BOOKMARKED FOR DEATH

Tricia Miles has invited a local author to appear at her bookstore, Haven't Got a Clue. Everyone is stunned when the author, Zoe Carter, is found strangled to death in the bathroom of the bookstore. Sherrif Wendy Adams seems determined to keep Tricia's business closed as long as possible without really doing much in the way of investigation. Tricia decided that if she wants to keep her business open she had better find out more about the elusive author and why someone might have wanted to kill her.

Stoneham, New Hampshire seems like an ideal place to live for book lovers and Tricia's bookstore sounds like a heavenly retreat. This is the second in Lorna Barret's Booktown Mystery series. I think I may have liked this one even better than the first. For one thing, the relationship between Tricia and her sister, Angelica, is much calmer and less acrimonious than in the previous book. I also like the relationship between Tricia and Russ, although it has its rocky moments, it is realistic. I will be looking forward to the next addition to this series.

Rating - 4.5 stars

BREAD ON THE TABLE

Lottie Porter lived through the Depression. Almost single-handedly, she managed to raise her large family and keep food on the table. Times were tough but for the most part, her family was happy and didn't realize all of the things that they were missing. She helped buy a farm and grew produce to trade and sell. She made clothes for her children. Maybe most important, her family never went hungry and often, she welcomed others to their table, too.

This memoir was written by my cousin, Renetta Burlage. I didn't know her Grandmother Porter, but I did hear stories about her. Renetta said that she didn't know her well, but she heard stories from her mother and her aunts and uncles. Renetta began collecting these stories and wrote them down as a family chronicle. I thoroughly enjoyed the book. Most of it was set near Nichols, IA where I grew up so the setting was very familiar. I also loved reading stories of my aunt and her siblings, most of whom I know or had heard of growing up. I thought Renetta's telling of her grandma certainly described to hard work and morals of that generation of women. I am proud of my cousin and glad she wrote down these family memories.

Rating - 5 stars

CAPITOL OFFENSE

A man comes to Ben Kincaid's law office to ask questions about the legailities if he should happen to commit a murder. Needless to say, Ben tells him that he should not murder anyone under any circumstances. He worries about the conversation all night only to wake the next morning and find out that a murder has been committed and his client is being held. Dennis Thomas claims that his wife was missing for seven days. He pleaded daily with the police to begin a missing persons' investigation but they refused. Finally, his wife is found but she has had such serious injuries left unattended for so long that she dies in his arms. Dennis Thomas has sought justice for his wife by finding the policeman who refused to search for her.

Ben Kincaid has to be one of my favorite lawyers. This probably wasn't the strongest books in the series. Dennis Thomas makes it hard to like him much. He is too cocky and the reader, along with Ben and Christina, are taken aback by his attitude. Still, the story was engaging enough to keep the reader hanging on till the end to find out if Thomas was the murderer or if there is more going on. We also are afraid that the answers may come too late for Thomas after all.

Rating - 4 stars

ALL SHALL BE WELL

I listened to this book on audio several months ago but didn't get it recorded. The titles of Deborah Crombie's books are all very similar. Duncan Kincaid has grown close to his neighbor who is dying of cancer. It shouldn't have been a surprise when she is found dead. Still, for some reason, Duncan is reluctant to believe Jasmine's death was due to natural causes. Did his friend kill herself to end the pain or did someone find a need to hasten her death? Duncan must finally piece the story together using his friend's diaries.

I have read several books in this series and I have always enjoyed Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James. It was good to pick up some of the background in their relationship. Overall, this was a good book with haunting characters. I liked this book but I didn't love it.

Rating - 4 stars

THE SPIRE

Mark Darrow is a high school football star without a future. He isn't big enough or strong enought to play for a large school. His grades are too mediocre for a good scholarship. His parents are totally dysfunctional so he is living with his best friend's family. Imagine his surprise when a professor from a local college contacts him with an offer to play football and a full scholarhip. Mark insists that his best friend recieve a scholarship, too. He goes on to make the most of the opportunity to go to college and plans to go to law school. All of his success is marred when a black college co-ed is found murdered after a wild fraternity party and Mark's best friend is accused of the murder. Sixteen years later, Mark is invited to return to the university to solve it's latest scandal - embezzlement and maybe to solve the murder.

I haven't read anything by Richard North Patterson for years. The style of this book seems a little different. It isn't as deep as some of the previous novels. Still, I found some of the introspection by the characters to be a little tedious and unrealistic. I know that these are supposed to be very intellectual people but I don't this most people go around analyzing their lives in this manner. Still, I enjoyed the book and even though I suspected the killer, I couldn't put all the pieces together until the end.

Rating - 4 stars

EVIL FOR EVIL

Billy Boyle is called to leave Algiers to go to solve a mystery in Ireland. As much as he hates to leave his beloved Diana behind, the truth is that they are having some problems. She refuses to give up her dangerous work and Billy can't help but worry. He has heard about Ireland his entire life but he soons finds out that the Ireland of his ancestors has changed. He is immediately sucked into the ongoing strife between the Catholics and Protestants. Even more troubling is that people keep dying. Whenever Billy gets to know someone and start asking them questions, they end up being killed.

This is the fourth if the series about Billy Boyle, Eisenhower's nephew serving in WWII, written by James Benn. I liked most of the book but I found the parade of characters confusing. I also missed Diana and Kaz who have been wonderful supportive characters in previous books. I had to push myself a little to finish this book. I won't read another unless it is a little more straightforward and character based.

Rating - 3.5 stars

TOO CLOSE TO HOME

Derrick Cutter has the perfect plan. His best friend's family is going on vacation. He'll hide out in the basement and then spend the next week using the house as a "love nest" for him and his girlfriend. It doesn't take long for the plan to go awry. First he hears his friends' family return. Before he can figure a way out of the house, he overhears gunshots and realizes that his friend and the parents have been killed. Things get even worse when evidence suggests that Derrick himself may have been the killer. Or, did the killer confuse the neighbor's house with the Cutter's. Who did they mean to kill? And maybe, is an old computer with a book on it the cause of the murders?

This is the second book that I've read by Linwood Barclay and I have really enjoyed both. This was a great "family" mystery with plenty of twists and turns. The book is told from the point of view of the dad who is essentially a good man just trying to figure out why his son is being accused of murder and who had a motive to kill the Langley's. The characters aren't perfect but likeable and their reactions are completely believable. I will certainly be checking out other books written by Barclay.

Rating - 5 stars