Mystery Crime Books

This was my first Lowell. Pretty basic storyline, but the strength was found in the subject of pearls. That was interesting and different. The thing that had me grinding my teeth was the incessant use of the word 'ruthless'. Enough already. If I'm not going to be told precisely WHY and HOW the man is 'ruthless' then just shut up about it already. There were all of these mysterious hints about his ruthlessness but no specific detail. Just ruthless overuse of the word ruthless. The heroine can't understand his gentleness with an infant because he's so RUTHLESS!! She is confused by a tender caress because he is so RUTHLESS!!The overuse of a single word like that can kill a book for me. I hope my review doesn't seem too ruthless.

I have enjoyed the two other stories that I have read about the Donovan clan, and have always wanted to read more about Archer. He was always a compelling figure in the other two novels. I was not let down even though I had my worries about Hannah. However, you really could not blame her about how she felt about getting into a commited relationship with Archer. He did share some of those same qualities as her abusive husband, Len. It just took awhile for her to see that he also possessed some really great qualities that would make him a wonderful husband and father. However, it made for an interesting romance. God, Archer is truly a complex man as well as an awesome lover. All of their love scenes are truly hot.
To make Hannah believeable, in that she had a strict missionary upbringing and was kind to quick to take on Archer as a lover, is to remember that Hannah was truly a rebellious spirit. She actually ran away from the missionary life. Also, she did not share a real marriage or bed with her husband for at least seven years. She was starved for a human touch. Also, Archer is a dynamic not to mention handsome and compelling figure of a man. It would be hard for any real female to not be drawn to him.
I really enjoyed this story; the mystery involving the death of her husband along with a complicated romance made it an awesome read.

Sexy and mysterious, Archer is the eldest of the Donovan siblings and the most interesting. I found this to be my favorite of Donovan series because of the characters, the details regarding the pearl industry and of course, the attraction and sex appeal of between Hannah and Archer.

I recommend all the other Donovan stories but definitely, this should be read last....

I had a great time with this book. Not only is it well written, but the characters are so enjoyable. I love this series, and I love Elizabeth Lowell. If you want a great book that will entertain you and make you laugh, this is for you, but I warn you don't start it late at night, because you aren't going to want to put it down. The main characters are funny and human. They have their good and their bad points, and you get to know them through out the book. You see their relationship change and grow. The supporting characters are an important part of the story, and EL doesn't forget about them. Basically, any of the books in this series are terrific, so pick up any of them, but if you can, go in order :)

I have read several of Elizabeth Lowell's and books and have enjoyed all of them. But this book is favorite,why because of Archer Donovan ans Hannah NcCrary. Archer had loved her for the past 10yrs, but his half-brother Len had married her. Now Len is dead and his famous Black Tahaitian Pearl necklace called Trinity is missing,now Hannah and Archer are on a wild adventure to find Len's murderer and the necklace. Very exciting and enjoyable and highly recommended. Read the four books in the series. I want her to write another book about this family...................PLEASE.......

I read most of the other three star reviews and have to say that I don't understand how some of them can say that they dislike the book so much but give it an average rating of 3 stars. Seems contradictory to me. I also don't understand the five star ratings that so many people gave. To me five star means it is an enduring classic (ala The Big Sleep or The Maltese Falcon). This book is definitely NOT a classic. Although I found it a good read for the most part.

I liked the setting, most of the characters, and some of the dialog. I also found the relationship between the main character and the police chief Maven to be unrealistic. I also couldn't figure out what Sylivia's problem was. But then again I can't figure out women as a whole, what guy can?

But it seems like a good first effort despite the Psycho killer thing that is much overdone by a lot of authors.

I expect for this author to improve over time. If he doesn't then I will stop reading him.

Another gripping read by Steve Hamilton. Alex Mcnight as the ex-cop, private investigator with a past which refuses to go away.

Seamless prose combined with an excellent plot makes it an ideal escape for a train or plane journey. No less dramatic, is the backdrop of a fierce Canadian winter. Hamilton creates the ideal atmosphere for this thriller. And snappy dialogue coupled with briliant characterisation keeps the reader absorbed.

McNight is a well-rounded, credible hero who evokes the reader's sympathy as well as admiration. After the first page , you just want to read on.

