The Pelican Brief-- A re-read as good as the first time around.

The Pelican Brief by John Grisham
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

One of Grisham's earlier books and one of my favorites. Two Supreme Court justices, seeminly different in every way, are murdered within hours of each other. A Tulane law student decides to do some background on them to see if there are connections not immediately evident. She and her law school professor and lover think there may be a reason someone might want the President, now up for reelection though not a shoo-in, to be the one to add two new justices to the court. After four days of obsessive research Darcy Shaw comes up with a brief that she shows her lover, Callahan. He is so taken with the premise she proposes that he shares the brief with his old college buddy, now an FBI lawyer. He in turn shares it around Washington and it reaches the President and his advisor and almost president, Coal. Within days, Callahan is blown up in his Porche, after a drunken dinner with Darcy. She doesn't die with him because they had an arguement and she refused to get in the car that he intends to drive, though quite drunk.
And so begins her new life, one in which she doesn't know who to trust but knows that Callahan's death is connected to what is now known as the Pelican Brief. She also knows she was intended to die with him and that there are people actively searching for her to complete the task. Her methods of avoidance and the people who are chasing her keep the action going and the heart racing. Right until the very end of the book the tension never lets up.
As is often the case, the book is so much better than the movie. Especially since Darcy and her rescuer are allowed to at least begin a relationship, unlike the let down of Julia Roberts kissing Denzel Washington and the cheek and flying off into the sunset.

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Queen Anne's Lace is More Than Just a Weed

Queen Anne's Lace by Susan Wittig Albert
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It has been awhile since I've given the books in this series a 5 star rating. Not that the others are not excellent and usually receive a 4 star response. It is just that, while the characters and their stories are as comfortable as old friends, the mysteries in which they have been involved were, just that--comfortable but not particularly challenging or different. In this installment, however, China Bayles, the protagonist and herbalist, who stands in for the author, had to have a story that would allow her to speak of those herbs women have used through the ages either to prevent pregnancy or terminate it.
Since in these modern times herbs are not the first line in a woman's collection of bodily defense there needed to be a storyline in which they were pretty much the only things to which one could resort. As a result, China finds herself in possession of photos taken of the woman for whom China's place of business was built as her home when a newly wed. Not only has China found these photos but there were also newspaper clippings and pieces of old home made lace. In the event these items didn't stimulate China's curiosity about this woman, Annie Laurie Duncan, Annie herself haunts the shop and communicates in various eerie ways to stimulate China's interest. So as not to leave the reader totally in the dark, the story alternates chapters between China's research and Annie's day and her life. Truth be told, I often wanted to skip China's story and jump right back to Annie's story.
If the book is weak at all, it is in the motivation for Annie's haunting and its revelation at the end. There was more I wanted to know about Annie and the ending was too soon and too abrupt leaving me slightly disappointed in it. Still, as always I've learned more about herbs and their usage as well as the history of womens' efforts to control their reproductive lives.

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Malloy and Sarah Find Adopting Catherine Is Not As Simple As Expected

Murder on Union Square by Victoria Thompson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Theatre District murder in this installment. A quirk in the laws of parenthood leave Sarah and Malloy in the position of having to get a written waiver from Catherine's non-biological father in order to adopt her. That is to say, that though Parnell Vaughn is not her biological father he was married to her mother and legally he is her father. Parnell has agreed to sign the papers although his young, greedy " fiance" has demanded a $1000 payment, which is totally illegal. Nevertheless, Malloy goes to the theatre with the money, just in case, only to discover Parnell's bloody dead body in his dressing room. Eliza, the " fiance " follows on his heels and immediately accuses Malloy of the murder. His hands are covered in blood, having tried to determine Parnell's condition.

Within a short time, the police arrive, take Malloy into custody and deposit him in the Tombs. Sarah bails him out and while on bail they, along with Maeve and Gino, start the investigation to discover the true murderer. Dealing with actors and their various romantic attachments makes it difficult to tell when the stories told are true or if they are performances. Before the true culprit is uncovered yet another man is murdered.

Just as in the previous Gaslight Mysteries it all comes clear in the end and the criminal is revealed. Engrossing and fun, with so many characters having motives and little in the way of alibis, this is a real puzzler.

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Nigerian Oil and Nigerian Scams--Margaret Truman's Brixton Investigates

Allied in Danger by Donald Bain
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Robert, don't call me Bobby, Brixton joins his close friend, David Portland, in investigating the large oil company,XCAL, and its security outfit, SureSafe. Portland's son died mysteriously in Nigeria while working for XCAL, though the official story is that he was killed by Nigerian rebels, MEND, out on the Nigerian Delta. It happens that Brixton is also involved in trying to piece together SureSafe's relationship to a charity, Bright Horizons, also based in Nigeria. It appears to have bilked an American out of his savings and he then committed suicide. His son has hired MacKenzie Smith to investigate the possibility of recovering any of the money or at least to bring the bilkers to justice.

As David's investigation continues in London and Brixton's continues in Virginia their discoveries begin to focus on two men in the Nigerian Delta, one a warlord and the other the head of SureSafe's operations in the Delta. To settle the mystery they decide to travel to Nigeria, though without a solidly formulated plan of action.

Convoluted, exciting and disturbing all at the same time, the manipulation and corruption rampant in the oil rich delta is also fascinating. A good tale that probably has more truth to it than fiction,

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