Category Archives: books

What a marvelous book! This is the second book I’ve read from Pekka Hamalainen. a Finnish historian of the American West, and I loved the first, Comanche Empire. So when I was this one was available I grabbed it. Indigenous … Continue reading →

Unless something really incredible comes along, this is my pick for best crime/mytery novel of the year. The author, Eleanor Catton, won the Mann Booker Prize back in 2013 for The Luminaries which is historical fiction with a crime (or … Continue reading →

(finished 3/30) I think I’m done with this series. This book, the 5th, is more background on characters with a heavy dose of love interest thrown in.  The mystery is interesting when that’s the subject. A man has been missing … Continue reading →

(finished 3/31) The Forward and Introduction to this book of essays/articles are both quite good,  enjoyable, and informative. But it still took me some time to “get into” the whole and I was cautious for a long time even after … Continue reading →

This little murder mystery, #6 in Rhys Bowen’s Constable Evan Evans series, was way more involved and more fun than I expected.  After all my serious nonfictions lately I deserved some easy reading.  LOL!  (Not really.)  Evan and Elleby  Rhys Bowen 2000 – 7h … Continue reading →

I got this at a pretty good sale, but I was interested in what Richardson, a moderately well-known academic professor of US history who also writes for a general audience, has to say about this idea that the South won … Continue reading →

From Putnam, the publishers: :  “Critic and writer Darryl Pinckney recalls his friendship and apprenticeship with Elizabeth Hardwick and Barbara Epstein and the introduction they offered him to the New York literary world.” Come Back In September: A Literary Education On West … Continue reading →

This is a more a genre fiction with some crime involved than it is a typical crime novel.  The main tension driving this novel are the questions  “What did he do?”  And “Will they be found?”   These Silent Woodsby … Continue reading →

I finished this on about the 1st of March and forgot to post my thoughts.   Sad to say I was disappointed in this latest offering from a man I consider to be one of the greatest authors alive today. … Continue reading →

Surprise!  I finished and enjoyed the whole thing except maybe the ending was a bit schmaltzy.  The surprise is that I’ve never been a Louise Penny fan in any way.  I’ve read 10 or more of the individual novels in … Continue reading →

 Ma is an 80-year old woman with plenty of money, but she’s been depressed and going downhill health-wise since Pa died a few years ago. She causes problems for her children  and one day she walks away and gets lost. … Continue reading →

Published ini late June 2022 this  isn’t a thriller but a highly suspenseful novel, but it’s well written and  quite entertaining with plenty of attention given to a twisty plot and a few memorable characters, The thing is that the … Continue reading →

Again.- don’t think the story is told until you turn that last page.  What a ride!   I think I’m going to leave that last book I have unread alone. These got better an better and the best of the … Continue reading →

And true to my word I looked at what other books in this series that I hadn’t read and came up with what Kirkus Reviews calls “A genuine whodunnit.”   A Matter of Life and Deathby Phillip Margolin 2019Read by Therésè Plummer 5h 38mRating … Continue reading →

“An unapologetic valentine to golden age whodunits that sports its clichés as proudly as badges.”https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/phillip-margolin/murder-at-black-oaks/ Oh what a terrific book!  I’ve read several of Margolin’s books but this is hands down the best of what I’ve read.  Now I’m going to have to … Continue reading →

Starting in about 1990 I’ve read about 10 of Nelson DeMille’s thrillers. I read some in paperback and, after 2000 or so via Audible.  Of the main series with John Corey I’ve read 4 or 5.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelson_DeMille (scroll down to … Continue reading →

Pinky (or Clarissa if you prefer) is a curious sort of youngish woman. She’s a natural detective, so when Rick, her step-brother, offered her a job as an investigator for his law firm she jumps at it.  Pinky is 33 … Continue reading →