Fender Benders
by Bill Fitzhugh

In his first three novels, Bill Fitzhugh created new strains of homicidal insects, sliced open the illegal transplant business, and sinfully skewered the Church and Madison Avenue with the same spear. Now he turns his attention to the hitmaking machinery of Music City, U.S.A. Depending on your point of view, Fender Benders is either a skewed look at the country music industry or a clear-eyed view of a damn screwy business. It's a Grand Old Opera complete with murder, treachery, greed, drugs, twangy music, a love triangle, and the best fried swimps you'll ever put in your mouth.

First off, some folks down South have taken to dropping like flies. One minute they have a headache, the next they have a date at the funeral home. Seems some lunatic is tampering with boxes of headache powder, lacing them with sodium fluoroacetate. It's a nasty death, but at least it's quick, and it makes you forget you had a headache.

Second off, Eddie Long wants to move to Nashville and become a country music star, but right now he's stuck in Hinchcliff, Mississippi. Eddie's big break comes with a contract to tour the Mississippi casino circuit. While he's on the road, his wife dies, the victim of an apparent serial killer. The emotional turmoil of his wife's death causes Eddie to write the best song of his life. He takes it to Nashville, hooks up with a hoary management company, and launches his career.

Meanwhile, Jimmy Rogers is a freelance writer covering the Mississippi music scene. He loves writing and a girl named Megan. Jimmy decides early on that he is going to write Eddie's biography. But as he's researching Eddie's wife's murder, Jimmy comes to a surprising conclusion. He can't prove it, but publishing it might make his own career. Megan is a smart, talented, and popular radio personality in a tiny market. But she wants a faster way to Easy Street. So she turns to Eddie. In Nashville. Before it's all over, everybody's planning to make a killing one way or another -- including the kind that has nothing to do with money.

But, as frequently happens on Music Row, things don't always turn out as planned. Rip-roaring with the author's trademark blend of withering insight, divine absurdity, and an outrageous cast of players, "Fender Benders" is a hilarious, action-packed, no-punches-pulled look at the music makers and fakers who would do literally anything for a hit record. Here is the irrepressible Bill Fitzhugh at his wildest and funniest. Betcha dolla!

---review by Andrew

Reservations for Murder by Tim Myers
Berkeley Prime Crime
ISBN 0425185257
June 4, 2002 release date
$5.99

Proprietor of the IBN Hatteras West Inn, Alex Winston would just as soon not get involved with another murder. Unfortunately, some people just aren't very considerate and blacksmith Jefferson Lee has been literally skewered to a timber of Alex's new building, hoist on his own petard, so to speak. The Golden Days Fair, showcasing old-fashioned artisans and crafters, is about to open on the inn's grounds and there are way too many potential suspects. If Alex is going to prevent more bad publicity, he's going to have to do some snooping of his own...

Author Tim Myers brings back a delightful cast of small-town characters in this sequel to Agatha-nominated "Innkeeping With Murder" and introduces us to a few more we'll hope to meet again. Alex's sleuthing, hindered somewhat by an old girlfriend's amorous hints and the dislike that nearly everyone felt for the murdered man, is not especially appreciated by the local sheriff but Alex is convinced the sheriff is heading in the wrong direction. In the meantime, his housekeeper and friend, Ellie, has left town and gossip has it she's not coming back. So what else can go wrong?

"Reservations for Murder" and it's predecessor, "Innkeeping With Murder", are highly recommended for everyone who loves a true cozy mystery.

Every First Saturday by Bobby Jaye Allen
Accolade Books
ISBN 0971208204
$8.99

Set in a small college town in Ohio, this is a tale of the murder of the campus golden girl during the week before Homecoming. Cy Sweetly seemed to have it all---beauty, charisma, brains, a future of wealth and fame, but there is little sorrow shown for her death. As Chief of Security Brady Kincaid investigates, other truths about Cy Sweetly begin to emerge and the retired Cleveland police detective finds himself with a plethora of theories and suspects.

