John Le Carre Gets Political in AGENT RUNNING

Agent Running in the Field is the latest novel by John Le Carre, the renown master of the international espionage novel. This new book is a smaller scale picture of a backwater British spy sub-agency called The Haven that deals with minor intelligence nuisances.

The story is narrated by Nat, a veteran agent network runner now close to being put out to pasture by his agency. Nat's cynical voice allows John Le Carre to show his own dry wit with much inside baseball description of the mundane daily workings of The Haven. The actual plot of the novel is very thin, with Nat reconnecting with a former agent asset, who has urgent new information about a Russian undercover operation inside Britain. A surprising revelation puts Nat under suspicion at his own agency.

Unfortunately, the novel goes off the track as author Le Carre uses the story to vent his own strident political biases against Brexit, the Tory Party, and the American Trump administration. Le Carre has often shown open anti-American disdain in previous novels (see A Most Wanted Man ) and he continues that nasty streak here.

 Agent Running in the Field  is almost a droll satire of spy agencies, but the novel is mainly a diversion for die-hard John Le Carre fans who share his leftist politics.

THE NIGHT FIRE a New Crime Novel From Michael Connelly

The Night Fire by Michael Connelly is a new Crime novel in the popular series that features former LAPD Detective Harry Bosch. Bosch is retired now, but still works some cases on his own time. He's drawn into a new mystery when his former LAPD mentor dies and leaves behind the file on a murder cold case for Bosch alone to look into.

Once again, Bosch crosses paths with LAPD Detective Renee Ballard, who is working the open case of a homeless man set on fire one night and murdered by someone unkown. As Bosch pursues his case and Ballard works hers, connections between the two murders begin to show up. What emerges is the pattern of a much larger conspiracy and the existence of a single ruthless professional killer at the center of the unsolved deaths.

The hunt for the killer leads Bosch and Ballard into a deadly confrontation that neither of them saw coming.

The Night Fire is a solid police procedural that moves back and forth between the two main characters of Harry Bosch and Renee Ballard created by Michael Connelly, one of the best crime authors writing today.

BLOODY GENIUS a Tangled New Crime Tale by John Sandford

Bloody Genius by John Sandford is the latest offbeat crime novel in the series that features Minnesota State Police detective Virgil Flowers. Virgil is a laid back rural type, who sometimes pulls his boat behind his truck on the way to crime scenes, in case he gets time to do some fishing.

His latest case is strictly an urban affair in the Twin Cities. A university professor is sneaking into the library at night when he is unexpectedly attacked by someone and murdered. Virgil Flowers is left with a handful of puzzling questions. Why was the professor hiding there at night at the library in the first place? Who would want to kill him? Did it have anything to do with his lucrative scientific research? Or was it the result of a bitter academic feud with another professor?

The novel follows Flowers through a tangled trail of false leads, red herring clues, and multiple possible suspects. It takes Virgil a while to realize that someone is leading him on a chase of planted distractions away from the actual murderer.

Bloody Genius is filled with a few too many plot twists and minor characters to follow and the eventual uncovering of an unlikely culprit with an equally unlikely motive for the murder. This one isn't John Sandford's best effort, but the novel is entertaining with a running stream of quirky humor and the laconic character of Virgil Flowers himself.

Ruth Ware's new Suspense Novel Is a Sinister Enigma

The Turn of a Key is the latest novel by popular Psychological Suspense author Ruth Ware. This new offering is an ambiguous one. The novel has jarring narration and plot twists which may leave many readers uncertain, depending on how they interpret the final pages.

The opening story setup is promising. Rowan Caine takes what seems a cushy, high paying job as a family nanny in a remote manor house in the Scottish Highlands. But troubles for Rowan begin almost immediately. The parents must leave on a work assignment in Europe. The three small children left with Rowan are an unruly handful. Then there's the house itself, which seems to have a sinister presence about it.

There are faint echoes of the Henry James classic The Turn of the Screw. The children whisper vaguely about ghosts somewhere. The novel works overtime to build Gothic creepiness, from phantom footsteps in the night to an ominous locked door.

