Smokin' Seventeen by Janet Evanovich

I'll admit I thought I'd given up on Janet Evanovich and Stephanie Plum a couple books ago. The books were starting to feel stale, and nothing new seemed to be happening. So, I picked up Smokin' Seventeen thinking I might get through a few chapters and quit. Instead, there were a few new twists to the story that made me laugh again at Stephanie's antics.

Vincent Plum Bail Bonds is working out of a motor home on an empty construction lot. Except the lot isn't empty. First one dead body, and then another, is dug up on the lot, and they all seem to have business connections. But, after the first couple corpses, the next ones seem to have a connection to Stephanie. She's too busy to worry about a creepy connection to a killer, though. She's trying to bring in a man who claims he's a vampire, Morelli's grandmother has put a curse on her, and Stephanie's own mother is trying to fix her up with Dave Brewer, a former high school football player who cooks. And, oh, yes, there's the crazy woman who ran over her husband, and tries to catch Stephanie in the parking lot to run her over. Who has time to worry about some killer who leaves her notes?

Evanovich has filled the book with a little of everything that makes these books fun, and funny. Stephanie is still torn between Morelli and Ranger, but, now, all the women she knows seem to be rooting for Dave, a man who cooks. Of course, there's a scene with Grandma Mazur and a funeral home. And, Lulu is as funny as ever. Over the course of the series, the exploding cars became a little too much. However, this time, Ranger pointed out the humor in the whole situation. Stephanie points out she always destroys the cars he loans her. He agrees, but says, "Working at Rangerman is a high-stress job, and you're one of our few sources of comic relief. I give you a car and my men start a pool on how long it will take you to trash it. You're a line item in my budget under entertainment."

Comic relief. Entertainment. This time there actually is a little mystery thrown in. Who is killing people, depositing them at the construction lot, and what's the connection to Stephanie? Smokin' Seventeen might just be the perfect comic relief for a hot summer day.

Janet Evanovich's website is www.evanovich.com

Smokin' Seventeen by Janet Evanovich. Bantam Books. ©2011. ISBN 9780345527684 (hardcover), 320p.

*****
FTC Full Disclosure - Library book

An Uninvited Ghost by E.J. Copperman

I probably read 75-100 mysteries a year, at least half of my yearly total of books. But, E.J. Copperman got me good in his latest Haunted Guesthouse mystery, An Uninvited Ghost. The killer made perfect sense, but I never saw it coming.

Since Alison Kerby's guesthouse on the Jersey Shore already had a reputation as being haunted, she decided to capitalize on it. She booked a tour group that promised guests a "unique" vacation, the chance to stay in a house inhabited by ghosts. Alison even had an agreement with Paul and Maxie, the resident ghosts, so they "appeared" at certain times of day. In return, though, Alison agreed to get her private detective's license, so she and Paul could investigate crimes. It was just a shame that the first case Paul brought her happened at her busiest time. The first tour group was there, and the director of a popular reality show booked the rest of the guest house. But, Paul's case brought nothing but trouble.

It seemed simple.  Another ghost, Scott, was afraid he had killed a woman he was only supposed to scare. It didn't take long for Alison to find her alive and well. First ghostly investigation successful, right? When the woman showed up at Alison's to participate in a séance, she ended up dead. And, it ticked Alison off. "It happened in my house, under my roof, to a guest I invited." Alison teams up with Paul and Maxie, as well as her daughter, Melissa, because Detective Anita McElone won't have anything to do with a case in which ghosts are involved.


The second book in this series, An Uninvited Ghost, is a triumph. Suspend your disbelief even more than usual. You have to accept that Alison Kerby can see and communicate with ghosts. All of the main characters in Copperman's latest mystery are well-developed, even the ghosts. Accept the fact that a protective mother, who didn't want to get involved in a dangerous case, would realize someone had involved her by killing a guest. The humor is delightful, particularly the reference to a guest reading Some Like It Hot-Buttered, a mystery written by Copperman under his actual name, Jeffrey Cohen. If you like ghost stories mixed with your mystery, try this Jersey Shore mystery, An Uninvited Ghost.


E.J. Copperman's website is www.ejcopperman.com


An Uninvited Ghost by E.J. Copperman. Berkley Prime Crime. ©2011. ISBN 9780425240588 (paperback), 304p.

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

Eyes of the Innocent by Brad Parks

I need to start this review with a disclaimer.  Despite yesterday's beautiful blog posting by Brad Parks, Brad knew I would never promise a positive review of his new book, Eyes of the Innocent.  In fact, he told me to feel free to rip it, because I've never given anyone a good review because they were a friend.  That said, Eyes of the Innocent is released today, and it's even better than his Nero and Shamus award-winning mystery, Faces of the Gone.

Carter Ross is an investigative reporter for New Jersey's largest newspaper, The Newark Eagle-Examiner.  He's survived long enough in a day of newspaper cutbacks to know how to play the game.  So, the mistakes he made on a Monday morning were certain to lead to trouble.  His editor paired him with the newest young intern, called "Sweet Thang" by the staff, and sent them to cover a house fire that killed to little boys.  However, despite Carter's arguments, because the executive editor wanted a story about space heaters, they were sent to cover that angle.  Too bad they didn't end up covering a space heater story.

