Half Moon Street,  by Anne Perry

Anne Perry's latest book continues the series featuring Thomas and Charlotte Pitt.  Thomas is a police superintendent in Victorian London and Charlotte is his wife. Half Moon Street finds Pitt home alone.  Their maid, Gracie, has taken the children to the beach for a few weeks and Charlotte is in Paris with her sister.  They have no sooner left when Thomas is called upon to investigate the murder of a popular society photographer, who has been found dead in a boat on the Thames.  The photographer had been spending much more than he had been earning in his profession.  Was he possibly blackmailing one of his rich clients?  Charlotte's mother, Caroline, meanwhile, is confronted with the visit of a heretofore unknown relative from America and she learns some disturbing news about her family history.  This is an enjoyable addition to the series and, once again, provides an interesting glimpse of London during this period.
 

Cradle and All, by James Patterson

A discreet note on the jacket says that this book is based on an earlier Patterson book called Virgin and contains scenes and characters from that book.  Hmm.  Sounds like author gets famous, author gets lazy, author gets into recycling.  I guess it's not quite as bad as those romance novelists who have become popular and now their publishers are reissuing their old paperback novels as "new" hardbacks.  What we have with Patterson's "latest" are two pregnant virgin teenage girls, one in Boston and the other in Ireland.  Anne Fitzgerald, a former nun who has become a private investigator, is hired by the Catholic Church to investigate the girls and their immaculate conceptions.  The church believes that one girl is carrying the holy child and the other the child of Satan.  But, which is which?  This is not Patterson's best book and he might have been better served by leaving it alone.  It's not bad but it pales in comparison to When the Wind Blows.
 

Suspicion of Malice, by Barbara Parker

Parker's 'Suspicion' series has followed the lives of Gail Connor and Anthony Quintana, Miami lawyers.  They have been lovers for several years and in the last book they were planning to get married.  As that book ended, though, they had broken up.  Suspicion of Malice finds them still on the outs but Gail has discovered that she is pregnant with Anthony's baby and she is trying to decide whether to have an abortion.  When the son of a prominent Miami yacht builder is murdered, both Gail and Anthony become involved in the case.  She is hired to represent Bobby Gonzalez, the boyfriend of Anthony's daughter.  Bobby is a suspect in the murder.  Anthony, meanwhile, is trying to protect a judge who was at the party where the murder took place.  The judge is a candidate for federal district court and doesn't want to be linked to the murder but he can also provide an alibi for Bobby.  Gail and Anthony must work together whether they like it or not and they are soon up to their ears in suspects.  Will they discover the real killer and work out their personal problems?  Great fun for you finding out.
 

The Run, by Stuart Woods

Will Lee, a character of several previous novels by Woods, returns in The Run.  Lee, a Georgia politician, is now a U.S. senator and he is living in Washington with his wife Kate, a high-ranking CIA officer.  A presidential election is coming up and Lee is planning  to support his party's vice-president, a close friend of his.  Lee harbors thoughts of being president himself one day but he's not thinking of running  for another eight years.  Suddenly, however, several  completely unexpected events occur and Lee decides that now is the time to make a run for the White House.  During his run, two events from his past will resurface to put both his campaign and his life in grave danger.  This isn't Stuart's best but if you like political thrillers The Run should entertain you. And, it is an election year.
 

Before I Say Good-Bye,  by Mary Higgins Clark

Earlier this year it was reported that Mary Higgins Clark signed a new book deal with Simon and Schuster that will pay her in the neighborhood of fifteen million dollars for her next four novels.  That's fifteen million dollars each, by the way.  Not bad!  Is she worth it?  Maybe, as long as she keeps writing books like her latest.  Nell MacDermott, orphaned as a child, has been raised by her grandfather, Cornelius MacDermott, a retired congressman from New York.  He wants her to run for his former seat but Nell's husband, Adam Cauliff, is opposed.  Adam is an architect and he is working on a large building project in Manhattan.  He is on his boat with a number of other people involved with the project when the boat explodes and no survivors are found.  After the boat tragedy, questions arise as to whether Adam was guilty of taking kickbacks or using substandard building materials in several projects.  Before Nell can run for Congress she must find out the truth about the husband she thought she knew.  Along the way she will encounter the world of psychics and she will explore her own gift of extrasensory perception.  Another good read from the reliable (and filthy rich!) Clark.
 

The Empty Chair,  by Jeffery Deaver

Terrific, terrific book!  Lincoln Rhyme, the quadriplegic criminal specialist, is in North Carolina to undergo a risky operation that might give him a little movement in his hands and arms.  Accompanying him is Amelia Sachs, the policewoman who met and fell in love with him in The Bone Collector.  Lincoln has several days to wait for his operation and while he is cooling his heals he is asked by the local sheriff of a neighboring small town to get involved in the investigation of a murder and kidnapping. The at-large suspect, Garrett Hanlon, is a troubled teenage boy who is obsessed with insects.  This book could just have easily been called The Insect Boy since so much of the story revolves around this truly fascinating character and his vast knowledge of insects.  Garrett has kidnapped a girl and is holding her at a secret location.  Lincoln sends Amelia out to investigate and together they must use all their forensic skills to locate the girl before she is harmed.  Thrown into the mix are several resentful deputies and a trio of lowlife local boys who are also trying to find the kidnapped girl and collect a reward.  This is easily one of the very best mystery/suspense novels I've read in a long time and it is filled with amazing plot twists that will leave you breathless.
 
 

Revised Aug. 30, 2000
Comments to Bill McCleary