THE NIGHT HAWKS

5 stars out of 5

Archeologist and University of North Norfolk professor Dr. Ruth Galloway seems like such an old friend that I was surprised to learn I've read only one other book in this series - and after reading this one, I know I don't want to miss any more. As it opens, a group of local metal detectorists who call themselves the Night Hawks find a dead body on a North Norfolk beach. Ruth wants to learn more about the suspected Bronze Age weapons found near the body, but detective inspector Harry Nelson - Ruth's former paramour and the father of their young daughter Katie, who lives with Ruth - leans toward determining whether the young man's death actually is a murder.

Later, the same group of Night Hawks find two more bodies - this time at the remote Black Dog Farm, also the site that spawned the legend of Black Shuck, a huge dog that is believed by some to be sighted by people right before they die. The dead bodies, though, are a man and wife - and it appears to have been a murder-suicide. 

The investigation, understandably, includes looking into a connection between the dead bodies, members of the Night Hawks and that mythical (or not!) pooch. All the while, Ruth must deal with her feelings for the still-married Nelson and her distaste for the new guy in the Archeology Department - the one she hired to replace her when she was named department head. Not only is he a know-it-all pain in the you-know-what, but his behavior makes her suspicious of what he's really up to.

I never really bought into the Black Shuck notion (a little too other-worldly for me, I guess), but on the other hand, it added some interest, albeit offbeat. The end brought at least one surprise and wrapped up loose ends - except one: A cliffhanger that has the potential to change the course of books to come. I, for one, will be waiting. Many thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review a pre-release copy.

The Night Hawks by Elly Griffiths (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, June 2021); 368 pp.

THE KEEPERS

4 stars out of 5

I love mysteries about cats and dogs, so I was excited to find and read "The Finders," the debut book in this series, last summer. I was no less excited to find this one - and even happier when, once again, I got a pre-release copy of the book to read and review (thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley). Like the first, there's plenty of nail-biting action, both on the part of the pooches and their very likable trainer, Mason "Mace" Reid. Needless to say, though, the dogs pretty much have a corner on the lovable end - any country music fan like me would be hard-pressed to resist pups with names like Delta Dawn, Elvira and Sue (yes, the latter is a boy).

They all live near Chicago, and the dogs are in demand, largely by the Chicago Police Department, for their expertise in sniffing out human remains.  As this story opens, a call from the previous summer sends Mace and a couple of his best canines to a major downtown fire, where the dogs nose out a body. Subsequent investigation determines the fire to be arson and that the dead guy, a lawyer, bit the dust before he turned up as a crispy critter (i.e., he was murdered).

Back to the present, Mace's not-yet-but-hoped-for main squeeze, police officer Kippy Gimm, calls him in to help with the murder of a local musician who, shall we say, was musically challenged and lost. Then Mace and the dogs seek and find an even more prominent - and spectacularly dead - local district attorney. That, in turn, leads to suspicions of nefarious connections that reach to the highest levels of government (hey, this is Chicago, after all). But whoever the someone or someones are behind the murder, it's pretty clear an in-depth investigation won't be welcome. Mace and Kippy soon learn that the hard way, though - putting them and the dogs in mortal danger, on the run and smack dab in the middle of an episode of "Who Do You Trust?"

For sure, this one barked right up my tree, and I'm sure it will be a hit with other readers as well. Good job!

The Keepers by Jeffrey B. Burton (Minotaur Books, June 2021); 288 pp.

HOSTAGE

5 stars out of 5

Note: I finished this book on May 11, but as per the publisher's request, my review has been withheld until about 4 weeks prior to release.

Have mercy! Granted, I'm one of those fear of flying fruitcakes (make that terrified), but this book is one of the scariest I've read in I can't remember when. That I'm still shaking in my shoes days after finishing it, though, is testimony to the author's skillful presentation of a story that would be at least a little frightening no matter who wrote it - but she hit it out of the park. Put another way, wow!

