Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Some New Mysteries on the Shelves--

If I want to see the newest mysteries in the library, I head downstairs where our newest fiction titles are shelved. Three titles caught my eye among those offered:


The Trouble with Tulip is the first book of "a smart chick mystery" series by Mindy Starns Clark. It features advice columnist Josephine ("Jo") Tulip who turns detective to investigate a neighbor's sudden death with the aid of a close friend, Danny, who's a photographer. Jo and Danny plunge in this venture to the frustration of the local police and find their friendship is strengthened and strained as a result. Clark writes under a Christian publisher and the "smart chick" series is a follow-up to her "million dollar mysteries" series. The book is 293 pages.


Minister's Ghost: a Fever Devilin Mystery is the newest book by Phillip DePoy. The third book to feature Fever Devilin has the professor and noted folklorist returning to his family home to re-establish his roots in the Appalachians of Georgia. While on a trip to collect folktales and lore, he sees has an apparition at a railroad crossing which he believes is a dangerous omen. Later, Fever finds that to be the case as a friend loses two nieces from a suspicious accident at the same railroad location. Determined to investigate the matter, Fever encounters various colorful local characters and bucks against his oldest friend Sheriff Skidmore Needle in his pursuit. The book is 277 pages.

In Second Burial for a Black Prince by Andrew Nugent, Sergeant Molly Power is in charge of the investigation of an attack on an young African man. Found in the countryside, the man dies in the hospital of massive blood loss--from an amputated leg performed in a crude manner. The dead man is an immigrant and restaurateur named Shad who is very well-liked in the community. And as the police investigate, Shad's brother Jude and a boy investigate too. Nugent, who resides in Ireland, has a varied background with writing and as a lawyer along with working at one time as a missionary in Africa. The book is 228 pages.

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

"Run the Risk" book discussion

With our last book club for the year, we discussed the first book of a new series featuring a California homicide lieutenant by Scott Frost in Run the Risk. Frost has written novels before, but he's better know for penning TV scripts for various shows including Twin Peaks. I've read Frost also worked on The X-Files too but I'm unsure about dates or episodes.

Frost's Lt. Alex Delillo is a dedicated law-enforcement professional who is thrown by the developing case of hunting a killer who has a lethal expertise in rigging explosives. And Delillo's situation turns additionally frightful as this same criminal kidnaps her teen-age daughter during her investigation of him.



The book is action-packed with dangerous and tense situations. And Frost gives the reader Delillo's perspective in a first person narrative that nicely personalizes the novel.

That said, only one of us appeared to enjoy the book's entire package of characters, story, action, etc. One person mentioned how the story appeared to start like an episode of TV's 24 but lost its way. And, to be fair, that TV series certainly takes it leaps of logic but for this novel it led to frustration. The prolonged involvement of Delillo in a personal case--she assists in handling the kidnapping--and headstrong actions call her judgment in question. Moreover, is Delillo really the only one is charge of all investigations? Puzzling.

Now, this stripped-down novel action thriller has pluses but the lack of characterization, background and some detail turned the book into more of an endurance test than a compelling read. I remember how I mentioned at the start of the book discussion that this author has another book in this series and I asked if anyone had read it or found it. No one did and typically a few in the book club will read other books in a well-liked single title of a series.

Frost's second book with Delillo is Never Fear which was published earlier this year.