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The Longmire Defense by Craig Johnson

One wouldn’t expect the discovery of a seventy-year-old rifle to generate more than historical interest. True, the weapon is associated with the long-ago murder of Bill Sutherland, a former state accountant, and it has long been theorized that Lloyd Longmire … Continue reading

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An Honest Man by Michael Koryta

What does it mean to be honest? Strictly speaking, someone who answers questions put to him without lying is being honest. However, there’s a reason why people who are sworn in before they testify in court are asked to tell … Continue reading

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The Autobiography of Matthew Scudder by Lawrence Block

There have been biographies written about fictional characters. In some instances, the biography is a novel that purports to recount the life of the subject, but in other cases, writers assemble the “known” facts about a fictional character and recast … Continue reading

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Where I End by Sophie White

It’s a rare thing for a book to take this reader completely by surprise, but Where I End does just that. It is an exquisitely beautiful, profoundly disturbing and frequently grotesque short novel that almost defies description.  Much of the opening section … Continue reading

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Forever Home by Graham Norton

The house on Stable Row belies its name. Stability isn’t its hallmark. The original owner, Declan Barry, lived there with his wife, Joan, and two children, Killian and Sally, until Joan vanished one day over two decades ago, never to … Continue reading

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Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane

The Irish-American Southie region of Boston is already a powder keg awaiting a spark in the summer of 1974. The city is in the midst of a heat wave and the public school system is about to undergo court-ordered desegregation. … Continue reading

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The Deluge by Stephen Markley

It should come as no surprise that a book about global warming and catastrophic climate change would be called The Deluge. Indeed, over the course of the many years covered by Markley’s novel, there are several instances of weather-related inundation. However, … Continue reading

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City of Dreams by Don Winslow

At the end of City on Fire, Danny Ryan was on the run from law enforcement and the Moretti crime family, the Rhode Island branch of the mafia. The former believe he killed one of their own, a corrupt FBI agent, … Continue reading

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City on Fire by Don Winslow

The peaceful—occasionally even amicable—relationship between the members of the Irish and Italian families who control much of the crime and labor in Providence, Rhode Island in 1986 is at a crossroads. Members of the older generation of both families are … Continue reading

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