Category: Mystery

Enigma by Catherine Coulter

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, MysteryLeave a comment

Enigma (FBI Thriller, #21)Enigma by Catherine Coulter

Barbara’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: FBI Thriller #21
Publication Date: 9/12/17

Be prepared for drama and action as the FBI’s CAU division deals with a medical megalomaniac and a mastermind killer who shows no mercy. The twenty-first book in the series is just as strong, thrilling, suspenseful and intriguing as the first twenty. These villains aren’t quite as twisted as some of them have been, but they still provide you with a shiver down the spine. Coulter chose not to use Savich’s ‘special’ gift in this book and I wonder if she’s decided to move away from that angle.

I love that you almost always get multiple cases in one book and this one has two. Both are interesting, but very different and the agents involved are also different and interesting.

Case 1 provides the name for the book – Enigma. When Dillon Savich’s friend, Dr. Janice Hudson, calls him to hurry over because she thinks her friend and neighbor is in trouble, he finds a mad man holding the neighbor hostage. The man has the neighbor, Kara Moody, duct taped to a chair and he’s raving about saving her from ‘them’ and screaming that he is an enigma. The madman ends up in a coma and Kara goes into labor. When Kara’s baby is stolen from the hospital and an attempt is made on the madman’s life the FBI goes into high gear trying to find the baby and figure out the connection between the madman, Kara and the baby. The answer will intrigue and astound you.

Case 2 has agents Cam Wittier and Jack Cabot tracking down an escaped robber and murderer, Liam Hennessey, aka Manta Ray. The escape was perfectly planned and executed, but how could the prisoner have possibly coordinated such a plan when he’d had no visitors except his lawyer? The answer to that leads you to blackmail at the highest levels of government as well as murder and intrigue. Hennessey escapes into a forest in Kentucky and then escapes the forest by helicopter. There must be someone rich and powerful helping Hennessey, but who can it be and why would they be interested in helping a robber and murderer escape?

Weaving back and forth between the two storylines, multiple intriguing characters and diverse locations will keep you turning pages as fast as you can to see what happens next. It is definitely a must read!

“I requested and received this e-book at no cost to me and volunteered to read it; my review is my honest opinion and given without any influence by the author or publisher.”

About Catherine Coulter:
Catherine Coulter is the New York Times bestselling author of over 75 books. Her hugely popular FBI thrillers include The Cove, The Maze, The Target, The Edge, Riptide, Hemlock Bay, Eleventh House, Blindside, Blowout, Point Blank, Double Take, Tail Spin, Knockout, Whiplash, Split Second, Backfire, Bombshell, Power Play and Nemesis. She has a new international thriller series — A Brit in the FBI — co-written with JT Ellison. These include The Final Cut, The Lost Key and The End Game. Also now available is the first in her novella series, starring Grayson Sherbrooke (from the Sherbrooke historical romance series), titled The Strange Visitation at Wolffe Hall.

 

 

Charlotte & Thomas Pitt #1 and #2 by Anne Perry

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Georgian Era (1714-1837), MysteryLeave a comment

The Cater Street Hangman (Charlotte & Thomas Pitt, #1)The Cater Street Hangman by Anne Perry

Barbara’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Nobody does Victorian mysteries better than Anne Perry. Her grasp of the culture and mores of the times is unparalleled and her descriptions of the area just make you feel like you are right there in that time and place.

I recently read a later book in this series and enjoyed it so much I wanted to start at the beginning and read them through, in order. This was certainly a great beginning to a long and enduring series.

The bloody and mutilated bodies of lovely young women are showing up on Cater Street. Cater Street is home to the rich gentry of London and they are not happy to have the police nosing around looking for a murderer.

Inspector Thomas Pitt, a very large, tall, perceptive and intelligent man is assigned to investigate the case and it is really baffling. There just isn’t any commonality among the victims and that will make solving the case next to impossible unless the perpetrator is caught in the act

When Pitt shows up at the Ellison’s door to interview the family he is taken with Charlotte. This is during the period when there is a definite separation of classes and the police are considered a very low rank. However, he is still smitten.

Charlotte is a very outspoken, intelligent young woman who chafes at the restraints placed on her gender during that time. She isn’t supposed to read the news papers or be interested in anything other than fashion, embroidery and how to run a home.

You’ll be guessing right until the end – when Charlotte’s life is threatened.

A great read — I highly recommend this book and the series!

Callander Square (Charlotte & Thomas Pitt, #2)Callander Square by Anne Perry

Barbara’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Nobody does a Victorian mystery better than Anne Perry and there isn’t a better sleuthing team than Charlotte and Thomas Pitt! Winners all around.

Charlotte and Thomas met in the first book of the series and they are now married and expecting their first child. Charlotte’s younger sister has also married her titled suitor from the first book. Everybody is happy, but Charlotte’s sister is getting a little bored with her aristocratic existence. So, when the skeletal remains of three babies are found in Callander Square she decides that she and Charlotte need to help Pitt solve the case.

Add two more murders to the list and the local residents petitioning the government to end the investigation and poor Inspector Pitt has his hands full. It is a good thing he has the help of Charlotte and her sister — isn’t it?

Can’t wait to read the rest of the series.