No Shred of Evidence

How can you solve an apparent murder without a shred of evidence and the only person who can say for sure what really happens remains in a coma? That is just the case that Inspector Ian Rutledge is called upon to attempt to solve when the original investigator on the case dies of a heart attack and taking all the notes on the case with him. He simply failed to transcribe them before his untimely death and now Rutledge needs to begin piecing the clues of what happened as if he was starting over again. But now time has elapsed and it will simply make the case load that much harder to solve. When four young women come to the aid of a man they know late at night who was going to drown when his boat began to sink, the women realize that he simply weighs too much in the water for them to bring onboard without compromising their own safety of tipping over into the cold dark waters.

A man dives in and swims to help but when he is able to pull the man into the boat, he believes the women were attempting to kill him and not save him as they claim. The fact that there is blood on the oar of their boat and no sign on his doesn't look good for the women when they are immediately taken into custody when they are able to get the boat back to shore. Things get more complicated when Rutledge interviews one of the woman and realizes that she is the cousin of the woman he was going to marry. Conflict on interest or something simply to make the mystery all that more intriguing?

The one thing I have come to appreciate about Charles Todd's Inspector Ian Rutledge series, is that if you are a fan of murder mysteries or a good Sherlock Holmes mystery, you will definitely want to pick this one up and begin the journey. Ian Rutledge is a marked man having survived the Great War and now works at Scotland Yard but not without his flaws. He suffers from PTSD and talks to a former soldier known as Hamish in his thoughts. It keeps the story line moving and as always carries the reader through to the end trying to solve the case before Rutledge does. Just because you have the premise of the story laid out before you, like any good mystery, not everything is as it appears and an investigation must take place to figure out just what is really going on and why.

I received No Shred of Evidence by Charles Todd compliments of William Morrow, a division of Harper Collins Publishers for my honest review. I did not receive any monetary compensation aside from a free copy of this book in exchange for my personal and honest review of this novel. This is the 18th book in the Inspector Ian Rutledge series and have enjoyed every single one I have read. They remain a favorite because they are set historically in London's past and provide the reader a glimpse of not only a great mystery to solve but also some history along the way. For me, this one rates a 4 out of 5 in my opinion and look forward to many many more in the future.

For more information about No Shred of Evidence, Charles Todd or where you can preorder a copy of this novel that is due in February of 2016, please click on the links below:

No Shred of Evidence by Charles Todd

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To read more reviews on No Shred of Evidence, please visit William Morrow's website. 

Windigo Island

"In every human being, there are two wolves constantly fighting. One is fear, and the other is love. The one that wins the battle? The one you feed. Always the one you feed."

"The Ojibwe legend tells of the cursed place called Windigo Island. On Windigo Island, death came in the dark. It came in the form of an awful spirit, a cannibal beast with an insatiable craving for human flesh. Sometimes the beast swept in with the foul odor of carnage pouring off its huge body and a bone-chilling scream leaping from ts maw. Sometimes it approached with stealth and wile, and in the moment before it ripped your heart from your chest, it cried your name in a high, keening voice. It could be unpredictable, but one thing was certain: to set foot on Windigo Island in the dead of night was to call forth the worst of what the darkness there held." (pg 4).

When three young boys decide to feed the wolf of fear, they head out late one night to visit island. There was no wind that night with nothing more to light their way than a gibbous moon. The water was like black satin and the only thing they paddled for in the silence was the outline of a small island that was only found on a detailed map. A rough circle a couple of dozen yards in diameter, all of it broken rock. From its center rose a tall, ragged pine, a tree that had somehow managed to put down roots in that humping of stone and had held to it tenaciously through season after season of November gales. The Ojibwe believed the pine was a lightning rod of sorts, a beacon attracting the evil sprits of Kitchigami to that cursed island. Not just the windigo but Michi Peshu, too, a monster that lived in the depths, a creature with horns and the face of a panther and razor-sharp spikes down its back and, some said, the body of the serpent. One thing for sure, they were about to get just what they intended to feed. (excerpt).

Corcoran O'Connor, or Cork as he is known by family and close friends finds himself in the center of coming to terms with a legend from his Native American people and dealing with the murder of a young runaway girl Carrie Verga. When her family hires him to investigate the reports that Carrie and Mariah Arceneaux, both young Indian girls who had decided to runaway from home, might have been lured away instead. In fact Cork thinks there may be more to this case than simply a murdered young girl and involve a well known but secret group of men looking for willing girls for their sex trafficking ring in Minnesota. The clues keep building as Cork and his daughter Jenny work with other family members of Mariah in hopes of finding her before she winds up dead.

