Here the Road Ends - Jack Benton and The Fallen - David Baldacci

 Happy sun and warmer temperatures! The sun is out and it has been quite nice here in Central Texas. I grew up in the Midwest and further north and just cannot tolerate that cold anymore. Now I am not asking for 90's either. Don't get me wrong.

I finished two books in two of my favorite series this week.

I listened to The Fallen by David Baldacci. This is Amos Decker #4 in the Memory Man series.

About: "Amos Decker and his journalist friend Alex Jamison are visiting the home of Alex's sister in Barronville, a small town in western Pennsylvania that has been hit hard economically. When Decker is out on the rear deck of the house talking with Alex's niece, a precocious eight-year-old, he notices flickering lights and then a spark of flame in the window of the house across the way. When he goes to investigate he finds two dead bodies inside and it's not clear how either man died. But this is only the tip of the iceberg. There's something going on in Barronville that might be the canary in the coal mine for the rest of the country.

Faced with a stonewalling local police force, and roadblocks put up by unseen forces, Decker and Jamison must pull out all the stops to solve the case. And even Decker's infallible memory may not be enough to save them."

If you haven't read this series, here is the background on Amos Decker. From book #1, The Memory Man.

"A big, towering athlete, he was the only person from his hometown of Burlington ever to go pro. But his career ended before it had a chance to begin. On his very first play, a violent helmet-to-helmet collision knocked him off the field for good, and left him with an improbable side effect--he can never forget anything.

The second time was at home nearly two decades later. Now a police detective, Decker returned from a stakeout one evening and entered a nightmare--his wife, young daughter, and brother-in-law had been murdered."

Decker goes on to join the FBI in book #2. 

In The Fallen, Decker has gone on "vacation" with Alex Jamieson as above. While siting on the back deck the very first night, Decker sees lights and flame across from Alex's sisters house. He can't help himself from going on over to see what it was all about. Finds two bodies. Calls local law enforcement. He quickly senses that he knows more about what may have happened then they do. They seem incompetent.

As the story goes on, Decker finds more and more signs of something illegal going on in the town, involving many of the citizens of Barronville. The citizens seem to want to blame John Barron (of the founding family) for the demise of the economy in town. He is threatened. Decker gets beat up and it seems like he has lost some of his unique memory abilities. Some vacation.

I really like this series. I like how Decker methodically solves the mysteries. The stories are complex and interesting. They are unique. When I read one, I don't feel like I just read a similar story last month. 

There are seven books in this series.

I also read Here the Road Ends by Jack Benton. It is book #9 in the Slim Hardy series. (Chris Ward is the authors real name but writes a few different genres and for the Slim Hardy books, writes under Jack Benton) I have posted about this series before.

About: "When her mentally disabled son develops a strange obsession, Audrey Johnson contacts private investigator John “Slim” Hardy for help. Andy Johnson has been making teddy bears and leaving them on the memorial of a nine-year-old girl who drowned on Dartmoor more than forty years ago. When nothing will put him off his bizarre tribute to a child who died before he was even born, Slim moves to the peaceful rural community of Brentor to investigate. However, as he digs deeper into the past, overturning stones that do not wish to be overturned, he uncovers a bombshell that will rock the quiet, private community to its very core. And soon he will be looking over his shoulder, because there are people out there on the moor that want their secrets to remain buried."

Background: Slim Hardy is a loner and a private detective. He was in the army and has PTSD. He struggles with remaining sober because of his demons. But he is a really good detective and is called upon by individuals to solve cases that no one else can, often cold cases. He moves around to wherever  these unsolvable cases take him. He likes black coffee, preferably a day old. 

In this story, Slim follows Andy and finds he is taking a teddy bear to the memorial of a young girl who died on a school trip 40 years ago. Andy is autistic and in his 30's. He wasn't even born when the school girl was drowned. Why is Andy obsessed with her.  He makes the bears himself and changes out the bears that are weather damaged. Slim notes the the expressions have been altered on the bears when Andy brings them back. The story of the girl is that she became separated from her class, on a visit to the moors. One of the male teachers went to find her and came back screaming that he saw a girl with a yellow smile and the vision has driven him to insanity.