Mina and her husband, Adam, have a precocious adopted young daughter, Sophia, who suffers from several psychological disorders and, to put it mildly, is a handful. For the past dozen years, Mina - who once dreamed of becoming a commercial airline pilot - has been a flight attendant. Now, she gets the chance to serve on the 29-hour inaugural nonstop flight from London to Sydney - taking her away from Adam and Sophia just before Christmas.

Even before the plane is in the air, Mina has misgivings about the flight. It gets real, though, when a passenger gives Mina a note that chills her to the bone: Unless she cooperates, the plane - and all its passengers - will never get to Sydney. As the story progresses, the situation becomes more dire by the hour, especially after one passenger turns up dead. Chapters shift perspectives to present information on various passengers and what's happening back home with Adam, Sophia and their babysitters, making a guess fest for readers as to who did what, when and why and putting me on the edge of my firmly grounded sofa for the rest of the ride. 

To say this one is a thrill a minute would be an understatement - and that doesn't count a bang-up surprise ending. Suffice it to say this one's a winner in my book - many thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review a pre-release copy. If you like thrills and chills, do not miss this one!

Hostage by Clare Mackintosh (Sourcebooks Landmark, June 2021); 362 pp.

LITTLE BLACK BOOK

4 stars out of 5

Even if you're not a fan of so-called cozy mysteries - and generally speaking, that includes me - I implore you to try this series (as well as, for the record, this author's other "Fixer-Upper" series that's equally enjoyable). That's because, unlike virtually all the other cozies I've had the relative displeasure to read, her main characters are strong-willed but sensible, thoughtful and brilliant women who don't go off half cocked and instead actually contribute something substantial to their stories.

This is the fifteenth in this wonderful series about book-restoration expert Brooklyn Wainwright, who's now married to Derek Stone, a gorgeous, almost super-human security expert (well, okay, that's pretty much standard in cozies, but this guy really is a peach). At her San Francisco workroom, a package arrives addressed to Derek marked only from "Gwyneth Antiquities" that contains a slightly damaged rare, author-signed copy of Rebecca but no instructions on what to do with it. Not long thereafter, they get a visit from Brooklyn's one-time acquaintance and antique weapons expert Claire Quinn, who Derek knows is related to the probable sender of the package and his former M-16 colleague Gwyneth Quinn. But while Claire knows her aunt sent some kind of package, she claims to have no idea what was in it. More to the point, she says her aunt has gone missing - and she's convinced somebody out there is out to get her as well.

That they might succeed is bolstered by the very recent trashing of Claire's apartment and her recount of at least two narrow misses on being killed. When pressed, the only reason she can think of is that as a child, she saw some men, including her now-missing-and-presumed-dead father, planning some kind of crime. When Claire temporarily moves in with Brooklyn and Derek, one of the bad guys shows up again but somehow eludes Derek, his security team and the local police. Strangely, that man soon turns up dead - murdered with an antique dagger. And when the three decide to visit Dharma, where Brooklyn's quirky communal mother lives, yet another of Claire's nefarious stalkers bites the dust in similar fashion.

Finally, enough is enough, and the three decide they're likely to find the answers they need in Scotland, where Claire used to live and from where her missing Aunt Gwyneth disappeared. They're invited to live in a real-life (though somewhat run-down) castle, where clues start piling up like turrets. Getting to the truth - and hopefully, finding Claire's aunt alive - takes a lot of speculation, wrong turns, near misses and puts Derek's security expertise to the test, but it all comes together in the end.

Except not quite. There are a couple of loose ends that I'm sure will follow Brooklyn and Derek to the next book and that's okay - some characters in this one made follow-up appearances here, after all. But the "real" ending, to me, elicited more of a "you've got to be kidding me" feeling than satisfaction. That's because lacking more explanation, what happened was for the most part implausible (I can't get more specific, but the lack of food and water plus perhaps the need for an invisible cargo-lugging 18-wheeler came to mind immediately). A few extra descriptive lines could have cleared all that up, but alas, they weren't there. Otherwise, though, it's another great series entry, and I thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review it.

Oh yes - the book includes recipes for a few of the treats Brooklyn and Derek enjoyed among the earlier pages. Too many ingredients for this cooking-phobic reader to want to try making, but they sure do sound yummy!

