Mystery/Thriller Reviews
Ashes of Aries by Martha C. Lawrence
St. Martin's Minotaur, Sept., 2001Hardcover, 241 pages
ISBN: 0312202997
Ordering information:
Amazon.com
Psychic investigator and private detective Elizabeth Chase
is called in to help with the investigation of the kidnapping
of a four year old boy, the son of the multi-millionaire CEO
of Starcom, a telecommunications giant. Although the FBI
is openly scornful of her abilities, detective Bruce Loebman
of the San Diego Police Department and a female arson investigator
are willing to work with her to find the truth.
When the kidnapped boy's parents are killed in a fire which
spread rapidly because of the hot Santa Ana winds, it appears
that there is more going on than a simple kidnapping; clearly
an arsonist and a murderer are at work here.
Dr. Elizabeth Chase (she holds two Ph.D.s from Stanford) is an unusual and compelling heroine. Skeptical of psychic phenomena herself until she experienced psychic visions, Elizabeth is learning more about her abilities as time goes on. She is aided in her journey by her mentor, the mysterious shaman, Sequoia, a Luiseno Indian. Martha C. Lawrence skillfully evokes the flavor and atmosphere of Southern California, including the destructive phenomenon of the Santa Ana winds. This series gets better with each outing, and Elizabeth Chase is one private detective who should be around for a very long time. Highly recommended.
Eat, Drink and Be Buried by Peter King
St. Martin's Minotaur, May, 2001Hardcover, 288 pages
ISBN: 0312242700
Ordering information:
Amazon.com
The Gourmet Detective (still sans nom) returns
for a romp into the food and history of medieval
England. Summoned to
Harlington Castle, a 16th-century English manor
house now staging "Medieval Days" pageants,
the Gourmet Detective has been hired to
to revamp the menu for the banquets.
When one of the participants in the jousting
contest dies of poisoning, the detective
springs into action after Lord Gerald Harlington
asks him to expand his role at the castle and
to find the murderer. There are a number
of suspects who have a motive for the
poisoning death, including
the obnoxious Neville Woodward, a cousin of the
Harlington family, Sir Gerald's outrageous daughters,
Angela and Felicity, and the two castle chefs, neither of
whom seem thrilled at the prospect of revising their
menus.
One of the attractions of this series is the excellent food writing. Unfortunately, Medieval food is not something that modern American readers will want to make an acquaintance with (e.g., eel pie -- how very C.S. Lewis!) Peter King has such a way with food descriptions that they seem quite real -- which is a true tragedy when most of the book is spent describing in detail some of the most vile dishes to grace the pages of a culinary mystery in quite a while. Please, we beg you, send the Gourmet Detective back to modern-day New York, France, Italy or Switzerland. The plot is also somewhat lacking in complexity, with none of the James Bond-like capers which readers so enjoy. Let us hope that this is an aberration in what is otherwise one of the very best culinary mystery series on the market today.
Moment of Truth by Christiane Heggan
Mira, January, 2002Paperback
ISBN: 155166870X
Ordering information:
Amazon.com
Criminal attorney Kate Logan has just left a
high-paying job at a big law firm and is slowly
building a practice of her own. But new cases
seem hard to come by -- until the day a young woman
stops her in the park and begs Kate to represent
her fiancé, Todd Buchanan, who is wanted for the
murder of his wife, Molly. The case is a high-profile one,
and Kate thinks Todd is innocent. There's just one problem;
Molly Buchanan was her boyfriend Mitch's beloved sister.
And Mitch thinks Todd is guilty as hell. Todd is currently living
under an assumed name with his fiancé, Jessica, in the South of France.
Kate takes the case, although it causes friction with Mitch.
The more she investigates Molly's murder, the more she
becomes convinced that she is on the trail of a ruthless murderer
who met Molly in an online sex chat room, and that
the killer will stop at nothing to keep his identity
a secret: including killing Molly and her beloved daughter, Allison.
Moment of Truth is an edge of your seat romantic thriller that takes readers from the cyber chat rooms of the Internet, where any kind of sexual perverted fantasy can be fulfilled, to the sun-drenched beaches of the South of France. Christian Heggan has created a wonderful heroine in Kate Logan -- a single mother who has to fight for her career and to keep her daughter on the right path (no easy trick when her ex-husband's girlfriend can offer a no-limit credit card and exotic vacations to the star struck girl.) With breathless suspense, an intriguing plot and vivid characters, Moment of Truth is a sure winner.
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