Tag Archives: book review

The Dying Hour by Rick Mofina (2005) – BR00292 (R2026) – 🐸🐸🐸⚪⚪

The PolyBlog
January 14 2026

Plot or Premise

A college student drives off suddenly into the night, never to be seen again, while her car is found abandoned at the side of the road. Did she meet someone? Walk off into the woods? Commit suicide?

What I Liked

The main part is Jason Wade, a reporter who starts to link her disappearance to a broader storyline and a psycho who preys on women. The story jumps around a bit, with him as a newbie reporter trying to win a coveted full reporter job, and it backfires on him. Then he pursues it further, at potential further cost to him.

What I Didn’t Like

There are a couple of “complications” as plot devices that don’t work for me. The boyfriend has some info that he holds back that would help improve the search, or at least inform the search, and while the reasons are explained, they’re not very believable. And the ending is a bit stretched with poor cell service and heroic efforts by individuals. Didn’t really work for me.

The Bottom Line

Only mildly thriller-ish

McNally’s Risk by Lawrence Sanders (1993) – BR00291 (R2026) – 🐸🐸🐸⚪⚪

The PolyBlog
January 13 2026

Plot or Premise

Archy is tasked with checking out a potential bride of a rich woman’s son. The beautiful and potential bride lives in a rented condo with her father, and not many know much about her other than her name: Theodosia.

What I Liked

Like all of Archy’s cases, what starts off simple frequently becomes more complicated. In this case, we have a confused relationship with the father, some lies that might lead to potential cons or swindles, strange backstories that are hard to confirm, and just for fun, several bodies that drop. Starting with people who seem to have run afoul or shown too much interest in Theo or her father. But they aren’t the only suspects, which is a good set of herrings to consider.

What I Didn’t Like

There’s a sub-plot with potential blackmail and Archy seems a little slow on the uptake for some of the potential cons. What is obvious to the reader takes Archy far too long to figure out, and no one else in the entire set of societal encounters notices either, yet the con isn’t that good. I liked the story, but the setup was relatively obvious from the first introduction.

The Bottom Line

Good plot with a couple of slow spots

The Fourth Deadly Sin by Lawrence Sanders (1985) – BR00290 (R2026) – 🐸🐸🐸⚪⚪

The PolyBlog
January 12 2026

Plot or Premise

A Manhattan psychiatrist is working late, and then becomes the late psychiatrist when someone visits, attacks, kills and then mutilates the doctor. No leads in the case leads to Delaney being asked to investigate.

What I Liked

Sanders seems to like to alternate between revealing the murderer early or keeping it a secret. In this one, it is a secret. In addition to family and friends, there are four patients who could be the killer. All with unique personalities; all with unique issues. And they all have to be checked out with different approaches.

What I Didn’t Like

With the four suspects, there is a LOT of space devoted to figuring out how to get close to them, worm out their secrets, knowing that at least two or three are going to be completely uninvolved and the investigations of them are just red herrings. I also figured out who the killer was really early on, perhaps 15% of the way into the book, and it was a LONG slog to get to the end.

The Bottom Line

The killer is obvious as is the motive, but it takes a long time to get there

The Third Deadly Sin by Lawrence Sanders (1981) – BR00289 (R2026) – 🐸🐸🐸🐸⚪

The PolyBlog
January 12 2026

Plot or Premise

A serial killer is stalking hotel guests in New York City, and the police have no leads.

What I Liked

Delaney is asked for advice to help track down the killer after the second body drops. The MO is identical…a man alone in the city, a potential tryst in the room, naked or close to it, a stab wound in the neck, repeated stabbing of his genitals, a wet and wiped down bathroom, and missing towels. And no robbery or apparent motive. Eventually, Delaney starts to suspect it’s a woman, even though there are few examples anywhere of serial killers who are women.

The twists and turns, including information leaking out to the woman, are interesting. As is the life of the woman, what she’s experiencing, and the mental health conditions that are messing with her mind.

At one point, Delaney and his wife are talking about the case and how “mechanical” it feels, putting lists together (similar to The First Deadly Sin) as if they are “accountants”, and that feeling is definitely palpable but also believable.

What I Didn’t Like

The politics of the police station and who is backstabbing who are boring, as is the constant fixation on the killer’s medical fears.

The Bottom Line

Heavy on procedure and a rare female serial killer story for the time

The Second Deadly Sin by Lawrence Sanders (1977) – BR00288 (R2026) – 🐸🐸🐸🐸⚪

The PolyBlog
January 9 2026

Plot or Premise

Victor Maitland is an artist of great passion and terrible interpersonal skills. When he shows up dead, knifed in the back in a low-rent painting studio, there are lots of possible suspects. Everyone hated his guts, as they say.

What I Liked

The original case had gone nowhere, looked like a faked robbery, but with no leads. Maitland’s uncle had some juice and put pressure on Thorsen to solve it, which pulled Delaney back in from retirement. Delaney starts working with Abner Boone and they make great partners and mentor/mentee with no BS, just hard talk.

I enjoyed the investigation into all the different possible suspects. And even into Maitland. Despite being a first-class jerk, Delaney admires his artwork. For the suspects, we meet his wife in denial, his art manager in greed, the art manager’s lawyer in possible cahoots, the son in anger, a model in ignorance, a model in luxury and notoriety, and his extended family in seclusion in the boonies.

It’s a great case to see all the moving pieces going nowhere fast, until you start to see some movement with some of the culprits. Fantastic procedural, particularly for the early times.

And I did not see the ending coming. Delaney has the nickname Iron B*lls for a reason.

What I Didn’t Like

There are a bit too many red herrings with so many suspects, most of which go nowhere useful, and there’s extra romance layered on for the home life of Delaney and Boone.

The Bottom Line

Even jerks deserve a homicide investigation