Mystery Mayhem

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m a fan of a good (and even some not-so-good) mysteries. I thought I’d share some quick thoughts on what’s new this spring in some of my favorite series.

goldenegg In the most recent installment of the Commissario Guido Brunetti Mysteries by Donna Leon, Brunetti’s wife is concerned about the suicide of a deaf and mentally handicapped man working at their drycleaner’s. As Brunetti begins to investigate he can find no record of the man every having existed, the man’s mother refuses to speak with the police, and the whole affair seems to be connected to one of Venice’s wealthy and powerful families. In typical Brunetti style, he navigates through a web of politics and misinformation to get at the truth, even if there is nothing he can do about it… For more of my thoughts on the Brunetti mysteries, check out my review of Uniform Justice.

Title: Golden Egg
Author: Donna Leon
Genre: Fiction/Mystery
Pages: 256
Publication: Atlantic Monthly Press, March 2013

deadwhiteandblue The Death on Demand mysteries take place on Broward’s Rock, an island in South Carolina, where Annie Darling owns the mystery bookstore (Death on Demand) and her husband Max runs “Confidential Commissions” (not an investigative agency since he doesn’t have his PI license). In this newest book in the series, Shell Hurst disappears during a Fourth of July dance. Shell is beautiful and haughty, the type of woman hated by other women, and loved by most of their men. Where has she gone and what happened to her? And why does no one seem to care? Who’s to blame? The husband she’s cheating on, his jealous ex-wife, his unhappy son, the man she is having an affair with, his ill wife, one of the other people she has managed to cross? As always, Annie and Max dash in to figure it out. Nothing extraordinary here, but a fun visit to familiar characters and visions of warm weather and sandy beaches.

Title: Dead, White, and Blue
Author: Carolyn Hart
Genre: Fiction/Mystery
Pages: 288
Publication:Berkley Hardcover, May 2013

silkenprey John Sandford’s Prey series focus on Lucas Davenport, an independently wealthy detective for Minnesota’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. In this role, he takes on complicated and politically charged cases, and in this latest installment Davenport is in the thick of the politics, helping out the governor with a potential scandal in the upcoming Senate race. With a missing political operative and no one offering up information, Lucas calls in his friends to help out. Appearing from other Sandford series are Virgil Flowers and Kidd, both offering their own talents to the case. Since I love Flowers and Kidd, I was hoping for more out of this meeting, it left me wanting more of them and less on-and-on about the nightmare that is political wrangling. More suspense than mystery (you know who the bad guys are early on and can’t figure out why Lucas can’t figure it out), it was not one of my favorites in the series. Maybe I’ve grown out of the series and need to move on to other authors, or maybe this just wasn’t his best work and the next one will be better…