Kidnapped on Safari: A Thriller (Mbuno & Pero #5) by Peter Riva

Kidnapped on Safari: A Thriller (Mbuno & Pero #5). Peter Riva. Skyhorse Publication. January 2020. pb, 288 pp.; ISBN #: 9781510749009.

Mbuno is an expert safari guide and Pero is a wildlife television producer.  They are presently filming wildlife hunting on Lake Rudolph in Nigeria.  After a successful filming day, Mbuno receives word that his nephew, Ubo, has been kidnapped in Tanzania.  Ubo’s past is troubled as his father was involved in some illegal business and died during that conflict.

This is an expose of a realistic news story, the capture of young girls by Boko Harem.  The group is involved in running a lumber mill where forests are cut down, cocoa is grown for drugs, the drugs are stored in the logs of lumber and transported out of Tanzania.  It also involves the business arrangement of receiving Russian gold for the drugs and money from the sale of drugs.  It becomes an international incident because it involves Russian and American top security and defense administrators.

Those running the mill are responsible for kidnapping Ubo because they thought he had films that could expose their illegal activities.  Those who team up with Pero and Mbuno risk their lives to rescue the thirty young girls.  It also winds up in some fighting and dying, a massive railroad accident, climbing through muddy swamps and fields, and living in the most wild and uncomfortable conditions.  Fortunately, many of the members of the team have antiterrorist positions and experience.  There are many references to past activities of these individuals in Iraq and elsewhere. 

The growth of the deforestation program in Africa is highlighted with little being done to stop its progress.

Kidnapped on Safari… is full of multiple characters, riveting adventures and danger, and strong individuals determined to preserve a moral good over the threats of negative terrorist activities.  Africa remains a changing, threatened continent with different countries vying for domination economically and politically.  Exciting and compelling read!

A Bottle of Rum: A Spider John Mystery by Steven Goble

A Bottle of Rum: A Spider John Mystery. Steven Goble. Seventh Street Books.  November 2019. pb, 264 pp.; ISBN: 9781645060031.

Spider John Rush appears in this third pirate novel by Steven Goble.  Spider has had enough of the dangers of pirating, never knowing whether he will be caught, tortured and/or hung.  He longs to return to Nantucket to live with his wife Em and his son Johnny whom he has not seen since he was a baby.  For now he’s sitting in a tavern with his friend Odin when trouble brews.  The owner of the tavern does little work and it’s his wife who carries the burden.  The night when Spider is having a drink is the one in which the owner of the tavern is murdered.  Spider promises to find the killer or killers.  He just can’t seem to escape trouble wherever he goes. For the knife sticking out of the neck of the tavern owner is the one Spider had made and given to his pirate friend Hob.  So now Spider is determined to find Hob as well as the murderer(s).

Spider and Odin are led down a trail of smugglers and attacking knaves to a madhouse being run by some land-lubbered former pirates.  A young woman challenges them and it is clear she is suffering from some form of madness as she’s totally obsessed with death and torture.  Experiments are being conducted on the patients in the madhouse, ones that frequently wind up in the death of those patients.  Is it from poison, amputations or some other evil?  Hints are later given that the experimenter is trying to locate the “soul” of individuals.  The story will develop to the point where Spider and Odin find Hobs but must make a dangerous escape.  The mystery will be solved but not until Spider and Odin have been treated as spies and traitors, thereby earning multiple attacks and wounds that were just as horrible as what they had suffered when out at sea as pirates.  It’s still a hard and dangerous life they are living but they are now seeking justice and mercy out of compassion and not crime.

Spider is at heart a funny, wise and caring individual whose personality is depicted in a way that immediately engages the reader.  One wonders why there’s a touch of evil and insanity in former pirates but recognizes that there are some good souls among them worthy of admiring and rooting for.  Taverns are not only sources of satisfying drinks but also unexpected but probable fights.

A Bottle of Rum is a fascinating tale that puts a new twist on Spider John and his friends and enemies.  Nicely crafted, Steve Goble!

Where the Light Enters: A Novel by Sara Donati

Where the Light Enters: A Novel. Sara Donati. Penguin Publishing Group.  September 2019. hb, 672 pp.; ISBN: 9780425271827.

Dr. Sophie Savard and Dr. Anna Savard, Sophie’s cousin and best friend, want to start a medical school and hospital for disadvantaged women in the 1800s.  Both doctors are women of color and have had their past experiences of prejudice and suspicion.  Now, Dr. Sophie’s husband has died of tuberculosis in Europe and she has returned to New York.  She’s had plenty of condolences and her own memories in grief to now process.  But activities in the city quickly garner her interest and involvement. 

