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Tag Archives: detective

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Down The River Unto The Sea by Walter Mosley (2018) – BR00183 (2020) – ๐Ÿธ๐Ÿธ๐Ÿธ๐Ÿธโšช

The PolyBlog
January 27 2020

Plot or Premise

A detective was framed for rape, temporarily jailed, kicked off the police force and is working as a private investigator looking at a potential case of corrupt cops who tried to commit murder.

What I Liked

Mosley always creates compelling characters (like Easy Rawlins) and Joe King Oliver is no exception. Much of what you see is part of a long history โ€ฆ the story could have been told as a Western, or as pulp noir with Sam Spade, or as Spenser for Hire (or any of Robert B. Parker’s characters really). It is a “man’s story” taking care of “his business”, in a dark world that is full of violence which he would prefer to avoid but willing to endure when necessary. The main case (Oliver’s own) is compelling, but a little light in places. Where it falters, the case of his client steps in to keep the story moving. It was an Edgar Award nominee, and it was well-deserved.

What I Didn’t Like

His family (daughter and ex-wife) are a bit too much in the background (i.e., Oliver keeps the women-folk safe, so to speak), his relationship with an ex-prostitute is beyond confusing, and the relationship with his mentor is obvious long before a revelation.

The Bottom Line

Great character, great story, a few weak spots

Posted in Book Reviews | Tagged action, Amazon.ca, Amazon.com, B&N, book review, Chapters, crime, detective, e-book, fiction, Good Reads, Google, Kobo, Library Thing, mystery, new, Nook, novel, OPL, police, PolyWogg, prose, Reading Challenge, Savvy Reader, stand-alone, suspense | Leave a reply

The Word Is Murder by Anthony Horowitz (2017) – BR00177 (2020) – ๐Ÿธ๐Ÿธ๐Ÿธโšชโšช

The PolyBlog
January 18 2020

A fictionalized “true” story of the author observing a brilliant detective attempting to solve the murder of a woman who went in to plan her funeral and was murdered the same day.

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Posted in Book Reviews | Tagged Amazon.ca, Amazon.com, B&N, book review, Chapters, crime, detective, e-book, fiction, Good Reads, Google, Hawthorne, Kobo, library, Library Thing, mystery, Nook, novel, OPL, PolyWogg, prose, Reading Challenge, Savvy Reader, series, sleuth | Leave a reply

A Spy In The House by Y.S. Lee (2016) – BR00173 (2019) – ๐Ÿธ๐Ÿธ๐Ÿธ๐Ÿธ๐Ÿธ

The PolyBlog
December 5 2019

An orphan in the mid-1800s is diverted from the gallows to a school for girls, gets her high school education, and graduates to become an operative for a special investigating Agency of women run by the heads of the school.

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Posted in Book Reviews | Tagged action, adventure, Amazon.ca, Amazon.com, B&N, book review, Chapters, crime, detective, fiction, Good Reads, Google, historical, history, Kobo, Library Thing, mystery, new, Nook, novel, OPL, paperback, PolyWogg, prose, Quinn, Reading Challenge, romance, Savvy Reader, series, Young Adult | Leave a reply

The Burning Edge by Rick Mofina (2012) – BR00172 (2019) – ๐Ÿธ๐Ÿธ๐Ÿธโšชโšช

The PolyBlog
November 17 2019

A woman witnesses an armed robbery at a truck stop, and as the FBI closes in on the robbers, they worry that the woman saw too much.

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Posted in Book Reviews | Tagged action, Amazon.ca, Amazon.com, B&N, book review, Chapters, crime, detective, fiction, Gannon, gift, Good Reads, Google, Kobo, Library Thing, mystery, Nook, novel, OPL, paperback, police, PolyWogg, prose, Reading Challenge, Savvy Reader, sleuth, stand-alone, suspense | Leave a reply

Unlucky in Law by Perri O’Shaugnessy (2004) – BR00159 (2019) – ๐Ÿธ๐Ÿธ๐Ÿธโšชโšช

The PolyBlog
April 19 2019

Nina Reilly gets a call from her old mentor to sit second-chair on a murder case that started with a grave robbery.

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Posted in Book Reviews | Tagged Amazon.ca, Amazon.com, B&N, book review, Chapters, crime, detective, e-book, fiction, Good Reads, Google, Kobo, legal, library, Library Thing, mystery, Nook, novel, OPL, PolyWogg, prose, Reading Challenge, Reilly, series, sleuth | Leave a reply

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My Latest Posts

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