The Empty Throne
By Bernard Cornwell
Harper. $27.99
The eighth novel in the long running Saxon Tales resumes with the problems that surfaced after the death of Alfred. Not only are the Vikings creating problems with continued raids but the Saxons are also bickering over who will take the throne now. Will it be Athelflaed, the sister of King Edward of Wessex, or Uhtred, the present Saxon king?
To complicate matters, not only has Uhtred been supportive of Athelflaed but he is also still suffering from serious battle wounds. In fact, if Uhtred can’t locate the sword that wounded him he’ll have even more serious problems.
Sound a bit chaotic? Well, it is, but if you have followed this historical saga you’ll fully fathom what is happening and you’ll want to continue this tenth century, action packed, soap opera.
Yes, the same folks who have packaged Downton Abbey are also making this into a BBC America/Carnival Films mini- series. So, at this point, if you haven’t read any of the series, you might wait for the first couple of shows. If you liked the programs then start at the beginning of the Saxon Tale rather than join the fray at this point!
On the other hand, those who have read the previous novels will consider this is a “must read”!
Flesh and Blood
By Patricia Cornwell
William Morrow. $ 28.99
Dr. Kay Scarpetta returns for an investigation that mixes pleasure with work. A serial marksman whose deadly accuracy has dispatched a number of victims in several states has killed a person just minutes from Kate’s home in Cambridge. Is there a connection between the crime and the seven new 1981 pennies she found on the wall behind her home?
Juggling the investigation with a planned vacation to Miami, Kate is going to discover that a shipwreck off Florida’s coast holds the key to a mystery that will touch upon her own family and perhaps bring a deadly adversary to justice…or not!
Many readers think Patricia Cornwell went to the well once too often with this 22nd novel featuring Dr. Kay Scarpetta. Check online at Amazon and you’ll see there are quite a few negative responses, so you’ll have to make the call.
My advice? I thought the book was OK but not as good as some of the early efforts. But then again, the author has over 100 million copies of her books in print, she has won a whole shelf of awards and has been writing since 1990. Cornwell is not going to hit a home run every time she walks up to the plate!
Winter at the Door
By Sarah Graves
Bantam. $26
If you are a Sarah Graves fan (the Home Repair series) you’ll want to read this latest novel featuring a new character, Elizabeth “Lizzie” Snow. Lizzie has taken a new assignment in rural Bearkill, Maine, with the local Sheriff’s Department. As you’ll see, the experienced Boston detective has an ulterior motive for heading north to the desolate area close to the Canadian border.
The local sheriff also has his own somewhat hidden agenda for hiring Lizzie. A number of his retired officers have been dying in odd ways and Cody Chevrier wants some “Big City” expertise to check out the situation.
Lizzie also finds her former boyfriend also working in the area with the state authorities and that means this will be a bittersweet but important reunion. The kidnapping of a local child from a well known family complicates the central problem facing the county’s newest officer, but she’ll discover everything in this frigid county is related in one way or another.
Local characters include a sinister survivalist living in the woods, a bumbling clan of meth producers and some office help that really isn’t that helpful.
This is a good start for this new series and once you get to know Lizzie Snow you’ll want to accompany her on further adventures.
Mean Streak
By Sandra Brown
Grand Central. $26
A mixture of suspense, forbidden love, and an unforgettable female protagonist makes this a multilayered thriller that Sandra Brown’s many fans won’t want to miss.
Dr. Emory Charbonneau, a pediatrician and marathon runner, disappears while on a training run in a national park. Her husband takes too long to report Emory missing and by the time he does, the trail has literally gone cold with snow and ice covering the area.
Suffering from an unexplained head injury, Emory wakes up to find she is the captive of a man with a very violent past. The situation becomes even more complicated when the doctor and her captor find themselves involved in a dispute with a group of equally dangerous folks.
It is a complicated scenario where wrong and right plus fear and passion are so tumbled together that Dr. Emory Charbonneau not longer knows whom to trust and love.
You’ll be captivated just like the central character by the wild plot twists and steamy romance that make “Mean Streak” such a quick and riveting read.
Die Again: A Rizzoli & Isles Novel
By Tess Gerritsen
Ballantine. $27
Created by best selling crime writer Tess Gerritsen, Maura Isles and Jane Rizzoli are not only the head characters in a popular set of novels but the duo is also featured in a television series.
In this latest thriller Detective Jane Rizzoli has been assigned one of the most puzzling and challenging cases she has ever encountered. A big game hunter has been found dead in his apartment with the body of a white snow leopard he was commissioned to obtain for a local museum.
While Rizzoli is pondering this unusual crime scene and what it means, medical examiner Maura Isles is trying to make sense of a series of unrelated deaths that have one common characteristic. The victims were all found hanging upside down. This just happens to be the hallmark of a leopard kill.
Believing there is a connection between the assignments they are working on, Rizzoli and Isles begin to follow a trail that takes them from Boston and Maine to Botswana where four years previously a safari trip went terribly wrong. The sole survivor of that trip may well hold the key to the cases the women are working on.
One of the more successful investigative duos in crime fiction today, Rizzoli and Isles has a vast audience. The ardent members of their fan club will not be disappointed by this latest adventure. In fact, some may say it is one of the best Gerritsen has created thus far.