Mystery Crime Books

The logical thing to do would be to call the police, but fearing publicity and her past, Paige Williams doesn't call the police. Instead, she decides to move the body of famous actress Edna Sans from her hot tub to an abandoned swimming area of Kanner Lake. What about her past would possibly cause Paige to think this is a wise move and how can she ever keep her crime hidden? More importantly, who really did kill Edna Sans, and why?

Violet Dawn is an interesting book. It's not really fast paced nor is it slow paced. It's not an intense thriller, nor does it have a laid back feel. I guess the best way to describe it is a suspense/police mystery, without a lot of plot twists and turns. It's easy to read but doesn't give a lot for the reader to discover. A strong feature to the book is the inclusion of Paige's background. It was integrated in a way that really provides most of the suspense and guessing in the book. Most everything else is pretty predictable, but her past is revealed a little at a time and brings the reader closer to her.

Many of the characters give the reader someone to either like or dislike. They help bring this somewhat scattered story together into a tight fitting plot. Each seems to be doing their own thing, when in reality, they're all working towards the same goal. While each have different motivations, they each have their boundaries of what they're willing to do to accomplish their goal. Makes for a nice interesting mix and keeps the story flowing well.

The heart of the story is love. Love we're given, love we've lost, and love we never had. Also very prominent is choices, their consequences, and second chances. Finding the ones we're giving and grabbing them. God provides us each with forgiveness and a new start, we just have to take him up on it. Though Violet Dawn is the first part of a series, it is a complete book in and of its self.

If you like Christian suspense/fiction this is a wonderful series. This book (as well as most of Brandilyn Collins books) is one that you won't want to put down. While these don't necessarily have to be read in order, I would definitely recommend it.

VIOLET DAWN is another riveting suspense thriller from Brandilyn Collins. Grabbing you in the first few pages with a bizarre discovery, Brandilyn knows how to hook her readers. Though some of the twists were a bit predictable, I didn't mind. It gave me a moment to catch my breath. The characterization of the villain was a bit distracting, but oh so Brandilyn. I look forward to the next installment of the Kanner Lake Series.

I loved this book, great start to a new series, I read this book in two days. I loved the short chapters and the intensity with which the book was written with. I found myself trying to guess what would happen next...even though this book was written by christian author it was not preachy at all.
Just full of lots of suspense, will definitely be reading this series.

Brandilyn Collins' previous works have been consistently entertaining, educational, and inspiring. "Violent Dawn," the first in her current "Kanner Lake Series," is certainly no exception. It's a page-turning suspense thriller, with true-to-life characters. It is truly amazing that this fine author is able to write these superb stories, and especially so within a short time span (the first three books of this series were published within a year). We look forward to the fourth installment of "Kanner Lake" soon. Very highly recommended!
--Ron Howe (aka 'Toby Martin II') / Erskine, Minnesota

This book started off pretty good. But it did began to get really slow in the middle. I fond myself skipping over all the flashback scenes from all the different characters.

Ultimately the book failed because the ending was horrible. Tried too hard to be complicated and it was silly and beyond belief. A lot of the characters and actions were beyond belief.

One example: No hospital would allow the parent to sign off on permission, especially when the spouse is right there. jack is a lawyer, and would know that!
The Latrina character just never truly fit into the story. There was nothing believable about her. Someone as careless as she was, was some informant? The whole revenge part was just too much, and really weakened the story.

The transformation of Cindy was also another unbelievable plot gimmick. It was just not believable.
Even the last accusations Jack makes at the end are just stupid!! Exactly when did it happen? between the time they arrived at the house and the time Jack got to the room?? Who broke the glass in the house??
Just makes no sense at all.

Are there any good writers left? Do all the suspense writers use the same BS gimmicks that insult people's intelligence.?

This author always keeps me on the edge of my seat. His books are hard to put down and are read within a few days. I find myself reading the book when I should be doing something else.

After reading some of the reviews I was a little worried. Don't be worried. I really enjoyed Mr. Grippando's second installment of Jack's life. I'm not going to write a plot summary since Amazon and several reviewers do that quite well. I liked how fast paced this novel was and I did like the concept/ideas presented. I did agree with some of the other reviewers about how it wrapped up. Just felt it wrapped up way too quickly with some plot holes. I enjoy his books so maybe I'm a little bias. I do recommend this book in the series so you can understand the future books but The Pardon has been the best one so far that I've read.

