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

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 investigators and private investigators to feature in this post, including one Perfect Read: The Sherlockian by Graham Moore
.
Click here to download the entire Mystery Memo # 114 and see all 16 mysteries.

Kate Atkinson: Started Early, Took My Dog (2010) ****
Private investigator, England
Book # 4 with private investigator Jackson Brodie, a former police inspector.

Jackson is hired to look for birth information for a young woman now living in New Zealand.
He discovers that the story she knows about her birth 35 years ago is false. As usual, we see the story from many points of view. Nice writing – not neatly tied up. Not exactly a mystery, but a good read.

First book: Case Histories

Reed Farrel Coleman: Innocent Monster (2010) ****

Private investigator

Book # 6 with Moe Prager, a former investigator who now runs a wine store business.

Moe’s grown daughter asks him to look for the missing daughter of a friend. Good old fashioned private investigating.

First book: Walking the Perfect Square

Norman Green: Sick Like That (2010) *** ½
Private investigator.
Book # 2 with Alessandra Martillo, an investigator's assistant in New York

Martillo is now running the investigation agency along with the woman who had been the secretary, Sarah Waters. Sarah discovers new skills as she starts to handle some of the more routine cases. Good writing and interesting characters as several cases lead them into unexpected areas.

First book: The Last Gig

Graham Moore: The Sherlockian (2010) **** ½

Non-series. Literary mystery/puzzle-based.

Fast-paced with lots of Holmes trivia.

Plot Summary: Literary researcher and Sherlock Holmes enthusiast Harold White is shocked when a scholar who discovered Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's missing diary is murdered, while in 1890s London, Conan Doyle hunts a serial killer to prove his superiority to his famous character.

.

Betsy Thornton: Dream Queen (2010) ****

Investigator

Book # 6 with Chloe Newcombe, a victim advocate in Arizona. This is a prequel to the series and could be read first.

Chloe goes to visit her brother in Arizona but after he picks her up, he disappears at a gas station. Good characters.

First book: The Cowboy Rides Away

posted by Sharon

Death on Tour
By Janice Hamrick

Texas high school teacher Jocelyn Shore and her cousin Kyla are on a “dream” tour of Egypt when things take a nightmarish turn: One of their fellow travelers, Millie Owens, takes a fatal fall off one of the Pyramids. And that’s only the first leg of the trip…
From the jovial doctor haggling for trinkets he doesn’t want to the mysterious imposter wearing someone else’s clothing to the attractive stranger traveling alone, this group of tourists is carrying more than one kind of baggage. Add a mistaken identity, a priceless necklace, and another unexpected death, and Jocelyn finds herself reluctantly trying to unravel an intrigue that threatens to end not only her vacation, but her life. (Book Description taken from Amazon)

MBTB Review: Apart from the actual mystery (which was so simplistic that I kept thinking my predictions couldn't possibly be right--but they were), there were so many other things going on in the novel that I thoroughly enjoyed. I loved the touring aspect of the story, the fact that one of them in the group is partaking in foul play and everybody's a suspect. The locale was also a real treat, it took me right back to our little stint in Egypt. The descriptions of the sightseeing was fleshed out enough to take me back, but no so much that I was bored. My favorite aspect of the novel was the relationship between the two cousins. Hamrick does a wonderfully accurate job at depicting typical female relationships especially when the two females are spending a little too much time with each other in close quarters--we do get a little snippy with each other but ultimately are there when it counts!!
This was a great little cozy and I'm looking forward to the next one in the series "Death Makes the Cut."

Posted by Shiela

The wait is over. The author behind the pseudonym Inger Ash Wolfe is Michael Redhill.
Read his essay about it in the July 27, 2012 online Globe & Mail.
.

Inger Ash Wolfe (aka Michael Redhill) is the author behind the series with Hazel Micallef, a 60-something detective inspector in the small town of Port Dundas, Ontario.
The books in this series are police procedural/thriller type. I made a note after I read The Calling - Not for the squeamish.
.

# 1 The Calling ***½

MBTB mini-review: Detective Inspector Hazel Micallef is the acting chief of the Port Dundas police. The horrific murder of an elderly dying woman has similarities to another murder in a small town nearby. Hazel seeks out similar murders across Canada and believes she can predict where the murderer will strike next.
Try this if you like J.A. Jance’s Joanna Brady series or Giles Blunt’s John Cardinal series .

# 2 The Taken ****

MBTB mini-review: In Book # 2, Hazel is recovering from back surgery. Hazel’s small police force finds a clue that leads to a website with a live camera. It appears that a man is being held hostage in an unknown location. Compellingly readable.
.
.
.

Watch for # 3 coming soon:
A Door in the River

Stinging deaths aren't uncommon in the summertime, but when Henry Wiest turns up stung to death at an Indian reservation, Detective Hazel Micallef senses not all is as it seems. . . (Publisher's description)

* * *
Michael Redhill (as himself) is the author of two novels:

Martin Sloane (2001)
Consolation (2007)

and a Collection of Short Stories
Fidelity (2003)

and assorted other works, including poetry.

See his Fantastic Fiction page for a full list of his work.

posted by Sharon

WHAT I'M READING NOW:
Fun House by Chris Grabenstein

Book # 7 with John Ceepak, a veteran of the Iraq war, and his sidekick Danny Boyle, in the resort community of Sea Haven, New Jersey.

When one of the cast members of a raucous reality television show set in the New Jersey seaside resort town of Sea Haven is murdered, John Ceepak and Danny Boyle must move to protect the others and find the killer.

First book: Tilt-a-Whirl