BookOpinion

BOOKOPINION REVIEW: Sue Grafton is one of those authors who has me running to the bookstore the very day her latest offering goes on sale. I have not yet been disappointed at my haste, and not yet been able to stop reading one of her new books until it’s done. So it was yesterday at precisely 12:09 a.m. that I reluctantly closed the book on the 20th installment of Grafton’s alphabet mystery series, “T is for Trespass.”

For those not in the know, the books detail the life and cases of private investigator Kinsey Millhone. In this latest book, Kinsey investigates a private nurse who has been hired to care for a cranky octagenarian neighbor after he has had a bad fall. Initially all seems well, but Kinsey and her landlord/friend Henry Pitts become convinced that something sinister is happening. The novel deals with not only elder abuse, but also identity theft. “T is for Trespass” is Kinsey at her best — absolutely out for justice and kicking … well, you know what.

There are a lot of disturbing characters in this novel, some frustrating and some just evil. The novel jumps back between first person (narrated by Kinsey) and third person (describing the behind-the-scenes action of the main antagonist, a thoroughly wretched character).

I don’t want to give away a lot of plot details, but this one is a page-turner. I was not totally satisfied by the ending, it seemed to close up too quickly or maybe the plot device was lacking. In general, though, this is a great addition to my Kinsey Millhone collection.

Grafton’s writing just never really disappoints. Now I will have to start counting the days until the next book. U is for Umbrella? Unitarian? Ubiquitous?

– Jane Leisteiner

Sue Grafton, my most favorite mystery author ever, has released the 20th book in her wonderful Kinsey Millhone/alphabet series (T is for Trespass). I love Kinsey Millhone. I love her because she’s smart, she’s funny, down-to-earth, and loves food almost as much as I do. I love Sue Grafton because everytime she offers readers a new book, we know it will build upon the last one. Kinsey keeps maturing as a character, not just a rehash of the same old stuff everytime.

I could mention some mystery authors who need to kick it up a notch, but out of politeness I will refrain. Instead, I offer to you my top 10 Kinsey Millhone books, in alphabetical order.

• A is for Alibi - The first one. A great introduction. It’s a quick, fast-paced story with terrific characters.
• C is for Corpse - This was actually the first Kinsey book I ever read. My mother (Thank You, Mommy) handed over her copy when I was about 19. I have re-read it probably three dozen times. I can practically read the entire book in my head from start to finish. This book opened up the world of mysteries for me. I remember thinking that Kinsey was pretty old (she was 32!) when I read it. Now that I am a wee past 32, I have a slightly different perspective.
• E is for Evidence - The characters in this one have me hooked. Grafton is great at creating some twisted dysfunctional families.
• F is for Fugitive - I love the stories where Kinsey has to reconstruct a crime from years ago. (S is for Silence and Q is for Quarry have similar plots.)
• G is for Gumshoe - The coolest story. This one is more about Kinsey than the actual mystery she solves, hence the gumshoe in the title. This one is my favorite in the series.
• I is for Innocent - Is David Barney innocent or guilty of killing his wife? Well, you don’t find out until the end, but you won’t like him either way. In fact, I didn’t really like the victim, but I love this book.
• K is for Killer - Again great story and characters combine to make a terrific read.
• M is for Malice - Another great story. I love the character of Guy Malek.
• O is for Outlaw - I like this one for the glimpse the reader gets into Kinsey’s past.
• Q is for Quarry - This one has an interesting spin. The mystery is a cold case brought to her by two local cops. Kinsey has to reconstruct a crime. This fictional book is inspired by an actual cold case from the late 1960s.

This was a tough list to create, I really wanted to add B is for Burglar and H is for Homicide, too. And L is for Lawless is good, too. Oh, just go out and read all of them, you won’t be disappointed.

I plan to hit the bookstore bright and early on December 4 to pick up my copy of T is for Trespass. Maybe it will replace one of my Top 10 picks.

– Jane Leisteiner

BOOKOPINION REVIEW: I could not put “Deception” down. The characters are real, complex and shrouded… the plot is unbelievably twisting and turning and takes you down one blind alley to the next. The story is funny, tragic and grips you with its reality and shakes your own confidence to the point of leaving you naked, vulnerable and questioning. And it’s just a work of fiction… but so full of honest life that you feel after finishing the book that a cool breeze has just passed you by and touched your cheek.

“Sometimes I think maybe what’s wrong with this world is that it’s made up of people like me,” thus speaks Ollie Chandler, homicide detective with the Portland, Oregon, Police Department. A complicated but thoroughly human character, occasionally pathetic but always compelling, Detective Chandler is handed a murder case that puts his life in jeopardy and leaves his relationship with fellow detectives at a new low. Chandler suspects that that murderer is someone in his own department, and, after experiencing several blackouts, possibly even himself.

