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Author: Kate Ellis, 2008.
Genre: Crime. Police Procedural. Occult theme.
Other Details: Large Print Hardback. 414 pages.
When Carmel Hennessy begins a new job in North Yorkshire, she finds the historic city of Eborby gripped by fear. A killer is on the prowl who binds and asphyxiates his victims before leaving their naked bodies in isolated country churchyards. The press are calling him the Resurrection Man. Tragic events from the past link Carmel with DI Joe Plantagenet, who believes the case may have occult connections. Then Carmel becomes aware of a malevolent presence in her flat and when she starts to receive mysterious threats, it is Joe she turns to first. And that is when Joe is forced to get into the mind of a cunning - and scarily ruthless - killer. - synopsis from Kate Ellis' website.
This is a series that I've had my eye on for a while having heard positive things about Kate Ellis' writing and was intrigued by the fact that most of them appear to have occult overtones. I found this a highly engaging police procedural that kept me on the edge of my seat. Joe Plantagenet is an appealing lead with a surname that suggests an interesting ancestry. I look forward to reading the others.
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Author: Janet Evanovich, 2008.
Genre: Chick Lit Crime Fiction. Comedy/Drama.
Other Details: Unabridged Audio (Length: 6 hrs, 38 min) Read by Lorelei King.
Various cousins feature large in the plot of the fourteenth Stephanie Plum novel. Once again the focus was away from Stephanie's day job as a Bond Enforcement Agent as she takes on an assignment with Ranger's security firm to assist with protection for Brenda, a famous one name singer (like Madonna or Cher) who is in town for a few days. Brenda's presence sparks protests from women's groups and PETA and she also has to be protected from a stalker, Gary, who is her cousin and claims to be psychic after being hit by lightning.
The other threat involves Stephanie's cop boyfriend Joe Morelli's distant cousin Loretta, who doesn't have any collateral to get a new bond after missing her court date. She has left her son Mario (aka Zook) in Stephanie's care. Stephanie contacts Loretta's brother Dom to see if he can assist. It turns out that Dom has just been released from prison after doing 10 years for a nine million dollar robbery. He never gave up his partners and the money was never recovered. There is a rumour that the money was stashed somewhere in his Aunt Rose's house, which Joe inherited and Stephanie finds unmistakable signs that someone has been in the house. Things soon begin to spiral out of control and Loretta, once released, is then kidnapped presumably by one or more of Dom's partners who want their shares of the loot. Stephanie as usual is smack in the middle of the chaos.
I found this fresh and very funny. There were a lot of fun side-plots like Zook spray-painting everything in sight including Joe's dog, Bob, and introducing Grandma Mazur and her cronies to the world on on-line gaming. There is also the return of the Moonman and the unlikely engagement of Lula to Ranger's right-hand man, Tank. Can't wait to see how that works out!
