Mystery Book Review: Fear of Landing by David Waltner-Toews

Mysterious Reviews, mysteries reviewed by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books, has written a review of Fear of Landing by David Waltner-Toews. For our blog readers, we are printing it first here in advance of its publication on our website.

Fear of Landing by David Waltner-Toews
A Abner Dueck Mystery

Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 1-59058-349-3 (1590583493)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-349-4 (9781590583494)
Publication Date: June 2007
List Price: $24.95

Synopsis (from the publisher): On the islands of Java and Bali in the early 1980s, Western governments are pouring millions of dollars into development schemes even as Indonesian strongman President Suharto violently stifles dissent.

For Canadian veterinarian Abner Dueck, the "spice islands" are an exotic locale for the seemingly mundane work of examining dead cows and working with old friends. Dueck's life changes abruptly when some of the cows die under mysterious circumstances, and he meets a mysterious young Chinese woman; soon after, two of his friends-one Canadian and one Indonesian-are murdered.

Mennonite Dueck, marshalls the energy to battle Indonesian politics and the attempts of local businessmen, military rulers, and international "advisors" to manipulate development projects to their own ends.

And to unravel the mysterious deaths of both cattle and people, Dueck must first understand the long shadow that the 1966 massacres cast on Indonesian life, as well as the complexities of their music, and the demands and intrigues of love and conspiracy, death and mystery, and of course, cultural heritage and personal identity.

Review: Fear of Landing, by David Waltner-Toews, introduces Abner Dueck, a 35-year-old Canadian large-animal veterinarian, who volunteers to go to Indonesia as a disease investigator for farm animals. What he finds on the beautiful “Spice Islands” are American cows mysteriously dropping dead at odd times and seemingly for no reason. There is a total breakdown of the Indonesian politics, he is told, since the 1966 massacres. The country's rulers, or lack thereof, play an important part in the cattle mystery, plus in the death of two of his friends, one Canadian and one Indonesian.

Abner, unlike the multitudes of the people in Indonesia, lives in splendor. He has a car, and his own home with living room, kitchen, bedroom and bath. He makes friends very quickly and trusts everyone. When he does an autopsy on a recently deceased cow, his life becomes endangered. He is not permitted to do that again for fear he would know what and possibly who are killing the cows. He must challenge the attempts of the local merchants to manipulate the diseased cows for their own benefits. He meets and falls in love with a mysterious Chinese girl. The Chinese are not welcome in Indonesia because they are perceived to have too much money and power. When his friend from Canada is killed, he rushes to a fellow veterinarian for help and advice, only to find that he too has been killed also. He goes to the police who say nothing except that his visa has expired and he must be out of the country in five days. In those five days, Abner searches and finds the answers he needs.

Fear of Landing is a book with might and magnetism. The narrative up to and including the solution to the deaths of both the men and the cows is dynamic. Abner Dueck is a wonderful, complex character and, with the combination of exotic locales where he can practice his profession, this promises to be a very intriguing mystery series.

Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of Fear of Landing and to Poisoned Pen Press for providing an ARC of the book for this review.

Review Copyright © 2007 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved.

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Mystery Bestsellers for July 06, 2007

A list of the top ten mystery hardcover bestsellers for the week ending July 06, 2007 has been posted on the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books website. Beginning this week we're combining data from multiple sources to produce a single mystery bestseller list that we believe better represents the entire market.

New on the list this week: James Patterson's latest stand-alone thriller, The Quickie. When NYPD cop Lauren Stillwell discovers her husband leaving a hotel with another woman, she decides to beat him at his own game. But her revenge goes dangerously awry, and she finds her world spiraling into a hell that becomes more terrifying by the hour.

Also new is Silence by Thomas Perry. Six years ago, Jack Till helped Wendy Harper disappear. But now her ex-boyfriend and former business partner, Eric Fuller, is being framed for her presumed murder in an effort to smoke her out, and Till must find her before tango-dancing assassins Paul and Sylvie Turner do. Mysterious Reviews states, "Certainly one of the best mysteries to be published this summer, Silence will keep the reader enthralled to the very end."

Please visit the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books where we are committed to providing readers and collectors of mystery books with the best and most current information about their favorite authors, titles, and series.

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Compendium of Mystery News 070705

Today's compendium of recently published mystery news articles:

• Janet Evanovich speaks with Sheryl Ubelacker during a recent stop in Toronto on writing and promoting her books.