A number of deaths have occurred to women who were pregnant, went to a criminal doctor who punished them with surgery, infection and eventual death.  But now that doctor is gone and there are still problems.  The wife of a reputable banker has disappeared and another woman is found dead by very suspicious wounds which lead the investigators to believe the same type of murder has again occurred.  Dr. Anna’s husband, Detective-Sergeant Jack Mezzanotte, asks the cousins to consult on the investigation.  They agree to consult and gradually the story unfolds to show who the captors or kidnappers are and who has once again murdered.

This is a tough and tender story that will grip every reader who is interested in both medicine and crime.  The main characters are financially well-settled but still have enormous compassion for women who seek criminal doctors hoping to end pregnancies or illness.  Women who are mistreated have multiple reasons to seek illicit treatment and the Savard doctors believe education and compassion will change the horrific nature of these losses.  This is a timely subject as the nation is coping with the possibility of abortions becoming illegal as it was fifty years ago and earlier.  It is not too hard to realize that these dark days could become reality again and that there are even now numerous women, both health care professionals and regular women, who seriously are concerned about this issue.  Dr. Anna and her husband Jack, as well as Dr. Sophie stand for the protection of women’s rights.  This would be an excellent novel to use in a book club or to share in other contemporary issue discussions.

The topic is obviously well-research and is presented with all sides of the issues covered.  Sara Donati is a highly-skilled, creative and talented writer.  This, her latest novel, is highly recommended historical fiction!!! Enjoy the read!

The Vanished Bride by Bella Ellis

The Vanished Bride.  Bella Ellis. Penguin Publishing Group.  September 2019; pb, 304 pp.; ISBN #: 9780593099056.

In between writing poetry, novels and stories, Charlotte, Emily and Ann Bronte are looking into a criminal matter.  They call themselves “detectors.” That means there’s no official police designation and no spy attachment.  The nicest part of this novel is that these are talented but ordinary sisters who have talents with weaknesses.  They quarrel with and pick on each other as sisters do but there is a deep abiding and protective love that is rock solid no matter what happens.  They grow up in a time when a woman is a possession and really has absolutely no rights of her own.  However, they are raised by a liberal pastoral father who teaches them otherwise and respects the decisions they make.  So when a friend of theirs, Maddie, tells of a horrible occasion where her mistress has gone missing and all that is left behind is a gross amount of blood all over her bedroom.  Maddie implies that the behavior of Mr. Chester is cruel beyond reason and comes close to being criminal.  So the three sisters decide to become sleuths and tell their father nothing of plans.

Bram, the sisters’ brother, is an enigma of a character in this story.  He helps them during the day and seems strongly supportive.  But his nights are full of drinking himself into oblivion and he seems aimless in life because of a lost love.  However, he does come through in all the right places where woman must be accompanied by a male.  All the characters who loved Mrs. Chester are warm and have nothing but good things to say about her.  So they also will do what they can to find this missing woman.

The solution to the mystery comes after numerous clues are provided with many different interpretations as to meaning and how they fit with the obvious plan. Mr. Chester has a hyperactive brain that imagines wrongs that lead him to jealous and cruel treatment of his brides and everyone else in the house.  Others try to protect the victims from Mr. Chester’s outrageous attacks.

However, the right people will be discovered and the criminal will pay for wrongs committed.  Overall, readers will be pleased with the detective-like activities of these three sisters who vow to do no wrong and always work on the right side of the law.  They are very good “detectors” and the reader hopes they will have other efforts published on their mystery talent skills.  Nicely done, Bella Ellis!

The Passengers by John Marrs

The Passengers: A Novel. John Marrs. Penguin Publishing Group.  August 2019. pb, 352 pp.; ISBN: 9781984806970.

Libby is part of a Vehicle Inquest Jury deciding who is to blame when driver-less vehicles in England are in accidents with driver-controlled vehicles or pedestrians.  The outcome angers her because the driver-controlled vehicles are always cleared.  Now Libby and we share a phenomenal nightmare.  Eight driver-controlled vehicles are hacked by an unknown enemy; each of the people in those locked vehicles are told they will die in two-and-a-half hours. 

Libby and her jury peers are told they must choose who must die and which single person be allowed to live.  This whole scenario is obviously pre-planned and set up as each person has many reasons to live but all have at least one horrendous part of background which would negate the innocence of his or her life.  The disclosure of each biography plus the revelation of dark secrets is equal in shock value to the participants, public social media audience and each reader.  One is married to a pedophile, one is married to a bigamist, one has a dead husband in the trunk of the car, one is an abused illegal immigrant, one is bent on suicide and more. 

