Mystery/Thriller Book Reviews
Death Lurks in the Bush by Kate Grilley
Berkley, 2002Paperback, 213 pages
ISBN: 0670031909
Ordering information:
Amazon.com
The Caribbean island of St. Chris was
under Danish rule until 1917, when it
gained its independence. But some of the
populace maintained their Danish citizenship,
and the ties to Denmark are still strong. Now Queen
Margarethe is coming for a visit to the tiny island
and the excitement is fierce. The elderly Miss Maude
knows the Queen personally and hosts a dinner party
for friends to test out some recipes she will be serving
to Her Majesty. One of the guests is Kelly Ryan, the former
station manager and now owner of
radio station WBZE. Everyone at the dinner party comes
down with food poisoning, to the horror of Miss Maude.
When a death occurs, and the doctor who does the autopsy
also dies, Kelly begins to think that there
is a murderer on the island, and begins to investigate.
Kate Grilley has created a wonderful and vivid island setting for this third entry in the Kelly Ryan mystery series, after Death Dances to a Reggae Beat and Death Rides an Ill Wind. Kelly Ryan is a likeable and funny amateur sleuth and her observations are always entertaining. With an eclectic and interesting cast of characters and a nice puzzler of a plot, this is the cozy mystery as it should be done.
-Claire E. White
The Short Forever by Stuart Woods
Signet, February, 2003Paperback, 340 pages
ISBN: 0385506686
Ordering information:
Amazon.com
Stone Barrington, ex-cop, attorney and
troubleshooter is off to London for his latest adventure.
A mysterious new client, John Bartholomew hires Stone
to go to London to find his wayward niece. It seems that
the niece has taken up with an undesirable young man,
and Bartholomew wants his niece home and the undesirable
young man put in jail. Money is no object with the new
client, and Stone travels first class all the way: he takes
the Concorde to London and stays at the luxurious
Connaught hotel with a very generous expense account.
But Stone's client hasn't been entirely truthful with him,
and soon Stone is up to his ears in beautiful women,
spies, cops, lies and betrayal. Can Stone solve the
mystery of what is really going on in London while
keeping himself and his various lady friends alive?
To be sure, there's not a lot of doubt that our man Stone will get the job done, but that's not really the point in the Stone Barrington novels. With all his womanizing, one might think that Stone would not be terribly attractive to female readers in 2003 -- but he is. He's an urbane, sophisticated and intelligent man with just enough dose of the Bad Boy to keep the good girls coming back for more. Stuart Woods is one of the most consistently entertaining writers today. His writing is fast-paced, witty and very funny, and The Short Forever makes a great diversion from today's grim headlines.
-Claire E. White
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