Even Cat Sitters get the Blues by Blaize Clement

This is the third of the Dixie Hemingway books, no relation to the famous author, as the character has to clarify throughout the series. Dixie used to be a cop until her husband and daughter died and now she's a pet-sitter and not quite recovered from the loss of her family. She gets a little bit better throughout each book, in this one she's finally feeling attraction to men again, unfortunately for her there are two of them. True to form for Dixie her work day begins with a corpse, a man working a security gate for an affluent home is dead as she discovers when she tries to enter and feed an iguana. Suprisingly, she runs from the situation instead of reporting it and that leads her to more problems with a police department when her presence is reported by a witness. She doesn't let it lie for long though, pretty soon she's right in the thick of the mystery, caring for a very important iguana and trying to help a very sick man who lives in the home. A few plot points regarding the ailing character in the book made me uncomfortable, but it was still quite enjoyable. I'm glad her character is recovering enough to put herself out there, it puts a little element of romance in the series.

The Face-Changers by Thomas Perry

I was very disappointed to discover by reading this novel I read the Jane Whitefield books out of sequence. I was midway through it when it dawned on me but by than I couldn't put it down. Jane is out of the vanishing business, now she's just a wife of a surgeon, but like being in the mafia, she just keeps being pulled back in. This time it's for her husband Carey, when his mentor is shot and soon to be arrested on a murder charge, against all his own reservations about her "work" he asks her to help him. It's not long before she realizes the case against the elderly doctor just may send her and Carey to prison unless she gets to the real killers, not an easy task since they are just as skilled at invisibility as she herself. I can't get over how much I love this character, she is tough as nails and can take on so many scary people that would leave me a puddle of fear in the corner. Here's to Jane's next exciting adventure, the one I should've read before this book, Shadow Woman.

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.