Review of "Behind Closed Doors: A Novel" by B.A. Paris

Grace and Jack Angel appear to be an almost perfect couple, deeply in love and happy to spend every spare moment together.



In fact Grace can't take a single step without being dogged by Jack, and it soon becomes clear that something is very much "off" between them. The reader learns that Grace is essentially Jack's prisoner, out of fear he'll do harm to her sister Millie, a 17-year-old girl who has Down Syndrome.



The story alternates between the present and the past. In the present, we see that Grace is forced to dress, socialize, prepare meals, keep house, vacation, etc. according to Jack's dictates.



Grace is confined to the house when Jack goes to work and has no access to a phone or computer.



When Jack and Grace go out or have guests, Jack doesn't leave his wife alone for a second, and she can't say a single word outside of his hearing.



Scenes from the past show us how things came to this point. Grace met Jack, a seemingly charming man, during an outing with Millie. Jack, a successful wealthy attorney, swept Grace off her feet.



He convinced Grace to quit the job she loved and marry him, promising to welcome Millie into their home when she finishes school at eighteen. Things started to go downhill right after the wedding (or actually a little before)....and Grace can't see a way out.

"Behind Closed Doors" is very popular so I'm probably in the minority, but I didn't like this book very much. The story moves too slowly and has a claustrophobic feel, concentrating so much on every tiny interaction between Jack and Grace. It becomes tedious to read.

Also, the premise of the book is unrealistic and not believable. Imagine the amount of energy Jack has to expend monitoring every single thing Grace does, including bathing, dressing, undressing - even turning out her pockets for Jack's inspection. It's too much. Even if Jack's a psychopath, it would be exhausting for him.



Moreover, I couldn't buy the notion that a man can exert one-hundred percent control over his wife. With an ounce of guile Grace could go to the ladies room in a restaurant, borrow a cell phone, and call a friend - or the cops.

That said, I did admire some of the secondary characters. Esther, a dinner party guest, senses something wrong about the Angels and tries to help.....



.....and Grace's sister Millie is clever and sneaky (in a good way). I also liked the book's finale.

I can't wholeheartedly recommend this book but - if the premise intrigues you - it's worth checking out of the library. You might love it.

Rating: 3 stars

Review of "I Can See in the Dark: A Novel of Suspense" by Karin Fossum

The main character in this Norwegian novel is Riktor, who works as a male nurse in a facility that houses elderly and chronically ill patients.



Riktor is a sadistic psychopath who mistreats his charges, flushes their food and pills down the toilet, and injects their medicine into the mattress.



He especially enjoys torturing an elderly, helpless woman named Nelly Friis.



When Riktor's alone with Nelly he pinches her and pulls out her hair, being careful not to leave obvious damage. Riktor, physically unattractive with odd pointy teeth, constantly bemoans the fact that he doesn't have a woman and has a crush on his fellow nursing home employee, Sister Anna.

In his off time Riktor enjoys sitting in a local park observing the people on the benches nearby, including a mother and her disabled daughter, an old woman who crochets, a big, strong refugee who can't get work, and an elderly, stumbling alcoholic. The alcoholic, named Arnfinn, accidently leaves his flask behind one day and Riktor takes it, eventually using it to forge an unlikely comradeship with the old man.



As events proceed Riktor commits a terrible crime, after which he's on tenterhooks - fearing the appearance of the police at his door. The police show up soon enough, but instead of charging him with the crime he committed they accuse Riktor of killing Nelly Friis, which he didn't do. Riktor is remanded to await trial and continually frets and fumes over the injustice perpetrated on him.



Riktor has some ironic encounters in jail, goes to trial, and that's all that can be said without risking spoilers.

One thing that struck me while reading the book is now nice the Norwegian prison seems to be. Riktor has a nice view from his cell and the prison cook apparently prepares gourmet meals for the inmates.



I don't know how realistic this is but it seems much different than American prisons (as seen on TV).

The book has a fairly large array of characters but we get to know very little about each one. The story concentrates heavily on Riktor, who's a despicable man, hard to read about without cringing. I thought the story was interesting in it's depiction of a disturbed personality with a skewed view of reality but I can't say I really enjoyed the book. Still, I'd probably try another book by this author.

Rating: 2.5 stars

Review of "The Beast: A Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus Mystery" by Faye Kellerman

In this 21st book in the 'Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus' series, Detective Decker confronts a crime scene demolished by a confined tiger. The book can be read as a standalone.

