Robin Burcell has worked as a cop, hostage negotiator, and as an FBI-trained, forensic artist . She’s also the author of award-winning thrillers. Now she uses that unparalleled experience to continue Carolyn Weston’s groundbreaking series of books, which were the basis for the hit TV show The Streets of San Francisco. (from NetGalley description)
Trudi Salvatori goes for a morning run...and ends up strangled. A series of murders near important landmarks leads the investigators to suspect that the killer has added another notch in his belt. The reader, however, has other suspicions about Trudi's death.
Full of red herrings and intriguing twists. (Remember Karl Malden & Michael Douglas in the television series? This took me back, but it is definitely an updated version)
NetGalley/Brash Books
Police Procedural/Mystery. Nov. 3, 2015. Print length: 289 pages.
I reviewed The Blissfully Dead by these authors in August, but From the Cradle, a child abduction story, is the first in the series.
Two young children have been abducted, and then Frankie Phillips is abducted from her home. Is the same person responsible for all three abductions?
Too many twists and coincidences for me. I liked the second novel (The Blissfully Dead) better.
What was interesting was the more detailed backstory of Patrick Lennon. The gist of it is covered quite well in The Blissfully Dead, but From the Cradle give a fuller accounting.
NetGalley/Thomas & Mercer
Police Procedural/Mystery. 2014. Print length: 383 pages.
The Sans Pareil Mystery by Karen CharltonDetective Stephen Lavender and his trusty sidekick Constable Woods first appeared in The Heiress of Linn Hagh, which I also enjoyed. The novels are set in the Regency Period and in this one the Napoleonic War on the continent creates an environment in which treachery thrives.
A young woman is found dead in a derelict house, and Lavender must discover who she was and why she died.
A solid mystery in which the lovely Magdelena again appears. My favorite part was discovering that the Sans Pareil theater really existed (it later became The Adelphi) and that Jane Scott (1779-1839), along with her father, was developer, manager, performer, and playwright. That really is quite something for the time.
NetGalley/Thomas & Mercer
Historic mystery. Oct. 6, 2015. Print length: 322 pages.
All of these three mysteries sound interesting. The Last Good Place stood out to me among the others due to the author's professions. May want to check that out. Thanks for the reviews, Jenclair!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed this one, partly because I remember the old television series. :)
DeleteI like the sound of the Detective Lavender series. Must look into that one. I read The Blissfully Dead last month and found it quite enjoyable. I didn't read the first one in the series, even though I had it! Not sure if I'll go back and read that one as it looks like the second book was better anyway and I got of enough of Lennon's backstory. So many mysteries already to catch up with!
ReplyDeleteI like historical mysteries and have enjoyed the two Detective Lavender books. I liked The Blissfully Dead better than From the Cradle, maybe because as a second installment the authors had a better idea of how to work together. TBD seemed to have a more coherent, less coincidental narrative.
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