The Mystery Memo is a log of all of my mystery reading, with brief comments and a star rating for each book read. It is published every 4 to 6 weeks.

This Mystery Memo has one perfect read: Sara J. Henry's Learning to Swim, described below.

The following selections from my Mystery Memo # 116 features crime solvers who are not paid investigators like private eyes or police officers of any kind. They include journalists (Jan Burke's Irene Kelly, Julie Kramer's Riley Spartz), workers in forensics (Kathryn Fox's pathologist Dr. Anya Crichton, Ellie Griffith's forensic archaeologist Ruth Galloway) and just plain amateur sleuths (Charles Todd's new series with World War I nurse, Bess Crawford and Sara Henry's young protagonist Troy Chance who sees a child fall off a ferry)

Click here to download the entire Mystery Memo # 116 and see all 16 mysteries.

Jan Burke: Disturbance (2011) ****
Journalist/investigator
Book # 11 with reporter Irene Kelly in southern California
The serial killer in Bones (# 7 in series) has recovered from a serious injury and escapes from prison, determined to take vengeance against Irene. Half way through the book, he kidnaps her with the help of several of his sons. This was a fine action/adventure mystery, but it would be best to read at least Bones before this one.
First book: Goodnight, Irene
*

Kathryn Fox: Death Mask (2011) *** ½
Forensics.
Book # 4 with freelance pathologist and forensic physician Dr. Anya Crichton.

Anya has been invited to give workshops to professional football players about sexual behaviour. After several young football players with a connection to the same high school end up dead, she helps investigate. A complex plot but with less forensics than the others in the series.
First book: Malicious Intent

*

Elly Griffiths: The House at Sea’s End (2011) ****
Amateur detective/British police procedural.
Book # 3 with Ruth Galloway, forensic archaeologist.

Several bodies found in a seaside cave turn out to be German soldiers from WW2. A German researcher comes to town claiming he knows who they are but then he is murdered. Someone is determined to keep the secret of who killed these men, but Ruth and her sometime lover DCI Nelson are on the trail. This series is strongly character-driven with good archaeology content.
First book: The Crossing Places
*

Sara J. Henry: Learning to Swim (2011) *****
Amateur sleuth
Book # 1 with Troy Chance, a young woman who works in Lake Placid, NY.

While on a ferry trip across the lake, Troy thinks she sees a child fall from a passing ferry. Without thinking, she jumps in and yes, a 6-year-old boy has been tied into a sweatshirt and is underwater. She rescues him and heroically swims to shore. The pace hardly slows down after she traces the boy’s father to Ottawa and accompanies the child back home. Troy is determined to get to the bottom of who threw the child in the water. Enthralling writing style, a good balanced character in Troy and an interesting narrative voice. A great read.
*

Julie Kramer: Silencing Sam (2010) *** ½
Journalist.
Book # 3 with television journalist Riley Spartz

Riley is the main suspect in the murder of a local gossip columnist. While trying to prove her innocence, she also tackles stories at a wind farm troubled by bombs. I find Riley’s point of view interesting.
First book: Stalking Susan
*
*

Charles Todd: An Impartial Witness (2010) *** ½
Historical/Amateur sleuth.
Book # 2 with war nurse Bess Crawford, set in England during WW1.

After Bess travels to England with a seriously injured pilot who constantly carries a photograph of his beloved wife, she sees the woman from the photo having an emotional scene with another man at the train station. When the woman is soon found murdered, Bess comes forward to the police with her information and gets involved looking into the woman’s life.
First book: A Duty to the Dead

posted by Sharon

WHAT I'M READING NOW:
The Devil's Dust
by C.B. Forrest

Canadian police procedural/investigator

Book # 3 with Charlie McKelvey, a 30-year veteran Toronto police detective, newly retired.

Description: Retired Toronto detective Charlie McKelvey runs from a cancer diagnosis and the violent memories of the big city and retreats to his hometown. A small declining mining centre in northern Ontario, Ste. Bernadette offers McKelvey a chance to resolve old family issues, including his fathers involvement in a deadly wildcat strike in the late 1950s.
When the local police force enlists his help in tracing an upswing in youth violence and vandalism, McKelvey stumbles into the hornets nest of a crystal meth industry....
First book: The Weight of Stones

Sam Thomas: The Midwife’s Tale (2012) ****

MBTB mini-review: I love an unusual point of view. Following midwife Bridget Hodgson through the dangerous streets of 1644 York brings that time period alive.