The premise of the novel will eventually be explained albeit condemned.  This novel will force readers to think about the Artificial Intelligence (AI) behind driver-less vehicles and about the decision to grant justice or injustice on those who survive such collisions.  Jack, the MP running the Vehicle Inquest Jury, is motivated by personal greed and is very much part of decisions that are immoral and downright injustice.  His end in this plot is as frightening as the rest of the novel.

Catch up on your sleep before you begin this novel because you will be gripped by its hair-raising plot and unable to stop reading, even while the tension mounts over and over with each changing scene and challenge.  It’s important satire but also a warning that AI needs to be monitored, maintained and controlled because it’s not as objective and detached as it seems.  Science can be deleterious and damning if not examined and measured on how it affects individuals and the public within society. It has criminal possibilities as well as technological progress.  As in this novel, You Decide!

Mind-blowing plot, carefully crafted and a nail-biting, hair-raising story.  A truly thrilling read!

The Perfect Son: A Novel by Lauren North

The Perfect Son: A Novel.  Lauren North. Penguin Publishing Group.  August 2019; pb, 368 pp.; ISBN #: 9781984803849.

How far will grief take over the mind and heart of its victim?  Tessa Clarke has just lost her husband in a tragic airplane accident.  Now at the beginning of this story, she wakes up in the hospital with a knife wound in her stomach and the realization that her son Jamie is missing.  The plot goes back to months before Jamie’s birthday and his disappearance.  Many have reached out to Tess in her grief but she remains totally incommunicado.  The only person to approach her is her late husband’s brother, Ian, who claims that he loaned Mark a huge amount of money that he needs repaid now.  Tessa is the Executrix of her husband’s will but hasn’t given any thought to a will or the future.

All of a sudden, Tessa finds some temporary relief in a visit from Shelly, a grief counselor, who herself lost a child and has been through this grief process.  She knows exactly what Tessa is thinking and feeling, and that is some small comfort as Tessa struggles to keep her head together for her son.  Jamie however has reverted to his former shy nature and fear of anything out of the normal occurrences of everyday.  He, however, also enjoys Sherry’s visits.

The story plays out and the reader discovers a mystery lurking that she cannot handle even though once it does play out forces her to wake up to how her grief is destroying her life and perhaps even forcing the loss of her son.  But that truth takes a while to evolve as it does.

Lauren North is a psychologist who knows the mind and hearts of her characters.  Thing tie up a bit pat by the end but it’s satisfactory to the reader who has been taking sides with the characters since this nightmare began.  Nicely crafted, Lauren North – a mysterious, touching and sincere read!

Layover by David Bell

Layover.  David Bell. Penguin Publishing Group.  July 2, 2019; pb, 416 pp.; ISBN #: 9780440000877.

Midway through this memorable story, Joshua Field remembers the quote about the “unexamined life” is not worth living.  During the enfolding plot that follows, Joshua realizes that he has fallen into all of his choices without much independent reflection or decision-making. Thus, he is quite amazed at the words of the woman, Morgan, whom he meets at an airport, when she tells him to quit his job and do what he really wants to do.  She is appealing and evasive at the same time.  Her behavior indicates she is in trouble but after kissing him she tells him she will never see him again.

As Joshua continues, he decides to skip his flight and join hers but is totally flummoxed when she acts as if she never met him.  Later she calls and apologizes.  The story evolves to Joshua following her and learning that indeed she is in trouble.  That trouble involves her former work situation, being treated poorly and the theft of a valuable which she needs to pay for her mother’s hospice care.  Joshua truly grows to care for her but realizes she is as ephemeral as a passing cloud. However, for once, he doesn’t run away and commits to following this mystery through to its conclusion.

It also turns out that her former boss’s brother is more involved in this trouble than just a familial interest.  The discovery of a murderer will follow. 

By the time Joshua meets his father at the end of this account, they have a new relationship, one borne of truth and honesty. 

Layover is a fine mystery for all lovers of the genre and a multilayered approach about fulfilling one’s dreams!

The Good Sister: A Novel by Gillian McAllister

The Good Sister: A Novel. Gillian McAllister. Penguin Publishing Group. Copyright June 2019, pb, 400 pp.; ISBN: 9780525539391.

Martha and Becky Blackwater are extremely close sisters.  However, all that closeness is blown to bits when Martha’s eight-week-old baby, Layla, is found dead while in Becky’s care.  Becky quit her job so become Layla’s nanny.  The death of Layla, though, exposes many aspects of Becky’s life that might be construed by the jury at the trial to indicate Becky was at fault.

