"The Fool's Run"

"The Fool's Run" is a new series by John Sandford starring Kidd.  Kidd is an artist and he'd prefer to be left alone to do his art but it doesn't quite pay the rent so he takes on some side jobs utilizing other special skills he has with computers.  His "consulting" gigs help keep him in an apartment and paint.  When Kidd is approached by Maggie, who works for a wealthy business owner in Chicago, she asks him to take on a job for her boss.  Kidd's reluctant but the money is too good to pass up -- in fact, it could set him up for life.

The job calls for some assistance, though, so he recruits a newspaper friend, Dace, as well as LuEllen, a thief he happened upon one night when she was stealing from one of his neighbors.  All seems to be going well until the job is almost over then Dace is shot in cold blood and Kidd and LuEllen are running for their lives.  The question is, who is after them?  Is it a case of mistaken identity or are they the actual targets?  They go into hiding to try to work out what is going on then come up with a plan to get even and get safe.  Another great novel by Sandford....pazt

"In Harm's Way"

"In Harm's Way" is Ridley Pearson's 4th Walt Fleming novel.  Sun Valley sheriff Fleming has his hands full running the police department and trying to make a home life for his twin daughters who divide their time between his home and where his ex-wife lives with one of his deputies.  Although Fleming is still coping with the aftermath of his divorce, he has feelings for Fiona Kenshaw, a local photographer who assists in taking crime scene pictures for his department.  As he acts on those feelings (which are reciprocated), both their lives are unexpectedly churned upside down when an out-of-town sport celebrity (who has just been released from prison) is killed and Fleming must investigate.

This case may have ties to a homicide in Seattle which brings Lou Boldt, a legendary homicide sergeant from Seattle, to the area.  Fleming and Boldt develop a good working rapport and continue to compare notes when Boldt returns to Seattle -- trying to connect the two cases and solve both of them.

In the meantime, Fleming is concerned about Fiona's change of behaviour and the fact that a young woman (former victim of sexual assault) who Fiona has taken under her wing, seems to be missing from around the time of the murder.  For the first time in his career, he finds himself wanting to ignore some of the evidence in the case because it might point the finger at one of them being involved.

As usual, Pearson weaves a complex tale with an unexpected turn near the end that helps both he and Boldt solve their cases.  I wouldn't miss one of Pearson's books and hope he has another Walt Fleming sequel in the works.  pazt

"Shock Wave"

John Sandford's "Shock Wave" is the 5th book, I believe, in the Virgil Flowers series and it's another fast read despite its 388 pages.  The stage is set when PyeMart decides it wants to move into the small Minnesota river town of Butternut Falls but there are a lot of factions opposed to the idea who are ready to do what they can to stop the construction.

Step one occurs when someone places a bomb in the corporate boardroom of Pye Pinnacle in Michigan.  Instead of killing Willard Pye, though, it goes off before a board meeting starts and kills his executive assistant and seriously injures a food service worker.

Three weeks later a bomb goes off at the PyeMart construction site just outside Butternut Falls and kills a construction superintendent and injures the civil engineer with him.  So, of course, Lucas Davenport calls Virgil Flowers and sends him to Butternut Falls to find the bomber before more people are killed.

Unfortunately, he's not able to stop some additional bombings and deaths but he and his persistent crew are on the trail of suspects and narrowing the field.  In the meantime, they and Flowers are at risk, too.

And....just to make things interesting, it appears the local council were bribed to change the zoning laws to allow PyeMart to build in a location that wasn't meant to be built on.  Davenport would find it a plus if Flowers could manage to take down those who were bribed while finding the bomber.

On a personal note, Virgil's current love, Lee Coakley, is in L.A. working as a consultant on a made-for-TV movie based on one of her cases.  Virgil feels things beginning to cool between them when they talk by phone but isn't quite ready to let go yet even though he's feeling some attraction towards Pye's assistant.

Flowers is juggling a lot right now -- is he up to it?   If previous Flowers' novels are any indication, he is!  I found this another great Sandford read.  pazt

"True Spies"

"True Spies" is Shana Galen's second in a series of English uppercrust spy couples.  The first one was "Lord and Lady Spy."  In "True Spies" Lady Elinor is getting bored and looking for a little excitement in her life.  Her husband, Baron Winslow Keating (known as Winn to her) has spent most of their married life managing his estates all over the country.  His long absences weren't so hard to bear when her daughters were younger and needed more of her attention.  The Lady is quite good at managing the household and arranging parties as well as helping others with their parties.  When an acquaintance hints he's a spy and needs her help, she is ready for a little adventure.

