​​​Genre: Mystery

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David Rosenfelt’s protagonist, Andy Carpenter, always pulls me into his stories with  something related to a dog, who becomes a vital part of the mystery. Bark of Night is no exception. When Andy takes Tara, his golden retriever/best friend, to the veterinarian’s office, he doesn’t expect to find another case. In fact, Andy never wants to find another case...he finds being an attorney an annoying interruption from spending time with Tara.

His Vet introduces him to Truman, a dog who has a problem. A man recently dropped him off with money and instructions to euthanize him immediately. The problem is that Truman is perfectly healthy and killing a healthy dog seems cruel. When the Vet checks Truman’s chip, he finds that the man who dropped him off wasn’t the owner. He asks Andy for help, and being a sucker for all dogs, Andy agrees.

This leads Andy to a murdered man and another man who is being accused of a murder he might not have committed. Andy reluctantly calls his crew together and agrees to defend the hapless young defendant. As always, the fun is in the crew. His chronically pessimistic partner, his office administrator who doesn’t want to administer and his accountant/computer guy all bring humor to the story and help Andy get out of (and into) many tight spaces.

Of course his wife Laurie, an ex-police detective, proves invaluable, as does Marcus, his large and intimidating investigator/bodyguard. Between them they keep Andy safely on the correct path, and eventually he saves the day. This is Rosenfelt’s 19th addition to his Andy Carpenter series, and while the stories aren’t quite as fresh as they used to be, the characters and humor still have me anxiously looking for his next offering.

- Beverly

Publisher - Minotaur Books
Date of Publication - ​​July 16, 2019

​​​Genre: Legal/Thriller

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Mirror, Mirror, the third in Hawkins’ four part series, shows the author’s ability to develop her characters as well as her plot line. When I first picked up the book I found the protagonist, Jeff Ryder, so unpleasant that I put it aside for a bit. I went back to it because I am a fan of Ms. Hawkins’ writing, and once I got into it I was hooked.

Jeff is a very successful attorney working in a  prestigious firm when the story begins, but on the day he is about to make partner he is accused of encouraging a client to falsely testify, enabling the conviction of the wrong man for the attempted murder of police rookie Chris Rafferty. As the attorney’s world crumbles around him, he desperately tries to prove his innocence and regain his life, but his own personality seems to be working against him.

Chris is now a quadriplegic recovering from the six bullets that ended his career. Hawkins features Chris and his wife Beth in some chapters and Jeff in other chapters, taking the reader on a roller coaster of emotions. When Jeff decides to represent Chris in a lawsuit proving negligence in this tragedy, he develops relationships and emotions he never saw coming, and Hawkins begins showing her strong talent in character development.

From the captivating prologue, through the strong story-line and finally bringing us to a satisfying conclusion, Deborah Hawkins showed me once again why I anxiously await the next book in this well thought out series.

- Beverly​

Publisher - Deborah Hawkins
Date of Publication - ​​August 29, 201

​​​​Genre: Psychological Thriller

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Ray Green is a new author for my collection, and after reading Lost Identity I was happy to find several more that he has written. He definitely caught my attention on page one and kept me pretty much riveted throughout. He knows how to build suspense while keeping the reader involved in his protagonist’s life.

Stephen Lewis, a research scientist from England, awakes in a Miami hospital after several days in a coma. He has no idea who he is or why he is in Miami. As parts of his memory start to return, he recalls being beaten in an alley while trying to help a strange woman in trouble. When he also remembers his name and the fact that he flew down to Miami with his wife, his doctor promises to try to find her.

As the story progresses and his memories slowly return, he is horrified to find that nobody he knows seems to recognize him, and another man is claiming to be Stephen Lewis. The police are less than helpful, and he attempts to find the woman he rescued, whom he hopes has some answers.

To share anymore might spoil the suspense, so I will stop here and tell you that Green took a plot that is somewhat common and definitely made it his own. It is a bit far-fetched in parts, and one has to just accept some unlikely truths, but if you can just enjoy it as fiction, it is a worthwhile read. His descriptions are strong and his dialogue is engaging. The reader can’t help but cheer on this protagonist who is caught in a world of drug trafficking, murder and a conspiracy that might alter his life forever.

- Beverly


Publisher - Mainsail Books; 1 edition
Date of Publication - ​​​December 10, 2017

​​​Genre: Psychological Thriller

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Surgeon Sam Becker is a likable protagonist caught in an insane situation. Someone to Save You begins when Sam tries to save a woman whose car is stuck on  railroad tracks. Although he saves her three children, he is unable to save her life, and so begins a convoluted mystery that will keep you wondering until it’s somewhat unsatisfying ending.

