Heart of Barkness by Spencer Quinn

 (Chet and Bernie Mystery #9)

304 pages / 8 hrs, 56 mins

"Chet the dog, “the most lovable narrator in all of crime fiction” (Boston Globe) and P.I. Bernie encounter heartache and much worse in the world of country music. They’re both music lovers, so when Lotty Pilgrim, a country singer from long ago, turns up at a local bar, they drive out to catch her act. Bernie’s surprised to see someone who was once so big performing in such a dive, and drops a C-note the Little Detective Agency can’t afford to part with into the tip jar. The C-note is stolen right from under their noses – even from under Chet’s, the nose that misses nothing – and before the night is over, it’s stolen again.

"Soon they’re working the most puzzling case of their career, a case that takes them back in time in search of old border-town secrets, and into present-day danger where powerful people want those secrets to stay hidden. Chet and Bernie find themselves sucked into a real-life murder ballad where there is no one to trust but each other." --from the publisher

Another entertaining story told by Chet the Jet, the detective pooch. I give it 3.5 stars out of 5.

The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett

 The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammet, 201 pages.

Former detective Nick Charles is in New York for Christmas with his charming wife, Nora, and their darling pup Asta. Despite his claims to be an ex-detective, Nick quickly finds himself embroiled in murder and mystery. A missing millionaire inventor, a murdered secretary with a criminal past, and a family steeped in secrets and lies: these are but a few of the challenges Nick Charles faces, but at least he won't have to face them sober! 

Down the River Unto the Sea by Walter Mosley

Down the River Unto the Sea: A Novel by Walter Mosley --- 322 pages.

The prolific Walter Mosley's latest book introduces a new hero, ex-cop-turned-private investigator, Joe King Oliver. Oliver is a man haunted by injustices, who suffered personal betrayal by dirty cops and a vindictive ex-wife, but is honest enough to admit that his own bad choices also played a part in his downfall. Set up by a phony rape charge, Oliver was locked up in the notorious Rikers Island jail, where only solitary confinement saved him from being killed by other inmates. By the time he was released, as suddenly and as inexplicably as he had been arrested, Oliver was so traumatized by the brutality he experienced that he has cut himself off from all but the most minimal human contact for almost thirteen years. His 17-year-old daughter, Aja-Denise, who refuses to give up on her dad, is his only connection with humanity, and all that has kept him sane.

Oliver's time-out is ending however. The woman who helped set him up on the rape charge has been born again and writes him a letter that helps him piece together why he was taken down. And another young black man is on death row, being framed for murder because he killed two dirty cops in self-defense when they tried to murder him. Oliver sees connections between the two and is convinced that he can vindicate himself he he can prove the truth in the other case. But he can't do it alone. So he turns to another lost soul, Melquarth Frost. Frost is even more damaged by the violence and brutality of a racist environment than Oliver.  Redemption is beyond his reach, but he can see a thin chance of it for Oliver, and decides to help. In one powerful scene, Frost confesses to Oliver that his own mother hated him. It made him long to evolve into something different; "like wolves had become dogs or dinosaurs birds.” Instead, the only amends he could offer was to seek out and kill the man who had raped his mother and produced him.

Mosley's take on human existence is as powerful in its own way as Dante's or Milton's.

Click HERE to read a review from the Los Angeles Times.

Click HERE to read a review from WSB-TV (Atlanta).

Click HERE to read a review from Publishers Weekly.

Click HERE to read a review from Kirkus Reviews.

Star Wars: Coruscant Nights- Street of Shadows

308 pp. The continuing adventures of rogue Jedi Jax Pavan as he attempts to solve the murder of a popular artist, while evading the relentless bounty hunter Aurra Sing.

Mr. Campion's Farewell by Mike Ripley

Mr. Campion's Farewell: Margery Allingham's Albert Campion Returns; by Mike Ripley --- 278 pages

Margery Allingham (1904-1966) was a British author of detective fiction during what is referred to as the "Golden Age" of British detective fiction during the 1920s and 1930s.  Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, Ngaio Marsh and Allingham were called the "Queens of Crime" of that period.