The chapters are narrated by the Blackwater family, acquaintances, neighbors and others who knew both sisters.  The author does a marvelous job at depicting the thoughts and feelings of these narrators during the trial with a sensitive touch.  Martha is fraught with guilt about returning to work on the charity group she created plus guilt at leaving a daughter who suffered from reflux from birth and spent most of her awake time crying from discomfort.  Becky is overwhelmed with this new job but feels too guilty to admit it; instead, she descends into drinking too much and too frequently, to the point that her child Xander is frequently afraid of her.  Others see warning signs of danger, including yelling from Becky’s home at odd times of day and night.

The parents of both sisters are anxious but try to be supportive of both sisters.  They have lost a grandchild but love their children.  No one seems to know the truth of what happened, that is until the very end of the story.  It’s unforgettable when this secret is revealed.  All still have to learn to live with the loss and the aftermath in this breach of trust and love that almost destroys an entire family.

A memorable, finely-crafted novel, The Good Sister is a good read about relationships and what challenges do to them in the present and future.  It’s also a warning about making false assumptions from evidence that is highly subjective.  Every situation is unique and above-second-guessing.  Nicely done, Gillian McAllister!

Those People by Louise Candlish

Those People.  Louise Candlish. Penguin Publishing Group.  June, 2019; pb, 368 pp.; ISBN #: 9780451489142.

Lowland Avenue is an upper middle class street in a perfect neighborhood, where the residents get along and cherish the Sunday street rules which ban parking and establish a place where children can draw in the streets, ride bikes, skateboard and all in all play without fear of approaching danger from encroaching transportation.

But the peacefulness and perfection are about to disappear.

For Darren and Jodi, a young couple, move into the neighborhood.  Their noise of blaring rock music at all hours of day and night along with their car business manifest in dozens of cars and vans parked on the lawn and around the street immediately draw the ire and complaints of their neighbors.  Efforts at talking out the problem result in the hurling of foul language and angry diatribes. 

At first there are efforts to band together but it turns out that nothing being done is illegal. But the spreading of the neighborly hate is fast spreading through the internet and yielding some protesting articles in  a local newspaper.  However, all of this turns ugly very fast with no change looming on a street fast moving toward attitudes that could become very dangerous.

Finally, a disaster happens with the collapse of a scaffold for renovations and the death of a resident on the street.  Accusations fly and now it’s hard to figure out who is throwing legitimate protests and threats of a response and what turns out to be another death before the end of this riveting but virulently angry novel.

What is most amazing is how what starts out as a disagreement quickly destroys the peace of home owners, frays the tempers and marriages of some, and elicits a response that becomes criminal. Astonishing and violent story that doesn’t end soon enough!

Law and Addiction: A Legal Thriller by Mike Papantonio

Law and Addiction: A Legal Thriller. Mike Papantonio. Waterside Productions.  April 2019. pb, 312 hp.; ISBN: 9781939116468.

Opioid addiction has become a national crisis!  More cases of overdose fill the news on a weekly basis.  Police regularly carry and administer Narcan for overdosing addicts.  Meanwhile, as Mike Papantonio has so carefully and deftly delineated in this fictional account of reality, attempts to deal with the problem on a local and national basis continue, attempts to stem a raging flood of addiction and death.

Jake Rutledge is a new lawyer who lost his twin brother to this horrifying disease.  Jake and Blake had a favorite term they used with each other about having each other’s back.  Now Jake is determined to carry out his promise because of his grievous loss.  Having no money and no connections isn’t exactly a wild card in legally pursuing the sources and markets that are part of the mass distribution system of selling opioids.  However, Jake’s got guts and high-caliber intelligence to get his search going. So he begins by suing two companies that sell massive amounts of drugs to little known small towns in and around what is known as “Zombieland.” 

He then connects to a highly successful lawyer with a dynamic record of experience in suing Fortune 500 companies.  They begin by suing companies who have made a killing (literally and figuratively) in West Virginia and Ohio.  Readers will be riveted to the course of each court phase and the wiliness of Jake and Deke, his attorney second chair, in challenging big shot attorneys.

Readers, however, won’t be ready for the methods used to suppress and then shut Jake up.  No spoilers here.  Suffice to say, Jake meets Blake’s former girlfriend who is now addicted to Oxycontin and helps her through her gritty efforts to withdraw from her addiction.  He himself is about to undergo empathic thoughts and feelings after hoodlum attempts to bribe his efforts fail.

The reader also meets several characters who deal and distribute drugs, individuals who are caught innocently in the dragon net of illegality and can’t get out to survive!  

All in all, the reader can anticipate the ending but that’s only after brutality and other machinations have all failed to stymie Jake’s efforts.  Mike Papantonio has penned a necessary legal thriller that everyone should read.  The question readers are left with is “Where do we go from here?”  Highly recommended contemporary fiction!

