Pagan Babies,  by Elmore Leonard

Father Terry Dunn, Catholic priest, has been ministering in Rwanda for five years.  Almost as soon as he got there he was caught up in the bloodshed between two warring groups and he helplessly witnessed the massacre of forty-seven children and adults who had sought refuge in his church.  Now, he has returned to his native Detroit to solicit donations for the orphans of Rwanda.  Sounds noble but this being an Elmore Leonard novel, you know you are in for some twists.  For one, is Dunn really a priest?  Why was he smuggling cigarettes five years ago?  And, why has he become involved with Debbie Dewey, aspiring stand-up comic, who's just out of prison after serving three years for aggravated assault against her ex-boyfriend Randy?  Dunn and Dewey concoct a scheme to get back all the money Randy stole from her--and then some--but it's going to be a bumpy ride when a hitman and the Detroit mob get caught up in the action.  Great fun from the great Leonard.
 

Perish Twice, by Robert B. Parker

Boston private eye Sunny Randall was introduced in Family Honor.  Now, she is back in this second installment of the series.  Perish Twice finds Sunny hired by Mary Lou Goddard, a prominent feminist and the head of a company that consults on women's issues.  Goddard has been receiving threatening phone calls and believes she is being stalked.  Sunny signs on to protect Goddard and try to find the person doing the menacing.  Her sleuthing leads her to Lawrence Reeves, who has had a sexual relationship with Goddard.  What seems to be a simple case suddenly turns complicated when Goddard's look-alike assistant, Gretchen, is murdered.  Reeves commits suicide, leaving a confession to the murder.  With Reeves death, Goddard feels she no longer needs Sunny's services and she fires her.  Sunny, however, does not go quietly and she decides to keep investigating on her own--which puts her life in danger when she starts to stir things up.  This fledgling series is terrific and if you missed Sunny's debut, Family Honor is still available in the Popular Collection

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Slaves of Obsession, by Anne Perry

Anne Perry's latest London mystery features private investigator William Monk and his wife Hester, a nurse.  The year is 1861 and the Civil War has begun in America.  Philo Trace, a Southerner, and Lyman Breedlove, representing the North, are both in London seeking to buy rifles from arms dealer Daniel Alberton.  Alberton agrees to sell the rifles to Trace, who arrived first.  Breedlove, while romancing Alberton's teenage daughter Merrit, tries to get him to change his mind and sell the rifles to him.  Alberton refuses and a few days later ends up murdered.  The rifles are gone, along with Breedlove and Merrit.  Alberton's wife hires William and Hester to travel to America to find Merrit and bring her back to England.  The Monks manage to find Merrit and Breedlove in the midst of a battle in Manassas and they return both of them to London--where they are charged with Alberton's murder.  But, are they guilty?  Merrit and Breedlove both profess their innocence and William decides to investigate more fully the circumstances of Alberton's murder.  Slaves of Obsession is an enjoyable addition to the Monk series and the section dealing with their adventures in America was especially well-done--wish their visit had been longer.
 

Wish You Well, by David Baldacci

Baldacci's latest is an unexpected and complete departure for him.   And, a delight!  As a child growing up, he listened to his mother, the youngest of ten children, tell him stories of her upbringing in the mountains of southwest Virginia.  After writing a number of modern suspense novels, Baldacci decided to incorporate his mother's stories into a historical novel that takes place in 1940.  As the story begins,  New Yorkers Louisa Mae "Lou" Cardinal, twelve, and her brother Oz, seven, have been in an auto accident that has killed their writer father and left their mother semi-conscious but unable to speak or move.  Although their father was a fairly famous author, he never earned very much and his death has left the family practically penniless.  They are all shipped off to live with their great-grandmother (and, great she is!) on her small farm in the mountains of Virginia.  The novel covers about a year in Lou and Oz's lives as they learn about and come to love an entirely different way of life.  If you enjoyed Gap Creek I think you'll be just as captivated getting to know the wonderful, interesting characters in Wish You Well.
 

Dust to Dust, by Tami Hoag

The hanging death of Andy Fallon, a Minneapolis internal affairs cop, is ruled a suicide but was it?  He had been investigating the beating death of another Minneapolis policeman.  The case was closed but Fallon suspected some policemen were involved in the killing.  Sam Kovac and his partner, Nikki Liska, are assigned to investigate Andy's death.  As a young cop, Sam had been mentored by Andy's father, Mike, and he feels a special debt to find out what happened to his son.  Mike is now retired from the force and in a wheelchair as a result of being shot in a heroic attempt to save a fellow cop.  On the day of Andy's funeral, Sam finds Mike dead from a gunshot wound to the head.  Another suicide?  Or, was Mike silenced for something he knew?  Sam and Nikki's investigation will lead them to a crime from the past that will put both of them in danger as they dig deeper into the two deaths.  This is a nicely done mystery/suspense novel and Sam and Nikki are terrific partners to get to know.
 

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