![luce [is reading]](https://wishfullyreading.files.wordpress.com/2023/01/9429655-1.jpeg){kind=small}
-
Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Mosley
that sex scene was 💀 Having enjoyed two of Mosley’s latest novels (Trouble Is What I Do and Blood Grove) I was looking forward to delving into his earlier work. Devil in a Blue Dress is the first book in his Easy Rawlins series and, while it has many of Mosley’s best traits, overall it…
1940s, 1st pov, 3 STARS, Adult, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, Black & Black heritage authors, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, California, CRIME, DETECTIVE, Devil in a Blue Dress, Easy Rawlins, HISTORICAL FICTION, los angeles, male authors, missing persons, missing women, My reviews, MYSTERY, Noir, private investigator, published in 1990, RACE, read in 2021, reading, THRILLER, Walter Mosley -
Blood Grove by Walter Mosley
“Life is one long side street with about a million crossroads, Sorry used to tell me when I was a boy. Every hour, sometimes every minute, you got to make the choice which way to go. Some of them turns don’t matter but don’t let that fool ya. The minute you start to think that…
1960s, 1st pov, 20th century, 4 STARS, Adult, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, Black & Black heritage authors, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, California, CRIME, DETECTIVE, HARD-BOILED, HISTORICAL FICTION, los angeles, male authors, MYSTERY, Noir, place as character, private investigator, prostitution, published in 2021, read in 2021, SOCIAL COMMENTARY, terrific prose, THRILLER, war related ptsd -
And Now She’s Gone by Rachel Howzell Hall — book review
“Boyfriends and husbands, baby daddies and one-night stands were always madly, deeply, truly in love. Bloody love. Crazy love. Love-you-to-death kind of love.” Last year I read the first book in Rachel Howzell Hall’s ‘Detective Elouise Norton’ series. It had a great sense of place and a brilliant main character. And Now She’s Gone shares…
3 STARS, 3rd pov, ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIPS, Adult, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, And Now She’s Gone, Black & Black heritage authors, BOOK REVIEWS, California, Contemporary, CRIME, domestic thriller, female authors, los angeles, missing persons, missing women, MYSTERY, private investigator, psychopaths, Rachel Howzell Hall, read in 2020, stalking, SUSPENSE, trauma -
Trouble Is What I Do by Walter Mosley — book review
“I was so hardened to suffering that somehow even the casualties of history fell outside the borders of my self-imposed sovereignty.” In spite of its short length Walter Mosley’s Trouble Is What I Do packs a punch. This is noir at its finest. Mosley doesn’t waste words, and we can tell that by the fact…
1st pov, 4 STARS, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, Black & Black heritage authors, BOOK REVIEW, Booklr, Contemporary, CRIME, DETECTIVE, male authors, MYSTERY, NEW YORK, Noir, private investigator, published in 2020, RACE, read in 2020, SOCIAL COMMENTARY, THRILLER, Trouble Is What I Do, Walter Mosley -
The Long and Faraway Gone by Lou Berney — book review
“That was Wyatt’s philosophy when it came to the past: Stay out of it. ” The Long and Faraway Gone is a well written if somewhat uneven novel. I can definitely see why it has drawn comparisons to books by Dennis Lehane. Both authors render a strong sense of place, so much so that the…
1980s, 3.5 STARS, 3rd pov, Adult, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, Contemporary, CRIME, HISTORICAL FICTION, Lou Berney, male authors, missing girls, missing persons, MYSTERY, Noir, obsession, Oklahoma, private investigator, published in 2015, READ IN 2019, SISTERS, SUSPENSE, The Long and Faraway Gone, THRILLER, trauma, violence -
The House of Silk by Anthony Horowitz — book review
For the most part The House of Silk was an entertaining read. Horowitz captures the essence of the dynamic between Sherlock Holmes and Watson so that readers will find his portrayal of these two famous characters to be all too familiar. As per usual Horowitz also cleverly combines more than one mystery together, throwing in…
1890s, 19TH CENTURY, 1st pov, 3.25 stars, abuse, Adult, Anthony Horowitz, BOOK REVIEW, British author, CRIME, DETECTIVE, england, HISTORICAL FICTION, HOLMES AND WATSON, LONDON, male authors, murder mystery, mystery puzzle, private investigator, published in 2011, READ IN 2019, RETELLINGS, sherlock holmes, sherlockiana, the house of silk, VICTORIAN, whodunnit -
The Stories You Tell by Kristen Lepionka — book review
The Stories You Tell will quite likely by one of my biggest reading disappointments of 2019. This third instalment featuring PI Roxane Weary has made the characters established in book 1 and 2 sketches of their former selves. What is perhaps even worse is that much of The Stories You Tell is a blatant rip-off…
2 STARS, addiction, Adult, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, BISEXUAL/PANSEXUAL, Contemporary, CRIME, fathers & daughters, female authors, GRIEF, KRISTEN LEPIONKA, lgbtq+, private investigator, psychological, published in 2019, queer, READ IN 2019, REVIEW, Roxane Weary, Roxane Weary 3, Roxane Weary series, series that went downhill, SUSPENSE, THE LAST PLACE YOU LOOK, The Stories You Tell, THRILLER, What You Want To See -
Sacred by Dennis Lehane
Kenzie and Gennaro are hired by an incredibly wealthy – and dying – Trevor Stone to find his missing daughter. Things soon start to get complicated. Kenzie’s own mentor was looking for Desiree Stone and is now also MIA. Kenzie and Gennaro will venture from a shady Grief Counselling organisation, that is possibly connected to…
1990s, 1st pov, Adult, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, BOSTON, CRIME, cults, DENNIS LEHANE, DETECTIVE, FLORIDA, HARD-BOILED, KENZIE & GENNARO, LEHANE’S BOSTON, male authors, MISSING DAUGHTERS, missing persons, MYSTERY, Noir, PATRICK KENZIE, private investigator, published in 1997, read in 2018, SACRED, SUSPENSE, THRILLER -
Darkness, Take My Hand by Dennis Lehane
“Guns, guns, guns. Three hundred and sixty degrees of pure violence.” The thing about Lehane is that he can write bloody good thrillers. His gritty stories –reminiscent of hard-boiled crime novels– never fail to entertain. Moreover, he always, always, manages to surprise – if not shock– you.Kenzie and Gennaro’s investigation is full of well-paced twists…
-
A Drink Before the War by Dennis Lehane
“Come on, kids.”I stood. “Where?”“There’s a bar around the corner. Lemme buy you drink before the war.” Despite having read two of the later instalments of Kenzie & Gennaro, I was still able to enjoy this first investigation of theirs. They are perhaps less weathered than their future selves but their line of enquiry is…
luce [is reading] 