Category: Mystery

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.

Borderlands by L.J. Ross

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

Borderlands (DCI Ryan Mysteries #14)Barbara’s rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: DCI Ryan Mysteries #13
Publication Date: 10/1/19
Number of Pages: 249

Another exciting, fast-paced, well-written adventure for DCI Ryan and his team from the Major Crimes Unit. The team is definitely split into different ventures in this book, with Ryan and Phillips working a murder on an Army training base, Lowerson and Yates dealing with a series of hate crimes, and MacKenzie enjoying some off time with her foster daughter, Samantha.

The Army is conducting a live-fire tactical training mission at Otterburn Army Training Ranges in Northumberland. The mission is to find and neutralize two targets – at night using night vision gear. When the first target is sighted, the soldiers training kicks in and they fire upon the target. Except, it isn’t the mechanical target they’ve engaged, it is…was…a live female. How in the world did a lone female end up running through the middle of the moors on a huge Army training base? Before long, Detective Chief Inspector Maxwell Finlay-Ryan and Detective Sergeant Frank Phillips are wending their way along the Northumberland National Park through the Cheviot Hills and into the village of Otterburn – almost at the border with Scotland. Will their investigation discover that it was a horrible, horrible accident when the woman ran directly into a live-fire exercise – or will they find it is something more – something much darker?

There is a terrible explosion and fire at the Central Mosque in Newcastle upon Tyne. It isn’t an accident, and the perpetrators left three large black triangles painted upon the doors along with the words ‘MUSLIMS GO HOME’. Detective Constable Jack Lowerson and Detective Constable Melanie Yates are dispatched to investigate. They know it is definitely a hate crime, but is it an isolated incident and what does that symbol mean? As that symbol turns up at additional sites of vandalism – not just Muslim – but Jewish, black, etc. they know it is the work of a well-organized group. That group is getting bolder, better organized, and more skilled. They have to be stopped before lives are lost. Stopping the group will take not only good investigative skills but the bravery and patriotism of a man who has nothing but that to give.

I listened to the audiobook (Whispersync) version of this book and enjoyed it very much. The narrator has a pleasant voice – but as I have mentioned before, all of the characters sound pretty much alike. Some are softer and breathier, but they all seem to have the same accents. We have a Scot, an Irish, and a Londoner, but they all seem to have the same accent – if not all of the time, most of the time.

I thoroughly enjoyed the story, the mystery, the friendships, and seeing that the goodness in mankind can overcome anything. If you choose to read the book, I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I did.