Albeit the theme's book is kind of new, the viatical story with the Russian mob, the book loses itself in overly Miami descriptions. It also makes the love story of the first book "The Pardon" a phony one because in this book you'll know that Jessie was distraught since she were nine. So many of the situations in both books were because of Jessie, not because of Jack.

If you read this book first than the other one you may like it because of the brisk pacing of the story. But that won't happen if you first read "The Pardon"

This is my second Grippando novel (I previously read Under Cover of Darkness) and I am starting to become a fan of this author. This book takes a big turn from the other book and has a great deal more action and suspense. Jack Swieteck defends a former girlfriend who ends up dead in his own bathtub. To complicate matters she apparently was murdered because of a medical scam against a group of investors who had bet their funds that she would die of Lou Gehrig's Disease. At first Jack is the primary suspect but then the blame seems to shift to his friend Theo (a former death row inmate).



The book has the usual "unstoppable" assassin (Yuri) running around that likes to determine how his victim will die by whether or not they left their porchlight on. He gets involved in some really graphically described scenes of pure torture that could make the most insensitized individual cringe.



Meanwhile there is an avenger named Katrina (she is really Cuban but Katrina is her adopted Czech name) who you are never really sure what side of the playing field she is on.



The book is full of plot twists and turns and never gets boring.

Former cop, now cleaning service business owner Callahan, runs into crime when she takes on a cleaning job at a former classmate's ritzy home. Often amusing with the characters, although no Evanovich. I enjoyed that it wasn't chock full of steamy romance. Will probably read a few more in the series when in the mood for something very light ;-)

I love all this author's books! The Callahn Garrity series is one of my favorites as far as mysteries go. I love the characters, especially those working for her at her House Mouse cleaning business!

I love the Stephanie Plumb books so this remindes me of that style although i prefer Trocheck's Hizzy Fit and the Savanah books which where great. This series was funny and I went out and bought another one until Trocheck writes another current book. The mother is a hoot and I loved the other cleaning people. The story was a little light reading but perfect for the beach. The ex-cop thing is a little unbelievable.

this book is a great mystery and really the only problem I have with it and the writer is the crude language. I really don't think you need all that language just to sound authentic. Most people read to get away from real life. You don't have to have so much of that in the books as well. This is the only reason why I could not, in good conscience, give the book more than 2 stars. Sorry.

Great Title and an easy read. However, if you're looking for a challenge..this book is sort of predictable.

I decided to start this series at the beginning having read so many wonderful reviews of the books and thinking I would have a great time and many fun hours working my way through the numerous volumes devoted to the crimes being solved by the Pitts.
I am SO disappointed! These books are repetitive to the nth degree and in my opinion, Charlotte does not get nearly enough word play.
The settings are so far always the same few, upper-class neighborhoods and the characters are the same haughty, annoyed, uncooperative snobs.
Over and over and no one can ever remember Thomas Pitt's name because as a policeman he is SO beneath them.
I know Anne Perry is a very successful writer and certainly has no cause to listen to me, but I wish she had utilized more of the "Oliver Twist" world, the time period in which this series is set, developed a richer relationship between Thomas and Charlotte and moved beyond the veneers represented by the oh so proper social constraints of the times.
Yes, she does set a rich period tone, but it's just the same over and over and over.
I've read my last book of this series.

This is the fifth in the series, set in the last quarter of the 19th century, about Inspector Thomas Pitt of the London police and his very bright and frequently rather daring wife, Charlotte. It's amazing (or appalling) how much crime, especially murder, occurs either within Charlotte's extended family or on the street where they live, but that's how and why Pitt's wife and sister-in-law generally get involved. Charlotte's mother, Caroline, has had a small broach stolen, but what worries her is the fact that it contains a picture of a man who is not Charlotte's father. Paul Alaric (who appeared in _The Cater Street Hangman_) is the sort of handsome, debonair foreign gentleman for whom the cloistered ladies of Society conceive infatuations, and age doesn't make much difference. But then there's a murder up the block and Pitt becomes involved. The various families, of course, close ranks against the police (who, socially, rank just above rat-catchers), and it's up to Charlotte and Emily to make inquiries in the drawing rooms of the neighborhood. Perry sometimes shorts the mystery plot in favor of sociological observations, but in this case the mystery is pretty well developed and resolved.

Rutland Place is one of the most successful of Anne Perry's novels about Thomas and Charlotte Pitt. The mystery encompasses Charlotte's family which gives the events more immediacy for the reader who has been going through all of the novels, and the nuances of the Victorian withdrawing room have never been better portrayed by Ms. Perry. In addition, the misdirection away from the evil doers and what they did works pretty well in this one.

