Tag Archives: police

The Face-Changers by Thomas Perry (1998) – BR00081 (1999) – 🐸🐸🐸🐸⚪

The PolyBlog
October 10 1999

Plot or Premise

Jane Whitefield is back, and she is trying to live up to her promise to her husband to not help any more fugitives to disappear. But then her husband brings her a Richard-Kimble-like friend who has been framed for the murder of his research assistant, and he can’t even blame a one-armed man. Her husband asks her to help because the friend is his old mentor.

What I Liked

The story expands outward pretty fast, as Jane discovers that other people have been using her identity and reputation to “help” people for profit, in some cases where the people didn’t need any help but were scared into thinking they did. Basically to create the demand for the service they can provide. So Jane has to figure that part out too, or she’ll never be able to save anyone else again, let alone her husband’s friend. Added to the mix is an FBI agent who wants to know what is going on, and knows Jane has the answers — and he’s willing to arrest her to find out. Aiding a fugitive is just the first charge of many he has in mind. Plus, just for fun, her husband is being hit on by one of the bad guys.

What I Didn’t Like

It’s a little hard to follow at times as she criss-crosses the U.S., and some of the sub-stories are a little over-developed.

The Bottom Line

Solid novel.

Striking Out by Alison Gordon (1995) – BR00062 (1999) – 🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸

The PolyBlog
October 10 1999

Plot or Premise

This is the fourth in the Kate Henry series and is the best so far. Kate is bored — there is a strike in the major leagues and she doesn’t know what to do with herself. So she focuses on her home life. Then Andy Munro gets shot in the line of duty, and Kate is pretty much on her own while Andy recuperates. Lots of tension as Andy deals with the aftermath of being shot.

What I Liked

The focus of the story is on a homeless woman named Maggie who has disappeared, and one of her favorite resting places is covered in blood. On top of that, a mutilated corpse turns up with a very large knife that Maggie used to own. A corpse of someone who knew who Maggie really was, knew her past, and was therefore a threat to Maggie’s security. Some really seedy characters populate the story, including a two-bit child pornographer who has a heart of gold for helping street people.

What I Didn’t Like

Of course, there is the requisite protagonist-in-jeopardy part, but at least Andy isn’t automatically there to save the day.

Disclosure

I was am not personal friends with the author, but I did do interact with her online.

The Bottom Line

Well done and the best so far

The Corpse at the Haworth Tandoori by Robert Barnard (1998) – BR00066 (1999) – 🐸🐸🐸🐸⚪

The PolyBlog
October 10 1999

Plot or Premise

A young man goes to work for an artist in an artist commune, helping the aging artist by mixing the paints and holding the palette, as well as general valet duties. The painter begins a new painting and it is better than anything he has done in a long time, but with his resurgence in art comes a growth in a sense of foreboding around the relationship with the young man. Numerous references are made to the fact that there are unspecified things that the man just wouldn’t do. As the painting nears completion, the young man senses a change coming. A nude body of a young man is found in the trunk of a car parked behind a restaurant (hence the name of the book), and the police begin to investigate the boy’s identity.

What I Liked

The book is really well-written, and it is done out of linear time. The book opens with the police finding the body, and then just as they trace the young man to the artist’s commune, the story switches back in time to several months before when the young man first arrived at the commune. Then it follows the young man through his arrival at the commune, his integration into the community, and his relationship with the artist, right up until the impending change. Then it switches back to the police who finish off the investigation. A major twist at the end was easily seen beforehand, but there was still a second twist within the twist.

What I Didn’t Like

The second part of the twist opened up a lot of doors but the police never go through any of them, unfortunately. For example, the twist opens up a lot of avenues related to the psychology around the death of a child, the loss of a loved one, the loss of a friend, etc. As well, there is the end of one part of the story, a key ingredient, which is never touched upon at all. I found a lot of loose threads that could have been really interesting; instead, the book is wrapped up quickly, almost like the author was afraid to go near the deeper issues.

The Bottom Line

An excellent mystery but a few threads were left hanging.

Riding the Snake by Stephen J. Cannell (1998) – BR00054 (1999) – 🐸🐸🐸⚪⚪

The PolyBlog
June 5 1999

Plot or Premise

Stephen J. Cannell is a writing success on TV and this book is no exception. It takes a wealthy playboy (who never measured up to his father’s standards) and a black female cop (who came from the streets) and throws them together to investigate a crime committed by Asian tongs. About the only thing missing from the demographics are gays because we also have Russians and international intrigue. The short plot summary is that playboy Wheeler Cassidy loses his seemingly straight-laced brother to an Asian tong war involving immigrants “riding the snake” to America and the “free” elections in Hong Kong as it reverts to Chinese rule. Along as his investigative partner is a black cop, Tanisha Williams, being investigated for having ties still to her “hood”, and therefore assigned to a desk in the Asian bureau of the LAPD. She investigates the death of Cassidy’s brother and the brother’s secretary, and it all leads to Hong Kong — taxi to the airport!

