Foul Play at the PTA by Laura Alden

Yesterday, we talked about problems we have with mysteries. I have no problem with Laura  Alden's amateur sleuth in Foul Play at the PTA. Beth Kennedy gives amateur sleuths a good name. In fact, I have to admit, the mystery is almost secondary in this book. If you don't like Beth, the book is going to fall flat for you. But, for those of us who enjoy characters, and amateur sleuths who have a reason to investigate, Alden's series is a success.

Because Beth was having problems with an employee at her children's bookstore, she had to ask the PTA to change their meeting night one week. She was secretary, and knew she needed to be there. But, when she and the president found Sam Helmstetter dead in his SUV afterward, she blamed herself. Would have Sam been killed if it had been another night?

Even blaming herself, though, Beth didn't want to jump into a murder investigation, as her best friend, Marina, suggested. Since they'd successfully found one killer, everyone in town thought they would look for this one. And, poor Sam didn't seem to have any enemies. But, it wasn't until Beth's business was threatened that she buckled down to look for the killer. Because she had hired a new woman who had been acquitted of murder, others in town seemed to think she would kill again, and might have killed Sam.

Beth has two of the qualities I care about in an amateur sleuth. She's one of those mothers who doesn't forget she has children. In fact, that's why she hesitated so long before agreeing to look for Sam's
killer. Her children had been in danger before, and she didn't want to have it happen again. And, she has a reason to get involved in this case; her business is threatened, and in Beth's mind, that means her livelihood, and, by extension, her house, and then her children.

Laura Alden's Foul Play at the PTA works as a mystery with an amateur sleuth. For those of us who appreciate good characters, it's just as satisfying as her first book in the series, the Agatha award-nominated, Murder at the PTA.

Laura Alden's website is http://www.lauraalden.com/

Foul Play at the PTA by Laura Alden. Obsidian. ©2011. ISBN 9780451234087 (paperback), 312p.

*****
FTC Full Disclosure - The publisher sent me a copy of the book, hoping 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.