Here's what Booklist had to say: It is 1644, and civil war has erupted in York, England. The Parliament’s armies have revolted against the king and laid siege to the city, but midwife Bridget Hodgson still has babies to deliver. She soon finds an even bigger problem. Her friend Esther Cooper has been convicted of murdering her husband. She will burn at the stake if the real killer is not found. Bridget and her servant, Martha Hawkins, set out to save Esther. Martha has street smarts and excellent knife skills. The two women begin investigating while keeping clear of the rebel artillery and confronting an evil figure from Martha’s past. They find that Esther’s husband, an ostentatious Puritan, had a very sinister secret life. Moving from the dank alleys of the poor neighborhoods to the mansions of the rich, Bridget and Esther capture a brutal killer and find that traitors are often tyrants. The author is a historian, and his period detail creates a vivid atmosphere. The strong female characters and action-packed plot will please historical-mystery readers.

This is suggested for fans of Ariana Franklin's Mistress of the Art of Death series and C.J. Sansom's Matthew Shardlake series

## Related posts:
MBTB profile of Ariana Franklin
MBTB review of C.J. Sansom's Sovereign # 3
posted by Sharon

WHAT I'M READING NOW:
The Sound of Broken Glass
by Deborah Crombie

British police procedural

Book # 15 with Duncan Kincaid, a Scotland Yard superintendent, and Gemma James, a sergeant, in London, England

Summary: While investigating the murder of a well-respected barrister who was found dead at a seedy hotel in Crystal Palace, Detective Inspector Gemma James and her partner, Detective Sergeant Melody Talbot, begin to question everything they think they know about their world and those they trust most.

With St. Patrick's Day fast approaching, it was just coincidence that I picked up Adrian McKinty's The Cold Cold Ground, a 5-star read for me.

This is Book # 1 with Sean Duffy, a detective sergeant in 1980s Northern Ireland, in the Troubles Trilogy.

MBTB mini-review: I enjoyed the young protagonist’s wry sense of humour in a terrible violent time. The case: the discovery of a murdered man with his hand cut off and a different man’s hand left with the body is the beginning of a complex murder investigation. McKinty's description of the time (1981) and the place (Belfast and area) was excellent.

Here's what the Guardian review had to say:
There's food for thought in McKinty's writing, but he is careful not to lose the force of his narrative in introspection. The Cold Cold Ground is a crime novel, fast-paced, intricate and genre to the core. The violence is extreme and the sex is gritty. Duffy's three murder cases are isolated on the surface, but in the dark world of dirty wars, the dead are seldom unconnected, and rarely innocent as they beckon to us from the cold, cold earth...... Read the entire Guardian review here.

Other series set in Ireland that I have liked:
Ken Bruen's series with Jack Taylor, dismissed from the Garda Síochána (Irish police) for drinking, now finding things for people in Galway, Ireland, since “private eye” sounds too much like “informer” to the Irish.
First book: The Guards


Tana French's loosely connected series with police detectives on the murder squad in Dublin, Ireland.
First book: In the Woods

## Related posts:
MBTB mini-review of The Likeness # 2 in the Dublin Murder squad series

MBTB mini-review of Broken Harbor # 4 in the Dublin Murder squad series

Want more? Here's a list in the library online catalogue generated using the key words "mystery stories Ireland"

posted by Sharon

WHAT I'M READING NOW:
Whispering Death
by Garry Disher

British police procedural

Book # 6 with Hal Challis, a Detective Inspector on the Peninsula south-east of Melbourne, Australia

Summary: Hal Challis is in trouble at home and abroad: dressed down by the boss for speaking out about police budget cuts; missing his lover, Ellen Destry, who is overseas on a study tour. But there's plenty to keep his mind off his problems. A rapist in a police uniform stalks Challis's Peninsula beat, there is a serial armed robber headed in his direction and a home invasion that's a little too close to home. Not to mention a very clever, very mysterious female cat burglar who may or may not be planning something on Challis's patch.

Not all these books were published in 2012 - my only criteria is that I read them in 2012.
The brief reviews are mine.
Click here to download the entire list and see all 10 mysteries.

Sharon

Graham Hurley: Happy Days (2012)
British police procedural.
Book # 12 with troubled DI Joe Faraday and fellow police officer, now retired Paul Winter, set in Portsmouth, England.

Paul Winter is still working for crime boss Bazza MacKenzie, but wants to get out – he takes an undercover assignment from his friend police officer Jimmy Suttle to get Bazza into trouble. This is the last book in this series, but Hurley has started a new series, using police officer Jimmy Suttle.