Instead, Carter. one of the last remaining WASPs in Newark, and a wealthy twenty-two-year-old girl end up at the end of a knife in a burnt-out house.  From there, it only gets worse.  Lauren (Sweet Thang) has a gift with witnesses, and before long Akilah Harris,  the mother of the two dead childen, has told her sob story of an orphaned life, working two jobs, trying to pay a mortgage.  That story is set for the front page, until it starts to unravel.  There are missing mortgage records, and Akilah's story has a few other missing pieces.  When a city councilman with links to Akilah goes missing, it seems there's much more to the story.  Carter knows it could be a heck of a story, with a missing councilman, missing mortage papers, urban house-flipping and political corruption.  "Reporters love cover-ups only slightly less than they love their mothers - more if their mother doesn't cook well."  In the long run, though, it's Carter's editor who points out what the story is really about, the two dead little boys and all the people who failed them.  The pictures of those little boys in the newspaper showed "The eyes of the innocent."

Brad Parks, through Carter Ross, unravels a complex, tragic story of corruption, greed and murder.  At the same time, the book is filled with the humor that gets an investigative reporter through the smut and sordid details that are part of the job.  In the very beginning Carter admits he made four mistakes on Monday, and tries to get out of writing the space heater story.  "Can't we just reprint one of the old space heater stories?...I seem to recall from the archives the nineteen eighty-eight space heater story was a classic - fruity yet full-bodied, with hints of singed circuit breaker."  There are funny comments throughout the book.  But, the best humor comes from Parks' wonderful characters themselves.  Poor Carter Ross, trapped between a man-hungry city editor and a sexy "Sweet Thang" while the gay Cuban intern makes fun of Carter for his WASPish clothes and his woman problems.  I just have a feeling Parks knew, and now Carter Ross knows, people like the pawnshop and restaurant owners, and the councilman's aide.  All of these characters bring a realistic feeling to Eyes of the Innocent.

Investigative reporters have the perfect job for uncovering crime.  Carter Ross, and his friends and acquaintances, have a world of crime ahead of them.  It's time for readers to discover Newark, New Jersey through Carter Ross' eyes, and with his sense of humor.  Once you've seen his world, it will be the last time you can view newspapers, city government, or Newark through the Eyes of the Innocent.


For more Brad, visit his website (http://www.bradparksbooks.com/), follow him on Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/brad_parks) or became a fan of Brad Parks Books on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/#/pages/Brad-Parks-Books/137190195628?ref=ts).

Eyes of the Innocent by Brad Parks. St. Martin's Minotaur, ©2011. ISBN 9780312574789 (hardcover), 304p.

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

Huck by Janet Elder

Isn't that one of the most adorable faces you've ever seen? It was that face that originally attracted me to Janet Elder's book, Huck: The Remarkable True Story of How One Lost Puppy Taught a Family - and a Whole Town - About Hope and Happy Endings.  To be honest, the town actually understood hope.  It was Janet Elder, after a bout with cancer, who had to learn to hope again.

Janet Elder and her husband were in their late thirties when their only son, Michael, was born.  From the time he was a baby, Michael loved dogs, and for years, he asked for one for Christmas, to no avail.  Janet and Rick always had an excuse.  They lived in an apartmetn in Manhattan.  She worked for the New York Times; Rich travelled a lot.  With two full-time working parents, the answer to Michael was always no.  But, when Janet was diagnosed with breast cancer at 48, Michael was only eleven.  Once she learned it was going to be a lengthy treatment, she convinced her husband that they needed to get Michael a dog, one to hug and be there for him.  It would be symbol of hope to hold out for him once her treatment was done.  And, she even said, "It was going to be good for all of us to have a puppy, a new life at the center of our lives, a declaration of faith in the future."

For Michael, it was love at first site when a reddish brown toy poodle puppy arrived.  He called him Huck, and the two were just meant for each other.   And, when the family left for a much-needed trip to Florida, it was difficult to leave Huck with Janet's sister in Ramsey, New Jersey.  Perhaps Janet had a premonition.  "I started wondering if it was a mistake to leave Huck in a place so unfamiliar to him."  BIG mistake.  Within twenty-four hours, Huck was gone, and the family had to rush back to try to find him.  How do you find a puppy that has run away?

It might take a village to raise a child, but it took four towns, and a number of people to find a runaway.  Two thirds of the book is about those people who helped in the search.  Rich led the search, never giving up in the attempt to find Huck.  And, Elder chronicles the prayers, posters, and people who assisted in the search for Huck. 

Huck is the story of a dog, and community.  However, as a book, it is padded.  It's not easy to put together three hundred pages about a puppy, and a search for it.   Elder, naturally, has to include the events that led up to it, beginning with Michael's passion for dogs, and culminating in her cancer.  But, details about New Jersey and Tampa could have been edited.  We really didn't need to know all the details about Tampa, and shopping there.  However, I have to admit, without padding there really isn't much of a story here.  Bought a dog, loved a dog, lost if for a few days, hunted for it, and brought it home.   I'm glad Huck was found.  He is an adorable dog.  And, I know Elder's story is how the community helped them find Huck.   But, I think I wasted a little too much time reading a three hundred page book in which one drama happens, and we know the outcome from the cover of the book.

Huck by Janet Elder.  Crown, ©2010. ISBN 9780767931342 (hardcover), 304p.

*****
FTC Full Disclosure - I requested a copy of this book, in order to read and review it.