"A Cold Day In Paradise" is Steve Hamilton's first novel in his Alex McKnight series (there are currently 7 books). It was a good, quick read. This book won the 1997 St. Martin's Press/PWA Award for Best First Private Eye Novel, and it was an award well deserved.

Alex McKnight spent 8 years as a police officer in Detroit, Michigan. That career ended when Alex and his partner Franklin met up with a man named Rose, a delusional pyscho who killed Franklin and shot Alex 3 times in the chest.

Alex moved to Paradise (the town, not the idyllic meaning of the word) after his near death experience to live and run the rental of hunting cabins built by his father years ago. He is convinced by local lawyer Lane Uttley to get his private investigator license and start working cases for him.

When his friend, Edwin Fulton, calls him in the middle of the night to a murder scene, Alex gets involved in his biggest case yet. A local bookie has been killed, and another turns up dead within a few days. Alex starts getting calls and letters hand-delivered from Rose, which shouldn't be possible since Rose is supposed to be in jail for the rest of his life.

Then Edwin disappears, and even though his body has not been found yet, Alex feels responsible for his death. Can Alex figure out how Rose could be out murdering men when he is supposedly safely locked up in maximum security before anyone else ends up dead?

Hamilton did a great job keeping his characters intersting and keeping the action moving along at a quick pace. I am excited to see what happens next to Alex in "Winter of the Wolf Moon". If you enjoy P.I. mysteries and haven't had the pleasure of reading "A Cold Day in Paradise", I suggest you pick it up and give it a try.

No need for me to retell an excellent novel. The author should have focused a little more on the U.P. setting, had he done so I would have given it 5 stars. I am looking forward to reading the sequel.

Being from the U.P. it is always a pleasure to stumble across a book with ties to my home. However, this was not the case with "A Cold Day in Paradise." This story could have taken place anywhere. The U. P. is a unique location that could have had more significance to the story or its characters. I was also disappointed in the continuous anger of each of the characters. As a reader I did not feel I was given enough information or background to understand or believe where this anger was coming from. As one previous review stated the characters seemed "flat." I would agree with this and in being more specific I would add it is more enjoyable and believable to watch a character moving into a state of anger, possibly struggling with it internally ... these characters were simply flat angry all the time.

I think this is completely Jimenez illustrated trade. It is thin but it has pace other books missed. Lotsa violence, unnecesarry, though...

This is a very interesting graphic novel. While slightly thinner than the other trade paperbacks published of The Invisibles, this one packs just as much punch. The artwork, as usual, is STUNNING. Verdict: Difficult to put down.

Morrison is arguably the best comics scribe around today, and thus far Invisibles is probably (still) his masterpiece.
Bloody Hell In America continues in the same vein as the previous story arcs, though this chapter is far more violent and "action packed" than anything we've seen before (as the title implies). These stories were of course written squarely in the Tarantino Era. In the midst of some blood-soaked & carnage-filled pages, even King Mob tells Jolly Roger that he is "beginning to question the already dubious morality of [his] actions". To call the violence "gratuitous" is missing the point.

And I wouldn't call this a good jumping-on point. If you're going to read Invisibles, start at the beginning.

I recently attended Comic-con in San Diego, and bought all of the Invisibles books. I have read three so far. Say you want a revolution, Apocalipstick (which was incredibly confusing yet good), and Bloody Hell in america. I made the mistake of putting the books in the wrong order, So I've actually read books 1,2, and 4. I'm currently on page 105 of Entropy in the U.K.

Aside from that, this book shows great art, great thought provoking writing, and really starts to show character development and action. This book kicks off the more action oriented section of the Invisibles, which in some ways, I find kind of refreshing to the previous confusing misleading storylines (Of course, I did love the first books, "darling").

One great quality of this book is the development of my personal favorite character, Ragged Robin. Robin becomes the leader of the Invisibles, sporting a new leather costume (as opposed to her civilian clothing), and showing that she has potential to be a leader with her quick thinking and psychic abilities.

Grant Morrison is an absolutely brilliant writer, and the art really compliments his wonderful scripts. I look forward to finishing Entropy in the U.K., and reading all of the other Invisibles books....

