DEATH WITHOUT COMPANY (Pol Proc-Walt Longmire-Wyoming-Cont) – 2nd in series – Craig Johnson When Mari Baroja is found poisoned at the Durant Home for Assisted Living, Sheriff Longmire is drawn into an investigation that reaches fifty years into the mysterious woman’s dramatic Basque past. Aided by his friend Henry Standing Bear, Deputy Victoria Moretti, and newcomer Santiago Saizarbitoria, Sheriff Longmire must connect the specter of the past to the present to find the killer among them.
Kasa – Okay – The book started strong and was interesting but she felt it rather fell off the cliff. She would, however give Johnson another shot. Linda F – Okay – She liked the writing and the information on the Basque language. Unfortunately, she thought the most interesting character was the victim. The case was routine and felt the book never lived up to its potential, as opposed to “A Cold Dish” which she very much liked. Linda S - VG - I reread this because I couldn't really remember it from having read it four years ago. I still like the details about Basque and Cheyenne culture, and the characters and their relationships are interesting. I was VERY annoyed by the preponderance of typos. errors, malapropisms, etc., and by the library patron who felt the need to correct each one s/he found with a ballpoint pen. Both the mistakes and the copyediting kept dumping me out of the story. LJ – VG - Johnson has created great characters in Henry Standing Bear, the profane Deputy Victoria Moretti, Lucian, and many others old and new. But it’s Walt who really stayed with me. He has a degree in English Literature, is a Vietnam vet and a man who has known grief from the death of his wife and a woman he loved. The dialogue is natural, with character-driven humor. His descriptions and sense of place and use of the metaphysical add dimension and power to the story. It took me a bit to get into this book but once there, I didn’t put it down. Very well worth the read.
Group Rating Average: Good+
THE BAKER-STREET LETTERS (Mys-Nigel and Reggie Heath-London/California-Cont) – 1st in series – Michael Robertson Brothers Reggie and Nigel Heath are a couple of London lawyers whose offices are located in the 200 block of Baker Street. Their lease requires them to answer all letters addressed to Sherlock Holmes, 221B Baker Street. Nigel opens one such letter, and soon he’s gone, disappeared, leaving behind a dead body and a whole lot of confusion. Next thing you know, Reggie is on a plane to Los Angeles, tracking down his brother and solving a decades-old mystery.
Aimee – Good – She felt the characters were very British—custom made neo-noir Guy Ritchie film; i.e., a stock-film type of book. After a few pages, she did want to read it, but was disappointed by the obvious lead-in to a second book. She did feel the Los Angeles people were accurately, albeit annoyingly, portrayed. Linda S – VG – It was so much fun. She liked the characters; they reminded her of the approach taken to the characters in “American Gods.” She thought it was funny. It kept her reading and handled the premise of the letters really well. LJ – Good+ - Both the prologue and first chapter are intriguing and completely captivating. There is no desire to put this book down. Reggie is insecurity wrapped in arrogance. He is rather, in some ways typically, a dim-bulb male when it comes to relationships. We do learn of Reggie’s background through a conversation, which I found well done, but otherwise there’s not a lot of connection made between the reader and the characters. Unfortunately, the author’s voice, aside from some delightful humor, is rather flat. There are a few holes in the plot and noticeable coincidences, but there is a very good twist toward the end and climatic scene. “The Baker Street Letters” was not a great read, but it was a very enjoyable one. Marcy - Good – Okay - I loved the premise, but did not feel that the author saw it through effectively. The plot was unnecessarily confusing at times and the writing not particularly good. Characters who might have been interesting, but weren't, and some editorial misses also lowered my rating to "just okay"
Group Rating Average: Good +
THE MESSENGER OF ATHENS (Mys-Hermes Diaktoros-Thiminos, Greece-Cont) – 1st in series – Anne Zouroudi Self-styled investigator Hermes Diaktoros (aka "the fat man") arrives from Athens on the island of Thiminos to look into the death of Irini Asimakopoulos, a young woman whose body was found at the foot of a high cliff. Irini's sad story unfolds slowly as Hermes, who can ask questions gently or demand answers gruffly, talks to a number of people involved, including Irini's husband, Andreas; her putative lover, Theo Hatzistratis; Theo's wife, Elpida; and the island's police chief, Panayiotis Zafiridis, who officially deemed her death an accident but privately believes it was suicide. The secrets the locals keep or share can't be hidden from Hermes, who weighs the evidence and, in the end, rewards or punishes in ways that have little to do with written laws.
Kasa – VG – Really liked the book because you learn something beyond the mystery. This is more an exploration of what it means to live in this society in the modern age, with characters that are fleshed out in flashback -- even the victim is given a chance to present her point of view. The descriptions of the living conditions, struggle against weather and privations, and dealing with strictures of such a hermetically sealed society are evocative and clear. She didn’t care for the bit of the supernatural that creeps in, but it did work. Even though the story was told from several points of view, the voices were defined. Highly recommended whether you love Greece or not. Marcy – Okay - The setting, a bleak island with stifling social mores and antiquated treatment of women was not at all reminiscent of the Greek islands I've visited. The mysterious and eccentric main character, who has been compared by other reviewers of this book to the great Poirot, is sadly not as good or interesting. The author handled the mystery really well and the various points of view. The writing, though beautiful at times was also often choppy elsewhere. This book left me with more questions than answers and I thought it was just okay.
