Mounting Fears, by Stuart Woods

 Stuart Woods is probably best known for his Stone Barrington series of novels but the character that first brought him fame was Will Lee, a Democratic politician from a small town in Georgia.  That was many years ago and—with a Will Lee novel updating things from time to time--he is now the president of the United States. His wife, Kate Rule Lee, is the head of the CIA.  In Mounting Fears, Will is running for re-election and it’s a close race, made even closer when a third candidate, a popular Black minister, enters the race as an independent.  Complicating the race further is Lee’s vice-president, who is going through a divorce and juggling not one but two affairs on the campaign trail.  And, did I mention the theft of a nuclear missile by terrorists in Pakistan?  Looks like this election’s going down to the wire.  This is an entertaining addition to this occasional series and it’s fun when some of the characters from other Woods novels make an appearance.

Night and Day, by Robert Parker

 Mr. Parker seems to be rotating his three main series and his latest has Jesse Stone up to bat.  Jesse is the chief of police of the small seaside town of Paradise, near Boston.  Formerly an LA cop, Jesse is divorced but still harbors feelings for his former wife, Jenn, a Boston TV reporter.  Although Jesse is a borderline alcoholic, he has done a good job as police chief.  In Night and Day, Jesse is grappling with a couple of cases.  First, he’s trying to figure out what to do with the high school principal, Betsy Ingersoll, who has done some questionable—and possibly illegal actions.  Her husband is one of the most powerful lawyers in the state—but Jesse isn’t one to be intimidated.  The other problem is a peeping tom who has escalated from looking in windows at night to breaking into homes in the daytime and terrorizing housewives.  Jesse, with the help of his two favorite deputies, will sort things out.  But, can he finally let Jenn go?  As always, an entertaining, breezy read with sparkling, humorous dialogue. 

The Fire Kimono, by Laura Joh Rowland

 Once again we are in Edo (now Tokyo) during the age of shoguns and samurai.  It’s March of 1700 and a violent storm has brought the bones of a body to the surface near a Shinto shrine.  It’s determined that the body is that of the shogun’s young cousin, who had gone missing over forty years ago during a great fire.  Examination of the bones leaves no doubt that the cousin was murdered.  Enter our intrepid detective, Sano Ichiro.  Sano has risen in power and he is now serving as the shogun’s second in command.   But, that doesn’t stop the shogun from ordering Sano to put back on his detective hat and find his cousin’s murderer.  Hmm.  A murder forty some years ago—talk about your cold cases!  And this is 1700—no CSI wizardry.  Sano has been locked in a power struggle with Lord Matsudaira—who is scheming to overthrow the shogun. Matsudaira wants Sano out of the way and he pays some witnesses to come forward and claim that Sano’s mother, who was a companion to the cousin, was responsible for the cousin’s murder.  Sano’s elderly mother is promptly locked in jail and the shogun gives Sano three days to prove her innocence—or she and Sano’s entire family will be executed.  Well, that’s motivation to get detecting!  Several of Rowland’s previous books in the series have ventured slightly off track in my opinion but her latest is an interesting and exciting thriller that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Paths of Glory, by Jeffrey Archer

 Archer primarily writes modern thrillers but for his latest book he has reached back to the 1890s to 1920s time period.  Does anyone remember George Mallory?  The name seemed a tiny bit familiar but I couldn’t remember for what reason.  Turns out he may have been the first climber to reach the top of Mt. Everest.  Key word being may.  In the early 1920s Mallory made three attempts to scale Mt. Everest and Archer has written a novel that depicts those attempts.  But, before that, Archer takes us back to Mallory’s earlier years growing up in an England around the turn of the 20^th century.  And, it’s a fascinating tale—especially Mallory’s college years.  Although the book is a novelization of Mallory’s life, all the major real events and characters seem to be threaded through the story and it was an enjoyable way to learn about an interesting historical person.

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