Summers always remind me of Vacations at Granny’s house and reading all the Agatha Christie mysteries, books pre-owned by Granny’s Father, my great grand-father. It brings a on a state of languid nostalgia, just like when one walks into an old bookstore and inhales the musty smell of decaying pages, dust, mothballs and memories.
This month should be exciting because I have landed myself some great story books ready to be devoured between commutes to work, before dozing off at night or while siting idly waiting for the pot to boil over on the gas stove.
A cozy mystery set in a picturesque small erstwhile mining town. The mystery murderer holds well till the final unveiling. The red herrings are used throughout the book, but they do not fail to disappoint. The build up to the ending has a sense of foreboding, and when the final action happens and curtain falls, there is a gasp of wonder. Its a well written book. It happens to be Book 2 of a serial involving the protagonist Stormy Day. So, be prepared for a lot of reference harking back to the fist mystery in the series. The last page brilliantly sets up the book 3 of the series. Overall Rating 4.5/5
Yet another series starter from Blake Pierce, this time about a small town cop who through turn on events in the book moves to FBI. The Mackenzie White Book 1 is a gripping tale. Its well written, pacy and doesn’t have obvious plot holes. Crisply written makes it a breeze to read. Overall Rating 4/5.
This is a story of a retired FBI Agent Wise, who at the ripe age of 55 years, decided she cannot deal with retirement and goes back to find a serial murderer. The procedural parts are somewhat poorly written, the personal drama aside, the mystery is a bit sluggish to read. The big reveal of the perpetrator more to do with shock and awe. Overall Rating 3/5.
This is a gripping tale of 2 sisters living down a tragedy in their childhood, but they don’t get to move past it as it follows them. This is by far one of the best Blake Pierce pieces I have read. The revelation comes as a surprise, doesn’t stretch one’s mind to make that leap to how the culprit had reached a point of desperate yet calculated attempt to hide a crime. The closing of the book feels realistic. One can ignore one or two obvious plot holes. But it is a good mystery to read. Overall Rating 4.5/5.
A good murder mystery with a little bit of red herring thrown in. Good writing but procedural details of police not so in depth. Not much focus on character development, perhaps because it is a series. Unnecessary hark back to past incidents of main characters, that may alienate new readers but might also connect well with the old readers of the series. Overall Rating 3 /5.
This is a surprisingly well written cozy mystery, which is apparently a new genre, in the lines of Agatha Christie’s Mrs. Marple series. The protagonist Aunt Bessie is the 90’s Mrs. Marple and does a fairly good job of solving murders. But the writer tries too hard to bring too many happy endings for the reader and ends up forcing the climax and the epilogue with revelations after revelations. The end result is the last 20 odd pages are a drag. Overall rating 3.5/5
This is a prequel to the Blake Pierce series with Riley Paige as protagonist. It traces Railey’s discovery of her special abilities as an Empath which brings her to BAU. The character development for Riley’s friends, Father , even love interest is left off half-heartedly. There is the flash and bang ending. A red herring or two. The final unveiling comes a surprise but the explanation falls flat. Overall Rating 3.5/5.
A good thriller, based in the Gambling heaven of America, with enough details of the professional Gamblers life including the shady underbelly of crime associated with it. But the unraveling of mystery felt slightly forced, the explanation for the deed and the final unveiling of the killer felt all too melodramatic. Overall rating 3/5
Enjoyed this thriller linking World War 2 incidents with present day scenes, but characters are not very clearly defined, a lot of action that happens seems to be going on in the background. The final unveiling of the murderer is a long stretch of imagination, where logic takes a backseat. Overall rating 3/5.
A cute murder mystery , at least that’s what this pretends to be. Again the attempted red herrings and pushing the reader’s mind towards possible killers, never really bothering to solidify the suspicion, and a surprise ending, where the murder turns out to be the least expected and least seen character. Felt a bit contrived. The language is difficult to comprehend, as there is some form of local dialect in it, or perhaps an attempt to give the first person narrative an eccentricity in syntax. Overall Rating 3 /5
An attempted mystery in a historical set up. Too many details which do not really make any visible impact to the story. The ending unnaturally melodramatic. Perhaps to set up the series. Decent one time read. Overall Rating 3/5.
A well written mystery, being the book 1 of a series, feels like the series may have potential. The female protagonist goes from a laid back lady living by the beach to a ninja warrior in a few chapters. The ending is a bit contrived, the hero dies, but doesn’t really die. And all of a sudden a new Male interest crops up and becomes the paramour of the lead lady. All very rushed and contrived. But nonetheless the intensity of the action is fairly captured. Does keep the reader on the edge. Overall Rating 3.5/5.
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