When Mari Baroja is found poisoned at the Durant Home for Assisted Living, Sheriff Longmire is drawn into an investigation that reaches fifty years into the mysterious woman’s dramatic Basque past. Aided by his friend Henry Standing Bear, Deputy Victoria Moretti, and newcomer Santiago Saizarbitoria, Sheriff Longmire must connect the specter of the past to the present to find the killer among them.
Kasa – Okay – The book started strong and was interesting but she felt it rather fell off the cliff. She would, however give Johnson another shot.
Linda F – Okay – She liked the writing and the information on the Basque language. Unfortunately, she thought the most interesting character was the victim. The case was routine and felt the book never lived up to its potential, as opposed to “A Cold Dish” which she very much liked.
Linda S - VG - I reread this because I couldn't really remember it from having read it four years ago. I still like the details about Basque and Cheyenne culture, and the characters and their relationships are interesting. I was VERY annoyed by the preponderance of typos. errors, malapropisms, etc., and by the library patron who felt the need to correct each one s/he found with a ballpoint pen. Both the mistakes and the copyediting kept dumping me out of the story.
LJ – VG - Johnson has created great characters in Henry Standing Bear, the profane Deputy Victoria Moretti, Lucian, and many others old and new. But it’s Walt who really stayed with me. He has a degree in English Literature, is a Vietnam vet and a man who has known grief from the death of his wife and a woman he loved. The dialogue is natural, with character-driven humor. His descriptions and sense of place and use of the metaphysical add dimension and power to the story. It took me a bit to get into this book but once there, I didn’t put it down. Very well worth the read.
Group Rating Average: Good+
THE BAKER-STREET LETTERS (Mys-Nigel and Reggie Heath-London/California-Cont) – 1st in series – Michael Robertson
Brothers Reggie and Nigel Heath are a couple of London lawyers whose offices are located in the 200 block of Baker Street. Their lease requires them to answer all letters addressed to Sherlock Holmes, 221B Baker Street. Nigel opens one such letter, and soon he’s gone, disappeared, leaving behind a dead body and a whole lot of confusion. Next thing you know, Reggie is on a plane to Los Angeles, tracking down his brother and solving a decades-old mystery.
Aimee – Good – She felt the characters were very British—custom made neo-noir Guy Ritchie film; i.e., a stock-film type of book. After a few pages, she did want to read it, but was disappointed by the obvious lead-in to a second book. She did feel the Los Angeles people were accurately, albeit annoyingly, portrayed.
Linda S – VG – It was so much fun. She liked the characters; they reminded her of the approach taken to the characters in “American Gods.” She thought it was funny. It kept her reading and handled the premise of the letters really well.
LJ – Good+ - Both the prologue and first chapter are intriguing and completely captivating. There is no desire to put this book down. Reggie is insecurity wrapped in arrogance. He is rather, in some ways typically, a dim-bulb male when it comes to relationships. We do learn of Reggie’s background through a conversation, which I found well done, but otherwise there’s not a lot of connection made between the reader and the characters. Unfortunately, the author’s voice, aside from some delightful humor, is rather flat. There are a few holes in the plot and noticeable coincidences, but there is a very good twist toward the end and climatic scene. “The Baker Street Letters” was not a great read, but it was a very enjoyable one.
Marcy - Good – Okay - I loved the premise, but did not feel that the author saw it through effectively. The plot was unnecessarily confusing at times and the writing not particularly good. Characters who might have been interesting, but weren't, and some editorial misses also lowered my rating to "just okay"
Group Rating Average: Good +
THE MESSENGER OF ATHENS (Mys-Hermes Diaktoros-Thiminos, Greece-Cont) – 1st in series – Anne Zouroudi
Self-styled investigator Hermes Diaktoros (aka "the fat man") arrives from Athens on the island of Thiminos to look into the death of Irini Asimakopoulos, a young woman whose body was found at the foot of a high cliff. Irini's sad story unfolds slowly as Hermes, who can ask questions gently or demand answers gruffly, talks to a number of people involved, including Irini's husband, Andreas; her putative lover, Theo Hatzistratis; Theo's wife, Elpida; and the island's police chief, Panayiotis Zafiridis, who officially deemed her death an accident but privately believes it was suicide. The secrets the locals keep or share can't be hidden from Hermes, who weighs the evidence and, in the end, rewards or punishes in ways that have little to do with written laws.
Kasa – VG – Really liked the book because you learn something beyond the mystery. This is more an exploration of what it means to live in this society in the modern age, with characters that are fleshed out in flashback -- even the victim is given a chance to present her point of view. The descriptions of the living conditions, struggle against weather and privations, and dealing with strictures of such a hermetically sealed society are evocative and clear. She didn’t care for the bit of the supernatural that creeps in, but it did work. Even though the story was told from several points of view, the voices were defined. Highly recommended whether you love Greece or not.
Marcy – Okay - The setting, a bleak island with stifling social mores and antiquated treatment of women was not at all reminiscent of the Greek islands I've visited. The mysterious and eccentric main character, who has been compared by other reviewers of this book to the great Poirot, is sadly not as good or interesting. The author handled the mystery really well and the various points of view. The writing, though beautiful at times was also often choppy elsewhere. This book left me with more questions than answers and I thought it was just okay.
Group Rating Average: Good