Stranger in Paradise by Robert B. Parker

This is the kind of hard-biting police thriller that appeals more often to men than to women. For that reason, I have not often picked up a Parker novel. It is, however, a fast read, and it is certainly very well written of its genre.

"Stranger in Paradise" reads more like a script for a TV thriller than a novel. There is lots of crisp, succinct dialog and not much descriptive connective tissue between the sequences of dialog.

The book is one in the series about Police Chief, Jesse Stone of Paradise, Massachusetts, who meets up for the first time in 10 years with a full-blooded Apache who hires out as a hit man, Wilson Cromartie. These strange bedfellows team up to protect a teenage girl from her gangster boyfriend and her organized crime boss father. In the process the girl's mother and lots of bad guys get killed. It is a little hard to feel sympathetic with the victims or most of the main characters.

Somehow the police chief manages to look the other way, as if, the ends justify the means, in ridding the world of gangsters without the benefit of trial. It's also ok to have guiltless sex with no strings attached.

While I prefer my fiction to have a little more descriptive and thematic content, I guess reading this book was at least as enriching as spending an evening watching the latest crime-buster series on TV.

Liz Nichols

Doggie Day Care Murder by Laurien Berenson

I seem to be on a dog story kick these days, having recently completed "The Art of Racing in the Rain" and "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle" in the not too distant past. I have to admit, I'm a sucker for books that have animals among the cast of characters. Animals have such distinctive personalities that can be exploited under the power of the pen as easily as those of humans.

At any rate, the is the first Laurien Berenson mystery I've read and I'll probably go back and read others in her "Melanie Travis Mystery" series. The heroine is a teacher who is on leave after giving birth to her second son. Juggling a young family is part of the story line in this book, although Melanie does manage to get herself in the deepest do-do while her spouse is minding the kids.

In this book Melanie is kajoled into helping the owner of a doggie day care discover who killed her brother and partner in the day care business. There are the usual cast of suspects-- the maintenance guy, the sister/partner, the silent partner, and a variety of jealous husbands from the dead guy's amourous misadventures.

I can't say this is the most amusing or the best written mystery of all time, but it is amusing enough to keep me reading and wanting to read more of Melanie Travis' sleuth stories.

Liz Nichols

The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

I've read some very fine novels in the past couple months, and Garth Stein's "The Art of Racing in the Rain" is no exception. Stein does a masterful job of using a dog as his narrator, a very wise dog, I must admit. This dog, Enzo, reflects on his life and his family on the last day of his life.

Enzo, educated by watching TV while his people are away, and by being taken on a variety of adventures with his race car driving master, believes firmly that he will become a man in his next reincarnation. In fact, if it weren't for the fact that dogs do not have an opposable thumb, they might be able to do a variety of human tasks already.

Enzo witnesses the struggles of his master's family while the wife goes through fatal brain cancer and the venemnous way the wife's parents go about taking their granddaughter away from Enzo's master. It is a heart-wrenching story that many people will be able to relate to on many different levels.

This is one of those books that will continue to define the best of American fiction writing for years to come.

Liz Nichols

"Santa Clawed" by Rita Mae Brown

"Santa Clawed" is the 18th collaboration between Rita Mae Brown and her very wise cat, Sneaky Pie, in the Mrs. Murphy Series. This is one of those tried and true mystery series that you are always glad to read because you get to spend time with old friends in the process.

Harry Haristeen, her veterinarian husband, Fair, and their assortment of four-legged sleuths are always pleasant to revisit every few months.

The latest was published just in time for the Christmas season, and is set in the Haristeen's home town of Crozet, Virgina during the busy holiday preparations. A Christian brother is murdered at his order's Christmas tree lot, and there are eventually additional murders to turn the monastery and the town a little sour on the Christmas spirit.

As usual, Tucker the dog and his cat friends discover the murderer before their humans do. It's always interesting to to see how the animals get the message across to their owner when she is in the presence of one of the bad guys. The brave cats and dog always prevail.

A great holiday season read.

Liz Nichols

"A Royal Pain" by Rhys Bowen

One of my favorite new series Rhys Bowen's "A Royal Spyness Mystery" featuring the Lady Georgiana Rannock. In this second of the series our heroine is saddled with entertaining a royal princess from Bavaria at the Queen's behest. The Queen hopes that this young royal, who has just come out of convent school, will attract the attention of her son, David, and get him out of the clutches of Wallace Simpson. (Well, we know how successful that was.)

I like novels set in this particular period in history. With the depression and political upheaval in Europe, there's lots to add to the backdrop of this story. The first in the series concentrated a great deal on the mores of post-Victorian England. While this book continues to focus on the differences between the classes in Britain, it adds the political intrigue of the rise of communism and facism to the plot of this book.

A jolly good read for those who like English cozys and Rhys Bowen's work.

Liz Nichols