Snatch by Bill Pronzini

First in the Nameless Detective series


Written in 1971 this series is one of the longest running mystery series out there. I had heard about it but never read one so thought I would start at the beginning as is my nature.


Wealthy real estate developer Louis Martinetti contacts the Nameless Detective when Martinetti's nine-year-old son is kidnapped and held for a $300,000 ransom that Martinetti doesn't have the money to pay. The kidnapper has insisted that the money be delivered by a third party, and Nameless has been recommended as being reliable. Nameless knows that Martinetti should get the police involved, but reluctantly agrees to deliver the money (after Martinetti raises it by borrowing from a friend).


That decision leads him into a dangerous path full of danger, betrayal and righting wrongs. The main character is never named and it does not feel forced as you are seeing everything from his point of view. He is a former police officer in San Francisco who collects pulp fiction about tough private detectives. Drawn to the complex imagery of the strong, silent hero who rights wrongs, Nameless tries to live that role. But he has trouble getting clients, and operating as a one-man shop causes him to lead a lonely existence. In his personal life, his career keeps women at a distance. He believes in doing the right thing, even when it doesn't pay. He is there until the end of the ride or the case is solved. Consequently his girlfriend doesn't understand him and leaves him for reasons he can't understand.

I had read about this series but never tried one before. I found that I really enjoyed it and it did not feel as dated as I feared. I was able to literally read it in one setting as it is quite the suspenseful read. While the ending was not a surprise it was well done and you wanted to get to the end. I'll have to keep this series on my list of good detective books. Give it a try.

What's so Funny by Donald E. Westlake
The plot of the story revolves around an ex-cop private detective blackmailing Dortmunder into stealing a bejeweled, golden chess set meant for Czar Nicolas II. But it's hidden away in the vault of a bank, and it never comes up for air. The heirs to the chess set are locked in a legal struggle to see who inherits and it's Dortmunder's job to bring the chess set out into the open to have experts check it out, and that's when Dortmunder and crew will pounce.

The blackmail effort is for an elderly retired inventor, Mr. Hemlow, who wants to recover a stolen chess set worth millions that had once been intended for the last czar, but the Russian Revolution countered that option before the chess set was delivered. Hemlow's father and some fellow army and navy personnel sneaked the set out of the USSR during the anti-Soviet battles just after World War I. Their sergeant retrieved the set from his squad after they returned to the U.S. and disappeared with the chess set. Now, Hemlow's granddaughter, an apprentice lawyer who fancies herself an amateur historian, has located the set. Hemlow wants Dortmunder to liberate the valuable prize.

He brings the old gang together and it's a hoot to watch how nervous they all are because of the ex-cop/now detective in the picture. Lots of laugh out loud moments and the usual surprise ending.

Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen by Susan Gregg Gilmore

What is a teen with huge aspirations to do while living in a small town in the early '70s. Catherine Grace Cline's highlight every week is licking her Dilly Bar at the local Dairy Queen as she longs for the big-city life of Atlanta. As she dreams of leaving Ringgold, GA, population 1932, Catherine deals with her single father, who is a Baptist preacher; younger sister, Martha Ann; doting family friend, Gloria Jean; nosy neighbors; high school gossip; and a boyfriend, Hank. Eventually with high hopes, Catherine Grace boards the Greyhound, where she tries to find her place in Atlanta.
Through a series of letters from Martha Ann, readers learn about Catherine Grace's Atlanta happenings and missed events back home. When she returns to Ringgold because of a tragedy, startling, personal events change her perspective and her heart for this small town.

I read this book because of the title, who doesn't love Dairy Queen? I always loved books like Fried Green Tomatos at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg and Because of Winn Dixie by Kate DiCamillo, books that show us small town life. And while this was an enjoyable to read, it probably won't stick in my head as a favorite, can't wait to read it again book. I found the main character a bit contrived and the ending just fizzled out for me.

Weekend Warriors by Fern Michaels

This is like no other Fern Michael book I've ever read. There is no happily ever after here; it is full of rage and anger. Anger leads wealthy Myra Rutledge, who lost her daughter to a hit-and-run driver with diplomatic immunity, to found the Sisterhood, a secret vigilante group of women who have been unable to seek justice through lawful means. She turns to her adopted daughter, lawyer Nikki Quinn, who witnessed the fatal accident, to help find other women who need justice. Assisting Myra in this effort are former MI6 agent Charles Martin. Driven by revenge and hate, the women bond together as they pinpoint their first target—the Weekend Warriors, a group of motorcycle enthusiasts who brutally raped Kathryn Lucas, a member recruited to the sisterhood. The women decide on a Lorena Bobbitt–style punishment and carry it out with very few misgivings.

