Massimo Carlotto

The Colombian Mule (Il Corriere Colombiano)

Nazzareno Corradi is arrested for international drugs trafficking. He is innocent but since there is need for somebody to arrest as soon as possible to not ruin an operation of the special forces and since he still has a few problems from a legal point of view (but nothing to do with drugs), he is the perfect person to put in jail. Corradi could involve his accuser, an old friend who is collaborating with the police to save himself from prison, but he has a code of honor and he would never accuse anybody to get out of jail. Therefore it is up to the Alligatore with his partners Rossini and Max la Memoria to find the truth. They quickly get involved with South American drug traffickers, corrupt police, organized crime. A ruthless world where there are no more rules and where the powerful are so powerful that the idea of justice becomes very flexible. This is the story of The Colombian Mule, splendid example of how a noir novel can speak about reality as well as analyze the current situation in the North East of Italy. A particular issue was both interesting and made me feel indignant: the acknowledgment that there is no justice within the system. The verdict is reached before arriving to court. The character of the Alligatore shows all the bitter disenchantment of an idealist who will use any means to reach the truth. All the characters are humane, realist, and we can see, especially in Max and the Alligatore, two people that have had to face the harsh music of Italy in the 1970s. Their lives have suffered because the Italian juridical system prefers a courtroom truth rather than the real one - much too often two parallel lines that never meet. The last punch in the stomach is in the final notes of the author: all of this is based on a true story.

Kathy Reichs

Deja Dead

Deja Dead has an excellent serial killer plot and, unlike Patricia Cornwell for example, a lot is learned of the final culprit's psychology. Despite leaving no stone unturned, Reichs tends to go too much into technical detail in some cases (such as the sawing of the bones) and there is a general feeling that the book could have been a hundred pages shorter thus perhaps more enjoyable. There are some Cornwellisms but that is probably because one cannot escape from that type of jargon and reality. In the end an interesting first effort even though because of the latter, Reichs will probably get the hang of it within the next couple of novels.

P.D. James

Original Sin

Not being a general lover of the genre (even though I read almost anything), I had to develop a certain degree of patience in reading Original Sin, particularly necessary to overcome the excessive descriptiveness of some parts that can get you down at times. However there is a need to praise the linearity of the plot that flows down a calm river but is never boring thanks also to the London atmosphere and the description of the characters. I even found a touch of sensuality flowing down the Thames that certainly added to the pleasantness of the reading.

(Review by Armida Laviano)

Thomas Harris

Hannibal

The breathlessly awaited HANNIBAL from Thomas Harris thoroughly let this reader down. I already loved the characters from the first book and the movie, and perhaps my anticipation made the novel's ending that much harder to believe. Harris sets the scenes well and the motivations of his characters, but I found the switch from present tense to past tense jarring and unnecessary. The build-up to the climax came to a jarring halt with the unbelievability of the ending. It struck me that the author had tired of writing the book and rather than figure out a better, smarter ending, veered toward the easy one. I will say, I learned so much about pigs I will never eat pork again.

(Review by Louise Crawford)

Paula Boyd

Hot enough to kill

Jolene Jackson goes through one shock after another… First, she has to leave her home in Colorado to pick up her over seventy-year-old mother Lucille from jail in Kickapoo, Texas. Lucille has been put in custody after her boyfriend's murder, a boyfriend who happens to be the mayor of the city. Then she has to face a first encounter with a former fiancée, never completely forgotten and who has just divorced, Jerry Don Parker - Kickapoo's sheriff. During the course of the story, we come across a bigot, a widow who is not really in mourning, hard-headed deputy sheriffs, a lesbian couple and many other characters, not to mention a couple of murder attempts against Jolene and Lucille. These two characters emerge from the story, their relationships are depicted both realistically and exaggeratedly… entirely enjoyable (well, as long as you are not Lucille's daughter, it is enjoyable…). Eventually, the mystery is solved and the good guys win. But there is more than this. Mrs. Paula Boyd succeeds in giving us a few hours of amusement, but she also mentions en passant a number of issues that make you think: life in a small provincial town, closure to outsiders, gossip, wanting to enjoy oneself even at an older age (Lucille is a fantastic example), the mother-daughter relationship in which the mother is the one who is more relaxed and open towards life, Jolene's sufferings in remembering her father, who died long ago, that makes her into a champion of mental banishment. Will there be a future together for per Jolene and Jerry Don? We will have to wait for the next story.

Yasmina Khadra

Morituri

Algiers used to be a pearl of the Mediterranean. Now it's like a ghost town. This mystery is just a way for an Algerian woman writer who is forced to write under a pseudonym to show the world the existence of a reality that many people want to or have chosen to forget. Llob is a powerful narrator, very sarcastic as he witnesses what was once a country full of hope fall victim of the powerful fighting over a piece of the cake. This book is very, very noir: unhopeful, sad, sharp, dramatic but also brilliantly written. Each chapter is a brief episode in the life of the investigator and his investigation but also scenes of current Algiers. Morituri is a pearl of Mediterranean literature that cannot be overlooked just like the drama of Algeria.

