Coyote Hills/Jonathan and Jesse Kellerman

Very up to date SanFran murder mystery: drugs, ai, lots of sex hookup sites. Boats and bay marinas and currents.

Snappy dialogue but characters felt flat.

Showdown/Mike Lupica, a Robert B. Parker Spenser novel

Opening scene has Hawk and Spenser talking about growing old and retiring. Then Rita arrives with a client: son of an immigrant searching for his father. Who is most likely a virulent maga podcaster.

The Widow/John Grisham

From the book jacket: small town lawyer lands a big money case. Then he’s accused of murdering her.

The Coben anthology sounds good. On my list now.

Well sorry not sorry cause I'm reading non-fiction this week. Prequel: an American fight against facism by Rachel Maddow. She writes likes she talks, fascinating, funny, informative. Couldn't get ebook or large print, so struggling with that. Great important book, and this history should be taught more in school. Maybe someday.

“Theodosia’s Honey Bee Tea was an elegant affair set in Charleston’s new Petigru Park amid newly planted native grasses and a community beekeeping project. But when a phony beekeeper shows up and sprays toxic smoke at the guests, the party erupts in chaos. Worse yet, a shot rings out and Osgood Claxton III, candidate for state legislature, falls to the ground—dead.”

Having fun with this one.

New to me anyway. Does sound like fun. Thanks.

Thanks

A manipulative patriarch left his widow and their grown children a final challenge--an inheritance game designed to humiliate, devastate, and unravel the Storm family in ways both petty and life-altering. The rules of the game are clear: stay on the island for one week, complete the tasks, receive the inheritance.

Stay warm and safe!

Mickey Rawlings is a young journeyman baseball player in the big leagues in the second decade of the 20th century. I’m currently reading Murder at Fenway Park.

Mickey Rawlings is called up by the Red Sox in April 1912, and reports to the brand new Fenway Park. While trying to find the team’s manager, he discovers a body. The police think he’s a suspect, and the team just wants to hush it up. Mickey can’t leave it alone.

These books combine three of my favorite things: History, mystery and baseball.

And in ten days a new Dave Robichaeux novel drops.

Good news all around.

Constance Greene goes back to 1800's New York City via time machine to try and rescue her sister and brother, and kill Dr. Leng--the serial killer whose medical experimentation made her ageless. Agent Pendergast jumps in. I didn't know this was a 3 book series until I got to the end, and it left me hanging. So, I've ordered the last installment, "Angel of Vegeance."

In the meantime, I started, "Calamity of Souls," by David Baldacci. "An historical legal thriller set in 1968 Virginia, about a racially charged murder case where a young white lawyer and an experienced Black lawyer team up to defend a Black man falsely accused of killing a wealthy white couple. The book explores themes of racism, justice, and the deep-seated divisions in the South during the Civil Rights era, as the lawyers fight against a biased system and powerful forces trying to ensure a conviction." So far, so good.

I've busted my butt on the ice twice in the last week. Stay safe, fellow readers!

I've gone down a few times over the years. Can make for long-term problems.

Speaking of Constance, I belong to the Preston & Child fan club and get some marvelous emails. I thought you might enjoy excerpts from the most recent.

"Through our long careers chronicling the cases of Special Agent Pendergast, one mystery in particular has continued to loom ever larger in our minds. It is the case that lies behind all the others, the original investigation that launched Pendergast on the fateful trajectory of his life. Vague references of it have surfaced now and then, offhand mentions, odd hints, only to vanish and leave us wanting more.

Pendergast always resisted our pleas to tell us his “origin story.” When out of desperation we finally appealed to Constance, she volunteered to help. We don't know what she said, but she succeeded, and Pendergast decided it was time to open up to us. Realizing how ephemeral this change of heart might be, we quickly sat him down and collected the full, the strange, the awful, the tragic story of his first case.

When we heard it, we finally understood why he was so reluctant to share the story with us and the world. And when you read it, you, too, will realize why."

PENDERGAST: THE BEGINNING just published.

Can't wait to read this one!

I didn't know there was a Preston & Child fan club. I'll have to look that up too.

One of the squares on my Bingo card from the library is to read a book from the year I was born, so I picked this one from 1953. I just started it. Apparently there was a movie adapted from this novel made in 1973 directed by Robert Altman and starring Elliot Gould as Philip Marlowe but I never saw it.