The Mammoth Book of New CSI, by Nigel Cawthorne

This book reminded me so much of the sorts of books I read as a child (although more gory than those, of course) that it was a little disconcerting to have a case from one of those childhood books get mentioned in passing in the midst of discussing one of the cases in this book.

OJ is in here, as is the OK City bombing, and several other not-as-well-known cases. The discussion of the Jeffrey McDonald case was fascinating. There are several British cases I'd not heard of; not a surprise as this was published in England.

Quite enjoyable.

Fables: Legends in Exile, by Bill Willingham

I'm trying to think of reasons why I shouldn't keep reading this series. I was surprised at how fun this was, in the way that comics of my childhood were amusing, except with more swearing. There are actually a bunch of 'extras' at the end of the story that were just as much fun as the main story.

OK, maybe I will keep going with these...

Judgment Call, J.A. Jance

After the high school principal disappears, Jenny finds her body up the road from their ranch, and Joanna finds that this woman had a very strange personal history. The story unfolds, involves a local artists' charity and in the midst of it all Joanna discovers some facts about her father that lead to another old case (or two) being resolved. Pretty good.

Worth Dying For, by Lee Child (on CD)

There is a certain suspension of belief that must take place in these books. I realized partway through that there are parts of this that are very "porn-y" about violence (without sex). Yuck. Still...I love these books. How is Reacher going to get rid of 20 people arrayed against him? Luck plays a major part.

Cadillac Beach, by Tim Dorsey (on CD)

Hmm, I'm not sure what to say about this except that once I got the hang of Serge's (ahem) temperament, I found it more enjoyable. A bit hard to follow, especially on CD, because it jumps around from place to place, person to person, and back and forth in time. At the end, I'm not even sure I remember what happened to the stolen gems, but that's because that's not the major part of the story. Except it is. Fun. ALMOST made me want to visit Miami and environs...almost.

Funny as hell, but also irritating as hell, much like Serge himself.

Freaks, by Tess Gerritsen (on Nook)

Well, not bad. But I don't think I need to watch the show, even though I like Sasha Alexander.

Don't Shoot, by David M. Kennedy

This was really interesting to read; every time I sat down with it, I was drawn in to the subject and the writing itself. The subject is how to deal with crime in ways that are not 'common sense.' Having an effect on crime means getting to know the area, the community/ies, the people, not "cracking down."

However, reading it at the busiest time of the year meant that I never got to spent more than about 5 pages with it before some new thing had to be handled. So, after 5 weeks and only 50 or 60 pages, I gave up. I hope to get back to it sometime though.

A Certain Justice, by P.D. James (on CD)

I have no idea how I missed this one when it came out ten years ago, but I'm glad I read it finally. It reminds me a bit of another of hers in that it ends in a non-solution, although we do find out "whodunnit." This one, however, involves the death of an attorney in her locked "room" (office) with a judge's wig and blood on her head.

And there are plenty of suspects; this was not a woman that anyone found anything much good to say about. She's actually one of those characters who rather 'deserved to die.' And so when one of the suspects turns out to have had a great deal to do with her death, it's a shame that the character turns out to be much more likable than the victim was.

Lots of twists and turns, as usual in all James' books.

Cemetery Dance, by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child (on CD)

Check this series off as one I don't need to look in on again. Pretty good plotting, with some outrageous red herrings and coincidences. Got a little tired of hearing the saw descriptions of the "zombies"--their horrifying aspect and scent, etc.

Still the descriptions of "vodou" and of the last original bit of original forest on Manhattan (yeah, Manhattan still has forest on it!) drove me to find a map and really explore the entire length of the island and realize just how big it is. And we really don't hear much about over 85% of it.

Detective Fiction, by M. Lee Alexander (on CD)

I think I've read too many mysteries in my life. All I could think about while listening to this course was how many authors were not mentioned. Still there were a lot of insights here that I was interested to discover, some I'd noticed and others that I hadn't.