The Last Act: A Novel by Brad Parks

The Last Act: A Novel. Brad Parks. Penguin Publishing Group.  March 2019; pb, 384 pp.; ISBN: 9781524743536.

Tommy Jump is a relatively unknown actor out of acts, having nothing to look forward to and in low financial straits.  One of his friends invites him to consider what most would view as an unlikely scenario. It’s one that invites fine acting since it could otherwise wind up with the actor under attack or even dead.  With healthy skepticism, Tommy meets with Fed agents and hears a real proposal that raises Tommy’s hackles but also intrigues him.

Imagine Mitchell Dupree is a prisoner who has been convicted of four years’ worth of money laundering for a drug cartel, New Colima, led by a vicious criminal El Vio.  Mitchell still has not surrendered the information about documents in his possession that could lead to the arrest of the entire cartel and its head.  Tommy’s job would be to become a prisoner and ferret out where the missing documents are being hid.  The only thing the Feds don’t tell Tommy is that El Vio is trying, via a cartel Director of Security called Herrera,  are relentlessly trying as hard as FBI agents to discover this missing information.

Tommy would get $75,000 just for going in and a total of $150,000 when the job is finished.  This is an amazing opportunity especially as his fiancé Amanda is pregnant.  Tommy’s no fool and realizes how dangerous this act could be but really has no idea of just how much a life and death scenario this could quickly become!  Still, he says, “Yes.”

Entering prison under an assumed alias, Tommy spends quite a bit of time adapting to prison life and its resident prisoners.  For the most part, it’s a tedious lifestyle, with information about how to obtain whatever one wants by creating a money scam around “cans” or mackerel packets to purchase contraband. 

Eventually Tommy meets the object of his search, Mitchell, and winds up becoming trusted and hearing a phenomenal, unexpected story behind his capture.  For a while, it’s hard to know who is legit and who’s a fraud.  Read the rest of the wild ride story to find out how it will or won’t be resolved.

Brad Parks is a pro at crafting a great plot, knowing when to push up the tension and clues and keeping the reader glued to the exciting pages once the challenges get hot and hotter.  This novel will make the reader read more Brad Parks novels.  Terrific read for lovers of the crime fiction genre!

Winter Sisters: A Novel by Robin Oliveira

Winter Sisters: A Novel. Robin Oliveira. Penguin Publishing Group.  February 2018; hb, 432 pp.; ISBN: 9780399564260.

Albany, New York, 1879.  David and Bonnie O’Donnell walk to work after their children, Emma and Claire, leave for school.  It’s an ordinary February morning with light snow in the air, and Bonnie reminds David they have a dinner to attend at the Sutter-Still home.  As the morning progresses, a fierce wind and heavy snow becomes a catastrophic blizzard to the point where no one can see a foot in front of their direction.  Tragedy follows!

David and Bonnie die in the blizzard, but Emma and Claire literally disappear.  A massive search conducted by Dr. Mary (Sutter) and Dr. William Still, whose endeavor fails to produce even the slightest inkling of where the girls could be.   Meanwhile, the story briefly switches to a highly skilled musician, Elizabeth Fall, whose passion for music very quickly becomes intense dislike in Paris, France where she has been under the mentorship of a supposed Master violinist.  When she learns of the blizzard disaster, she immediately leaves for America.

The missing girls are eventually found but their story becomes a source of division, suspicion and a trial in which prosecutors seem out to destroy their account and attempt to destroy Dr. Mary Sutter, who takes care of prostitutes, an unseemly use of her medical skills in the late 1800s that immediately mandates social stigma.

The beauty of this book involves the integrity of caring people who pursue justice for all in the face of formidable opposition.  Those who are rich or possess political power are trusted for all the wrong reasons which will eventually be exposed.

Emma and Claire begin the process of PTSD from their phenomenal experience.  Bonnie O’Donnell’s last words to Emma were to take care of her sister, and the only positive outcome for her is she can clearly say that she honored this promise to her mother.

Winter Sisters: A Novel is a fine mystery and carefully crafted story which keeps the reader fully engaged.  It’s also a satire of injustice and cruelty which can make or break a person and at the least leaves shades of vulnerability that can be overcome.  Highly recommended historical fiction!

Illusion of Death: A Belinda Lawrence Mystery by Brian Kavanagh

Illusion of Death: A Belinda Lawrence Mystery. Brian Kavanagh. Fontaine Press.  November 2018; pb, 196 pp.; ISBN: 9781925846430.

