Dead Broke in Jarrett Creek by Terry Shames

Dead Broke in Jarrett Creek (Samuel Craddock Series #3), Terry Shames. Buffalo NY: Prometheus Books, 2014. e-book, 225 pps.


Jarrett Creek is broke. A deal with a water park promoter fell through and now a son of a banker is dead. Who killed him? Samuel Craddock is called from retirement and he has to find out. Dead Broke in Jarrett Creek is much better than this short summary might imply.

sapphoq reviews says: I enjoy the writing of Terry Shames and have quickly become a fan. I failed to anticipate whodunnit in this one-- a mark of a mystery well-told for me. If you like mysteries combined with a touch of life in a small town, then the Samuel Craddock Series is for you. Highly recommended. 

A Killing at Cotton Hill by Terry Shames

A Killing at Cotton Hill (Samuel Craddock Series #1), Terry Shames. Amherst NY: Prometheus Books, 2013. ebook, 205 pps.

https://terryshames.com/

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     Retired police chief Samuel Craddock lives in a small town in Texas. An old friend is murdered in her kitchen. Samuel gets involves seeing as the current police chief likes to drink more than anything related to work.

sapphoq reviews says: I enjoyed the small Texas town feel of A Killing at Cotton Hill, complete with regional accents. The scenery reminded me of places in Texas where I've been. The conversations were realistic. An absence of curse words, gratuitous violence, and graphic sex scenes make this book readable for those who are sensitive to that sort of thing. There are a few secrets revealed which may trigger survivors of childhood abuse but the way those things were described was with sensitivity and respect. The mystery itself was engrossing. In short, I love this book and I will be reading more of the series in short order. Suitable for mature teens and adults. Highly recommended.

Ripper by Isabel Allende

Ripper, Isabel Allende. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2014. e-book, 426 pps.

     Having read Maya's Notebook, I looked forward to reading Ripper and I was not disappointed. Ripper is set in San Francisco, an area of the country that I am quite fond of and know well enough. A teenager and her internet cohorts who play an online game called Ripper use the game to figure out who is leaving a trail of bodies in San Francisco.

sapphoq reviews says: Isabel Allende did an excellent job penning this serial killer novel. There was a twist at the end that was unanticipated. The scenery was spot-on. The characters were believable, especially Amanda the teen, her leftover hippie mom with poor taste in men, and her grandfather. And Save the Tuna was especially endearing. I like abandoned buildings in real life and in the novels I read. Highly recommended.

A Dead Hand, by Paul Theroux

Paul Theroux, A Dead Hand. New York: Marina Books, 2010. paperback, 279 pps.

A Dead Hand, subtitled A Crime in Calcutta, is a work of fiction and a crime mystery by the great Paul Theroux. (He and Oliver Sachs are tops on my wish list of people to hang out with for a couple of hours drinking tea and talking about regular stuff). As always with Theroux's writings, a sense of place is omnipresent. The narrator is a man reluctant to leave Calcutta because of a mysterious woman. The woman, Mrs. Unger, is an American ex-pat with an orphanage, some knowledge of tantric sex and Kundalini, and a fetish for the blood of black goats. She also has a pair of quasi sons-- Charlie and Rajat. She is a wealthy philanthropist, but not after the fashion of Mother Theresa so it seems. Theroux inserts himself into the book by meeting the narrator and asking if he knows Mrs. Unger. The ending involves a cremation without rain.

This book should be required reading for any fluffy bunny who believes that Kali-Ma is a benevolent protector of women and fluffy bunnies.

sapphoq reviews says: Highly recommended for fans of Paul Theroux as well as for those who appreciate a sense of place.