Judgment Prey - John Sandford

Judgment Prey is the 33rd entry in John Sanford's long running, much loved and still fresh, Lucas Davenport series. Virgil Flowers started as a supporting player, but evolved and now has his own series. I was so excited to see that Judgment Prey brings the two back together. I knew this would be a fantastic read - and it was!

Margaret Cooper comes home and finds her husband and sons dead. Her husband was a prominent judge, so there's a lot of pressure to find the killer, and multiple forces are brought in. Virgil and Lucas team up and start working the case 'their way.' Which isn't always appreciated.

I really enjoy the back and forth of  Virgil's and Lucas's interactions. The dialogue is short, snappy and often darkly humorous. The reader is with them as they chase leads, interview witnesses, annoy the other agencies and use their considerable skills to chase the case. But the reader is also privy to a number of other character's inner thoughts, actions and more. We know 'whodunit', but can Lucas and Virgil get there in time to stop more killings? The plotting is intricate and there's no way to predict how things are going to shake out. Which makes for some really addictive reading!

An easy five stars. See for yourself - read an excerpt of Judgment Day. (And keep a watch out for the next 'Prey' entry, due out in April of 2024.

A Murder at Balmoral - Chris McGeorge

A Murder at Balmoral is Chris McGeorge's new 'locked room' mystery. I absolutely adore this format!

The setting is of course, the Royal Castle at Balmoral. McGeorge's Royal Family is fiction, based on Edward VIII not abdicating the throne. One of his progeny - Eric - is the current King. Although, there are a few sly similarities to some current Royals. (But no disrespect in regards to the recent passing of the Queen)

It's Christmas and the King has directed that his immediate family come to Balmoral for the holidays. The staff are sent home - excepting the head of security and Jon, the chef. And what else is needed for that locked room mystery? A blizzard of course, which completely cuts off anyone coming in or going out. 

From the publisher's description: "The king is dead. The killer is in the family. Solving this murder will be a royal pain."

The book is told through Jon's eyes, ears and actions. He is to act as the de facto investigator as directed by the other family members. Here's where the Agatha Christie and Hercule Poirot feel kicks in. He begins with individual interviews. But he really doesn't know what to ask. Jon has his work cut out, trying to still wear his chef's hat, remember his station - oft reminded by some of the Royals - and enduring some blatant racism. Where things go next is influenced by many unexpected twists and turns. Some of them are a bit unbelievable, but just go with it - those somewhat over the top moments make the book a lot of fun to read.

The culprit is indeed known by the end chapters. But the whodunit and epilogue surprised me with a situation that there's no way to predict. And the prologue now made sense to me. 

I enjoyed A Murder at Balmoral. McGeorge is a new to me author and I'll happily pick up his next title. See for yourself - read an excerpt of A Murder at Balmoral.

Righteous Prey - John Sandford

What's better than a Lucas Davenport book? Or a Virgil Flowers book? The answer of course is - a new book with both of John Sandford's fantastic protagonists. Righteous Prey has just released. This is #32 and the series hasn't lost any ground over the years. Instead it's has just better and better. 

Sandford opens the book with a heinous crime. Five wealthy billionaires have decided to pass judgement on those they deem as a blight on society. But they're not being quiet about the murders. Instead they send missives to the media, celebrating their actions and encouraging others to take a stand. (Sounds frighteningly familiar doesn't it?) "We’re going to murder people who need to be murdered."

Lucas is now a US Marshall and Virgil is with the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA). They've worked together before and both singly and together they have high solve rates. And they both despise the FBI, who also have been called in. This pair have their own way of investigating and sometimes a few corners are cut...

The banter and dialogue in Sandford's books is razor sharp and so much fun to read. The tension never lets up in this latest. The plotting is absolutely fantastic. Lucas and Virgil are on the right track, but keep missing the perpetrators by a sliver. The clues, the intuition and sometimes just luck all play a part on the way to the final pages. There's a nice surprise in the final pages. 

Fans of this series will appreciated a cameo from Kidd. And Virgil now has a side gig - and I'm very curious to see if there's more to it in future books. 

An easy five stars. See for yourself - read an excerpt of Righteous Prey. 

I'm always looking forward to the next book from John Sandford. Keep your eyes out for Dark Angel - the second Letty Davenport book coming out in  April 2023.

One of the Girls - Lucy Clarke

Oh, you're going to want to get your hands on a copy of Lucy Clarke's new novel - One of the Girls. It's a fantastic read!

Six women head off to an isolated villa in Greece. Bella, one of the six has arranged for a bachelorette party in anticipation of Lexi's wedding. Robyn, Ana, Fen and Eleanor round out the six.

One of the six (we don't know which) acts as a narrator for some short italicized inserts between some chapters. The foreshadowing in those short missives just fueled the fire for me. 

"We all had different reasons for being there. But one of us - well, she had a very specific reason for saying yes to the hen weekend. The problem was, none of us realized until it was too late."

On the surface, the relationships between the women are good - old friends meet new, memories are recounted, new ones are being made and more. But there are undercurrents, tendrils that have been hidden, but are slowly but inexorably making their way to the surface. Planting roots and changing how the dynamic of the women changes. Incidents from the past, suspicions, jealousy. Revenge perhaps?

Clarke has done an amazing job creating her characters. I could mentally see each one very clearly in my mind. Their thinking and actions ring true and are very believable. I know who I liked and who I would avoid in real life. Each player is given a voice with their own chapters. 

And this is where the unravelling begins. Those tendrils start winding themselves together. The connections were ingenious and surprising. I really enjoyed being got off guard. I hadn't imagined the ending at all and truly thought things would play out a different way. But, I was quite satisfied with how things turned out. 

Clarke's prose are effortless and make for addictive reading. An easy five stars to One of the Girls. See for yourself - read an excerpt.

The Self-Made Widow - Fabian Nicieza

I absolutely loved Fabian Nicieza's Edgar Award nominated debut novel, Suburban Dicks. I was thrilled to see that he had penned a follow up The Self-Made Widow. Would it measure up to the five star first book? It did indeed! 

At the center of the cast of characters is Andrea Stern. She was an up and coming profiler with the FBI many years ago. And then she got pregnant, married and now has five children. But does that stop her from investigating? Nope! (Her mothering skills had me laughing out loud more than once.) Andrea has the respect of a number of law enforcement agencies after the last case. The other main character is Kenny Lee. He's a journalist and is flying high on the success that the last case brought to him. The relationship between he and Andrea is, well, complicated. There is a wealth of supporting characters including the Cellulitists - a group of neighborhood mothers.

This latest case involves them directly as one of their husbands has died. But Andrea can't let go of the idea that it was murder, not a natural death. And she's like a dog with a bone...

Okay, fabulous characters that are really well drawn. Check. We met them in the first book and Nicieza has continued fleshing them out, touching on a number of real concerns, thoughts, events and more.

Next? A fantastic plot! This is not a cozy series. The plot premise is so well written and it was difficult to suss out the final whodunit. The reader is along for the ride, presented with the same clues as our characters. 

Wonderfully creative writing. Fun, fresh, different, engaging and just a whole lot of fun to read. Nicieza is the co-creator of  Marvel's Deadpool. Uh, huh that same wry humor, an unusual, intriguing mystery and two decidedly different leads make this another 'can't put it down read.' 

Highly recommended and an easy five stars. See for yourself - read an excerpt of The Self-Made Widow.