L.A. Dead,  by Stuart Woods

Stone Barrington, the ex-cop New York lawyer that women find irresistible, is back in this latest Woods book.  Stone is in Italy about to be married to Dolce, the daughter of a Mafia boss, when he receives word that Vance Calder, a very famous Hollywood actor, has been murdered.  Vance's wife, Arrington, is likely to be charged with his murder.  Stone, who once was seriously involved with Arrington and was ready to propose to her before she impulsively married Vance, flies to L.A. to assist in her defense.  All of the evidence points to Arrington but Stone soon discovers that Vance was having numerous affairs--could he have been done in by one of his leading ladies?  While Stone is trying to uncover the truth he manages to have numerous affairs himself, one of which leads to a second murder.  Lots of action and fun with this peek into the lives of Hollywood royalty.
 

The Last Precinct, by Patricia Cornwell

Werewolves in Richmond!  Well, one so-called werewolf.  When we last left Kay Scarpetta, the Chief Medical Examiner of Virginia, in Black Notice, she had been attacked by Jean-Baptiste Chandonne, the Frenchman with the appearance of a werewolf, and had narrowly escaped death.  Now, Chandonne is in jail charged with several murders and the attack on Scarpetta.  Chandonne has hired the very sleazy lawyer son of Kay's policeman friend, Pete Marino, to defend him and together they definitely believe that a good defense is a good offense.  They turn the tables and claim that Chandonne has been set up by a government conspiracy and Kay, herself, is responsible for one of the murders, that of Diane Bray.  Bray was the head of the Richmond police and Kay had clashed with her and intensely disliked her.  Brought into handle the Grand Jury investigation of Scarpetta is Jaime Berger, a female New York assistant district attorney and a very interesting, intriguing character.  The possibility of being charged with murder spurs Kay to investigate Chandonne further on her own and, at the same time, seriously examine her life and future.  This is a complex novel with multiple plot lines carrying over from several of her past books but Cornwell weaves them all together very nicely in her latest winner.
 

Code to Zero, by Ken Follett

Return with me to 1958.  Eisenhower is president, cars have those outrageous tailfins, and the Soviets have just beaten us into space with Sputnik.  In Washington, D.C., a man who has lost his memory wakes up in Union Station.  He's dressed like a bum but somehow he doesn't feel like one.  How did he end up where he is and why is he being followed?  Meanwhile, at Cape Canaveral, a countdown has begun to launch America's answer to Sputnik and the future of the space race is riding on a successful launch.  Back in D.C., our amnesia man, Luke, has managed to find out that he is an important scientist with the space program.  Does his visit to D.C. have something to do with the imminent launch?  And, why is he now not only being followed but shot at?  Ken Follett, one of my very favorite authors,  has taken  factual events from this era and produced a terrific suspense  novel that will have you on the edge of your seat the whole way through.  And, it was refreshing to read a novel set in a time period that isn't used very often.
 

Mr. Perfect, by Linda Howard

Four best lady friends working at the same company get together at a local bar every Friday night to celebrate the end of the work week.  One Friday they decide to compose a list of ten attributes that would make a man 'Mr. Perfect'.  They start out with 'faithful' as number one--nothing wrong with that--but by the time they get to the latter half of the list they've had a few too many drinks and their list of desires has definitely strayed into risqué territory.  The list started out as something for their private amusement but one of their co-workers gets a copy of it, it's spread around the company, it gets on the internet, tv picks it up, and suddenly the four friends are in their fifteen minutes of fame.  And, they're enjoying every minute until one of them is murdered.  Seems someone is very offended by the list and has decided to kill all of them one by one.   Can the remaining three stay alive until the killer is caught?  This is the first book I've read by this author and I thought it was pretty good but the tone was rather strange--one minute light-hearted and funny and the next minute someone is being brutally murdered.
 

Speaking in Tongues, by Jeffery Deaver

Loyal readers of my past reviews are probably aware of my feelings regarding publishers who pull stunts like publishing former paperbacks as "new" hardback novels when an author becomes famous.  Or, publishing new novels under the name of dead authors--but written by someone else.  Well, happily, we have a good outcome in the case of this novel by Deaver.  From the copyright information, it looks like this book was first published in England in 1995.  I don't know why it took so long to get here but I'm glad it's finally available.  Virginian Tate Collier is a great lawyer but a very neglectful father.  His ex-wife, Bett, is a great looker but a very neglectful mother.  Their teenage daughter, Megan, is a great lass but needs a psychiatrist to cope.  When Megan turns up missing after failing to arrive for a lunch meeting with her father, the police treat her as a runaway.  Tate and Bett, however, think Megan might have been abducted.  But, by whom and for what reason?  They decide to join forces to try to uncover their daughter's whereabouts. Their search will bring them a new respect for each other but also put them in the path of a brilliant but twisted psychopath with a murderous grudge against Tate.  I thought Deaver's The Empty Chair was by far the best mystery/suspense novel I read last year.  This isn't quite as good but it's still a great thriller that you'll want to read with all the lights on.
 

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