Aiding in his investigation are the Carroway cousins, Claudia and Joyce. Both women grew up in the town and are alumnae of the college and Cy's sorority; Claudia is now the Dean of Women while Joyce lives in Michigan and has returned for Homecoming. The two women are a treasure trove of information and useful gossip, including speculation about an unsolved murder of another coed twenty years earlier.

Who was the real Cy Sweetly? Who hated her enough to kill her and what had she done to cause such hate? Was it a spurned lover, a jealous wife, an envious fellow student, someone from her past? And just what was her past?

This is a very enjoyable, well-written story and is full of twists and turns. Even the title, "Every First Saturday" plays a crucial role in solving the mystery. I particularly enjoyed the way Joyce and Claudia are very important in Brady's investigation but are not actively involved as sleuths. This is a mystery that's difficult to categorize---part cozy, part police procedural---but author Bobby Jaye Allen has created an engaging set of characters I hope to meet again.

Kickback by p. m. terrell
Chicago Spectrum Press
ISBN 1879260417
May 2002
$9.95

Sheila Carpenter is a recent college graduate, a farm girl just starting her career as a computer programmer in the big city, Washington, DC. Recruited by a prestigious computer consulting firm, she's rented a lovely townhouse in Old Town Alexandria, a place she's delighted to have even if she can't afford any furniture to put in it yet. Sheila is living her dream.

Her first assignment is with a large trucking broker, a firm which contracts with trucking companies all over the country to haul products for its clients. Her job is to create the programs that will allow the company to move its computer operations from an old mainframe to a PC system. Within a few days, though, she learns that what they really want is a new program that she believes must be illegal, although she's not entirely sure.

Seeking advice, Sheila runs into brick walls everywhere. Her employer is dismissive of her concerns and law enforcement doesn't seem to be interested; in fact, they treat her with disdain even when real trouble begins with a break-in and assault at her home and a death ruled a suicide when she is sure it's murder. Fear begins to escalate as Sheila realizes she is being followed and bodies begin to pile up. There is only one person she can trust but she's going to have to find the evidence herself if she has any chance of surviving.

The action in this soft-boiled thriller is nearly constant and the suspense builds to a crescendo that is nearly unbearable but also irresistible. Those of us who are voracious readers have the pleasure of reading many very fine works; most of us, though, don't ever have the experience of discovering a real gem and that is what this is. "Kickback" is a joy to read for a number of reasons---great story, wonderful writing, good grammar (which is important to me), a protagonist who could be yourself or your daughter or sister, red herrings galore. This is the author's first novel and, if it gets the attention it deserves, I expect p. m. terrell will become one of the big names in the mystery field.

---reviews by Lelia

The Bloodied Cravat
by Rosemary Stevens

It is the height of London's Society season in 1806 and George "Beau" Brummell has gone to Oatlands, the country home of Frederica, the Duchess of York, for a weekend party celebrating her birthday. Unfortunately, he is having some difficulty maintaining his usual sartorial splendor as the esteemed Robinson and Beau's luggage are long overdue.

As it turns out, Robinson has been held up by a highwayman and all of Beau's belongings have been stolen except his gift for Freddie, which Robinson protected at risk of life, limb and dignity. Among the missing items is Beau's scrapbook which contains a letter written to him by Freddie in a moment of weakness, a letter which, if exposed, could cause a Royal scandal and lead to Beau's disgrace. At all costs, Beau must find the letter, and that means he must unmask the highwayman.

In the meantime, Freddie's other guests have arrived, including a few of questionable quality. There are some thefts and Freddie receives the first blackmail threat. Feeling betrayed by Beau, she becomes noticeably cool towards him and begins to show favor to those who would be pleased to see him lose his high place in Society.

A guest who has managed to antagonize nearly everyone is murdered during the house party. Freddie calls in John Lavender of Bow Street, a dour Scot with a low opinion of Society in general and George Brummell in particular, largely because of his earlier attentions to Lavender's lovely daughter, Lydia. Beau knows that Lavender would like nothing better than to prove him guilty of the murder, propelling him into his own attempt to solve the murder as well as find the letter. Above all, Beau needs to win back the Duchess's affection and trust.

