"When Evil Calls" by Melinda Woodhall

Bridget Bishop FBI mystery book #5

Having left her private practice, Bridget is back with the FBI to her role as a profiler. She is determined to help U.S Marshall Vic Santino identify and capture a serial killer who murdered his wife eight years ago. Reviving this cold case as also drawn out of hiding the unknown killer....more killings and the search is on...

Following in the footsteps of Vic and Bridget is entertaining and an enjoyable page-turner filled with red-herrings. The plot is captivating and moves at a steady pace keeping the attention well till the very end. We have some intertwining situations bringing in the present moments of the past, most were essential to understand the situation at hand. As more girls get murdered, a link ties them to Our Lady of Sparrows Academy where Vic’s wife was once a student.....why? Who can it be?

This is an emotional story placing both Bridget and Santino at the heart of a deadly saga. Ms. Woodhall pens their dilemma with great care while placing them in a race against time no one can predict how it will turn out.

Ms. Woodhall stories usually flawlessly written but this time I was distracted by minor errors such as mixing up names. I may be picky but that is the way it is, nevertheless I enjoyed the story quite a bit. After all this author is on my watch list and I wouldn’t want to miss any mystery she puts out.

I received a free copy of this book and I leave a voluntary review, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

"The Enigma of Room 622", by Joël Dicker

On the trail of an unsolved crime

This is one long journey that cannot be read quickly. This massive page-turner of 577 pages is a prolonged teasing of us the reader. So be patient this story is filled with humour, unrequested love said in a clever and intriguing way. This is the story of an amateur sleuth investigating a murder while writing a book on his discoveries.

It starts when an author named Joel retreats to a Swiss Alps luxury hotel to restore after personal traumas: the death of his mentor and being snubbed by the woman he was drawn to. At the hotel he is assigned to room 623. Looking for his room he noticed that on the 6th floor the number go from 621, 621A, 623. Where is Room 622? Curiosity got the better of him thus the start of this wonderful and captivating story.

This story has multiple layers but I found it to be easy to follow even with its frenzy switching back and forth between the past and the present. By the end I thought this to give a touch of burlesque to the experience. But I assure you, once into the beat of the story I was totally hooked. The author is so adept with his sleight of hand; concealing essential facts from us for instance we are deep into the novel before we find out who was murdered and finding out the murderer took close to 577 pages to discover.

This novel is one that oscillates between suspense and vaudeville, mixing bank embezzlement and amorous intrigues without exits. What could be more Swiss than a group of bankers or a fallen Russian aristocrat who seeks to marry her daughters to one of them? “The Enigma of Room 622”, is a completely addictive novel that winks at the banking world, plays on several levels and pays tribute to its publisher, Bernard de Fallois, deceased
in Paris in 2018.


I loved every moment reading this book

"Her Deadly Game", by Robert Dugoni

A Legal Thriller

Keera Duggan is a defense attorney working cases in her family law firm. Being a former chess player and with the right moves, she hope to restore the family’s reputation, her relationship with her father and her career. Her big chance to play in the big league came when Vince Larussa, an investment adviser was accused of murdering his disable and wealthy wife. As Keera follow the evidence, she soon faced a complicated and deadly game she hadn’t bargain for.

Told in a direct and concise manner omitting fluff or off the beat side bars Mr. Dugani’s cleverly knows how to pull his audience with a narrative that waste no time with extensive descriptions yet gives us enough details to let us imagine the setting and the characters with ease. I love how he offers clues early then pulls our attention away, springs a trap and creates out of the blue twists to derail us.

In my books, Robert Dugani is a master storyteller and an exceptional legal thriller writer. The narration has loads of momentum and his multi-faceted story keeps us captive and on the edge of our seats from the get-go. Set in Seattle “Her Deadly Game” explores a case of a wheelchair-bound woman found dead in her home where the husband is the prime suspect with aplomb.

Did Keera open a Pandora box looking into the case or will it be simply a slam dunk case.....And with a magic touch....they answer will come behind the words. Well said, well done.

I received this ARC from Thomas & Mercer via Netgalley for my thoughts

"Polar Bear Dawn", by Lyle Nicholson

Detective Bernadette Callahan Mystery book #1

Multiple murders in the high Arctic have police searching for answers. Two detectives, one in Alaska, one in Canada are given the case. They find similarities in the murders that will lead to a chilling conclusion. Detective Callahan knows she is right but her superiors are intent on silencing her before she can prove that the murders are connected. They want her to wrap up the case in a tidy murder/suicide. But doing so is not in Bernadette’s DNA.

There are so many characters in this drama that I found it took time to get into the swing of things but once I pieced everything together I started to enjoy the story better. It is a tale of corporate terrorism and manipulation with a mad professor held bent to case trouble with the aid of his sidekick “Margaret”, they intend to deploy his invention: a chemical treatment to disrupt oil production in Alaska and Alberta. This wouldn’t be an Artic saga without mention of a polar bear and yes we have one to play havoc with the oil workers.

Although this story may be a bit unrealistic and over the top it is nevertheless quite engaging, of course if you don’t mind some editing and formatting issues that can be somewhat distracting. I did find the plot to be convoluted and keeping track of all the characters challenging. Hey, who doesn’t like a mystery with terrorist attacks, brutal murderers, conspiracy plans, a few plot twists thrown in to keep your attention at bay?

It is an easy reading story I didn’t mind spending with.

"Black Wolf Rising", by Lyle Nicholson

Detective Bernadette Callahan Mystery book #.05

This prequel of 180 pages or so introduces us to the earlier years of Bernadette’s life telling us her background as a young person and what propelled her to look into a career in law enforcement. Starting this series with this one is a good move and not a bad idea to read it if you already have been pulled in with Bernadette strong will and ingenuity.

In a few words:

Bernadette is a troubled child, anger is her weakness. Gang members hate her for not being of pure ethnicity threatens her and her loved ones every time they have a chance. Till the day she ran away from the reservation and found a way to stop them.

My thoughts:

Even with the many sub-plots and the many characters we come across following this teenage through her ups and downs is attention grabbing. This fast-paced action mystery could have been easier to grasp and much more enjoyable if I didn’t have to reread some words that skipped the eyes of proofreaders. Nevertheless we have a good story here. As for Bernadette’s character she is a loveable one and it is great to see how she handles herself.

book#1 next.

"Good Dog, Bad Coop", by David Rosenfelt

The K Team book # 4

I haven’t read the previous books in this series and I had no trouble to piece everything together and smoothly fit in while I enjoyed tagging along with Corey Douglas, his K-9 partner Simon Garfunkel, Laurie Collins as well as with Marcus Clack while these private investigators went about sniffing the truth.

The Paterson PD hired the team to investigate several cold cases, one in particular involving a murdered police officer while he was on a stake out... The rumour is that he may have been a dirty cop but the team rejects this idea. Looking deeper into this, the team finds two more deaths that could be related....and as the task gets even more complex they find themselves in chaotic and turbulent situations.

This is a challenging read with lots of characters to keep track of and with the many unexpected twists that come one after the other you really need to stay focus on what is going on. The narration is done by Corey and his tone is enjoyable. The plot is not only well developed but will keep you on the edge of your seat from the beginning. This active and quick paced story will entice you to flip pages rapidly to see the outcome.

This is fun read.

My thanks to St-Martins Press and Netgalley for this ARC