I mentioned that I went to my book group last week and we discussed Night Life by David C. Taylor. This one felt like one of those reads we nitpick and nitpick and yet we all really liked it. I think we can all see that this one has a lot of potential for being a great series.

Anyway next month we will be reading The Shanghai Factor by Charles McCarry. I already put this one on hold at the library so I’m sure I’ll have a l library haul to share with you soon.

In the meantime, I’ve been adding more mystery books to my radar and wanted to mention those here.

The Little Old Lady Who Broke All the Rules by Catharina Ingelman-Sundberg. A comic crime caper about five Swedish pensioners who break out of their retirement home and become criminals. The cover for this one is a hoot.

The Kingdom by Fumninori Nakamura. Yurika is a freelancer for an obscure criminal agency who poses as a prostitute in order to sedate and take embarrassing pictures of important men. I read one of Nakamura’s books last year and thought it was definitely a provocative read.

The Trouble With Goats and Sheep by Joanna Cannon. During a record-setting heat wave in the summer of 1976, the unthinkable happens. Mrs. Creasey has disappeared. Set in England, the quiet cul-de-sac of the Avenue is abuzz with speculation of her where-abouts. Young Grace Bennett decides she and her best friend Tilly can find Mrs. Creasey. I don’t know if I want to read about heat right now but this sounds kind of charming in a way with the young sleuths as the protagonists.

Let me know if you have heard of these and what do you think.

“Jack Renner knew about the cat. He knew about Brian beating his ouster mother with a golf club in the sixth grade. He knew about the man’s recruiting method, his ways of increasing territory, how his guys branched out into armed robbery and home invasions when the local economy tightened up. He knew because he had read every form, every note, and every report written on Brian Johnson.”

That Darkness
By Lisa Black

Maggie Gardiner is a forensic investigator for the Cleveland Police Department. When the body of a young girl is found in a cemetery, Maggie is called to help find out who did this. It bothers her that there are little clues but she is determined to find out who killed her. At the same time she’s also working some other cases that share some striking similarities and she beings to wonder if there is a serial killer at work.

What Maggie doesn’t know is the officer who is working with her, Jack Renner, is a killer. He doesn’t kill innocent people, but those who have not been punished for their crimes. If you are thinking doesn’t this sound like the character of Dexter from the Lindsey novels, then yes there is some of that but Jack Renner is his own character.

As this is the first book in the series it is still too early to really get to know what brought Jack Renner to this point in his life and how he’s managed to avoid capture for so long. I liked Maggie’s stubbornness and found that Maggie and Jack were well matched characters. They are both smart and feel the need for justice, they just have different ways of pursuing it. Can Jack keep working with Maggie and after what she’s learned of him how does that reconcile with her feelings on justice.

I especially enjoyed seeing how page after page Maggie is getting closer to the truth and Jack is barely able to keep ahead of her. Despite what Jack does I really liked his character and I am anxiously waiting to see how the two will work in the sequel. I think there’s a lot of potential here for a great new series.

Source: Advance Review Copy