No Mark Upon Her: A Novel
by Deborah Crombie
No Mark Upon Her (1/3/2012)
This book held my interest from start to finish. I have read all the previous books in this series and as always the character and plot development were riveting. She balances the personal lives of the police officers very well with the demands of their jobs. The plot is centred around a world class rower and Deborah Crombie does an amazing job of conjuring up the rowing world. her descriptions of rowing in the early evening were beautiful. I liked the quotations at the begining of every chapter: they set the scene for each chapter. I thought I had the plot figured out two thirds of the way through, but the twist in the plot kept me guessing until the end.
If you are a lover of police procedurals, do not miss this one.
A Lonely Death: An Inspector Ian Rutledge Mystery
by Charles Todd
Excellent Read (11/12/2010)
The latest entry in the "Inspector Ian Rutledge" series is a great read, full of twists and turns and perfectly captures the atmosphere of England after the 1st World War. The mother-son duo writes seamlessly and some of the descriptive passages are truly engaging. Even though the identity of the villain becomes clear as the plot develops, my interest was held to the very last page. The character of Ian Rutledge is endlessly fascinating and the setting in the south of England is extremely vivid. The circumstances in which Inspector Rutledge finds himself remind me of the William Monk stories by Anne Perry and anyone who has read these books will be sure to find this series riveting. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone who likes a well plotted mystery.
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Death Echo (7/7/2010)
This book was a fun, entertaining suspenseful reader. The format of the story playing out over only a week led to a lot of action playing out very quickly. At times, it was difficult to believe that the major characters could work together and trust each other so quickly and there were times when it was necessary to just suspend disbelief and keep reading ! It was however, a well written, believable story and the many twists and turns held my interest right to the end. This book would appeal to any one who likes a fast paced thriller with a little romance thrown in for good measure. The plot hung together well and the twist at the end was pretty clever.
The Man From Saigon: A Novel
by Marti Leimbach
Man from Saigon (2/18/2010)
I was very excited to read this book set in Vietnam because being English, the war in Vietnam seemed very remote to me, I was quite young when it started and knew very little about it. I have visited Vietnam in the last few years and the author perfectly captured the chaotic atmosphere of Saigon and the cloying humidity of the jungle. I found the flashbacks and sudden changes of narrator somewhat disorienting: perhaps this was what the author intended ? The three main characters were very well drawn although I would have liked to know more about the Vietnamese photographer, Hoang Van Son. The latter part of the book which focuses on the forced march through the jungle was gripping and I did not want to put the book down.
Well worth a read. I think this would be a great book group book.
The Last Secret: A Novel
by Mary McGarry Morris
The last Secret Mary McGarry Morris (4/20/2009)
After reading the prologue of this book I was unsure whether I even wanted to read it. However, once I got into it I was hooked. It's a very suspenseful tale all about the secrets that people keep and the damage that secrets can do.
Unrevealed past history leads to a terrible, disturbing conclusion in this novel, affecting 2 different families in many ways. The original secret is Nora's: she doesn't share with her husband of many years her escapades as a young woman. She has what seems to be a perfect life; job, home family and philanthropic causes when a chance reading of a magazine brings someone back into her lives. The stranger from the past infiltrates her life, her children's and her friends and in doing so, causes more secrets to be revealed. The conclusion is unexpected and horrific. The last chapter seems like an afterthought to tie everything up and I would have preferred to see it omitted or fleshed out a little more. I found the depictions of relationships between Nora and her children very well drawn and they rang with authenticity for me. I would recommend this book for book groups, suspense readers and any one who enjoys reading about relationships.
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