After the release of issue #25 of the Invisibles (collected in Book 3: "Entropy in the UK"), DC/Vertigo halted publication of the series for a few months. During this hiatus, creator/writer Grant Morrison revised his approach to the series. Deciding that the previous volume had been "British" and that the new one would be "American," Morrison abandoned the methodical pace of Volume 1 and filled Volume 2 with nonstop action, sex, and ultraviolence. Some say this new approach was a "watered down" version of the Invisibles, but I say that's hogwash. The stories collected in this book are the cream of the crop, and fulfill all of the promise of the very first issues of the series.

Book 4 collects the first four issues of Volume 2, and the change is immediately noticeable. First and foremost is the return of artist supreme Phil Jimenez. Last seen in Book 3's "Entropy in the UK" arc, Jimenez is probably my favorite artist who ever worked on the series. His art is detailed, clean, precise, and beautifully rendered; everything you could ask for, really. Morrison scored a huge coup when he brought Jimenez on board as the regular artist, something the series never had before. Therefore, there are no drops in artwork quality in this collection, as there were in the previous three trade paperbacks.

Picking up a year after the events at the end of Book 3, Book 4 opens with the Invisibles (King Mob, Dane, Ragged Robin, Lord Fanny, Boy) recouping in upstate New York, residing in the colossal mansion of millionaire Invisible Mason Lang. Lang is an interesting character, a neurotic Bruce Wayne-type who obsesses over the "hidden meanings" of mainstream films. The events depicted at the end of Book 3 nearly killed our favorite Invisibles cell, but now King Mob thinks the team is ready for more action.

Sure enough, Jolly Roger shows up, looking for help. Roger, a lesbian commando who's as deadly as King Mob, is the leader of her own Invisibles cell, and she's the only one who survived an assault on a high-level military base in Arizona. Those expecting "Area 51" shenanigans with little gray aliens will be surprised, because Roger's cell wasn't searching for extraterrestrial life: they were after the cure for AIDS. The government has the cure, has had it for decades, and now Roger wants King Mob's cell to re-infiltrate the base with her and make off with it.

What follows is enough gory action, cross-dimensional warring, masturbation-induced spells, mind control, kinky sex, and redneck-baiting to satisfy even the most jaded of readers. Did I mention the gore? King Mob goes on a kill spree in this book; Morrison claimed he was approaching this "new look" for the Invisibles like a big-budget Hollywood action movie, and he delivers. But beyond the mayhem, there's also some great character development, particularly for Ragged Robin, previously a blank slate. Here we learn that there's more to her than meets the eye: born in 1988 (the story takes place in 1996), Robin is definitely not an 8 year-old, but she offers no answer to this riddle.

There are only two drawbacks to "Bloody Hell in America." One: DC/Vertigo failed to include the last page of issue #4 in the collection. This missing page isn't integral to book; instead, it introduces Takashi, a Japanese scientist who comes to the fore in Book 5, and who has just figured out how to travel in time. Still, it would've been nice to have that page in here.

And the second drawback: Book 4 is rather short. Previous and later paperback collections are much larger, collecting more issues. This book only features 4 issues; this is because DC published it early in Volume 2's run, to capitalize on the title's new look and feel. But that's only a minor drawback; Book 4 makes up for in slam-bang action and thought-provoking ideas what it lacks in size.

This is a new wonderful collection of short stories by Peter Straub. Each story is more surprising than the one before. There is a tale about a jazz collector; one about the films noirs in the 50'; even a dark comedy about Donald and his family; a murder mystery and a Robert Aickman pastiche. Each story seemed great to me but for a different reason each time. The Aickman-ish story leaves you with an incredible feeling of horror. Don't miss this collection. It recently was Awarded. Thanks to Peter Straub for writing so well and havaing such a great imagination.

This was not her best book, atleast compared to the first two I read. It was just too watered down with society talk. If you've read the first two you don't need any more lessons on people of society vs. the working class.
HOWEVER, I did discover the reasoning of why food is served after a funeral, or atleast it made the most sense of anything I've heard so far and just for that reason the book was worth reading. I'm looking forward to her 4th book in this series, I've become quite attached to these characters.

I agree with the other reviewers who were disappointed. I too will continue to read the rest of the series, because I really enjoyed Cater Street Hangman, the first in this series. I found that this was just hot as interesting as the first two books in this series. Neither was it as good as the one Monk book that I have read, which introduced me to Anne Perry's writing and made me want to read more.

