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Mystery/Thriller Book ReviewsPage Two of FourFour to Score by Janet EvanovichSt. Martin's Press, July 1998.Hardcover, 294 pages. ISBN: 0312185863. Ordering information: Amazon.com. | Amazon.co.uk 
Stephanie Plum fans are in for a treat with
her latest adventure. She's on the job for
her bail bondsman cousin Vinnie looking
for a bail-jumping waitress Maxine
Nowicki whose friends all seem to be turning
up either severely injured or dead. To make
matters worse, her archenemy Joyce Barnhardt,
the bimbo she found with her ex-husband in a compromising position one
night, is trying to steal her case and after her
apartment is burned down, she is forced to move
in with ex-love and current complication,
vice cop Joe Morelli.
Janet Evanovich continues to write stories that are fresh, funny and immensely appealing. Stephanie Plum has a charm all her own and her running commentary on her life and acquaintances is sure to keep readers in stitches. With a cast of characters who defy convention, such as transvestite rock musician Sally Sweet, ex-hooker and bounty hunter in training Lula and Stephanie's crazy Grandma Mazur who wants to be in on the kill, Four to Score provides a rollicking good time for anyone who likes their mysteries with a dash of panache and healthy does of humor. --Claire E. White Of Death and Black Rivers by Ann WoodwardAvon Books, February 1998.Paperback, 210 pages. ISBN: 038079568X. Ordering information: Amazon.com. 
In Japan in the eleventh century, Lady Aoi
is attached to the Royal Court, being a
lady-in-waiting to the princess. Possessing
a keen mind and an inquiring intellect, she
is unusual in her society because of her
father's insistence on educating her in
the masculine style. After just returning to the
Imperial Court, Lady Saisho, a timid, retiring
creature, runs off with a powerful general
known as The Dark Warrior of the North, to
be his mistress. But the Dark Warrior is keeping
Lady Saisho in little more than a hovel, and
members of the court who have disagreed with
the general seem to be dying in record numbers.
Fearing for the reputation of Lady Saisho and
sensing that a menace has invaded the Court,
Lady Aoi takes matters into her own hands and
decides to investigate -- no mean feat in a society
where the women usually hide behind screens
when there are men present. As she looks deeper
into the general's background some mysterious
and sinister facts begin to emerge which could threaten
members of the royal house. It is up to Lady Aoi
to find a killer and preserve the reputations of
all the innocents involved in a grand scheme.
This is the second book in the Lady Aoi series after The Exile Way. Lady Aoi is a decided feminist in a society which treats its upper class women as chattel, while swathing them in fine luxuries. Ann Woodward has done a masterful job of creating a mystery that will appeal to modern readers while providing a host of absolutely fascinating details about life in Ancient Japan. An enthralling book which mystery lovers and history lovers alike won't want to miss. Mystery Reviews Page One Page Two | Page Three | Page Four Click Here to Return to the Book Reviews Index ** To visit the archives of mystery books reviewed in The IWJ, please click here. |