As the story opens, Charlotte finds that her mother is distraught over the loss of a locket. Originally, her mother explains this distress as being concern because her mother-in-law gave her the locket as a gift. But later, Charlotte finds out that there's a powerful personal reason for getting that locket back. In the backdrop, it soon becomes apparent that others have lost small items of jewelry. Since the losses have occurred in many houses, it cannot be one of the servants . . . it must be "the quality" behind it. But what's the motive?

The mystery develops into a murder investigation when a woman dies in a way that can hardly be an accident . . . or suicide. But who did it? And why? And how is the lost locket involved?

The book's main weakness is that the locket story line doesn't quite carry off its initial promise.

If you've run out of novels that you enjoy about Victorians and their mannerly evasions, you'll enjoy this one.

About in the middle of this 5th book in Perry's series (although I read it as the 6th book, it is the 5th book) I was feeling a bit bored with all the trouble Charlotte and her family seemed to be getting into. It felt like a soap opera and the circle of people and incidents just kept getting smaller and THEN it picked up and I truly enjoyed the ending. This time Perry had me fooled all the way to the end.
The book was more involved around Charlotte than Pitt, which I enjoyed. I like that Perry focuses on one or the other in each of her books.
All said and done, I'm glad I read it and will continue on to her next book. Stay tuned...

Anne Perry's mystery stories are notable for their immense wealth of detail about Victorian England. Her investigative team is Charlotte Pitt, a young woman from a family of means, and her husband, Inspector Thomas Pitt. Because their marriage stretches across the British class gap, the two of them often combine to provide discoveries and insights that one or the other might have missed on their own. And, of course, the detailing of the stratified society that was London at that time is an anglophile's delight.

The mystery begins innocently enough. Charlotte's mother Caroline has lost a locket with an embarrassing enclosure, and she has asked Charlotte to look into it for her. As they visit the other residents of Rutland Place they discover that many other items have also been stolen, and that many secrets lurk beneath the refined surface. Suddenly the game deepens and Wilhelmina Spencer-Brown, a resident with a habit of prying, dies of poison. The police, in the person of Thomas Pitt investigate, but the walls of the upper class are difficult hurdles to negotiate.

Charlotte, anxious to protect her mother from further embarrassment, joins in the investigation. Between her and Thomas the clues gradually accumulate, but with excruciating slowness. Dishonesty, flirtation, and things far worse gradually come to the surface until a second murder attempt triggers the final tragedy. The crime and its bitter aftermath stand revealed, and we are reminded that often things are not what they seem.

I like Perry's stories for their careful attention to detail and method. They are just complicated enough, and hard work is an important part of reaching the solution. My complaint is that the books are often too dry, even when there is pressing emotional content. To a degree this reflects the restraint of the times Perry writes about. Rutland Place proceeds ever slowly, with no whirls of dramatic action to light a fire under it. Yet it manages to affect the reader with it's chilling vision of the dark corners of 'bright' society.

High profile wealthy CEO Jerry Kramer hires Gemini Security and Investigations to keep his firm GeneCor safe from extremists opposed to the stem cell research conducted by the company. He calls Gemini co-owner (along with his brothers) Ethan Taggart when his seventeen year old daughter Kara vanishes. Ethan comes immediately to the affluent Atherton estate to see the security gate wide open and his client nasty and abrupt with the local police.

Ethan, who usually gets the pretty boy assignments, and private investigator Toni Crawford search for the teen together. They quickly widen their inquiry when it seems unlikely an anti stem cell fanatic took the girl. Instead the clues lead to a nasty underground world of sex, drugs, and abuse; ruled by a brutal master.

CAUGHT is a strong romantic private investigative thriller starring two likable lead characters who fall in love, but keep their priorities straight as saving the client's daughter comes first. The search mystery is complex as each step closer to achieving the mission is exponentially increasingly dangerous from a deadly malevolence. Fans will enjoy this fine Gemini Men tale (twin Derek to come).

Harriet Klausner

Based on a recommendation from my aunt and uncle, I stepped away from my usually literary diet of Danielle Steel and Richard Paul Evans to feast upon the "Dead Eyes" of Stuart Woods. And what a feast it was! A thrilling meal of page-turning action, mixed with romance, ironic twists, and some light-hearted humorous moments. I enjoyed every bite of this feast and look forward to savoring more of Woods' books.