Allingham is best known for her series of detective adventures featuring Albert Campion, a character who allegedly began as a parody of Sayers' (now) more famous Lord Peter Wimsey, but who took on a life of his own. The Campion adventures are humorous puzzles rather than hard boiled crime fiction, filled with persiflage and eccentric characters and the kind of sex and class stereotypes that have worn a little thin by today's standards.

When Allingham died in 1966 she left an unfinished manuscript that was subsequently completed and published by her husband and silent collaborator Philip (Pip) Youngman Carter. Youngman Carter then published two additional Campion novels of his own. When he died in 1969 he left a very preliminary sketch for a third novel. This fragment eventually was bequeathed to the Margery Allingham Society. In 2012  the Society gave permission to Mike Ripley to finish the manuscript and provide an "affectionate conclusion" to Mr. Campion's adventures.  However the publisher has now commissioned a second Campion mystery from Mr. Ripley, so Albert Campion's swan song is yet to come.

In fairness I have to say that for me Allingham has not withstood the test of time as well as Christie, Sayers and Marsh, and the fizz has definitely gone flat with secondhand Campion, and now thirdhand Campion. But it would appear that this is not the case for the true Allingham fanbase, so I have cited below two very positive reviews of Mr. Campion's Farewell plus a recap of the entire series and the evolution of Albert Campion.

Click HERE for a review from classicmysteries.net and HERE for a review from shinynewbooks.

Click HERE for the Wikipedia entry for "Albert Campion."

Top Secret Twnety-One by Janet Evanovich

Top Secret Twenty-One: A Stephanie Plum Novel by Janet Evanovich --- 305 pages

This is about as close to perfect Summer Beach Reading as anyone can get. Funny, fast, fantasy-inducing. As delicious and as addictive as a chocolate custard doughnut with sprinkles. If you haven't yet made the acquaintance of Stephanie, Joe, Ranger, Lula and Grandma Mazur --- what are you waiting for?

Click HERE for five "plum reasons" to read Top Secret Twenty-One.

Hundred-Dollar Baby: A Spencer Novel

Hundred-Dollar Baby: A Spencer Novel by Robert B. Parker 291 pages.

April Kyle, madam of a high priced call-girl operation, needs Spencer to find out who is trying to take her operation away from her. Some one has hired the local mobster to ruin her business. But who is the person hiring the mobster? And why?

And why doesn't the story April Kyle is telling hold up under examination?

Another enjoyable Robert B. Parker novel.

Poirot's Early Cases, by Agatha Christie, 256 pages

Poirot's Early Cases, by Agatha Christie, 256 pages

Hercule Poirot, the Belgian with the proud mustache, has always been one of my favorite characters- and when voiced by David Suchet (who played him on the tv program), it was a perfect audiobook.  This is a collection of short mysteries- some were pretty brilliant, some were oddly racist (but in keeping with the time period), and some were kind of silly and weird (warning: there's a ventriloquist in one).  But very good and accessible for someone interested in light mysteries.

Red Handed: the Fine Art of Strange Crimes, by Matt Kindt

Red Handed: the Fine Art of Strange Crimes, by Matt Kindt, 272 pages

Detective Gould manages to catch all of the criminals- but he can't figure out what is motivating them in this graphic mystery.  Crimes range from serial chair stealing to murder.  He finds himself and his beliefs tested, and the reader will wonder how it is all connected up until the very end.  If you read this once and are confused, read it again- it is worth it.  Artwork-wise, if you like the style of Jeff Lemire, you will probably like this.  Content-wise, there are no super heroes or magic- Kindt tends to concentrate more on the subject of people- their lives, regrets and misfortunes.  Also, Kindt is a fairly local author/artist, if you're into that.

Seduction in Death by J. D. Robb

Seduction in Death by J. D. Robb - 351 pages

This is Robb's 13th book in her In Death series and Eve Dallas is at it again. This time the murder is hitting close to to Eve. A man is on the loose killing innocent woman because he has the power to do so. Seduction is his mode of weapon, but will he use it agian to bring down another women or will Eve, her husband Roarke, and her snazzy team bring him doen before he strikes again?