mystery

Airs Above the Ground. Mary Stewart

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Thumbs up for Airs Above the Ground by Mary Stewart. Suspense.

After reading Nancy Pearl’s glowing recommendation of Mary Stewart in More Book Lust, I had to try one. Airs Above the Ground caught my eye as it had to do with the Lipizzaner horses, of whom I read much as a young gal. (Your bonus book recommendation of the day: The White Stallion of Lipizza by Marguerite Henry, for kids and adults.) Well, Ms Pearl did not fail me; I loved it and can’t wait to read more of Stewart’s work.… >> Read more

The Xanadu Talisman (Modesty Blaise series)

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Thumbs up for The Xanadu Talisman (Modesty Blaise #10) by Peter O’Donnell. Suspense.

A fun adventure story with a kick-ass female heroine (insert inevitable comparison to James Bond here) though I don’t think I read quite fast enough to read books that are nothing more than fun adventure stories. I get impatient and start thinking: I want to write my own story with a kick-ass female heroine.… >> Read more

Perish Twice (Sunny Randall)

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Thumbs up for Perish Twice by Robert B. Parker. Mystery.

Let it be said that Parker is one of my favorite writers. More fool me that I picked up Perish Twice in order to admire his descriptive powers, intending to read no more than a paragraph, because I promptly got sucked into the story. This was the first Sunny Randall I’d ever read, and I don’t get why people shun these in favor of the Spensers and the Stones (these being his detectives).… >> Read more

Out: A Novel

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Thumbs up for Out by Natsuo Kirino. Suspense.

An unforgettable work of crime fiction with excellent characters – especially the dark but powerful sort-of-heroine Masako, a worker on the night shift at a boxed-lunch factory – and many twisted scenes. I went through cycles of “this is so good, why do I have to put it down to go to work?” and “this is going to no happy ending, I’m realizing I’ve lost my taste for this sort of thing.” The first sense prevailed, however, and what I’m left with is the memory of an excellent book I can recommend to few people.… >> Read more

Don't Point that Thing at Me

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 Thumbs up for Don’t Point That Thing At Me by Kyril Bonfiglioli. Suspense.

I was delighted to find another one of these delightful, nasty little jewels. Think Robert B. Parker but British, with a lot more booze and women and cowardice. Bonfiglioli nevers sets a step wrong. These books deserve much better than the anonymity they have fallen into.

“Somewhere in the trash he reads Martland has read that heavy men walk with surprisingly lightness and grace; as a result he trips about like a portly elf hoping to be picked up by a leprechaun.

… >> Read more
Fever Dream

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Thumbs up for Fever Dream by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. Suspense.

Going from Cormac McCarthy to Preston & Child: Ow. No offense to them, but I think they would be the first to agree that one does not read their books for the prose. But I stuck with it, and after I relaxed into the fact that it was what it was, I enjoyed just as much as always the gleefully over-the-top adventures of ultra-rich ultra-brilliant bullet-dodging DSM-IV-quoting Southern gentleman who is Special Agent Pendergast (he has an evil brother, does that tell you anything about this series?).… >> Read more

After You with the Pistol

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Thumbs up for After You With the Pistol by Kyril Bonfiglioli. Suspense.

As usual, I had no intention of starting a new book, since I was in the middle of several others; but I was out and about and finished browsing the bookstore my boyfriend and I were in before he did, so I picked a random, interesting-looking book off the display to examine while I waited.… >> Read more

Double Negative: A Novel

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Thumbs up for Double Negative by David Carkeet. Mystery.

I’d had this on my “to-find” list for a while because it was a mystery taking place among a group of linguists, and I love linguistics. It was not the best mystery I’ve ever read, but it was readable, well-characterized, moved along nicely, and had occasional flashes of great wit that made up for it being merely “readable.” Also, I couldn’t figure out who did it, and that’s always nice.… >> Read more