• Fox Searchlight announced that principal photography has begun on The Night Watchman from a screenplay based on an original script by James Ellroy.

• Timothy Rutten of the LA Times reviews The Night Ferry by Australian mystery writer Michael Robotham, calling it a superior thriller.

• Reuters interviews Scott Turow who says imagination, not experience, is key to writing.

• John Preston of the Telegraph reviews the Aurelio Zen mystery End Games by Michael Dibin who died this past March at age 60.

• Claudia La Rocco of The New York Times reviews the third mystery in the Sonchai Jitpleecheep series, Bangkok Haunts by John Burdett.

Please visit the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books where we are committed to providing readers and collectors of mystery books with the best and most current information about their favorite authors, titles, and series.

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Mystery Book Review: The Blue Cheer by Ed Lynskey

Mysterious Reviews, mysteries reviewed by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books, has written a review of The Blue Cheer by Ed Lynskey. For our blog readers, we are printing it first here in advance of its publication on our website.

The Blue Cheer by Ed Lynskey
A Frank Johnson Mystery

Point Blank Press (Trade Paperback)
ISBN-10: 0-8095-5667-7 (0809556677)
ISBN-13: 978-0-8095-5667-0 (9870809556670)
Publication Date: February 2007
List Price: $12.95

Synopsis (from the publisher): P. I. Frank Johnson has moved to Scarab, West Virginia, drawn by the promise of lazy days and the lure of its tranquil mountains.

What he finds instead is a Stinger rocket exploding over his back yard. His ensuing investigation uncovers a cult called the Blue Cheer, a racist group with ugly terrorist plans. As events heat up, blood starts to spill, and for Frank it all gets real personal real quick. With the help of his bounty hunter pal, he sets out to bring the Blue Cheer to justice -- any way he can!

Review: Ed Lynskey changes the venue for Frank Johnson in his second mystery, The Blue Cheer, placing the private investigator in West Virginia to solve a senseless murder.

The wife of an old friend, confined to a wheelchair, is brutally tortured and murdered. Why would anyone harm someone who was so harmless? Frank and the victim's husband, Old Man Maddox, set out to avenge her death, and quickly suspect that a cult group living in the West Virginia mountains may be responsible. Called the Blue Cheer, the organization advocates the separation of races but also promotes atheism. Old Man is black, his dead wife white; could her murder have been a message that the Blue Cheer doesn't tolerate mixed marriages in its neighborhood? Or could it mean something more sinister?

For what is arguably a hard-boiled mystery novel, The Blue Cheer is deft in drawing the reader into the story using a subtle, nuanced approach to plotting and in narrative. After Old Man is gunned down, it's clear that the case is more complex than Frank originally thought and rather than go it alone he brings in another old friend, bounty hunter extraordinaire (by his own admission) Gerald Peyton, to continue the investigation. Frank and Gerald work at the fringes of the law to bring down the Blue Cheer and ensure that Old Man and his wife's murders don't go unpunished.

The only inconsistency in this fine mystery is the subplot involving Frank's imprisoned (and later escaped) cousin Rodney Bellweather. It's not obvious that including Frank's role in tracking down Rodney adds any value to the book nor is its resolution, independent and unrelated to that of the main plot, very satisfactory.

The Blue Cheer is a P. I. novel at its best and deserves to be recognized as such.

Special thanks to Point Blank Press for providing an ARC of The Blue Cheer for this review.

Review Copyright © 2007 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved.

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News: Macavity Award Nominations for 2007

Nominations for the 2007 Macavity Awards have been posed on the Mystery Readers International (MRI) website. The Macavity Award is named for the "mystery cat" of T. S. Eliot (Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats). Each year the members of MRI vote for their favorite mysteries in several categories.

The nominees for Best Mystery Novel and Best First Novel are:

Best Mystery Novel:

Christine Falls by Benjamin Black [John Banville] (Henry Holt/Picador)
The Janissary Tree by Jason Goodwin (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
The Dead Hour by Denise Mina (Bantam)
The Virgin of Small Plains by Nancy Pickard (Ballantine)
Piece of My Heart by Peter Robinson (McClelland & Stewart)
All Mortal Flesh by Julia Spencer-Fleming (St. Martin's Minotaur)

Best First Novel:

Consigned to Death by Jane K. Cleland (St. Martin's Minotaur)
47 Rules of Highly Effective Bank Robbers by Troy Cook (Capital Crime Press)
King of Lies by John Hart (St. Martin's Minotaur)
A Field of Darkness by Cornelia Read (Mysterious Press)
Mr. Clarinet by Nick Stone (Michael Joseph Ltd/Penguin)

For a list of nominees in all categories, visit the MRI website.