We quickly find out that Sam’s sister, Cathy, was raped and murdered fifteen years previously, and his best friend, Marcus, was found guilty at the time of the murder. His imminent release from prison brings ambivalent feelings to Sam and his family and friends, and questions about Marcus’ guilt surface.

Strange things begin to happen at the hospital that Sam is affiliated with, and the police begin questioning him about the incident at the railroad tracks. Suddenly the perfect life that Sam is leading becomes a tangled mess with many more questions than answers.

The story has potential, and it definitely keeps the reader turning pages. My problem was with the ending more than the story itself. The antagonist was never fully developed, and one has trouble understanding his grudge over a somewhat trivial incident. Watching him cause harm to so many ancillary people made little sense and left me wondering if I had missed something along the way.

This is a good summer read for those who want a bit of excitement served along with their sunshine.

- Beverly​

Publisher - Thomas & Mercer
Date of Publication - ​​​​November 3, 2015

​​​Genre: Thriller

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I am not a big fan of James Patterson, but I have always enjoyed his Women’s Murder Club series. These four women (Lindsay, Claire, Cindy and Yuki) combine their talents to keep their city safe. In The 18th Abduction, San Francisco Police Detective Lindsay is following a case that coincides with her husband’s case. She and Joe often work together, as he is an FBI agent, and she is a homicide detective.

The prologue begins when Lindsay and Joe enter the Hague’s International Zone and meet their friend Anna who is about to testify against a monster who destroyed her life years ago. Chapter one begins with a flashback from five years before, and the excitement never lets up.

Lindsay’s story centers around three missing school teachers whose lives all hold mysteries that might explain their disappearance. Patterson’s and Paetro's use of short chapters and heavy dialogue keep the story moving along and the reader often on the edge of his/her seat. Lindsay and her partner Rich keep hitting stone walls in their search for the women, and even with the help of investigative reporter Cindy, medical examiner Claire and prosecutor Yuki, things begin to look dismal.

Meanwhile Joe comes in contact with Anna who tells him that there is a war criminal living several blocks away from her home. Slobodan Petrović was the man who led the attack on her village and raped and tortured her repeatedly. Joe is determined to find justice for Anna even though this “red-faced hog” seems untouchable.

Watching the authors connect the dots, and connect the two cases kept my interest throughout, and once again I regretted seeing a murder club book come to an end.

- Beverly

Publisher - Little, Brown and Company
Date of Publication - ​​April 29, 2019

Genre: Thriller

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Adam Mitzner has the ability to pull his readers in and bring his stories to life. In A Matter of Will we meet Will Matthews, a young stockbroker who is trying to keep himself afloat in a sea of other Wall Street stock brokers. He is having a difficult time bringing in business and believes he is soon to be fired, when he meets fabulously wealthy Sam Abaddon. There is definitely a mystery surrounding Sam and his beautiful girlfriend, Eve, but when he offers Will the chance to handle an enormous amount of cash, the young stockbroker sees him as a savior.

At the same time Will meets attorney Gwen Lipton, and the two begin a relationship. Gwen is a terrific foil to all of the mystery surrounding the rest of Will’s life. She is involved in the defense of a man accused of murdering his wife, and scenes from that trial are a break from the rabbit hole that Will keeps falling down. Will soon finds that his benefactor is involved in a lifestyle that puts the money manager into dangerous situations, and soon he is too deep to pull his way to freedom. 

Mitzner keeps the reader on the edge of his/her seat as we watch Will lose everything to the life he never wanted. There were times that I felt Will’s naivete was a bit too unbelievable for a stock broker in a major Wall Street company, and the ending was a bit contrived, but all in all this was an exciting and well written book. Mitzner is an author that you don’t want to miss.

- Beverly


Publisher - Thomas & Mercer
Date of Publication - June 25, 2019

​​Genre: Science Fiction/ Mystery

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A few times every year I am lucky enough to find a book that absolutely captures me. I find myself either reading it or thinking about it all day, every day, until I finish the last page,  and then I regret that I finished it so quickly. In December of last year I was captivated by When the Past Came Calling by Larry Kaplan. I couldn’t wait to read another of his books and found A Colony of Eves several weeks ago. I was not disappointed. He is definitely an author to follow.

In A Colony of Eves a family of Russian immigrants (Oksana Kuznetsky, her son Mikhail and her parents) settle in America. Kaplan does an excellent job portraying the difficulties of settling in a new land. Luckily they have family and new found friends to help them, and things seem to be looking up until Oksana disappears.

