Let Justice Descend/ Lisa Black/ 320 pgs

This is the fifth book in this series set in Cleveland. Jack is a detective with the police and Maggie is with the crime scene unit. Both Jack and Maggie have dark secrets that the other knows, though Jack's is much, much darker. He's a vigilante killer (not a spoiler--it's on the back cover of the first book). Since Maggie discovered his secret, Jack has stopped killing the bad guys. Their current case involves the death of an incumbent senator running for re-election. Of course there's all sorts of unaccounted-for money, bribery, lobbyists, etc going on here. And a couple more deaths as well. The author really does her research. I wasn't sure where this one was going and I have to admit the identity of the killer surprised me. I'm very interested to see where this series goes next!

C is for Corpse / Sue Grafton / 318 pages / Mystery

After surviving a car crash that his best friend didn't, 23-year-old Bobby Callahan is paranoid that the crash was no accident and that the person responsible for it is still out to kill him.  So he hires Kinsey Millhone check up on anyone familiar with him, including friends, family and enemies, and see if she could find anyone who would want Bobby dead and why.  Kinsey becomes really close to Bobby and his mother, so when he dies a week later, she's more than heartbroken over it and does everything it takes to bring both of them justice, even breaking the law if she could get away with it.

Although I've enjoyed the process of this story, I felt like the near-end of it was weak; it drifted away from the main plot with the subplot between Kinsey, her landlord, and his lover-- irrelevant to Rick and Bobby's murders.  Then the culprit was revealed, but his actions were kind of cheesy (a psychopath slowly walking and singing eerie tunes is pretty cliché).

The Monkey's Raincoat/Robert Crais/201 pages

Elvis Cole is a private-eye in L.A. with a case he is initially not too interested in. With the help of his mysterious partner, Joe Pike, he goes on the hunt for a missing husband and a missing son in the seedy underbelly of Hollywood. When things lead to a drug cartel, Cole and Pike bring out their darker sides to get the job done.


The author's style gave me the impression of a mash-up between Miami Vice and Lethal Weapon.

You Don't Own Me/Clark,Mary Higgins/271 pages

     You Don't Own Me is the newest Mary Higgins Clark suspense novel written with Alafair Burke.  Those familiar with this duo's other novels will remember Laurie Moran and her television program "Under Suspicion" which takes a cold case and looks into all of the possibilities and hopefully solves the case before the end of the program.  Their current case if the murder of a doctor who is shot in his garage.  The wife is the likely suspect because she was under the influence of drugs when the crime occurred but the evidence does not support it.  Laurie (while house hunting, planning her wedding and juggling her career) quickly has a longer list of possible killers.  Oh, and did I mention someone is trying to kill her?
     Classic Mary Higgins Clark--great read--and a surprise ending!