I received Windigo Island by William Kent Krueger compliments of Atria Books, a division of Simon and Schuster Publishers for my honest review. I did not receive any monetary compensation for a favorable review and the opinions are mine except where otherwise notated. This is the second novel I've reviewed from William Krueger and love the Native American flair he adds to your standard murder mystery. It lends a suspenseful feel that there is something lurking in the novel besides your standard criminal and the back story of the O'Connors maintains their belief as part of their Native American culture; that stereotypes exist and discrimination still permeates among the Native American tribes. I was completely captivated by this novel since it opens with the legend of Windigo Island and that keeps you glued to the novel to see how it all plays out. Once again, I believe that William Krueger delivered what his readers have come to accept and that is a well-written, captivating and suspenseful novel and thus I rate this one a 4 out of 5 stars.

For more information about Windigo Island, William Kent Krueger, or where I can pick up a copy of this novel today, please click on the links below:

Windigo Island by William Kent Krueger

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To read more reviews on Windigo Island, please visit Simon and Schuster's website. 

An Unwilling Accomplice

Since my first Bess Crawford novel from best-selling author Charles Todd, I've been hooked. Taking some of my favorite elements of fiction, World War I, women nurses, and murder mystery and you have to basic ingredients for what makes the Bess Crawford Series a true success. Bess Crawford has been serving as a battlefield nurse, thrust in the middle of taking care of the most challenging of patients. With medical marvels still years from being developed, she is right in the middle of action trying to save the lives of those she can, and holding hands, writing letters and simply being there for those she can't. It was truly a trying time in history for women to participate in doing their part while war raged all around them.

For Bess, she is the daughter of a famous Colonel who's own military success often times aid her in coming to terms with the war. Like most fathers, they want to do all they can to  protect their daughters when they have the opportunity and Bess finds herself paired with her friend Simon, a decorated Sergeant-Major. He comes to her rescue as often as he is able, most of the time helping her solve the latest crime using all his military resources to research potential motives.

Bess has been assigned the duties of caring for an ailing Sergeant Wilkins who is confined to a wheelchair after sustaining injuries in the war. She is to provide nursing assistance to Wilkins when his orderly is headed back to the battle lines and to ensure he is present at Buckingham Palace for the King to honor him with a medal for his courage on the battlefield. What she doesn't expect is for her patient to go missing when she leaves him at his hotel room for the night. Is this the very reason why she was assigned to Wilkins in the first place? It simply wouldn't be proper for a woman, even a nurse, to stay in the man's room overnight. Just when did he go missing?

Now with Bess' professional credentials being called into question, she faces scrutiny from her boss as well as having to answer to the local police while she simply has let a man go missing. Now she has to race against time to figure out just what happened to Wilkins because as it stands now, it looks as if Nurse Bess Crawford is more than simply an unwilling accomplice.

I received An Unwilling Accomplice by Charles Todd compliments of William Morrow, a division of Harper Collins Publishers for my honest review. I did not receive any monetary compensation for a favorable review and the opinions contained in this review are strictly my own. One of the best things I love about these novels besides trying to solve the crime before Bess does, is the historical feel to the novel that brings you right into the heart of the action. The sights and sounds are so vivid in detail you can't help but feel like you are really there as you take part in the journey alongside Bess. This is the sixth novel in the Bess Crawford Series and I honestly can't wait for more. I give this one a 4 out of 5 stars!

For more information about An Unwilling Accomplice, Charles Todd or where you can pre-order a copy of this novel today, please click on the links below:

An Unwilling Accomplice by Charles Todd

You can also find Charles Todd on Facebook to stay up to date with all his latest novels.

To read more reviews on An Unwilling Accomplice, please visit William Morrow's website. 

Remains of Innocence

Two murders in two cities, presents a challenge and a possible connection. When Liza Manchett, begins to go through her mother's house, she discovers something she can't explain. Growing up she lived in poverty with no electricity or hot water, yet in going through her mother's things after she has died, she discovers money in various places that amounts to a small fortune. Not sure what this means about the way her mother dealt with raising her and her step brother Guy, she is more than puzzled to come up with a valid explanation. Since she can't ask her mother, she tries to pieces things together as best as she can. She knows her father left them all for another women and died many years ago. Guy had no problem attending Harvard and John Hopkins to become a doctor but he earned it all on his own.

Now he refuses to have anything to do with Liza or helping her try to figure things out. When she attempts to renovate her mother's home to something that is suitable for sale, she receives a warning from a man at her mother's funeral. He warns Liza that people don't forgive and forget. One by one, people in Liza' life begin to come up murdered and she seems to be the only connection. Is it possible Liza is hiding something? Something she is keeping from the police? Is Liza responsible for the string of murders that begins to follow her everywhere she goes?

