GRIFT SENSE (Paid Investigator-Las Vegas-Cont) – G

Swain, James – 1^st in series

Ballantine Books, 2003- Paperback

Tony Valentine is an expert at spotting gambling scams. When the Acropolis Casino has lost big to a gambler named Frank

Fontaine, Tony is hired to find out how it's being done. But things really get interesting when it

turns out Fontaine is actually another gambler…

ALL CREATURES DARK AND DANGEROUS (Amateur Sleuth-Minnesota-Cont) – VG

Allyn, Doug – Short Stories

Cripen & Landru, 1999 – Hardcover

Veterinarian David Westbrook is the protagonist in this anthology of his favorite short stories.

I'm one who would normally say that short stories are not my favorite form as there isn’t enough time to become involved with the characters. Perhaps because I…

THE BURNING OF RACHEL HAYES (Amateur Sleuth-Minnesota-Cont) – VG

Allyn, Doug - 1st book in series

Five Star, 2004 – Hardcover

Veterinarian David Westbrook, released after 2 years in prison, has rented a barn to rebuild his practice and his life. He hears a woman's screams and rescues her son who'd fallen in an old well. But he

also discovers the remains of a woman, Rachel Hayes, who had died in a

firestorm in the 1870's. But…

THE DRAMATIST (Unlicensed investigator-Ireland-Cont) – Ex

Bruen, Ken – 4th in series

Brandon, 2004 – Trade paperback

Jack Taylor is clean and sober and fighting hard to stay that way. A drug dealer, now serving time, hires Jack to investigate the death of his sister. Under her body was a book by Synge, into

which the words "The Dramatist" had been written on the title page.

When a second student dies with a copy of the same…

BLOODLINES (Amateur Sleuth-California-1950s, 70s, Cont) – VG

Burke, Jan - 10th in series

Simon & Schuster, 2005 – Hardcover

In 1958, young reporter Conn O'Connor wants to know who left for dead his mentor, Jack Corrigan, the night infant Max Ducane is kidnapped and his parents and grandparents are presumed washed overboard from their

sailboat. In 1978, young reporter Irene

Kelly is taken under the wing of now veteran…

THE JAMES DEANS (Private Investigator-New York- 1980s) – Ex

Coleman, Reed Farrel – 3rd in series

Plume, 2005 – Trade paperback

Moe Prager, former cop turned PI, is hired to find political intern Moria Heaton. Moria left political headquarters on evening, never to be seen again.

Moe is the refreshing antithesis of most characters being written today. He is a loving husband, father and brother, neither an…

THE DEVIL'S HEARTH (Amateur Sleuth-Georgia-Cont) – G+

DePoy, Phillip – 1st in series

St. Martin's Press, 2002 – Hardcover

Folklorist Fever Devlin has left academia and is moving back to his family home in the Blue Mountains of Georgia. However, he doesn't expect his reception to be a dead body on his front steps and bullets headed his direction. When he learns with body is that of a

half-brother, about whom he never knew, Fever…

CHASING THE DEVIL'S TAIL (Private Investigator-New Orleans-1907) – VG

Fulmer, David – 1st in series

Poisoned Pen Press, 2001 – Hardcover

Creole detective Valentin St. Cyr is hired by political boss, Tom Anderson, to stop the "black rose" killer of Storyville prostitutes. The primary suspect is

Buddy Bolden, a friend of St. Cyr's.

New Orleans is a fascinating city. Fulmer does a remarkable job of…

THE COLD DISH (Police Proc-Wyoming-Cont) – VG

Johnson, Craig – 1st in series

Viking, 2005 – Hardcover

Sheriff Walt Longmire is in charge of a small, but quirky group of law enforcement officers in Absaroka County, Wyoming. When the body of Cody Pritchard is found dead

of a gunshot wound, they need to determine wither it is a hunting

accident. But Cody, along with three

others, is recently released from serving time for…

DARK MATTER (Amateur Sleuth-London-1600s) – Okay-

Kerr, Philip – 11th book

McArthur & Company, 2002- Paperback

Christopher Ellis has been hired and clerk and protector to Sir Issac Newton, now Warden of the Royal Mint. In their efforts to track down counterfeiters, they uncover murders,

ciphers and a much more dangerous plot.