This is the third book in the Charlotte and Thomas Pitt novels by Anne Perry and I am very glad to be able to give an enthusiastic five stars as my opinion of this offering.

As a fan of these Victorian era mysteries I had wondered how Ms Perry was going to proceed with the investigative directions of Charlotte and Thomas. Now, after reading three, I feel that I have a better handle on which role will be played by each character and were they fit into the overall scheme of the books. The actual plot of the book has been very well described in other reviews. I enjoyed this title because it gave almost equal roles to Thomas, Charlotte and Emily. The residents of Paragon Walk were so fully developed and wonderfully rounded out that I began to think of them as real people. Perhaps there was a degree of closeness there which began to feel slightly artificial but it was a necessary part of the whole in order to make the ending believable. Neighbors in an upper class London street would probably not have been quite so much in each others pockets, but these were and the conclusion showed why that was so. I was able to see through two episodes which took place but never dreamed of the reason behind what the central dark portion of this case was all about.

I found this an absorbing read. It held my interest and kept me wanting to find out what was going on and what was going to happen next. A distraction for me was Charlotte's sudden ability and desire to leave her child in the care of someone while she made many, many, many trips away from home to investigate the case with Emily. Did Pitt not have anything to say about her sudden abandonment of her home and child to investigate? (Now see, I wanted her to be more involved in book two and was slightly dissatisfied when she was not. Now that she is more involved in book three, I'm questioning if this would have been allowed by her husband. How is an author ever supposed to satisfy us all?) Another point, suddenly Aunt Vespasia (don't you just love that name? pure Victorian!) and Emily were manufacturing clothes right and left so that Charlotte could attend funerals and other functions with them. Did Pitt not mind? Did Charlotte not feel some sense of abandoning her decision to give up all that when she married "below her station" because she loved Pitt? I can't have it both ways but there was so much emphasis on clothes this time that it became an irritant to me.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and am looking forward to reading the fourth in the series, Resurrection Row. It looks as if the characters will take turns being front and center in the solving of the mysteries. This one was rushed quite a bit at the end and could have done with a lot more explanation of what happened after the solving of the case. Still liked it, though!

In "Paragon Walk," Anne Perry once again delivered a penetrating look at Victorian society along with witty, sharp-edged dialogue. But I felt deflated after finishing it. The solution to the mystery included some silly, far-fetched elements, and it did not answer my nagging questions the way I hoped it would.

In its favor, the book had many intriguing characters. I am glad to learn Aunt Vespasia returns in future novels. As for the nastier residents of the Walk, their cutting remarks and veiled references to unsavory subjects made me want to see them stripped bare and to learn all their secrets. Once again, the ending let me down.

I was also disappointed Inspector Pitt did not do much sleuthing this time around. He spent too much time asking the same questions of himself and sending another officer off to question servants. Also, the novel had too many scenes at society parties, where people displayed their dislike of one another. I almost wanted to scream, "Enough! I get it that so-and-so hates this other person. Give it a rest, already!"

Overall, I enjoyed reading "Paragon Walk," but as I worked through the last 30 pages, I didn't know whether to laugh or to fling the book across the room. I hope next time, Pitt gets to do more detecting and that my curiosity about various characters is better satisfied.

Mysteries that involve historical periods can easily be swallowed up by their period dress, distance from our current lives and uncommon mores. In this third novel in the Charlotte and Thomas Pitt series, Anne Perry seems to find her footing more effectively in Victorian England than in either of the two previous books, The Cater Street Hangman and Callander Square, and surpasses the usual costume mystery.

A 17-year-old woman is raped and murdered . . . dying in the arms of her sister-in-law. Thomas Pitt is assigned to investigate. Matters are complicated by the victim having just returned from visiting Pitts' sister-in-law's house . . . making his brother-in-law a possible suspect.

As in Callander Square, the investigation soon begins to take its toll on the haughty heads of the houses on Paragon Walk.

Once again, Charlotte is able to work on the investigation by insinuating herself into the social lives of the walk's residents through her sister's introductions.

The solution of the mystery is a fair one, built up logically from all of the clues.

The story itself moves along fairly nicely, and the book can be read in one pleasant sitting if you are in a hurry. Or you can spread it out if you prefer.

