DUEL TO THE DEATH by J A Jance

DUEL TO THE DEATH by J A Jance I love Jance’s Brady and Beaumont mysteries, but am not so enamored of the Ali Reynolds series. Consequently, I have read a few of the series, but not all. I picked this one up because I was in need of a book and away from home. This one was available, so I gave it a try. I liked it – a lot! Ali is now married and no longer a journalist. She and her husband, along with a few others, run a cyber security firm. They find themselves in the midst of a mafia/drug lord war when their unassuming, slightly shy, perhaps autistic, computer genius employee finds himself suddenly possessed of a fortune in bitcoins – likely all the profits of said drug lord/mafia kingpins. The twists and turns of this – how to get rid of said bitcoins without going to jail or getting killed – makes a great mystery. The computer stuff is understandable. The danger is palpable. Now I want to go back and read the preceding novels to discover the character development I missed. 5 of 5 stars

FIELD OF BONES by J A Jance

FIELD OF BONES  by J A Jance

Joanna is on maternity leave, but her responsibilities as Sheriff keep getting in the way. A group of teenagers find, and then hide, a human skull. When a parent discovers the skull, Joanna’s leave comes to a screeching halt. A serial killer is on the loose. In the meantime, Joanna is reading her long dead father’s diaries and discovering traits she would rather not know. 

Jance writes intelligent mysteries carried by her carefully drawn and fully fleshed out characters. You could read this as a stand alone, but the nuances of plot and character will be better understood if you are familiar with the series. 

5 of 5 stars

THE WRONG CHILD by Patricia Kay

THE WRONG CHILD  by Patricia Kay

In the midst of a blizzard, in an understaffed hospital and when the only labor and delivery nurse has  a heart attack and dies, two infants are switched.  Years later the awful truth comes out. This tale tells what happens next.

Several startling instances of happenstance and the plot thickens.  The story is interesting. The characters have life to them. The plot is a tearjerker – but then you knew that, right?

There is no foul language. There is one sex scene.  Altogether, not a bad way to spend a lazy afternoon or two.

3 of 5 stars

THE DAISY CHILDREN by Sofia Grant

The Daisy Children  by Sofia Grant

I’m disappointed in this one. I was imagining a treatment of the tragic explosion in a Texas school that killed most of the children in the town of New London 1937. Unfortunately this tale was only superficially about that and much more about a dysfunctional family and the unfortunate choices they made.  The “love” story is barely there, the characters are stock, the story could take in Anytown, USA.

The one redeeming feature is the twist that is revealed in the last few chapters. Is it worth reading the other 300 pages?  I don’t think so.

2 of 5 stars