Little Black Book by Kate Carlisle (Berkley, June 2021); 384 pp.

DREAM GIRL

5 stars out of 5

Well, if you're looking for a wild psychological ride, you won't go wrong with this one. What a delight!

At first, actually, I worried a bit; just about every chapter switches time frame, which to me is distracting (more accurately described as my aging brain has more trouble keeping things straight than it used to). But in short order - thanks to some expert writing - I was "into" it and really, really didn't want to put it down.

Gerry Andersen gained fame, considerable fortune and fancy digs in New York City after penning a best-selling novel titled Dream Girl, followed by a few other books that did relatively well. Now, at age 61, he reluctantly moved to Baltimore to care for his mother in her final stages of dementia. She died, and he had a freaky accident that left him bedridden in his apartment with almost round-the-clock caregivers who share the chores of making sure he's fed, watered and bathed. He's not happy with the arrangement (nor, for that matter, with either of the women upon whom he's dependent), but much as he'd love to head back to the Big Apple, his choices for the foreseeable future are rather limited. 

The main character in his best-seller was a woman named Aubrey, and despite many pleas from fans and the media to 'fess up, he swears she's not based on a real person or persons. So when he gets a phone call from a woman who calls herself Aubrey - who tells him she's coming to see him soon - he starts to wonder if he's succumbing to the same dementia that killed his mother. That's followed by wonder about how he could protect himself if she really did show up and wanted to hurt him. Even more concerning is that there's no record that he ever received a phone call on his phone; could it be a hallucination caused by all the drugs he takes?

His caregivers aren't much help, nor is the woman he left in New York - one of the few he didn't actually marry - who's followed him to Baltimore. She's almost more of a pain than his shattered leg, but she's hard to avoid when he's trussed up like a stuffed turkey.Things really turn sour, though, when he wakes up one morning to see a dead body - one he's pretty sure wasn't there when he fell asleep the night before. One of his caregivers offers an explanation, but it's not one he wants to hear, much less believe.

From that point on, the plot gets even thicker and more fun with more than a few twists beyond what's already happened - all leading to a bang-up ending that, I must admit, left me cheering. Without doubt, this is one of the most engrossing books out of the 53 I've read so far this year - highly recommended. Kudos to the author, and many hanks very much to the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review a pre-release copy.

Dream Girl by Laura Lippman (William Morrow, June 2021); 320 pp.

ONE LITTLE LIE

4 stars out of 5

This is the fourth book I've read by this author, and - as with the other three - I'm glad I did. It's fast-paced, engrossing and immensely readable.

Kate is a recently divorced mother of two young children, Andy and Ava. By most accounts, including hers, her super-smooth ex-husband was emotionally abusive - particularly adept at gaslighting. He's also controlling, a trait he seems to have picked up from his mother, who lives nearby. Kate is trying to build a life back for herself and her kids - holding down a temp job she really, really hopes will be temporary. On one fateful day, she's testing a drone - a freelance assignment from a friend who wants her to write a product review. 

As her bad luck would have it (and trust me, this woman has more bad luck throughout this entire book than Carter's ever had liver pills), the drone takes a header near her son's soccer field - literally; it smacks her right on the noggin. Video from the drone seems to indicate that she's got a stalker, but - worried about what the police will think of her (one hunky officer in particular) - and bolstered by her lawyer ex-husband's advice - she tells a fib that will come back to haunt her.

That ex-husband, for the record, has settled in with a former high-school sweetheart who hates Kate with all her wicked heart (a feeling that's mutual, although Kate's heart is more wishy washy than wicked). Therein comes my only complaint with the story: I'm glad it ended when it did, because I was ready to pitch Kate and her self-doubting, fence-sitting, do everything exactly the wrong way persona right in the trash can  even if it meant my Kindle went with it. Hand-wringing ladies like her who can't find a backbone do add considerable angst to a story and to a degree I even sympathize - for a while. But when they just keep on saying and doing stupid things, my tolerance takes a nosedive. 

