Jan Jones

She’s not a detective but she played one on TV

Published by admin on Mon, 06/29/2020 - 9:54am

“A Dead End” by Keeley Bates was one of the shortest books I’ve read in a long time. It is just one in a series featuring Katherine “Kit” Wilder.

Kit left the affluent enclave of Westdale as soon as she was out of high school and headed for Hollywood. Amazingly, she lands the lead role of Ellie Gold in the successful cop drama, “Fools Gold.” Sadly, she quickly earned a reputation for being difficult to work with and at twenty-three she loses her job and is blacklisted in the industry. Determined to regroup, Kit returns to Westdale and enrolls in college.

Book looks at revenge deaths from tainted baby formula

Published by admin on Sun, 06/21/2020 - 2:06pm

This week, I picked an e-book, Susan C. Miller’s “Summer Storm.” It is one of several featuring Houston Police Detective Noah Daugherty.

It is another sweltering day when Noah and his partner, Conner Crawford, are called to the exclusive enclave where the body of Madlyn Gwinn has been found. It was assumed that she drowned in her hot tub after taking Xanax and drinking several glasses of wine. Too many things at the scene convince Noah that this was no accident.

Exotic animals surround the death of a rich eccentric

Published by admin on Mon, 06/15/2020 - 11:09am

I selected “The Beast” by Faye Kellerman from the list of library e-books. It was one of her many Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus novels, but it stands alone well. Because I read this out of order, I missed some of the back story from a previous book.

The Deckers’ foster son, Gabe, has just testified in a case where he and his girlfriend were nearly killed. Gabe is 17, making a name for himself at Julliard and deeply in love with 16-year-old Yasmine. It is a bit a Romeo and Juliet story, with the teens determined to be together.

Drugs and murder in the mountains of Wyoming

Published by admin on Mon, 06/08/2020 - 1:32pm

While cruising the Shawano County Library e-book section, I ran across “Long Range” by C.J. Box.

Game Warden Joe Pickett has been pulled off his Saddlestring, Wyoming, beat to help in recovering the body of Jim Trenary, a well-known guide. According to a hunter, Jim had been mauled in an unprovoked grizzly attack. All agree that the man’s story is hinky, but first they must find Jim.

A hot detective and a deadly cupcake make for a fun cozy mystery

Published by admin on Mon, 06/01/2020 - 7:59pm

I didn’t plan it that way, but my most recent light reading selections have featured cupcakes or similar yummy treats. This week I read “Never Trust a Skinny Cupcake Baker” by D.E. Haggerty. It is book one in her “Death by Cupcake” series.

Revenge in Robbs book 50 years in the making

Published by admin on Tue, 05/26/2020 - 11:56am

After a short break from grisly crime novels, I decided to select JD Robbs’ “Brotherhood In Death,” and it provided some of the most disturbing scenarios I’ve read in a long time.

Dennis Mira has been assaulted and his cousin Edward Mira is missing. When no ransom arrives NYPD Lt. Eve Dallas fears the worst. She soon learns that Edward may have been rich and powerful, but he wasn’t well liked.

Colorful characters commit fraud and murder in Florida

Published by admin on Mon, 05/18/2020 - 1:13pm

I was hoping to download something by Carl Hiaasen from InfoSoup, the library website, but nearly everything I hadn’t read was already checked out.

Eventually, I found “Bad Monkey.” Like his other books set at the far end of Florida, it is full of oddball characters and laugh-out-loud situations. The plot is extremely convoluted, but I’ll try to sketch it out.

Vet tells his story from ‘Nam to now

Published by admin on Fri, 05/08/2020 - 4:27pm

I’m not sure how I feel about my latest book selection. “No Where Man: One Soldier’s Journey Home from Vietnam” was written by my high school classmate, Stephen Piotrowski. He enlisted soon after graduation in 1968, and I moved to Waupaca went on with my life. I’m happy to say that we reconnected through Facebook. So when he said he’d written a book, I just had to order it.

The “journey” opens with a little about Steve’s family and hometown. I was a bit surprised to see that he’d changed the name of the town, his family members and friends.

No rest for the newly dead or for the psychic who sees him

Published by admin on Mon, 05/04/2020 - 2:44pm

This “sheltering in place” has me choosing light-hearted books. This week, I selected Pamela DuMond’s “Cupcakes, Lies and Dead Guys” from her Annie Graceland Mysteries series.

Plot twists and turns heat up the first in a series of nine crime thrillers

Published by admin on Mon, 04/13/2020 - 5:37pm

This week’s book was a painful tale of loss and redemption. “Bad to the Bones” by James Harper is listed as one of his Evan Buckley thrillers.

Several years ago, Evan’s life imploded when his wife, Sarah, disappeared without a trace. After the police did little beyond a basic investigation, Evan left his job as a journalist and became a private detective. He spends most of his time searching for Sarah but must take some distasteful cases to pay the bills.