First book: Turnstone

* * *

Peter James: Not Dead Yet (2012)

British police procedural.

Book # 8 with D.S. Roy Grace, Sussex, England. Roy’s wife Sandy disappeared years before and he has finally given up looking for her.

Roy is assigned to protect superstar singer Gaia, coming to Brighton to star in a movie. A stalker has not only threatened her, but has already killed her look-alike assistant.

First book: Dead Simple

* * *

Val McDermid: The Retribution (2011)
British police procedural.
Book # 7 with Tony Hill, a psychologist who does criminal profiling for the police, and his friend DI Carol Jordan.

Serial killer Jacko Vance has escaped from prison and starts killing people in revenge for his imprisonment. Carol and Tony are on the list.

First book: The Mermaids Singing

* * *

Ian Rankin: Standing in Another Man’s Grave (2012)
British police procedural.
Book # 19 with the now-retired D.S. John Rebus in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Rebus is now working as a civilian in the cold case unit. The case: the mother of a teenaged girl missing several years ago convinces Rebus to look at the old case. He soon discovers a link to several other similar disappearances of teenage girls along the same stretch of highway, including a recent one. It’s good to have Rebus back.

First book: Knots and Crosses

* * *

Scott Thornley: The Ambitious City (2012)
Canadian police procedural.
Book # 2 with MacNeice, a senior police detective in the fictional Ontario city of Dundurn.
A project to raise a couple ships sunk in the War of 1812 brings several bodies to light – some are very old, but a couple appear to be within the last 10 years. There is also a serial killer attacking and killing young women of colour – we observe some of the killer’s internal conversations – interesting and creepy.

First book: Erasing Memory

## Related posts:

Sharon's Top Mystery Reads of 2012, part one

and from the previous year:
Sharon's Top Mystery Reads of 2011, part one

Sharon's Top Mystery Reads of 2011, part two

WHAT I'M READING NOW:
The Lewis Man
by Peter May

Investigator/British police procedural

Book # 2 with Fin Macleod, a detective inspector in Edinburgh, returns to his birthplace, the Isle of Lewis, in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland

from the eurocrime review: "another fantastic book and every bit as excellent as THE BLACKHOUSE, the first one. Fin McLeod is once again the central character. He has resigned from his job as a detective inspector in Edinburgh and returned to Lewis, in an attempt to rebuild his life, as well as his parents' old house.
Meanwhile, a body has been discovered in the peat. It is originally thought to be one of the prehistoric bog men but the Elvis Presley tattoo on its arm dates it as being rather more recent. ..." read more

Not all these books were published in 2012 - my only criteria is that I read them in 2012.
The brief reviews are mine.

Mark Billingham: Good as Dead (2011)
British police procedural.
Book # 10 with loner DI Tom Thorne in London.

A hostage situation depends on Thorne looking into the supposed suicide of a young man in prison at the request of the hostage-taker, a formerly mild-mannered storekeeper. Even more fast-paced than usual.

First book: Sleepyhead

* * *

Lyndsay Faye: The Gods of Gotham (2012)
Historical/police.
Book # 1 with Timothy Wilde, set in 1845 in New York City. Ex-bartender Wilde is one of the brand new police officers in the new city police force.

The crime was interesting and sad (several bodies of young children have been found buried in a field) but the characters, the city, the politics and the language raise this above the ordinary.

* * *

Charles Finch: A Death in the Small Hours (2012)
Historical/investigator.
Book # 6 with Charles Lenox, consulting detective, Victorian gentleman and new Member of Parliament.

In the countryside seeking privacy, Charles takes a break from speech writing by looking into a series of vandalisms in the village. When a young police officer is murdered, Charles is determined to get to the bottom of it all.

First book: A Beautiful Blue Death

* * *

Tana French: Broken Harbour (2012)
Irish police procedural.
This is one of her books about the Dublin murder squad. This book features murder detective Mick Kennedy.

A young family has been killed in their house in an abandoned development by the beach - the only survivor, the mother, is in intensive care. This is an excellent mix of police procedural and the personal, as Kennedy battles with memories of his childhood connection to the murder location.

* * *

Alex Grecian: The Yard (2012)
Historical/British police procedural.
Book # 1 with newly appointed Scotland Yard detective Walter Day, set in 1889 London.