The book still lacks enough action, and the pace of the plot and character developments will strike most people as slow. As a result, this book will be best liked by those who are drawn to the verbal warfare that's often found in Victorian drawing room novels.

A ring of auto thieves is busted in Los Angeles. The leader of the ring is a rich man protected by his lawyers so he sits at home awaiting trial. Two of the workers in this ring are brothers who also happen to be Navajo Indians. One disappears and the other comes to Shiprock looking for his grandfather and is shot by yet another petty crook who was apparently dispatched from LA directly to Shiprock. This is what gets Jim Chee involved as both crooks die.

How did crook #2 know that the Indian crook was to be found in Shiprock? Why was crook #2 sent via a chartered flight to do the killing? Who would spend that kind of money on a simple auto thief? and why? The Indian Crook is Albert Gorman. He does find his grandfather, but does not survive his wounds and dies. His grandfather buries him in the traditional Navajo way. However, Chee investigates he keeps coming across troubling items. Certain things are done - but almost right, not 100% correctly. Other things do no seem to make sense and Chee's ordered mind rebels against accepting them at face value.

Chee is also bothered by the latest turn of events in his relationship with Mary Landon. She wants him to get a job with the FBI and raise their children as white children. He is not sure about that.

This novel is all about the voyage of discovery that Chee makes into his soul. Is he a traditional Navajo who will remain a member of his tribe and become a singer? Or, will he take a different path like the two Navajo crooks that he spends a big portion of his time chasing. They were part of a Navajo clan that went to LA and became "white". As part of the investigation, Chee goes to LA and notices the differences between White society and Navajo society (in terms of how each treats their elders; how the different societies intermingle and interact with each other on the road and in person; and how the environment is different between Shiprock and LA)

As the story develops, there is very little real mystery involved and we get drawn more and more into the life-changing decision that Chee is struggling with. The book has a very clear direction - the author wants Chee to remain a traditional Navajo, but the character has to make up his mind. This takes time as Chee is one of those who think things through very carefully.

The mystery is resolved, eventually, as Chee realizes why certain things that are important in the Navajo world were not being done as they should. The ending is rather explosive and violent and seems somewhat contrived - however the resolution is satisfying in the sense that it lines up as we all feel it should.

A very good book and a fun read. I found myself pulling for Chee to make the decision he should have and was happy with the conclusion reached.

I enjoy the Leaphorn, Chee mysteries because they are about Native Indian characters. Being Cherokee myself its wonderful to read books about fellow Native Indians. It is refreshing.

A Shoot out at the Shiprock Wash-O-Mat leads to a puzzle that only Jim Chee with his knowledge of the Ghostway and of death rituals can try to peace together. Related is a disappearance of a school girl (Margaret Sosi) will lead Jim from the New Mexico landscape to the Los Angeles area. There with Hillerman's gift for description we also get a contrasting look of the different worlds. Will He find the girl and what does the puzzle spell out, or will it ever become clear?

This is a close continuation of "People of Darkness" so many of the descriptions and people were previously defined in that book. The reason people read Hillerman is mostly for the descriptions of the places and people his characters encounter. As seen in previous books, in the description of Margaret and other characters, he incorporates his real life experience with World War II and its aftermath.

Tony Hillerman's Navajoland: Hideouts, Haunts, and Havens in the Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee Mysteries

This is one of the better books in Hillerman's series. We learn more about Jim Chee's life progress in the context of a murder mystery, which is neither too complex, nor too simplistic. Hillerman throws in the Navajo history, lore and lifestyle without preaching, or assuming knowledge on the part of the reader. In a neat touch, we learn an awful lot about Mary Landon without her actually appearing here as character: she's there in Jim's memory, in phone calls, and in a letter she sends Jim.

Well worth reading!

I've read all of the Hillerman mysteries, but its been several years so now I'm listening to a few on tape as I drive to work. The "on tape" version is quite excellent. It is read (really it would be better to say 'performed') by Gil Silverbird, a Navajo actor and singer. He does an excellent job - the differences between Chee's conversations and interviews with Whites and Navajos become very obvious as Silverbird performs them. It adds yet another layer of cultural experience to the Hillerman books.

