With Intent to Kill, by Nancy Kopp

Why I finished this book I can't really explain. At one point, early on, I decided that it wasn't very good, but since it is a mystery I wanted to see how it comes out. That is my excuse, I suppose, but in the end, the resolution is so contrived and weak that my persistence was not justified.

In this novel an assistant DA works with a sheriff's detective in suburban Wisconsin to discover and prosecute the murderer of a four-year-old boy.

I have now wasted sufficient words to describe a waste of words.

A brief review from Publisher's Weekly.

And When She Was Good, by Laura Lippman

The story of Helen/Heloise Lewis, a rather secret person who leads a very complicated life. Helen is a young woman with an abusive father who leaves home with a young man who is no better. Later in life we find Heloise, nee Helen, running a successful "escort service." She has, along the way, made some questionable decisions and involved herself with some very dangerous people. All of this is beginning to come together as we enter this captivating novel. I read this in a weekend, it was just great.

The Whites, by Richard Price writing as Harry Brandt

New York Times review

This is a very good novel about the life and times of a New York City police detective. Sgt. Billy Graves runs the Night Watch, and the Night Watch runs him.

Girl on a Train, by Paula Hawkins

This book contains pure evil. It's a very effective thriller, captivating, written in an innovative style that suits the subject matter very well.

Rachel is the girl on the train, a young woman who rides to London, passing the same houses every day. On the terrace of one of them, she frequently observes a young couple whose life seems idyllic. That changes.

Furthermore, we learn much more about Rachel, as well as the other principle characters in this book, and we are led expertly down the path of mystery and suspense to its amazing conclusion.

Great Leader, by Jim Harrison

...

NY Times review

This is the first book I've read by Jim Harrison. His writing is unusual. There's a kind of economy to it that can be just a little confusing. He doesn't waste words on transition; a character will move from one place to another, one action to another, one time to another, with little or no explanation. Several times I had to stop and go back to see what I had missed, and usually discovered that I had missed nothing--I was simply being challenged to use my head to figure out what's going on. In general, I like this in an author; I don't enjoy reading unnecessary reams of exposition, but maybe Mr. Harrison overdoes it a little.

The story is pretty good. I like the Upper Peninsula Michigan setting, the cold and bleak images of Lake Superior, its role as a sort of symbol for evil in the book. Sunderson is a State Police detective who retires soon after the story begins, but who continues to hunt down his last suspect, a religious cult leader that he sometimes calls the Great Leader. The Great Leader's main transgression is statutory rape: he likes to have intercourse with underage girls who join the cult. He also welcomes adult women as long as they have lots of money to donate.

Sunderson is a complicated person, probably an alcoholic, although his personal brand of alcoholism doesn't exactly ring true, and I have a little expertise in this area. He is extremely sexually active for a 65-year-old man, and doesn't seem to have much in the way of moral compunction. Add to this his habit of spying on his 16-year-old female neighbor Mona, and it's a little difficult to see exactly from where his intense moral outrage against the Great Leader comes. Perhaps it's one of those instances where we hate others the most when they remind us of ourselves.

Bleeding Hearts, by Ian Rankin

This is not an Inspector Rebus novel. It is, instead, a novel told partly in first person by a hired assassin, and partly in third person about the private detective who pursues him from England to America.

After a few Rebuses, I was disappointed to find myself noticing some cardboard-cutout characters, and not-so-great writing.

I did read the whole thing. It was well-plotted, even including a religious cult, and a fictional account of a real-time financial error made in the time of Manuel Noriega and the Iran-Contra scandal.

New York Times review.

The Paying Guests by Susan Waters

Set in the years soon after World War I, this novel evokes a time when many aspects of life were still what we would consider primitive. For example, the home that is central to the plot does not have an indoor lavatory or commode; its residents visit an outhouse in the garden. The mother and daughter around whom the plot develops, Mrs. Wray and Frances, have lost much in the war, including Frances' two brothers. Her father died soon afterward, though not as a result of military action.

The Wrays, short on funds, do a bit of remodeling and advertise for boarders, "paying guests." The couple that move in provide an instant accelerant to the plot, which becomes very fascinating and tense when one of the paying guests is found murdered near the house.

This was thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining, and gave what I believe to be a good picture of what life in England might have been like at this period of time. Furthermore, the issue of homosexuality at this time is dealt with, and we are shown a plausible image of how it might have been to be gay or lesbian then.



Sarah Waters' website

Identical, by Scott Turow

Turow hasn't disappointed me yet. This is an involved, compact mystery that features identical twins, one of the great basic mystery mechanisms, in my opinion.

In this story, one twin confesses to murder, the other has a successful political career in Kindle County. As the political brother prepares for a major election, his brother is getting out of prison, and things begin to fall apart.

There is an interesting under-current of Greek-American culture in this novel that I don't recall finding in Turow's work before, though I may simply be forgetting.

Sandy Stern makes an appearance in this book as do other Kindle County characters that Turow has introduced in the past. What a fabulously entertaining and thoughtful body of work Turow has given us; I hope there will be much more.

Left for Dead, by J.A. Jance

An audio book.