I read this book three years ago. It was the first and last book I read by this author. I read many thriller books and quite honestly, I'm pretty easy to please. In fact, this is about the only Thriller book that I didn't enjoy at all in the last 5 years. This is my first review and I'm writing it because I don't want people see the 5 star reviews and waste their time with this book. It's truly awful. It started off okay and then the characters and the plot take a horrible nosedive. I've never felt so cheated out of my time.

I listen to most of Stuart Woods' books on tape and really enjoy them. This one was a particularly good one and carried you along from the first page to the last. Obviously, the suspected villain may not be the true culprit, but then when are they? It was a great story of stalking a celebrity and it was chilling. I thought the book was great, but then I've become a Woods' fan because none of his books are ever boring.

(...) unfortunately I started with Dead Eyes. I felt as though I was reading a suspense story from a beginner romance novelist. The dialogue at times was laughable and I agree with another reviewer that the ending was thrown together. The few sex scenes were like something from Barbara Cartland. My biggest complaint was the portrayal of the cop Jon Larsen - he came off as an incompetent dolt. Through the entire book, the stalker was one step ahead of him to the very end. However, this writer gets such high praise from other reviewers that I'm not quite ready to quit and plan on checking out the Stone Barrington series.

Put your feet up and enjoy this one like you would an old TV detective thriller because it has it all; murder, mystery, and suspense. It has a female in distress and a Hollywood detective and a friend to try and save her; what more could you as for. Oh yeah; it has a surprize ending with no commercials. Stuart Woods as always is a good read.

This book would have been a much better read if I had read it while connected to the Internet. Why? Because it is set in France and has a great deal of French words in it, no definition of terms, and the world's smallest map. I realize that I am approaching middle age and my vision isn't what it used to be, but the publisher should be embarrassed at not bundling a magnifying glass with this map. Since you can plainly see this is a street map pieced together with tape, I suspect the map was a last minute addition to the book at the insistence of either the author or a peeved proofreader.

But I think the blame for the lack of definition of terms must fall squarely on the shoulders of the author. She has flavored this book, set in France in 1995, with a great deal of French words. Most of them are secondary to the story and are words that non-French speakers can figure out like thank you, Miss and Mr., good morning, and the like. But there are two words that annoyed me throughout the entire book - mec and flic. Mec is a word used to describe various characters, all men. But it is never clear what a mec is. Is the author describing the men as workmen, bums, toughs, as being from a particular ethnic group or having some common physical characteristic like swarthiness? I never knew.

And a flic is some form of law officer, perhaps a beat cop. But because you don't know for sure, you spend the entire book trying to decipher the hierarchy of the police department. Imagine reading a book in which the local police, sheriffs, state police, FBI, and CIA all appear, but their departments and roles are never explained. My kingdom for a glossary!

Which brings us back to the map. This book is filled with interesting descriptions of the main character's travels through Montmartre, a neighborhood of Paris traditionally frequented by artists, in an effort to help a friend accused of murder. These histories of buildings, cemeteries, neighborhoods, and artists are extremely interesting and dispensed freely and frequently and you really want to put them all into context with a map. I was left with the feeling that I could have gotten so much more out of this book if only I had been given a little more information.

Did I guess it? Yes. The mystery is unexceptional - this is one you read for the flavor of a foreign land. Try it out, but remember to have a better map and a French dictionary available.

I'm a great fan of Cara Black's "Murder in..." series, but I found myself in a bad neighborhood with this book in more ways than one. The story line revolves around the suspected terrorist activities of Corsican nationalists (or are they gangsters?) and detective Amy LeDuc's related attempts to clear a childhood friend of a murder charge. The descriptions of Paris streets, cafes, restaurants and other sites are as interesting as ever, but the book's story line is contrived and uneven. The story opens with a hardly credible, but helpful-for-the-scenario, breakup of LeDuc and her doctor boyfriend. The book ends with LeDuc in the arms of another BF, whom she barely knows and for whom readers have had scant information about from the body of the story. There are other problems with character development here as well--LeDuc's partner, Rene, is given unusually short shrift (what's up with the new girlfriend?) and the childhood friend that LeDuc is trying assist is written into a convenient coma-like silence without much explanation to the reader.
The main point here is that Cara Black has done much better with other stories in this series. If you are considering this book, I believe that you would do better to start with "Murder in the Bastille" or "Murder in the Marais."

