Murder in Painter's Mills, Ohio

Sworn to Silence by Linda Castillo
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A former Amish woman, Kate Burkholder has returned to her home town and accepted the Chief of Police position. Sixteen years ago, just before she left, a series of brutal murders took place in town but seemed to have ended. Kate has a secret that may account for that although the killer was never found. Now, it would appear he has returned. Kate is sure that is not the case but cannot tell the townfolk. As the number of murders add up, she is forced by the City Council to call in an investigator from the State's BCI. He is a man defeated by the rape and murder of his wife and two young girls and this assignment is a last ditch effort by his boss to push him over the edge and finally be able to fire him.
These two emotionally scarred people find themselves racing against the clock to find and stop the murderer before another young girl is butchered and defiled. Castillo does a nice job of presenting the one-upmanship among officers of various police units trying to work together, the fear of the townsfolk, the reticence of the Amish when interrogated, the political demands of a small town council. Add to that the description of the brutality of the attacks, the near misses of trapping the killer and the final denouement when Kate realizes who the perp is and tries to keep her knowledge from him as she attempts to rally the police to catch him and you have a page turner with a satisfactory if surprising ending.

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Rereading Grisham Starting with The Firm--Have Misplaced A Time to Kill and The Pelican Brief

The Firm by John Grisham
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Rereading Grisham--and starting at the beginning. Used to wait anxiously for his next book and then, somehow, didn't keep up. Watched The Innocent Man on Netflix and remembered how much I enjoyed his novels filled with suspense and thrills always with a lawyer at the center of the plot. So, here I go again--going to keep reading until I catch up with his newest. Also going to watch Tom Cruise in the movie version. That is a problem, though, since I usually like my own mental image of the characters and in this one Tom Cruise and Gene Hackman keep filling my mind's eye. Could be worse--I like those two.

Anyway, if you've read Grisham you don't need a review. If you haven't, start with A Time To Kill and work your way through his work-if you like smart lawyers and crooked white collar wearers and corruption stories, he's your guy.

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Dark Tribute--Eve Duncan #23--But I Haven't Read the Earlier Books

Dark Tribute by Iris Johansen
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

In fairness to the author this is the 24th bookin the Eve Duncan series and I have not read any of the others. Also, in fairness to her, this is a review of an ARC, provided by Goodreads for review. Both of these probably are responsible for the 2 star rating on this Eve Duncan adventure. In actuality, Eve Duncan did not play a very large part in the story but her son, Michael and her daughter, Cara were the two main characters--other than Cara's grandfather and the villain of the piece, an insane old adversary of his, Svardak.
well as her relationships with Eve and her family and a former killer, I guess, Jock were all unfamiliar to me. It was therefore difficult to get into the present interactions with any understanding. Nevertheless, I found Cara to be rather irritating, her romantic involvement with Jock improbable and lack of understanding of Kaskov immature. As to Michael, precocious ten year olds have never been intriguing or cute or intelligent to me.

The basic plot could have been interesting if this were a stand alone book and if it had not been so repetitive and padded with unnecessary rehashing of --you can't be here, protect her, she broke the connection or he did, music is the only reason to be involved, etc, etc, etc.

Stuck it out to the bitter end, which was perhaps the most exciting part of the whole book. Heard of this author but not sure if this book makes me want to go back to the beginning of the series and start it. Other books have hooked me mid series, but this one has not.

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Renaissance is A Nice Lady--Michelle Obama--Becoming

Becoming by Michelle Obama
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A pleasant read, which, without rancor, blame or nastiness, is a true memoir, covering Michelle's life from early childhood in the Southside of Chicago to the last day at the White House. It is a story that is remarkable in its similarity to so many lives of American women who come from a middle class background in which the parents work together to provide a stable home for their families and instill in their children a desire to explore the world and use their talents to get an education and improve their lot. Loved and supported and encouraged by a strong family structure, she goes to ivy league colleges, gets a law degree, starts a career . meets and marries a man with a desire to serve his community. The description of their differences and the adjustments they make to overcome them is not unusual. The story of a young couple with two young girls and two careers is not unusual either. The ambition of the man and the subsequent sacrifices made by his wife to support that ambition is also something to which many can relate.
The differences between Michele and the rest of the female population come when her husband becomes President of the United States. And yet, the story continues to be interesting--why? Because this is still a married couple making a marriage work and the parents of two growing daughters who are doing their best to be good parents. Parents who nurture and guide these girls into strong, independent young women. And it is humanizing to know that even POTUS and FLOTUS share all the ups and downs of those roles with the rest of us.

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Purity in Death--15 in Eve Dallas Series

Purity in Death by J.D. Robb
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

There has never been a computer virus like this one. The computer runs fine, no evidence of any infiltration, but the user doesn't feel very well. Initially, mild headache but it gets worse and worse and the eyes, ears, nose start to bleed--madness followed by death, if holed up and alone. Collateral damage if others are around. Absolute Purity Achieved screams the computer screen.
EDD with Roarke, Feeney, McNab and brilliant Jamie rush to find a way to access the innards of an infected computer without harming themselves--what is the program and where did it originate. In the meantime, Dallas and Peabody try to connect the dots--what do the victims have in common, who do they have in common, why would someone or someones want to destroy them. This is one of the most intense and frightening of the series that I've read so far. Terrifying while the scourge continues, terrifying at the possibility of something like this happening, terrifying to see who is behind the movement.

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Death in St Petersburg--Not Her Best, But Still a Good, Fast, Enjoyable Read

Death in St. Petersburg: A Lady Emily Mystery by Tasha Alexander
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Perhaps ,after 12 cases with Lady Emily and Colin Hargreaves, it is becoming too easy to solve the cases. Within the first several chapters I knew who the murderer was, though the motive eluded me until the very end. The red herring of the mysterious ballerina with red scarf never confused me, though it took several more chapters before I knew who she was and what her purpose or at least affiliation was. So, though the mystery was, for me, solved very early on, it was still an interesting book to devour in one day.

Alexander's ability to describe the time and place so completely that fully formed pictures emerge in my imagination and the wonderful detail of the clothes worn by her characters, as well as the fully developed personalities of them, keeps me reading her books even when her plot is so obvious. One cannot help but enjoy the relationship between the principals. That aside, Cecile is a hoot and Sebastian is such a rogue it is easy to see why, despite his irritating ways, Emily can't stay angry at him and Colin can't tolerate him.

I cannot wait to see what adventures await them when Victoria, on her death bed, gives Colin one last assignment and that obese, lothario of a son ascends the throne.

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The Last of the Stanfields

The Last of the Stanfields by Marc Levy
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Remarkably Different and Captivating Plot

A woman in England, a man in Canada each receive anonymous letters hunting at family secrets. Soon, these intriguing notes are followed by a shorter one,setting a date, time and place to meet in Baltimore, Maryland. Curious,both of them take off and meet each other. What ensues is a delightful and exciting plot revealing the lives of their mothers. Back and forth through time and places, the story unfolds though not until the last page is it fully told.

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