Any author named Prose MUST be good. 😀

And her character “Molly Maid” is both likeable and amusing. Somewhere on the autism spectrum.

“I am your maid. I know so much about you. But when it comes down to it: what is it that you know about me?”

Molly Gray is not like everyone else. She struggles with social skills and misinterprets the intentions of others. Her gran used to interpret the world for her, codifying it into simple rules that Molly could live by.

Since Gran died a few months ago, twenty-five-year-old Molly has had to navigate life’s complexities all by herself. No matter—she throws herself with gusto into her work as a hotel maid. Her unique character, along with her obsessive love of cleaning and proper etiquette, make her an ideal fit for the job. She delights in donning her crisp uniform each morning, stocking her cart with miniature soaps and bottles, and returning guest rooms at the Regency Grand Hotel to a state of perfection.

But Molly’s orderly life is turned on its head the day she enters the suite of the infamous and wealthy Charles Black, only to find it in a state of disarray and Mr. Black himself very dead in his bed. Before she knows what’s happening, Molly’s unusual demeanor has the police targeting her as their lead suspect.

She quickly finds herself caught in a web of deception, one she has no idea how to untangle. Fortunately for Molly, friends she never knew she had unite with her in a search for clues to what really happened to Mr. Black—but will they be able to find the real killer before it’s too late?

NitaProse.com

Nita Prose is vice president and editorial director at Simon & Schuster Canada.

After the success of Kane and Abel and The Prodigal Daughter, Archer published a revised edition of Shall We Tell the President? (1986), replacing Kennedy (in real life a senator and a presidential candidate but never president) with the fictional character Florentyna Kane (who became president in The Prodigal Daughter) in order to link it with the other two novels. …

I enjoyed the two pseudo sequels — but this book is quite different. Stand alone — but set in the timeline of Prodigal Daughter.

President Kane is about to be assassinated for her support of a gun regulation bill.

Note that the U.S. government has still not done much to reduce gun violence in the decades since.

I am enjoying a series of books by Grainger featuring Norfolk Detective Sergeant DC Smith. SO decided to try the 1st book of another of his series — set in Cornwall.

BUT as much as it is very well written, I prefer the DC Smith character.

Detective Sergeant Chris Waters gets his first assignment as crime scene manager — the murder of a young woman.

The plot is rather dull as murder mysteries go. Most of this book details the people investigating the crime. Their relationships. Their motivations. The slow bureaucracy.

Shockingly, this book is set in Arizona close to the Mexican border.

Far, far away from Cork O’Connor’s northern Minnesota.

His new bride Rainy Bisonette receives a desperate phone call from her son, Peter.

The connection is terrible but before the line goes dead, they hear Peter confess to the murder of someone named Rodriquez.

The following morning, Cork and Rainy fly to southern Arizona, where Peter has been working as a counselor in a well-known drug rehab center. When they arrive, they learn that Peter was fired six months earlier and hasn’t been heard from since. So they head to the little desert town of Sulfur Springs where Peter has been receiving his mail. But no one in Sulfur Springs seems to know him. …

As they gather scraps of information about Peter, Cork and Rainy are warned time and again that there is a war going on along the border. “Trust no one in Coronado County,” is the most common piece of advice they receive, and Cork doesn’t have to be told twice.

To him, Arizona is alien country. The relentless heat, the absence of water and big trees and shade all feel nightmarish to him, as does his growing sense that Rainy might know more about what’s going on than she’s willing to admit …

williamkentkrueger.com

Keigo Higashino writes murder mysteries in Japan. Very popular there.

In translation, his books don’t compare with the sophistication and subtlety of American and British writers. But there is something appealing about the slow pace. The simplicity of the scenes.

Also, his translators are not all that good. They get slang wrong most of the time.

Tokyo Police Detective Kyochiro Kaga is a super likeable protagonist.

Demoted, Kaga was transferred to a new precinct.

Newly arrived, but with a great deal of experience, Kaga is promptly assigned to the team investigating the inexplicable murder of a woman in her own home.

But the more he investigates, the greater number of potential suspects emerges.

It isn’t long before it seems nearly all the people living and working in the business district of Nihonbashi have a motive.

Though seemingly simplistic, a Japanese virtue, each of the 9 chapters of this book is a self-contained story, with its own conflicts, its own resolution. There is much more here than just a whodunnit.