Private Investigator Aimee Leduc is at her most sensitive right after she's dumped by her boyfriend, so she takes it hard when a childhood friend, cop Laure, is accused of murdering her partner. Aimee knows Laure would never have killed the man she viewed as her mentor, but the police have their suspect and Laure is comotose and unable to defend herself. It's up to Aimee to do the job.

Aimee's investigation quickly takes her out of the everyday world of Paris into a seamy underworld of prostitutes, underemployed musicians living rough, and Corsican terrorists. It is clear to Aimee that the murder being pinned on Laure is somehow connected to the Corsicans, but the most likely suspect turns out to be the musician who restarts Aimee's bruised libido.

Always in the background is the fear of police corruption--a corruption that destroyed Aimee's father and that continues to haunt much of the Paris police department. What secrets did Laure hide? Could Aimee's father have been, after all, involved with some underhanded scheme?

Author Cara Black continues her Aimee Leduc series with an intriguing tale set in a world where ancient vendetta coexists with modern terrorism, and where the spirit of Tolouse Lautrec haunts the streets of Montmartre, the section of Paris he profiled--and a section of Paris that remains distinct from the rest of the city.

There were times when Aimee's investigation seemed a bit improbable (her invasion of the police computer system seemed particularly far-fetched), but Black's mystery is more of an impressionistic painting than a hard-edged photograph. If you're interested in Paris and in reading an author who treats that city as a dominant character, you won't want to miss MURDER IN MONTMARTRE

It's January 1995, and Aimee is once again involved in a murder mystery that leads her again to secrets concerning her father's death. With the Church of the Sacred Heart (Sacre-Coeur), the neighborhood of the Mound of Martyrs (Montmartre), and the stone quarry caverns below as background, Aimee tries to prove that her childhood friend (Laure) did not kill her policemen partner (yes, her friend is a flic). Laure's father was Aimee's father's partner before he left the force.

Her new friend, Guy the Doctor, has split and gone to the Sudan with Doctors Sans Frontiers (Doctors without Borders). An old friend, who Aimee has been looking for for years (Jaubert), and was part of her father's police academy group along with Morbier, turns up in a spot she least expects.

As always, our heroine, Aimee, is not only resourceful but always stylish (a true fashionista) as she snoops out the bad guys. Somehow, this time she manages to stay off her scooter and therefore is kept from running into anything or anyone.

The plotline involving some fake Corsican Separatists, who are busy selling the guns (of eastern european make) that were the basis for the case her father had been working on at the time of his death, help Aimee to bring some nagging problems from that time to closure. The rest of the plot is there for Aimee to have something to do until the more important personal issues are resolved.

The people who have said they don't like this series, well, that's OK. We all like different things. Now, as for myself, I can't stand a single book which has won the Booker Prize, except for The English Patient. I like this series of mysteries. I feel like I have gone on a vacation to Paris which may be the only way I get there. I notice that every time I read one of these, I have to go to my neighborhood cafe and read it under awnings!! This may prove hard in the winter, when it is raining or snowing!! Bravo, Cara Black!!

As usual, Midnight Louie is the best...a real cat's meow. Carole Nelson Douglas has the right feel for cat characterization...whether Louie, Louise, Karma or Ma. Somehow they seem less anthropomorphic than you'd expect. The big leopards invariably come off a little dense...and so do the Fontana brothers...but then all the big guys seem to be of the same mold.

However I do get annoyed with Temple...just how unaware of mid-life can a 30 year old be? And Matt is like no priest or ex-priest...well, that I've known. Then there's Max...personally I think, for all the improbability of his "profession", his character seems the most human.

Still...all in all...the Midnight Louie mysteries are like potato chips: you can't devour just one. I look forward to each new "episode", wondering how all the twists and turns will merge in the end. Actually 26 letters in the alphabet aren't enough.

I love Louie, and his kit, Louise. However, the human characters in these stories are so unreal, that I find myself skipping through the book so I can read Louie's monologs. Somehow the fun fantasy that comes through in, for example, Rita Mae Brown's books just doesn't work here, at least not for me. This one is about the same as all the others... The books are about 90% human chapters, and 10% cats...They'd be much improved by reversing the percentage.

If you've enjoyed the previous books in the series, this will be fun reading too. Just don't expect many final wrap-ups.

I had to check since I saw this was the 19th? It doesn't seem that long ago! But she keep the series fresh. I really enjoy Nelson's books, even her new one Dancing with Werewolves.

