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The Darkest Evening of the Year by Dean Koontz

Publisher: Bantam ISBN-10: 0553804820

Reviewed by Glen Clooney, New Mystery Reader

Amy Redwing has a past.  A woman who loves dogs, especially Golden Retrievers, she rescues them from abusive homes, often at considerable personal expense.  Founder of Golden Heart, a rescue organization for these wonderful dogs, she encounters a very special Golden named Nickie.  Amy not only risks her own life to rescue Nickie from a violent man, she also rescues the man’s wife and children, spiriting them all away to a safe haven.  Amy keeps Nickie, adding the beautiful dog to her own pack.  There’s something very different about Nickie, as evinced by the odd behavior of the other Goldens she encounters throughout the story.

Amy’s past is about to rear its ugly head, as is that of her lover, Brian McCarthy.  Strange, supernatural things begin happening in the foreground, while behind the scenes people are being murdered on a trail leading straight to Amy’s door.  Vanessa and Harrow, two soulless psychopaths, have a secret in their basement; a secret that will ultimately pull Amy and Brian into their world of fire and mayhem.

Mr. Koontz has provided an eloquent, masterfully written suspense novel.  As a dog lover and staunch supporter of the fight against puppy mills, I found this novel a treasure in its attempt to spread awareness of this horror.  Written with sensitivity, the story does not include any actual puppy mills, so other dog lovers need not fear nightmares from reading this book.  It does show “ghost dogs”, which are those which have been rescued but are so terrified of human contact, even the most loving kindness, that they avoid even the people who would give them the healing touch they so desperately need.  Combining his love for dogs with his skill in suspense thrillers, Mr. Koontz has written a most worthy tale, though his regular fans may be disappointed with the softer aspects of this novel.  Kudos to Koontz!

Saturday’s Child by Ray Banks

Publisher:  Harcourt  ISBN-978-0-15-101322-7

Reviewed by Don Crouch, New Mystery Reader

This is NOT your father’s British Crime Novel. It’s not even your older brother’s British Crime Novel. It’s not Crombie, either (although we think she’s spectacular).

If Saturday’s Child has any kin, it’s probably the first two Guy Ritchie movies (you know, the GOOD ones)--Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch.

Those of you who, like us, loved the early Pelecanos novels featuring Nick Stefanos will also find comfort with Banks and his character, ex-con-turned-sorta-private-eye Cal Innes. You’d like to see him battle some demons greater than his own, and you know it’s probably not gonna happen.

Multiple narratives are a big part of Banks’ work here, and be ready for some adjustment, as one of them is in such a thick dialect that us basic Yanks will be challenged at the outset. It gets easier as they progress, of course, and Banks does a fine job of tying them together.

We first meet Cal Innes as he is getting the crap kicked out of him in an alleyway by someone in even worse shape than he is in, so that’s fun.

Then, he’s hired by Uncle Morris Tiernan who was, basically, responsible for his prison stretch, to locate an errant casino employee, and has to deal with Uncle Morris’ wacked-out son, Mo, who is of course resentful for the hiring and is determined to undermine Cal’s success, and then make it his own.

Throw in a cop who’s fairly dedicated to re-incarcerating Cal, and you have a hefty brew of violence, humor and deft character development that bodes well for the rather presumptive tag of “The First Cal Innes Novel”.

Declarative bravado aside, Saturday’s Child does indeed prime our interest for, uh, The Next Cal Innes Novel.

The Purrfect Murder by Rita Mae Brown

Publisher:  Bantam  ISBN:  978-0-553-80365-5

Reviewed by Anne K. Edwards, New Mystery Reader 

Change is coming to Crozet, Virginia in the form of extravagant new homes being built for the wealthy clients of Tazio Chappars, an architect recently settled in Crozet. While Tazio has adapted herself to the pace of life found here, her new clients often do not. One, such as Carla Paulson, is nasty to everyone except those few with more money than she has or being from the old line Virginia blueblood.

When a much loved local doctor is shot in his office, Carla sheds actual tears over it. There is much speculation over the doctor’s death until the killer turns himself in, adding to more rumor and talk. 

Another murder leads to the arrest of Tazio and because Harry is sure she didn’t commit this foul deed, Harry comes to her defense with the aid of her three pets.  Do the two deaths have a connection? How?

The very talented author Rita Mae Brown has crafted another tale of life in Crozet filled with old friends and new for her fans, while new readers will enjoy this tale and look for her other books for further enjoyable reads. The complications in this story are sometimes in the open and sometimes cloaked in secrecy and you will want to read this fun story all in one setting just to see what happens next.

I’m pleased to recommend The Purrfect Murder as a story well worth the time to read and one you will be glad you read.  Crozet will become like a second home to readers and the residents will seem like family and old friends. Enjoy. I certainly did.

