Exciting Short Read Collection! Judge Willa Carson returns in these chilling, clever stories from New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author Diane Capri!
SHORT READS HUNT FOR JUSTICE THRILLER SERIES COLLECTION
Includes the USA Today Bestselling Cold Justice!
THIS COLLECTION CONTAINS 4 #1 Bestselling Short Reads and Bonuses:
Cold Justice False Justice Fair Justice True Justice Bonuses: Two Diane Capri Essays about the Hunt for Justice Series
Cold Justice - Everyone needs a vacation, even hardworking, crime-fighting Federal Judges. Looking forward to a quiet week of stunning winter scenery, roaring fires, and warm companionship, Judge Willa Carson and her husband George head north to Pleasant Harbor, Michigan - and slam into murder. A car stranded in the road. A corpse slumped in the front seat. A gunshot wound to left temple. The scene is surreal, the execution ruthless, the victim far from innocent. Local authorities want this case put away fast because it’s bad for their tourism business. Willa sees what the cops don’t, and she is not about to play along to get along.
False Justice - Judge Willa Carson’s friend Ursula Westfield is living the good life. Her career as a broadcast journalist is on fire, she finally found a good man to come home to, and her new Manhattan apartment is the stuff of dreams. When a stranger sends her a chilling but cryptic email about a newly nominated Judge in her hometown, she knows she should ignore it. Secret sources armed with conspiracy theories were nothing but trouble. Still, she can’t seem to shake the feeling that there’s something amiss about Judge Aaron Michaels. Driven by an insatiable quest for truth and a desire to do the right thing, she heads back to Tampa and comes face-to-face with a killer.
Fair Justice - When a young reporter assigned to cover Judge Willa Carson’s courtroom for the local television station is sent on a fact-finding mission, he never expects to find a body. Residents of a small Florida town are suffering from a strange, debilitating illness. A whistleblower claims the local carpet mill is engaged in dumping toxic chemicals into the water supply. Uncovering the truth may cost the reporter his life, unless Willa Carson can save him.
True Justice - Ginny Richards has a great new job working for wickedly smart Federal Judge Willa Carson, and she couldn’t be happier. After a rough patch and an ugly break up, she’s finally making new friends and her career in on the upswing. But when she invites her new workmates to see her moonlighting as a jazz singer at a local club, she never expects that a night of music and merriment will end in murder. Grab your copy now and start reading today!
Bestselling author Diane Capri is a recovering lawyer. She’s a snowbird who divides her time between Florida and Michigan. An active member of Mystery Writers of America, Author’s Guild, International Thriller Writers, and Sisters in Crime, she loves to hear from readers and is hard at work on her next novel.
Here’s the Long version, if you’re looking for more info:
#1 Amazon Bestselling Author Diane Capri’s work is what the #1 worldwide publishing phenomenon Lee Child calls “Full of thrills and tension, but smart and human, too.” Margaret Maron, Edgar, Anthony, Agatha and Macavity Award-winning MWA Past President, says: “Expertise shines on every page.” And Library Journal raves: “….offers tense legal drama with courtroom overtones, twisty plots, and loads of atmosphere. Recommended.”
Diane’s new Jess Kimball series kicked off with Fatal Distraction, opening as the #3 Bestselling Legal Thriller, behind John Grisham. Diane’s new Hunt for Jack Reacher series began with Don’t Know Jack, which garnered #1 Bestseller spots on Mystery, Hard-boiled Mystery, Police Procedural, Women Sleuths, and Legal Thriller lists both in the U.S. and U.K. Don’t Know Jack was followed by two bestselling short stories in the Hunt for Jack Reacher series, Jack in a Box and Jack and Kill. Diane’s Judge Wilhelmina Carson mysteries were praised by Romantic Times and garnered the coveted “Top Pick.” Diane’s savvy, spunky character, attorney Jennifer Lane, stars in her own romantic suspense series, which kicks off with Annabelle’s Attack.
Diane is the past Executive Vice President of International Thriller Writers, past member of the Board of the Florida Chapter of Mystery Writers of America, and active in Sisters in Crime and other writing organizations. She comes to writing after a successful legal career and is married to her college sweetheart. She loves her nomadic snowbird existence preferring perpetual summer migrating from Florida to Michigan each year.
Diane says she writes mystery and suspense for the same reason she reads: to find out what happens, why people do what they do, and how to bring justice to an unjust world.Her books are translated in twenty territories. Diane loves to hear from readers. Contact her at: DianeCapri.com/Contact to receive notice of new releases, subscribe to Diane’s blog, or simply connect with her.
