Watching from the Dark/ Gytha Lodge/ 352 pgs

I enjoyed Lodge's first book in this police procedural series and was excited to see this second book come out. This series takes place outside of London, in the Southampton area of the southern coast with DCI Jonah Sheens as the lead investigator. A college student by the name of Zoe ends up dead in her apartment. The only witness is her boyfriend who had Skyped in to talk to her and "heard" the murder, though did not see the murderer. As the police investigate, there are a number of suspects, including the boyfriend who happens to be a married, older man. There is an interesting cast of characters here and some great police work. While I guessed who the murderer was fairly early on due to some early subtle clues, the solution was by no means obvious. This is a solid new series for fans of British police procedurals.

She Lies in Wait/ Gytha Lodge/ 354 pgs

This is a debut police procedural and it was excellent. In the early 1980s, six teenagers go camping in England. The youngest, Aurora, goes missing and is never found. 30 years later her body is finally discovered and Detective Inspector Jonah Sheens and his team are assigned to the case. The story flips back and forth between the past--the camping trip from Aurora's point of view--and the present. This novel is well-paced and gives the main police characters real-life problems to deal with. Jonah, a local guy, knew most of the teenagers involved. His two sergeants are not as well drawn, but there are hints that they have deeper stories that will be explored in the future. And then there is the new constable, who has a strong sense of right and wrong but doesn't want to step on toes in her new position. She is also dealing with a stalker ex-boyfriend. All in all, I am looking forward to the next book in this new series!

Don't Look Now/ Max Manning/ 310 pgs

This looked like a promising police procedural--serial killer strikes in London, posting pictures of his victims on social media and taunting the police. The first few chapters were interesting. The author has a spare writing style and short chapters that keep the pace going. Unfortunately after those first few chapters, the plot becomes very predictable. The police arrest the wrong person to much fanfare because that one superior officer insists it be done even though they haven't checked all the details. The investigating officer is suspended but strikes out on his own investigation. The killer targets the investigating officer. And the identity of the killer is very obvious. I wanted to like this one but found myself skimming the last half.

Perish/ Lisa Black/ 320 pgs/ audiobook

Another first for me--I listened to this audiobook from Hoopla on a long weekend drive. I'm not very fond of being read to. I think that might be because I'm a fast reader as well as a visual learner. Anyway, this narration wasn't the best but I got through it. This is the third novel in the Maggie Gardner/Jack Renner series. It's set in Cleveland. Maggie is a crime scene tech and Jack is a detective. A detective who also happens to be a vigilante killer because he feels it's okay to get rid of the baddest of the bad guys. (Again, this is not a spoiler--it's in the cover copy of the first book.) Maggie figured out Jack's secret but now he has something on her: she killed the abusive woman Jack's been tracking for years. It's interesting and different to read about anti-heroes in an otherwise ordinary suspense. The case here is that three women, all of whom work at a mortgage company, are brutally murdered. While I did enjoy the surprise ending, there is far too much information about the mortgage business and the housing crisis of 2008. It gets rather bogged down but if you can stick it out, the ending has a nice twist.

The Alienist/ Caleb Carr / 496 pgs

The Alienist was on my TBR list when I heard that TNT was turning it into a TV series. So I moved it up the list and started reading. John Moore is a New York Times reporter in 1896. He attended Harvard with Theodore Roosevelt, the new commissioner of police, and Dr. Lazlo Kreizler, an alienist (or in modern terms, a psychiatrist). A serial killer has struck, attacking and mutilating young boy prostitutes. Reluctantly, Roosevelt allows Kreizler to form a secret team of investigators that includes himself, Moore, Roosevelt's secretary Sara Howard, and two detectives. Essentially, the team is attempting to "profile" the serial killer, though of course that term was not used. The book is rich in historical facts and details and for the most part, the characters are well drawn. The investigation itself was intriguing and though the book is long, the story is not boring at all. There were one or two plot points that I found gratuitous but overall I enjoyed the book and am looking forward to the TV series.