I know that this series has at least 7 books in the series now and I'm guessing each book focuses on one characters revenge. I am curious to see if each book is as hard feeling as this one. Each character is so focused on the revenge and anger part of their lives that it was difficult to really like any of them. Of course it helps that Myra is super rich so can pay for anything including a new identity for another woman who takes justice into her own hands and kills the man who killed her daughter. So I'm leaving this series open to future reads before I decide whether I like it or not.

Fearless 14 by Janet Evanovich

Latest installment in the Stephanie Plum series.

Plum is a bounty hunter from Trenton, NJ and as usual, her life is utter chaos. She ends up babysitting the teenaged son of a skip, Zook. Zook is addicted to an interactive Internet game called Minionfire. He also likes to spray paint everything. Ranger (a fellow bounty hunter and owner of a security firm) hires Stephanie to help babysit an aging singer, Brenda, who acts like a diva and is inclined to get into trouble. Plum also finds herself in the middle of a 10-year-old $9 million unsolved bank robbery, and it appears that the money might be somewhere in boyfriend Joe Morelli's house. Brenda decides to start a reality show and follows Plum around as she's trying to do her job. And when things couldn't get any worse, Lula is engaged to boyfriend, Tank, and is driving Stephanie crazy with wedding plans.

I love a good Stephanie Plum novel and this one does not disappoint. I'm always wanting more so I hope she continues to write her mid-year books to keep us going.

Genius by Jesse Kellerman

A successful young NYC art dealer named Ethan Muller discovers a vast series of bizarre drawings in an abandoned apartment in Queens, and the unknown genius who created them quickly becomes the toast of the contemporary art world. But Ethan soon has cause for alarm--a retired cop sees one of the drawings in the newspaper and recognizes the little boy in it as a long-ago victim of a serial killer who was never caught. Could the phantom artist and the phantom murderer be one and the same? Ethan Muller is determined to get to the bottom of the mystery. And someone else is just as determined to keep the secret buried....

I listened to this on CD and really enjoyed the storytelling. It is a mixture of mystery with discovering a family's history and secrets. Very satisifactory ending.

Watch Your Back by Donald Westlake


#12 in the Dortmunder series.


Arnie Albright, a fence so obnoxious his family "intervened" and sent him to Club Med in hopes he'd become more likable, has returned from the resort minimally improved, but having met the man of his dreams—Preston Fareweather, a millionaire who's as comically distasteful as Arnie and who, more importantly, plans to be away from his art-filled New York penthouse indefinitely, on the run from hordes of furious ex-wives. Albright calls in Dortmunder and his pals to take advantage of Fareweather's absence. Meanwhile, Dortmunder has discovered that a New Jersey branch of the mob has been systematically taking over O.J. Bar & Grill, which traditionally hosts Dortmunder's business meetings. Dortmunder plans the penthouse burglary and tracks down Raphael Medrick, failed manager of the O.J. and compulsive creator of crummy music.

What ensues is an entertaining read of bumbling attemps and seeing what happens. Laugh out loud as usual. Glad to see that Westlake is back on track with Dortmunder as the previous novel left much to be desired.

Nightshade by Susan Wittig Albert

3rd in the family trilogy but 16th book featuring China Bayles

China had an uneasy relationship with her dead father, which was not helped by the fact that he had a mistress who bore him a son. When her half-brother Miles asks for her help in proving that their father's deadly "accident" years ago was instead murder, China balks. Her husband McQuaid, a PI, happily takes on the challenge of unraveling the mystery behind China's father's death. Each chapter goes from China's to McQuaid's point of view giving us some insight on each of them.

While there is a murder in this mystery it is more China's journey to finding herself and somekind of connection with her dead father. Plus we find out a lot about Nightshade. fun as always.

Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin

In 1993 Mortenson was descending from his failed attempt to reach the peak of K2. Exhausted and disoriented, he wandered away from his group into the most desolate reaches of northern Pakistan. Alone, without food, water, or shelter he eventually stumbled into an impoverished Pakistani village where he was nursed back to health.