On his first day on the job, Walter is assigned the case of the murder of a fellow detective, the body found stuffed in a trunk in the train station.

posted by Sharon

Watch for upcoming post: Sharon's Top Mystery Reads of 2011, part two

WHAT I'M READING NOW:
Bad Little Falls
by Paul Doiron

Book # 3 with Mike Bowditch, a game warden in Maine

Description: Summoned to a rustic cabin during a blizzard, Maine game warden Mike Bowdich embarks on a dangerous investigation involving a notorious drug dealer, a beautiful woman with a dark past, and her troubled young son. NoveList

Here is a non-fiction book about one of my favourite fictional private investigators, California-based Kinsey Milhone and her author, Sue Grafton.

Kinsey and Me: Stories by Sue Grafton

Description: In 1982, Grafton introduced readers to Kinsey Millhone. Thirty years later, Kinsey is an established international icon and Grafton is a number-one bestselling author. To mark this anniversary year, Grafton delivers stories that reveal Kinsey's origins and the author's past.

Read Grafton's interview with Oprah magazine here. She talks about writing, her childhood and her new book, Kinsey and Me.

or check out Sue Grafton's website
". . . Kinsey and Me has two parts: The nine Kinsey stories (1986-93), each a gem of detection; and the And Me stories, written in the decade after Grafton's mother died. Together, they show just how much of Kinsey is a distillation of her creator's past even as they reveal a child who, free of parental interventions, read everything and roamed everywhere. But the dark side of such freedom was that very parental distance. . ."

## Related posts:
MBTB review of T is for Trespass # 20

MBTB review of U is for Undertow # 21

Here is the full list of titles featuring Kinsey Millhone, a private eye in fictional Santa Teresa, California at Stop, You're Killing Me!

posted by Sharon

WHAT I'M READING NOW:
Eleven Pipers by C.C.Benison

Book # 2 with Father Tom Christmas, a widower with a 9-year-old daughter. He is the new vicar in Thornford Regis, a picturesque village in England

Summary: The annual Burns dinner at Thornford Regis is an occasion for bagpipes, haggis and scotch. It ends up an occasion for tragedy when Will Moir, one of the pipers, is found alone, in a tower, dead of an apparent heart attack. Father Tom Christmas, the vicar of the town, is privy to all of the secrets of its inhabitants, and is one of the first to find out that Will Moir was poisoned. NoveList

First book: Twelve Drummers Drumming

Here are two "first books" in promising new series. They both have a Scotland Yard connection. I read both of these last weekend:

The Yard by Alex Grecian **** ½

Historical British police procedural
# 1 with newly appointed Scotland Yard detective Walter Day, London.

Here's what the Booklist review had to say: In his debut novel, Grecian powerfully evokes both the physical, smog-ridden atmosphere of London in 1889 and its emotional analogs of anxiety and depression. It’s the year after Jack the Ripper has apparently stopped his depredations. Among the Ripper’s victims were the London police, especially the 12-member “Murder Squad,” which endured ridicule from both “Saucy Jack” and the public for its bumbling failure to solve the case. But the squad is still at work investigating homicides as Grecian’s tale begins.
Mixing fact and fiction (the Murder Squad did exist), Grecian has one of the squad’s own, Detective Christian Little, discovered rolled up in a steamer trunk in London’s Euston Station, his eyes and mouth sewn shut. The newest (fictional) member of the squad, Detective Inspector Walter Day, is assigned to investigate, aided by the first forensic pathologist in Britain, Dr. Bernard Kingsley (based on Dr. Bernard Spilsbury). More murder, both of police and of a chimney sweep, and more outrage follow. Grecian’s infusion of actual history adds to this thriller's credibility and punch. A deeply satisfying reconstruction of post-Ripper London.

MBTB mini-review: Victorian London comes to life in this historical police procedural. The characters are appealing. I found myself rooting for newly appointed Scotland Yard inspector Walter Day, Constable Hammersmith, brilliant beyond his station, and the ground-breaking pathologist Dr. Kingsley. I'm sure the beginning of evidence-based police work came together a little slower than we see in the book, but it was a great read. It reminded me a bit of Caleb Carr's The Alienist.

* * *

Walking Into The Ocean by David Whellams **** ½

British police procedural
# 1 with semi-retired Scotland Yard detective Peter Camamon. This book takes place in a small coastal community.