On the other end of the spectrum, Sheriff Joanna Brady struggles to come to terms with an apparent serial killer in the small town of Bisbee, Arizona. The man in question, Junior Dowdle, has the body of an older man, but mentally has the age of a young child. Combine that with the effects of Alzheimer's and it's no wonder that Junior has wound up missing. When all all out search reveals Junior has fallen to his death in an abandoned cave, they discover three mutilated animals beneath his body. Only on further investigation, do they find a small kitten that has escaped death but is injured beyond belief to even seasoned officers and yet managed to survive. How is Junior responsible? Did his mental capacity lead him to commit these horrible crimes when his parents were forced to lock him inside his room or is there another explanation?

I received Remains of Innocence by J.A. Jance compliments of William Morrow, a division of Harper Collins Publishers for my honest review. I did not receive any monetary compensation for a favorable review and the opinions contained here are strictly my own. I really enjoyed this novel due to the complexities of the two cases that eventually converge for Sheriff Joanna Brady and was more than surprised at who was responsible. Completely missed it on my end and so glad I am not a detective. This one rated a true 4.5 out of 5 stars and is a definitely must read for fans of criminal murder mysteries!

For more information about Remains of Innocence, J.A. Jance or where you can pick up a copy of this novel today, please click on the links below:

Remains of Innocence by J.A. Jance

You can find J.A. Jance on Facebook to stay up to date with all her latest novels.

To read more reviews on Remains of Innocence, please visit William Morrow's website. 

 

The Home Place

Sometimes it seems that a lot of writers use real stories behind the premise of their latest novel, but in this case, it happened after the novel was written. I had just begun the debut novel The Home Place by Carrie La Seur which opens on the death of Vicky Terrebonne, a young woman who wandered around town drunk one night on a cold winters night in Montana. Surprisingly, the very same thing happened in the news recently when a young 20-year-old woman was found dead after a night drinking and searching for her car keys in Provo, Utah. Interesting how things happen that way. I kept wondering why the two sounded so familiar til I picked the novel back up again and continued reading.

For Alma Terrebonne, death is the only reason to bring her back to her families home in Montana. It seems that all the other family members have found themselves on tired of late night phone calls from Vicky and then later her younger daughter Brittany. It's a sad tale of simply calling wolf too many times in a contemporary fiction. It seems that everyone in the family has had to deal with coming to Vicky's rescue, after a night of one too many drinks and late night parties with unsuitable friends. Sadly in this case, it turned out to be the one thing that would haunt them long after the death had occurred with each of them wondering how circumstances might have been different if they simply answered the call.

While it seems that Vicky's death may in fact have been accidental, Alma isn't so sure. Even after the history that Vicky has had, she still seems to believe there is more to the story than simply accepting she slipped and fell on the ice, being drunk, she succumbed to the elements and the rest they say is simply history. So when Alma heads home to do some investigating of her own, she isn't ready to tie everything up with a pretty bow and accepting things as they are. She learns that Vicky has been questioning the selling off the "home place," the family homestead of sorts due to being hassled by a coal mining company of possible mineral rights to the land the property sits on. Sounds perfect for a struggling, drug and alcohol addicted, out of work, mother who desperately needs a way to provide for her daughter. Is it possible there is a connection between the two and that Vicky's death was no accident?

I received The Home Place by Carrie La Seur compliments of William Morrow, a division of Harper Collins Publishers for my honest review. I did not receive any monetary compensation for a favorable review and the opinions expressed are simply my own. To the reader, a word of caution, this book is definitely not for the majority of my blogging readers. It does contain profanity and questionable content, dealing with addictions and the consequences to those actions. For those that love a great murder mystery that doesn't resolve the clues early in the novel so you can follow along nicely, then you will love this one. It truly shows that some sides of life aren't the ones we'd like to look at all the times, and often will look the other way when it does, hoping it will simply fade away. This is simply about how one families secrets will be discovered and the resolution doesn't always turn out the way you want it to. For me this novel was a 3 out of 5 stars simply due to the writing style that seemed to keep me from becoming invested in the outcome of the characters and was a bit slow for me. I actually liked the way the acknowledgments was written better than the novel. While this one didn't really work for me, I am confident others may find it more enjoyable.

For more information about The Home Place, Carrie La Seur or where you can preorder of a copy of this novel today, please click on the links below:

The Home Place by Carrie La Seur

You can also find Carrie La Seur on Facebook to stay up to date with all her latest novels.

To read more reviews on The Home Place, please visit William Morrow's website.