Book Review: The Lost Dragon Murder by Michael Allan Mallory: Sunday Salon

 

The Lost Dragon Murder by Michael Allan Mallory, December 31, 2021, BookLocker

Genre: traditional detective novel

First paragraph:

For a man who hated violence Henry Lau was awfully good at it. Well schooled in the way of the fist, he had considerable experience in its use....

My comments:

As the first in a planned series of mystery and police procedural novels featuring Detective Henry Lau, The Lost Dragon Murder introduces the main character and his side kick, his niece Detective Janet Lau, in some detail.

Henry has practiced the traditional Chinese art of Wing Chun kung fu for over 20 years, and is therefore an expert in it.  For self defense as well as to form a philosophy of life, Wing Chun allows Henry to cope with life's vagiaries, including the trauma of the loss of his great love, Kay. 

When Henry saves the life of a professor of Asian Studies in an apparent mugging, little did he know that the same professor would again be targeted because of a one-of-a-kind Chinese bronze dragon figurine. This priceless item is sought not only by an unknown collector but also by the Chinese government seeking the return of cultural artifacts.

I enjoyed the book because of the detailed character development as well as the plot and its action. I'm looking forward to more of Detective Lau in future books in the new series. 

What are you planning to read this week?

Memes: The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer. Also,  It's Monday: What Are You Reading, Mailbox Monday, and Sunday Salon

Review: In the Heat of the Moment by Viveca Sten

In the Heat of the Moment

In the Heat of the Moment (Sandhamn Murders, #5) by Viveca Sten, 2018

I read this mystery series set in Sweden out of order, No. 1 and then No. 5, not that it matters as each book can be read as a stand alone mystery. The only carry over are the main characters, two police detectives, and the island setting, Sandhamn.

In this the fifth, the time is Midsummer Eve and Midsummer, a big celebration in  Sweden. This novel takes us to the island of Sandhamn, Swedish archipelago, where teens go to celebrate in droves and the police are out in full force to prevent violence, crime, or drunken tourists. The island dwellers mostly stay at home, knowing the crowds and the rowdiness that will prevail on pleasure boats and on land. 

There is a murder on the island and some teens are missing, some are suspects in foul play, some found, interrogated, and grilled by parents and police. There is general mayhem among families, as well as mistakes made, one almost fatal. 

I learned about the summer solstice celebration of Midsummer in Sweden, island culture, and much more in this novel, besides an interesting plot and some teen behavior that is mostly universal. A good mystery novel that I recommend. I  hope to read all eight in the series.

Here is the first in the Sandhamn Murder series, which I read last year.

Still Waters

This one I rated a five as well. 

My review from goodreads:

The first in the Sandhamn mystery series, Still Waters is set in the Swedish archipelago with its hundreds of islands, including Sandhamn. The main characters are a police officer and his childhood friend, a lawyer, who try to solve the mystery of a man found dead, tangled in a fishing net off the island. Atmospheric and suspenseful, the novel has a good plot, interesting characters, and a splendid description of the picturesque islands in this part of Sweden.

Reviews: Three Tana French Novels

The Witch Elm

The Witch Elm by Tana French, October 9, 2018, Viking
Genre: psychological thriller
Source: library book
Comments:

A little different from her Dublin mysteries, The Witch Elm features the upper or upper middle classes, those with privileges in looks and heritage. What happens when looks are taken away, however, and the advantages of birth and privilege no longer seem to count? This seems to be the theme of the new book by Tana French, in addition to a suspenseful mystery plot. A novel that is compelling yet disturbing, all at once. I also finished: The Trespasser The Trespasser by Tana French, October 2016, Hodder and Stoughton Genre: police procedural, thriller Source: library book Comments:This is the sixth in the Dublin Murder Squad Series, a book I gave five stars. The main characters Antoinette and Stephen are detectives on the Dublin murder squad and are portrayed as many-faceted and complex characters, which gives the crime novel an added advantage. Antoinette is fairly new on the squad and has had to put up with taunts and pranks from her fellow detectives that were meant to deride and harass her as not only a newbie but as female. Her instincts propel her forward in spite of everything and in the end, change her mind about leaving the force. Faithful Place Faithful Place by Tana French, July 2010, Penguin Viking AdultGenre: police procedural, thriller Source: library book Comments: Frank Mackey, a detective, returns to his home, Faithful Place, to try to solve the mystery of the disappearance of his girlfriend Rosie Daly twenty-five years before. Had Rosy changed her mind about running away to London with him or had she been prevented from meeting him that fateful night when they were supposed to leave together but never showed up? The last time anyone ever saw her? Suspenseful plot, disarming detective, and plot twists that kept me reading. I have read Broken Harbor and The Secret Place, both equally good books in the Dublin series, and have two others to read - The Listeners and Into the Woods.  I must say I'm a fan!