That Darkness/ Lisa Black/ 308 pgs

This police procedural is set in Cleveland. There are two main characters--Maggie, a fingerprint expert/crime scene tech, and Jack, a homicide detective. The case begins with an unidentified female body found in a cemetery. Due to her persistence and attention to detail, Maggie is soon on the trail of a killer who has struck more than once and while the victims seem random, she puts the puzzle pieces together and they lead her straight to Jack. (This is not a spoiler.) Jack soon realizes Maggie is on to his carefully organized system of justice and vengeance and he desperately tries to stay one step ahead of her. This was an interesting take on a police novel and the ending was a true surprise. Word of warning--Maggie witnesses a couple of autopsies and the details provided are quite graphic.

The Hanging/ Lotte & Soren Hammer / 298 pgs

I read this based on one of my colleague's posts here:-) The book is set in Denmark and has been translated. The ebook I read had numerous translation problems but for the most part I was able to skip past those. Konrad Simonson is the main protagonist here. He's a policeman investigating the gruesome murder of 5 men with his team of junior investigators. I found the book a little uneven, especially as the police team seemed to jump to conclusions. I sometimes felt as if I were missing information. However, the story was intriguing (fair warning: the plot centers around pedophilia), the characters were interesting, though perhaps a little incomplete, and the setting was unique. I'd be interested to read more by this author duo.

The Deepest Grave/ Harry Bingham / 475 pgs

This is book 4 in Bingham's Fiona Griffiths series. Fiona is a police officer in Cardiff, Wales and she's quite the character. She has an interesting background (abandoned then adopted as a child, suffered a bizarre mental episode in her teens, father is an alleged criminal though never convicted) and she has an outside-the-box way of thinking. In this latest installment, an archaeologist is found beheaded and her body pierced by three spears. There are very few clues to go on but soon Fiona is on her way to figuring things out with the help of her new friend Katie and a vicar. The murder mystery focuses on Arthurian legends, which I mostly found fascinating although sometimes it got a little tedious. The ending was different in that the main criminal who did the dirty work was caught and arrested on the page but the mastermind behind the crime was arrested off-page in a throwaway line.

If Snow Hadn't Fallen/ Sharon Bolton / 93 pgs

Yes, I'm on a roll with the Lacey Flint series. I will be taking a break after this one though as I've read too many suspense novels in a row and need something more lighthearted!

This is a novella, book 1.5 I guess, in the series. It takes place between book 1 and 2. A Pakistani-British man is set on fire in the park behind Lacey's house and she's the first on the scene. The perpetrators--all five of them--are still there but they are wearing masks. Lacey does her best but the victim dies. A witness immediately comes forward and identifies five men. Unfortunately, a few of them have solid alibis. I thought the solution to this one was obvious but I'm glad I read it so that I'm not missing out on any part of the series.

Lost/ Sharon Bolton / 391 pgs

This is the third in Bolton's Lacey Flint series and I'm glad I read it so closely on the heels of book two because that helped me remember what had happened to the characters. Lacey has been through a lot of trauma in the first two books and it's really wearing on her. While I appreciated this realism (I hate it when characters continue on their sunny way after suffering through tragedy after tragedy), I was becoming quite concerned for Lacey's mental well being in this book. I'm happy to say that things ended on a small positive note.

So, the story. Young boys around the age of 9-10 are disappearing from South London. They turn up dead but not violently abused and there seems to be no relation among the victims. Detective Constable Lacey is supposed to be off on leave but she becomes embroiled in the mystery when her 10-year-old neighbor Barney takes it upon himself to investigate the disappearances. I liked Barney's character--he's an OCD kid who is very bright and mature for his age--and the way Lacey reluctantly let him draw her into his life.

The mystery here was intriguing. I didn't figure out who the culprit was but I have to say I found the motivation of that culprit very weak. Nevertheless, the interactions between Lacey and her coworkers is always very well drawn, as is the atmosphere around London.

