PROTAGONIST: Detective Virgil Tibbs SETTING: Singapore RATING: 4.25 WHY: At one time, police detective Virgil Tibbs served as a bodyguard for Madame MiriPROTAGONIST: Detective Virgil Tibbs SETTING: Singapore RATING: 4.25 WHY: At one time, police detective Virgil Tibbs served as a bodyguard for Madame Miriam Motamburo of Bakara, Africa. Her husband has been killed, and she has been transported to Singapore under suspicious circumstances. When a man is killed in her room, she is the prime suspect. She asks that Virgil be assigned to help her, and the US government complies. In addition to trying to establish her innocence, Virgil is asked to help in the case of 2 children killed without an obvious motive. Virgil wins the trust of everyone he encounters. A good plot with just a bit of clumsiness around some of the relationships...more
PROTAGONIST: PI Sam Turner SETTING: York, UK SERIES: #2 RATING: 4.25 WHY: PI Sam Turner has a new client, Norman Brown, who wants him to find a woman he rPROTAGONIST: PI Sam Turner SETTING: York, UK SERIES: #2 RATING: 4.25 WHY: PI Sam Turner has a new client, Norman Brown, who wants him to find a woman he refers to as "Snow White". There's something off about Norman, and Sam has him observed by his crew, former homeless kid Geordie and unemployed womanizer Gus. Norman's behavior is suspicious. He can be charming, but he is a relentless psychopath; and the murder rate in York UK reflects that. Great characterization and although noirish, there's ample humor in the book. It's intriguing to follow the stream of consciousness thoughts and conversations of Norman. ...more
PROTAGONIST: Spenser, PI SETTING: Boston SERIES: #11 RATING: 2.75 WHY: Spenser is in a bad state of mind. His love, Susan Silverman, has decided to move tPROTAGONIST: Spenser, PI SETTING: Boston SERIES: #11 RATING: 2.75 WHY: Spenser is in a bad state of mind. His love, Susan Silverman, has decided to move to San Francisco in some kind of misguided attempt to establish her independence and worth as a woman on her own. He finds a distraction from his misery when he is hired to find a young woman who was supposedly kidnapped by a cult. There are a lot of things that don't work in this book. He does not involve the authorities in the search for the missing woman. Spenser wanting to die? Susan getting involved with a married man and Spenser finding a lover of his own but none of that counts. An ending that does not work at all. ...more
PROTAGONIST: Parker SETTING: Florida SERIES: #20 RATING: 3.25 WHY: Parker does a job with a different crew, and it works out alright until it's time for pPROTAGONIST: Parker SETTING: Florida SERIES: #20 RATING: 3.25 WHY: Parker does a job with a different crew, and it works out alright until it's time for payment. They need the money for their next job (without Parker) and want to "borrow" part of his stake to finance it. That doesn't go over well, so he sets off to recover his funds and exact extreme punishment. The crew has a massive, difficult job set for Florida. For me, this was a weak entry in a series that I really like. In this book, unlike others, Parker is off on his own without the men he usually works with. He is aided by a local female real estate agent. He almost dies but continues the job. Not plausible....more
PROTAGONIST: PI John Marshall Tanner SERIES: #7 RATING: 3.25 WHY: Bryce Chatterton, a friend of PI John Marshall Tanner, runs a small publishing businessPROTAGONIST: PI John Marshall Tanner SERIES: #7 RATING: 3.25 WHY: Bryce Chatterton, a friend of PI John Marshall Tanner, runs a small publishing business. He has just received a partial anonymous manuscript that is so mesmerizing that he feels it will save his floundering business. He asks Tanner to try to find the author so that he can make a deal for the book. The investigation leads to a sexual harassment charge made at a ritzy private school that led to a professor going to prison. Greenleaf is a good writer, but I have to say that the sections quoting the book were rather boring....more
PROTAGONIST: PI Connor Gibbs RATING: 4.35 WHY: PI Connor Gibbs latest job is definitely unusual. He has been hired by a 9-year-old boy named Cody "BlistPROTAGONIST: PI Connor Gibbs RATING: 4.35 WHY: PI Connor Gibbs latest job is definitely unusual. He has been hired by a 9-year-old boy named Cody "Blister" McGraw to find his father, Noah Sizemore, who abandoned him when he was 2. Noah has been hiding within his large family for years. Connor involves his lawyer friend, woman friend and Cody in his quest to find Noah. Although of mammoth size, Connor is actually quite gentle until he needs to be otherwise. He has an enormous vocabulary which mostly confuses others but adds humor. Although the plot was serviceable, the main event in this book is the excellent characterization of just about everyone in it. There are some over-the-top fight scenes, but overall, I found the book amusing with some laugh-out-loud moments....more
PROTAGONIST: Leo Desroches, newspaper reporter SETTING: Edmonton, Canada SERIES: #2 RATING: 3.5 WHY: Leo Desroches is a reporter for an Edmonton (Canada) PROTAGONIST: Leo Desroches, newspaper reporter SETTING: Edmonton, Canada SERIES: #2 RATING: 3.5 WHY: Leo Desroches is a reporter for an Edmonton (Canada) newspaper. He is half Cree and struggles with a bad gambling addiction. At the moment, he is working undercover as a homeless man during a brutal winter. During this time, he developed respect for a young native named Marvin, a street kid whose actions always seem designed to help others. When he disappears, Leo finds that he has been killed, apparently by the members of his native gang, Redd Alert. Surprised by the fact that Marvin was in a gang, Leo wants to develop Marvin's story. As he does, he struggles with some hairy situations involving native elders and racism, as well as an ongoing battle with his own addiction. The book ends in an unusual way. ...more