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Book Review: I See You by Clare Mackintosh

Thriller: I See You by Clare Mackintosh, February 27, 2017, Berkley
Genre: thriller
Setting: London

Publisher description: Every morning and evening, Zoe Walker takes the same route to the train station, waits at a certain place on the platform, finds her favorite spot in the car, never suspecting that someone is watching her...

First chapter, first paragraph:
The man behind me is standing close enough to moisten the skin on my neck with his breath. I move my feet forward an inch and press myself into a gray overcoat that smells of wet dog. It feels as if it hasn't stopped raining since the start of November, and a light steam rises from the hot bodies jammed against one another. A brief case jabs into my thigh. As the train judders around a corner I'm held upright by the weight of people surrounding me, one unwilling hand against the gray overcoat for temporary support. At Tower Hill the carriage spits out a dozen commuters and swallows two dozen more, all hell-bent on getting home for the weekend.

My comments:  The book seems to be a warning to women whose routine daily - to and from work - never or hardly varies. They can become targets for snoops or those intent on doing harm.  

Zoe Walker picks up the newspaper and sees her picture in the classified ads, with a listing for callers to visit FindTheOne.com. It seems to be a dating site that requires a specific password. Zoe is alarmed as she has not registered with such a site and doesn't know how the advertiser got her picture.

She becomes more alarmed when women in the ads become targets of crime and even murder. The one thing the women have in common: They take the train on their daily commute and are easy to track to and from their home.

Far from being a simple case of a stalker or stalkers, Zoe finds a complex plan to match FindTheOne.com members with unsuspecting women they can choose to follow. She manages to get onsite and sees her daily commute logged for members of the dating site to see. Things get worse from then on.
Working closely with police investigator Kelley Smith, Zoe finds out more than they bargained for.

Recommendation: A police procedural and a thriller, this was an engaging novel, with a most unusual plot. The ending was totally unpredictable and I wish there had been some clues given earlier in the book so that the culprits were not such a surprise. As it was, they were not completely plausible, believable. However I gave 5 stars for thriller writing and the interesting police procedural work.

MEME: Every Tuesday Bibliophile by the Sea hosts First Chapter First Paragraph, Tuesday Intros sharing the first paragraph or two, from a book you are reading or will be reading soon.
 

First Chapter: Liar, Liar by M.J. Arlidge

Liar, Liar

This police procedural by M.J. Arlidge, set in Southhampton, England, is the fourth in the Helen Grace series, paperback released today, June 7, 2016 by NAL.
Book description:

Detective Helen Grace has never seen such destruction. Six fires in twenty-four hours. Two people dead. Several more injured. It’s as if someone wants to burn the city to the ground...
With the whole town on high alert, Helen and her team must sift through the rubble to find the arsonist, someone whose thirst for fire—and control—is reducing entire lives to ashes.  

First chapter:
Luke scrambled through the open window and onto the narrow ledge outside. Grasping the plastic guttering above his head, he pulled himself upright. The guttering creaked ominously, threatening to give way at tny moment, but Luke couldn't risk letting go. He was dizzy, breathless and very, very scared.

A blast of icy wind roared over him, flapping his thin cotton pajamas like a manic kite. He was already losing the feeling in his feet - the chill from the rough stone creeping up is body -- and the sixteen-year-old knew he would have to act quickly if he was to save his life. 

Other books in the series:
Eeny Meeny: Helen Grace #1
Pop Goes the Weasel (Helen Grace #2)
The Doll's House (Helen Grace #3)
Little Boy Blue (Helen Grace #5)

Meme: Every Tuesday Bibliophile By the Sea hosts First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros where readers share the first paragraph sometimes two, of a book that they are reading or plan to read soon. 

