Customer Comments

Not a western lover or partial to Texas as a locale, this book captured me immediately. It opens with a prostitute running way from her brothel with the Madam's live savings. The interesting twist with this character is she is epileptic! This is 1870, not much known about things like this yet. It made her story very interesting. There are three lawmen on the trail of a very dangerous killer. Two are seasoned Texas Rangers and one is a young Texas policeman. I really enjoyed watching the bonding of these three men and the seasoned lawmen teaching the young lawman. We get to see Nate's personal life thru letters to and from his wife. Nate is a horsemen and he only took this job to get enough money to buy horses and set up in the training business. So we learn about horses thru his story too. Throw in the mystery of a buried treasure and it is a grand adventure of a tale! Supposedly a farmer found Jean LaFitte's buried pirate treasure on a small island. Alternating chapters beween Lucinda and Nate's storyline it all culminates into one with the farmer and his buried treasure. Lots of surprising connections, deaths you don't expect, and a good twist at the end. You have to read this book!

My first Ian Rankin. Excellent! So much of this book was about our detective John Rebus. Being the first book in a long series, it introduced us to him properly. But what a wonderful thrilling ride to finding the killer! I liked the complex relationships between characters and watching the journey of a very broken man finding himself again. Looking forward to seeing more of Rebus!

'In this, L.R. Wright's first mystery novel, we are introduced to RCMP Staff Sergeant Karl Alberg; and so begins the highly-acclaimed series featuring Karl and librarian Cassandra Mitchell. At eighty, George Wilcox hardly expected to crown his life by committing a murder. It had happened so quickly, so easily, so unexpectedly in the sleepy town on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia: a near-perfect crime that wraps Wilcox in a web of guilt, honor, and secrets of the past. An unprovoked act that soon binds him to the warmhearted town librarian, Cassandra Mitchell, and her new romantic interest, zealous Staff Sergeant Alberg. Together, this troubled trio find themselves caught up in a crime whose solution transcends the logic of pure justice.' This mystery is set on the west coast of Canada along the 'Sunshine Coast'. (There is a link to a map of the area in Tracy's review). Our detective is a Royal Canadian Mounted Policeman. Different for me. Also different, the story opens with the murder and we know who it is from the get go. Question is why and will he turn himself in or will Karl figure it out? I couldn't put it down. I loved George and Cassandra. I HAD to find out what happened all those years ago when George was young and why he hated Carlyle so much. The murder changed everything for George. His whole life and what he believed was turned upside down. Had he been wrong all those years? I wanted to go to the 'Sunshine Coast' and go to Cassandra's library. Karl seemed a little offish but the stray cat gives us a clue to what is really at the heart of this tough Mountie. I will tell you, the end had me crying. Maybe I'm just a big softie:) A totally satisfying read. There are 9 books in the series with Alberg and in the last one he retires and Sgt. Edwina Henderson takes his place and there are two more books featuring her. That's quite different too!

I loved this book! Read it in 2 days. I enjoyed the letter format. It bounced back and forth between the letters written during the first world war between lovers and the letters written during the second world war between daughter and several people as she looked for her missing mom and tried to figure out what secret the past held. At the same time I was angry with Elspeth for cheating and admired her courage to go after what she wanted. You can't just hurt other people like that and get a charmed life or did she get a charmed life? Just when you thought you had the end figured out a surprise turns up! Now just who's daughter is Margaret anyway? The descriptions of Skye made me feel like I was there and the descriptions of the war raining down on them were very real too. It's a book that makes you feel wistful afterwards and leaves you feeling like you know these people, after all you read their intimate letters.

A well written Agatha Christie style romp. Set in the 1930's at a manor house. I loved the fact that many vintage authors and titles of their books were named and two of the main characters were vintage mystery fans. Drew and his fellow mystery reader, Nick, decide to investigate the murder on their own and break every 'rule of murder' on writer Ronald Knox's 10 Commandments of Detective Fiction. Fun, romance and danger ensue! This is classified as Christian fiction, published by a Christian publishing company. Although as Christian fiction goes Ms. Deering doesn't incorporate issues of faith and religion as the main stay of the story. It's all about the mystery with casual mention about the characters faith. It should appeal to everyone. Well developed characters, period detail, humor and a well plotted mystery to solve. I am looking forward to the next installment, Death by the Book, due out March 1st, 2014. More at peggyannspost.blogspot.com

What can I say... Ms. Scott did it again! In this third installment of the 'Highland Gazette' series we are transported back to 1957 to the small town in Scotland and a visit with the staff of The Highland Gazette! I've been waiting a year for it and I wasn't disappointed! Mrs. Smart wasn't really a key player in the last two books, just a background character. This book she gets front and center even though she is dead. We learn a lot about her and her past. Don McLeod the paper's Deputy Editor is arrested for her murder! Unbelievable! What is his connection to her? You will be surprised! And what does the tragic tale of Tinker's children being stolen from them 30 years ago have to do with this? Can Mrs. Smart's invalid husband really get around better than we think and could he have done this dirty deed? Who is this Neil Stewart from Canada and how will he impact Joanne Ross' life? Poor Mac, can he & Rob find evidence to exonerate Don and will he ever tell Joanne how he feels about her? Will the Highland Gazette even survive through all of this? If you haven't read the first two books in this series, 'A Small Death in the Great Glen' and 'Double Death on the Black Isle' you can still enjoy this one as a stand alone mystery. But, believe me you'll want to get both of these other books and start at the beginning to get to know the characters and become involved in their lives. And just like the first two books at the very end a shocking surprise that leaves you stunned!