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Christopher Fowler novels

  Full Dark House. Book 1. Christopher Fowler I’m re-reading this series, a fun, informative journey with two elderly detectives. The first book in the series goes back and forth in time. Arthur Bryant, one of the two detectives, has been found dead in their office due to an explosion and fire. John May, his partner, is trying to find the source of the explosion; he’s also reminiscing about their first case together, in which the murderer was discovered but escaped. Their unit is the Peculiar Crimes Unit, and both the crimes and the officers in the unit are a bit peculiar. The old case involves multiple murders in 1940 in the only open theater at the time. Bombs are being dropped on London every clear evening, but the owner of this theater has gotten permission to mount a scandalous production of Orpheus in the Underworld. It’s a fascinating look at an older theater — and it totally reminded me of what it looked like backstage in a current Broadway theater, which I was fortunate en...
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Harlan Coben novels — Myron and Mickey Bolitar + other thrillers

Another Book Bub series involves a guy with an interesting career, Myron Bolitar. I had heard of the author, Harlan Coben, through a number of movie and television series made from his novels, the most famous being Tell No One, a 2006 French film that my son Sam and I both loved.  Deal Breaker. Book 1 This series stars Myron Bolitar, former intelligence agent and current sports agent. He’s a former basketball star whose injury just as he was going pro led him to an alternate career. Now he’s using his sports acumen to recruit athletes for his agency along with partners Win and Esperanza, each of whom have really fun back stories. Myron has just inked his first big client, a promising young quarterback. Dealing with an unscrupulous agent and a missing, presumed dead, girlfriend who resurfaces in quarterback Christian Steele’s life leads Myron to secrets, lies, and murders. A soft-core porn magazine is delivered to Steele, and one of the phone sex employee’s pictures is of his missi...
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Jean Kwok novels

 Another Book Bub find is award-winning author Jean Kwok, who bases her novels on her amazing story of moving from Hong Kong as a child to growing up in New York City and finally moving to Amsterdam, currently living there with her husband and children.  Girl in Translation I have become a big fan of this author, whose amazing story is the basis for this, her first novel. Having come to New York City from China by way of Hong Kong and losing her father along the way, Kim and her mother are living in an “apartment” in a building owned by Aunt Paula, her mother’s older sister. Kim’s mom is supposed to work as a nanny for her sister’s children; however, that never happens, and she ends up working in her sister and husband’s clothing factory. And Kim must work there after school each day to help make ends meet. The aforementioned apartment is a vermin-infested place with no heat. No one else lives there but Kim and her mother. And then there’s the multi-transit commute from home t...
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Martin Walker books

  Book Bub found me another interesting police procedural, this one set in bucolic southwest France. The author, a Scotsman who worked for The Guardian and later for UPI, lives part-time in this region of France. www.brunochiefofpolice.com Bruno, Chief of Police. Book 1. Martin Walker  The first novel introduces B enoît (Bruno) Courrèges, chief of police in St. Denis, a fictional village in the Perigord region of France. An old man of  Algerian ethnicity is found murdered in a horrible way — gutted with a swastika cut into his body. Bruno, the mayor, and the regional police force are involved in solving the crime, which at first makes no sense since Hamid was a decorated WWII hero. Inept officials almost create a riot, but Bruno’s common sense prevails even in  the face of an “unsolved” crime. Lots of delicious food and wine descriptions along the way — good read. The Dark Vineyard. Book 2. Martin Walker Here's the second book in the series. Bruno is called to invest...
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