Joan Hall Hovey

Nowhere to Hide

Extremely well structured, good plot, realistic and credible characters. It is ordinariness of the actors in the play that make this book excellent. Its a type of puzzle with each story, seemingly unconnected to each other, falling into place at the end. An example is Myra (a friend of Ellen's) who, due to her affection for Ellen, is able to re-live extremely painful events that she had removed from her past. The latter will prove vital for the conclusion of the story. The serial killer is presented in the first chapter thirteen years before the events take place, a chapter fundamental as Ellen goes through pain, physical and emotional, to find the strength she needs to challenge her sister's killer. In conclusion one can say that Nowhere to hide is impossible to put down until the last page is reached.

Elsie (LC) Hayden

Who's Susan

Welcome to the world of novels Mrs. Hayden. A most appropriate beginning in analyzing the work of LC since she has written articles for many years. This experience emerges in her first novel with a mature achievement without the shortcomings of a first book. The story is involving and the characters realistic. The psychological path taken by Susan is both a dive into pain as well as the acknowledgment of moving towards the truth. "Truth will make you free" and this is precisely what will eventually happen: freedom from the dark and obscure past. Susan is a strong woman and like many women she finds this strength when it is needed for her son. We sympathize with her as she faces the surrounding hostility, when her husband abandons her - even if he loves her - when she faces betrayal and, eventually, the horror of memory. There is just one flaw: Detective Bronson is little too "Columboesque" (apparent absent-mindedness, references to his wife). But this certainly does not alter the fact that Who's Susan is an excellent effort.

Charlotte Boyett-Compo

(click title for excerpt)

Excellent writing, tension and sensory detail make the e-book thriller IN THE TEETH OF THE WIND a fast-paced read. The book is a contemporary novel told in multiple points of view, and I had no problem with the transitions from one viewpoint to another. The writer captures the male perspective and cop mentality with absolute believability. My only quibble was with the darkness of the story. The hero's and heroine's victimization put me off, and I missed the growth and change in character I would expect to see. The sister's hatred is never fully explained and I would have liked to understand more about her and the hero's past. This is not a story for those who want to see their main characters rise above all odds. But for those of you who like a dark, dark thriller, I highly recommend this book.

(Review by Louise Crawford)

Minette Walters

The Breaker

Another interesting book by Minette Walters. A woman dies with two possible culprits and two parallel investigations. The reader is continually changing sides from one possible assassin to another as the evidence piles adding and subtracting. Unlike previous books, Walters places the investigations at center stage, analyzing all the people involved through the latter. In this way none of them can be called main character. The continuous switching of scenes is another interesting factor that makes the book exciting even though perhaps underneath it all it may just be the preparation for a TV script.

Louise Crawford

Voodoo, Whipped Cream and Billy the Kid

This is the first ebook the Bastulli Mystery Library has had the pleasure to read and a question must be raised: how come no publisher was interested in it? The plot is interesting, the use of two people telling the story excellent, the characters realistic. The voodoo part is well explained leaving no questions. It is also well written demonstrating experience in writing. One initially may think that the almost "Marinoesque" detective being cultured and health-conscious may be strange but the introduction of an opera singer twin explains most of Murry's learned background. Everything is there: suspense, romance, mystery and blood. All ingredients that make this an extremely pleasant read. The birth of a new series?

(This ebook may be purchased here)

Aileen Schumacher

Framework for Death

The second book of the Travers-Alvarez series starts with a structural collapse in a residence in a very exclusive neighborhood. An anonymous call alerts the police and Detectives David Alvarez and Scott Faulkner are in charge of the investigation: under the ruins of a hidden subterranean room two dead bodies are found and a live baby is found in a first floor room. One of the victims, the owner of the house, is an extremely rich woman, despised and hated by everyone, even her own grownup children, the other victim is unknown. Detective Alvarez calls Tory Travers for a professional evaluation of the possible causes of the disaster…. and the story begins. Together once again, Tory and David explore every possibility (at first separately, then together) to solve the mystery, also because this time it is a big story: there's the involvement of a drug dealer and of a mysterious organization to help non-custodial parents to disappear with their children. Tory's son and Scott's baby son lives are threatened, and the baby found at the scene of crime is in danger. At the end, the baby is saved in an unorthodox way: policemen in El Paso have a big heart and sometimes declaring falsely that a child is dead is the biggest gift of life; with the baby officially dead, all the pressure on the other parts immediately lessens and everything is back to normal. This book, even more than the first one, is impossible to put down but at the end readers may feel frustrated. One can understand the author's choices but there are too many loose ends: the book is finished but our questions are not answered. If Aileen Schumacher creates such vivid and interesting secondary characters, she must not expect readers to be satisfied without knowing what happens to them. (NB. The answers are found in the third book).

Patricia Cornwell

Black Notice

The new Scarpetta novel may be placed under the biggest disappointments of the year category. Despite the fact that the three plots are quite interesting (post Benton depression, French werewolf, police internal problems), the book seems to have been written just to fulfill contractual necessities rather than inspiration. There is no structure so the plots seem to be just thrown in the book without any real connection between them. The reader can fail to see the objective of Black Notice: if the main plot is the post Benton depression then it is not a mystery book; the same can be said of the internal problems between Scarpetta's department and police headquarters. However if the main point is to describe the werewolf and his deeds than why start this part of the story halfway? The worst thing of this novel is the ending: in finishing the book the first impulse is to turn the next page because the ending is so abrupt and there are so many questions left that one does not expect the book to end. It's a little bit like a climax hit during a soap right at the very end with the viewer having to wait for the next episode. But perhaps this is what the Kay Scarpetta series has become: a soap.