Do the book description and first paragraph of the first chapter above appeal to you? Would you read on?

Featured Book: Brotherhood in Death by J.D. Robb

Brotherhood in Death (In Death #42) by J. D. Robb, published Februry 2, 2016 by Berkley

Sometimes brotherhood can be another word for conspiracy...

Book description: Dennis Mira just learned that his cousin Edward was secretly meeting with a real estate agent to sell their late grandfather’s magnificent West Village brownstone, despite the promise to keep it in the family. Then, when he went to the house to confront Edward about it, he got a blunt object to the back of the head. (publisher)

The victim: "former lawyer, judge, and senator, Edward Mira, who mingled with the elite and crossed paths with criminals, making enemies on a regular basis."

Conflict: ...the disappearance of a powerful man, the family discord over a multimillion-dollar piece of real estate" 

Opening paragraph (Ch. 1):

After a long, tedious day -- the first half spent in court, the second half with paperwork - Lieutenant Eve Dallas prepared to shut it all down. 

At the moment all she wanted out of life was a quiet evening with her husband, the cat, and a glass - or two - of wine. Maybe a vid, she thought as she grabbed her coat, if Roarke hadn't brought too much work home.  

Quotes are from the book and from goodreads. 

Review: The Drowning by Camilla Lackberg

The Stonecutter, the third in the Fjallbacka crime series,  and The Drowning, the seventh and most recent novel, both have themes of bodies found in or near the sea. The cover of The Drowning has a picture of a young woman seeming to float under water.

This is a police procedural set in the town of Fjallbacka, Sweden, with detective Patrik Hedstrom as the main character, and Patrik's wife Erica working unofficially as his sidekick. Erica is pregnant with twins, but this doesn't stop her from her editing job in a publishing company or from trying to solve the death of a friend of her current author, Christian.

Christian has been receiving threatening letters, which he hides from everyone including his wife, until the truth is discovered by Erica and the detective team. Erica and Patrik both delve into Christian's past, looking for clues while more strange and threatening events begin to happen to Christian and his childhood friends.

Lackberg's writing is suspenseful, though the plot is slow in parts. The author throws out clues and events that seem unconnected, till the plot threads come together toward the end to reveal a startling and disturbing reality involving the author Christian and his friends.

The main characters, detective Patrik Hedstrom and his wife Erica, are likeable and realistic, as are the other members of  the police team.

Some themes: childhood trauma, family dynamics, police procedural, and interestingly, working pregnant women (there are three in the novel, two of them on the crime solving police team!)

My objective rating: 4.5/5
Thanks to Pegasus Crime for an advance reading copy of the book which was published September 2015.

Book Review: What She Knew by Gilly Macmillan

What She Knew by Gilly Macmillan, published December 1, 2015 by William Morrow Paperback.

Gilly Macmillan explores a mother’s search for her missing son, weaving a taut psychological thriller.

A brief summary: A divorced single mother of an eight-year-old boy becomes distraught when her son goes missing in the park during a regular Sunday walk with their dog.

 The cops follow multiple leads, just hints and threads of clues, as no one saw the boy in the woods during the walk or after he ran ahead of his mother to a rope swing in a secluded clearing just ahead of them. 
Rachel becomes a suspect in the case, while she does her best to follow leads to find her son. Who in contact with young Ben in his everyday life and would have reason to abduct him? Seems several people fit the bill. As days go by, no one is sure of the outcome. But a determined detective on the police force is sure he is on the right track. 

My thoughts:
I was immersed in the book, into the very realistic and well-drawn character of Rachel, who seemed helpless and put-upon, desperate to find Ben. Her ex-husband is not a big help, nor is his new and younger wife. 
The character of the detective is also intriguing, a man sure of his instincts in the case yet conflicted at the same time. 
The plot lagged a bit toward the middle, when it seemed as if nobody was getting anywhere in the case and no new clues cropped up. But read on.....exciting things start to happen fast. 

Themes in the book: Child abduction, family dynamics, divorce, single mothers, police procedure, the psychology behind some of those who abduct children. 

I gave this engrossing read five stars! Excellent for a debut novel.

I received an ARC of this book for my impartial review.

The Stone Wife by Peter Lovesey

 First Chapter, First Paragraph is hosted by Bibliophile By the Sea. 