Fortunately for my Kindle (and for Kate, whose very life may be on the line), the end comes just in time. I must admit I had two possible prime suspects who were behind all the nasty things that happened and both of them were dead wrong, which is a plus in my book. Of course, I can't reveal any details, but all in all I was satisfied with how everything turned out - and I'm sure other readers will agree. Good job!

One Little Lie by Christopher Greyson (Greyson Media, June 2021); 260 pp.

THE CHILD IN THE PHOTO

4 stars out of 5

My feelings about this book are mixed. On the one hand, it's an intriguing story - one with enough twists and turns to keep me turning the pages of my Kindle all the way to the end. But the end? It happened so abruptly - and in my mind, incompletely, that I actually said out loud, "Wait - is that all there is, or did I miss something?"

But back to the beginning: Someone slips an old newspaper article to 34-year-old Hope Taylor about a baby girl who was taken from her mother three decades earlier. Nothing to get excited about, at least until Hope spots a very unique and unusual physical characteristic on the baby that she shares. Coincidence? Unlikely - but Hope loves her parents, who took good care of her, especially when she was in a bad accident. Her mother, when Hope confronts her, says all the right things; but the next day, Hope sees her burning papers in the garden and her reasons for doing so are less than satisfactory. 

When she tells her good platonic friend, Stephen, what happened, he insists that they go meet the woman whose daughter was stolen all those years ago. They break in, and Hope finds evidence that this woman's baby wasn't the only one stolen back then. Later still, Hope returns and actually meets the mother, who is absolutely positive that Hope is her missing daughter - a daughter she wants back in her life. In the midst of all this, Stephen must deal with a personal incident that could have been deadly.

Still reeling, the only thing both Hope and Stephen are sure of is that they don't want to tell the police. And that was a turn-off for me, because I just couldn't buy their rationalizations for not doing so (although if Hope, in particular, had done so at that point I guess there wouldn't have been much of a story left). Then Hope gets a visitor who brings an even bigger surprise; and with that, I must stop and not give away anything more. Suffice it to say that trying to sort everything out becomes an emotional roller coaster - one on which it's next to impossible to see where the next turn will come and where it's going.

Most of what happens gets resolved, but not all; as I indicated at the beginning, I wasn't totally satisfied and felt that several loose ends never got tied up. But overall, there's plenty of action here that should keep most readers not wanting to put the book down (think: Summer's coming and a relaxing chaise on the beach with a good book is starting to sound great). I thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for allowing me to read and review a pre-release copy.

The Child in the Photo by Kerry Wilkinson (Bookouture, June 2021); 318 pp.

A GAMBLING MAN

5 stars out of 5

Generally speaking, I'm not fond of "period" stories; when I do tackle them, they're more often set in the future than the past. This series is an exception - and a wonderful one at that. I loved would-be private eye Aloysius Archer from the git-go (which was in the first book of the series, One Good Deed), and I love him here as well. 

The period is in the late '40s, when Archer (he tends to avoid mentioning his given name) has just been released from jail for a crime he insists he didn't commit and is headed for California to look for private investigator Willie Dash, under whose tutelage he hopes to learn the ropes and carve out a new and potentially rewarding career for himself. As a World War II vet, he's seen plenty of action, so he figures he can withstand a little danger here and there.

He makes a pitstop in Reno, where he lands some money and a rare bright red 1939 Delahaye convertible (note: Google this car - you gotta see this baby to believe it). Archer also meets up with feisty actress wannabe named Liberty Callahan, who, as luck would have it, is headed to California as well and joins him for the last leg of the journey. A few experiences later, they land in Bay Town, overlooking the vast Pacific Ocean; here, Archer finds his mentor and Liberty finds a decent job as a singer/dancer at a local saloon to tide her over till she moves on to the Hollywood scene.

Willie is happy with Archer, but with the town, not so much. It's run, for the most part, by a filthy rich family, and the son-in-law of the head honcho is running for mayor against a local dentist. But the family guy is a blackmail target - accused of bedding one of the "girls" from the saloon. He denies the allegations, of course, and has hired Willie to get to the bottom of things. Willie, in turn, puts Archer on the case; when the saloon woman turns up murdered, things start to heat up and the bad guys start packing heat. It doesn't take long, though, for Archer to discover not only that there's much more at stake here than a mayoral race, but that some people will take extreme measures to bring his investigation efforts to a halt.