Agatha award-winning and national bestselling author Rosemary Stevens brings the reader into the heart of Regency life, ranging from high society to the criminal world of Seven Dials, with both pathos and humor. The Siamese cat Chakkri, "otherwise known as Master and Supreme Ruler of the Brummell Household", continues to be Robinson's nemesis while Beau contends with more bodies, blackmail threats, spying and the malevolent gazes of Lavender and Freddie's companion, Ulga. Red herrings abound to keep the reader guessing and Beau's pain and confusion are evident as his feelings for both Freddie and Lydia become more apparent in this third entry in the Beau Brummell series. Ms. Stevens has created another winner and readers will clamor for more.

---review by Lelia

ANY BOOK
by Chassie West
(an Edgar nominee!!)

My "new find" author is Chassie West, whom I met at Bouchercon. District of Columbia police officer Leigh Ann returns to her hometown in North Carolina while recovering from an on-the-job incident. Her return to Sunrise, NC brings up lots of memories about high school days when she learns that the local school is about to be torn down to make way for a new shopping mall. The cemetery behind her childhood home will have to be moved, but bones are found somewhere they shouldn't have been. Leigh gets involved in helping local elders, whom she grew up around, but now she's an adult with expertise of her own. Some race relations interaction (Leigh Ann is African-American), mostly a lot of just plain good interaction of all sorts.

I loved West's characters, dialog, interactions. The plot was pretty good, and although I knew whodunit, I was wrong about whydunit. I hope Leigh Ann is a series character and not a stand-alone, since I really liked her. Smart, strong, generally mentally healthy, with a sense of humor...all the things I like in characters (male or female). Fell asleep twice yesterday trying to finish this book, and got up early this morning to finish it. I'm a new fan of Chassie West's books!!

---review by Beth

The Obsidian Butterfly
by Laurell K. Hamilton

This is the latest in a line of novels about the supernatural adventures of one Anita Blake, vampire executioner, zombies raiser, and preternatural expert. From the first one called "Guilty Pleasures" to this last one set in New Mexico, the reader becomes enamored of this strong female character. She is a tiny person in stature, but not in mind, tough as nails and not about to let a man do the work that she feels she can do.

In "The Obsidian Butterfly," which is the name of a nightclub patterned after an Aztec temple and owned by the Vampire Master of the City of Albuquerque, something has killed some and left alive but skinned other humans in some bizarre events.

It is Edward, the hit man that specializes in monsters, vampires, shapeshifters, anything and everything, who has come to St. Louis to bring her to where we find out that he lives, and where the horrifying, grotesque events have happened. He has also called upon two others for help, Olaf and Bernardo; one of these men, Anita and the reader will learn, is as much a monster as those he hunts. In this novel the reader will be able to finally know more about the enigmatic bounty hunter/hit man. One learns that he is more complex and more capable of emotions than even Anita realizes. More than Edward himself realizes...

Here, in this novel, we don't have Jean-Claude, the Vampire Master of St. Louis, or Richard, the Alpha Werewolf, with both of whom she is involved. Instead, this story takes a break from that tangled web of a romance, and centers on Anita trying to sort out and understand her feelings for both men, while she tries to find the monster. And she helps Edward, not only with the investigation, but also with his own tangled romance with Donna, a widow with two children.

Though I have met many who hate horror and won't read it (yet they don't seem to consider the Anita Blake novels as horror), I would recommend being careful in reading this one if you hate the blood, mutilation, etc., of a true horror story. This book, I think, goes beyond the previous Anita Blake adventures, with all the embellishments of a horror tale.

Still, the book is good and kept me interested, not putting it down until I finished it. I recommend that you read this one if you have read the other ones -- and, yes, read it, even if you haven't read the others. The characters, the storyline, and Anita herself make this a book worthy of Laurell K. Hamilton, an author I have met who seems to embody Anita in the living flesh, size and all.

