August 2, 2017 | madame librarian
"It is an old maxim of mine that when you have excluded the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth." --Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: "The Beryl Coronet"
"Boston PI Spenser faces a hot case and a personal crisis in the latest adventure in the iconic New York Times-bestselling series from author Ace Atkins"--.
"A notorious, international big game hunter and his beautiful, former flight attendant wife are gunned down at long range late one sweltering summer night while swimming naked on their seaside estate in opulent Rancho Bonita, California. Police investigators are convinced that the killer is a strident, outspoken animal rights activist with both military experience and a criminal record. The evidence against him would appear overwhelming--until rumors begin to surface that others may have had their own reasons for committing murder. The last thing flight instructor, aspiring Buddhist, and ex-government assassin Cordell Logan wants to do is become involved in the investigation. He and the accused, however, have mutual friends. Reluctant at first, Logan finds himself caught up in an increasingly confounding enigma, one that swirls around a popular Congressman with close ties to the White House, a European call girl ring, and a ruthless Czech crime boss who'll stop at nothing to protect his interests. Pursuing the truth will take Logan to places few others would dare go, exposing him to dangers that even he may not survive. Along with its four predecessors in the Cordell Logan mystery/thriller series--Flat Spin, Fangs Out, Voodoo Ridge, and The Three-Nine Line--Hot Start is a can't-put-it-down page-turner that will leave audiences breathless. Critics from Booklist to Publisher's Weekly to the Associated Press have hailed the series for its veracity and fine writing, vivid characters, generous dollops of humor, and the kind of pacing that keeps readers up at night. Hot Start may well be the best yet"--.
When an old friend buys a trenchcoat and opens his own detective agency, PI Cat DeLuca sees a train wreck. Everything Billy Bonham knows about being a private dick he learned from Humphrey Bogart. And that's just enough to make him dangerous.The bungling detective is in way over his head on a case involving murder and a stolen pair of Marilyn Monroe's dazzling diamond earrings. His outrageous client, Cristina McTigue, is pursued by men who want her dead. Five minutes after meeting the woman, Cat would cheerfully kill her too.When Billy is gunned down on the street, it's up to Cat to save his crazy client and nail a murderer. She soon finds herself dodging bullets, knee-deep in trouble, and chasing diamonds. Before it's over, she'll be helped by her sexy FBI boyfriend, a hunky ex-spy, her outrageous Italian family of Chicago cops, and her interfering Mama.With a cast of zany characters and a pace that's unrelenting, this laugh-out-loud mystery is best served hot.
Pastry chef Rita Lucero's Mardi Gras party turns funereal when one of her guests is found dead after a public fight with her uncle leaving Rita no choice but to find the real killer and clear her uncle's name.
Raphael's series hero, Nick Hoffman, is in midlife crisis when he and partner Stefan Borowski return from their Caribbean vacation (marred by murder, of course; see Tropic of Murder, 2004) to resume teaching at the State University of Michigan. Nick's musings over getting older halt abruptly when he realizes that his companion in the health-club steam room is head trainer and all-around stud Vlado Zamario, and he's dead. Before you can say smoldering temptress, series regular Professor Juno Dromgoole is on the scene, spreading the news that it's murder and proposing to solve it with Nick, the obvious suspect because of his previous involvements with homicide. Given Vlado's encounters with the women at Michigan Muscle, the plot quickly and deliciously thickens into layers of domestic discord highly seasoned with compromising photos. Raphael's latest smoothly delivers a satisfying mystery while providing insight into the middle-aging of America, gay marriage, the excitement of sleuthing as a means of exercising control over our lives, the Orwellian Patriot Act, and more. --Whitney Scott Copyright 2007 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.