The 2007 award winners will be announced September 27th during the opening ceremonies of Bouchercon, the World Mystery convention, in Anchorage, Alaska.

Please visit the Mystery Book Awards website where lists of winners from 19 different organizations that recognize excellence in mysteries, including the Macavitys, are presented.

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Mystery Book Review: Silence by Thomas Perry

Mysterious Reviews, mysteries reviewed by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books, has written a review of Silence by Thomas Perry. For our blog readers, we are printing it first here in advance of its publication on our website.

Silence by Thomas Perry
Non-Series

Harcourt (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 0-15-101289-X (015101289X)
ISBN-13: 978-0-15-101289-3 (9780151012893)
Publication Date: July 2007
List Price: $25.00

Synopsis (from the publisher): Six years ago, Jack Till helped Wendy Harper disappear. But now her ex-boyfriend and former business partner, Eric Fuller, is being framed for her presumed murder in an effort to smoke her out, and Till must find her before tango-dancing assassins Paul and Sylvie Turner do.

The Turners are merely hired to do a job, though, and prefer to remain anonymous. When they find that a middleman has let the true employer know their identities, finishing the job is no longer enough. Their fee just went up. And now they must double-cross the man who wants Wendy dead before he can double-cross them—if their jealousy and cold-blooded calculations don’t result in a fatal lovers’ quarrel first.

Review: In Thomas Perry’s new thriller, Silence, Wendy Harper and her ex-boyfriend/best friend, Eric Fuller are the owners of an upscale restaurant in Los Angeles where Wendy is the manager and Eric is the prize-winning chef. On her way home from the restaurant one night she is accosted at her front door, beaten with a baseball bat to her legs and body and fists to her face. Her attackers leave her for dead. She survives, however, and when she recovers she hires private investigator Jack Till to help her run away. Jack, who had retired recently from the police force, suggested that she contact the police, but she is so afraid that another attempt on her life, or maybe someone she loved, would be made again.

Finally Jack agrees. He tells her all she must do and must not do to be successful. She must change her identity and go to a place where no one would think she would possibly go. She could tell no one, not even him, what her plans are. She leaves and was not heard from again …until Eric is framed for her murder.

Even though there is no body and scant evidence, Eric is arrested. Jack sets out on his journey to find Wendy so Eric could be cleared. But what Jack did not know was that the men who wanted her dead six years ago still want her dead. These men hire married Tango-loving assassins Sylvie and Paul Turner to finish the job for them. Meanwhile, Jack enlists the help of his police buddies, and uses every tactic and method he knows to try to find her before the assassins do. Sylvie and Paul track down Jack and follow him wherever he goes, killing anyone and everyone who gets in their way.

Although Silence is a fairly long book, Perry keeps the plot moving along at a very fast pace. The reader's interest is piqued on nearly every page when new characters are introduced, some of which are vital to the story, and others who are merely incidental. Though the story follows both Jack's and the Turner's pursuit of Wendy, it is the latter that is somewhat more interesting, with Perry tempering the suspense with bits of tongue-in-cheek humor.

Certainly one of the best mysteries to be published this summer, Silence will keep the reader enthralled to the very end.

Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of Silence and to Harcourt for providing a copy of the book for this review.

Review Copyright © 2007 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved.

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Mystery Godoku: Weekly Puzzle for July 02, 2007

A new Mystery Godoku Puzzle has been created by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books and is available on our website.

Godoku is similar to Sudoku, but uses letters instead of numbers. To give you a headstart, we provide you a mystery clue to fill in a complete row or column (if you choose to use it!).

This week's letters and mystery clue: A B E N O P R S T. He is the author of The Water Thief, a historical mystery featuring Aelius Spartianus (9 letters).

New! We now have our puzzles in PDF format for easier printing. Print this week's puzzle here.

Previous puzzles are stored in the Mystery Godoku Archives.

Enjoy the weekly Mystery Godoku Puzzle from the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books, and Thanks for visiting our website!

Compendium of Mystery News 070701

Today's compendium of recently published mystery news articles:

• CinemaBlend.com reports that James McTeigue, the director of V for Vendetta, is attached to a screen version of Bangkok 8, the first mystery in the Sonchai Jetpleecheep series by John Burdett.