Pottery shop owner Carolyn Emerson finds Betty Wickline murdered inside Carolyn's shop, Fire At Will, one night when she returns to check on some pottery. Maple Ridge, Vermont, is a small town. Once Sheriff John Hodges makes it known that Carolyn is his prime suspect, business falls off at her shop.

With the help of the members of her pottery group called the Firing Squad, including a reformed crook and a retired judge, as well as her assistant David, she begins gathering information into who had a motive to kill Betty. Carolyn soon finds out that she wasn't the only one who didn't like Betty, including the sheriff. But who disliked her enough to kill her?

This series is actually written by Tim Myers. I like all his cozy mystery series that I have read. I enjoyed this one a lot and will be looking for future books in this series.

I liked the Vermont setting, and setting it in a pottery shop really lent itself to this story and the cozy genre. Carolyn, her husband Bill, her assistant David, and his mother Hannah were all great characters, and I look forward to reading more books in this series to see what happens with each of them.

I highly recommend this book.

another good one, I like the characters and look forward to more in the series.

Tim Myers, a.k.a. Melissa Glazer, has yet another winning cozy series on his hands with the debut of A Murderous Glaze, featuring pottery shop owner, Carolyn Emerson. The setting is a cozy, small town in Vermont, and the book opens with the murder of Betty Wickline having already taken place inside Carolyn's shop, Fire At Will, the night before. Since Betty was murdered inside Carolyn's shop with one of Carolyn's tools, and since her animosity toward Betty was common knowledge, the town sheriff, John Hodges, considers Carolyn a viable suspect, or is that just to deflect suspicion from himself?

When the entire town starts to treat Carolyn like some sort of pariah and her business dwindles down to nothing, she decides to take matters into her own hands. She enlists the help of an unlikely bunch of investigators - the Firing Squad - a group of artisans from all walks of life (including a reformed crook and a retired judge) who meet regularly at Fire At Will to share their lives and their love of pottery. They waste no time uncovering all sorts of interesting information about Betty and all kinds of motives for plenty of people to have wanted to hasten her demise.

Carolyn is a likable, albeit somewhat abrasive, middle-aged woman with a sweetheart of a husband, Bill. Carolyn's proclivity for sarcastic wit tends to get her into trouble at times and is undoubtedly part of the reason that some of the townsfolk think her capable of murder. But underneath her gruff exterior, Carolyn is actually a bit of a sweetheart herself. She is the kind of friend anyone would be glad to have on their side, and she obviously instills that same fierce loyalty in her own family and friends. Watching them go out on a limb for one another was heartwarming!

The ending was quite interesting, and leaves the reader with a few unanswered questions - undoubtedly in order to keep us anxiously awaiting the next book in the series (which, of course, I've already ordered!).

Carol Ann Hopkins 3/22/2008

What a fantastic first book in a new series! I really enjoyed this clever little mystery. Great characters, good plot, and wonderful setting. I look forward to many more in this series.

I love mysteries especially new authors! But, I can HONESTLY say this one was boring. It had great reviews,which I mistakenly listened to, and was disappointed.
I really wanted to like it. I loved the cover art!
If you want to read it, go ahead. I just wouldn't tell my friends to read it, that's wall! Sorry!

Like a classic old movie that you love in spite (or because of?) its in old black and white, the obvious back-lot sets, and no super-realistic surround sound, this collection of stories shows its age but wears it well.

If Dashiell Hammett is the D. W. Griffith of hard-boiled detective stories, Chandler is the Alfred Hitchcock.

(Kindle version review) One of my favorite writers and collections, but this is a very poor format ebook. The OCR-related typos are very annoying - they aren't uniform, it's as though several pages, scattered through the book, weren't edited or checked at all.

I have reviewed Raymond Chandler's seven full Phillip Marlowe epics elsewhere in this space. For those who doubt that a mere plebian detective in a once seedy genre can hold your attention and win your admiration as very, very good literature then try these four short pieces to work up the 'big' boys. You will not be disappointed. Moreover, you will get a fair peek at what makes Marlowe tick-his sense of honor, his doggedness in the face of adversity and his tilting after windmills when he gets his teeth in a case. And it does not hurt if there is a good-looking 'dame' in the bargain.