The victim, a Portland State University professor with a roving eye for his female students, is found strangled and shot. Why multiple causes of death? Ollie wades through the evidence and finds the case to be far more convoluted than he originally suspected. He has leads on everyone from the chief of police to fellow detectives that open the door to the possibility that anyone could have committed this crime.

With encouragement from two friends, Clarence Abernathy and Jake Woods, Chandler pushes through the maze of lies and deceit to find the killer and put him behind bars. But Ollie’s first law, “Things are often not what they appear” proves to be only too true in this baffling, politically damaging and personally dangerous situation.

“Deception” is filled with terrific one liners, ”All your life you’re a wannabe, until you wake up one morning, and you’re a has-been,” that you will love. But the Christian-themed story is really not just about a fascinating murder case and how it’s solved. It’s about the man, Ollie Chandler, grieving widower, estranged father, dog lover and keeper of justice down to the bone.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough. You will laugh, cry and be horrified by this unfolding story of a man trapped in his own web. Written in the first person, this novel quickly draws you into the mind and feelings of a wounded human being, with the frailties and concealed qualities that we all possess.

Don’t wait another moment. Do not go to the library, go directly to your local bookstore and pick up “Deception” today. You won’t regret it.

– Elizabeth Channery

Poisoned Pen Press and Bookstore released an interview with Sara Paretsky, the author of the popular V.I. Warshawski mystery novels. The six-part interview is about an hour long and covers a wide variety of topics.

The bestselling author recently published a memoir, “Writing in an Age of Silence,” which covers her politics, activism and art.

“There were no expectations of me, and I think I became a writer by accident,” Paretsky says in the video interview below. “I certainly wrote my whole life a lot, both poetry and short stories as a way of exploring my emotions but I never thought, ‘Oh, I am a writer and I’m doing this.’ So, to be a professional writer I thought was a great accident that happened to me.”

She discusses living in Chicago and how the different parts of the city influenced her books. She also hits on her love for the Cubs, her various jobs outside of writing and a range of other areas.

“One of the fun things that I did in a lot of the earlier books was take a neighborhood for each of the books,” Paretsky says. “And one that I love was Burn Marks, which was the sixth book in the series, where I went down to the old industrial quarter along the shipping canal there. You can create characters that you just fall in love with. And I had someone in there — this woman who was just horrible, but I loved her she was just so bad. She sat on her porch with a fire extinguisher. She was a great heavy woman who was always being taunted by the neighborhood boys. It was a little bit of urban warfare between the two of them and she’d sit there with a fire extinguisher, and if they got too close she would spray at them. She was a dreadful person, but I loved her so much. She was just so real and so part of that community.”

Watch the six-part interview in its entirety with the links below:

Sarah Paretsky Interview - Part 2
Sarah Paretsky Interview - Part 3
Sarah Paretsky Interview - Part 4
Sarah Paretsky Interview - Part 5
Sarah Paretsky Interview - Part 6

BOOKOPINION REVIEW: Ayelet Waldman’s heroine in “The Cradle Robbers,” Juliet Applebaum, is a clever cross between Sue Grafton’s Kinsey Milhone and Joanne Fluke’s likeable character, Hannah Swensen. An ex-criminal defense attorney and now a stay-at-home mom, Juliet has just embarked on a new career with colleague Al Hockey, a retired ex-cop. Completing this cast of intriguing characters is Peter, Juliet’s screenwriter husband, who expertly juggles cooking and child care with a flair that causes every wife’s mouth to water.

In this episode, Juliet is hired by Sandra Lorgeree to track down the lost son that she was forced to relinquish to foster care when she was sentenced to five years in prison for drug trafficking. But to Juliet’s surprise, she is touched by Sandra’s vulnerability and desperation and determines to find little Noah and restore him to the loving care of Sandra’s aunt or cousin. Before Juliet can do more than make a few cursory phone calls, she receives the unwelcome news that Sandra has been murdered, knifed by another inmate.

Appalled by this development, Juliet is fiercely determined to hunt down this baby and the killer of Sandra, as well. Her investigation takes her into the horrors of prison life for women who give birth while incarcerated as well as the mysterious “Lambs of God” organization that place their newborns into foster care of couples that quietly disappear into thin air.

What happened to little Noah? Will Juliet’s persistence produce the father of this baby? And will he even want to claim his own child?

“The Cradle Robbers” is an even paced, well written novel with characters that are likeable, quirky and, at times, hilarious. I found no flaws in this book and highly recommend “The Cradle Robbers” as a must read for anyone who loves a well thought out mystery. Juliet Applebaum is everyone’s sister or best friend, and you will easily identify with her insecurities and foibles.