The rest of the story is riddled with bullets, dead bodies and wrongdoing of all kinds, but it all gets sorted out in the end thanks mostly to Archer. It's a great follow-up to the first one, and I hope the author wastes no time coming up with the third. Well done!

A Gambling Man by David Baldacci (Grand Central Publishing, April 2021); 375 pp.

A DARK AND SECRET PLACE

4 stars out of 5

Convicted serial killer Michael Reave, better known as Red Wolf, has been in jail for years. So when another woman's body turns up murdered in the same gruesome manner that was Reave's trademark, it raises the question of who the killer is this time around. Coincidence or copycat? It's a question that dogs journalist Heather Evans when she learns that her mother, who just committed suicide, had been exchanging letters with Reave throughout his two decades in prison. It's got the police stumped as well, so when Heather shows the letters her mother got from Reave and kept hidden away, Detective Inspector Ben Parker arranges for her to visit Reave in hopes he will not only explain his connection to Heather's mother but say more about the women he's insisted he didn't kill.

Reave, however, isn't forthcoming; instead, he tells a story about a young boy who drank water that turned him into a wolf. But he admits to knowing Heather's mother, Colleen, who he claims loved stories like this. Meanwhile, yet another woman's life is snuffed out. At this point, there's no doubt someone is imitating Reave, but who, and why? Heather discovers a communal place where her mother and Reave may have met not far from London; today, it's a spa popular with rich folks. Still, she's certain the site holds keys to the past that somehow have been unlocked in her world today.

As the investigation continues, it becomes clear that Heather, too, may be at risk; as she stays in her old home - where her mother lived until she died - strange and creepy sounds and objects appear to make her doubt what's real and what's not. Meantime, interspersed chapters revert to "Before," slowly revealing clues as to what really happened all those years ago at the commune and how what happened there relates to Heather, her mother and Red Wolf.

Needless to say, there are more than a few fairytale-like twists in the story, with one of the biggest evident to me very early on. And I do have a few issues with Heather's behavior - one a professional screw-up that no journalist I know would ever make. The other came near the end, when the formerly strong-willed but for the most part sensible Heather veered off down the B-movie path toward the dark alley instead of the well-lit street to the police station. At that point, I have to admit I pretty much stopped caring what happened to her.

As a whole, though, it's an engrossing and entertaining story with a very dark side that certainly held my attention throughout - and I thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review a pre-release copy. Last but definitely not least, I'm happy to say I learned a couple of new words ("skewhiff," for instance) - always a treat because I love sharing these finds with our wonderful English daughter-in-law. 

A Dark and Secret Place by Jen Williams (Crooked Lane Books, June 2021); 304 pp.

BEYOND THE HEADLINES

5 stars out of 5

I love and recommend this series - and this may well be the best of the bunch I've read so far. The star of the show, New York TV News Director Clare Carlson, really shines as her investigative reporter skills kick into high gear.

She's asked by an attorney friend to give some air time to the story of Vietnamese supermodel and relatively low-level actress Laurie Bateman, who is divorcing her filthy rich husband Charles Hollister. But just as Clare's about to make that happen, Laurie's story veers off in another direction: Hollister is found brutally murdered, and his still-wife has been arrested as his killer. Apparently, she was at the scene of the crime and had somewhere around a billion reasons to do him in. But when Clare does a jailhouse interview in which Laurie plays the wronged woman card to the max, the dial on Clare's suspicion meter starts jumping. Ignoring conventional wisdom (police-style), she takes on the job of getting to the truth.

Mind you, as a former newspaper journalist I can't totally condone Clare's methods for trying to prove wrong is right or right is wrong (nor, on a personal level, her choices in men that pretty much are limited to anyone who's good-looking and not currently married). But hey, those characteristics absolutely make for a more intriguing story with plenty of action; and not insignificantly Clare's slightly left of center sense of humor makes the whole thing more fun. Her digging early on not only reveals that the dead guy had plenty of enemies, but also a hint that he may well have been involved in some very shady activities.

