Review of "Takedown Twenty: A Stephanie Plum Mystery" by Janet Evanovich

In this 20th book in the 'Stephanie Plum' series, bounty hunter Stephanie Plum is helping hunt down a killer. All the books in the series can be read as standalones.



*****

Stephanie Plum is trying to accomplish two goals: nab the mobster "Uncle Sunny" for skipping out on his bail and help Ranger find out who's killing elderly women and throwing them in dumpsters.



As usual Stephanie and her sidekick Lula are hilarious. Stephanie can't go a couple of days without starting a fire, getting some cars wrecked, and having killers pursue her. And Lula is in fine form as she pursues her goal of acquiring a genuine designer handbag.



Add in Grandma Mazur and Kevin the Giraffe and this is a great, fun mystery.



Rating: 4 stars

Review of "Swimsuit: It's To Die For" by James Patterson & Maxine Paetro

The premise of this story is that Ben Hawkins, former cop and current novelist, is being forced by a sociopathic serial killer to write a book about the killer's life and crimes. The killer's modus operandi is to videotape the sexual abuse, torture, and murder of his victims so that a group of sick voyeurs can watch, enjoy, and pay. Thus the killer profits (literally) from his crimes.



The book starts out with the torture/murder of a beautiful swimsuit model but the killer's victims are quite eclectic and he branches out to older adults, young girls and boys....whoever strikes his fancy. For me the premise was unbelievable, the characters were flat, and the story was not very original.

I don't recommend this book. 👎

Rating: 1 star

Review of "The Poisoned Pilgrim: A Hangman's Daughter Mystery" by Oliver Pötzsch

In this 4th book in 'The Hangman's Daughter' series, the hangman's family gets involved with strange events that are blamed on magic and sorcery. The book can be read as a standalone.

*****

Mystery is afoot in a monastery in Bavaria in 1666, a popular pilgrimage destination. Monks are experimenting with lightning, relics are missing, and people are dying and disappearing. The local villagers fear magic and sorcery are involved.



On hand to look into the strange happenings are three unusual pilgrims: the hangman's daughter Magdalena, her medic husband Simon, and the hangman, Jakob Kuisl.



Unfortunately, during these times suspects are regularly tortured until they confess, so the true culprits are difficult to discover. Moreover, some dangerous people don't like feisty Magdalena and her relatives nosing into their affairs and take measures to stop them. Heightening the tension, many pilgrims and villagers have fallen ill, and if the medic can't cure the Count's son he's likely to be hanged as well.



I enjoyed this book which had plenty of colorful characters and enough twists and turns to keep it interesting.

Rating: 3 stars

Review of "The Whole Enchilada: A Goldy Schulz Culinary Mystery" by Diane Mott Davidson

In this 17th book in the series, Goldy the caterer looks into the suspicious death of a friend. The book can be read as a standalone.



*****

This isn't one of Diane Mott Davidson's best efforts. In this book Goldy is catering a Mexican food birthday party for a teen after which the teen's mother - a close friend of Goldy's - suddenly collapses and dies.



Goldy feels compelled to find out about her pal's mysterious death and as usual thrusts herself into the police investigation. Soon afterward Goldy's pastor is stabbed and a rival caterer who tried to steal Goldy's business is murdered.



I don't want to give away essential plot points but the story involves too many disparate elements: terrible parents, misuse of trust funds, art shenanigans, unfaithfulness (and more) to ever mesh together in a satisfactory way. Goldy also bullies witnesses and leaps to conclusions from the tiniest hint of "evidence." I liked this series for a long time but for me Goldy is losing her mojo.

Rating: 2 stars

Review of "Dead Anyway: A Novel" by Chris Knopf

In this mystery Arthur Cathcart - a market researcher who loves his beautiful, successful wife - has his life torn apart by a sudden act of violence. Determined to find out who's responsible he hatches an elaborate scheme filled with false identities, complex business dealings, thugs and gangsters.....

…..and a beautiful woman (of course). Naturally he has millions of dollars available to help him pull this off.

Most of the book involves detailed descriptions of how Cathcart carried out these shenanigans; I found these hard to follow and not that interesting. However if you like to read about these kinds of complex schemes you'll probably like it.

Rating: 2 stars

Review of "The Prophet: A Novel" by Michael Koryta

Adam and Kent Austin are estranged brothers, both still reeling from the murder of their young sister when they were teenagers. Adam feels especially guilty because on the night of his sister's murder he blew off driving her home to be with his girl.



Adam is now a bail bondsman and Kent is coach of the high school football team. The football team is on track to a state championship when the girlfriend of a star player is murdered.



Adam feels compelled to investigate the crime and finds disturbing connections to himself and his brother.

This is a well-written suspense thriller that draws you in and keeps you turning the pages. Highly recommended to mystery fans.

Rating: 4 stars

Review of "The Ophelia Cut: A Dismas Hardy Novel" by John Lescroart

In this 14th book in the Dismas Hardy series, defense attorney Dismas represents his brother-in-law, Moses McGuire.



The book can be read as a standalone, but familiarity with the characters is a bonus.

*****

Dismas Hardy's brother-in-law, Moses McGuire, is accused of murdering Rick Jessup - an abusive, blackmailing young man that his daughter had dated.



Dismas sets out to get Moses acquitted of the murder charge and finds a bunch of possible alternative suspects. These include the handsome ex-cop/killer for hire who is in witness protection;



The "massage parlor" entrepreneur;



The crooked city councilman; etc.



The politics of the police investigation results in power plays within the department that involve Dismas' good friend, detective Abe Glitzky. 

About half-way through the book slides into trial mode, with plenty of courtroom scenes.



I found this mystery book entertaining but felt it wasn't entirely satisfying and was not one of Lescroart's best efforts.

Rating: 3 stars