Persons Unknown/ Susie Steiner / 312 pgs

This is the second of Steiner's books about Manon Bradshaw, a police detective in Cambridgeshire, England. I really enjoyed the first one. Here in this second book, the characters are drawn just as realistically--warts and all--as in the first, but I felt the plot was lacking. All of the suspense elements seemed to be by-the-numbers and I was easily able to guess which way the story would turn next. It was interesting to see where Manon and the other recurring police officer, Davy, were in this book, which is set about a year after the first. But I was very upset with the way Manon's adopted son was treated in this book. His story line was left maddeningly unresolved, even in the epilogue, and I can only hope that his story will feature in the next book.

Missing, Presumed/ Susie Steiner / 384 pgs

Missing, Presumed is a mystery/suspense novel that I didn't realize until I finished is the first book in a new series. In Cambridgeshire, England a young PhD student goes missing from her apartment one night, leaving behind her keys, cell phone, money, a boyfriend, and a small spattering of blood. There aren't really any clues to her disappearance. The story is told from numerous points of view including the girl's mother, her best friend, and two of the investigating officers. However, I think it's safe to say that the main character is one of those officers, Detective Sergeant Manon Bradshaw. Manon's life is a bit of a mess, largely due to her own decisions (my opinion:-)) but I found her sympathetic because of those very flaws. She seems like a real person, one who sometimes makes good decisions and sometimes doesn't, just like the rest of us.

As for the mystery itself, I thought it was very slow. Since we get a peak into so many characters' lives, the reveal of information, especially from the police perspective seems to take a long time. The solution to the young woman's disappearnce didn't really surprise me although the circumstances of the related crime did. Despite the slowness I found myself enjoying Manon's character. When I was finished, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that there will be a second book in the series and I do plan to read it.

I See You/Clare Mackintosh/384 pgs

If  you regularly commute to work via public transportation, you may not want to read this book:-) Zoe Walker takes the London Underground to work and back every day. One day she notices her picture in a classified ad in the paper. This rightly creeps her out, but she becomes even more worried and paranoid when she discovers that another woman whose picture appeared in the same ad has been murdered. As with Mackintosh's first book, I Let You Go, this one alternates between the victim's (Zoe's) point of view and that of the investigating officer. Here that's Kelly Swift. Kelly has been demoted, for reasons the reader will discover, and at first is the only member of the police who will listen to Zoe. This is a truly creepy tale, especially when we get a few short chapters from the "stalker/mastermind." I was engrossed by this book up until the reveal of the mastermind, whose motivation I found wholly unbelievable. The book was only saved, by a narrow margin, by the very, very end. I seem to always find flaws with Mackintosh's books, but I enjoy her writing style and intend to keep reading her books.

I Let You Go/ Clare Mackintosh /377 pgs

I Let You Go is a bit of a hybrid book--part police procedural, part mystery as it's told from the alternating points of view of the police and the suspect in a crime. It takes place in Bristol, England and the coast of Wales, which I found a refreshing change from good old London. The book opens with a child being killed in a hit-and-run accident. Fair warning if you might find this disturbing as the accident is described multiple times. The identity of the suspect is known from the beginning by the reader, but not by the police. I enjoyed the author's writing but sometimes found the characters frustrating, especially the police. I was especially irritated that the climax of the story would not have happened if the police hadn't been incompetent. I also found the inclusion of a third point of view in the middle of the story somewhat unnecessary. As for the "twist" at the end, it was wholly unbelievable. Still, I mostly enjoyed the book and I am willing to give this author another try.

In Bitter Chill / Sarah Ward / 314 pages

 In this British police procedural dark secrets have a habit of coming out in the long run. In 1978 two young girls were kidnapped and only one managed to escape. No one was ever arrested and the other girl was never found. Thirty years later, the survivor Rachel has managed to make a life for herself and is trying to live as normally as possible. Unfortunately the past has a way of rearing its ugly head with terrible consequences.
  A first volume in what I hope to be a long series. In the town of Bampton, we have a police force still trying to live down its own past misdeeds. Detective Inspector Francis Sadler has a squad of young officers who are not weighed down by the past. He is asked to look into the recent suicide of a woman who was connected with the kidnapping. Is he going to find anything new to help resolve the long-standing case? In this brilliantly constructed puzzle we follow the police and the suspects through out the investigation, wondering what is a clue, red herring or the true murderer. I loved the twists and turns and the relationships of the characters. It is a fast read with a truly well rewarded and exciting ending. I can't wait to see what else the author Ward has up her sleeve.  