Yes, Belinda Lawrence is back in business!  This indomitable, no-nonsense, sharp observer and investigator is quickly drawn into a case involving film fans from the Australian Centre for the Moving Image.  They’re completely involved with viewing and evaluating films from bygone errors, from the 1920s forward, more than contemporary movies, that is those usually only found on reels or tapes and early digital formats.  Some of these films apparently are extremely valuable and several characters are searching for one series of films, in particular a negative of specific film, “Soldiers of the Cross.”  One member, Max, is found beaten and dead.

The group who gather to watch and discuss all films are possible suspects in the ensuing investigation.  Each has a motive and most of them have rather vague or questionable alibis for where they were the night of Max’s death.  Complicating Belinda and her friend Bridie’s analysis and investigation, even those under suspicion continue to search for the valuable film and will be followed by a second death.  It remains unclear whether Jake’s death was a murder or suicide, with only a needle and cocaine bottle found as evidence.

While the investigations follow and a somewhat solution will be found for everyone’s questions, the dialogue between Belinda, Bridie, and the other members of the film society are fascinating to follow.  There are also some interesting conversations in which some of the characters are what this reviewer would call “benignly interested;” that is they love the films and love to talk about them; but when they are asked about the films, they appear to have a blasé attitude that makes the discovery of the murderers or murderer more difficult to deduce.  It’s also quite amusing! 

The Belinda Lawrence Mystery is crafted more in the style of “who done it” mysteries that turn over every possible clue, introduce some regular and dynamic characters and allow the reader to feel involved right up to the very last page!  Some lovely descriptions of homes, gardens and architecture are included that enable the reader to envision in the Australian setting.

Illusion of Death… is a delightful, brief and more than satisfactory read!  Nicely presented, Brian Kavanagh - Keep writing!

The Paragon Hotel by Lyndsay Faye

The Paragon Hotel. Lyndsay Faye. Penguin Publishing Group. Copyright January 2019. pb, 432 pp.; ISBN: 9780735210752.

Fasten your seatbelt and get ready for a wild ride into the times of Prohibition – from the jazz-filled clubs of Harlem to Portland, Oregon’s Paragon Hotel.  The streets of Harlem are a mix of Negro music and hoodlums vying for supremacy of territory.  When “Nobody” Alice James arrives at the Paragon Hotel, it’s with the help of the black Pullman porter, Max.  He’s practically carrying her as she’s got a very bad bullet wound in her gut.  This hotel is unique as Oregon has laws and visceral hatred for all people of color.  The KKK rules supreme although they make it sound like a genial social club. 

Slowly but surely Alice meets the residents of this African-American hotel. There’s Blossom, a dramatic young lady with a sweet, sultry voice that charms everyone in her path.  There’s a secret relationship she has with a man known as Dr. Perkins who treats Blossom for a secret condition.  Then we meet several other quirky characters who are ultra-dramatic but as endearing as the main characters.  They all are living in the Paragon Hotel in fear.  Alice James as “Nobody” spares everyone initially from the hoodlum atmosphere in Harlem and doesn’t share her total story until well into the novel.  That’s okay as there are plenty of disputes, dancing, drinking, costuming, etc. to totally rivet the reader to rapidly flipping pages while frantically reading.

Each of these characters may be said to have hearts of gold, with cords of compassion and grit that protects, defends, exalts and empathizes with each other when things get tough.  No spoilers here!

The huge question concerning everyone is “Where is Davy?”  Davy is a young African-American boy, somehow associated with Blossom DuBois, who has disappeared.  Some are frantic about finding him but if one carefully observes the passing days, one notices that not everyone is searching as if it were a matter of life and death.  The answer to these questions will provide an altogether unexpected solution to many problems – one that will move readers to tears!!!

The Paragon Hotel is a stunning historical novel that is also a mystery, romance, and thriller that involves every color, class, religion of Prohibition era.  You will revel in all of the saints and sinners herein!  This is one very talented writer that will make you want to read her former novels and hope that she will continue to create new stories that thrill the mind, heart and soul!  Highly recommended – stunning in fact!

Lake of the Dead: A Winston Radhauser Mystery #5 by Susan Clayton-Goldner

Lake of the Dead: A Winston Radhauser Mystery #5. Susan Clayton-Goldner. Tirgearr Publishing.  January 2019. 291 pp.; ASIN #: B07L5Z6BMB.

When the story begins, the reader thinks it’s going to be a crime associated with transgender truth and persecution.  Rashima (formerly called Roy) is having tremendous problems as she’s believed she’s always been a girl despite what her anatomy indicates. Her parents and school peers’ scorn and even persecute her.  However, she’s got a steeliness that has grown since she became friends with Parker Collins and with whom she’s fallen in love.  Parker has been writing stories since he was a child.  When the story opens, Rashima is frantic because she hasn’t heard from him.  He’s gone up to a cabin his Writing Professor lent him to use far away from telephones, TVs, computers, etc. because she believes he is the most gifted student she has ever had and is sure someday he will win a major award for his novel.