While recovering he observed the village’s 84 children sitting outdoors, scratching their lessons in the dirt with sticks. The village was so poor that it could not afford the $1-a-day salary to hire a teacher. When he left the village, he promised that he would return to build them a school. From that rash, heartfelt promise grew one of the most incredible humanitarian campaigns of our time: Greg Mortenson’s one-man mission to counteract extremism and terrorism by building schools—especially for girls—throughout the breeding ground of the Taliban.

Mortenson had no reason to believe he could fulfill his promise. In an early effort to raise money he wrote letters to 580 celebrities, businessmen, and other prominent Americans. His only reply was a $100 check from NBC’s Tom Brokaw. Selling everything he owned, he still only raised $2,000. But his luck began to change when a group of elementary school children in River Falls, Wisconsin, donated $623 in pennies, thereby inspiring adults to take his cause more seriously. Twelve years later he’s built fifty-five schools.

I have to say that this book more than met my expectations. This was given as my bookclub book for work and I wasn't that thrilled about reading a non-fiction book. But I really got sucked into it and enjoyed it til the end. It really makes you think how to approach other cultures and how lucky we are to have education and a safe place to live. So many places around the world are struggling just to survive day by day. This book is truly awe inspiring.

Miss Pettigrew Lives for the Day by Winifired Watson

Recently reprinted by Persephone Classics.

Set during the 30s in London. Miss Pettigrew is a dowdy governess who doesn't much like children and is down on her luck. She accidentally gets sent to the flat of a glamorous nightclub singer, who comes to rely upon Miss Pettigrew to straighten out her love life. Miss Pettigrew not only rises to the challenge (much to her own surprise), but undergoes a makeover and finds some romance for her own life as well.

I really enjoyed the introduction/preface by Henrietta Twycross-Martin as she really investigated this obscure author and even got to interview her. This is one of those books I had heard about vaguely but never read. So it was a nice to finally see it back in print and read it for myself. At first I was distracted by the dialog as Miss Pettigrew's thoughts are written like she is speaking them outloud. But I quickly got over that and enjoyed the witty dialog and observations and situations separated by chapters of period of times.

This is a fabulous weekend read and makes us all wonder if we could change how we are would we do it?

Sundays at Tiffany's by James Patterson & Gabrielle Charbonnet

Eight-year-old Jane Margaux is the daughter of a chic and famous Broadway producer. And since her mother is always busy producing musical hits and her father is mostly vacationing with his new trophy wife in Nantucket, she seems to spend a whole lot of time on her own. That's all right though, because Michael, her imaginary friend, is always there. But what's going to happen to her when Michael leaves her after her ninth birthday? He doesn't want to leave her, but he must. Alas, she won't remember him anyway, so it doesn't matter. Michael is somewhere in his early to mid thirties -- a handsome man with magnetic green eyes. His job is to be a child's imaginary friend for a while. He cannot be seen by grownups during these assignments. Then he lives a semi-normal life whenever he's on sabbatical. Twenty-three years later, he sees Jane again. She's a grownup now, working on turning her musical production into a feature film. The play is based on her relationship with Michael. She has never been able to forget her imaginary friend, no matter what he had told her. Her life is sort of a mess -- a controlling mother, an actor boyfriend who is using her, and an imaginary friend she can't seem to get off her mind. What happens when Jane and Michael are face to face after so many years? And how is it possible that this man -- someone she had thought was a figment of her imagination -- is actually real?

Read it in one sitting, liked the premise but the story was rather shallow. I found it interesting how a mother who had so little time for her daughter when she was a child would cling to her so much as she became an adult. The ending was a bit contrived but sweet. One reviewer commented how this reminded them of the Velveteen Rabbit and it really does.

Sound of Colors by written and illustrated by Jimmy Liao - translated by Sarah L. Thomson

A young blind girl travels from one subway station to another while her imagination takes her to impossibly wonderful places. This picture book was originally written in Chinese. It is one of those picture books that can be for anyone and really makes you think about being blind in a different way. This author really has a way of expressing the disability without making it seem like a disability.

I'm looking forward to his new book - Blue Stone which just came out.

Road to Ruin by Donald E. Westlake

Dortmunder and his gang are approached by a friend of Kelp's - disgruntled former driver for Monroe Hall. He wants revenge on Hall and to hit him where it hurts. In order to do the heist of Hall's classic car collection they hire on as live-in staff on his secluded ranch as a way to get access to, and ultimately steal, his collection of antique cars.

