A is for Alibi / Sue Grafton / 320 pages

Divorce lawyer Laurence Fife had been found dead, and the media blamed the murder on his wife Nikki Fife.  When she is released from prison eight years later, however, Nikki claims to be innocent, and she hires a detective, Kinsey Millhone, to find out who the real murderer is.  Kinsey goes around Southern California and Nevada to interview several suspects, including Mr. Fife's ex-wives as well as the family of a young woman who died the same way Mr. Fife did.  But when one of the suspects is murdered before Kinsey gets to interview her, she tries to figure out how the deaths are all linked to one another and why.

The first book to Grafton's Kinsey Millhone/"Alphabet mystery" series, I found it really interesting as I don't often read/listen to mystery novels.  I'm looking forward to B is for Burglar.

The Reckoning/John Grisham/420 pgs/Author's last name ends with M

In this Grisham thriller the reader is introduced to Pete Banning, a Mississippi cotton farmer and a decorated WWII officer and hero.

Unfortunately, this meeting is soon tarnished when Banning walks into his church and shoots and kills his pastor, Dexter Bell.  Banning turns himself in to the local authorities and calmly awaits his fate.

Stunned by his actions, Pete’s family and friends struggled to understand why he committed the heinous act.  Pete refused to discuss anything pertaining to the shooting or participate in his defense.

The reader meets his wife, children, and sister who are deeply troubled by the shooting and subsequent execution of their loved one.

Grisham, like a great thriller writer, takes his readers along to the end before revealing the mystery behind Banning’s motive for the killing.