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Harry Bosch is back and I couldn’t be happier.

In a bit of random weirdness, I had started reading this and got to a bit of history on the 110 freeway when my reading was interrupted by a news alert. There had been a fatal accident  involving a tour bus and a truck – on the 110. Freaked me out a bit.

When we last saw Harry, he was suing the city of Los Angeles for forcing him into retirement. He’s won his suit but made some enemies along the way.

Harry has his private investigator license, but no office. No, he’s not emulating his brother, Mickey Haller, AKA the Lincoln Lawyer, but with his skills and reputation, no office is necessary.

He’s also working as a detective, albeit a volunteer one, for the San Fernando Police Department. The small town has been hit with major budget cuts, leaving only 2 detectives on staff, so the chief is delighted to have someone with Harry’s credentials helping out.

SFPD has a serial rapist on their hands and Harry is making some headway into the case. Nicknamed the “screen cutter” because his MO is to cut open a screen to gain access to the home, he is raping women who keep their menstrual cycles on a visible calendar and attacks when they are at their most fertile – or clean.

On the private side of things, Harry is summoned with a $10,000 check to the home of a steel billionaire. He never married and is quite old, but thinks he may have had a child. He wants Harry to find out if he has any heirs. But billions of dollars are at stake and that could be dangerous.

Connelly is a master of detail; Harry’s time in Vietnam, his relationship with his daughter, now that’s she away at college, and all the fallout from his lawsuit with the LAPD just add more depth to the character.

Harry’s half brother, Micky Haller, has an important part in the story but doesn’t steal the show.

The two plotlines keep the pages turning in this fast paced, beautifully written tale. I can’t remember the last time a Connelly book didn’t make my best books of the year list, and this one certainly will. I read this book in one sitting, I couldn’t put it down.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; Michael Connelly is the finest writer today in crime fiction, bar none.

10/16 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

THE WRONG SIDE OF GOODBYE by Michael Connelly. Little, Brown and Company (November 1, 2016). ISBN 978-0316225946. 400p.

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An Andy Carpenter Novel, Book 15

Andy is back along with all his friends, just in time for Christmas. While this book has a Christmassy title and an adorable Christmassy cover, the only thing Christmassy about it is that it is set in December.

That said, fans of the series will be happy with this new read. A friend of Andy nicknamed Pups, due to her fostering dozens of pups as needed, is at first in need of a lawyer when a neighbor complains about the number of animals in her home. Andy defends her and she wins, but then the neighbor is murdered and Pups is the one who finds his body.

Andy springs to her defense, only to learn that Pups is dying and will never live to serve time. Nonetheless, she wants to prove her innocence and Andy is only too happy to help her. Then the plot thickens; Pups’ husband had been killed months earlier along with a local gangster, and it turns out the same weapon was used to kill the neighbor. Now the charges include murdering all three men.

Lots of twists and turns and lots of help from Lori, Marcus, Edna and the rest of the gang make this another enjoyable addition to the series.

10/16 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

TWELVE DOGS OF CHRISTMAS by David Rosenfelt. Minotaur Books (October 18, 2016).  ISBN 978-1250106766. 336p.

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10/16 Paul Lane

THE KILLING GAME by J.S. Carol. Bookouture (October 13, 2016). ASIN: B01LXKJUNR. 359p.

10/16 Paul Lane

CARIBBEAN’S KEEPER by Brian Boland. Warriors Publishing Group (October 11, 2016).  ISBN 978-1944353117.

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10/16 Paul Lane

TREASON by Newt Gingrich & Pete Earley. Center Street (October 11, 2016).  ISBN 978-1455530441. 384p.

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France is again in the headlines when a bus full of British teenagers is bombed. One of the teens on board is Sabina “Bee” Ortley, whose father has recently been suspended from the British police.

Bish Ortley is having a terrible time dealing with his divorce and his job loss, but springs out of his depression and into action, helping hunt down the lead suspect, Violette LeBrac Zidane. Zidane is another teen on the bus, but comes from two generations of bombers causing almost everyone to think she was responsible, but the police believe Violette may have been the target.

The relationships between the teens, their parents, and the police help draw the reader in and make an emotional connection, while the novel moves between different points of view and delves into themes of prejudice, dysfunctional families, and has political overtones as well.

This timely thriller is the popular young adult author Marchetta’s adult debut, and while her fans will easily make the transition with her, she should gain some new adult readers as well.

Copyright ©2016 Booklist, a division of the American Library Association.

10/16 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

TELL THE TRUTH, SHAME THE DEVIL by Melina Marchetta. Mulholland Books (October 11, 2016). ISBN 978-0316349291. 416p.

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Death Investigator Angela Richman, Book 1

Angela Richman is a death investigator in the upper crust neighborhood known as The Forest. While investigating two very different cases – the death of an elderly bachelor, which Angela is convinced is accidental, and the death of a local teen in a drag racing incident, Angela is virtually crippled by what she believes is a migraine. One serious misdiagnosis and almost three weeks la cocky neurosurgeon. And when the doc that sent her home the first time around is murdered, Angela’s savior is the prime suspect.

While we’ve certainly seen death investigations carried out by medical examiners and such, this new series from Elaine Viets is the first to feature an actual death investigator.

I do love the idea of a death investigator as the protagonist in this series. Frankly, I’m amazed we haven’t actually seen it before. Angela is called to the scene of any death that doesn’t occur under medical care. It’s her job to photograph, collect, and collate evidence that may be linked to the death or help the medical examiner and police in determining cause of death. And While Angela is a respected member of the community, her attention to detail and her unwillingness to let the standing of some of her neighbors affect her investigations definitely creates some tension between her and other local law enforcement. And even while hospitalized and fighting for her life, the investigator still manages to ruffle more than a few feathers.

Interestingly, this first outing is based heavily in Viets’s own experiences back in 2007, when the author (as Angela does) suffered a series of strokes after being sent home under the guise of being “too young and fit to have a stroke.”

Brain Storm certainly isn’t cozy, but I’m sure Viets’s long time fans will find much to enjoy in this darker series first.

10/16 Becky LeJeune

BRAIN STORM by Elaine Viets. Thomas & Mercer (August 2, 2016).  ISBN 978-1503936317. 320p.