Here's what the Library Journal review had to say:
/* Starred Review */ Semiretired Scotland Yard detective Peter Cammon is called to help an overwhelmed Dorset police department. An apparent husband-and-wife drowning murder-suicide is not resolving cleanly since the husband's body has not been recovered. Meanwhile, an elusive serial killer is steadily moving up the picturesque English coastline, ever closer to this area, killing teen girls at a systematic clip. When Peter teases out the connections between the missing husband and a shady car-export business, he finally gets the break needed to open up that case. An unexpected trip to Malta adds to the swelling adventure tone, but when Peter returns to Dorset, the loose threads from both cases come together in a stunning conclusion.
VERDICT Don't miss this engrossing and complex debut, the first volume in a projected trilogy. Rich prose, literary allusion, and a strong nod to women's intuition provide a romantic touch to a crack police procedural. It's perfect for those who love travel and history mixed with crime.

MBTB mini-review: I found the quirky character of Peter Cammon appealing. I'm in the midst of watching all the Poirot series on DVD and Cammon reminded me a little bit of Poirot, in a good way. Cammon still likes to investigate in the old way, observing the evidence, interviewing people, and following his hunches.

posted by Sharon

The Mystery Memo is a log of all of my mystery reading, with brief comments and a star rating for each book read. It is published every 4 to 6 weeks.

I have pulled out the American Police Procedurals to feature in this post.
.
Click here to download the entire Mystery Memo # 115 and see all 19 mysteries.

This Mystery Memo has two perfect reads:
C.S. Harris: Where Shadows Dance (2011)
Historical
Book # 6 with Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, recently back from the Napoleonic Wars, set in 1812 in London.

Julia Spencer-Fleming: One was a Soldier (2011)
American police procedural/amateur detective.
Book # 7 with Clare Fergusson, an Episcopal priest in Millers Kill, New York and her love interest, police chief Russ Van Alstyne.
.
.
* * *
Here are the books in this Mystery Memo that focus on the American police procedural.

C.J. Box: Cold Wind (2011) ****
Game warden/police.
Book # 11 with Joe Pickett, game warden, Wyoming.

When Joe’s mother-in-law’s very wealthy husband is found murdered and tied to one of his own wind power windmills, there is enough evidence to point to Missy, the mother-in-law, as the murderer. Pickett’s wife Marybeth begs him to investigate and find out who really did it. Lots of good twists. The author handles the action well. Good believable characters. Not necessary to read the earlier books, but enjoyment would be enhanced.

First book: Open Season (2001)

Marshall Karp: Cut, Paste, Kill (2010) *** ½
American police procedural
Book # 4 with Mike Lomax and Terry Biggs, Los Angeles police.

Several people are found murdered with a scrapbook beside them – all connected with crimes they got away with. Lots of twists. More police procedural than action/adventure this time.

First book: The Rabbit Factory

## Related post: MBTB review of The Rabbit Factory



Karin Slaughter: Fallen (2011) ****
American police procedural/ forensics/ action adventure.
Book # 4 with Will Trent of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and his partner Atlanta police detective Faith Mitchell;
and Book # 8 in the Grant County series with Dr. Sara Linton, pediatrician and coroner.

When police officer Faith Mitchell arrives at her mother’s house to pick up her baby, she finds her mother is missing and the baby hidden in a back shed. Complex but not hard to follow. The multiple points of view and the fast pace appeal to me.
First book with Dr. Sara Linton: Blindsighted
First book with GBI agent Will Trent: Triptych

Julia Spencer-Fleming:
One was a Soldier (2011) **** ½

American police procedural/amateur detective.
Book # 7 with Clare Fergusson, an Episcopal priest in Millers Kill, New York and her love interest, police chief Russ Van Alstyne.

Clare has just returned from a year’s military service in Iraq and has joined a veterans support group. When one of the group, a young woman, is found dead, it could be suicide, but the group pushes for more investigation and even does some investigating themselves. The best part of this series is the characters’ lives, now including rookie police officer Hadley.

First book: In the Bleak Midwinter

John Verdon: Think of a Number (2010) ****
Investigator/American police procedural.
Book # 1 with Dave Gurney, who, at 47 is newly retired to upstate New York.

Dave was a decorated homicide cop famous for solving serial murder cases. A college friend contacts him for help after receiving a mysterious letter that claimed to know what number he was thinking of. When the friend is murdered, Dave is asked to join the police task force. He discovers a link to several similar murders.
Good, fast-paced, always from Dave’s point of view. I like Dave, torn between getting back to the police work he loves and the wife he promised to share an early retirement with.

posted by Sharon

WHAT I'M READING NOW:
Until the Night by Giles Blunt

Book # 6 with John Cardinal, a police detective in the fictional Northern Ontario town of Algonquin Bay

Summary: Detectives John Cardinal and Lise Delorme investigate the murder of a senator's wife found frozen in the ruins of a hotel in the woods.