Finally, after his missing status has been reported, Officer Winston Radhauser gets involved.  He is also an unusual person who accepts people for who they are and focuses more of his empathy than judgment on people like Rashima and Parker.  However, his involvement is on a purely investigative mode and he’s able to maintain an objectivity despite his feelings one way or another.  He’s about to be extremely surprised about this investigation’s results.

At first, he’s surprised by the professor, Maggie Hollingsworth’s strong feelings about Parker.  When Radhauser gets a brief glimpse of Parker’s writing in his notebooks he’s kept since he was a child, Radhauser quickly knows this is a sensitive soul who has suffered on his own, something Maggie couldn’t help but miss.  This then is the search for Parker and after finding Parker’s body the search for his killer.

Everyone in this story has an “agenda,” stuff to deal with that can be life-changing in the best or worst ways, including Parker and Rashima’s families.  However, sometimes the reader tries to play private eye and couldn’t be farther from the truth with this scenario.

The plot of this novel is really about character and this is where Susan Clayton-Goldner clearly excels.  The reader continues to want to know more and more about each character, not to supply a “who did it” answer, but just for the descriptions of the simplicity and complexity of each character. This is the magic that fuses all of parts, right up to the last riveting page.  Very nicely done, Ms. Clayton-Goldner – recommended great read of this mystery, the fifth in her series!

The Suspect by Fiona Barton

The Suspect. Fiona Barton. Penguin Publishing Group..  January 2019. $26.00; hb, 416 pp.; ISBN: 9781101990513.

One of the worst nightmares for parents would be the disappearance or death of a child. One probably can’t imagine such a scene.  In many ways, parents are slightly out of touch once teens become older and exert some independence. So when Alex and a new friend Rosie go to Bangkok, Thailand, their parents are happy that they are supposedly having a great time.  The few texts they send to their parents and other friends seem to send the same message, the trip of a lifetime, which is exactly what it’s not!

At the same time, Kate Waters and her husband have fallen out of touch with their son, Jake.  He is also in Bangkok but no one knows what he’s doing there.  He was supposed to be continuing his education but that’s far from reality.  The story also concerns a young man named Jamie, a kind of obsessive guy who is mildly irritating to his crowd of friends and a Thai landlady called Mamma. 

When Alex and Rosie stop sending messages and haven’t been heard from in a little over week, the parents and friends become very concerned.  Days later, the nightmare scenario rears its head; the girls are dead.  Weeks later, news hits that they didn’t die in a fire but had actually died before they were found in the remains of a fire.  This then is the mystery that fills these page-turning scenes of the investigation that follows.  It also turns out that Jake Waters was a friend of the two girls and might have started the fired hostel where the girls were found.  Drugs, sex, and a fairly wild life seem to consume most of the tourists in Bangkok and police are quick to close cases rather than investigate further. Alex fails to follow her better instincts before it is too late.

Now the parents are involved and that is tragic, high drama.  Kate Water cannot stop being a journalist and begins her own search regarding her own son.  While some of the parts are repetitive and a bit lengthy, the mystery’s solution is both unpredictable and wild beyond anyone’s imagination.  It’s a story of innocence gone awry, parents who are quite disconnected from reality, dysfunctional families and individuals who seem beyond redemption, and a question of who is innocent or guilty.   It’s an exciting, sad and thrilling roller-coaster read!  Nice job, Fiona Barton – good read!

A Knife in the Fog: A Mystery Featuring Margaret Harkness and Arthur Conan Doyle by Bradley Harper

A Knife in the Fog: A Mystery Featuring Margaret Harkness and Arthur Conan Doyle. Bradley Harper. Prometheus Books. October 2018. 288 pp. ISBN#:  9781633884861.

Arthur Conan Doyle is a physician who spends his days practicing medicine.  He has also written a novel, A Study in Scarlet which gets the attention of the Prime Minister of England.  So unique are the skills in that novel that Prime Minister William Gladstone asks Sir Doyle to help with solving a series of murders that have been terrorizing London, murders that have the same characteristics.  The victims have had their throats slit but also have had parts of their internal female organs cut open or removed. 

To accomplish this task, Arthur Conan Doyle engages the help of Margaret Harkness, an inquisitive and bright lady who knows “street life” and can guide Doyle to places he would not know.  Also helping is Professor Bell, a renowned surgeon and thinker.  The police “allow” the threesome to join the investigation but initially regard them as an intrusive presence.  The killer knows of the search and is timing his murders to their work, mocking their search and investigation.

