The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, by David Wroblewski

 Edgar Sawtelle, an only child, lives on a farm in rural Wisconsin with his parents, Gar and Trudy. They had about given up hope of ever having a child after a number of miscarriages but then Edgar was born and he has brought joy to their lives.  Edgar has not spoken a word his whole life but he can hear just fine and he communicates with sign language. His parents have been breeding and training exceptional dogs as a business and Edgar, as he grows up, is following in their footsteps, loving everything he is learning from them and becoming more experienced in dog breeding every day.  Life is simple but good for all of them. Then, an unexpected death in the family changes everything and ultimately leads to another death and Edgar, now a teenager,  running away from home, with three young dogs as his companions.  Edgar’s escape into the wilderness will last several months but he will end up coming full circle, profoundly changed by his experiences.  This beautifully written unusual story was very different from your typical novel and I enjoyed it immensely.  Highly recommended. 

Murder on K Street, by Margaret Truman

 Illinois senator Lyle Simmons has been the guest speaker at a DC fundraising dinner.  When he is chauffeured home, he discovers the dead body of his wife, Jeannette, who has been murdered.  Being a politician with presidential aspirations, Lyle calls his chief of staff before 911.  Later, he calls his best friend from college, Philip Rotondi, to help him deal with the crisis.  Rotondi is a former Baltimore district attorney and he gets involved with the investigation of Jeannette’s murder.  Rotondi soon discovers that Lyle has been having an affair and Jeannette was planning to divorce him. Worse, he seems to be involved with the Mob and a powerful lobby group with some shady dealings.  But, none of it explains Jeannette’s murder.  It will take a second murder to bring things into focus.  Ms. Truman, who died last year, was the author of about two dozen mysteries that were set in the nation’s capital. This was an enjoyable addition to the series. 

Sail, by James Patterson and Howard Roughan

 Dr. Katherine Dunne lost her husband, Stuart, in a boating accident four years ago.  Recently remarried to a lawyer, Peter Carlyle, Katherine feels that she has lost touch with her three children—teenagers Carrie and Mark, and Ernie, ten.  Katherine has kept Stuart’s large sailboat and she decides that she and the kids—minus her new husband—will take a summer cruise on the boat and, hopefully, become more of a family once again.  To help with the sailing, she enlists Stuart’s brother, Jake, to captain the boat on the cruise.  The three rather spoiled kids are not too happy about the cruise and would rather be spending the summer doing something else—on land.  Setting sail, no sooner are they over the horizon when the boat starts to sink.  At that point, any prudent person would turn around and head for shore.  But, managing to stop the leak, the Dunne family sails on—to a lot more trouble.  Many of Patterson’s books have been dreadful of late but this one wasn’t too bad—the nautical setting helped quite a bit.

Smoke Screen, by Sandra Brown

 Britt Shelley, a star news reporter for a Charleston television station, wakes up in the bed of Jay Burgess, a detective with the city’s police force.  Jay is dead beside her and Britt has no memory of what happened.  All she remembers is that she met Jay for dinner after he called and told her he had an explosive story to tell her.  The rest is a blur—but Britt suspects that she was drugged. Britt initially cooperates with the police—until Jay’s death is ruled a homicide and she becomes the prime suspect.  Just as she is about to be arrested, she is kidnapped from her home by Raley Gannon, a former arson investigator for the Charleston fire department.  Five years ago, Raley woke up in the bed of a dead woman and, like Britt, he suspected that he was drugged.  Sensing that their cases are linked, Raley has taken Britt to his remote cabin to compare notes.  Initially furious at being abducted against her will, Britt decides to join forces with Raley and try to solve the mystery that has shattered both their lives—a mystery that stretches back to a tragic fire. This was an enjoyable read with engaging main characters that you want to root for.

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