Summary: Bruno is invited to the birthday party of a national hero, but when there is an accidental death, Bruno isn’t so sure. Somehow I missed the Patriarch by Martin Walker when it came out. I was looking around for something to read, and check to see when the next Bruno Chief of Police novel … Read more
This is my annual best of 2016 list. (Way late I know.) This is my list of the books that at the end of the year I still think about. They are not all from 2016 (most are not) and they may not be the “˜best’ books that I have read. Some years my best … Read more
Summary: Bruno loves his community, helps prevent crime, meets a new woman and solves a big crime (but not much really happens). Bruno is one of my favorite lead characters in a mystery series. He can cook, he loves his community, he understand the real purpose of law enforcement and how to strengthen a community. … Read more
Summary: Maigret solves a cold case by following a suspicious man. The Hanged Man of Saint-Pholien is the third book in the Inspector Maigret series, although mislabeled #4 at both Audible and Amazon. I accidentally read it before the second book (which is labeled #3). Maigret is on a trip for his work when he … Read more
Summary: Cormran Strike is searching for an unlikable author that has disappeared. Regular commenter Sheila Brennan said a few days ago that my opposition to mysteries seems to be diminishing. She is right, I really have begun to like a certain type of mystery. Mysteries that are about characters and understanding people are interesting. Mysteries … Read more
Summary: The basis for the TV show Grantchester (PBS). Last year, around the time when Downton Abbey’s fifth season came out, my wife and I watched the short six episode season of Grantchester (also on Masterpiece). I have been looking forward to the show’s eventual second season when I saw that the book was on sale. (Still $3.85 … Read more
Traditionally I put together some sort of list of the best books I have read each year. These are highly subjective and often have more to do with what sticks with me at the end of the year, although I do go back and skim through all the reviews that are 4 or 5 star … Read more
Summary: A high flying lawyer, with no time for the spiritual life, is forced to confront the spiritual world. Carter Graham is a no nonsense lawyer that has a life plan and is sticking to it. That life plan includes getting married at around 35 and having children sometime before 40. When Carter meets Kim … Read more
Girl On The Train by Paula Hawkins is an exciting thriller about what you might notice when you are looking out the train window on your daily work commute. Girl on The Train is a book that has a similar feel, at least at first, to the Hitchcock classic Rear Window. Whether right or wrong, … Read more
The Beautiful Mystery (Chief Inspector Gamache #8) by Louise Penny and How the Light Gets In (Chief Inspector Gamache #9) Books 8 and 9 were both in the most read reviews this month. If you like a series mystery that both pays attention to the mystery and on going characters, this is a series worth … Read more