The Stone Wife

The Stone Wife (Peter Diamond #14) by Peter Lovesey
To be published September 16, 2014; Soho Crime
Genre: crime fiction, police procedural

First chapter, first paragraph:"Will somebody start me at five hundred?"
A card with a number was raised near the front.
Thank you. Five-fifty. Six hundred. Six-fifty. Seven. Seven-fifty at the back. Eight."
The bidding was keen by West Country standards. Morton's auction house in Bath was used to lots being knocked down almost at once. This had a sense of energy even though the faces were giving nothing away. (from an advance uncopyedited edition; final copy may differ)

Book description: At a Bath auction house, a large slab of carved stone is up for sale, but  three masked robbers shoot and kill the highest bidder, a professor who has recognized the female figure carved in the stone as Chaucer’s Wife of Bath. The masked would-be thieves flee, leaving the stone behind.  Detective Superintendent Peter Diamond and his team are assigned to investigate, and the stone is moved into Diamond’s office so he can research its origins. The carving causes such difficulties that he starts to think it has jinxed him. (publisher)

Based on the opening paragraph and the book description, would you keep reading? 

Book Review: Death Money by Henry Chang

Friday 56 Rules: *Grab a book, any book. *Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader  *Find any sentence, (or few, just don't spoil it) that grabs you. *Post it. *Add your (url) post in Linky at Freda's Voice.

Also Book Beginnings by Rose City Reader.

Death Money

Title: Death Money: a Detective Jack Yu Investigation by Henry Chang
Published April 15, 2014; Soho Crime
Genre: police procedural

  page 56
"Find out anything, bro?" It was Billy Bow.
"Yeah, he's Chinese,"snapped Jack. "Why?"
"Last name Chang, right?" teased Billy.
"And you know that how?"Jack countered.
"Ancient Chinese secret."
"Stop f---ing around, Billy. It's a homicide deal now."

Book beginning:
It was 7 A.M. when Detective Jack Yu stepped into the frigid dawn spreading over Sunset Park.A slate gray Brooklyn morning with single-digit temperatures driven by wind shrieking off the East River. He scanned Eighth Avenue for the Chinese see gay radio cars bur saw none, only a couple of Taipan minibuses, sai-ba, queued up a block away from the Double Eight Cantonese restaurant.

(above quotes taken from an advance uncopyedited edition of the book; final copy may differ)

Publisher description: 
Novelist Henry Chang returns us to the Chinatown of NYPD Detective Jack Yu, and spins one of his most noir tales yet. When the body of an unidentified Asian man is found in the Harlem River, NYPD Detective Jack Yu is pulled in to investigate. The murder takes Jack from the benevolent associations of Chinatown to the take-out restaurants, strip clubs, and underground gambling establishments of the Bronx, to a wealthy, exclusive New Jersey borough. It's a world of secrets and unclear allegiances, of Chinatown street gangs and major Triad players. With the help of an elderly fortune teller and an old friend, the unpredictable Billy Bow, Jack races to solve his most difficult case yet.

My comments:
I enjoyed the author's previous books, Year of the Dog and Red Jade, and continue to find the world of NYC's Chinatown fascinating, as it appears in this series. The novel has a no-holds-barred frankness that may shock some, but its honesty in its portrayal of people, places, and situations makes it an intriguing book.
There is a subplot that I wish had been developed more in the novel - Jack Yu's romance with an attractive Chinese lawyer. The subplot could help to lighten some of the tense events of the mystery novel as it went along.

I received a complimentary ARC of this book from the publisher.

Book Review/Tour:The Sound of Broken Glass by Deborah Crombie

Friday 56 Rules: *Grab a book, any book.

*Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader  *Find any sentence, (or few, just don't spoil it) that grabs you. *Post it. *Add your (url) post in Linky at Freda's Voice.

Also Book Beginnings by Rose City Reader.

Title: The Sound of Broken Glass: Duncan Kinkaid and Gemma James #15 by Deborah Crombie
Published February 25, 2014; William Morrow
Genre: mystery, police procedural

page 56: "...You drink some more of that tea." She waited until Mrs. Arnott had complied and her color seemed a bit better. Then she added," I'll bet you remember which pub Vincent goes to on his Friday evenings."

