Yet another great novel in the series featuring Bruno, the beloved chief of police of the idyllic town of St. Denis in the Dordogne, France.

When a woman’s body is found at the foot of a cliff near St. Denis, Bruno suspects a connection to the great ruined Château de Commarque, a long-ago Knights Templar stronghold that stands on the cliff above …

With the help of Amélie, a young Haitian newcomer to the Dordogne, Bruno learns that the dead woman was an archaeologist searching for a religious artifact of incredible importance, the discovery of which could have dramatic repercussions throughout the Middle East–not to mention in St. Denis.

And the woman’s ties to Islamic terrorists can only heighten the pressure on Bruno to unravel the centuries-old mystery. …

Goodreads

In this one, small town police chief Bruno Courrèges investigates how a visiting American student could have ended up dead in a well.

Another great murder mystery set in France.

Plenty of gourmet food and wine, as well.

Bruno Courrèges initially assumes that she died of an overdose.

But Claudia’s doctor soon persuades him that things may not be so simple, setting Bruno on an investigation that will lead him from the Renaissance to the French Resistance and beyond.

Claudia had been studying with Monsieur de Bourdeille, a renowned art historian who became extraordinarily wealthy through the sale of paintings that may have been falsely attributed—or so Claudia suggested shortly before her death.

Book 1 in the series, The Drifter, was good.

This is the second featuring featuring war veteran Peter Ash — Burning Bright — and it’s even more entertaining. I’m hooked.

If you like the Jack Reacher books, you’ll like these.

… Peter Ash sought peace and quiet among the towering redwoods of northern California, but the trip isn’t quite the balm he’d hoped for. The dense forest and close fog cause his claustrophobia to buzz and spark, and then he stumbles upon a grizzly, long thought to have vanished from this part of the country. In a fight of man against bear, Peter doesn’t favor his odds, so he makes a strategic retreat up a nearby sapling.

There, he finds something strange: a climbing rope, affixed to a distant branch above. It leads to another, and another, up through the giant tree canopy, and ending at a hanging platform. On the platform is a woman on the run. From below them come the sounds of men and gunshots. …

interview – 15 Minutes With: Nick Petrie, Author

I hate to admit it, but Romance writer Nora Roberts is a storyteller of the quality of Stephen King or Jeffrey Archer.

And she’s so prolific! Sometimes writing 3 books simultaneously.

Under Currents (2019) is very good. A family story looking at domestic abuse from many different angles.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Another of the super popular recent psychological thrillers, I wasn’t 100% sold on this one.

Loved the first part of the book where three interconnected, interesting stories roll out.

It’s extremely well written.

Some fascinating characters.

A murder mystery.

Adults scarred by childhood trauma. Themes of closure, marital disillusionment, familial solidarity, extortion, and historical crimes.

But by the end of the book I grew bored of waiting around for the resolution.

Meh.

BRILLIANT ending, however. That almost redeems the storytelling for me.

A memorable book.

The Stranger Diaries is a 2018 murder mystery thriller by British crime novelist Domenica de Rosa, writing under the penname of Elly Griffiths.  …

The novel is primarily told through the viewpoints of English teacher Clare Cassidy, Detective Sergeant Harbinder Kaur, and Clare’s daughter Georgia “Georgie“.

Interspersed throughout the novel are portions of the short story “The Stranger”, written by fictional author R. M. Holland, a long deceased author that Clare is researching.

The Stranger Diaries won the 2020 Edgar Award for Best Novel and is the first in a series centered upon DS Harbinder Kaur. …

The short story is set around Halloween.

And before Halloween in the present things start mirroring the tale.

Murders.

In Liverpool, while listening to the audio book. I came across this scene …

This was supposed to be the final book in the series featuring Enzo Macleod, a half-Scottish, half-Italian Enzo MacLeod who in lives in Toulouse, working as a university professor. In French.

Series: Enzo Macleod / the Enzo Files

Book Number: 6

Read this book for: French setting – rural and urban, good pacing, cold cases, personal/relationship drama, tense thriller, highly readable page-turner

Quick Review: The final instalment (published 2017) of this engaging series, satisfyingly weaving many of the ongoing threads together to create a page-turning last novel.

I was sorry to see Enzo solve the last of his cold cases.

And reviews are good for Cast Iron. It ties the whole series together.

All the books are excellent. The story would make a good TV series.

Happily, Enzo is back in a 2021 book called The Night Gate. BUT it’s not yet available in audio as I hit PUBLISH.

Book #1 is Dry Bones. (Also published as Extraordinary People.)

I recommend it.

If you like the Gamache books for the quaint townspeople of Three Pines, this one may not be for you.

It’s set entirely within the monastery of Saint-Gilbert-Entre-les-Loups, hidden deep in the wilderness of Quebec.

Ironically, for a community that has taken a vow of silence, the monks have become world-famous for their glorious voices, raised in ancient chants whose effect on both singer and listener is so profound it is known as “the beautiful mystery.” …

But when the renowned choir director is murdered, the lock on the monastery’s massive wooden door is drawn back to admit Chief Inspector Armand Gamache and Jean-Guy Beauvoir of the Sûreté du Québec. …

Gamache Series

Personally, I felt it was the weakest of the series I’ve read.

More a psychological study than murder mastery.