Unknown to Elinor, though, her husband is a spy and this acquaintance is just an imposter trying to bed her.  When Winn shows her he's an imposter and, to his regret, also gets her caught up in a very dangerous mission he's involved in, Elinor gets her excitement.  For safety, their daughters are sent off to spend time with Winn's mother and Winn and Elinor embark on an adventure that ends with her becoming a real spy and winning the love of her husband.

It's a fun, light read with some sex thrown in for those looking for some romance in their mystery spy thrillers!  pazt

"Kiss Me Deadly"

My spouse and I checked out the DVD, "Kiss Me Deadly," from the library.  It's described as a 1955 cold war paranoia noir film directed by Robert Aldrich and is full of action from start to finish.  Ralph Meeker portrays convertible driving Mike Hammer who picks up a woman he finds running along a lonely road one dark night (played by Cloris Leachman).  She's very fearful and ends up dead which sends Hammer down some terrifying paths looking for answers.  She may have had connections to the mob and everywhere he turns he seems to find out something ever more frightening and/or puts himself in more danger.

Since it is a 50's film, it doesn't particularly hold up to the filmography of today but if you're looking for a feeling of what it was like in the 50's when everyone was afraid of being bombed and were building bomb shelters in their backyards, this might give you an idea of why.  pazt

"Hung Out To Die"

"Hung Out To Die" is, to my knowledge, the first novel I've read by Sharon Short and it's part of the "stain busting" mystery series.  As I was reading it,  there were allusions to our heroine, Josie Toadfern, solving other mysteries, which gave me the first clue that I might have missed a few earlier novels in a series.

Josie is an orphan who owns the local laundromat -- Her parents didn't die -- They just abandoned her and left her to be raised by other family members.  Although her paternal grandmother, has forbidden the family to have anything to do with her, her cousin Sally has ignored that edict and been a good friend of Josie's.

Thanksgiving is near and Josie's boyfriend, Owen, has gone off to visit his son which also means he'll be seeing his ex-wife and leaving Josie alone over this holiday.  Sally insists that Mamaw Toadfern, her paternal grandmother, wants Josie at their family Thanksgiving and Sally strongarms Josie into going.

As it turns out, Josie's parents arrive for dinner also as well as the rest of the family including her father's twin brother, Uncle Fenwick.  An argument ensues between the brothers so when Uncle Fenwick is later discovered dead, Josie's father is the prime suspect and her mother begs Josie to find out who the real killer is.  It's not an easy task and along the way Josie discovers other crimes -- some recent and some in the past -- and everyone seems to be impacted by the unveiling of this family's history.

It's a fun, light read -- not requiring a lot of thought -- but I have to admit it kept me guessing until the end -- Isn't that what a good mystery is supposed to do?  pazt

"A Dangerous Dance"

"A Dangerous Dance" is, I believe, one of Pauline Baird Jones' stand alone novels.  When Dorothy Morgana Merlinn's father, Magus (also known as the Wizard), was assassinated in front of her ten years ago while he was beginning his run for Louisiana Governor, she had just recently been reunited with him.  He and her mother divorced before she was born and she was raised by her mother without any financial assistance from her father so their life was hard as her mother worked as a waitress to support them.  When her mother died of cancer, Magus invited Dorothy to live with him at his estates, Oz.

After Magus' death, Dorothy spent ten years learning to run his empire with his bodyguard, Titus, always by her side to offer his protection.  Magus left detailed dossiers on everyone and Dorothy had recently paid a visit to prison to interview Vance, the man who had killed Magus, trying to learn who had hired him.  She offered him a million dollars to tell her the name (or names) behind her father's assassination.  That may not have been wise because Vance ended up dead shortly afterwards and the offer may have also put Dorothy's life in danger.

A new race for Governor is beginning and Dorothy decides to back Remy Mistral - a talk-radio host who is a political outsider but has always fought for reform.  He was present at the rally where her father was shot.  Together they plot a way to flush out the hired killer or killers by Dorothy backing him for Governor and also announcing their engagement.  It begins as an engagement in name only but a mutual attraction may take it beyond that.  In the meantime, though, the plan puts their lives at risk.

In addition, Dorothy's Aunt Kate, her mother's sister that Dorothy was unaware of, shows up on the scene and is able to share stories about Dorothy's parents' relationship that Dorothy's mother had shared with her.  It seems she has a lot more info, though. than one might expect from an Aunt.

In the meantime, people are dying around Kate -- some of them suspects and some of them individuals who might be able to give Dorothy and Remy clues about the killers behind her father's assassination.  As the plot thickens, so do the risks to Dorothy and Remy and more secrets about Dorothy's family are uncovered.

Although this was a light read, I didn't enjoy it as much as I did the first book I read by Jones which was "The Spy Who Kissed Me" (or also known as "Pig in a Park") which was released in 2000.  pazt