Long Live Midnight Louie! As a cat love (I have five) I really enjoy the books with cats in them.

I've read this series since it started and still enjoy every one of them. The story stays fresh and entertaining even as the core cast of characters stays the same. That takes talent! I can't wait for the next book to come out!

I loved the first books. I didn't know much about Japan and Rei's character and adventures made me feel like an insider. I used what I learned on my first trip to Japan.
But then the author started that long jump over the shark. The book set in D.C. was particularly bad. Massey's characterization of the town's atmosphere was WAY off base. I began to wonder--maybe her Tokyo was not really right, either?
The "Girl in a Box" book was better, but I was tiring of Rei's personal life. I know authors strive to develop the character, but come on. John D. MacDonald wrote almost 2 dozen Travis McGee books and how much did we ever learn about him, really?
This last one (just as well since I decided not to read them any more) lost me at "aloha." It was a bizarre rendering of leeward Oahu. And no malihini, even with local relatives, would get entree to Oahu commercial life as conveniently as Rei does in the ending. I gave up a careful read after about 50 pages, skipped thru to the end. BAD. If you must, get it at the library, but don't pay for it.

Although this wonderful tale was slow to start (and hence four stars instead of five), it is well worth the read and then some. In fact it turned out to be one of my favorites in the series!

In this outing, Rei is home nursing her father, who has had a serious stroke. A surprise letter from an unknown relative in the heretofore also unknown Hawaiian branch of the Shimura clan changes everything as Rei's father, who can be as stubborn as she is, insists on going.

Next thing you know, Rei, her dad, her cousin Tom and his dad (whom we've met many times before in the Japanese segments of this series) are in Hawaii--and up to their necks, not in leis, but in mystery. I am not going to indulge in spoilers here, but Rei's love life, which had taken a turn for the worse in the most recent novels, picks up. That's all I'm going to say.

For those of us diehard Shimura fans, the ending is a 5-star ending. For those who do NOT follow the series, however, I'm not sure this book might not be confusing. There are many branches of the Shimura family and many different sides to our heroine, and if you do not know the ins and outs, it might be a bit difficult to unravel. However, I thoroughly adored this book and am thrilled that Sujata Massy and her heroine remain in fine form!

As an avid fan of the Rei Shimura mysteries since The Salaryman's Wife and onwards, I was extremely excited for this new, and final, installment in the series. Sadly, Shimura Trouble does not live up to the thrill, savvy, or intigue of the previous novels. This one lacks some element which were extremely strong in the first few novels, and present in the last few. The first few Shimura mysteries possessed an essence brought on by Rei's spunk at her new surroundings, and by the setting in Japan. The later novels weren't as intense and captivating, but still readable, but this last novel is none of the above. Rei Shimura has aged and with that, her spunk and mystery-seeking nature seems to have deteriorated. Even the setting in beautiful Hawaii fails to save this novel, which is quite dull up until halfway and quite predictable. The mystery isn't much in relation to suspense or intrigue, as in her previous novels. Normally, I am able to polish off a Rei Shimura mystery in two days tops, but this one has taken me 3 weeks to get through! The focus on land ownership is a major downturn, while the dullness resulted in my barely being able to get through the chapters. Rei Shimura has changed, and sadly, not for the better. As the last installment, I expected this to surpass all the previous novels, but sadly, is the worst...Rei Shimura's series has ended not with a bang, but with a dejected whimper. This novel is the final stop in a downward spiral (after Rei Shimura left Japan, the series went downwards). To those still considering reading this, don't purchase it -- rather, just check it out at the library. A better use of time would be to go back and reread her earlier novels (The Salrayman's Wife, Zen Attitude, The Flower Master, The Floating Girl, The Bride's Kimono) -- at least then readers will leave with a better perspective of both Rei Shimura and Sujata Massey's writing skills (which have seen far better days).

It is with great sadness that I write this review for what is almost certainly (by the author's own admission on her website), the final book featuring spunky Japanese-American girl detective Rei Shimura. I can say without exaggeration that I consider Rei to be the freshest , quirkiest and most memorable creation in the female sleuth genre I have been privileged to find. I spent nearly 7 years living and working in Japan, and discovering Rei was like making an instant new friend whom I felt I had already known for years, a fellow cultural warrior who shared many of the same struggles I did as a semi-literate guest worker in that society. Her adventures in Japan were also a nostalgia tour for me, reconnecting me to the unique culture of the country where I spent so many transformational years. I have great affection for Rei and her habitat, which made it very difficult for me to enjoy later books in this series in which I felt the author was losing her grip on what was most compelling about Rei as a character. Rei is at her best when she is in Tokyo, working in her antiques business and interacting with her colorful cast of Japanese supporting characters in the course of her adventures. Rei may only be half-Japanese, but I feel she is only fully herself when she is set loose in Japan.

