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Jim Born has been with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for so long he’s about ready to retire. So when he writes a police procedural, you can be sure it will be accurate. I’ve enjoyed all of his books and this new one is really terrific, especially if you like dogs.

Tim Hallett was a detective who got a little overzealous in his determination to find a missing child. He saved the child, but got booted from the detective squad. In a stroke of luck, he was paired up with a Belgian Malinois named Rocky as part of a new K-9 unit. Born really did his homework here, and I loved all the inside info on how these magnificent dogs are trained and treated.

When a teenager goes missing, the dogs (and their human partners) are called into action. They get led on a chase that is both devious and disturbing, especially for Hallett.

This is a fast paced story set in the wilds of south Florida, and I loved the occasional perspective from the dog. Another excellent read from this talented author.

4/15 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

SCENT OF MURDER by James O. Born.  Forge Books (April 7, 2015).  ISBN 978-0765378477. 304p.

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A thrill a minute legal novel written by a practicing attorney. Events involved in a high profile trial are brought to life by Mitzner allowing the reader to understand that the outcome is not a cut and dried guilty or not guilty situation but a verdict brought about by manipulations on both sides.

Aaron Littman, a 51 year old highly successful lawyer, and the chairman of a large and very prestigious wall street law firm is approached to talk with Nikolai Garkov. Garkov is currently awaiting trial on charges of terrorism for manipulating the financial strings behind recent treasonous acts. He offers Aaron 100,000.00 dollars just to take the meeting. Nikolai is to be tried under the gavel of Judge Faith Nichols and knows that Aaron had an affair with her while acting as defense in a previous case. He tells Aaron that if he doesn’t take his case the affair will be made very public.

Events move swiftly, and the machinations of both the prosecuting attorney in the Garkov case and Aaron and his associates are presented very clearly. Clouding the events is the murder of Judge Nichols and the blame placed on Littman. The majority of the book is a masterpiece of insight into the legal world. The climax becomes somewhat contrived but does not spoil a great piece of legal fiction.

It is clear that Mitzner will continue writing, in all likelihood in a field headed by John Grisham. His characters are very well sketched out and become alive in his hands. An old axiom about methods that should be used by authors is to write about areas that they know about. This is a given in Mitzner’s novel and should continue as he goes forward in the literary aspect of his career.

4/15 Paul Lane

LOSING FAITH by Adam Mitzner. Gallery Books (April 14, 2015). ISBN 978-1476764245. 368p.

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Livy and Will have some problems in their marriage; Will had an affair and lucky Livy gets to meet the ex-mistress at Will’s holiday work party. She’s stressing about it and ignores her best friend Julia’s texts that night.

Livy and Julia have been friends for 18 years, since Livy’s sister Kara was murdered walking home from a college party. They have plans for lunch the next day but when Livy gets there, she finds Julia dead on the sofa. The police rule it a suicide but Livy isn’t buying it.

Then Livy meets Julia’s secret boyfriend, and they team up to try to figure out what really happened. They delve into Julia’s life, and Livy is shocked to learn that Julia was obsessed with Kara’s unresolved murder and had never given up trying to find her killer.

Interspersed throughout the book are memoir type chapters written by the murderer so we can see how he evolves into a serial killer. Almost every person in Julia’s life becomes a suspect at one point or another, but the ending is a bit of a stretch in this suburban UK nightmare.

Copyright ©2015 Booklist, a division of the American Library Association.

4/15 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

YOU CAN TRUST ME by Sophie McKenzie. St. Martin’s Press (April 14, 2015). ISBN 978-1250033994. 304p.

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Dr. Eric Parrish is Chief of the psychiatric unit at a top rated hospital outside Philadelphia. His wife has filed for divorce and he is trying to remain the caring and involved dad he’s always been to their seven year old daughter. He is called to consult on a patient, an elderly woman dying of cancer, but quickly realizes it’s her caretaker, her 17 year-old grandson Max, who really needs the consult.

Max is suffering from a severe case of OCD, complete with rituals every fifteen minutes, plus depression issues exacerbated by his alcoholic mother and terminally ill grandmother. Max agrees to treatment, and a few sessions in he loses his grandmother and admits to having fantasies of killing a young woman – who ends up dead. Then he disappears.

Eric is extremely empathetic, an excellent quality in a psychiatrist, but becomes way too involved in searching for his missing patient and putting himself in harm’s way. By invoking doctor-patient privilege, he incurs the wrath of the police department and becomes a person of interest himself, getting suspended from his job and giving his wife ammunition in the child custody battle.

Occasional chapters from the killer’s viewpoint seem to lead the reader towards an obvious conclusion, but Scottoline has plenty of tricks up her sleeve, making this story twist and turn with one surprise after another. Every Fifteen Minutes is a standalone departure from her usual, should please her readers but also earn her some new fans.

Copyright ©2015 Booklist, a division of the American Library Association.

4/15 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

EVERY FIFTEEN MINUTES by Lisa Scottoline.  St. Martin’s Press (April 14, 2015).  ISBN 978-1250010117. 448p.

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Jack Dana is a star student of history at Yale University with a probable future in the academic world when he changes course right after the events of 9/11. He joins the Marines as an infantry officer and receives training in the world of damaging and killing other human beings; a far cry from the staid world of academia. He serves in both Iraq and Afghanistan and is seriously wounded in the field.

While recuperating from the wound he begins writing a book about his military experiences. Jack is invited to move in with his uncle Harry, his surrogate father, in New York’s Manhattan borough. He completes the novel while there, and with help from Harry finds a publisher who buys the book. He writes another novel and succeeds in selling that also.

Jack decides that with the success of two books he is entitled to a vacation and goes to Brazil staying at a ranch there for three months. Ultimately bored with the quiet life he flies home but an e-mail arrives indicating that uncle Harry has committed suicide by hanging himself in a home that he owns in Sag Harbor on Long Island.

Jack starts to delve into the apparent suicide and begins unearthing indications that Harry had begun gathering data about an Abner Brown who is the most important client for the law firm Harry worked for. In the course of Jack’s investigation he meets Kerry Black, a young woman employed by Harry’s law firm, with whom he strikes up a serious romance. He also gets help in his investigations from a college friend of his who now works for the CIA and realizes that uncle Harry was murdered in order to silence him from revealing what he has learned about Abner Brown’s real activities.

Begley keeps you reading, and although this is not an all nighter since there is little suspense in the story, it still is a good novel. The ending is expected but definitely sets the scene for more Jack Dana books incorporating the background intelligence he has with the ability to do physical damage to his enemies.

4/15 Paul Lane

KILLER COME HITHER by Louis Begley. Nan A. Talese (April 7, 2015). ISBN 978-0385539142. 256p.