From the Booking Desk:
Occasionally, I get so behind on telling you all what I am reading that I don’t have time to post full-length reviews of each. But I do still want to make you aware of the many gems I have discovered in my consumption this Fall. So, here you will find brief reviews of five books that are excellent and help to highlight the vast array of offerings categorized as Crime Fiction. There’s something here for everyone!
Desert Reunion by Michael Craft
Desert Reunion is the third book in Michael Craft’s Dante and Jazz Mystery series. Like the others, it peels back the glamorous façade of Palm Springs while paradoxically enticing readers to book their next vacation to the desert playground. Our mixed-match pair of detectives—he’s white and gay, she’s black and straight—are on another madcap investigation spurred by Dante’s job as a high-end vacation-rental concierge. Michael Craft’s writing captivates readers with its striking combination of leisurely pace and finely-honed social observation. An innate understanding of family dynamics—both real blood relations and chosen family—fuel this mystery that will keep readers guessing right up until the end. Michael Craft’s series doesn’t nearly enough credit for the way it celebrates diversity in a purely authentic, non-performative, manner. If you haven’t meet Dante and Jazz, book a trip—but don’t use Dante’s concierge service because with his track record, you might not survive.
Echoes on the Wind by Helaine Mario
Echoes on the Wind is the fourth novel in this classical music-themed series from Helaine Mario. Once again, Maggie O’Shea, is the central character, but this entry in the series features a dual timeline that will captivate the reader. Both the contemporary, present-day storyline and the historical thread set in World War II France are so authentically depicted that readers will struggle to determine which setting they enjoy more. Watching how these two plots weave and intermingle continues to surprise, with echoes being the perfect symbolic image. Mystery and music abound, with the danger Maggie and her new family find themselves facing feeling profoundly unsettling. Light the fireplace, put Chopin’s Preludes on the stereo, and settle in for a gripping read you won’t soon forget. Then go back and discover how Maggie O’Shea’s journey began as you wait for the next in the series from Helaine Mario.
Travel back to colonial times with Anna Hoyt, the newest novel from award-winning author Dana Cameron. Fans of Cameron’s short fiction will remember the character of Anna Hoyt from some of her earlier work and will likely delight in knowing she now features in a full-length novel. Those just discovering this kick-ass heroine will be more than happy to make her acquaintance. Anna Hoyt inherits The Queen’s Arms Tavern on the shores of Boston’s harbor—circa 1745—and uses it as the headquarters for her more nefarious actions. First addressing the abuses in her own life, it isn’t long before Anna becomes a bit of a vigilante, protecting women’s rights in the days when it seems few really cared. Told in episodic manner, Anna Hoyt will engage and enrage in the best possible way—the Dana Cameron way. Fans and newcomers alike will enjoy this visit to the past.
Red River Road by Anna Downes is a slow-burn psychological suspense novel merged with a missing persons thriller. A year prior to the start of the novel, Phoebe Sweeney vanished while on a solo trip through Western Australia. Now Katy is following her path—using Phoebe’s social media accounts as a roadmap—in the hopes of discovering what happened to her sister. Along the way, Katy picks up Beth (a fellow traveler in trouble), setting in motion a race for survival in the unforgiving landscape of both Australia and the human mind. Alternating chapters from the two women, plus glimpses of Phoebe’s social media posts makes for a complex, but satisfying journey. Pay close attention when reading this one, as every small detail matters in the end.
Echo by Tracy Clark
The third Harriet Foster thriller from Tracy Clark solidifies this series as a must-read, while also avoiding the dreaded tendency for series crime fiction to always provide “the same, but different” with each new release. Echo features a topical investigation involving students at an elite college in Chicago that has its beginnings in the sins of the father, once again proving that past is prologue. The interplay between Harri and her partner, Vera Li, continues to delight even as readers get a deeper understanding of not only their personalities, but some of their colleagues as well. The over-arching thread that ties this series together gets some important “updates” that elucidate just how much Harriet Foster has grown across these three books—as well as how much she still has to come to terms with. Fortunately for fans, there is at least one more book in the series ahead of us.
