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Murder grins and bears it by Deb Baker
Gertie is a sixty-something grandma who lives in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. On the opening day of bear hunting season, a game warden is killed, and Gertie’s hulking teenage grandson, Little Donny, goes missing. Local law enforcement suspects that Little Donny may be the killer—problem is that Blaze, the sheriff, is his uncle. Gertie rounds up her posse to investigate the crime and find the real killer. The author, who lives in North Lake, Wisconsin, tries a little too hard for laughs. --SB
August 21, 2009
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Dead Stick by Megan Mallory Rust
A new woman pilot is hired by Lifeline Air Ambulance. Co-worker Taylor Morgan hopes that new hire Erica will be a friend and sympathetic soul in the otherwise all male aircrew. When Erica’s first flight ends in a fatal crash, everyone assumes it is pilot error. But Taylor has other ideas, and begins to investigate on her own.
I liked the Alaska setting and the woman pilot-as-sleuth, but the characters and plot never got off the ground. Too bad! --SB
August 21, 2009
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Since you’re leaving anyway, take out the trash by Dixie Cash
This comic romance-mystery set in Texas features hair stylist Debbie Sue Overstreet who clashes with her ex husband and sheriff Buddy. Debbie Sue’s salon, the Styling Station, is in a converted gas station that she received as part of a divorce settlement. Southern fried, laugh out loud humor is served up in this debut novel. --SB
August 21, 2009
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Time to murder and create: a Matthew Scudder mystery by Lawrence Block
In this third mystery in the series, Scudder holds an envelope for a blackmailer, with instructions to open it upon his death. When the blackmailer is killed, it is up to Scudder to determine which of his three victims did it. For those who like their detectives hard boiled and their plots gritty. --SB
August 21, 2009
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Last refuge of scoundrels: a Revolutionary novel by Paul Lussier
The American Revolution as seen through the eyes of an aide to General George Washington, John Lawrence. Lawrence and a former prostitute, Deborah Simpson, are present at the Boston Massacre, the battles of Lexington and Concord, and Valley Forge. Is this book meant as revisionist history or comic satire? You decide. --SB
August 21, 2009
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Three bags full: a sheep detective story by Leonie Swann
A flock of sheep investigate the murder of their shepherd, George Glenn. George had always treated the sheep like humans, reading to them, protecting them from the local butcher, and promising to take them to Europe one day. Led by the clever and curious ewe Miss Maple, the flock sets out to find the killer. --SB
August 21, 2001
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The devil in the White City: murder, magic and madness at the fair that changed America by Erik Larson.
A fascinating account of the creation of the Columbian Exposition of 1893 in Chicago. The book centers on two men: Daniel Burnham, the architect and main force behind the creation of the fair, and H.H. Holmes, a young charming doctor and con man, at whose hotel near the fair saw the disappearance of many young ladies. That the fair actually and miraculously opened on time and became a world class success was due mainly to the tireless effort of Burnham. Meanwhile Dr. Holmes was having better success with his gas chamber and incinerator. Great detail on the city of Chicago at that time. --NG
August 19, 2009
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