Christine Falls by Bejamin Black

I read a positive review of the current novel "Silver Swan" and decided to start the series at the beginning. While the story was entertaining, I wasn't too fond of the main character, Quirke is not the the kind of hero I look for in a series. They can be flawed, give me a Harry Bosch and a Dave Robicheaux anytime, but they have to at least have good intentions. Quirke is a Medical Examiner in 1950's Dublin, he drinks too much, he's lonely, his only friend seems to be his niece Pheobe and he's pining for his adoptive brothers wife, Sarah. After a Christmas party at work he stumbles upon the brother, Malachy Griffin, altering a file of a deceased woman in his morgue. Christine Falls is the dead woman's name and when she is taken from his morgue the next day, Quirke is intrigued enough to have her returned to him for an autopsy. What he finds and reports to the wrong people cause death to a woman he questions and results in the villains coming after him. The intrigue sends him to Boston where his own dark secrets are soon revealed and the death of Christine Falls becomes a major conspiracy and not just the work of one person. Good story, I kept reading which means I had interest, but still wish Quirke had been a little less self motivated.

Dance for the Dead by Thomas Perry

Book two in the Jane Whitefield novels and now I'm convinced, in my opinion, Jane qualifies as a superhero! As usual the book starts with a bang, Jane running in a courthouse holding the hand of a youngster and not quite dodging fists and bad guys as only she can, successfully, to rush him into a particular courtroom before the eight year old is declared dead or he is killed right there. Turns out Timmy Phillips is worth millions and if he is declared dead all his millions gets donated to charity. That's not why bad guys are trying to kill him though, turns out someone has been siphoning out a big amount of the money, and if Timmy shows up alive an auditor might find the discrepancy. Jane reluctantly leaves him in the protection of the court and unknowingly puts herself right into the thick of the case again when a young woman asks for her help, Mary Jenkins needs to disappear, and fast. Bad guys think she has bank accounts of swindled money and turns out the most powerful guy of all will stop at nothing to add her cache to his own. Once again Jane is up against a villain with more resources and money but as usual I'm in awe of her survival skills and sheer guts. Sometimes the high finance plot point left me behind but I think that wouldn't be the case with most readers. Now the wait until the next book in the series arrives.

Guilty by Karen Robards

Another good book by an author I enjoy. This one is about Kate White, a defense attorney in Philadelphia, whom has a troubled past in which she has successfully buried, and a young son from an early impetuous marriage. When the courtroom in which she is working is taken over by inmates and one is a man who knows too much about her she finds her life disrupted by blackmail. Detective Tom Braga, whose brother was injured in the melee, is one of the investigators and he starts to see that something about Kate and the situation that just doesn't fit in with her story. Unfortunately his personal interest in Kate starts to interfere with his ability to solve the case and soon he has more than he bargained for just trying to keep she and Ben, her son, alive. Now my wait begins for her next novel!

Just Desserts by Barbara Bretton

This authors novels are always very enjoyable. The main character is an overworked bakery owner and baker named Hayley Goldstein, her fourteen year old daughter is the brains and accountant in the operation. Her ex-husbands money schemes always wreak havoc in the form of unexpected visits from strangers so when someone shows up asking for Hayley she's immediately suspicious. Finn Rafferty is a lawyer for a very famous rocker named Tommy Stiles, he doesn't divulge the true reason he's there but it has nothing at all to do with Michael Goldstein. Claiming they need a very elaborate cake for a party and that they will pay handsomely, too handsomely, Hayley believes with some trepidation. Nonetheless, she accepts the deal after many phone conversations with Finn, talks she's beginning to enjoy in no way pertaining to her business. The romance and the comedy that accompany Tommy Stiles into her life made for absorbing days of reading. I really liked Hayley and her daughter Lizzie, no secondary character was left to chance, they were all funny and eccentric.

Stranger in Paradise by Robert B Parker

Another Jesse Stone book, entertaining as usual. A bad guy from a previous novel returns but Jesse can't get any of his victims to admit to any wrongdoing so all his team can do is just tail him around town. They lose Crow quite a few times and coincidentally other unsavory people die, but when a young girls life is in danger, surprisingly he spares her and hands her over to Jesse. Jesse's life is already being complicated by some upper class protesters involving him in a land dispute and a visit once again from his ex-wife Jenn. Adding the 14 year old Amber and the mob and gang members that follow her into his life, its another eventful period for the always humorous and always no nonsense, Jesse Stone.

Vanishing Act by Thomas Perry

Thank you to our library director for this recommendation, what a terrific new series I get to read while waiting for my growing list of favorite authors to write their next books. Jane Whitefield is one tough character, right from the beginning she is stronger and more self sufficient than anyone I've ever read before, man or woman. She takes people who need disappearing, be it abused wives, or army deserters and finds new identities and lives for them. When a man breaks into her house and asks for her help she reluctantly agrees only after grilling him relentlessly about how he found her and how he heard about her. Dodging some bad guys, finding herself interested in "John", her client, Jane is successful in hiding him but her trouble doesn't end there. How she handles herself through all her adversity and how she ends up avenging her friends is just awe-inspiring, my jaw dropped several times. I can't wait to read the next one, what a terrific novel.

Creation in Death by J.D. Robb

Not much changes in these novels except the villains, but the formula is a winning one so I continue to enjoy the new releases. In this one a killer named "The Groom" has begun his work once again, so named because of the wedding rings he places on his victims fingers. He's also an especially cruel killer because of the suffering he inflicts upon them and when they succumb to the torture he carves how long they lasted on their bodies. Eve finds a link to her husband in the identity of the victims which makes the hunt a little more narrow than usual but since he owns many companies it still is a challenge to find him before he strikes. Soon they discover Roark might not be the link with the killer after all and getting Eve to accept protection is a problem in itself. Another entertaining installment of the Eve Dallas futuristic mysteries