But, “The Cradle Robbers” is the latest issue in the Mommy-Track mysteries. I highly recommend that you begin your journey with Juliet by reading “Nursery Crimes,” the first installment in this delightful series and continue with the stories in the correct sequence. You will find a great deal of information in the previous books that will give you a better understanding of Ayelet Waldman’s unique characters.

I really loved these books…not earthshaking, perhaps, but not fluff either. Ayelet Waldman pens a good story with a fascinating plot and beautifully rounded characters. I think you will enjoy them as much as I did.

– Elizabeth Channery

BOOKOPINION REVIEW: The latest Stephanie Plum thriller, “Lean Mean Thirteen,” is a little on the lean side.

Once again, bounty hunter Stephanie Plum bungles her way through catching Trenton, New Jersey’s lowliest criminals. In this, author Janet Evanovich’s 13th installment of the mystery series, our heroine finds herself the subject of a police investigation when her lying, cheating ex-husband Dickie Orr goes missing.

The first five or so chapters reel you in with a promising storyline, but eventually readers find themselves ensnared in the same formulaic writing we’ve seen in previous Plum novels. Houses explode, cars are destroyed and Stephanie, in typical “I Love Lucy” fashion, manages to screw up even the easiest bond apprehensions. Her lovelife is equally predictible, as she continually fights lustful urges for mysterious fellow bounty hunter, Ranger, versus only slightly less lustful urges for Joe Morelli, the Trenton cop who has been her on-again, off-again boyfriend for many, many books.

Evanovich’s fast-paced style and wild antics are entertaining enough, but there is little beneath the surface. “Lean Mean Thirteen,” is fun for a light read, but don’t expect anything new. I hope in future books, Evanovich can perhaps deepen Stephanie’s character a tad, or at least get back to the more complete storytelling in the first few books of the series.

For the best of Evanovich, try “One for the Money” (the first Plum novel and a great read) or “Full House” (not a Plum book, but a cute romance).

– Jane Leisteiner

BOOKOPINION REVIEW: I would like to introduce you to Jacqueline Winspear, the author of the Maisie Dobbs novels and a winner of the coveted Agatha Award. Winspear, originally from the United Kingdom, has created a compelling, fascinating heroine in the person of Maisie Dobbs, psychologist and private investigator. Maisie’s fascinating past and gift for looking beyond the obvious quickly draw the reader into complete absorption of the story being told.

In the latest novel, “Messenger of Truth,” Maisie is confronted with a fascinating case involving Nicholas Bassington-Hope, a famous and somewhat controversial artist who is about to open his new exhibit at the famous Mayfair Gallery. Unfortunately, Nicholas insists upon creating the arrangement of his paintings by himself and in the process, falls to his death from the scaffolding that he himself built. Naturally, the police conclude that the entire incident was an accident and proceed to close the case.

Enter Georgina, famous WWI journalist of some renown, and twin to Nicholas. Dissatisfied with the police investigation, Georgina consults with Maisie Dobbs in the hope that Ms. Dobbs will be capable of identifying the murderer of her beloved brother and the motive which drove someone to such a heinous crime. When Maisie questions Georgina regarding the reasons for investigating a case that the police have closed, Georgina states that she “feels” something is wrong. She has no evidence, no obvious reason, just a feeling. Intrigued, Ms. Dobbs agrees to take on this difficult case.

This is a dark journey that Maisie has undertaken, but with her usual determination and applying her own unique method, she begins to unearth bits of information and tantalizing clues that the police may have overlooked. Was Nicholas murdered? Or is this just the cry of a bereaved family member? And why would Maisie take a case based on someone’s feelings? Is there something in Maisie’s past that has influenced her to become emotionally involved in this case?

The Maisie Dobbs novels provide a fascinating look into the dark ambiance of the late 1920s and early ‘30s of post war London. Every case is unique, extremely complex and the methods utilized by Ms. Dobbs to reach the truth are unorthodox, to say the least.

“Messenger of Truth” was not my favorite Jacqueline Winspear novel but it is certainly a great read and well worth the time spent unraveling a complicated story. I think the most enticing signature of the Jacqueline Winspear novels is the characters themselves. Be sure to begin your introduction of Maisie Dobbs with the first novel…it explains the background of Maisie in great detail and is a beautifully, crafted work. Every character is brought to light with a delicate, thoughtful hand and the stories are woven around the players in great detail.

If you are a fan of a well written, English mystery and love the flair and sophistication of the early 20th century, then you are really going to enjoy reading the Maisie Dobbs books.

– Elizabeth Channery

The audio version of this book is also available for instant download at these sites: