a quick read. I didn't feel that the characters were ever in excessive danger, which tones down the thriller aspect some. Overall, I'd say ***.5/*****
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)