 Book beginning: It had been years since she had been in an English church. Would the place be locked earl on this miserable Januaray evening? she wondered. Moved by a sudden impulse, she waited for a break in the traffic and dodged across Charing Cross Road into Denmark Street.

 Synopsis: Detective Inspector Gemma James is investigating the murder of Vincent Arnott in a hotel in the Crystal Palace area of London. Those questioned include Andy a guitarist in a band performing in a nearby pub the night of the murder. To unravel the events leading up to the crime, the novel flashes back in time to the young Andy at age 13 who is befriended by a neighbor and school teacher, Nadine. The story of Andy and his friends and how their stories intersect with that of the murder victim Arnott is key to the mystery.

My comments: The domestic life of detective inspector Gemma James is very much in the forefront and occupies almost half of the novel. Gemma takes turns with her husband, Detective Superintendent Duncan Kinkaid, to stay at home with their two children and a three-year-old foster child, Charlotte. In this novel, it's Gemma's turn to work, to investigate this case - Arnott's death and that of another man - and Duncan's turn to take care of home and family.

The streets and places in the Crystal Palace area and other parts of London are included in some detail, as we follow the characters and the police from area to area during their investigations. The names and locations went over my head, unfamiliar territory. I can imagine that this aspect of the novel would appeal especially to those who know London and its surroundings well.

Recommendations: The plot has unexpected outcomes and a few surprising twists. There are many scenes of domestic life that personalize the police who are involved in solving the case. I enjoyed the novel, though I especially enjoyed her previous book, No Mark Upon Her.

Visit Partners in Crime Tours for more reviews of the book and for the tour schedule

About the author: Deborah Crombie is a native Texan who has lived in both England and Scotland. She lives in McKinney, Texas, sharing a house that is more than one hundred years old with her husband, three cats, and two German shepherds. Connect with her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter.

Thanks to PIC Tours and the publisher for a review copy of this book.

Book Review: The Riot by Laura Wilson

The Riot

Title: The Riot (Detectie Inspector Ted Stratton #5) byLaura Wilson
Published Augus 1, 2013; Quercus
Genre: police procedural

About the book: The Riot is set in the 1950s in a run down area of London inhabited primarily by Caribbean immigrants who live in relative poverty there. There is a murder of an English man who lived in a building there, a man who collected rent from tenants in several apartment buildings owned by a wealthy but unscrupulous property owner. This owner goes to many lengths to see that his tenants pay up, even sending thugs with dogs to the apartments.

My comments: Not knowing the area of London, it was difficult to sustain interest in this crime novel. It was also written in a factual, journalistic style without the usual elements to keep the reader's interest - notably strong characterizations, even subplots. The journalistic style was dry. To be fair, I believe those familiar with London and its ethnic groups and problems - Teddy boys, immigrants who do not fit in well, etc. and the racial tensions that ensue - will get much more from the novel.

The writer, Laura Wilson, has won an award for a previous book in this crime series.

Book description: August 1958. London is hot and tired, and nowhere more so than Notting Hill, where DI Stratton has just been posted. 

Stratton’s new manor is dirt poor and rife with racial tension. The end of the war saw a flood of Caribbean migrants. Now, a decade later, working-class Teddy Boys are showing mounting hostility towards their black neighbours. 

Notorious landlord Danny Perlmann, a Polish refugee, is taking full advantage of others’ reluctance to rent to the immigrants – or to prostitutes – and is making a fortune off the high rents he charges. Caught in the middle of this war over rents and turf is Irene, a young runaway on the verge of going on the game. 

When Perlmann’s rent collector is murdered, Stratton is called to investigate. Notting Hill is a cauldron, soon to be the scene of the worst racial violence England has ever known, and Stratton is right at the heart of it.

Thanks to the publisher for a review copy of this book.

Book Review: The Sound of Broken Glass by Deborah Crombie

Title: The Sound of Broken Glass by Deborah Crombie
Published February 25, 2014; William Morrow
Genre: mystery, police procedural
Objective rating: 3.5/5

From publisher's description: In the past . . . On a hot August afternoon in Crystal Palace area of London, Andy, a thirteen-year-old boy meets his next door neighbor Nadine, a recently widowed young teacher hoping to make a new start in the South London community. Drawn together by loneliness, the unlikely pair form a deep connection that ends in a shattering act of betrayal.