I am glad I read this collection of short stories from Diane Capri. The last I read of the Justice series was book #2 and I was very unhappy with it. Judge Willa Carson can sometimes be an entitled, and whiny character, but in these stories, she is at her level-headed best. She is a main character in the first story and in the other three stories she serves in a supporting role. Really good mystery, legal-thriller stories that I found engaging and entertaining. In the first story Judge Carson is on vacation. Since she lives in Florida she goes back home to Michigan in the snow and she winds up involved in a murder mystery. The other three stories are just as good, with three characters that are loosely connected to the Judge and eventually involve her to ask for assistance in an Hercule Poirot kind of way sometimes, but also in an "I need a lawyer" kind of way.
I normally enjoy a short story, but unlike a novel, every word in a short story has to have relevance and carry the story forward. That definitely isn't the case with these story's. There are many instances of repetition and useless information. I don't need to know every item they had for breakfast. The character development is almost non-existent. The judge appears to be a feeble-minded cross between a Judge Judy and a Jessica Fletcher only to find out she's only 39 years old. Her husband is a doddering old fool that brings nothing to the table but boredom. There are many instances of incorrect facts, such as the judge wonders why her airbag didn't deploy when they haven't even hit anything. Or George, her husband, pumping the brakes when a vehicle of that vintage should have ABS brakes. And who doesn't carry a cigarette lighter phone charger today? To sum the book up, I would call it 'sophomoric and contrived'. The characters, the writing style, and the overall experience were disappointing.
Cold Justice-2 stars: The story started off well enough with the anticipation of a long over-due vacation. A murder victim in a car in the middle of the road is discovered and analytical investigating/picture taking of evidence is done while waiting for the police. Then Willa does her usual getting insolent because she’s dismissed (as a civilian), never bringing up the fact that she had taken pictures prior to the snow removing evidence. Once they reach their destination and take a nap, Willa wakes to find George gone; no note (it seems he did leave a voice mail-after he left?). If he was as considerate of Willa as we are led to believe, he would have left a note; especially with weather conditions like they are and cell phone coverage spotty.
Willa questions Judge Tevor’s premature involvement in the murder, as his role was not official since no one had been arrested. I guess she forgot who many times she’s involved herself in similar things prior to an arrest being made.
David’s gun had been reported stolen a year ago, but all the sudden Judge Trevor, and especially Willa, are assuming he is the guilty party. She questions whether she can trust Judge Trevor but buys into his explanations and is judge and jury to Mason.
Then, to top it off, because is has left in a huff and ‘can’t trust anybody’ she’s going to walk the three miles back to her cottage, in a blizzard that is dumping snow like crazy. Talk about being incredibly stupid. Her relenting after the officer’s impassioned plea to get in the vehicle doesn’t make her any less stupid. Then she states that she “see(s) a place where people get killed in their cars. And their killers get away with it.” Because, again, she has bought into the story she was told and is judge and jury.
There are only two other vehicles in the restaurant parking lot, why did Officer Kemp park far enough away from the entrance that when they are about half-way across the parking lot he stops and admires the scenery? After traveling a few yards Willa looks around and spots two figures in the distance going to the locked entrance to the old hospital. Kemp is now fifty feet from her. Again, why park so far away? Just so Willa can see the other figures bash something heavy on the door and open it?
And the killer fires three shots (not in rapid succession) prior to the fourth shot hitting the intended victim and then there is struggling? The fifth shot resulted in the killer being hit (we are told by ricochet – the second shot resulted in a ricochet). Then we find that Mason struggled with the killer and he had the gun (no ricochet?).
As if I haven’t given enough spoilers, why take Mason outside to the tunnels when the restaurant basement led to the tunnels? Though later we’re told the exit closest to the restaurant would have put her just inside the Café entrance. Judge Trevor was in jail, but the two remaining sisters should have been there as well as accessories after the fact. Though they could have claimed self-defense initially and not had all this mess. Too much confusion, displaced anger, and blame by someone who should have been doing better.
False Justice-2 stars: At the beginning of Chapter Two the young man meeting the reporter, Ursula, was described (among other things) “His tight, black curls were shorn close to his scalp…” It isn’t until almost two pages later we find out the rape victim had light brown skin and then over another page to find out the woman was the young man’s mother, telling us how Ursula knew he had tight black curls when it wasn’t obvious because he had a buzz cut.
The other irritating part was how he kept saying he had proof that Judge Michaels raped the woman which resulted in her suicide, but the only thing he gave Ursula is a photograph of a woman who had been beaten 30 years ago, not even giving a name. What kind of proof is that and how can it be linked to the judge?