It has been a very long time since we enjoyed that Rei. After events at the end of "The Bride's Kimono" led to Rei's deportation from Japan, there was a sea change in the direction Massey took this series and regretfully it was not for the better. The book immediately following, "The Samurai's Daughter" was completely set in Rei's hometown of San Francisco, but that change of scenery worked as a brief respite for our overworked heroine (even though she did manage to almost get herself killed once again.) We hoped that after a break in America for Christmas, Rei would find her way back to Tokyo, or at least to her beloved antiques business. Alas, subsequent books (The Pearl Diver, The Typhoon Lover) showed us Rei still far adrift from her spiritual home. With "The Pearl Diver", action shifted to Washington, D.C., the setting for "The Bride's Kimono". There, Rei at least was given the relevant task of decorating a Japanese restaurant, a gig that got her back into what she does so well. Unfortunately that book also signaled Rei's final break with Hugh, and along with his baby that she miscarried, Rei seemed to lose her heart and soul as well. As bleak as that denouement would have been, Massey would have done better by Rei to end it there. The next two installments returned Rei to Japan for the bulk of the action, but that was small comfort when the action was so very ridiculous. Whatever was Massey thinking by making Rei an espionage agent? Rei has made a career out of talking her way into jobs and situations for which she is maginally qualified, but this was really stretching it to incredulity. Hugh fans like me are non-plussed with the extraneous introduction of a new love interest for Rei in the person of her (much older) boss at the spy agency. Michael Hendricks reads like a Harlequin fantasy boyfriend, handsome, dashing . . .and completely two-dimensional. In contrast to Hugh's colorfully flawed humanity, he's like a hologram.

Which brings us to "Shimura Trouble". Immediately I noticed that not only is it at least 100 pages shorter than all of Massey's other efforts, it has a different imprint as well. Perhaps Massey's long-time publishing house, HarperCollins, was as non-plussed with the direction (or lack thereof) in the last two books as I and refused this manuscript. Based on the author's plea on her website for libraries and collectors to purchase this last installment, that makes me think it's not selling well, which is, if true, absolutely justified. The appealing Hawaiian setting is not enough to overcome the weakest character development and least-involving storyline of Massey's career. Perhaps the obvious lack of effort in coming up with a title that,like all the others before it, references some aspect of Rei's Japanese heritage is clue enough that Massey is finished with Rei. Though Rei finally gets her happy ending, it's so rushed and perfunctory that we don't care. (Would the Rei we knew fail to invite her mother to her long-awaited wedding?) Obviously Massey was rushing this manuscript to deadline, because her characteristic care with plot detail is missing, big-time. You may want to purchase this if only to round out your collection of Rei Shimura. It by no means represents Rei, or Massey, in her best light. Though I own all ten books, Rei will live on in my mind as she was in the three strongest offerings of this series: "Zen Attitude"; "The Flower Master" and "The Bride's Kimono". These present Rei in all her tough-minded, independent, stubborn, prickly, energetic glory. The last four books in this series have not served her well, and this one, the last, least of all. If I were meeting Rei for the first time in this book, I'd find precious little to engage me. Certain plot elements are lifted from earlier books, recycling how Rei almost meets her demise in this book, for one. And having Rei don a wetsuit and a wire to make an amphibious stealth landing a la a Navy Seal is the most ridiculous James Bondian thing she's put her seasickness-prone heroine through yet. Did she really think we wouldn't notice that Rei's no James Bond?

"Sayonara" literally translated means: "Until we meet again." I would love to meet Rei again, but only if she can come out of retirement as her old fiesty self. That is unlikely. I feel that Rei and her long-time readers deserved a better farewell than this.

As a fan of the Rei Shimura series from the beginning, I was very disappointed in this final entry. Bogged down in stultifyingly boring filler for the first five chapters, it started so slowly only the dedicated fan would persevere. The Japanese cultural milieu we find so fascinating was ENTIRELY absent this time, unless you count taking off your shoes or eating wasabi.