I've read (and listened to) many novels by Jance, back to her old J. P. Beaumont series set in Seattle. I enjoyed the Beaumonts, and read some of the Joanna Brady series. I think this is the first one in the Ali Reynolds series, set in the Southwest.

This book isn't too great. There's far too much exposition into character's back-stories. I will put some of the blame on the narrator, who I found to be just a little annoying. The plot, however, is keeping me interested enough to (maybe) finish listening to it. [Update: I did finish listening.]

This is probably a book that I would not read. As a way to relieve commuter boredom, it's marginal. I have found myself punching the radio button more than once to relieve my frustration with it. This is an ironic contrast to Rushdie's Satanic Verses, which I recently finished listening to. That was a book that I probably would have given up on reading due to its complexity and inaccessibility, but having listened to the text, I now look forward to reading it in print some day.

Maybe Jance has just gone on too long. I don't know.

jajance.com is a frustrating web site. I was trying to find a bibliography there, but grew tired of 404 errors and Flash book advertisements. Sigh. I did actually find what I was looking for by searching from outside the web site, which led me to this page, contained within it.

Innocent, by Scott Turow

An audio book.

Told from several points-of-view, this novel is the story of  "Rusty" Sabich, a judge in Turow's fictional Kindle County. As the story begins, Sabich's wife has died. For some reason, Sabich does nothing upon discovering that she is dead, and sits with her lifeless body for twenty-four hours before calling his son.

As the story unfolds, we learn about Sabich's life, and the suspicious things that have happened in his past. We hear the story from Tommy Molto, Sabich's old colleague and sometime enemy, who is now the prosecuting attorney, who comes to suspect that Sabich may have murdered his wife. Other bits are narrated by Sabich's son, and by Anna, his former lover.

The plot is complicated, and fascinating. Turow has spun another great Kindle County legal mystery, and I enjoyed every bit of it.

Washington Post Review

The Black Book, by Ian Rankin

An Inspector Rebus novel, (copyright 1993) in which Rebus becomes involved in several mysteries at once, which he, in his inimitable fashion, ties together, during which process he offends and alienates much of the Edinburgh police force.

This is a great book, a great mystery, and full of colorful language. While reading this book I decided to keep a list of what I imagine are "Scottish" words. Some of these I know the meaning of, some I guessed from context, some I need to look up. Page numbers are from my St. Martin's / Minotaur paperback edition, ISBN 0-312-97675-5.

• harr, n. Scot. and North Eng., a thick, wet fog along the seacoast.
  [1665–75; north var. of HOAR]*
• polis -- police
• ca' canny -- be careful?
• snell, adj. [Appears on p. 18 "weak sunshine and a snell wind" and 247.] Chiefly Scot. 1.    active; lively: a snell lad.
  2.    witty: a snell remark.
  3.    severe: snell weather. [bef. 900; ME, OE; c. OHG snel (G schnell) quick, ON snjallr excellent]*
•  stews -- I lost the page number for this one, but here's the quote I wrote down: "The Edinburgh establishment has never bided too far from the stews." (brothels)
• guttered -- "is he guttered?" [p.96]
• tadger -- penis [p.115]
• bunnet -- some kind of headgear [p.131]
• gey -- extremely? "...guide dogs are gey expensive these days..." [p.160]
• skited -- slipped, skidded? " ...nearly skited on wet linoleum..." [p.172]
• gardyloo -- "stepped under a gardyloo bucket..." [p.180] gardyloo, interj.
  (a cry formerly used in Scotland to warn pedestrians when slops were about to be thrown from an upstairs window.)
  [1760–70; Anglicized form of F gare (de) l'eau beware of the water]*
• heid-the-ba -- henchman? [p.189]
• keech -- shit? "They used to chuck all their keech out of the windows and onto the street ... the locals called it the Flowers of Edinburgh..." [p.190]
• blether -- talk, conversation [p.193]
• pulses -- beans? [p.241]
• fly-halfs [p.251]
• scoor-oot [p.263] -- a scattering, like throwing a handful of coins on the ground for children to scramble after -- search this page for "scoor-oot." Also, there's a rather expensive dictionary of Scottish words and phrases on Amazon.com with this word as its title.
• thrawn [p.321]
• teuchters [p.322]
• donnert [p.325]
• glaur -- mud? shit? [p. 333] 

*Thanks to my friend R.S. for these definitions

Another wonderful bit of color from the book: at one point, Rebus visits an elderly aunt that he hasn't seen since he was a child. She surprises him by grabbing his wrists and reciting the following grace before they eat:

     Some hae meat and cannae eat
     and some hae none that want it
     but we hae meat and we can eat
     so let the Lord be thankit

The Black Book is violent, funny, and beautifully written.

Rankin's favorite moments from his books, in The Guardian

Summary of The Black Book on Ian Rankin's website

Fearless Jones, by Walter Mosley

This novel is narrated by a character named Paris Minton. When Paris gets into some serious trouble, he springs his friend Fearless Jones from jail. Jones helps Minton unravel the mystery. Set in LA, soon after World War II.