It is Clare's investigation and dedication to leaving no stone unturned, of course, that makes for a great story - one with several twists and turns (some surprising, some not so much) that kept me glued to the pages (well okay, to my Kindle). Already, I'm chomping at the bit for the next installment - this is the fourth, by the way. Also for the record, while I always recommend starting any series at the beginning, this one stands on its own quite well. Many thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for allowing me to read and review it.

Beyond the Headlines by R.G. Belsky (Oceanview Publishing, May 2021); 287 pp.

THE HIVE

4 stars out of 5

Think Mary Kay Ash on steroids: Such is the life of Marnie Spellman, who made a fortune in direct sales of her bee-inspired beauty creams and lotions as well as a loyal following of believer-buyers from her farm on an island in the Pacific Northwest (with some help from TV home shopping network appearances). Marnie, it seems, claims that a swarm of bees lifted her off the ground - yes, really - and in the process encouraged her to found a cosmetics empire and teach women how to beecome the best that they can bee. To help with that, she rallied together a group of devoted worker bees dubbed (though not by her) the Hive.

Although a misstep or two whittled her empire down a bit over the years and the members of the original Hive have scattered to the four winds, Marnie remains committed to rebuilding - and to forgetting a few dark "secrets" that marked the early years - all the while hoping and praying (to her female God) that her devotees would forget as well.

But the past seems to be on a collision course with the present, as the naked body of a young journalist is found at the bottom of a ravine. Police officer Lindsay Jackman, who is still mourning the recent suicide of her mentor-partner, is assigned to the case. In fairly short order, she learns that the dead woman was planning to write an expose of Spellman Farms and its charismatic founder. Then, she learns that another woman with a connection to the Spellman empire was found dead 20 years earlier. Could the two murders somehow be related?

Chapters switch time frames frequently, which always makes a story seem a bit disjointed to me. But the technique does allow readers to see what went on in the lives of the worker bees and at the farm at various times - all of which, of course, build up background and provide possible "connections" that in this case happen at just about every twist and turn. It's also a good way to slip in clues as to how the whole story will play out (and ultimately end). Speaking of the end, there's a handy dandy epilogue in this one that ties up loose ends - some of which were a little surprising (and at least one that was very disappointing to me given everything that happened).

All in all, an enjoyable and well-thought out story. Thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review a pre-release copy.

The Hive by Gregg Olsen (Thomas & Mercer, June 2021); 475 pp.

BLOODLESS

 5 stars out of 5

Wow - this one sure took a turn for the bizarre! And the ending? Well, I'm still in shock. The ending, of course, I can't reveal. As for the bizarre, with this series - this is the 20th book - it's pretty much to be expected, although maybe not quite this much.

The story begins with the 1971 disappearance of D.B. Cooper, who, threatening the flight crew with what turned out to be a fake bomb, collected a ransom of $200,000 and parachuted from Flight 305 that started in Portland headed for Seattle (which is, for the record, a true story). Readers may (should) suspect that this has some bearing on the tale that follows, when FBI Special Agent Aloysius Pendergast and his partner, Agent Armstrong Coldmoon, are ordered to Savannah, Georgia. There, a couple of bodies have been found totally drained of blood - either a blessing or a bane, depending on who's looking to get rich or famous - in a city that's known for its ghosts and vampires.

Special interests also are at work here, in the form of a group looking to capture paranormal activity on film and a man looking to do an expose on the paranormal-filming group. While a couple of blood-let bodies may boost or hinder their causes one way or another, the same can be said of how their activities impact Pendergast's investigation. Throw in a couple more bloodless bodies, a sinister cemetery and some futuristic technology, and Pendergast and company definitely have their hands and thinking caps full.

As usual, Pendergast gets a lot of assistance from his ward with the mysterious background, Constance Greene; this time, her help not only is crucial to solving the case, but ultimately brings into question the direction future books in this series will take. For sure I'm one who will be waiting on pins and needles for the next one. As for this, well, nothing left to say but bravo (and please, please, don't waste any time getting the next installment ready).

Bloodless by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child (Grand Central Publishing, August 2021); 400 pp.