The public eventually would come to know this serial killer as “Jack the Ripper” but at this time far little is known about details and even causes for these murders; but eventually the reader will discover the minutiae behind many murders through the wiliness of these three investigators who fear neither man nor beast.

The answers to questions that arise through one’s readings are satisfying, including the more than satisfactory ending.  Stay tuned!  Kudos to the author who has fashioned the investigation of a notorious killer.

The Washington Decree: A Novel by Jussi Adler-Olsen

The Washington Decree: A Novel. Jussi Adler-Olsen. Penguin Publishing Group. Copyright 2018. pb. 592 pp.; ISBN: 9781524742522.

When chaos and breakdown create a domestic crisis, the President, Cabinet, Senate and House of Representatives are designed to handle every situation.  However, the scenario that shakes America within the pages of this novel defies the order, law and protocols set up for such a situation. 

The story begins sixteen years before Senator Bruce Jansen becomes President.  After winning a geographical contest, Doggie or Dorothy Rogers and a fellow contestant, Wesley Barefoot, and some other contestants win a free trip to China.  The days in China are filled with a lifetime of wondrous memories which are suddenly destroyed by an attack which winds up with the murder of Senator Jansen’s wife.  Years later, when Jansen has been elected President, he agrees to appear at an event in the hotel owned by Doggie’s father, Bud Curtis.  During that major event, President Jansen’s pregnant wife is assassinated, and the killer and Bud Curtis are arrested.  Bud Curtis is convicted and sentenced to Death Row.

But here is where the horror begins.  President Jansen has been unhinged by the deaths of his two wives, evidenced by the draconian measures he institutes, supported by a small cadre of powerful politicians.  All ammunition for guns of any kind must be surrendered.  The press is now to be censored by the government.  All TV shows about violence are removed.  In fact, most TV channels are closed if not censored for every soundbite that they transmit.  The National Guard and eventually all military are called to serve within America only as the rising tide of revolt, protest and violence increases.  Violent deaths, rapes, beatings and arrests are the new order of the day! America seems to be a civil war against itself.

The remainder of the novel centers on how several characters, mainly Doggie and some of her former colleagues, realize that the preceding events were not just caused by previous acts of violence but perhaps deliberately programmed so that someone could wind up with complete control of the government and the people of the United States of America!  Anarchy, however, still cannot be suppressed!

The Washington Decree… is a novel that could very well become reality.  The division in contemporary America certainly could foster such an attempt to wrest control from such divisive controls.  The author plots out the conflict deftly! Readers know it will evolve into a solution, but the tension is aptly placed so one is not quite so sure about the outcome!  In an epilogue, the author states that institutions such as FEMA, the Office of Homeland Security, and others might be unable to quell the consequences of such a scenario.  Jussi Adler-Olsen keeps the reader engaged but more than that makes the reader ask significant questions about the state of American democracy under threat!  Good contemporary thriller read!

Idyll Hands: A Thomas Lynch Novel by Stephanie Gayle

Idyll Hands: A Thomas Lynch Novel. Stephanie Gayle. Prometheus Books. September 2018. 304 pp. ISBN#: 9781633884823.

Michael Finnegan is a rookie cop who puts up with a lot of newbie banter in his job on the Charleston, Massachusetts police force.  One matter, however, consumes his life in many ways.  In 1972 his sister Susan disappeared.  At first no one even called the police as she had run away two years previously.  Now, Michael is riddled with guilt wishing he had initially taken her absence more seriously and his attempts to find her are fierce.

Twenty plus years later, an arm and then the entire body of a murdered woman is found in the woods.  It turns out it’s not Susan but a different woman named Elizabeth.  Police Chief Thomas Lynch is a gay cop who is ultra-sensitive about his life style but has “come out,” albeit shyly and quietly.  However, he is a sensitive guy internally, albeit gruff externally, who agrees to help Finnegan with his search for his sister if Finnegan agrees to help with the investigation into the murdered woman’s killer.

The story is told from two points of view of the past and present which enables the reader to think he or she is also doing the investigation into these two mysteries.  It works well even though the course of the searches seems to progress quite slowly, more like the real world and not a TV 60-minute crime story.

Small towns have large secrets and there are plenty in Idyll, Massachusetts.  No spoilers here!  Obviously, the mysteries will be solved as the police pick through the facts and fiction of the town where everyone knows everyone else but are careful about what they reveal. This is a satisfying mystery because the pace is perfect and the revelations about the families, friends, neighbors and acquaintances are clearly clues as to the loves and hates of seemingly innocent, quiet residents.  New relationships are forged in the process.

Idyll Hands… is a cleverly crafted novel that will truly satisfy mystery fans and even contemporary fiction fans.  Nicely fashioned fiction, Stephanie Gayle!