Impure Blood (Captain Darac #1)

 Impure Blood
by Peter Morfoot
Pages: 539
Rating: 4 out of 5

In the heat of a French summer, Captain Paul Darac of the Nice Brigade is called to a highly sensitive crime scene. A man has been found murdered in the midst of a Muslim prayer group. There were many witnesses but no one saw how it happened.

As the Tour de France heads towards Nice, the police receive a terrorist threat. But Darac is convinced the threat is a hoax and some how the murder is involved. What is the real goal? Darac must try and unravel a complex knot in which racial hatred, sex and revenge are tightly intertwined before anyone else dies.

NYPD Red 3 by James Patterson and Marshall Karp

(Posted for Paul Mathews)

Billionaire businessman makes a grisly discovery in his townhouse garage.  It's another case only for the NYPD Red.  384 pages.

Tombstone Courage by J. A. Jance

In the second book of the Joanna Brady series, Joanna begins life as the new sheriff of Cochise County. Her first case is the disappearance of old rancher who has just changed his will.  A search of the ranch turns up his dead body-atop a decades old skeleton! Joanna must unravel the tangled family history to find the killer AND try to maintain a home life for her young daughter.  I loved that Angie Kellog, the young prostitute from the first book who was rescued by Joanna, is now living in Bisbee creating a new life for herself.  408 pages.

"Cross & Crown: A Sidewinder Story" by Abigail Roux

This book takes place in the "Cut & Run" universe but features Kelly Abbott and Nick O'Flaherty, two members of Marine Force Recon team Sidewinder.  These two played prominent roles in Roux's last book, "Ball & Chain."  It is now several months after "B&C" and Nick has returned to his job as a detective in Boston.  Kelly lives in Colorado but is visiting him for two weeks.  Just before Kelly arrives, Nick begins investigating a robbery/homicide.  There's a witness, but he claims amnesia and forms an attachment to Nick.  On top of that, retired CIA hitman Julian Cross is following the witness but is reluctant to say why.  Can Nick and Kelly figure out who the witness is before another killing?

This rather convoluted mystery involved lots of Revolutionary War history related to Boston, the Irish mob, Rosicrucians, and a possible cure for cancer.  Throw in Kelly and Nick's evolving relationship, Julian's unexpected appearance, and there's a lot to cover in 208 pages.  Unfortunately, it doesn't always fit together very well.  However, I still enjoyed seeing these characters again, especially Julian and his partner, Cameron Jacobs, from "Armed & Dangerous" and "Warrior's Cross."  Even Zane Garrett and Ty Grady from the "Cut & Run" series make cameos in phone conversations, so that made me happy.  208 pages.

"Cut & Run" by Abigail Roux and Madeleine Urban

This book is the first in the Cut & Run series about FBI special agents Ty Grady and Zane Garrett.  Ty is the typical nonconformist, hotheaded, ex-military man who usually goes deep undercover in his job.  Garrett is coming off of two years in the cybercrime unit (a desk job), and they are forced to work as partners when two other agents are killed in NYC while trailing a serial killer.  It's hate at first site for both men, who can barely say a civil word to the other until Zane and a local cop are injured by an exploding computer.  Ty is convinced the killer is in local law enforcement and treats Zane's wounds at their hotel room.  As more bodies are discovered and additional attempts on their lives occur, they come to trust and depend on the other more than ever.

I don't read much crime fiction because I find the glut of procedural details to be boring.  That's not the case with this story probably because the focus was just as much on the growing relationship between the two leads as the search for the serial killer.  Although Ty and Zane start out as stereotypical opposites who are forced to work together, that changes about halfway through the book, as does their growing attraction to each other.  Some of the dialog was a little confusing as to who was the speaker, but it didn't detract much from the tension between the two.  Lots of angst and denial of feelings pushed the story just as much as the crimes, and I'm looking forward to the second book in the series.  378 pages (Kindle edition).

How the Light Gets In by Louise Penny

I'm so grateful for SusanM and TomL for introducing me to the Inspector Gamache books by Louise Penney! I have read each book with a growing appreciation for Penny's ability to weave poetry, character, redemption, and quirky aspects of Canadian culture (curling anyone?) into stories I hate to finish reading.  This installment of the series starts off with the death of a reclusive old woman who fails to show up for Christmas in Three Pines. Inspector Gamache must delegate the investigation of her death to his new second in command so that he can finally deal with Francoeur, the corrupt head of the Surete du Quebec.  416 pages.

The sound of Broken Glass by Deborah Crombie

I've been catching up on my mystery series this month and Deborah Crombie's series is a comfortable favorite.  Gemma James and Duncan Kincaid, Detective and Superintendent at Scotland Yard, are married and juggling careers and a blended family.  In this book, Duncan is taking family leave to provide extra care for a young child, Charlotte, whose parents were murdered in an earlier case, and who is now part of the James-Kincaid family menagerie.  Meanwhile, Gemma is hard on the case of a serial murderer.  Can she and Duncan solve the case and find a school for Charlotte?  Will Duncan have a job when he returns to work?  359 pages.

Syndrome E by Franck Thillier, translated by Mark Polizzotti, read by Gildart Jackson

I was hooked at hello.  A film buff is struck blind while watching an old film. Five young men are unearthed in a mass grave, their skulls cut open and their eyeballs removed. Two french detectives join forces to unravel the mystery that ties these two events together. The usual suspects include the CIA, the intelligence branch of the French Foreign Legion and a mad scientist or two. Inspired by a real-life scandal from 1950s Quebec. Curious? Check it out! Unabridged audiobook, 13 hours 18 minutes. 384 pages.

Hollywood Moon by Joseph Wambaugh

(Posted for Paul Mathews)

L.A. police in the late sixties have plenty of action. Their officers are very quirky, the street people are interesting and dangerous.   While solving the crime they lose one of their own.

Audio:  16 hrs. 5 min.

Print:  480 pages