In spite of the length of the book, it did read quickly, probably…

THE BLUE EDGE OF MIDNIGHT (Former Cop-Florida-Cont) – G

King, Jonathon – 1st book

Dutton, 2002- Hardcover

Max Freeman, while a policeman in Philadelphia, killed a young boy in a self-defense shootout. Now retired, Max has moved to a shack in the Everglades. When he finds a child's body, it takes him

back to the shooting. But other young

children have recently, and still are disappearing and Max is being set up as…

THE SECOND CHAIR (Legal-San Francisco-Cont) – VG

Lescroart, John – 12th in series

Signet Novel, 2005- Paperback

Young attorney, Amy Wu, takes on the case of a 17-year-old boy accused of killing his teacher and girlfriend. There's strong evidence against him, so Amy is trying to convince him to plead guilty and serve eight years as a

juvenal. When Amy botches the early

pre-trial hearings and her client keeps insisting he is…

CALIFORNIA GIRL (Police Proc/Amateur-Califorania-1950s to Cont) – G

Parker, T. Jefferson – 12th book

William Morrow, 2004- Hardcover

The Becker boys rumbled with the Vonn boys when they were young. But there was something about young Janelle Vonn that caught their eye. Now in the 1960's Janelle has

reconnected with a couple of the Beckers, up until she is found murdered. Nick Becker, now a cop, is handling Janelle's

murder as…

AT RISK (Espionage-England-Cont) – VG

Rimington, Stella – 1st novel

Knopf, 2004- Hardcover

Intelligence officer gets word from one of her agents that there may be an imminent terrorist threat within England. Now it's her job to find the terrorists, identify their target, and prevent them from succeeding in their mission.

Since the end of the cold war, I'd not found a good contemporary spy novel. This ends…

SURVIVOR IN DEATH (Police Proc-New York–2059) – G+

Robb, J.D. (Nora Roberts) – 20th in series

Putnam, 2005 – Hardcover

When Lt. Eve Dallas is called out to a crime scene, she finds a husband and wife, their live-in housekeeper, son and the friend of their daughter who had been coldly murdered.

However, she also finds the young daughter, who had been overlooked by

the killers. Eve takes the young…

TO SHIELD THE QUEEN (Historical Mystery-England-1500s) – G+

Buckley, Fiona – 1st of series

Pocket Books, 1978- Paperback

Mistress Ursula Blanchard, a new member to the court of Elizabeth I, has been asked to stay with Robin Dudley's ailing wife Amy. There are rumors that Dudley is trying to kill Amy

to clear his way for a possible marriage to Elizabeth I. But when Amy dies of a broken neck and Ursula

sends a letter to court…

ALONE (Thriller-New York City-Cont) – VG

Gardner, Lisa – Standalone

Bantam, 2004 – Hardcover

Trooper Bobby Dodge, a trained sniper/observer with the Massachusetts State Police Special Tactics and Operations Team, has been called to a domestic dispute where gunshots were reported./. But nothing has trained him for the aftermath

of killing the man, Bobby was certain, about to kill his wife Catharine and,

perhaps, his son. The…

DEATH OF KINGS (Historical Mystery-1600s) – G+

Goodin, Phillip – 2nd of series

Robinson, 2001- UK Trade Paperback

Nick Revill, an actor with The Chamberlain's Men, is caught up in the politics of the day as Queen Elizabeth I is aging and feared to die without an heir. He is asked to serve as

a spy for the government against those suspected of having their own plans for

the Queen's successor.…

BROUGHT IN DEAD (Police Proc-England-1960s) – G

Higgins, Jack (originally published under Harry Patterson- 21st book

Berkley Publishing Group, 2004 (reprint from 1967)- Paperback

Det. Sargeant Nick Miller removes the body of a young woman, an apparent suicide, from the river where her body has been found. It soon becomes clear she had tried to secret her identity. Once he learns her name

and notify her family, the father becomes…

Holland Taylor, a former cop turned private, is brought in for questioning about the murder of a man who had been released after serving time for driving drunk and killing Taylor's

wife and child. Taylor realizes he's been set up by the cops

to find the killer, but things become very interesting when the trail involves

someone…