The structure of the novel has the story narrated by Rowan in letters to an attorney as she is being held in jail after a death in the house. But the plot takes a wrenching turn in the last third when vital new information is suddenly given to the reader that has been withheld from the beginning. Talk about an unreliable narrator! Things turn even more upside down at the conclusion when more new revelations make the reader question the validity of the entire prior narrative.

The Turn of a Key is a psychological enigma which offers one direct answer at the end. But is it the right answer?

THE BITTEROOTS a Rugged Montana Crime Thriller

The Bitterroots by C.J. Box is the author's fourth Western-set crime novel to feature investigator Cassie Dewell, who appeared previously in The Highway and Badlands and Paradise Valley. Cassie is mid-thirties, not very tall, and somewhat overweight. But she's a sharp investigator and a good shot when she has to be. This combination makes her character both realistic and appealing.

Cassie is a former sheriff's detective in Montana and North Dakota, but she left law enforcement after bad experiences in two departments. She's now a private investigator based in Bozeman, Montana. A local attorney has a defendant in a sexual assault case and hires Cassie to dig into the background of the charges.

Cassie travels to the isolated town of Horston, where the alleged assault took place, set below the rugged Bitterroot Range in western Montana. Once there, she runs into early trouble. A powerful local ranching family wants her to quit poking into the rape charges and leave town. But Cassie finds some details of the case don't add up. As she keeps digging, she ends up arrested in the local jail. Then it gets even more dangerous for her.

 The Bitterroots is a western crime novel as tough edged as its rugged setting. Author C.J. Box has another compelling read in the Cassie Dewell series.

KNIFE by Jo Nesbo a New Norwegian Crime Thriller

Knife by Norwegian author Jo Nesbo is the latest crime novel in the series that features obsessive Oslo police detective Harry Hole (pronounced Hoo-leh). Harry is a police legend for his past hunting down of fiendish serial killers, portrayed in previous Nesbo novels such as The Snowman and The Leopard.

A new case is devastating for Harry when someone personally close to him is brutally murdered. At first, it appears that a recently released convict Harry arrested a decade earlier is behind the murder in revenge against Hole. But then new suspects emerge with their own twisted motivations. Even though Harry is suspended from working on the murder case because of his connection with the victim, he is driven to pursue the killer on his own.

Knife is a heavy read at 450 pages that sometimes bogs down in too much involvement with Harry's own complex psychological obsessions. That said, Jo Nesbo fans will enjoy seeing iconic character Harry Hole on the case again.

Thomas Harris is Back With Ruthless Crime Thriller CARI MORA

Thomas Harris is famous for thrillers like Black Sunday, Silence of the Lambs, and Hannibal. He's back with a long awaited new one in the taut crime tale Cari Mora.

Set in Miami Beach, the novel follows a ruthless hunt for an elusive treasure. A vacant house once owned by drug kingpin Pablo Escobar is rumored to have a thirty million dollar gold hoard stashed secretly somewhere inside it. Two competing criminal gangs want that gold and will take whatever brutal means necessary to get to it.

Cari Mora is a Nicaraguan immigrant who works as caretaker for the empty house. She was a former captive soldier of the guerilla army in her native country and she is well trained in violent tactics. When the vicious thugs make their plans to take control of the house, they don't reckon with the implacable factor of Cari Mora becoming involved.

Cari Mora is a colorful, swiftly moving story filled with visceral violence and sudden deaths. It's a welcome return by Thomas Harris that makes for some entertaining summer reading.  

NEON PREY an Epic Fugitive Chase Thriller

U.S. Marshal Lucas Davenport is back in Neon Prey, a new crime thriller in the popular series by author John Sandford.

The novel opens in Louisiana, where violent felon Clayton Deese has jumped bail and gone on the run. Lucas and his Marshal team of Bob and Rae track Deese to a remote swamp cabin. Deese is long gone, but they find a patch of victim graves near the cabin. Deese is now a wanted serial killer.

Lucas and his team track Deese to Los Angeles, where he has joined up with his brother in a gang that stages brutal home invasion robberies in high end homes. When the Marshals and LAPD close in on the gang house, a violent shootout ensues, and Lucas himself is seriously wounded. But once again, Clayton Deese escapes capture.