Hall has recently been caught robbing his own company blind and is now in seclusion within his sprawling compound with his wife, security guards and various collections that include cuckoo clocks, chess sets, rare books and music boxes. In fact, the man collects just about everything. The only thing he seems unable to collect is servants who don't want anything to do with him - after all, he's a pariah.

Hall has ruined many people and some of those people want revenge. Mac, Buddy and Ace are some blue collar employees who were laid off when Hall's company went under; Mark and Os are investors who lost a lot of money when the stock collapsed. They team up with the intent of kidnapping Hall and forcing him to transfer money out of his "secret" off-shore accounts. But unlike Dortmunder and his crew, these folks are strictly amateurs.

Then things start to crumble, as they tend to do around Dortmunder. Not his fault, of course. Who could know that three other sets of people are also plotting revenge on this same crook? Or that these other bozos would kidnap the crook, thereby bringing the police onto the scene just at the wrong time? And who could have predicted that Dortmunder would be kidnapped right along with the boss?

Enjoyed this fun read but I think that there were too many voices as we hear Dortmunder, Hall, plus the bumbling amatures that wreck havoc on Dortmunder's carefully crafted plan. Still Westlake has a gift for the comedic relief and you are rooting for Dortmunder until the very end.

Miracle at Speedy Motors by Alexander McCall Smith

Latest book in the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Series

There are a number of things for Mma Ramotswe to solve. Her paid case in this installment is to find a woman's family. She does not know who they are or even if they are, she is just sure she was adopted and wants to find out if she has any family. However - first and foremost are the nasty letters which the agency is receiving, threatening and personal. Then there is her adopted daughter who is in a wheelchair. Mr J L B Matekoni has met a doctor who says he can heal her and is determined to try no matter what the cost.

Mma Makutsi's wedding date has not been set, and she is privately worried. It is affecting her work and when she takes a morning off, distracted, Mma Ramotswe is forced to wonder just what will happen when Mma Makutsi gets married...will she leave the agency? will she demand to be made more than associate detective? Luckily, or unluckily Mma Makutsi has a disaster with a piece of furniture and her reliance on Mma Ramotswe is confirmed!

While this book was not as light as some of the previous titles it is no less delightful to read. I liked that there were fewer more indepth storylines. We see much more series issues such as money and envy being dealt with. A perfect afternoon of reading.

Beginners Greek by James Collins

Boy, Peter, meets girl, Holly, on an airplane flight from New York to Los Angeles. She is reading a book that was one of his favorites so during the long flight they talk, laugh and fall in love. She give him her number and they part ways. Meanwhile he discovers that he has lost her number so is the story over? Nope, it's just the first chapter. Flash forward to 3 years later, Peter is about to get married to someone else. His best friend is married to Holly, don't worry the story will be told later on. This story is full of flashbacks and numberous storylines. While the story has an interesting premise, the storylines feel a bit contrived to make the story flow and have a happy ending. Honestly I didn't really feel that interested in the characters.

From other reviews this is supposed to be chiclit for men. Personally I was bogged down by all the storylines.

Love Walked In by Maria de los Santos

Cornelia is a single thirty something who lives her life like a series of movie moments. She's a manager of a cafe because she hasn't figured out anything better to do. Her ideal man is Cary Grant. And just when she thinks he'll never show up, he does, in the form of Martin Grace. What she doesn't know is that Martin, with his cool charm and debonair demeanor, has a daughter, Clare. And she never would have known that except that Martin, in a state of panic, shows up with the girl at the cafe after her mother had a breakdown and left Clare to fend for herself. Estranged from his daughter for years, Martin doesn't know what to do with her. Both women's stories are told in alternating chapters, Cornelia's in first person, Clare's in third.

Claire & Cornelia are similar characters with age-appropriate crises. Cornelia is looking for a handsome Prince Charming to sweep her off her feet. She sees herself as a romantic heroine straight out of the movies from the 30s and 40s, which she just can't seem to watch enough and recommends to everyone she knows. She's looking for her own Cary Grant and believes she's found him in Martin. Claire sees herself and identifies with the orphans of classic novels, such as Anne of Green Gables, A Little Princess, The Secret Garden and Heidi, and finds herself in similar predicaments. Both characters fantasize and dream of finding their "Happily Ever After" just like their favorite heroines of the films and books they both cherish so much, but they never loose their grip on reality and always seem to find themselves with their feet firmly planted on the ground.

