THE SKELETON BOX A Starvation Lake Mystery

by Bryan Gruley

The third in the Starvation Lake Mystery series finds local newspaper editor Gus Carpenter involved in the investigation of the bingo night burglaries in the small town of Starvation Lake.  While the residents are attending bingo at the local Catholic Church, homes are being broken into, but strangely, nothing appears to be missing; the thief just rifles through personal and financial papers.

As tensions mount, things take a turn for the worse when someone is murdered during another break-in.  The victim is the mother of Gus' ex-girlfriend, local police woman Darlene Espers.  Even worse, the murder occurred during the burglary of the home of Bea Carpenter, Gus' ailing mother.

The town of Starvation Lake is fraught with more turmoil.  Even as the local sheriff  is under fire to solve the burglaries, one of his deputies is working against him while planning his own election campaign.  Then there is the born-again Christian group that's not only kicking up a fuss, but threatening to disrupt the season for the local hockey team, the lifeblood of entertainment and pride for this small community.

Working with newcomer Luke Whistler, a seasoned older reporter, Carpenter finds himself looking into the mysterious disappearance of a beautiful young nun decades earlier, and how her disappearance may be linked to both his mother and the events in Starvation Lake today.

I've enjoyed all three of the author's books, and his characters and writing just keep getting better.  Mr. Gruley has created another fun and satisfying mystery with THE SKELETON BOX....be sure to add it to your summer reading list!

ISBN 987-1-4165-6366-2
Pub. Date:  6/5/2012
336 Pages
Hardcover and eBook

FATAL ERROR

by J.A. Jance - available in hardcover and as an eBook

Ali Reynolds is in the middle of her Arizona Police Academy training course when she's visited by an old friend.  Ali and Brenda Riley were both TV news anchors before being considered too old for their respective slots.

Ali is more than surprised to see the condition Brenda's life is in.  She's not only an alcoholic but has lost everything and is living out of her car.  She wants Ali's help to locate her fiance, Richard Lattimer.   The problem is that Brenda has never met Richard and doesn't even know what he looks like.

With the help of her boyfriend's computer expert, Ali soon discovers that Lattimer doesn't exist, but Richard Lowensdale does.  In a cruel game of cyber-stalking, Lowensdale has been using fictitious last names to create bogus romantic relationships with women on the internet.  After leading each to believe he's in love with them, he drops them just when they think they're engaged to him.  When Lowensdale is murdered in his home, everything points to Brenda Riley.

Reynolds finds herself unemployed following her training and sets out to prove that Brenda is innocent.  With a murderer on the loose, Brenda disappears, and Ali teams up with Det. Gil Morris to find her friend and the killer.

Like Jance's other mysteries, FATAL ERROR is a fun, quick read.

ISBN 978-1-4165-6381-5
353 pages

LAW OF ATTRACTION

by Allison Leotta - to be released in October 2010

Assistant U.S. Attorney Anna Curtis works domestic violence in Washington, D.C. She's trying to convince her newest client, Laprea Johnson, to finally make the abuse charges stick against her boyfriend. Anna is shocked to learn that her own boyfriend, Public Defender Nick Wagner, is representing D'Marco Davis, the accused.

When Laprea lies on the stand to protect D'Marco and then turns up dead, D'Marco is arrested for her murder despite his pleas of innocence. Curtis is determined to find out what really happened.

Throw in a jailbreak, sexual attraction and intrigue and Ms. Leotta's debut novel is fun reading. The only problem is that the plot is a little too far fetched and way too early on you can see where it's going.

THE HANGING TREE - A Starvation Lake Mystery

by Bryan Gruley - to be released in August 2010

THE HANGING TREE is the second book in the Starvation Lake series by Bryan Gruley. I liked the first one, STARVATION LAKE, and I thought this one was even better.

Gus Carpenter is still working for the small town paper in his hometown of Starvation Lake. Darlene Esper, his high school love is now his girlfriend and is a sheriff's deputy.

When Gracie, Gus's second cousin, is found dead from what appears to be a suicide, Gus and Darlene set out to prove it was murder instead. To do that, Gus has to delve deeper into Gracie's life when she lived away from Starvation Lake. Hockey is everything to this small town in Michigan and Gus begins to wonder if Gracie's fate had anything to do with a wealthy group trying to build a state-of-the-art hockey rink in this small town in the middle of nowhere.

Likable characters, engaging storyline, fun to read.

THE OTHER FAMILY

by Joanna Trollope - to be released in April 2010

Richie Rossiter leaves his wife and young son and begins life with his new, much younger partner, Chrissie. He never divorces his first wife, but he and Chrissie have three daughters and build a life together. The novel begins with Richie's death and the difficulties Chrissie is facing since she was not his legal wife. After the reading of Richie's will, both families are forced to deal with each other in ways they never expected.

Set in England, THE OTHER FAMILY is a nice story about modern relationships. While I enjoyed this book, I found the writing style to be very stiff which made it somewhat tedious to read.