Much later in the story Ursula is meeting an ‘informant’ in a deserted park. She’s savvy enough to bring her taser in her coat pocket. When a knife is drawn on her, she ‘pin-wheeled backwards’ dropping her broken umbrella instead of pulling her taser or even using the umbrella to defend herself. The assailant lunges again, Ursula spins, bumps into a rock, trips on the umbrella and falls in the grass, then gains her feet. In the meantime, the assailant is stalking her, lunging and slicing with the knife. Ursula continues to back up, then when the assailant lunges at her, Ursula drops low to snatch up the umbrella to brandish it in front of her (cause, of course, she has time to do that when she doesn’t have time to move her hand from her cut side to get her taser that is in her pocket).
The story has too many flaws for enjoyment.
Fair Justice-3 stars: An ok read for such a short story. Questioning Cathy Bartow’s grief and tear-ravaged face when no one was around to see it. Also, no indication what she gets out of keeping the company going; Yes, it employs most of the town, but she isn’t working there anymore.
True Justice-2 stars: One thing I have noticed in these stories, most of the people drink like a fish. There are no clues for the reader to try to guess ‘who done it’. The perpetrator has the same physical signs of grief as everyone else.
I enjoyed all of the stories and I look forward to reading more by this author in the future, especially the Hunt For Jack Reacher stories, but first I want to read some of those Lee Child Reacher books in order to have context. My son is a huge fan of the Reacher books and has read all of them except the newest, so I have most of them in paperback, but I rarely have time for anything but ebooks that I can take along easily. I'm gonna wait to read the Hunt For Jack Reacher books for a while longer, but there are definitely in my TBR list
Actually, I read the ebook version of this book. Capri is best known (I think) for her Jack Reacher fanfic and I've read a few of those stories, which are pretty good.
Justice is Served is a collection that contains 4 novellas or long short stories, centered around her Willa Carter series characters. The stories were entertaining and made for nice light reading. I liked the first story best, it's the longest one and had the most interesting and complex plot (although all the plots were pretty simple). If you're looking for a light and quick read, you'll probably enjoy these.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book! I love short stories, and this one is no exception! I had never read about these characters before, but these stories made me want to make up for lost time. My only complaint is it was over too soon! The two author's articles at the end were like icing on the cake. In my rating scale, this one is a 10 out of 5! If you like quick reads, mysteries, short stories, and crime fiction, you'll like this book!
got this as a free ebook. I needed something light and this was just what I needed, it was can easy read, but it didn't make me want to read the rest of the series. Although these are short stories and maybe the author is better at writing novels. I actually enjoyed her autobiographical texts at the end more than the short stories.
I really enjoy Wllla Carson! She is a very lik able character. She is passionate about her husband, dogs, friends and her job. Short stories always leave me wanting more especially Wills Carson! Sit back with a cup of coffee and enjoy a great book of short stories!
Entertaining read. The four short stories all came to logical conclusions but in one case I felt the story could have continued on and been a full-length novel. Although there is a linking character who appears in all four stories only the first is actually about her. There is a lot of egotistical rambling by the author and Lee Childs at the of the Kindle version.
I haven't read any of the other books in this series. I didn't know these 4 stories were books #6-6.3, but it didn't seem to matter. This had 4 separate stories-a novella and 3 short stories. I enjoyed each of them. They were fast reading with short chapters. They held my interest and were well written. Highly recommended.
Four novellas. Judge Willa is an interesting character and I will seek out more books featuring her. She only played a prominent role in one of the novellas and that was the most interesting. Quick reads that made for a change of pace!
I loved that these seemed to be short sorties but were powerful as well. The twists were great every time I thought I had it figured out, the author threw the final blow that had me shocked at the perpetrator everytime!!
I read like Diane Capri. I came to her originally through her 'Hunt for Jack Reacher' series but am enjoying her other work too. This series of short stories is an introduction to one of her main characters, Judge Willa Carson, and was a good read. I will definitely hunting out more books by Capri!
What fun it was to read these stories and try to solve the crimes along with Willa and George. Sometimes short stories are like a short vacation for the brain and we all need vacations. Easy to start and quick to finish, what fun.
A collection of short stories invo!ving or revolving around Capri's character Judge Willa Carson. This was an entertaining read and worth the time. I haven't read any of the Judge Carson novels but her other works are good so I may check them out.
I loved this book. It was a nice mixture of books by Diane Capri. I love the character Willa Carson also her husband. All of the books had great plots and held my attention throughout. I can't wait to read another of the books by Diane Capri.
Totally captivating, suspenseful, kept me on edge looking to see what was going to happen next. With a hint of romance. A lot of excitement. Would recommend.
Quick read , but I just wanted more, especially the first short story. I really like Diane 's writing and the search for Jack Reacher books! Keep your boons coming!