Capitol Conspiracy by William Bernhardt

Publisher: Ballantine Books  ISBN-10: 0345487567

Reviewed by Stephanie Padilla, New Mystery Reader

It looks like Ben Kincaid, recently married and still adjusting to being a US senator for his home state of Oklahoma, is going to have to further delay his honeymoon when a horrific shooting occurs at the site of the first Oklahoma tragedy during the president’s visit to commemorate the event.  And with this new tragedy that’s believed to be an act of terrorism resulting in the death of the first lady and others caught in the crossfire, as well as leaving Ben’s best friend lying in a coma, it comes as no great surprise when politicians from every party demand for a constitutional amendment that makes the Patriot Act look like a liberal idea.  But what’s even more frightening than the event itself and the proposed amendment to curtail the Bill of Rights during national emergencies is just who really is behind it all.  An unknown entity that is as shocking as it is deadly.

In this latest outstanding novel of politics and power, Bernhardt explores perhaps one the biggest controversies this country faces in the new millennium - that of the struggle between national security and civil rights when under extreme threat.  And with both sides being fairly represented, Bernhardt refrains from rushing to judgment, his final denouement only arrived at after much consideration of the most salient reasonings inherent in both, making his conclusion all the more credible.  This provocative and timely novel is much more than good fiction; it’s also a novel that asks some pretty important questions and manages to answer them with an evenhanded grip on sensibility and reason.            

Red Mandarin Dress by Qui Xiaolong

Publisher: St. Martin's Minotaur  ISBN-10: 0312371071

Reviewed by Harvey Lau and Geraldine Young, New Mystery Reader 

Chief Inspector Chen Cao of the Shanghai Police Bureau, the main character in four other books in this mystery series, is an unlikely poet or lover of classical literature, having become famous for solving crimes in his native city in China. He however decides to pursue a master’s degree in classical Chinese literature at the local university, declining to become involved in a corruption case that has sensitive political overtones, and also leaving much of  a sensational murder investigation to his assistant Detective Yu Guangming and the rest of the police department.

Chen however becomes caught up in this new murder mystery, which involves a young woman dressed in a torn red mandarin dress and found murdered in a flower bed near a busy intersection. The case becomes more immediate when a second and then a third body are found in similar surroundings and situations, dressed in identical red mandarin dresses.

Chen and Yu, with the help of Yu’s wife, do intensive research, focusing on the dresses, the old-fashioned and expensive material used, the approximate time they would have been made, by what class of person, and so on. They put together a profile of a serial killer, eliminate several suspects, and then try to trick the final suspect into revealing himself.

More than a murder mystery, this is also a novel of detailed police procedure that uses modern psychology and other methods to ferret out the details of a crime that has a background set in the cruel past of the Cultural Revolution of China in the1960s.

The novel also includes other cultural aspects of ancient China, as Inspector Chen, a published poet and student of the classics, quotes Tang and Sung poets as well as the philosopher Confucius. Though many of the Confucian sayings the author chooses to quote are unremarkable in insight or depth of feeling, one gets the impression that he is attempting to explain an ancient Chinese vision to his readers.

Diehard readers of thrillers or detective mysteries might be impatient with these excursions into the literary, but as the author quotes from another writer, “Literature is of significance for a thousand autumns.”

Deadly Shoals by Joan Druett

Publisher:  St Martins Minotaur  ISBN:  978-0-312-35337-7

Reviewed by Anne K. Edwards, New Mystery Reader

Do you enjoy tales of sailing ships and adventure:  Join Wiki Coffin in his latest effort in solving the murder of a trader on the coast of South America.

Wiki has joined a U.S. global exploring expedition of sailing ships to be with his friend George Rochester who is Commandant of the U S Brig Swallow, His talents as a linguist come in handy in their ports of call which is supposed to be his job, but when a whaler captain reports the theft of his new boat, Wiki is sent with the captain to retrieve the vessel.

A series of clues and a mystery man who acts very suspiciously will lead you and Wiki on a twisting trail of murder and theft.  Who is the body found in a trench at a salt lake? What happened to the boat?  Who is the mysterious seaman who arrives on the scene to join the expedition?  Why is Wiki’s father sailing with the expedition?

These are but a few of the questions you will want answers to as you ride a testy horse behind Wiki on the trail with gauchos, sit in the luxurious quarters of his father’s ship, and in general try to make sense of things he encounters on the expedition. 

I’m pleased to highly recommend this fun read by talented author Joan Druett and you will definitely want to read her other tales.  Lots of action, and plenty of interesting and fun characters. A guaranteed satisfying read.  Enjoy.  I sure did.

