BURIED IN THE HOUSE--Review

Buried In The House

ISBN: 978194806253

By Christine Husom

A 2024 release from      

The wRight Press

 

Nationally recognized author Husom does it again with a carefully conceived and written crime novel of the sometimes plodding research by the rural and closely connected Winnebago County Deputies. The careful efforts and struggles of law enforcement and crime-scene specialists to collect the evidence from a corpse and the search of a cluttered crime scene become important factors in the story. Personal relationships are many in this close-knit unit. Climbing a tall ladder to a high second floor window as the only entrance to a crime scene is definitely out of the ordinary for these officers. Not only is the physical scene of a suspicious death a contributing factor to a level of confusion, it brings to the strong narrative several forks in the trail to resolution. Complicated and overlapping relationships, on both sides of the law, overlaid with varied settings, enrich the narrative. If the dialogue at times borders on the formal, this team is careful, dedicated, interesting, and they operate in a richly described environment. Readers of this enjoyable experience will complete the reading of this crime novel with a good sense of satisfaction.

OLD MINNEAPOLIS -- Review

 

OLD MINNEAPOLIS

By Larry Millett

ISBN: 978-1-5179-2047-0

A 2025 release from University of Minnesota Press 

The author of this fascinating enjoyable crime novel is an experienced writer and student of architecture and history, especially of the Twin Cities. He has an extensive shelf of crime novels, many of which feature fictional characters from the recent and distant past, often well known to the reading public. If you believe him, and it’s hard not to, Sherlock Holmes and Doc Watson came to Minnesota to help solve some heinous crimes. And we can’t forget that fine detective in old Saint Paul, Shadwell Rafferty.  Here Millett treats us to historically accurate murder, mayhem and various chicanery in three related tales set on the west side of the river in Minneapolis. Millett is careful to incorporate accurate details of the city and the river during the period of the 1890s to the first decade of the 20^th Century. His adherence to the realities of the time in which the stories hppen only enhances his story-telling talent in these three fascinating tales abd th enjoyment of any reader.

DESPITE HERSELF--Review

 

Despite Herself

By Jessie Chandler

ISBN: 978-1-64247-673-6

A 2025 release from

Bella Books

 

Passion is a six-letter word. Passion is both a noun and a verb and, in this novel, expresses a wide range of feelings, incidents, activity and results. It will be interesting to discover how booksellers will categorize and shelve this excellent novel. Is it a mystery, a procedural, a romance, or is it a detailed, carefully laid out character study? In my view, the answer is yes.

Two strong women, one a police officer, the other a bar owner, both with troubled incidents in their pasts, encounter each other in the midst of murder, divorce, alcoholic indulgence and riotous humor.  Theo Zaccardo is the owner/operator of a Duluth bar called the Mashed Spud, an LGBTQ hangout. She’s quickly under suspicion as the probable killer of an obnoxious, trouble-making patron. Bec Harrison is a recovering divorcee from Detroit who has moved to Duluth to get away from her cheating spouse and all the scenes that reminds her of her failed romance. She’s a talented cop and that results in her hiring by Duluth PD.arrisonH

Harrison is assigned the murder at the Mashed Spud and her connection to Theo grows. The investigation and the gradual reveal of earlier difficulties in both women’s lives is carefully blended and logically produced. This is a well-written novel with many appropriate descriptive elements that will carry readers into the physical places and the even deeper emotional developments. A moving, engrossing, carefully-paced novel with surprising and well-set conclusions.