"A 1964 Stratocaster. Fiesta red. Marshall had it valued. Everything's original - headstock, body, the pickups. Three's an amp, too. You can get it tomorrow."
Finally, he looked up at her past feeling any shame for the tears in his eyes. "But I can't possibly -"
"Yes. You can. Just play, Andy." She touched one of the geranium blossoms. "No one has been kind to me except you. Think of it as red for red." (ch. 13)

 In the present . . . Detective Inspector Gemma James is back on the job now that her husband, Detective Superintendent Duncan Kincaid, is at home to care for their three-year-old foster daughter. Assigned to lead a Murder Investigation Team in South London, she's assisted by Detective Sergeant Melody Talbot. Their case, a crime scene at a seedy hotel in Crystal Palace. The victim, Vincent Arnott, a well-respected barrister, found naked, trussed, and apparently strangled. Gemma's team must find his companion - a search that forces them to contemplate the weaknesses and passions that lead to murder.

My comments: It was hard to see at first what the events in young Andy's life fifteen years earlier had to the present, when a man is found strangled in a nearby hotel, close to the bar where Andy and his band were playing. The novel switches back and forth in time and only toward the end do we start putting the pieces of the past together with the present to get the full story. This does keep you invested and interested in the mystery.

Interwoven with the crime story are the personal events in the life of Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James, the couple who are members of the police solving murders in the mystery novels. This is the fifteenth in the mystery series. Their personal lives do add a touch of lightness and normalcy to the baffling crime scenes in this novel. However, I think the personal events might have been a distraction from the crime story, which almost started to be overshadowed.

I enjoyed Crombie's previous novel as well.

Deborah Crombie is a native Texan who has lived in both England and Scotland. She lives in McKinney, Texas, sharing a house that is more than one hundred years old with her husband, three cats, and two German shepherds.

Visit Deborah at her website, connect with her on Facebook, and follow her on Twitter.

Thanks to the publisher and TLC Book Tours for a review copy of this book. See the tour schedule for more reviews. 

Waiting on Wednesday: Alex by Pierre Lemaitre

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted weekly by Jill @ Breaking the Spine. Let us know what new releases you are eagerly waiting for. Link your post to Breaking the Spine.

Title: Alex by Pierre Lemaitre, translated from the French by Frank Winne
To be published September 3, 2013 MacLehose Press
Genre: police procedural, Verhoeven Trilogy #2

The book description reminds me of some of the Scandinavian thrillers I've read, in particular Jussi Adler-Olsen. Read any of his?

Publisher's description: Winner of the 2013 Crime Writers Association International Dagger Award: “An original and absorbing ability to leash incredulity in the name of the fictional contract between author and reader . . . A police procedural, a thriller against time, a race between hunted and hunter, and a whydunnit, written from multiple points of view that explore several apparently parallel stories which finally meet.”

Synopsis: "Alex Prévost—kidnapped, ... suspended from the ceiling of an abandoned warehouse in a tiny wooden cage—is running out of time. Police Commandant Camille Verhoeven has nothing to go on: no suspect, no leads, and no family or friends anxious to find a missing loved one. Camille is forced to acknowledge that the person he seeks is no ordinary victim. She is beautiful, yes, but also extremely tough and resourceful.

Before long, saving Alex’s life will be the least of Commandant Verhoeven’s considerable challenges." (book description)

What new release are you waiting for?

Book Review: The Missing File by D.A. Mishani

A sixteen-year-old boy, Oleg, disappears on his way to school in Tel Aviv and Inspector Avraham Avraham has to determine if he is a runaway or was kidnapped. Oleg's father was out of the country at the time and the boy's mother reports him missing. Oleg's had his backpack with him, though he left his cell phone behind. Zeev Avni,  an enigmatic neighbor, claims detailed knowledge of the boy as he had been his after-school English tutor, and he pursues Avraham with information he says he has. Zeev immediately comes into our cross hairs as someone who could be a suspect in the boy's disappearance.

The book is suspenseful and there are twists and turns in the case up to the last few  pages.  Apart from the tantalizing plot, there is the character and personality of Inspector Avraham, a very likable though not the most astute member of the investigating team. But that's part of his charm. He lives alone but at the end of the book, finds a love interest on a trip abroad whom he has to leave to return to Israel. The author assures us this is not the end of things for Avraham, however.