If none of the above convinces you then get this book for the preface by the master Chandler himself about his take, circa 1950, on the meaning of the detective genre as literature. As we know his special pleading then is now the wisdom of the academy.

ON BECOMING PHILLIP MARLOWE

Apparently there are many, many editions of this work. Above I have reviewed the one that has Chandler's introduction. Since then I have found a copy under the same title that has 12 stories in it many of which are different from the above. If you can find it- Vintage Paperback-1988- you will be justly rewarded because what you will get are snatches of stories with various charcters, locales, named detectives and different ending that will later go on to become The Big Sleep, Farewell, My Lovely and Lady in the Lake. Get it if you can, if for no other reason than to see how the master noir detective writer moved the work forward. Amazing.

The title of this review is from the introduction to "Trouble Is My Business." But Raymond Chandler never had doubts about his writing. He once said, "Don't ever write anything you don't like yourself and if you do like it, don't take anyone's advice about changing it. They just don't know." Thankfully he took his own advice and this book of short stories by the master of us all will illustrate just how good the so-called pulp writing was back then, back in what was truly the golden age of crime fiction.

Chandler fans reading this book for the first time will have many "deja vu" moments. The book contains four of the twenty short stories written by Chandler in the 1930s that were warm ups for the seven novels that followed. Chandler wrote detective mystery stories, and became famous for seven novels and a number of Hollywood screen plays, mostly about crime and private detectives in the "film noir" genre of Hollywood black and white films, or what is called LA "pulp fiction". Far from being an ordinary writer of cheap crime stories, Chandler became one of America's best writers from the mid 20th century.

Chandler was a Los Angeles accountant turned writer and he developed his own careful writing style. He started by first analysing other works, such as articles in the Black Mask mystery magazine. He used those stories plus local newspaper crime articles for plot ideas. He would set some of his stories in the fictional ocean side town of Bay City which is really Santa Monica, or set his stories in west Los Angeles, or other parts of southern California. He lived in Santa Monica after being fired from his oil executive job for drinking in the 1930s. He detested the place and moved into LA proper when he became wealthy as a screenplay writer in the early 1940s while working at Paramount. In the late 1940s he moved to La Jolla, just north of San Diego. Chandler started with short fiction pieces in the 1930s and then graduated to novels in 1938-39. From the early novels he was hired to write screen plays and eventually he wrote or created 59 works including stories, screenplays, and novels. His novels with the private Detective Phillip Marlowe brought him fame including the Bogart-Bacall movie The Big Sleep.

This book contains four short stories each about 50 to 60 pages long from the 1930s. These are a warm ups to his seven novels and screenplays that followed. There are plot elements and prose that are almost a duplicate of some of the later novels. For example, the second story Finger Man has scenes and references that are almost directly inserted into The Big Sleep (1939) and Farwewell, My Lovely (1940). For Chandler lovers like myself, it is like eating chocolates to go back and be able to read these early works. Also Chandler has a four page introduction where he makes a number of comments on his writing style and philosophy at the front of the book. Trouble is my Business is the first of the four short stories.

His career did not take off until after he had written three or four novels and started to do screenplays in the mid-1940s. He was lucky in that he was able to write the screenplays and make a lot of money. He became famous for the screenplays, but simultaneously, he rose to further fame by the growth in popularity of paperback books in the 1940s. As a result, millions of his Philip Marlowe detective novels were sold and after just a few years he had moved from a run down flat in Santa Monica to a large house with an ocean view beside the Kellog family in La Jolla. He is now recognised as one of America's best writers from the 1930s through 1940s era. If you get a chance, have a look at the movie Double Indemnity, where Chandler co-wrote the screenplay with Billy Wilder at Paramount - his first attempt at this type of writing - and he and Wilder were nominated for an Oscar but they did not win. I think that is an excellent film, and it is generally regarded as one of the best films of the period.

