Review: PAST MADE PRESENT by Bo Thunboe

5 Stars

I enjoy this Series particularly because of the enduring moral character of protagonist Jake Houser, a Detective with the [sometimes very corrupt] Weston, Illinois Police Department. In this Mystery,  Jake is confronted not only with a high school girl's inexplicable disappearance but with a series of cold cases: murders of young girls with post-mortem rapes. Quite possibly,  the wrong man was framed and convicted,  leaving the guilty to commit further abduction-murders. The corruption which allowed this may come far too close to home for Jake.

Review: SHORT HORROR STORIES VOLUME 14

5 Stars

"Anger Asylum": An intrepid protagonist suffused with integrity and character fiber takes employment at the local insane asylum in Anger, New Hampshire. He's compassionate, determined, and he's no slacker. Unfortunately, Anger Asylum hosts an implacable horror and its ever-willing vessel.

"26 Main Street": A remarkable Weird Fiction tale, with overtones of Lovecraftian horror. If the implacability here isn't Cosmic--it should be. Certainly it's inescapable.

"Hall Burial Ground": Of all the bad places in a town that is generally out of joint, the Hall Burial Ground is Anger, New Hampshire's absolute worst--and that's quite an achievement. An extremely unsettling tale; I predict I'm going to have multiple nightmares out of this.

All stories in this volume by Ron Ripley.

Review: PAST PERFECT by Richard Stockford

5 Stars 

Det. Thomas Clipper Mysteries Book 2

The second intriguing mystery/Maine police procedural with the intrepid protagonist Detective Lieutenant Thomas Clipper, PAST PERFECT pits him against a local militia operated by a military veteran who claims Constitutional foundation but has ulterior intents. Clipper's live-in girlfriend Janice Owens is now in charge of the Bangor Historical Society 's renovation of the expansive Gaylord Estate,  and soon enough finds herself at the center of a mysterious disappearance forty years earlier.  Author Richard Stockford cleverly weaves in a cold case and a present-day "terroristic" threat. 

Review: PAST DUE by Richard Stockford

5 Stars

Det. Thomas Clipper Mysteries Book 1

PAST DUE introduces us to an admirable protagonist in a new police procedural series set in New England.  Set in a somewhat fictionalized Bangor, Maine (where the author was once Chief of Police), each novel cleverly interweaves a historical event in the community with present-day policing concerns, while giftedly delineating characterization and character evolution.

Here protagonist Bangor Detective Lieutenant Thomas Clipper is tasked to help prepare a reenactment of the multiply fatal 1937 shootout between local law enforcement and a Boston criminal trio. In the process,  he also must confront a new series of murders, which ultimately prove to be linked to the 1937 shootout. The author balances the events of 1937 through post-World War II showing how Past is Prologue. 

MARCH 2020 GOODREADS REVIEWS

Books Read and Reviewed in March 2020:

Review: PERSONALIZED MURDER

3 Stars

A clever premise in which the Presidential line of succession is assassinated--or are all the deaths just horrific health occurrences? Are these murders or merely terminal health events? If assassinations, who or what  could possibly be "brilliant " enough to organize silent, unseen, killings? And why??

Review: NO BAD DEED by Heather Chavez

5+ Stars!

No shortage of villains in this brilliant mystery! I  literally could not stop reading and in fact stayed up LATE because I refused to fall asleep UNTIL I knew the outcome. Like a python,  the plot twisted around and in on itself so many times! My total absorption reminded me of my experience reading the novels of Robyn Harding,  who also pens behind-the-scenes tales of seemingly perfect marriages and families,  and covert secrets and villainies. NO BAD DEED is a  "what you see is not what you get" tale and an amazingly engrossing novel. Ms. Chavez, please write more. Quickly!

Review: AVENGE THE DEAD

This Scottish police procedural written by a former criminal attorney is bookended with a tremendous reader's hook and a stirring "race against time" conclusion,  but for me the interior pace was just too slow. The novel piles mystery upon mystery,  until the police don't know which way to turn, and there's more than one truly evil villain; but the pace felt just too slow for me and left me indifferent. 

Review: THE NEXT GIRL by Tom Fowler

5 Stars 

Two quick personal notes:

I read every title by Tom Fowler, and that includes every installment of the C. T. Ferguson's Investigations. I'm always satisfied,  and THE NEXT GIRL is no exception. However--this cover is terrifying. Sorry, Mr. Fowler: it sets off all sorts of horrific paths in my imagination. 

THE NEXT GIRL is mighty twisty, forking off repeatedly in directions I didn't expect or see approaching, which made for page-turning suspense, while optimism warred with cynicism both in the reader's mind and in the hearts of dedicated investigators,  both private and police. C. T. continues to be an adorable Feckless Hero, with a mountain of integrity for a heart and a precious snarky sense of humor (just as often directed at himself).

Review: I KNOW WHERE YOU SLEEP by Alan Orloff

4 Stars 

Some surprising twists in this mystery! Unexpected revelations and character Denouement. I liked the balance between well-intentioned private investigator Anderson West (himself a Feckless Hero) and his sociopathic sister Carrie, always bent on vigilante justice (and with her own good reasons). The plot kept me puzzling as well.

Review: VIGIL BLACK by L. V. Pires (The Waiting Mortuary Book 2)

3 Stars

VIGIL BLACK  is Book 2 in L. V. Pires' WAITING MORTUARY Series, following THE WAITING MORTUARY and preceding DEATH WATCH. The author weaves in backstory but still I recommend reading the Series in consecutive order in order to get the flavor of it.

"Waiting mortuaries" were a late 19th century custom in Europe,  to ease the widespread phobia of premature burial.  In this Series,  the concept becomes a bizarre killing ground for modern-day psychosis.