I listened to the story on CD and really enjoyed that they used two different voices for the alternating chapters. I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about this book once I realized that this wasn't a typical love story but rather a story about a woman who falls in love with a child and has to deal with the problems and consequences of someone else's actions. But I really did enjoy the story and seeing the various characters evolve into people you could see wanting as friends.

Thieves' Dozen by Donald E. Westlake

11 wonderful short stories featuring my favorite crook, Dortmunder.
This was a delightful set of stories and I enjoyed reading Westlake's introduction.

My favorite was "Too Many Crooks" in which Dortmunder and Kelps break into a bank vault from the building next door to discover that some other bank robbers have already robbed the bank and locked everyone inside the vault. When the bank robbers open up the vault, Dortmunder and Kelp for once think fast on their feet and blend in with the other hostages. They decide to use Dortmunder as the negotiator and we know what happens then. Hysterical.

I also enjoyed the final story "Fugue for Felons" about a totally differently named crew who have alot of similar characteristics of our favorite robbers.

Westlake has this knack of making you like his characters and I laugh out loud as I read. Great collection.

Fault Tree by Louise Ure

Arizona auto mechanic Cadence Moran is no stranger to darkness. She was blinded in a horrific car accident eight years ago that also took the life of her three-year old niece. She knows she was only partially to blame, but that doesn't make the loss any easier to bear. She's learned to get by, but there are still painful memories. When she is almost run down by a speeding car on the way home from work, Cadence at first thinks that she is the victim of road rage or a bad driver. But that's not the case. In fact, she is the only witness to the murder of her elderly neighbor, and now the killer believes that she's seen the getaway car.

This was a very intense mystery in which we see the story from Cadence's as well as the murder's point of view. The chapters were short and intense and made me want to keep turning the page to see how the plot developes. Cadence is dealing with a lot of personal guilt - what she calls her Fault Tree. It was fascinating to see how she dealt with the car-accident that took her sight as well as killed her young niece.

State of the Onion
White House Chef Mystery series by Julie Hyzy

Set in a fictionalized White House, Assistant Chef Olivia Paras (aka Ollie) faces challenges aplenty: a heated competition for the soon-to-be-vacant top chef's job, the sneering antagonism of the president's newly appointed sensitivity director and, of course, the mysterious intruder she unwittingly stops on the White House lawn with a couple of swift blows from a frying pan—an unarmed man with news of a threat to the president. Though the Secret Service disapproves of her interference, Ollie soon takes on the mantel of amateur sleuth, which could endanger not only her life but her cozy relationship with handsome Secret Service Agent Thomas MacKenzie. The tension mounts as the president negotiates a major peace plan for the Middle East, Ollie stumbles on the path of a nearly invisible enemy known as the Chameleon, and obnoxious TV celebrity chef Laurel Anne Braun shows up to threaten Ollie's career.

I am not a big fan of those cutsie mysteries in which there are a lot of puns and "oh no it's a dead body in the freezer" books. So I was pleasantly surprised that while there is a lot of food action no murder is involved with the kitchen. It will be interesting to see where this series goes from here.

Test of Wills by Charles Todd

I saw a book review for a more recent book in this series but since I like to start at the beginning here it is. Set in 1919, Inspector Ian Rutledge, a British veteran of the Great War secretly still suffering from shell-shock, returns to his Scotland Yard job in hopes of exorcizing his private demons. However, a devious higher-up has learned of his Achilles heel and gets Ian assigned to a potentially explosive and career-damaging case--a murder involving a decorated war hero, a beautiful ward, and a shell-shocked witness. Rutledge is a sympathic character but is suffering from a split personality whom he calls Hamish. We find out midway through the book that he believes Hamish is a ghost that haunts him from the war.

There are many red herrings as up until the end I did not know who the murderer was. But the loose ends are tied neatly except for knowing how Rutledge will handle his own mental issues. Plus Rutledge finds himself wondering if Hamish is a ghost from his past or is he suffering from a split personality. While this was not the most uplifting read I did find myself intrigued by the main characters past and how he is adapting back in his English life. I'm looking forward to reading more in this series.