Deese runs next to Las Vegas, where he plans to resume more home invasions. The Marshal team follows him there, as the epic fugitive chase leaves behind a trail of dead bodies. But the ruthless Deese has still more tricks up his sleeve.

Neon Prey is a high speed read that fans of the Lucas Davenport series will devour. Once again, author John Sandford does not disappoint.

WOLFPACK a New Wyoming Crime Thriller

Wyoming state game warden Joe Pickett returns in Wolfpack, a new crime thriller from C.J. Box. The popular series is set against a rugged Western landscape as Joe Pickett finds himself involved in often dangerous criminal situations.

New trouble for Joe starts when he investigates the illegal use of a drone to chase elk and antelope herds, leading to panic and deaths among the animals. But when Joe tries to track down the drone owner, he runs up against a stone wall. The drone user is a mystery man protected by Federal authorities for classified reasons.

But Joe Pickett isn't the only one after this mystery man. A vicious gang of drug cartel killers, called the Wolfpack, is also looking for the same man. When this pack arrives in the small town of Saddle String, they move to ruthlessly take out anyone in their way, including Joe Pickett and anyone he is working with.

Wolfpack is a taut thriller that builds at high speed toward a violent showdown in the Wyoming mountain country. C.J. Box has created a riveting series with the Joe Pickett novels and this latest entry is one of his best. An absolutely great read.  

Inspector Rebus Returns in HOUSE OF LIES

In a House of Lies by Ian Rankin is the latest novel in the popular series that features Inspector John Rebus of the Edinburgh, Scotland police.

Now retired and not in good health, Rebus nonetheless continues to find ways to get himself involved in current police investigations. The murdered body of a long missing private investigator is found in the trunk of a car abandoned in a wooded area. Years earlier, Rebus himself had worked the original case that failed to find the missing man. 

His protégé, Inspector Siobhan Clarke, is assigned to the new murder case. She calls on Rebus as an informal advisor because of his prior involvement. At the same time, she asks Rebus to look into threats she is receiving because of a man she helped convict in another recent murder case.

 In a House of Lies is a slow reading police procedural, with a tangled plot and lots of talky, involved scenes. But fans of the long running series will still enjoy this new revisit with the irascible John Rebus one more time.

Best Mystery and Crime Novels of 2018

The last year saw the release of a variety of great Mystery and Crime reads. These are the best novels of the year that were reviewed by this blog:

The Wanted - By Robert Crais. Private eye Elvis Cole is back, along with his California cool style and his classic yellow Corvette. A worried Los Angeles mother hires Cole to investigate her teenage son's activities, fearing he's into drug use. But it turns out the kid is into things a lot more dangerous than that.

The Disappeared - By C.J. Box. Wyoming state game warden Joe Pickett returns in the popular Crime series set against a rugged Western landscape backdrop. A British tourist vanishes after her stay at an upscale local dude ranch. As Joe digs into the mystery, he comes up against a powerful wind power utility that may be involved.

Twisted Prey - By John Sandford. Another bullet-paced thriller featuring U.S. Marshal Lucas Davenport. A assassination attempt is made on a U.S. Senator on a lonely forest road. When Lucas investigates, he faces a cold blooded sociopath with political ambitions, who masterminds several murders in order to further her own Senate campaign.

The Dry - By Jane Harper. Set in the barren Outback of Australia, where a small town is suffering from an endless drought and reeling from a horrific local crime. Federal Police Agent Aaron Falk tries to unravel the mystery of why a local farmer would kill his family and then himself. Or did he?

The Witch Elm - By Tana French. An engrossing psychological mystery in which fate and coincidence play twisted roles in the course of fatal events. A young man is the victim of a brutal attack that leaves him with a serious head injury. Then he becomes a suspect in a murder case from years earlier.

Dark Sacred Night - By Michael Connelly. This police procedural teams former LAPD detective Harry Bosch with current LAPD night shift detective Renee Ballard.  Bosch and Ballard cross paths on a cold case involving the murder of a teenage girl by an unknown predator who may still be out there. The two cops agree to pool their efforts to find the killer.