Quite good, if predictable.

False Impression is a 2006 thriller novel by Jeffrey Archer that connects a brutal murder before 9/11 with a priceless Van Gogh painting, Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear. 

The plot follows a young woman who uses the chaos of 9/11 as a cover to escape and seek revenge, leading her on a global chase from New York to London, Tokyo, and Bucharest, involving the FBI, Interpol, and dangerous criminals, all while trying to solve the mystery of the painting.

In a predictable genre, this murder mystery I found original and interesting.

Eight Perfect Murders follows Malcolm “Mal” Kershaw, the owner of a mystery-focused bookstore in Boston called Old Devils Bookstore.

Years prior, Mal wrote a blog post titled “Eight Perfect Murders,” detailing eight fictional crimes from literature that he believed were truly unsolvable.

His life is upended when FBI agent Gwen Mulvey informs him that a serial killer appears to be using his list as a blueprint for real-life murders.

The novel deconstructs and often spoils the endings of these eight classic works: 

• The A.B.C. Murders by Agatha Christie
• Strangers on a Train by Patricia Highsmith
• The Red House Mystery by A.A. Milne
• Malice Aforethought by Anthony Berkeley Cox
• Double Indemnity by James M. Cain
• Deathtrap by Ira Levin
• The Drowner by John D. MacDonald
• The Secret History by Donna Tartt 

Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less was Jeffrey Archer‘s first novel, first published in 1976. It was said to have been inspired by Archer’s real-life experience of near-bankruptcy.

He was already a great story teller — even at the start of his career as an author.

Archer was Member of Parliament until 1974.

In this one a conman dupes investors in a North Sea oil drilling rights scam.

Four of those investors decide to get their money back, by conning the con.

Not realistic. But entertaining, for sure.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Excellent. Though some feel it’s not as strong as most of the rest of his terrific books.

Fidelity (2008) is a stand alone novel.

When Phil Kramer is shot dead on a deserted suburban street in the middle of the night, his wife, Emily, is left with an emptied bank account and a lot of questions.

How could Phil leave her penniless?

What was he going to do with the money?

… Jerry Hobart has some questions of his own.

It’s none of his business why he was hired to kill Phil Kramer. But now that he’s been ordered to take out Kramer’s widow, he figures there’s a bigger secret at work — and maybe a bigger payoff.

As they race to find the secret that Phil Kramer so masterfully hid, both Hobart and Emily must question where their true loyalties lie and how much they owe those who have been unfaithful to them.

The Joe Pickett books by C.J. Box are some of my favourites.

The Crossroads (2026) is #26 in the series.

Super entertaining

This novel takes a unique turn by placing Pickett’s three adult daughters in the leading roles while Joe himself fights for his life after a brutal ambush.

• The Investigation: Joe’s daughters—Sheridan, April, and Lucy—refuse to wait for the new sheriff’s investigation and decide to find the attacker themselves.
• The Three Ranches: The “Crossroads” of the title refers to a junction where three different ranches meet, each owned by a family with a motive to kill Joe.
  • The Thompsons: A billionaire couple involved in a top-secret development project.
  • The Bucholzes: Owners of a cattle company that may be a front for more sinister activities.
  • The McElwee Sisters: Rumored to be involved in an illegal drug trade.
• The Daughters’ Roles: The three sisters split up, each investigating one of the suspect ranches simultaneously to avoid tipping off the culprits.

Surprisingly, fan favourite Nate Romanowski is only an incidental character in this one.

Not bad.

Reviewers love this book.

The Murder at World’s End (2025) historical mystery novel by Ross Montgomery, marking his debut in adult fiction. It is the first installment in a new series titled Stockingham & Pike.

Set in 1910 Cornwall, the story revolves around the real-world mass hysteria following the appearance of Halley’s Comet.

• The Premise: Fearing an apocalypse caused by the comet’s “poisonous tail,” the eccentric Viscount of Tithe Hall seals every window, door, and keyhole of his remote island estate to protect his household.
• The Murder: Despite the absolute lockdown, the Viscount is found dead in his sealed study the following morning, shot with an ancestral crossbow.
• The Investigation: With a local inspector determined to frame a young under-butler named Stephen Pike due to his past criminal record, Pike teams up with the foul-mouthed, sharp-witted 80-year-old family matriarch, Miss Decima Stockingham, to find the true killer within the manor.

Love the concept. But the 3rd book in the Jane Hawk series seemed to drag.

Jane Hawk Books

Jane Hawk knows she may be living on borrowed time. But as long as she’s breathing, she’ll never cease her one-woman war against the terrifying conspiracy that threatens the freedom—and free will—of millions.

Battling the strange epidemic of murder-suicides that claimed Jane’s husband, and is escalating across the country, has made the rogue FBI agent a wanted fugitive, relentlessly hunted not only by the government but by the secret cabal behind the plot.

Deploying every resource their malign nexus of power and technology commands, Jane’s enemies are determined to see her dead . . . or make her wish she was.

Jane’s ruthless pursuers can’t stop her from drawing a bead on her prey: a cunning man with connections in high places, a twisted soul of unspeakable depths with an army of professional killers on call.

Propelled by her righteous fury and implacable insistence on justice, Jane will make her way from southern Southern California to the snow-swept slopes of Lake Tahoe to confront head-on the lethal forces arrayed against her.

Arundathi Roy is best known for for her novel The God of Small Things (1997), which won the Booker Prize for Fiction in 1997 and became the biggest-selling book by a non-expatriate Indian author.

BUT she’s actually only written two novels.

Arundathi Roy is more of a political activist than writer.

Mother Mary Comes to Me (2025) is her memoir, critically praised. I enjoyed it, as well, but found it too self-critical.

It’s original in publishing an autobiography much centred on her complex relationship with mother, Mary Roy.

I wish she’d write more novels.