Mobs, Mayhem & Murder, Tales from the St. Louis Police Beat by Tim O'Neil

Mobs, Mayhem & Murder, Tales from the St. Louis Police Beat by Tim O'Neil, 208 pages

By no means does this book include all crimes in the St. Louis area, but it does include some of the more widely known.  Having not been raised in St. Louis, I found the history of the mob presence in St. Louis fascinating.  This book not only looks at modern crime stories but some also from over a hundred years ago.  The cases are eerie and yet fascinating.  Tim O'Neil has been a reporter with the St. Louis Post Dispatch for over 30 years.  Many of the stories are pulled from these files, along with some fantastic photographs.  Stories of Paula Sims, the cousins being pushed from the Chain of Rock Bridge, and the Kirkwood city council meeting shooting are crimes that stand out in my mind.  Definitely a read for the fan of true crime!

The Drop by Dennis Lehane

The Drop by Dennis Lehane - 224 pages

Lehane returns to the neighborhood featured in Mystic River to tell the story of a lonely barman who rescues a puppy from a trashcan at Christmas and then finds a life no longer spent alone is filled with entanglements both romantic and criminal.  Lehane is awesome at atmosphere and populates a world with vividly flawed characters that seem very real.

I was intrigued to see that this book was made into a movie with James Gandolfini and Tom Hardy.  The still photos show that they used a ridiculously cute puppy and of course Tom Hardy is pretty easy on the eyes as well.

Creole Belle by James Lee Burke

Creole Belle by James Lee Burke - 544 pages

The last Dave Robicheaux novel left the reader with such a cliff hanger that any description of the plot of this book would be a spoiler.  All I will say is that all the elements that we all love in the Robicheaux books are present in huge amounts.  The landscape of New Orleans and bayou is so detailed it is a character in its own right.  I enjoyed this book but is has such an overwhelming sense of mood about it that can make the experience of reading it a heavy one.