6 Degrees of Reading: Black-Eyed Susans by Julia Heaberlin, Under the Harrow by Flynn Berry, The Ex by Alafair Burke.

Overlook / Michael Connelly 224 p.

Newly recruited from cold cases to LAPD's Homicide Special Squad, Harry Bosch with his new partner draws a murder case that looks like an execution-style shooting, Dr. Stanley Kent has two bullet holes in the back of his head.  Dr. Kent does not seem to have ties to gangsters.  He was a medical physicist with access to radioactive materials used to treat cancer patients all across Los Angeles.  What begins as homicide investigation turns into a potential terrorist attack.  In come the FBI including Bosch's former lover Rachel Walling.  Bosch follows his leads relentlessly in this fast paced murder mystery.  He irritates LAPD brass along the way.  And, is irritated by the FBI shutting him out of his own murder investigation.

For those readers who enjoy the Bosch fast-paced mysteries, they may enjoy the Jeffery Deaver's Lincoln Rhyme books.

Overlook / Michael Connelly 224 p.

Nature of the Beast/ Louise Penny/376 pages

The Nature of the Beast is the eleventh novel in the Inspector Gamache series by Louise Penny.  Now retired, Inspector Gamache pursues a quite lifestyle in Three Pines.  A young boy with a big imagination goes missing in Three Pines.  This time what sounds imagined is real and does not bode well for the young man.  As physicists and spies descend on Three Pines, Gamache, Beauvouir and LaCoste search for a murderer, a weapons designer all the while trying to figure out how a notorious murder fits in the mix.  While part of the plot is slightly difficult to believe, it was still an interesting read of what could have been.

Murder in Time/ Julie McElwain/ 498 pages

Murder in Time written by Julie McElwain was Overdrive's Big Read in July.  The books begins with a gruesome murder in a historical setting.  Kendra Donovan is an FBI agent betrayed by a colleague.  She sets out to right the wrong that has occurred.  While in the process she is transported to 19th century England where she is faced with solving a murder using primitive methods and hampered by being a female.  The story is ok, but what makes it difficult to accept is the author's lack of research into the historical setting.  This book would appeal to people who like Regency historical fiction and Gothic romance.  

Echo Park / Michael Connelly 416 p.

In this 12th Harry Bosch mystery, a killer accused of 2 murders plea bargains for life in prison and avoid the death penalty by confessing to multiple murders including one Bosch has been ruminating on for over 10 years.  He and Kiz Rider are brought in to interview the killer, when the prosecuting team agree for the killer to show where the body of Marie Gesto is buried.  There everything goes to awry and the killer escapes, police are murdered, and Bosch begins to suspect all is not what it seems with the escaped killer.  Bosch hooks up with FBI agent Rachel Walling (first seen in the Poet), to find the truth in this police procedural with multiple twists and intricate plots and political shenanigans. 


Echo Park / Michael Connelly 416 p.

I Let You Go/ Clare Mackintosh/ 369 pages

I Let You Go written by Clare Mackintosh introduces us to Jacob and his mother.  When Jacob is killed by a hit and run driver, his mother abandons her life.  Jenna flees leaving behind all but a small bag of her possessions.  At the same time, Bristol DI Stephens and his assistant Kate try to solve the hit and run.  In her new home, Jenna encounters Bethan and Patrick.  With their help she slowly begins to put her life back in order.  Just as things come together, Stephens and Kate solve the crime.  Now Jenna must once again deal with Jacob's death.  This book will appeal to the reader who enjoyed Gone Girl and the Girl on the Train in that it contains both physical and mental components.