The first in the Inspector Avraham detective series is very promising. I am eager to read the next in the series.

Title: The Missing File: A Novel by D. A. Mishani
Release date: April 16, 2013; Harper
Genre: mystery, police procedural

D. A. Mishani is the editor of Israeli fiction and crime literature at Keter Books in Israel and is a literary scholar specializing in the history of detective literature. The Missing File is his first novel and the first in a series featuring the police inspector Avraham Avraham. Connect with Mishani on Facebook and find him on Goodreads.

Visit The Missing File book tour schedule for more reviews.
Review book received through TLC Book Tours.

Linked to Cym Lowell's Book Review Wednesday.

Books: A Cold and Lonely Place; and The Stonecutter

A Cold and Lonely Place by Sara J. Henry and The Stonecutter by Camilla Lackberg were two of my three dark mystery reads this past week, fitting reads for a cold though not lonely winter.

A Cold and Lonely Place

A Cold and Lonely Place is set in a small town in the Adirondack Mountains, upper New York State. It is cold in the winter and a lonely place for Tobin, an outsider who has made his home in this out of the way place, know for winter sports and its annual Winter Festival.

A freelance newspaper reporter, Troy Chance, is on scene at Saranac Lake to cover the ice cutting for an ice palace to be built for the Saranac Lake Winter Carnival. Works stops when a body is found in the frozen lake, encased in ice. Everyone recognizes it as Tobin, the popular outsider. Troy works with Tobin's sister Win, who comes into town to find out the whys and hows of Tobin's death. Through her research and interviews for a series of stories for the local paper, Troy takes risks several times to find out more about Tobin's background, the death by drowning of his older brother Trey, and his life before and after he arrives in the Adirondacks. This extensive research helps solve the sad mystery of the young man's death.

I thought this mystery was about the tragic results in a family with "toxic" parents who ignored and actively worked against the best interests of their children. It was easy to like Troy, the young reporter turned sleuth, and I hope to read more about her in the next books in the Troy Chance series.

I won a copy of this book from the author.

The Stonecutter: A Novel

The Stonecutter by Camilla Lackberg is set in the remote fishing village of Fjallbacka, Sweden, a psychological mystery involving a young girl found in the sea, presumably drowned, and whose death is the result of family dynamics that go way back in the past. Re the flashbacks to the past, I couldn't see right away how they tied to the story of the present. Too much of the book had two different story lines that took too long to connect. Otherwise, great plots!

I like to think of an alternate title for the book - The Stonecutter's Daughter, though it's a mystery and not an historical novel!

Publisher's description: The remote resort town of Fjallbacka has seen its share of tragedy, though perhaps none worse than that of the little girl found in a fisherman’s net. But this was no accidental drowning . . .Local detective Patrik Hedstrom has just become a father. It’s his grim task to discover who could be behind the murder of a child both he and his partner Erica knew well. What he does not know is how this case will reach into the dark heart of Fjallbacka, spanning generations, ripping aside its idyllic façade, perhaps forever.

I received a review copy of this book from the publisher.

Last week, I posted a review of another psychological suspense novel, The Burning Air by Erin Kelly, a book about how a mother's obsession adversely influenced her child.

What have you been reading this winter? I am keeping my cozies for spring!

Featured Book: Perfect Hatred by Leighton Gage

Title: Perfect Hatred by Leighton Gage
Release date: February 19, 2013; Soho Crime
Genre: police procedural, mystery set in Brazil

About the book: Chief Inspector Mario Silva and his team have a heavy work load with several high-profile cases. First, a suicide bombing that was apparently the work of a militant Islamist group. Then, a gubernatorial candidate is assassinated in broad daylight at a campaign rally. Could the cases be related? To complicate Silva's investigation, a criminal with a very bad grudge against the Chief Inspector has been released from prison and is plotting ugly revenge. (publisher)

This teaser to me shows the focus of this novel set in Brazil:
"I've been explaining that to our Maximum Leader for the last ten minutes, Silva said, "but he isn't having it. It appears Pontes owes the incumbent governor a favor....
"So it's just politics and favoritism," Hector snapped.
"Just politics and favoritism," Silva agreed.