The Murder Room, by Michael Capuzzo

A very disappointing book. The Vidocq Society is a group of crime experts who meet to solve cold cases. The blurb mentions several specific cases: Jack the Ripper, the Butcher of Cleveland, and JonBenet Ramsey. The subject is fascinating, but the editing was bizarre: people were introduced with no explanation until a chapter later (or never), other people and situations were explained multiple times in almost identical terms. On top of which, I found no mention whatsoever of JonBenet, and I finished the book wondering what the heck happened.

I think this probably was a potentially well-written story that was torn apart and glued back together very clumsily and published before it was finished.

Watchlist : A Serial Thriller, based on an idea by Jeffery Deaver

Uneven, a little patchy and unbelievable. Very much in the TV/Movie vein of suspense. Not horrible, but not the best book ever.

Blaze, by Richard Bachman

Interesting combination of noir and "Of Mice and Men." One of those stories that funnels down to the only possible ending.

The Cutting Room, by Laurence Klavan (on CD)

Dumb.

Dumb dumb dumb, and the reader didn't do much for me either.

Every Man Dies Alone, by Hans Fallada; translated by Michael Hofmann; afterword by Geoff Wilkes

Very, very interesting. Written just after WWII, and taking place in early parts of the war (beginning when Germany invaded France and moving forward about two years), it focuses on the people who live in one apartment building in Berlin and how day-to-day life twisted in upon itself under the Nazi regime. It takes awhile to realize, but it's really about the lengths people go to live with themselves. Reading this along side "Crime and Punishment" would be fascinating.

Astonishingly good, with some clunky translation in parts. And the afterword is quite helpful as well.

Columbine, by Dave Cullen

Much to consider in this book. Much that was reported at the beginning is inaccurate.

Child 44, by Tom Rob Smith (on CD)

Great book. Seriously: if you want to know how it felt to live under Stalin--at both ends of his 'career' in power--Smith does a great job in creating the claustrophobic fear and paranoia of the era.

Yes, it's a bit of a rip-off of a couple of real-life characters, and it's impossibly unrealistic in a couple of suspense scenes (the train one is especially egregious), and the plot is unnecessarily convoluted in a couple of respects, but I loved listening to it.

Will have to see if he's written any other books....

Scene of the Crime : A Writer's Guide to Crime-Scene Investigations, by Anne Wingate

Although nearly 20 years out of date, this is a good intro to writing SOC/CSI descriptions. It's pretty clear that the CSI writers have referred to this book, or one that's very similar--there are a couple of true stories/examples that seem to have been 'massaged' into TV episodes.

Interesting. Would be nice if Writers Digest would update this book, and the others in the series this book is in, all of which cover writing crime novels.

Blanche on the Lam, by Barbara Neely

Fun. Eye-opening.

Banishing Verona, by Margot Livesey

Excellent book, as long as you buy into the doggedness of the main male character, Zeke.

Zeke, though it's never spelled out, is autistic, probably has Asperger's Syndrome. His parents are greengrocers and want him to take over the shop now that he's approaching 30. He wants nothing to do with it; he enjoys his handyman jobs. His life is far from 'normal' but it fits him fairly well.

He's busy painting in a house whose owners are out of town on holiday when their visibly-pregnant niece shows up at the front door ready to spend the night. Of course, she's really not their niece, and he knows something isn't quite right, but he is taken by this strong but needy woman and she does spend the night. Then she disappears.

He can't forget her. He knows they have a connection and he is determinded to hold on to that connection no matter what. No matter if his father has just had a heart attack, his mother is intent on running off with her lover, his business is going to suffer...no matter, in fact, that he is terrified of flying and ends up flying to America on the basis of a 2 minute phone call from Verona.

It's quite a weird book, yes, but once I got inside Zeke's (and to a lesser extent, Verona's) head, all the choices they make are perfectly in character. I'd call this kind of book Literate Chick Lit.

[Autism is clearly the current Darling of the Literary World--I've read or heard about dozens of books on the subject in the past couple of years.]