Category: Contemporary

Penshaw by L.J. Ross

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Contemporary, MysteryLeave a comment

Penshaw (DCI Ryan Mysteries, #13)Barbara’s rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: DCI Ryan Mysteries #12
Publication Date: 7/27/19
Number of Pages: 280

OMGoodness! There is a LOT going on in Northumberia and we all need our running shoes on to keep up with it. Ryan and Lowerson are placed in untenable and dangerous positions, dead bodies are turning up in Penshaw, a dangerous villain from previous books turns up, and it appears there is more corruption within the constabulary. OH! MY! As always, the fast-paced, can’t-put-it-down mystery is filled with twists-and-turns that will keep your head spinning.

There has been a marked increase in crime and at the same time, a decrease in successful apprehensions and prosecutions. Because of his sterling reputation, DCI Ryan has been tasked with heading up a task force consisting of all of the various units such as drugs, fraud, major crimes, digital forensics, organized crime, etc. His task is to foster information sharing across agencies so that they can all help each other catch, prosecute, and imprison the culprits responsible for the mayhem. At the same time, Ryan is approached by his boss, Chief Constable Sandra Morrison, and DCI Andrew Blackett, of what is known as the Ghost Squad. They are sure that the policing forces have been compromised – at all levels – and that there is even a mole in Ryan’s own team. OH! MY! Ryan’s task is to figure out who, throughout the policing forces, have been compromised. Ryan is sure nobody in his squad would be compromised – one of them cannot be a mole on this very task force. Or, can they?

While all of that is happening, we are learning about the sad death of Alan Watson in Penshaw. Alan had been a robust, active, dedicated miner for years – until the great strike in the fall of 1984. Alan had been a major organizer and leader of the union and the strike, but when it failed, a rumor started, and it accused him of providing information to the government about the union’s plans. It broke him for his close-knit community to think that of him and he took to drink. Now, over 30 years later, his charred remains have been pulled from their burning home by his wife. She’s seriously burned, but Alan didn’t survive. Was he murdered or did he die of a heart attack and drop his cigarette, thus causing the fire? MacKenzie and Lowerson catch the Watson case and something about it just seems ‘off’ to MacKenzie. As they investigate, and more deaths and betrayals occur, they figure out that there is something much bigger going on.

You’ll love the mystery and you’ll see Ryan’s angst and dismay at dealing with yet more corruption within the constabulary. He thought they’d taken care of all of that two years ago and yet it is back again. It was good to see, and hope, that Lowerson is finally finding himself and realizing what is really important in life. I also liked seeing the growth in Trainee Detective Constable Melanie Yates and look forward to seeing more of her in future books.

Great read. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Fortune and Glory by Janet Evanovich

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Contemporary, Mystery2 Comments

Fortune and Glory (Stephanie Plum, #27)
Barbara’s rating: 5 of 5 stars

Series: Stephanie Plum #27
Publication Date: 11/3/20
Number of Pages: 320

I absolutely adore Stephanie Plum. She’s totally inept at almost everything, but somehow, she always manages to persist until the job is done. The stories are always delightfully entertaining and witty. Everything from her professional life to her romantic life is always in a state of chaos and it is so much fun to see Stephanie deal with it. Some readers seem to be concerned about the Ranger Vs Morelli saga, but not me. Ranger is quite adamant he’s not ready to settle down and I don’t think Morelli is either – but then, I don’t think Stephanie is ready for marriage and a house in the burbs either. So, maybe at some point, she’ll choose one of them – or there’ll be somebody new.

Truth is, I didn’t know how to categorize Ranger. He was more than just a friend, but he didn’t feel like a boyfriend. There were times when our relationship felt more like a marriage. There was an acceptance of personality that was sometimes lacking between Morelli and me. Maybe that was because Ranger and I had no illusions about a binding, long-term commitment. There wasn’t as much at stake between us.

For the last few books, we’ve been dealing with Stephanie’s Grandma’s forty-five-minute long marriage to an elderly retired mobster hitman. Yep – they married and before they could leave the wedding site, he had a heart attack and died. Now, his elderly cronies – known as the La-Z-Boys (because of their recliners) think Grandma has the clues to lead them to a treasure they’ve had hidden for many years. She doesn’t – or if she does, she doesn’t know it. We’re finally down to the last three of the mobsters who are after Stephanie and Grandma and one of them is totally insane. Each of the mobsters has a single clue about the hidden treasure – Stephanie knows two of the clues – she just needs to get the others and find the treasure before they end her and Grandma.

“That leaves Shine, Salgusta, and Benny the Skootch. I need their clues.”

Stephanie has her hands totally full trying to keep Grandma safe and also keep up with her work as a Bail Bonds Enforcement Agent. Yes, Stephanie is the inept version of “Dog the Bounty Hunter”. Somehow, she always manages to get her man/woman though – often with the help of Ranger who finds her antics entertaining. She has three men to hunt down this time – you’ll love their crimes – and two of them are big, aggressive, and mean. The other one is annoying as the devil but so very entertaining to read. I wonder if we’ll see him in any future books.

Potts started his nervous humming. He had a right to be nervous. He’d been punctured, shot at, and kidnapped. And in spite of all that, he was sticking with me. That took guts. There was strength of character buried under all his weirdness. Unfortunately, that didn’t make him any less annoying

It is a fun, rollicking, adventuresome time watching Stephanie avoid kidnapping while traipsing through dark, damp, rat-infested tunnels to track down the bad guys, save Grandma, and maybe even find the treasure. She does all of that without much (if any) help from Morelli, but lots of help from Ranger – who keeps her supplied with cars she keeps wrecking. Add a newcomer, Gabriella Rose, into the mix (I think she might be getting her own series) and poor Stephanie has her hands full.

I hope you will read the book and be as totally entertained as I was. It is always great to visit with Stephanie and all of her friends and family – Grandma Mazur, Morelli, Ranger, Connie – and Lula – goodness we can’t forget Lula who is as entertaining as they come. It is an entertaining and fun read and I hope you’ll enjoy it.