Entertaining.
Archer is sorry the art of the short story is slowing disappearing.
Cat O’Nine Tales is British author Jeffrey Archer‘s fifth collection of short stories. It was published in 2006, and nine of the twelve stories are based on tales Archer heard while in prison.
I was keen to read The Briars (2026) because it was a murder mystery set in the Pacific Northwest with a Game Warden as the protagonist.
Not bad. Not great.
Too much attention on the romantic subplot.
I’m still disappointed.
Excellent source books, the Alex Cross series. Excellent cast.
I’d fire the writers. This TV drama should have been much better.
Critics and most people still like this show.
I found the plot confusing. A couple of deaths unnecessary. Poor story telling.
Meh.
The ending of the season was quite good, however. Not easy to do.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Excellent.
A Matter of Honour (1986) is a stand alone novel by the great story teller.
In 1966 disgraced British colonel Gerald Scott bequeaths a mysterious letter to his only son, Adam Scott. …
It leads Adam to the only official Russian copy of a secret codice to the Alaska Purchase treaty by which the United States purchased Alaska from Russia in 1867.
“Seward’s Folly” turns out to have not been a true purchase at all, but a 99-year lease akin to the British hold on Hong Kong, with a right of return to Russia (now part of the Soviet Union) if they can only retrieve their copy before the lease deadline, only days away.
Adam is chased across Europe by the Russians, Americans, and French. And he’s no longer sure he can even trust the British.
Good fun.
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3 novellas packaged together.
DETECTIVE CROSS: An Alex Cross Story
An anonymous caller has promised to set off deadly bombs in Washington, DC. A cruel hoax or the real deal?
THE MEDICAL EXAMINER: A Women’s Murder Club Story (with Maxine Paetro)
A woman checks into a hotel room and entertains a man who is not her husband. A shooter blows away the lover and wounds the millionairess, leaving her for dead.
MANHUNT: A Michael Bennett Story (with James O. Born)
Someone attacked the Thanksgiving Day Parade directly in front of Michael Bennett and his family. The television news called it “holiday terror”–Michael Bennett calls it personal.
Triple Homicide: From the Case Files of Alex Cross, Michael Bennett, and the Women’s Murder Club
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:
A Drop of Corruption is a 2025 fantasy murder mystery novel by Robert Jackson Bennett.
It is a sequel to his 2024 novel The Tainted Cup.
Quite good — but not as good as Tainted Cup.
Dinios “Din” Kol, a gifted young engraver (with perfect memory) is Watson to the eccentric investigator Anagosa “Ana” Dolabra. An entertaining Sherlock Holmes genius.
This book is a locked room mystery.
Technology in this world is based on extracting blood from sea monsters called leviathans.
There’s an attempt made to keep leviathan marrow alive in the lab, producing blood. This is what motivated the bad guy.
His books explore politics through his fiction, often examining how societies maintain order and justice in the face of external threats and internal corruption.
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.
Rick McCharles 