Sizzle and Burn by Jayne Ann Krentz

Publisher:  G. P. Putnam’s Sons  ISBN:  978-0-399-15445-4

Reviewed by Susan Illis, New Mystery Reader

Raine Tallentyre knows that selling her deceased aunt’s house will be a challenge—even before she discovers the Bonfire Killer’s latest victim locked in the basement.  Raine manages to duck the attention of the media; fortunately, because she always hates trying to explain that she is a psychic who hears voices.  She fears that her aunt’s psychic abilities contributed to her insanity, and Raine doesn’t want to follow in her aunt’s footsteps.

However, Raine does garner the attention of Zack Jones, investigator for Jones & Jones and heir apparent to the leadership of the Arcane Society.  Unlike the last man she found attractive, Zack is not creeped out by the fact that she is clairaudient.  He understands her unusual abilities; although Zack doesn’t hear voices, he does see visions.  Discovering Zack’s relationship to the family that destroyed her father’s lab quickly squelches her attraction.  For a few hours.

Zack, almost too good to be true, reveals what really brought him to Raine:  J & J’s suspicion that her aunt was actually murdered by a member of Nightshade, rival organization to the Arcane Society.  As it becomes clear that both Raine and Zack have become targets of Nightshade, their alliance grows closer.

Veteran author Jayne Ann Krentz deftly weaves paranormal aspects into a suspense novel, without being too over the top.  Raine and Zack are intelligent, sympathetic characters, supported by equally believable and likable (or unlikable) secondary characters. 

An Almost Life by Kevin Mednick

Publishers:  Permanent Press,  ISBN:    9781579621575

Reviewed by Narayan Radhakrishnan, New Mystery Reader

What’s the archetypal formula for a legal thriller? Charles Martin Simon in THE MONEY had aptly described a legal thriller as a novel “about an ultra-chase, soulful-but-white, attorney/sleuth hero brought into the case backwards, fighting it all the way, against his better judgment, wishes, and all he stands for, against-all-odds, bad-guys-lose, good-guys-win type of thing.…with an almost infinitely convoluted plot with a few unique twists and a plethora of implied sex.”

But AN ALMOST LIFE is anything but an archetypical legal thriller. The protagonist lawyer, Attorney Mike Samuels is not savvy, is not a courtroom genius who conjures up victories, nor does he resorts to overblown rhetoric while arguing a case.  In fact he is all of a real lawyer whom we find in the real world…as opposed to the fictional lawyer prototype created by Grisham, Turow et al. Samuels is sedate in life, profession and character- he wants to lead a quite life, and sometimes even questions his self- confidence. At the beginning of the work we see Samuels going almost to an extent of asking his clients what prompted them to hire him!!! Samuels also has an unnerving fear that all his clients might one fine day fire him from his job. But don’t get me wrong, Samuels is one fine lawyer…. (who for a change is also human) and he does his work with dedication and poise. 

And when the case of a life time, a personal injury suit filed by a woman Evelyn Walker against her employer over a debilitating job-related injury comes his way, Samuels is forced to question his own beliefs, confidence and talent. This is one case which would make him or break him….after 20 years of hard work in the profession. 

As a lawyer myself, I found the book interesting- and sometimes could empathize with the protagonist. The ‘frustration’ which Samuels undergoes is something common to all trial lawyers. At the same time the book is also subtly humorous. I absolutely enjoyed the way Samuels handled this particular client, a strip dancer who wants to file a malpractice suit against the doctor who left scars after a breast enhancement surgery. How the case proceeds, is for you to find out. Simple, buy the book.

Enjoyed AN ALMOST LIFE tremendously. And looking more from this talented lawyer- author Kevin Mednick.

Now You See Him by Eli Gottlieb

Publisher: William Morrow  ISBN-10: 0061284645

Reviewed by Stephanie Padilla, New Mystery Reader

When it's discovered that upstate New York hometown literary hero Rob Castor has killed his girlfriend and then committed suicide, those he left behind are devastated and filled with unanswered questions; especially his boyhood best friend Nick Framingham who has deeply admired and envied Rob for 30 years.  And so it's Nick who is hit the hardest, the news only escalating his regretful awareness surrounding the downward spiral of his disintegrating marriage and once contended life even further.  So with only his memories and grief to guide him, he is forced to travel down a mysterious road for answers that will not only shock him, but redefine a life he only thought he knew. 

While this fascinating read might not necessarily fit the definitive description of mystery, it offers up enough questions and surprises to make it more than suspenseful and provocative for any reader who appreciates quality suspense that falls outside the norm. It’s capacity for heartbreak, middle-aged angst, old and new secrets, and the perils behind a disconnected life make this read filled with enough poignancy and pain to make this emotionally difficult read more than worthwhile. 

New Mystery Reader Magazine  editor@newmysteryreader.com