Not only the impoverished, desolate landscape of the setting was unpleasant, but Rei's family were portrayed in this offering as some of the most annoying, obnoxious people one could (never) want to spend time with. In short, there was not one single likeable character in the mix with the exception of Michael, who was only a Ken-doll prop for Rei's formulaic, dime-romance style happy ending I found entirely out of character for our complicated, edgy, slightly slutty heroine.

Note to Ms. Massey for future writing: Leave your "Public Service" health propaganda out. Not only does it sound preachy, but absurd. This is an actual sentence from the book, gasped by Rei to her boyfriend while caught in a riptide in rough seas, in the dark, performing an amphibious infiltration 36 hours after being unconscious in an ICU:

"Yes, I'll just pretend I'm in the Kainani pool," I said as I loosened my hold. 'Someone will be coming along with a low-glycemic index mango smoothie for me any minute.'"

I am NOT making this up! And that's only one of many uncharacteristic and silly preachings that clang out of Rei's mouth; like, eating one shrimp ball will cause an instant stroke? And, of course, the obligatory condom message that reads like 7th-grade health class. This is not the Rei we have known talking!

That's one symptom of no editing. The other is near the end, when the infiltrators entered a house on a dark and windy night but exited a few minutes later it seems in broad daylight. If Ms Massey had even read her own MS, she could have caught that one.

As I said, "Ick." But if you want to read it, my copy's for sale!

Ms Miller's "Don't Look" series reminds me of the Linda Howard's "Blair Mallory" series - Tons of action, a feisty female protagonist, and a hunky but ruthless cop/hero. Claire is not nearly as silly and fluffy as Blair, but both series are really enjoyable reads.

Don't Look Now is the first book in the "Look" trilogy, but definitely not the best. It is however, a good example of how this author formulates her novels. There are always more than one story line going on which isn't bad when done properly, but it can also confuse the reader if they are not familiar with her style of writing.

Clare Westbrook is a good lawyer working for a sleezeball, who is suddenly found murdered. She has an on again/off again relationship with a sexy cop, but neither one seem to be able to stand one another more than to jump into bed together. On top of that, someone is trying to kill Clare. The only problem is that the killer is a bit stupid and doesn't seem to know the difference between what Clare looks like and the women ending up dead in her place.

There is definitely a great deal going on in this novel, and an avid reader can tell that Linda Lael Miller must be a Janet Evanovich fan. Not only does she write in first person as JE, but tends to create the same carry over with the characters romance. She just isn't as funny and the characters aren't as colorful.

The author is however, good with most of her facts. I picked up this book out of curiosity because it takes place in the Carefree/Cave Creek area of Arizona, where I grew up most of my life. I wanted to know how well the author really did know the area. Other than a few minor details, she was fairly accurate on most accounts. It was obvious though that she is new to the area, because someone living in Carefree would never admit to living in Cave Creek. The two social areas are on completely different scales. A few other misconceptions made it a little comical to me knowing the difference, but to the average reader they would never know the difference.

Is it worth buying?

I'm up in the air on this one. I actually like the second one better "Never Look Back", but you kind of have to read the first book to get a feel for the characters, and definitely before you read the conclusion "One Last Look." Alone, this book is not worth it, and honestly as a series it is only mediocre. The suspense is good though and as long as you can keep up with the plots, it is okay. Checking it out from the library or getting it on sale or at a yard sale is better than spending full price though. At least then, you won't be disappointed if you hate it.

I thought it was a great entertaining read and look forward to future books. The book was not full of the same cliches as the other romance books with only one plot. I was reminded of the stephanie plum series by Janet Evanovich.

I absolutely loved this book. I read it in 3 days. They way Linda Lael Miller is so descriptive without going overboard is great. This is the first of the 3 book series and I have already bought the second one "Never Look Back." And the 3rd one "One Last Look." I highly reccommend this series. I also like how hot Tony Sonterra is in the book.

Picked this up in the mystery section of my local library. I though LLM was a mushy romance novelist = well, she broke out here! Tension, delicious sarcasm, repartee, hunk of a hero and Clare is an angst ridden heroine.

Several different side stories kind of keep you on your toes. Set in Arizona, this was not a boring book. Emma and Beatrice are great! Tony is awesome. It has a few laughs and a pretty darn good mystery - diverting enuf that I almost didnt catch the killer until the end.

Several lawyers (Clare for one) in this book. I work with a lot like them and can recognize that "innocent until proven guilty" is so hard a concept to accept sometimes.

Am looking forward to LLM's Never Look Back, if I can find it.