• The New York Times writes about web-based thrillers and mysteries in Online Cliffhangers: You Choose the Cliff.

Please visit the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books where we are committed to providing readers and collectors of mystery books with the best and most current information about their favorite authors, titles, and series.

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Mystery Book Review: Point and Shoot by G. D. Baum

Mysterious Reviews, mysteries reviewed by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books, has written a review of Point and Shoot by G. D. Baum. For our blog readers, we are printing it first here in advance of its publication on our website.

Point and Shoot by G. D. Baum
A Lock Tourmaline Mystery

BookSurge (Trade Paperback)
ISBN-10: 1-4196-1981-0 (1419619810)
ISBN-13: 978-1-4196-1981-6 (9781419619816)
Publication Date: September 2006
List Price: $14.95

Synopsis (from the publisher): Hired as a bodyguard to protect the daughter of a Korean drug lord during a meeting with the drug lord’s arch rival, New Jersey private investigator Lock Tourmaline finds himself betrayed when the drug lord is assassinated. The hit may or may not have been instigated by either the latter’s offspring, rival gang members or corrupt officers of the Police Department.

One of those officers is dating Lock’s ex-wife. Lock struggles to extricate her from a dangerous entanglement with both her corrupt lover and an addiction to cocaine. In the midst of all this, the woman he now loves is slowly succumbing to terminal cancer, and her fifteen-year-old daughter is sinking more deeply into suicidal depression. Moreover, everyone seems to want a piece of Lock, from Heung’s men, who are stalking him, to the cops who seem poised to either help or betray him.

Review: G. D. Baum's debut novel, Point and Shoot, introduces ex-cop, private investigator, and martial arts expert Lothar "Lock" Tourmaline in an action-packed, though somewhat aimless, mystery of a high-level Korean mob meeting gone wrong.

In an attempt to solidify their power and political influence in northern New Jersey, two powerful Korean mob families agree to meet to discuss joining ranks. Neither side trusts the other, and insists that bodyguards of their own choosing be present. Lock and his ex-cop partner Henry Cho are hired to specifically protect Susan, daughter of the patriarch of the Heung family, all of whom are meeting with their primary rival, Cousin Bodacious. Midway through their discussions, Lock and Cho are dispatched to deal with a police presence outside during which time Susan's father is assasinated. Did the killers take advantage of Lock's absense to strike, or were the police a clever diversion intended to get Lock out of the way?

There are a lot of action sequences in Point and Shoot, all of which are meticulously written and feature carefully choreographed martial arts moves with details on the execution of the move and what is expected to be accomplished as a result. And characters are defined more by their martial arts abilities than anything else; the "Grandfather" character is god-like and seems to have supernatural powers. But there isn't much of a plot to link everything together. It's as if Baum made a list of martial arts moves and characters that could perform them, and then came up with a series of vignettes in which he could incorporate both. There are several stories here of which only one could be termed a mystery: who killed Mr. Heung. But while most of the various storylines have some sort of resolution, including the "and, oh, by the way, it's a book about a man who loves a woman who's dying of cancer", the mystery does not. Who did kill Mr. Heung?

As a mystery, Point and Shoot is a disappointment made more so since Baum could have easily written a proper conclusion without being unreasonably ambiguous. As a martial arts action, adventure fantasy, it works well: no plot required. As a love story, the jury is still out.

Special thanks to Author Marketing Expert for providing a copy of Point and Shoot for this review.

Review Copyright © 2007 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved.

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Compendium of Mystery News 070630

Today's compendium of recently published mystery news articles:

• Dick Van Dyke will co-star with his sons Barry and Shane in the upcoming Hallmark Mystery Original Movie Murder 101: If Wishes Were Horses.

• Beth Dickman of the Hudson Star-Observer profiles debut author Mark Combes whose passion for scuba diving and an education in English literature collided in Running Wrecked, the first in a mystery series featuring dive shop owner Phil Riley.

Please visit the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books where we are committed to providing readers and collectors of mystery books with the best and most current information about their favorite authors, titles, and series.

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Mystery Book Review: The Lady from Buenos Aires by John Lantigua

Mysterious Reviews, mysteries reviewed by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books, has written a review of The Lady from Buenos Aires by John Lantigua. For our blog readers, we are printing it first here in advance of its publication on our website.

