Flesh and Blood, by Jonathan Kellerman

Alex Delaware is a Los Angeles psychologist who frequently assists the police—usually represented by Milo Sturgis, a gay LAPD detective.  In this latest installment in the series, Alex is investigating the disappearance of  Lauren Teague, a twenty-six year old former stripper and call girl.  Ten years earlier, Alex had briefly treated Lauren during her wild teenage years. Before her disappearance, Lauren had seemingly turned her life around and was attending college.  When Lauren goes missing for a week, Alex agrees to look into the case both as a favor to her mother and also because he feels a certain responsibility since Lauren had been his patient.  As Alex begins his search, he comes up with more questions than answers.  Then, Lauren is found brutally murdered and the focus shifts to finding her killer—with Milo heading up the police investigation.   Together they will turn up several interesting suspects in a mystery that will keep you entertained and guessing.
 

Blackwater Sound, by James W. Hall

A few issues back I mentioned that I thought Edna Buchanan was one of the best escape novelists yet to achieve mega popularity. Her male counterpart is probably a tossup between James W. Hall and John Katzenbach.    Curiously, both Buchanan and Hall are southern Florida writers.  Hall’s latest begins with Thorn breaking up with his current girlfriend during a cruise on his boat.  You’ll recall that Thorn is the anti-progress semi-private eye who lives in a cabin on Blackwater Sound in Key Largo.  While their breakup is going on, they notice a passenger jet coming at them with all its engines off.  The jet crash lands in the water near them and Thorn is able to rescue the passengers who survived the crash.  Having witnessed the crash, Thorn feels compelled to investigate what happened to cause all the engines to quit at the same time.  Along the way he will come across a vicious family with a sinister new invention and he will meet possibly the love of his life.  If you haven’t read Hall yet, Blackwater Sound is a nice introduction.
 

One Door Away From Heaven, by Dean Koontz

I love novels that have alternating separate story lines that ultimately come together and in Koontz’s latest we have three.  In Colorado, a young extraordinary boy named Curtis is on the run after the murder of his mother, his only companion his dog.  His mother’s killers want him dead, too, and they will stop at nothing to find him.  Also pursuing Curtis is the U.S. government--and he might suffer a fate worse than death if the government gets to him.  In California, nine-year-old Leilani Klonk has arrived for a short stay at a rundown trailer park while her family’s travel bus is being repaired.  Leilani is handicapped and her evil, delusional parents are traveling the country searching for extraterrestrials to cure her.  If they are unsuccessful, they plan to kill her on her tenth birthday.  Next door at the trailer park is Micky Bellsong, an ex-con trying to get her life together while temporarily living with her semi-dotty Aunt Geneva.  Also in California is Noah Farrel, an ex-cop private eye.  Noah has lived a mostly solitary life trying to atone for his family’s involvement in selling illegal drugs. His latest case investigating a sinister politician has put his life in danger.  From these elements Koontz has weaved a wonderfully interesting and suspenseful story that will keep you on the edge of your seat wondering what will happen next.
 

Basket Case, by Carl Hiassen

Jack Tagger, single, soon to be 47, is a newspaper reporter for the Union Register, a south Florida daily newspaper.  He’s been a highly regarded investigative reporter for most of his career but now he has been relegated to writing obituaries as punishment for speaking out against the odious new owners of the paper.  As our story opens, Jack is handed the assignment of writing the obituary of Jimmy Stoma, the infamous lead singer of the once popular Jimmy and the Slut Puppies musical group.  Jimmy has died in a scuba diving accident and is survived by his widow, an aspiring singer named Cleo Rio.  Jack interviews Cleo but later finds out that much of what she told him about Jimmy’s death wasn’t true.  As a fan of the Slut Puppies, Jack decides to do some investigating into Jimmy’s death—and soon finds his own life in danger.  This was another fun read with lots of humorous Florida characters from the always entertaining Hiaasen.
 

The Summons, by John Grisham

Elderly former Judge Reuben V. Atlee is dying and he summons his two sons, Ray and Forrest, back to see him in Clanton, Mississippi, to discuss his estate.  Ray is a divorced law professor at the University of Virginia and Forrest is an off and on druggie living in Memphis.  Ray arrives first at the old family home and he discovers that his father has just died hours earlier.  He also finds over three million dollars in cash hidden in the judge’s study.  Since the judge had never been wealthy and he gave away most of what he earned, the immediate question is where did the money come from?  Ray decides to keep the money a secret from everyone—including Forrest—while he tries to discover its origins.   As he investigates he also grapples with what to do with the money—while also trying to keep it safe from someone trying to steal it.  This was an enjoyable read and style-wise it was a nice cross between The Painted House and his legal thrillers.
 
 
 

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