Lincoln's Hand by Joel Fox

I'm just now catching up on some of the books I learned about at Left Coast Crime. Joel Fox was one of the debut mystery authors who spoke at the New Authors' Breakfast, and I found the premise of his book, Lincoln's Hand, intriguing. I was right. Fox's Zane Rigby is an appealing protagonist with a great deal of potential for future books.

Just when FBI Agent Rigby thinks he has the Monument Bomber in his sights, he discovers he fell for a decoy, and the bomber attacked a different American monument. Rigby's boss, the new FBI director, feels he made the whole agency look foolish when he failed to get the bomber, so she reassigns him to Springfield, Illinois, on what appears to be a fool's errand. He's to be there when Abraham Lincoln's tomb is opened to make sure he's in it. An Illinois congressman sponsored a bill ensuring that any time a case involving historical significance is being investigated, the feds are to be a part of it. Since the Director received a hand, accompanied by a note asking for ransom for the rest of Lincoln, there's the possibility the body isn't there. So, Rigby is assigned to confirm that Lincoln is in his tomb.

Leave it to Zane Rigby to get involved with a bombing, two murders, and an old girlfriend. Who knew Springfield, Illinois could have all that excitment, along with the possibility of a missing body, and conspiracies surrounding the body? Oh, yes, and there's still that Monument Bomber out there, taunting the FBI.

Joel Fox combines an ethical man determined to find justice, even if he has to do it on his own, with an intriguing historical puzzle. It's easy to root for Zane Rigby, an FBI agent with a sense of humor, along with his dedication to his job. One way or another, he's determined to find answers. And, the reader will be just as eager to learn the truth. Let's hope FBI Agent Zane Rigby has a long career.

Joel Fox's website for the book is www.lincolnshand.com

Lincoln's Hand by Joel Fox. Echelon Press.©2010. ISBN 9781590806746 (paperback), 313p.

*****
FTC Full Disclosure - The publicist sent me a copy of the book since Joel Fox will be doing a guest blog later this month.

Backstage Stuff by Sharon Fiffer

I'm going to admit I've been a little tired of Jane Wheel at times.  She's the main  character in Sharon Fiffer's mystery series.  But, with a major change in her life pending, she's more interesting.  The seventh book in the series, Backstage Stuff, is the best in the series, taking Jane and her best friend, Tim Lowrey, back home to Kankakee, Illinois.

Jane's been down in the dumps, unable to sleep or move on with her life, after her husband asked for a divorce.  However, her best friend, Tim, knows all the right buttons to push to force her to move on.  He offers her work assisting him with an estate sale; it's in their hometown; and he brought her a seventy-year-old mystery to solve.

Tim is to sell all the contents of the Kendell mansion.  Freddy Kendell, grandfather of the current heirs to the family fortune, was also a playwright.  And, Tim has permission to stage one of his melodramas.  Jane can't believe it when he doesn't ask her to star in it, since she was a theater major.  Instead, Jane's mother, Nellie, has a featured role as a woman in a coma, onstage for much of the play.  But, Freddy's play has brought nothing but bad luck in the past, and it looks like that's continuing.  And, Tim's not the only one who finds confusing messages from "Old Bumby."  The messages say things like, "People foolish enough to put on this play will die - And they will die fools.  Listen to Old Bumby on this!"

Tim found the perfect projects to force Jane back into life.  The Kendell mansion is filled with interesting pieces.  Jane has to bring Tim up to speed as a director, and gather the props for the play.  Then, there's the mystery that connects the play and Jane's mother.  Nellie has secrets that relate to Bumby, Freddy Kendell, and, possibly even a murder that threatens the play.

Fiffer's mysteries are always most successful when Jane and Tim return to Kankakee.  Jane's relationship with her parents is as much a mystery as Jane's involvement in murder investigations.  This time, Backstage Stuff is a satisfying mix of family, suspense, and theater.  In bringing closure to one stage of Jane Wheel's life, it opens up wonderful possibilities for the continuing series.  Backstage Stuff is more than the seventh book in this series.  It's the kick-off to a whole new stage in the life of the books.

Sharon Fiffer's website is http://www.sharonfiffer.com/

Backstage Stuff by Sharon Fiffer.  St. Martin's Minotaur, ©2011. ISBN 9780312609795 (hardcover), 304p.

*****
FTC Full Disclosure - The publisher sent me a copy of the book, in hopes I would review it.

Torn Apart by Shane Gericke

Tess Gerritsen recently said that women like books about serial killers with women as victims.  So, why aren't Shane Gericke's books more popular than they are?  Women should be buying tons of his books, and Torn Apart should be at the top of the list.

The third book about Naperville Illinois detective Emily Thompson is nerve-wracking.  If you can turn the pages fast enough, you can try to keep up with a plot that involves narcotics drivers, kidnapped children, sexual slavery, a Mexican drug cartel, a missing police officer all converging on two points, the Wisconsin woods during deer hunting season, and Naperville.  And, I didn't mention that Emily, who has been the target of two serial killers, is receiving "gifts" and notes from a third.

I can't even say this book started slowly.  It's a violent book from page one.  If you don't want to read books that tell part of the story from the villains point of view, you'll stop immediately when you find a teenager screaming in the back of a van with four brutal men.  Gericke hits the reader with scene after scene of violence before giving the police a little down town, allowing Emily time with her best friend, Annie Bates, SWAT team captain, and her lover, Marty, before he leaves for a hunting trip.  But, even as Marty leaves, the reader knows those hunters will somehow run into the men in the van.  Drug money is leaving its trail up and down the interstate, tearing apart families, communities, and the police force.

Torn Apart will leave you gasping for breath.  It's action-packed and suspenseful, and doesn't give the reader or Emily Thompson a break until the very end.  And, if you can guess the serial killer's identity, you're quicker than I am.  Once again, Shane Gericke has written a stunning thriller, with enough action for any reader.

Shane Gericke's website is http://www.shanegericke.com/.

Torn Apart by Shane Gericke.  Kensington, ©2010.  ISBN 9780786020393 (paperback), 320p.

*****

FTC Full Disclosure - The author sent me a copy of the book, in hopes I would review it.