The Lady from Buenos Aires by John Lantigua
A Willie Cuesta Mystery

Arte Publico Press (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 1-55885-496-7 (1558854967)
ISBN-13: 978-1-55885-496-3 (9781558854963)
Publication Date: March 2007
List Price: $24.95

Synopsis (from the publisher): Willie Cuesta wears tropical shirts, cool linen slacks, and Mexican sandals to ward off the Florida heat. Formerly a Miami Police Department detective, he now works as chief of security at his brother’s salsa club while he waits for new clients at his detective agency in Little Havana.

After meeting Fiona Bonaventura, Willie quickly realizes that her predicament isn’t a straight forward missing-persons case. The elegant Argentinean is convinced that she has found her dead sister’s daughter. Her sister Sonia disappeared during Argentina’s “dirty war” more than twenty years ago, but her pregnant body was never found. Fiona has never stopped searching for her sister’s child, and several times has been steps away from finding the girl she is convinced is her niece. This time she has tracked the girl to Miami, and Fiona is determined not to lose her again.

As Willie delves into the case, a host of shady characters surface with ties to the Argentinean military dictatorship responsible for the death and disappearance of thousands of citizens: Sarah Ingram, who teaches tango in a dance studio in a quiet, suburban neighborhood; her polo-playing husband who makes it clear he won’t tolerate questions about his intelligence work in Argentina years ago; a terrified man who survived torture and imprisonment during the “dirty war” and may be able to identify some of his torturers if he can set his fear aside; and even an Argentine diplomat.

When people associated with the case start turning up dead and Willie finds himself held captive in the back of an SUV, he knows for sure that death squads from another time and place have arrived in Miami. As the vehicle careens through the pre-dawn streets of Miami, Willie Cuesta must hang on desperately as his latest case spirals out of control.

Review: After an absense of almost six years, Cuban-American private investigator Willie Cuesta returns in The Lady from Buenos Aires, the third mystery in this series by John Lantigua.

This is the heart-felt story of Fiona Bonaventura’s twenty year search for the child of her younger sister, Sonia, who was killed in Argentina’s “dirty war." Sonia was captured as a rebel to the cause while she was still pregnant. She was put in a special area and allowed to give birth, but then she was sent to her death. The baby was given to Manuel Navarro, a member of the military, and his wife, Felicia. When the war ended Manuel left the country. He did not want to be tried as a war criminal. Now, Fiona finds out he and his family is somewhere in Miami. She hires private investigator Willie Cuesta of Little Havana to find them. All Fiona gives Cuesta to go on is a picture of Sonia when she was twenty years old, the age of Sonia’s daughter now and the name of Manuel Navarro. He gets information from his computer, asks for help from a friend, a detective on the Miami Police Force, and a lawyer who deals with immigration issues. He finds people who knew people in Argentina during those horrible days. When he thinks he’s getting close, some of those to whom he has spoken to are killed or else mysteriously disappear. He, too, is shot, beaten up, shoved in the back of an SUV and stomped on. The men and women now he talks to either lie to him, or are afraid to talk to him, or they send him on wild goose chases. Notable among these is a priest who was a chaplain in Argentina during the war, now a real estate dealer in Miami, and the vice council at the Argentine consulate in Miami.

The Lady from Buenos Aires is an extraordinary story that compels interest throughout. The historical background adds credibility to the plot which itself is relentless. It is an exciting, frequently scary, ride that Lantigua takes the reader on as Cuesta pursues his investigation. Reading this excellent mystery is time well spent.

Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of The Lady from Buenos Aires and to Arte Publico Press for providing a copy of the book for this review.

Review Copyright © 2007 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved.

For more mystery book reviews visit Mysterious Reviews, a partner with the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books which is committed to providing readers and collectors of mystery books with the best and most current information about their favorite authors, titles, and series.

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News: CBS Orders 5th Jesse Stone Movie

The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that CBS has ordered a fifth made-for-television movie based on the Jesse Stone mysteries by Robert B. Parker. Tom Selleck plays the title character, the chief of police for a small coastal Massachusetts town.

Titled Jesse Stone: Thin Ice, Stone finds his job in jeopardy after the attempted murder of his friend and colleague, State Police Captain Healy (a character from the Spenser series who also appeared in Night Passage). In contrast to the previous four movies, this one doesn't appear to be based on any single book in the series.

The movie is set to start shooting in Nova Scotia this August; no air date has been set.

