January 2015 - New Books!

[Bobbie]

A great crop of books from all over. There is something for everyone in this list. I'd love to hear which one's you all liked.

Hit and Run / Sandra Balzo
A Song to Die For / Mike Blakely
Spring Tide / Cecilia Borjlind
As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust / C. Alan Bradley
Notorious / Allison Brennan
The Midnight Plan of the Repo Man/ W. Bruce Cameron
The Brewer of Preston : a novel / Andrea Camilleri
Snow White Red-Handed / Maia Chance
Wink of an Eye / Lynn Chandler-Willis
Land of Careful Shadows / Suzanne Chazin
Five Minutes Alone / Paul Cleave
Lamentation / Joe Clifford
Inspector Specter / E. J. Copperman
By Cook or by Crook : a five-ingredient mystery / Maya Corrigan
Risky Undertaking: A Buryin' Barry Mystery / Mark De Castrique
Street of Thieves / Mathias Enard, Mathias
The Job / Janet Evanovich
Cold Judgement / Joanne Fluke, Joanne
Mordet på Harriet Krohn / Karin Fossum
Saint Brigid's Bones: A Celtic Adventure / Philip Freeman
Crooked River: A Novel Valerie Geary
Die Again : a novel / Tess Gerritsen
The Gift of Darkness / V. M. Giambanco
The Peripheral / William Gibson
Hold the Dark : a novel / William Giraldi
The Blue Journal: A Detective Anthony Walker Novel / LT. Graham
Run / Andrew Grant
Only The Good Die Young / Chris Marie Green
Another One Bites the Dust / Chris Marie Green
Tagged for Death / Sherry Harris
The Bishop’s Wife / Mette Ivie Harrison
Mountains of the Misbegotten / Joseph Heywood
Rain on the Dead / Jack Higgins
Sister Eve, Private Eye / J. Lynne Hinton
The White Van / Patrick Hoffman
Sinking Suspicions / Sara Sue Hoklotubbe
Moriarty / Anthony Horowitz
The Reckoning / James Patrick Hunt
Wouldn't It Be Deadly / D. E. Ireland
Spectrum / Alan Jacobson
The White Sea / Paul Johnston
Vulture au Vin / Lisa King
Murder at the Book Group / Maggie King
Trust No One / Jayne Ann Krentz
Strong Darkness Jon Land
Caught Dead: A Rick Van Lam Mystery/ Andrew Lanh
Spell Booked / Joyce Lavene
The Missing Place / Sophie Littlefield
Path of Needles / Alison Littlewood
The Widow Tree / Nicole Lundrigan
FrenzyFrenzy / John Lutz
I See You: Assumed Identities and Psychological Suspense / Patricia MacDonald
Knot In My BackyardKnot In My Backyard / Mary Marks
Color Blind / Colby Marshall
Murder at Marble House : a gilded Newport mystery / Alyssa Maxwell
The Skeleton Road / Val McDermid
The Sun Is God / Adrian McKinty
French Pastry Murder / Leslie Meier
Seven Wonders: a novel / Ben Mezrich
Silent Murders / Mary Miley
Unraveled Visions / Nina Milton
Secrets of the Lighthouse / Santa Montefiore
The Final Silence / Stuart Neville
Chain of Events: A Novel : a novel / Fredrik T. Olsson
Kill 'Em with Cayenne: A Spice Shop Mystery / Gail Oust
Full Measure /T. Jefferson Parker
the murder man / Toyn Parsons
A New York Christmas : a novel / Anne Perry
A String of Beads / Thomas Perry, Thomas
Five / Ursula Poznanski
The Sea Grape Tree: A Novel / Gillian Royes
Truth Be Told / Hank Phillippi Ryan
Supping with the Devil : a DCI Paniatowski mystery / Sally Spencer
A Virtuous Death / Christine Trent
Forty Days Without Shadow : an Arctic thriller / Oliver Truc
Three May Keep a Secret / Susan Van Kirk
Death in the Dolomites: A Rick Montoya Italian Mystery / Davd P. Wagner
Finished Business / David Wishart
Insatiable Appetites / Stuart Woods
The Ploughmen : a novel / Kim Zupan

[Bobbie]

Just finished this book - one of two on the list set in Texas. A Private Investigator comes home and comes to terms with the past, while investigating crimes in the present. Really liked it a lot - and yes, West Texas REALLY is that hot.

[Bobbie]

This is the other book on the list set in Texas. This time it’s Austin-1975. Singer/songwriter and one-hit wonder Creed Mason has returned from Vietnam hoping to restart his career. He’s told to contact a legendary musician Luster Burnett. Retired after his wife’s death, Luster needs to put a band together and make money fast after his manager’s death leaves him owing more money than he has to both the IRS and the Las Vegas Mob. Creed signs on as band manager and the two of them start work on the band (members), new songs and a broken down tour bus. Meanwhile a young woman discovers the darker side of her adopted family; she accidently witnesses her cousin planting a tree on top of a former employee. She heads from Las Vegas to Austin, followed by her cousin, determined to remove any loose ends. Her death brings in Texas Ranger Hooley Johnson and FBI Special Agent Mel Doolittle, the other main characters of the book. There is a connection between the band and the murders, but neither Creed or Johnson can determine what it is until they start working together.
The book has a good plot and authentic atmosphere and enough inside references about real performers and songs from the author – himself a musician – to make it a great read. Making a play list from YouTube to listen to while reading makes it perfect.