I haven't read anything by Mosley in a while. This novel was about a 3-1/2 on a scale of 1 to 5. 

Reversal, by Michael Connelly

An audio book.

In this novel, Harry Bosch and Mickey Haller, half-brothers (as we discovered in an earlier novel) are brought together again. Mickey Haller, the "Lincoln Lawyer," has always been a defense lawyer, and one who is particularly disliked by Los Angeles prosecutors, as he has an excellent track record of winning his cases. At the beginning of this story, however, Haller is approached by a representative of the DA's office and is asked to take a case -- for the people, as a special prosecutor.

Jason Jessup is the convicted murderer of a young girl, who has been in prison for the crime for 25 years. DNA evidence recently introduced has caused enough doubt about his conviction that he is to have a new trial. This is the case Haller is called to prosecute. Mickey is unsure exactly why the DA wants him, of all people, to take the case. There is an implication of sloppy or improper work on the original trial that may at least partially explain why Haller is a good choice -- or, is this a complicated political move wherein he will be used as a pawn?

Haller decides to take the case, but only if his ex-wife Maggie "McFierce" McPherson, a career prosecutor, will be assigned as his assistant. Furthermore, he insists on recruiting Harry Bosch as his investigator.

Good reviews and expositions exist.  I will only say that this is a terrific story, and a masterful use of the characters that Connelly has created in the Bosch and Haller series.

Wikipedia page

Official Michael Connelly page

NY Times review

Ghostwalk, by Rebecca Stott

I can't say that I'm crazy about this book, but I did read the whole thing. It is, in part, a ghost story that involves Isaac Newton and some interesting (I'm not at all sure how accurate) information about his personality, and his involvement with alchemy. The book takes place, almost completely, in the 21st century rather than the sixteenth, but Newton and shades of the past figure prominently.

The Black Box, by Michael Connelly

This was an audio book.

Another great Harry Bosch story, set in nearly contemporary time, ca. 2012. Harry investigates a cold case that dates to the Rodney King LA riots of 1992. At the time of the riots, Bosch and a partner responded to the murder of a woman, but in the thick of action and danger, with the National Guard deployed all around them, they were only able to do a very quick and preliminary investigation of the body and the crime scene, then were forced to rush to another murder. 20 years later, Bosch picks up the threads, and unravels an amazing fabric of conspiracy.

This is the stuff we go to Connelly for.

Little Demon in the City of Light, by Steven Levingston

Washington Post Review

Maureen read this book and recommended it to me.

It's interesting in many ways, and wasn't much of a chore to read. A glimpse of the 1890s, a time when civilization was in transition. Hypnotism and early neurology plays a part in this story, in which a young woman, Gabrielle Bompard,  has been an accomplice to murder, and the question arises, was she controlled by her lover, Michel Eyraud? Had he hypnotized her, instructing her to assist in the foul deed, effectively removing her will, and thereby making her innocent by reason of hypnosis? Had his post-hypnotic suggestions caused her to lie and fail to remember important details of the case?

For me, the entire story was overshadowed by the horror of the guillotine, which was still in use at the time. There is something especially evil about State-sanctioned murder, even when done in revenge for a crime as horrid as the one committed in this story.

Body of Evidence, by Patricia Cornwell

An audio book.

Kay Scarpetta is the Chief Medical Examiner for the State of Virginia. In this novel, Scarpetta is drawn into the case of the murder of a young novelist and her mentor. The setting is mostly the Richmond VA area, and some in Key West.

Good commuting entertainment.

The time setting is approximately late 80s. It's interesting to note the lack of cell phones, and the non-ubiquity of computers, although computers are used to some degree by the law enforcement agencies. The FBI is involved.

The Lovely Bones, by Alice Sebold

Susie, at age fourteen, is raped and murdered by a neighbor, Mr. Harvey. For the rest of the book, Susie narrates the story from her vantage point in heaven.

While this is almost too poignant, it is handled fairly well. We see the effect that Susie's death has on her family and friends, and follow them for several years afterward.

Feast Day of Fools, by James Lee Burke

A Hackberry Holland novel.

This one got a little bit long. For the first time, I noticed that I was getting impatient with Burke's flowery language and excessive descriptions. Holland's character, and that of his deputy, are noble and attractive, but after a while perhaps just a bit too good to believe.

But still, after all is said and done, I read the whole thing.

The Brass Verdict, by Michael Connelly

Mickey Haller, aka "The Lincoln Lawyer," has been out of commission for a couple of years. When he decides to begin practicing again, he's surprised by inheriting the caseload of an old friend, Jerry Vincent, who has just been murdered. Haller finds that, among other cases, there is a high-profile murder defense of a Hollywood film mogul. As he delves into this case, it becomes very complicated, and dangerous.

Connelly is a master of this type of writing. I've enjoyed a few other of his novels, and ripped through this one at speed. Harry Bosch, the taciturn LAPD detective, figures importantly in this book, and plays a role in the interesting denoument.

Here are the opening words of this book, which are repeated at least twice later on:

Everybody lies.
Cops lie. Lawyers lie. Witnesses lie. The vicitms lie.