5 - I'll rush out now and buy everything that author has ever written
including his/her notes to the milkman
4 - I'll buy the books in hardback as soon as they come out
3 - Oh, is this one out in paperback now? OK, I think I'll get it
2 - Oh look I'm stuck on this desert island and someone has left me one
book to read, well, I suppose I'll read it
1 - Oh look, I'm stuck on this desert island and I have this one book
and no toilet paper.

JAMES SWAIN - GRIFT SENSE
Protagonist: Tony Valentine - Occupation: ex-cop
Setting: Las Vegas mostly - Series?: 1st
Rating: 4.5
Comments: Tony Valentine has a real talent for spotting conmen.  He
makes a pretty good living as a consultant to casinos - reviewing
security measures and ferreting out hustlers.  He's hired by the owner
of the Acropolis Casino Resort in Las Vegas to check out a surveillance
tape showing a gambler who took the casino for $50K.  Was it just luck,
or something more suspicious?  I really enjoyed this book.  It was a
grand romp about grifts and scams, with some excellent characters.  Tony
Valentine himself is a really likeable guy and James Swain has a knack
of making even pretty unlikeable characters endearing in a scary sort of
way. I also learned lots of handy stuff for the upcoming Bouchercon
including a) I'm not going to win any money and b) I'm definitely not
wearing red in the casino unless I want to put the guys who man the
security cameras off their food.

G M FORD - FURY
Protagonist: Frank Corso - Occupation: Journalist
Setting: Seattle - Series?: 1st
Rating: 4.75
Comments: Frank Corso is a disgraced journalist who has become a pariah
after allegedly fabricating facts while working for the New York Times
(hmmmm, doesn't that sound awfully familiar somehow!).  Having moved to
Seattle he spends his time writing books and turning in the occasional
column for The Sun.  Several years before, shortly after Corso arrived
in Seattle, a vicious serial killer known as The Trashman  terrorised
the city.  His final victim, Leanne Samples, escapes, and she identifies
sociopathic homeless man Walter Himes as the killer.  He's now on death
row, with only a few days before his execution.  Nobody will be sorry to
see him executed, as he's a thoroughly nasty character.  But then Leanne
puts a spanner in the works.  She's now insisting that she lied about
the attack, and she wants to tell Corso her story.  This was my
favourite read of the month - a fast and furious thriller which is
darker than G M Ford's Waterman books but still with flashes of the same
humour, memorable characters and great dialogue.  Where Leo Waterman is
a warm, comfortable
character, Corso is acerbic, prickly and more than a little scary.  A
great read.

LAUREN HENDERSON - THE BLACK RUBBER DRESS
Protagonist: Sam Jones - Occupation: Sculptor
Setting: London - Series?: 3rd I think?
Rating: 4.5
Comments: Sam Jones has created a huge, bizarre, modern sculpture which
was commissioned by a very staid investment bank.  The night of the
unveiling Sam dons her black rubber dress and heads off for the event.
As Sam parties with assorted Sloane Rangers and Hooray Henrys, the
bank's
security guard is murdered.  All I can say is what's taken me so long to
read this series?  I absolutely loved it.  It's funny, smart, breezy;
Sam is a real hedonist and throws herself into sex, drugs, rock and roll
and murder with equal gusto.  I'd probably keep her away from my mother
though :o). The book is well plotted and paced.  A smart amateur sleuth,
but definitely not cosy.  Made me want to go down my nearest rubber shop
and buy something slinky.  Well, almost.  Since I didn't want to be
responsible for a world rubber shortage, I restricted myself to
splashing out on a new pair of Marigolds.

CARA BLACK - MURDER IN THE SENTIER
Protagonist: Aimee Leduc - Occupation: PI
Setting: Paris - Series?: 3rd
Rating: 3.5
Comments: Aimee Leduc is contacted out of the blue by a woman who claims
to have known her mother in jail.  Aimee's mother disappeared when Aimee
was a child, and Aimee has never been able to understand why. The
mysterious Jutta Hald tells Aimee that her mother Sydney was part of a
radical terrorist group in the 1970s. Now Jutta is out of prison, she is
looking for something and thinks Aimee might be able to help.
Unfortunately, there are also others on the trail, and some of them get
to Jutta before she can tell Aimee anything else.  I enjoyed this with a
couple of reservations which didn't spoil my enjoyment, but might be the
sort of thing which could put people off.  Aimee was a bit unlikely in
places, shinning up drainpipes in a pair of Manolo Blahniks in a Carrie
Bradshaw meets Lara Croft moment, and there were a few too many
coincidences for the plot to entirely work for me.  But it was a great
fun read, the characters really stood out, and the descriptions of Paris
were captivating.