*****

Eighty-nine year old eccentric, Hobart Penny, is found dead in the apartment he shares with a full grown Bengal tiger.



Penny has been bludgeoned and shot, but clues are hard to find since the apartment has been torn up and befouled by the frustrated, hungry tiger.

When LAPD detective Peter Decker and his colleagues Marge Dunn and Scott Oliver investigate the homicide.....





....they find that Penny - who was not a nice guy - harbored a slew of dangerous pets such as venomous snakes, deadly spiders, poisonous fish, and more.



Suspects include Penny's ex-wife and children, call girls that visited Penny regularly, the manager of an animal refuge, and anyone else in regular contact with the old man.

A side story involves the foster son of Peter and his wife Rina, 17-year old piano prodigy Gabriel Whitman.



Gabriel courts trouble by meeting up with Yasmine, the girl he loves whose parents have forbidden her to see him.



A good part of the book is devoted to describing the ins and outs of keeping exotic animals: what they eat, what kind of supplements and medications they need, treating their wounds, and so on.



To me the plot was not riveting and the character interactions were relatively mundane. In previous books we saw a lot going on with Peter and Rina's biological children, which added interest to the stories. This isn't a terrible story if you're in the mood for a mystery but Faye Kellerman has written much better books.

Rating: 3 stars

Review of "Peach Pies and Alibis: A Charmed Pie Shoppe Mystery" by Ellery Adams

In this 2nd book in the "A Charmed Pie Shoppe Mystery", Ella Mae LeFaye comes into her magical powers and investigates a mysterious death. The book can be read as a standalone.

*****



Ella Mae LeFaye has left her cheating husband, come home to Havenwood, Georgia, and opened the 'Charmed Pie Shoppe.' Ella Mae's confections are delicious and - when she puts a little extra oomph into them - enchanted as well.



After consuming an ensorcelled pie, for instance, a glum dowdily-attired woman buys a bright yellow outfit and hitches a ride on the back of a speeding fire truck.

As the story unfolds, 32-year-old Ella Mae finally acquires the magical powers that run through her family. Ella Mae's mother and aunts - who were worried this would never happen - are thrilled.....and prepare to let Ella Mae in on clan secrets. 

Meanwhile, Ella Mae goes about her usual business. In search of a used vehicle for her bakery, Ella Mae meets artisanal cheese-makers and lands a job catering the dessert course of a wedding. Ella Mae's pastries - like roasted red pepper and goat cheese tart, bacon and mushroom pie, white nectarine pie topped with a cinnamon sugar crust, almond toffee tart, and lots more - sound delicious!


Roasted red pepper and goat cheese tart


White nectarine pie


Almond toffee tart

Ella Mae comes to learn that the fae residents of Havenwood are preparing for a magic ritual needed to preserve their powers. The ceremony involves a woman volunteer and a tree.



Unfortunately, Melissa Carlisle - the woman slated for the ritual - had been found dead in mysterious circumstances. Another tragedy soon follows and Ella Mae and her kin - fearing someone wants to derail the vital ceremony - take measures to discover the culprit.

The story has an array of Interesting characters, such as: Reba - Ella Mae's gun-and-knife toting protector, who likes licorice twists; Hugh - Ella Mae's childhood crush, who's under the spell of a beautiful (but spiteful) woman; Aunt Dee - who crafts metal sculptures that capture the essence of deceased pets; the Gaynor clan - who are lifetime rivals of the Lefayes; and Charleston Chew (Chewie) - Ella Mae's cute terrier.

This addition to the series is much more fantasy than mystery, with many magical occurrences and details about the history of Havenwood's supernatural beings. I liked the book okay, but fantasy isn't my favorite genre. Readers who like these kinds of stories, though, would probably love this book.

Rating: 3 stars

Review of "Abandon: An Adventure Novel" by Blake Crouch

On Christmas Day in 1893 all the people in the gold-mining, mountain town of Abandon, Colorado vanished, leaving behind food laden tables and all their belongings. What can have happened to everyone?



Jump ahead to 2009. A small group of adventurers - toting food, tents and supplies - embarks for the ghost town of Abandon, to try to uncover what happened all those years ago.

The expedition consists of Lawrence Kendall - a historian/history professor;



Lawrence's estranged daughter Abigail Foster - a freelance journalist;



an older married couple who study and photograph paranormal phenomena;



and two mountain guides.