(ch. 4, from an advance uncopyedited edition; final copy may differ)

Local politics in Brazil involving corruption, a complex relationship with the neighboring country of Paraguay, and the possibility of a terrorist threat in Brazil and on its borders fuel the plot of this political mystery. Though I found the many Brazilian names hard to keep track of at the beginning, the novel soon evened out for me into a suspenseful police procedural that ties together the disparate events and people introduced in the first few chapters.

I would recommend the book to those interested in Brazil and South America and to seasoned mystery lovers.

Thanks to the author for sending an advance review copy.

Book Review: Broken Harbor by Tana French

Broken Harbor

Title: Broken Harbor: A Novel by Tana French
Published July 24, 2012; Penguin Group
Genre: police procedural, psychological thriller
Source: publisher

"Under all the paperwork and the politics, this is the job; this is its cool shining heart that I love with every fiber of mine. This case was different. It was running backwards, dragging us with it on some ferocious ebb tide. Every step washed us deeper in black chaos, wrapped us tighter in tendrils of crazy and pulled us downwards." (ch. 15)

About the book: A seasoned detective and his rookie sidekick investigate the murder of a family of four in an out of the way, half finished, and remote seaside housing project outside of Dublin, Ireland.

My comments: This was an intense read for me. The two detectives see the suspects differently and have different ideas about who the real culprit might be. Evidence they painstakingly collect from forensics and interviews point first to one suspect, then another, and then to another suspect, pingponging back and forth from one to the other and back around again. The plot keeps you guessing; the police procedures are enlightening; the characters are personalized, realistic, and engrossing.

Throw in some spooky, creepy scenarios with a hint of the supernatural surrounding the setting, the seaside town of Broken Harbor, which makes nature seem menacing and destructive instead of soothing and calming.

This is one of the best books I've read in the genre.

Book Teaser: Vengeance by Benjamin Black

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly meme hosted by MizB; choose sentences at random from your current read. Identify the author and title for readers.

Title: Vengeance by Benjamin Black
Hardcover published August 7, 2012; Henry Holt
Audio CD: August 7, 2012, Macmillan Audio
Genre: crime novel
Source: publisher

Your father died of a gunshot wound," Hackett said. "It seems he fired the shot himself."
Jonas pulled a dismissive face. "I don't believe it," he said. (ch. 3)

About the book: A bizarre suicide leads to a scandal and then still more blood, as crime novelist Benjamin Black reveals a world where money and sex trump everything. The mysterious death of a successful Irish businessman engages the attention of Detective Inspector Hackett, who calls upon the services of his sometime partner Quirke, consultant pathologist at the Hospital of the Holy Family.

To listen to an audio clip of the Audiobook Vengeance, click HERE.

Book Review: No Mark Upon Her by Deborah Crombie

"You compromised my search." Tavie realized that passersby were giving them a wide berth and made an effort to lower her voice. "And my chain of evidence," she hissed at him....
(ch. 7)

Title: No Mark Upon Her: A Novel by Deborah Crombie
Published February 7, 2012 by William Morrow; hardcover
Genre: police procedural, mystery

Everyone on the police force on Henley-on-Thames, about thirty miles north of London, seems to be on the case, that of a woman rower found drowned and caught in a weir on the river Thames, her racing skiff washed up on shore. Scotland Yard is called in; it seems to be murder as the woman was an experienced rower training to enter the Olympics and would not have capsized the evening she took her boat out on a calm river.

Search and rescue teams had been called out, including a man with his black Labrador retriever who is devastated when they find the abandoned skiff and the body of the woman rower.

The police procedural continues with Scotland Yard Superintendent Duncan Kincaid and his wife, Detective Inspector Gemma James, both investigating the case, either directly or indirectly. For Gemma, the name of a possible suspect hits too close to home as she has had a frightening run-in with the suspect before. A close call, she realized.

Comments: About a third of the way into the novel, I thought I knew who the murderer was and the reason behind the murder and was about to skip ahead to the end to see if I was right. I'm glad I didn't, as I was totally wrong, and I soon realized this as I read on. The possibilities were many, the situations complex, and I was then kept guessing till the end.

A very satisfying mystery and police procedural, I give this one 5 stars. I'm eager to look at others in this series, and though No Mark Upon Her is a stand-alone mystery, wished I had read them before this book, for continuity.

I received a complimentary review copy of this book.