Coffee-lovers, this book is for you. Fresh Brewed Coffee is set in Portland, Oregon, ground zero for coffee aficionados. Twenty-seven-year-old Sage Caplin loves coffee like “Bubba” Blue loves shrimp in Forrest Gump. Sage is knowledgeable beyond her years in the vagaries and mysteries of coffee beans, coffee drinks (hot and cold), and coffee cocktails. Sage…
They’re back! Former high school English teacher Gwen Franklin and Nora Goldstein, her much-married-and-divorced sister from another mother, have made such a success of their pet valet service that they’re thinking about hiring another dog walker. Cat’s Meow is the second 2 Sisters Pet Valet Mysteries. Practically a third character is the city of Portland,…
Something was very wrong in the Lost Village, which is immediately apparent to Albin and Gustaf, two policemen who were sent there in August 1959. Silvertjärn (tjärn being Swedish for lake) is a remote backwater, a “pleasant, unassuming place,” However, as Gustaf and his partner arrive on a beautiful afternoon, the community is completely silent.…
Not Dark Yet is the literary equivalent of the final act of a three-act play, Robinson picking up where he left off in Many Rivers to Cross. Zelda, a gifted super-recognizer, is a heat-seeking missile, determined to identify and punish the men who ruined her. Avenging her stolen girlhood won’t change the past but she’s…
Thriller writer Tessa Wegert says “crime fiction writers are like journalists.” She zeroed in on a word—authenticity—that fits my thoughts on Larry Darter’s Omerta to a tee. Former journalist Wegert examines Michael Connelly’s oeuvre but fans of Omerta will undoubtedly see similarities: Regardless of characters, setting, or storyline, a single word always comes to mind when…
Welcome to Rosalie, Mississippi’s wedding of the year: Wendy Winchester, the daughter of Police Chief Bax Winchester, is tying the knot with her longtime beau, Detective Ross Rierson. Wendy, the heroine of the Bridge to Death Mystery series, wears two hats. After a successful run as an amateur sleuth, she was named a full-time investigative…
Some titles and opening words have the power to propel us instantly into an unsolved mystery, as with Nalini Singh’s Quiet in Her Bones: My mother vanished ten years ago. So did a quarter of a million dollars in cash. Thief. Bitch. Criminal. Now, she’s back. Her bones clothed in scarlet…
Some people are so happy with their lives, that for a split-second, they label it perfect. The ancient Greek philosopher Solon had a stark antidote to such folly: Call no man happy before he is dead. Keep that in mind when you meet Detective Nate Sweeney, his wife Emma, a doctor at the local hospital,…
If Ink and Shadows is your first Ellery Adam’s mystery, a useful entry point is the series name, Secret, Book, and Scone Society series. The secret refers to bookseller Nora Pennington’s hidden past that led to a new life in the fictional town of Miracle Springs, North Carolina. Book is self-evident: Nora’s bookstore, Miracle Books, is…
Trouble always seems to find Detective Casey Duncan and her boyfriend and boss Sheriff Eric Dalton, particularly when they’re off-piste, looking for some R&R in the wilderness surrounding Rockton. For readers who are new to Rockton, a thumbnail explanation— First, let me explain Rockton to those new to the series: it’s a small, isolated town…