The book jumps from Oksana’s family to the Amazon rain forest where a strange configuration of corpses is found indicating the possible extinction of humans in the not so distant future. The reader is then introduced to an unsavory organization with a leader intent on controlling the future of mankind and an albino army working to make his fantasy a reality. The story-lines connect when we find that Oksana Kuznetsky's rare bloodline may possess the antidote to mankind’s extinction.

Although there is definitely a good deal of science fiction woven into the story, it is more a characterization of young Mikhail and those who begin to help him in his search for his mother. Mikhail and friends are young (preteen) and it becomes a bit of a stretch of the imagination at times, but frankly I didn’t care. I believe author Kaplan’s talent in building a story will keep the reader involved until the very last page.

- Beverly

Publisher - Amazon Digital Services LLC
Date of Publication - ​January 13, 2011

​​​Genre: Thriller

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Chris Bauer did not shy away from fictionalizing the headlines in his book, Jane’s Baby, and at times I found it difficult to read for that reason. It is a well written book with well portrayed characters, and the issue at its heart is a difficult one. Norma McCorvey is the real life Roe in Roe vs. Wade, and the Supreme Court decision came too late for her. She had a daughter whom she gave up for adoption.

In this fictional account, a radical religious group uses blackmail to learn the identity of the child, and attempts to stack the Supreme Court in order to change what they find offensive. Through murder, arson and sleight of hand, they are determined to win their battle over abortion versus right to choose, and Judge Drury, a bounty hunter who deals with Tourette’s syndrome, is just as determined to stop them.

Bauer has a deft hand with characterization, and I enjoy watching his cast at work. The female antagonist in the story is frighteningly amoral, Drury’s k-9 partners are always there for him and his side-kick, an alcoholic little person adds a bit of levity to a rather grim story. The Native American Supreme Court Justice is another interesting character to follow as the plot unfolds and danger follows her.

This story deals with this controversial topic in a round-about way and will give the reader something to think about long after the last page is read.

- Beverly​

Publisher - Intrigue Publishing LLC
Date of Publication - ​​June 1, 2018

​​Genre: Cozy Mystery

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In An Affair to Dismember by Elise Sax, Gladie Burger doesn’t have the best of luck when it comes to relationships, so when Grandma Zelda insists that Gladie share her house and matchmaking business, Gladie isn’t particularly hopeful. She decides to give it a try though, and settles in with Zelda in the small town of Cannes, California. Things start off exactly as one would imagine, and Gladie feels she might have made a mistake in moving in with her Grandma.

Of course the requisite murder quickly draws Gladie and the reader into a Cozy Mystery filled with plot twists and interesting characters. Even though Randy Terns’ death isn’t initially classified as murder, things just don’t seem right. The Terns family is definitely odd, and possibly evil, so Gladie is intrigued. Even though the good looking police chief advises her to stay away, she is bound and determined to figure out the truth.

Sax does a good job bringing humor into her mystery as she mixes a little romance in with the action. I loved Grandma Zelda and found her advice at the beginning of each chapter charming. Her personality and relationship with her stretch-pants wearing granddaughter doesn’t always match her Jimmy Choo shoes, but that is what makes this story charming.

At times I found Gladie acted a bit more clueless than I would have expected, but on the whole I thought she was an interesting character for this genre of book. The author did a good job on the mystery part too, throwing in clues that were meaningless along with those that led the way to a satisfying conclusion.

- Beverly ​

Publisher - Amazon Digital Services LLC
Date of Publication - ​January 16, 2017

​​Genre: Mystery

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The Three Beths has an interesting mystery featuring the disappearance of women named Beth. The primary character, Mariah Dunning, spends her every waking moment trying to figure out where her mother, Beth Dunning, is, and why she would leave her husband and daughter. Since Police Detective Broussard is convinced that Mariah’s dad killed his wife, Mariah is even more determined to get to the truth and clear her dad’s name.

Her quest brings her in contact with quite a few shady characters and she searches for connections that she might never find. There are probably three or four too many characters for my comfort, and most of them are too one dimensional for my liking. While I enjoy an exciting plot, it is the characterization that generally draws me into a story. I enjoy rooting for the good guys, and found that part of this story weak. While the bad guys have reasons to be bad at times and the good guys aren’t always good (or likable ), none of them invites me to become fully invested in their stories.

There is no question that Abbott knows how to fashion a plot that will have his readers trying to figure out what is going on until the very last page, and I kept wanting to go back to the story whenever I had to put the book down to do something else. It is fast moving and entertaining, and I look forward to searching out some of his other books for my summer collection.

- Beverly​

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​Publisher - Grand Central Publishing
Date of Publication - October 23, 2018