PROTAGONIST: PI Kemal Kayankaya SETTING: Frankfurt, Germany SERIES: #3 RATING: 3.5 WHY: Turkish PI Kemal Kayankaya lives in Frankfurt, Germany and faces qPROTAGONIST: PI Kemal Kayankaya SETTING: Frankfurt, Germany SERIES: #3 RATING: 3.5 WHY: Turkish PI Kemal Kayankaya lives in Frankfurt, Germany and faces quite a bit of racism in his daily life. He is hired by by a man named Weidenbusch who was involved with Sri Dao, a Thai woman who has gone missing. He finds a scheme where illegal aliens are issued fake papers. The personal and local racism angle adds interest to an otherwise standard plot. Kayankaya is a bit of a wise ass, which is a good thing in a PI....more
PROTAGONISTS: Detec. Frank Kearney and Jose Phelps SETTING: Washington, DC SERIES: #3 RATING: 4.25 WHY: Nobody is sorry when drug runner James "Skeeter" HPROTAGONISTS: Detec. Frank Kearney and Jose Phelps SETTING: Washington, DC SERIES: #3 RATING: 4.25 WHY: Nobody is sorry when drug runner James "Skeeter" Hodges is gunned down while sitting in his car in a DC neighborhood. Veteran police detectives Frank Kearney and Jose Phelps are assigned to investigate the case. Clearly not a priority for their politically minded boss, Randall Emerson, they are also assigned over a thousand cold cases. Kearney and Phelps have been partners for 26 years, and they are an excellent team. They soon find out that a Congressional aide was murdered with the same gun used on Hodges, which ups the stakes internally. An excellent police procedural, although I did find myself becoming quite confused by the connections between the various characters....more
**spoiler alert** PROTAGONIST: PI Dave Garrett SETTING: Pennsylvania SERIES: #5 RATING: 3.5 WHY: PI Dave Garrett is scouting for work when he drops into t**spoiler alert** PROTAGONIST: PI Dave Garrett SETTING: Pennsylvania SERIES: #5 RATING: 3.5 WHY: PI Dave Garrett is scouting for work when he drops into the law offices of Charles Preston. Preston hires him to surveil a client's wife. The client, Pat Winter, is not exactly a lovable sort. When Maria is killed in a car accident, the plot thickens. Albert writes well, and I like the Garrett character. However, the conclusion was extremely weak. Garrett engaged in a tell-all session of how he solved the crime. However, the reader hadn't been provided with most of the information that he imparted which was unfair....more
PROTAGONIST: Department Q (Carl Morck, Assad, Rose, Gordon) SETTING: Denmark and Sweden SERIES: #6 RATING: 3.5 WHY: Department Q is a specialized unit witPROTAGONIST: Department Q (Carl Morck, Assad, Rose, Gordon) SETTING: Denmark and Sweden SERIES: #6 RATING: 3.5 WHY: Department Q is a specialized unit within the Danish police that is led by outcast Carl Morck and staffed with 3 others of similar ilk. They are working on a cold case involving a girl who was found dead hanging from a tree. It is quite a complicated scenario involving a group of Danish islanders and a Swedish sun-worshipping cult with a charismatic leader who is the prime suspect. The book was overly long with too much time spent on the cult. However, the recurring characters, as always, save the day. Once you've met Carl, Rose and Assad, you'll be hooked despite some other weaknesses....more
PROTAGONIST: PI Kyle Champion SETTING: Mexico RATING: 3.5 WHY: At one time a TV journalist, Kyle Champion has become a PI. He gets a call from a former fPROTAGONIST: PI Kyle Champion SETTING: Mexico RATING: 3.5 WHY: At one time a TV journalist, Kyle Champion has become a PI. He gets a call from a former flame, Daphne Fletcher, whose husband, Oren,disappeared 6 months earlier. Assuming Oren is dead, Daphne asks Kyle to find his body. Oren was fond of traveling in Mexico, so that is where the investigation is centered. There's a plethora of characters who act suspiciously. The book flows nicely. I found the writing and plotting much more assured that Adams' series featuring Carl Wilcox....more
PROTAGONIST: Peter Macklin, hit man SERIES: #1 RATING: 2.75 WHY: A tour boat is hijacked by a group who want several prisoners released to give it up. HiPROTAGONIST: Peter Macklin, hit man SERIES: #1 RATING: 2.75 WHY: A tour boat is hijacked by a group who want several prisoners released to give it up. Hit man Peter Macklin is asked by the FBI to take care of the situation. Took me forever to read this; it just never clicked although I finished it. Nothing really about hit man life; at end he goes into assassination mode on the boat....more
PROTAGONIST: Detec. Mars Bahr SETTING: Minneapolis SERIES: #1 RATING: 3.25 WHY: Detective Mars Bahr is in charge of investigating the death of a teenaged PROTAGONIST: Detec. Mars Bahr SETTING: Minneapolis SERIES: #1 RATING: 3.25 WHY: Detective Mars Bahr is in charge of investigating the death of a teenaged girl whose lifestyle is not the virginal one that it seems. He's hampered by the local police chief's relationship with her family. The plot gets pretty complex, with connections to a family in England with too much time being spent in their dysfunctions. The conclusion is highly improbably. What really bugged me was Mars' relationship with his 8-year-old son, Chris. Chris often accompanied him to crime scenes and other police business. Huh???...more
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