What I Liked

A weird series of events leads from Hong Kong back to L.A. and more fights with the tongs, and a Russian nuclear bomb that has been smuggled into L.A.

What I Didn’t Like

Basically, the writing is fine, but the book is what happens when you take a Tom Clancy-type story, replace the spooks with characters from your average cop story on TV, and run it along the same TV format plot lines. No depth here, but it hits all the major story headlines from the popular press.

The Bottom Line

Holes all over the place but a fun ride.

The Year’s 25 Finest Crime and Mystery Stories (6th edition, 1996) edited by Joan Hess (1997) – BR00059 (1999) – 🐸🐸🐸⚪⚪

The PolyBlog
May 9 1999

Plot or Premise

A collection of the best stories from 1996.

What I Liked

Only seven stories are particularly memorable:

  • Robert J. Randisi: The Girl Who Talked To Horses — A Dick-Francis-type story involving murder in the stables with the horse framed for the murder. Great whodunnit, with a trap for the murderer, and all the explanations at the end. Cross between Francis and Christie.
  • S.J. Rozan: Hoops — Smith shows up investigating the death of a basketball player, the victim of an apparent murder-suicide after killing his pregnant girlfriend. His buddy doesn’t believe it and hires Smith to find out the real story. Suspects include a jealous ex-boyfriend with a future in basketball, numerous gang friends, a coach who helps them all, and even the dead kid since he was HIV positive. Another great story from Rozan. (4.5/5.0)
  • Monica Quill: Intent to Kill — A man plans the death of his wife but is surprised to find somebody beat him to it. Unfortunately, he is standing over the body when the cops arrive.
  • Sarah Shankman: Real Life — Clare is a script-writer for a top soap opera but she has been modelling her characters after her own life, and she was recently dumped by a man and she’s rather wimpy about it. During a stint as a prospective juror, she gets help from two other jurors to spice up the story and throw in a murder or two to get revenge through the TV on the ex-bf. A small twist at the end makes a nice ending.
  • Sara Paretsky: Publicity Stunts — A woman shock writer tries to hire Warshawski as a bodyguard but gets turned down. To get some publicity, the author gets a shock jock to attack V.I. on the air for her politics but when the woman gets killed, V.I. becomes suspect number one. Guess who has to find out who else had a motive to kill her?
  • Bill Pronzini: The Monster — A woman at home gets a bad vibe from a plumber and tries to keep him away from their children. Twist ending after a very short story.
  • Ruth Rendall: Clothes — An obsessive-compulsive shopper whose addiction is clothes. No real mystery to solve, nor crime until the end, but its obvious the story was written backwards from the crime at the end to explain the reasons leading up to it. Nicely done, with great character development.

Other so-so stories by Brendan Dubois (The Dark Snow — ex-CIA in retirement home); Lia Matera (Dead Drunk — someone’s killing the homeless); Ed McBain (Running from Legs — war hero and prohibition); Walter Satterthwait (Cassoulet — master chef and the girl who got away); John Lutz and David August (Toad Crossing — building a culvert for frogs); Maude Miller (The Last Word — three sisters, one not wanted); David Corn (My Murder — an author claims to have committed the perfect murder); James Grady (Kiss the Sky — inmate trying to stop a hit); Brett Simon (A Good Thing — a con of a wealthy Brit); Nancy Pickard (A Rock and a Hard Place — PI helping rape victim); and Donald Westlake (The Burglar and the Whatsit — burglar Santa helps drunk inventor).

What I Didn’t Like

Out of the 38 stories in the collection, there are three that are merely readable by Edward Hoch (The Narrow House — inexperienced woman starts grow-up in her house); Alan Russell (Married to a Murderer — socialite and a death-row inmate); and Reginald Hill (The Perfect Murder Club — people respond to ad in the newspaper about perfect murders). However, there are four more that are wastes of paper by Sam Pizzo (Wild Horses — Walter Mitty on the internet); Susan B. Kelly (Stalking Horse — undercover woman cop as a hitter); Anne Perry (The Escape — freedom fighters break out a criminal during French revolution); and Marcia Muller (The Cracks in the Sidewalk — novelist and an intriguing homeless woman).

The Bottom Line

Good collection of stories