San Francisco Sleuthing

Camouflage by Bill Pronzini
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Looking for a hard-boiled group of private investigators who won't rest until they find the rotten egg at the heart of the puzzle? Take a trip to San Francisco and discover what all that fog can really cover up. From abusive step-mothers to cases of stolen identity, the Bay area offers plenty of twists for a Noir-tinged mystery novel.

Country Music Crime Spree

In honor of tonight's broadcast of the 45th annual Country Music Awards, I thought I'd offer up some recent mysteries having to do with Nashville's most famous industry. These are all published within 2011 and can all be read with a twang, if you prefer.

First up, we've got a title that hearkens back to country songs of the past. I can't Make You Love Me, But I Can Make You Leave by Dixie Cash is part of the Domestic Equalizers series.

Irish Noir

Priest by Ken Bruen

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Ex-cop Jack Taylor is back on the streets of Galway after a stint in the asylum where he landed after a young girl he was minding fell out of a window to her death. As he wanders around the city he runs into old acquaintances and new friends, trying to piece his life back together while looking into the murder of a priest whose head was found sitting in a confessional.

Complicated Families - Just in Time for the Holidays

The holidays.

Family get-togethers. Arguments over how to best cook the turkey, or ham, or roast beast. Trying to find the perfect present for people who have everything. Sibling rivalry. In-law squabbling.

The thought of these things makes me want to hide under the covers and order Chinese food.

If you think your family is complicated, try these reads. While they are not happy go lucky, they might make you feel better about your own situation.

Pendergast Strikes Again

Cold Vengeance by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The novels co-written by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child are my guilty pleasure books in the mystery and suspense section of the library. And the ones featuring Special Agent Pendergast are the best of the best, in my opinion. He's mysterious. He's cultured. He's connected. He's droll. And he kicks butt. What's not to like?

More Books for Cold October Nights

Blood Oath by Christopher Farnsworth

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Want a vampire who doesn't attend high school in Forks, Washington? Or become romantically entangled with Southern women? Or give interviews in New Orleans? Want a vampire who's mainly a killing machine? May I introduce you to Nathanial Cade, the President's vampire?

Time to Turn the Heat On!

I love fall. The air is crisp, you can actually stay outside for five minutes without sweating, and I get to put on sweatpants.

While I try to stay outside as much as possible, I do sneak in some time for reading. I don't think about the holiday shopping I'm neglecting, or even worry about how my DVR is piling up.

Here is a recent read you might enjoy.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dreadfully Ever After by Steve Hockensmith. This is the third in a series. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is the first, Dawn of the Dreadfuls is the prequel.

Shakespeare!

Was Shakespeare really Shakespeare? You probably heard about the controversy in high school English class and promptly forgot all about it. There’s a movie coming out next Friday, however, that will serve to remind you. It imagines that someone other than Shakespeare was the bard behind the verse, and it looks pretty good. No, really! Watch the trailer. See? Exciting.

If you’d like to beef up your Shakespeare cred before seeing the movie, never fear. We’ve got plenty of biographies of the bard.

A Bad Day For Sorry

A Bad Day for Sorry by Sophie Littlefield

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Stella Hardesty is an unlikely heroine. She’s 50 years old, she runs a sewing shop, and she drinks whiskey almost every night. True, she’s in the best shape of her life because of all the running and weight lifting, but by no means does she have super powers. What she does have is a righteous anger at men who abuse their wives, and she uses that anger to fuel her side business: serving as an enforcer for the women who need her help.