Read a review of Until the Night by Globe & Mail's Margaret Cannon here.

First book: Forty Words for Sorrow

Tana French: Broken Harbour (2012) *****

# 4 with the Dublin Murder Squad

Summary: In Broken Harbour, a ghost estate outside Dublin - half-built, half-inhabited, half-abandoned - two children and their father are dead. The mother is on her way to intensive care. Scorcher Kennedy is given the case because he is the Murder squad's star detective. At first he and his rookie partner, Richie, think this is a simple one . . .

.
Here's what the Booklist review had to say:
/* Starred Review */ Each of French’s novels offers wonderfully complex and fully realized characters. Broken Harbor offers half a dozen, not least Mick “Scorcher” Kennedy, the Dublin Garda’s top homicide detective. Scorcher is smart, tireless, dutiful, and by-the-book, and he demands no less from coworkers. But when he and his brand-new partner are assigned a savage triple homicide in a distant housing development, abandoned before completion when the Irish housing bubble burst, Scorcher is shaken; the development is located in a place that gave him the best—and worst—moments of his life. Broken Harbour begins as a compelling and detailed procedural but soon shifts focus to the character of its characters. Whether cops, victims, survivors, witnesses, or suspects, all are brilliantly drawn and ultimately broken by the crime and the events in their lives. Although too little known to U.S. readers, Ireland’s “ghost estates” are a key motif: hundreds of large, abandoned developments with few occupied homes, often shabbily built and lacking critical infrastructure, far from workplaces, being reclaimed by feral nature. French’s descriptive powers are both vivid and nuanced, and her deeply creepy ghost estate inspires madness and a subtle kind of gothic horror. French has never been less than very good, but Broken Harbour is a spellbinder.

MBTB mini-review: Wow! The combination of the excellent character description of Dublin homicide cop Mick Kennedy and the truly puzzling mystery of the murders made for an unputdownable read.

The rest of the Dublin Murder Squad series. These do not need to be read in order. Each can stand alone.

In the Woods

The Likeness
## Related post: MBTB review of The Likeness

Faithful Place

posted by Sharon

WHAT I'M READING NOW:
Stephen White: Line of Fire

# 19 with Alan Gregory, a clinical psychologist, and Lauren Crowder, an attorney, in Boulder, Colorado

. . . the devastating secret that could cost Alan Gregory everything — the first of the dramatic two-part conclusion to Stephen White's acclaimed bestselling series.

First book: Privileged Information

Beach Strip by John Lawrence Reynolds

Amateur detective/Non-series/Canada

Here's some of what the Quill & Quire review had to say:
. . . The novel opens with the discovery of the body of police detective Gabe Marshall, the victim of an apparent suicide. This dramatic beginning immediately engages the reader’s sympathy for the protagonist, newly widowed Josie Marshall.
Unlike most amateur detectives, Josie is not inquisitive by nature. However, she refuses to believe her husband killed himself, even though she knows he had reason to: she was having an affair with his partner, which she ended shortly before Gabe’s death.. . .
Josie’s palpable grief and confusion carry the reader swiftly forward while her matter-of-fact narration and gallows humour prevent Beach Strip from becoming too morose. Reynolds handles this admixture deftly, and presents Josie as flawed, at times unlikeable, but entirely believable. Each new plot wrinkle propels the novel toward the surprising truth about exactly how Gabe died, but Reynolds’ complex heroine is the real star.
Read the entire Quill & Quire review here.

MBTB mini-review: The character of Josie and descriptions of the beach neighbourhood are very well written. Josie's actions looking into her husband's death are believable. An enjoyable read for a sunny day in a shady spot.

John Lawrence Reynolds is also the author of the series with Joe McGuire, a detective lieutenant in Boston, Massachusetts, who drops out to the Bahamas from time to time
First book: The Man Who Murdered God

## Related posts: Other MBTB posts about Beach Reads

posted by Sharon

WHAT I'M READING NOW:
Dead and Buried by Stephen Booth

Book # 13 with Ben Cooper, newly promoted to Detective Sergeant, and former partner, Diane Fry, now with the area's Major Crimes unit, in the Peak District in England

First book: Black Dog