His technique was to pull old stories apart, then change them, then re-write them as short stories, and then take that work and extend it, modify it again a second or third time or even more, and finally put together complete novels. He would take six months to write a short story - as found in the present collection, while some other mystery writers wrote a complete novel in a week - by dictation. He was not big on plots, but more of a craftsman on the individual scenes and the prose, especially descriptions of the people. He said that it took him two years to write a short description of a person getting up from a table and walking out of a room. So there is a high level of refinement and a certain style that he was able to develop as a result of this writing process. This technique is not new. Shakespeare himself used this technique in virtually every play, taking old myths, stories, and historical accounts such as King Lear. He would break them apart, change them, and make new works with new twists, turns, and addnew characters; his last play The Tempest is his thought to be his only completely original play. Chandler used to joke that if Shakespeare was alive, he would be a Hollywood writer. Chandler is a little more obvious in that some of the prose in the seven novels are almost lifted from the early works - in part because Chandler wrote only one half page increments at a time, and kept those half page writings on file to use as source materials for later works. His aim was to make each segment as complate as possible, but some of his early short stories are similar to and have almost identical names to the full novels.

In any case, this is a book that is not to be missed by Chandler fans and it is simply excellent for anyone else.

Really great read. I couldn't put the book down. It only took me a few hours to read. It was thoroughly enjoyable! I highly recommend this for a light read.

The central character is Paul Copeland, a county prosecutor in New Jersey. While in the midst of arguing the prosecution's case at the trial of two wealthy college fraternity brothers accused of rape, he is questioned about the murder of a man in New York City. This man's death appeared to be connected to an incident that happened twenty years earlier at a summer camp attended by the then-teenaged Copeland. It was believed that four youths were murdered one night, deep in the woods, although only two bodies were found. One of the victims was Copeland's sister. Copeland has long been haunted by the events of that night, for, it turns out, he was more than just the brother of a victim.

From this starting point, the novel takes the reader on a roller-coaster ride of plot twists and turns. I'm not a speed reader, but I finished this book in record time (for me) because I was able to race through the extremely well written pages. The only speed bumps were occasional digressions in the form of overlong explanations as the story developed. Also, there were a few false conclusions, something like the amusement park ride that gives you a couple of extra shocks near the end.

But it was an exciting read (ride), well worth the cost of admission.

This is one of Coben's more facinating books because he interlaces two stories and a subplot. It drags in one place with the former girlfriend, but picks up later. It is a fast read and creative. We are cheering for him throughout the book as he deals with the past and the present.

I read this book in one night, which testifies to its quickly paced plot. However, there are a few implausibilites and shallow characters (Lonnie, for example) here. Coben's thriller puts a 20-year-old mystery concerning the disappearance (and presumed murder) of Paul Copeland's sister Camille back into his focus even as he valiantly tries to defend a stripper accusing frat boys of rape (shades of Duke University).

Lucy Silverstein Gold is an old friend/lover of Paul's and she is also haunted by a summer they spent together at a camp that her parents ran. Two campers were brutally murdered by a serial killer, Wayne Steubens, who is up for parole. Two other campers disappeared and are presumed dead but without physical evidence, Paul's ready to believe that his sister's still alive.

This book reminded me more of the TV show "Cold Case" than anything else and as I read, and the plot holes became more discernable, I began fantasizing about a Cold Case/Law & Order crossover. This is the first Coben book I've picked up and assuredly it won't be the last.

I loved this book! My girlfriends mother suggested she read it, then I happen to see it on our coffee table. I dont consider myself an "active" or "avid" reader... but after I read the first chapter I knew I wouldnt be able to sleep if I stopped. I read from 9:30pm to 4:30am!!!

Nik Kane was an Anchorage police detective until he was convicted of a crime and spent seven years in prison. When he was exonerated he took a job as a security firm investigator. On his latest case, he was shot and almost died; his son, who was pursuing the same murderer, did die. Nik's wife wants nothing to do with him; so his sister the nun allows him to stay with her while he recuperates.

While healing, Nik flashes back to his youth. In 1967 his father walked out and never came back; his mother never told him why. He thinks of 1985 when he was a rookie and someone assassinated tough police officer Danny Shirtleff with two bullets to his head near Skeleton Lake. Nik and his partner Jackie Dee never learned why Danny was uncover by a make out place; the case went cold without the slightest suspect surfacing. To pass time while recovering, Nik goes over the files he has from the Shirtleff murder.

The story line skips around between the three dates with each representing something critical that happened to Nik; these actually represent three storylines that merge brilliantly though it is somewhat confusing into a strong character driven tale. Readers will learn more about Nik's past that motivates him in the present as Mike Doogan provides a strong shrewd tale that his fans will appreciate.

Harriet Klausner