As in all small villages, no one wants to talk about it. He has doors shut in his face, and is threatened. Slim has two people that he calls in most of the books, to do research for him, looking up police records, information on the internet or looking at old pictures. They are always "favors." Slim really doesn't have any money to pay them. His cell phone is an old Nokia that doesn't do anything other than make calls, when he is lucky.

I really like this series too. It is kind of a noir series. Always a "dark" feel to it. Slim is a very likeable character and you feel kind of sorry for him, with all that happened to him. But he gets up everyday, puts one foot in front of the other and keeps on going. And he is very good at what he does.

Here the Road Ends just came out February 15, 2024. 

I recommend you start at the beginning of both of these series because the background information is important and for the character development.

https://www.davidbaldacci.com/landing-page/david-baldacci-amos-decker-series/

http://www.amillionmilesfromanywhere.net/tokyolost.html

The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley

 For our February Mystery Book Club (MBC) we read:

About: "From the New York Times bestselling author of The Guest List comes a new locked room mystery, set in a Paris apartment building in which every resident has something to hide…

Jess needs a fresh start. She’s broke and alone, and she’s just left her job under less than ideal circumstances. Her half-brother Ben didn’t sound thrilled when she asked if she could crash with him for a bit, but he didn’t say no, and surely everything will look better from Paris. Only when she shows up – to find a very nice apartment, could Ben really have afforded this? – he’s not there.

The longer Ben stays missing, the more Jess starts to dig into her brother’s situation, and the more questions she has. Ben’s neighbors are an eclectic bunch, and not particularly friendly. Jess may have come to Paris to escape her past, but it’s starting to look like it’s Ben’s future that’s in question.

The socialite – The nice guy – The alcoholic – The girl on the verge – The concierge

Everyone’s a neighbor. Everyone’s a suspect. And everyone knows something they’re not telling."

Lucy Foley is a very popular author currently. I chose this book for our book club and I will tell you I was a little nervous about it once I got to reading it. 

It is a very good mystery, lots of twists. Each chapter is from the viewpoint of a specific character and it goes back and forth and around from each character as they tell their part in the story. It is a "locked room" mystery. It is a fast read and a surprise ending.

Well I was pleasantly surprised. Most of the MBC loved it. They loved the mystery, the story and how the author led them in other directions. We all liked Jess, the main character. But she is really the only likeable character. It seems like so many books right now are about bad people doing bad things. 

There is a fair amount of "bad language" and some edgy and weird scenes. If you that doesn't bother you, and you don't mind chapters that go back and forth between characters and time, you will probably love it too. 

Many in the group had also read The Hunting Party and The Guest List by this author and highly recommend those books also. 

"Sony Pictures' 3000 Pictures has acquired film adaptation rights to Lucy Foley's new book, The Paris Apartment, which became an instant No. 1 New York Times bestseller,"

You can learn more about Lucy Foley here:

https://www.harpercollins.com/blogs/authors/lucy-foley-44526

The Darkwater Lake Mysteries by Tannis Laidlaw

 A few years ago I had the opportunity to read several of  the Madeline Brooks mystery series by Tannis Laidlaw. It is about a Senior Probation Officer starting over in the English countryside as a real estate agent. But as in all good stories in the English countryside, Madeline finds some bodies and gets mixed up in a disappearance or two. 

So when Tannis asked me if I would like to read her new series I quickly raised my hand.

There are two books in The Darkwater Lake Mystery series.

#1: A Writer is Dead

About: "A media host with secrets to hide...
A pop singer who is not who she pretends to be...
A slimy politician who will do anything for power....
Jodie and Iris were writing a series of wildly popular exposés for a London publisher under a fake pen name. The media host, the singer and the politician are the subjects of a book each. Then Iris is murdered. Could one of the subjects of the books have killed her? Each has the strongest of revenge. But the police think Jodie has powerful motives, with Iris gone, she would earn much more money and she hated Iris’s maddening ways.
That’s one worry for Jodie – the police’s mistaken focus on her. But there’s has the killer finished the job? Does she have a target on her back, too? Jodie escapes England back to Darkwater Lake to hide in the Canadian wilderness.
But, is anywhere safe?"