Winter weather is rapidly approaching and this is the group's last chance to get to Abandon until next year....so they're very determined to make the climb despite a looming snowstorm.

The story jumps back and forth between events that occurred in 1893 and what's happening in 2009.

In 1893, times were tough in Abandon. The mines were almost tapped out and residents were struggling to survive. One couple ate scraps for weeks so their daughter could have a new doll for Christmas, some people wore layers of old rags to keep warm, and most homes were bare bones and uncomfortable.



Like many 'Old West' towns, Abandon had its share of gamblers, grifters, and whores.....





.....as well as a resident preacher and a man reputed to have a big stash of gold bars.



Given the situation - and human nature - some yobbos made a grab for the treasure. The gold stash, however, seems to have disappeared along with the citizens of Abandon.

Switch to 2009 and trouble starts early in the trip up the mountain. The climbers are set upon by gun-toting ruffians who think Lawrence knows how to find the missing gold - and they're willing to torture him and his daughter to get the information.



Imagine someone threatening to pop out your eyeball! Horrific! The following events eerily parallel some things that occurred in Abandon in 1893.

The gold is the 'mcguffin' that drives the dual stories, which are essentially two adventure tales. Both narratives have plenty of chasing, shooting, stabbing, and double dealing. There are also harrowing scenes of characters trudging through snow in blizzard conditions for miles and miles.



Loads of gruesome things happen, including amputations and long drawn-out deaths that will (unfortunately) stick in my mind for a long time.



The story has a lot of characters, all of which are well-written and memorable. In old Abandon these include: a pretty barkeep who's sentenced to hang - but keeps working till then; the drunk deputy who guards her; a vicious killer and his stammering dead-shot sidekick; an abandoned wife who - having become demented - does nothing but sit in the window year after year waiting for her husband; and to top it off - a six-year-old assassin. The 2009 characters are less colorful, but include a couple of ex-soldiers with remarkable skills. To say more would ruin some surprises.

In the end, this is a cautionary tale about insanity, religious zealotry, and bottomless greed.

I thought the book was okay but adventure stories like this aren't my favorites. Readers who like to read about risky escapades though - and don't mind a lot of blood and gore - would probably like this book.

Rating: 3 stars 

Review of "The Keeper of Lost Causes: A Detective Carl Morck Mystery" by Jussi Adler-Olsen

Danish detective Carl Morck is physically and psychologically damaged after an attempted arrest resulted in the death of one of his partners and the paralysis of another.



The homicide squad doesn't want to work with the difficult detective so he's 'promoted' to head of Department Q, which is tasked with looking into cold cases from all over Denmark. Department Q is given a bare bones space in the cluttered basement and Carl is given one employee - Syrian immigrant Assad - who's officially a sort of janitor.



Assad, however, turns out to be a man of many talents and a gifted detective. In fact he's one of the most amusing and interesting characters in the story.



After futzing around for weeks drinking coffee, goofing off, and ignoring the cold case files on his desk Carl is forced to show some progress in his investigations. Thus he decides to look into the disappearance five years before of Merete Lynggaard of the Social Democratic Party, who vanished from a ferry she was taking with her handicapped brother. Merete's body was never found and her fate is a complete mystery to the cops.



In reality Merete is being held prisoner under appalling conditions for reasons she can't fathom.



The story jumps back and forth between Merete's kidnapping starting in 2002 and what's going on in 2007 during Morck's new investigation. Morck is an intuitive detective, perhaps the best in the homicide department, and with the help of Assad he gathers much new information about Merete's vanishing. A lot of the new details should have been discovered by the original investigators, whom Carl freely criticizes and chastises. These scenes are amusing and oddly satisfying.



Adding to his disaffection Carl has a somewhat complicated private life. His estranged wife and her new boyfriend are constantly sponging money off him and his teenage stepson - who has elected to live with Carl - is a typical adolescent. I kind of wished Carl would get a backbone, give his stepson back to mom, and lock up his wallet - but I suppose it's all part of Carl's story. In addition, Carl has a crush on the new counselor/psychologist in the police department, and rather embarrasses himself.



The villains in the story behave in a horrific fashion but they're clever and their complex plan was well-thought out.



As Carl gets closer to finding Merete her time may just be running out and there's a dramatic suspenseful climax.

The characters in the book are well-portrayed and believable (if you accept that some people behave monstrously) and the story is engaging. I highly recommend this book to mystery lovers and look forward to reading more of this author's work. 

Rating: 4 stars