What Have You Done? by Shari Lapena could be (yet another) book about a shocking murder in a small town where nothing usually happens, but Lapena’s ability to insert readers into the minds and suspicions of community members – and more importantly – family members and friends of suspects takes this to the next level. She also does a great job of reflecting the devastation caused by the loss of the only (very beloved) child of a single parent.
Part-way through The Spy Coast by Tess Gerritsen I thought, ‘She’s done such a great job with these characters this will have to become a series.’ And sure enough, after I’d finished reading I went to add it to Goodreads and noticed it’s called The Martini Club #1.
It’s very reminiscent of Richard Osman’s Thursday Murder Club series – though given our lead cast are all ex-CIA agents – they’re like the residents of the Coopers Chase Luxury Retirement Village, but on speed.
In my review of Charlie Donlea’s The Girl Who Was Taken I commented that I’d assumed the author was female. I wasn’t sure why but said it was perhaps because Donlea delivered the voices of the leads – all female – with great ease and realism.
It wasn’t until I opened Goodreads I was reminded of this again and I was similarly surprised. Again I can only think it’s because he writes the female perspective well. (And I don’t know what that seems strange…)
I used to be a huge fan of Kathy Reichs and her Temperance Brennan novels. I must confess my interest waned a little in the last outing or two however (number 16, according to Goodreads, so I skipped 17 & 18), so was stoked to see a new novel featuring a brand new character – a former military investigator named Sunday Night. Yes, really!
Back in the day… and before the series took a turn for the worse (or jumped the shark as they say in TV-land) I was a fan of Patricia Cornwell’s Kay Scarpetta series. I loved the coroner / sleuth combo. It was new at the time, though of course became increasing popular in books and on TV after Dr Scarpetta blazed that trail, leading to the likes of Silent Witness and iZombie. 😉
Although The Girl Who Was Taken by Charlie Donlea isn’t really about the work of a coroner as such, it’s centred around one and I very much enjoyed the detail / research and expertise Donlea inserted into his plot and characters.