---review by Pamela

Just Your Everyday People
by Fred Yager and Jan Yager

Two couples, seemingly unremarkable people, go out for a night of drinking and dancing. This is a routine way for these four friends to unwind at the end of the week and, at first, all seems to be normal. Then the Stranger appears on the scene; one of the four does something that will set off a chain of horrifying events and the body count climbs at an ever-increasing pace.

The authors have created a story that is both suspenseful and puzzling and the identity of the killer is in doubt until almost the very end. There were times when I had to put the book down because I was so disturbed by the actions of one or another character and I wondered about the title, Just Your Everyday People. Everyday people? Not in my world. Something about it, however, compelled me to keep reading and I found myself becoming more and more involved in the story and the underlying theme. I also slowly came to the realization that these are, indeed, just your everyday people, and they are in my world.

This is not just a mystery, not the kind of character and plot development the reader might expect to find in a novel of suspense. The Yagers have interwoven their story with a psychological, or perhaps sociological, study of the human psyche, of the truth that lies behind the facade. How well do we know those we think of as our friends? What secrets do we keep from each other, even those closest to us? Just how far down the road to self-destruction are "everyday people" capable of going?

When all is said and done, this is a tale of the choices we make and the consequences of those choices, consequences that may not become apparent until years later. Fred and Jan Yager have given us a heart-stopping story that also makes the reader think, about herself and the people in her life. That's not always a very comfortable thing to do but this is a book that begs to be read.

---review by Lelia

Eleven Days
by Donald Harstad

I really enjoyed this book, even though I've turned squeamish lately and don't read the gory stuff I used to be able to. Some of the details in the beginning of the book were way too much for me, but I skipped paragraphs and kept reading. Cop in small midwestern town (Iowa) comes upon a killing which looks to have Satanic ties. Throw in some sexual rituals, shady characters with Satanic names, some good'ol'boy cops, a few local characters....and it was a really good read.

Every now and then I would get confused about who a certain character was -- mostly related to the layers of cops working on the case. It either didn't matter or I figured it out. More than just enjoyable -- the book was compelling -- the kind of book that, when you're not reading it, you're wondering when you can get back to reading it. I took it in the hot tub at the hotel twice -- and usually I just like to soak.

---review by Beth

Death Stalks The Khmer
by Patricia Harrington

A double killing has taken place in the Cambodian community of a town in Washington. Gathering evidence and information from the community is going to be very difficult, given the reluctance of the Cambodians to talk to the police, so Bridget O'Hern is asked to act as liaison.

Bridget is a consultant with the Southeast Asian Assistance Agency and, although her knowledge of the language is limited, she has gained the trust of many of the Cambodians and is familiar with their customs and cultural behavior. Detective Jack Patrewski resists her help at first, considering her more of a nuisance than anything, and his new partner, Consuelo Morales, dismisses her participation.

Interwoven throughout the initial murder investigation is the element of Asian teenage gang activity and their apparent attempts to recruit the children of the murdered couple. In addition, there are hints of illegal activities by some of the leaders of the community. Bridg and Jack must work through the various possible motives of the killings and the people who might be involved while also trying to protect the children, against great odds.

The author has created a fascinating tale, not only in the mystery of the murders, but in the story of the refugees from the Khmer Rouge. To many westerners, the entire Asian culture and history are mysteries in themselves, and none more so than the Cambodian. Ms. Harrington has worked for many years with the Cambodian refugee community in the Puget Sound region and her experience and knowledge are readily apparent. The murder mystery by itself is very good and the additional benefit of gaining a little understanding of the people makes this a book that will have great appeal.

---review by Lelia

Read past reviews:

Quietly Dead by Laura Belgrave
No Time to Die by Grace F. Edwards
Strawberry Shortcake Murder by Joanne Fluke
Treasure Box by Orson Scott Card
The Birth of Blue Satan by Patricia Wynn
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Murder of a Sweet Old Lady by Denise Swanson
Harm None by M.R. Sellars
The Hollow by Todd Hayes
Meg by Steve Alten
The Trench by Steve Alten
The Good Die Twice by Lee Driver
Full Moon Bloody Moon by Lee Driver