North-Woods Crime, Cold Case Frame-Ups, and Easy Humor from Tamara Berry, ON SPINE OF DEATH

Considering how tough life on a desert island can be, adding Tamara Berry's engaging mysteries to the packing list seems very wise—from the nicely complex characters to the neat plotting to the clues and chuckles, these are books that lift the gray out of the day (or winter, or desert isle).

ON SPINE OF DEATH (a play on the phrase "on pain of death" but otherwise an irrelevant title for this recipe-free cozy) is the second adventure tucked into "Winthrop, Washington" (the timberlands in the east of the state) featuring bestselling author Tess Harrow. The series title is By the Book Mysteries -- especially apt this time, since the skeletons found in Tess's inherited hardware shop seem to match those in a mysteriously authored book that's turned up in the town: Let Sleeping Dogs Lie, by Simone Peaky, a nom de plume that even Tess's resources fail to match with a real person. 

There's less urgency to locate the author of this tell-all at first, since the skeletons are obviously from cold cases ("disappearances") in the little town. But when Tess figures out that the book is also giving burial details for the local sheriff's vanished sister, the pressure is on. Not only does Tess want to solve all three cases ... she's got to do it quickly, because the devastated sheriff is also a man she cares deeply about. (How deeply? One-way or two-way? That too is a mystery.)

"It makes sense," she said quietly. She didn't let go of his hand even though it sat like a cold, dead weight in hers. "You know it does. ... Your sister's case matches every aspect of it."

The deeper she gets into the investigation, the more the local ne'er-do-wells (woods crime family, anyone?) embed themselves into her life. At last, she has only one focus, helping the sheriff: "She knew this man well enough to realize that there was only one thing that could help him heal, and that was finding the killer."

Between her risk-taking but brilliant teen daughter Gertie, her librarian buddy who's an undercover investigator, and a perilously young new FBI agent desperate for her attention, Tess has a lot to handle. Not to mention solving the case, saving her (uncertain) relationship, and responding to queries from her agent.

A third book in this series is already titled, so it's time to snag both ON SPINE OF DEATH and its predecessor, BURIED IN A GOOD BOOK, and enjoy some lively and occasionally absurd distraction.

PS: Looking for more mystery reviews, from cozy to very dark? Browse the Kingdom Books mysteries review blog here.

Powerful New Cold Case Investigation from Michael Connelly, DESERT STAR

On November 8, the newest Michael Connelly crime novel will be released, and it features both Renée Ballard and Harry Bosch. Deftly plotted, neatly twisted, and with sharp stakes and risks, DESERT STAR proves again that Connelly's crime fiction goes much farther than "just" a crime and the hunt for the criminal—it investigates the human heart.

As the book opens, Harry's lining up pills next to a glass of water, and it's not for a good reason. In classic cop shorthand, he's thinking he's ready to "let it go." But Renée Ballard, his one-time partner who couldn't stop his job from collapsing, is at the door demanding that he open up.

Unexpectedly, after a year of her own collapse, Ballard has risen to head a new form of cold case department, one that (oh, what we learned from the pandemic) is using all volunteers and contract players to confront the monstrous backlog. She's got the ultimate lure for Harry Bosch: a stack of "murder books" all related to a family homicide that haunts him, and carte blanche to work the case properly.

"Do I get a badge?"

"No badge, no gun," Ballard said. "But you do get that desk with the six books. When can you start?"

Despite his well-fueled angers and resentments about both Ballard and the Los Angeles police, Bosch can't resist. And when he shows up at the unit the next day, there's his own mantra, painted over the entrance: "Open-Unsolved Unit. Everybody Counts or Nobody Counts."

Bosch shook his head. Everybody counts or nobody counts was the philosophy he always brought to homicide work, but it was his personal philosophy. It wasn't a slogan and especially not one he liked seeing painted on a wall. It was something you felt and knew inside. Not something advertised, not something that could even be taught.

Whether he likes it on the wall or not, it's still driving him. Nobody in the new unit recalls his cases solved, his commitment to the job—they're all new in some way—except Renée. And she's trying to manage the unmanageable and bring Harry back for the sake of what he does so well.

To Harry Bosch's disappointment and frustration, there's another case he and Renée need to solve, in full view of the rest of the team: the murder of the daughter of a city councilman. That unsolved crime is what put the councilman behind re-starting the cold case unit. So as Bosch scrambles for traction on the crime that's dogged him, he's also got to cuddle up to the new tools available, like DNA connections, and wrap up the simpler case as well.

The plot's great, a classic Connelly spinning of how police work tangles and wrestles and sometimes succeeds. But at the heart of DESERT STAR is the mentor relationship Harry has with Renée, along with his adjustment to her fully capable investigative skills now in place. So, scrap any father–daughter images, if he had them. In fact, one of his first actions in the new "team" environment undercuts Ballard badly, as he takes off out of the office like a lone dog on the trail.

Renée Ballard's quick realization is, "Putting him on a team did not make him a team player. That was not in his DNA." She intends to patch the gaps he's creating.

But her own insecurities surface in wrestling for control with Bosch and making clear that he's got to do the councilman investigation at higher priority. When he concedes, he tells her, "By the way, you're not a shrew, whatever a shrew is. Okay? More like a desert star." "Whatever that is." "It's a flower that's undaunted by heat and cold. By anything. Even an old guy set in his ways."

While Ballard accepts this half of an apology and tugs gently at the leash to get Bosch on track again, it's still clear that he's exactly what he's said: an old guy set in his ways. And that may jeopardize the cases underway, the renewed existence of the investigative unit, and his life.

PS: Looking for more mystery reviews, from cozy to very dark? Browse the Kingdom Books mysteries review blog here.