RICHARD BURKE - FROZEN
Protagonist: Harry Waddell - Occupation: Photographer
Setting: London/Beachy  - Series?: Standalone
Rating: 3.75
Comments: Harry's best friend Verity doesn't turn up for their usual
fortnightly get-together.  The reason, it turns out, is because she has
apparently jumped off Beachy Head and is now lying in a coma in
hospital.  Harry doesn't believe she has tried to commit suicide and,
with the assistance of their mutual friend Adam, tries to make some
sense of what has happened.  The story of the friendship of Harry,
Verity and Adam is told through a series of flashbacks to their
childhood, plus the up to date investigation that Harry does into
Verity's fall.  This is a nice, suspenseful, thoughtful psychological
thriller.  I particularly liked the scenes of the childhood memories.

CLINTON MCKINZIE - THE EDGE OF JUSTICE
Protagonist: Antonio Burns - Occupation: Special Agent / Climber
Setting: Wyoming - Series?: I think it's the first in a series
Rating: DNF
Comments: This book is perfectly well written, and I'm sure it's very
thrilling, but it's mixture of courtroom drama and action adventure -
neither of which appeal to me.  It's also got a lot of climbing stuff
in.  A lot.  And after a while I found all the talk of rappeling
repelling. Plus, the book is written in the present tense.  Now I
generally don't like books written in the present tense; however,
sometimes, it really works, and I'm halfway through the book before I
realise the tense it's written in.  This book didn't work in the present
tense for me.  I knew I had to stop reading when my mind started
meandering and I wanted to rewrite the climbing bits: "I stand on the
ledge 100 feet up the sheer cliff face.  I brace my feet against the
rock as I slowly inch my way higher and higher.   I turn a page in my
notebook and lick my pencil.
Suddenly a thought strikes me.  If I have my pencil in one hand, and my
notebook in the other - then how the hell am I holding onto
the.....aaaaaaaargh......."

KATE ELLIS - THE MERCHANT'S HOUSE
Protagonist: Wesley Peterson - Occupation: Policeman
Setting: West Country, UK - Series?: 1st
Rating: 3.75
Comments: Two parallel investigations involving a centuries old murder
of a woman whose bones are found during an archaeological dig, and the
modern day death of an unidentified woman, plus a missing toddler mean
this book has several different threads which intertwine and diverge in
a very interesting way.  I enjoyed this introduction to Wesley Peterson,
a black police officer, and his friend Neil Watson, an archaeologist.  I
shall definitely look for more in this series and hope they all have the
same ancient and modern link.

MICHAEL CONNELLY - CITY OF BONES
Protagonist: Harry Bosch - Occupation: Policeman        
Setting: LA - Series?: 8th
Rating: 4
Comments: Harry Bosch and his partner Jerry Edgar are called in when a
bone is turned up by a dog. The body of a boy is found in a shallow
hillside grave.  The bones have been buried for 20 years, but they
gradually reveal their sad secrets and Harry determines to find the
boy's killer. I love Michael Connelly's writing and Harry Bosch is one
of crime fiction's great characters. This is not my favourite of the
series, but is still a great read.  For some reason I found it a bit
slow to get into but about a quarter of the way in it really kicked in
for me.

STEVE HAMILTON - NORTH OF NOWHERE
Protagonist: Alex McKnight - Occupation: ex-cop
Setting: Paradise, Michigan - Series?: 4th
Rating: 4.25
Comments: Alex' friend, local bar owner Jackie Connery, is worried that
Alex is becoming a hermit and invites him to take the place of a poker
buddy at the regular game held at the home of flashy businessman Winston
Vargas.  Part way through the game a gang of masked men burst in and
hold the poker players at gunpoint while one of the gang forces Vargas
to open his safe. Vargas is suspicious that one or all of his guests has
something
to do with the robbery and it looks as though he may be right when
Jackie and two of the other poker players are questioned.  Alex,
however, is certain they're not involved.  An exciting, compelling tale
of friendship, greed, and secrecy.  There are lots of things happening
in this book, and the plot twists like a double helix.  The actions of
the characters are always believable.  The sense of place is excellent
and the descriptions make Hamilton's setting very real; with the
constant reminder that Paradise isn't always all it's cracked up to be.  

RAY SHANNON - MAN EATER
Protagonist: Ronnie Deal/Ellis Langford - Occupation: Hollywood Producer
/ ex-con - Setting: Hollywood - Series?: Standalone
Rating: 4.5
Comments: When Ronnie Deal, Hollywood producer and the man eater of the
title, is having a bad day, she's REALLY having a bad day. Sitting on
her own in a bar to try and wind down, she ends up saving a young woman
from a beating by the thoroughly scary Neon Polk.  Polk vows to get his
revenge and Ronnie tries to find a way ...

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Beth

Pam K

I gave Grift Sense a 7 out of 10 [meaning I liked it quite well], but my
notes say "Enjoyed, but he didn't play straight with the readers". Did
you have any of that feeling?

Ian

I knew I had to stop reading when my mind started

The second book was a little more probable, but "Edge of Justice" had the
guy injured, still climbing dangerous rocks, and ending up in crucial places
just in the knick of time.  Credulity stretched just a little too far!

--
A R Pickett aka Woodstock

"He that loves reading has everything within his reach."
William Godwin

Remove lower case "e" to respond

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I did think Swain knew his gambling stuff.

Pam K