In related news, the Hallmark Channel has acquired the rights to the existing four Jesse Stone mystery movies. The first three are currently available on DVD.

Visit the Mysteries on TV website to discover more television mystery series currently available on DVD.

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Mystery Bestsellers for June 29, 2007

A list of the top ten mystery hardcover bestsellers for the week ending June 29, 2007 has been posted on the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books website.

A quiet week on the bestseller lists, just a bit of shuffling of the titles from last week. Lean Mean Thirteen by Janet Evanovich remains at the top of both the Amazon.com and Barnes&Noble.com mystery hardcover bestseller lists. For readers already looking forward to the next book in the Stephanie Plum series, Janet Evanovich is sponsoring a Name Book Fourteen contest on her website.

We've upgraded our website to allow you to easily purchase any bestselling mystery book featured on our site over the past 8 months. Let us know what you think!

Please visit the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books where we are committed to providing readers and collectors of mystery books with the best and most current information about their favorite authors, titles, and series.

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Compendium of Mystery News 070628

Today's compendium of recently published mystery news articles:

• The Manchester Evening News reports that 14 new episodes of Midsomer Murders based on the series of mysteries by Caroline Graham have been ordered. Production will continue through at least April, 2009.

Please visit the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books where we are committed to providing readers and collectors of mystery books with the best and most current information about their favorite authors, titles, and series.

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Mystery Book Review: Prime Time by Hank Phillippi Ryan

Mysterious Reviews, mysteries reviewed by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books, has written a review of Prime Time by Hank Phillippi Ryan. For our blog readers, we are printing it first here in advance of its publication on our website.

Prime Time by Hank Phillippi Ryan
A Charlotte McNally Mystery

Harlequin (Mass Market Paperback)
ISBN-10: 0-373-88135-5 (0373881355)
ISBN-13: 978-0-373-88135-2 (9780373881352)
Publication Date: June 2007
List Price: $5.50

Synopsis (from the publisher): Could an innocent e-mail offer really result in murder, mayhem and a multimillion-dollar fraud ring? The last person to ask is dead but that won't keep Charlotte McNally from poking around. Face it: in the cutthroat world of television journalism, this seasoned reporter knows that she'd better pull out all the stops or kiss her cushy job (and that means her life) goodbye.

But all too soon her investigation leads her straight to Josh Gelston, who is a little too a lot too handsome. Could she trust a word he said? Charlie might have a nose for news, but men are a whole other story. Which means she is putting her job, life and heart on the line …

Review: Boston television reporter Hank Phillippi Ryan introduces Charlotte "Charlie" McNally, a character not unlike herself, in Prime Time, a wonderfully absorbing mystery.

It all started with a couple of spam e-mail messages from someone she did not know. Charlie ignored them, promptly deleting them. A few days later, however, a local newspaper headlined an article about a whistle-blower revealing a pending lawsuit involving a very large sum of money being stolen by officers of a pharmaceutical company. The article goes on to say that an accountant was found dead in an automobile accident – or was it suicide? Charlie recognized the name of the company and the accountant. She remembered seeing the accountant’s name, Bradley Forman, somewhere. Where was it? Was he the person who had sent her the spam e-mails? Enlisting the aid of her producer, Franklin, they hack her computer to locate the deleted messages. They still don't make any sense, but reporter that she is, Charlie sees a story. After all, television's November sweeps are not too far away and the clock is ticking.

Prime Time is a fast-paced, thoroughly enjoyable, well written and plotted mystery and Charlie McNally is an appealing lead character. The story she and Franklin pursue lead them to deciphering a code in the message, but not before another man is killed (another automobile "accident"?) and the life of a third threatened. The reader will be as determined as Charlie to unravel this mystery and will be hard pressed to put this book down before she does.

Another character worth mentioning is Charlie's immediate superior at the station, Angela. At half Charlie's age, Angela clutches a clipboard and carries a big stick. There's a lot of humor in witnessing the interaction between the award-winning reporter with years of experience and the young producer whose primary concern is ratings.

Prime Time is a terrific debut to this series; a sequel is eagerly awaited. And as an endnote, one can't help wonder if Ryan's life as a reporter is nearly as exciting as Charlie's!

Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of Prime Time and to Book Trends for providing a copy of the book for this review.

Review Copyright © 2007 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved.

For more mystery book reviews visit Mysterious Reviews, a partner with the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books which is committed to providing readers and collectors of mystery books with the best and most current information about their favorite authors, titles, and series.

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