As above, Jodie is writing under a a pen name on a "tell all" with Iris in England. She has gone to her family cabin on Darkwater Lake in Canada. You have to take a boat from the mainland to reach these cabins. Everyone has their own small boat. Most people are only there for the summer because the cabins are not winterized. Jodie is a non practicing psychologist.

 

Jodie is enjoying her summer, living at the cabin on Darkwater Lake and is working on the book. When Iris, is found dead and foul play is suspected, Jodie is called back to busy London as the publishing company needs to regroup. As discussions go on, the team speculates that Iris may have been murdered by one of the persons a biography was written about. Now Jodie is worried she may be next. She flees back to Darkwater Lake to hide but will the person who killed Iris, come looking for her? I loved the description of life in the summer living on the lake. We get to know the people in the village across the lake and her neighbors including Charlotte. Charlotte becomes Jodie's good friend and sounding board. There are lots of twists and tension in the story.

#2: A Swimmer is Dead

About: "The lake’s tranquillity shattered by the murder of a swimmer

A boy’s false confession...

An amateur sleuth must prevent an injustice.

Jodie Hill lives at her lakeside cottage, revelling in the seclusion that Darkwater Lake offers Late one afternoon, two teenaged boys, larking about on jet-skis, head towards her. To her horror, they dump the lifeless body of a swimmer on her dock. The younger boy confesses to killing him accidentally with his jet-ski. As the boys roar off, a rush of disbelief and distress engulfs Jodie.

 After she’d reported the death and calmed down enough, she questions whether a jet-ski could cause the sort of awful damage that killed the swimmer? In short, no.

So why did the boy confess? Was this some sort of staged scene contrived to hide the truth?  Was the swimmer’s death no accident? The possibility it was a cold-blooded murder weighs heavily on Jodie's heart. Someone needs to look out for the boy whose confession is patently false and that means discovering the truth.

A book perfect for enthusiasts of intriguing amateur sleuths, a picturesque lakeside setting and a plot thick with red herrings and enthralling twists. If you adore atmospheric edgy cozy mysteries with an Agatha Christie vibe, A Swimmer is Dead promises an enthralling journey into the heart of a gripping, suspense-laden mystery."

Jodie is once again spending her summer at the secluded cottage at Darkwater Lake. She will be working on her latest unauthorized biography about her former boss, a man who had less than scrupulous business practices. Her good friend Charlotte returns. They pick up where they left off, last summer, having daily late afternoon Tea, usually with a good wine and nibbles. Swimming in the lake. Taking boats to town rather than driving. So relaxing.

Then two teenagers from across the lake, the jet ski over to Charlotte's dock, frantic and calling for help. Their friend has been hurt and is laying on a jet ski. It quickly becomes clear that he is dead. The two boys said the friend had been swimming and must have been hit by a jet ski. The authorities are called, everyone goes into to town to make statements. As Jodie spends more time with the two boys at the police station, it becomes evident to her that there is much more to this than they are saying. The boys are acting suspicious and and the older brother of one was in charge has taken off with the his sister - who was the girlfriend of the dead boy.

The authorities write the incident off as an accident. As more and more things are said around this small town, Jodie is sure it was not an accident. She is determined to find out the truth, especially for the sake of young Gavin who has taken the blame.

I enjoyed reading how Jodie, uses her experience and knowledge of  psychology, to tweeze out the truth. Lots of twists and turn which will keep you guessing.

I really enjoyed this new series. It reminds me of northern Wisconsin where I lived as a young child then spent every summer there for a week or two. There too people own cabins only used in the summer on various lakes. It is very calm and peaceful. People fish, swim, boat and just relax. So the setting spoke to me and I look forward to more in the series.

I also really liked the Madeline Brooks mysteries. She also has written some psychological thrillers that I have not read...yet. 

About Tannis Laidlaw: 

"Born in Winnipeg in Canada, Tannis Laidlaw visits the family cottage at the lake every summer, but lives in Auckland in New Zealand - that's right - two summer's every year. She has a history of writing academic papers mostly psychology in medicine, plus a few poems but mostly, now, novels. She's married with grown-up kids and 2 grandchildren. Tannis loves to travel, read and, of course, write."

https://tannislaidlaw.com/