1 star = a snoozer.
2 stars = lukewarm.
3 stars = Likable.
4 stars = Excellent.
5 stars = A triumph.
★ ★ ★ ★
“The Department of Sensitive Crimes”
Alexander McCall Smith (“The Ladies’ Detective Agency Series”) returns with a rainy day read and madcap mystery series, “The Department of Sensitive Crimes.”
In Sweden, certain cases are considered too strange and challenging to solve. But the dedicated and elite crime squad known as the Sensitive Crimes Division proceed with care.
The team is led by Ulf “the Wolf” Varg, thoughtful and diligent in his detective work. Varg’s love interest and voyeur of her boss’s car, Anne Bengsdotter, is a caring and gentle woman on a mission to land Varg at whatever cost possible. Carl Holgersson is the scholarly, bookish, and meticulous type who will stop at nothing when filing office paperwork and getting the job done.
Then there’s Erik Nykvist, an expert specialist on fly-fishing, though overzealous about his favorite hobby.
A well-rounded team will stop at nothing to get to the bottom of each case. In “The Department of Sensitive Crimes,” a man is stabbed in the back of his knee, an imaginary boyfriend goes missing, and a troublesome werewolf keeps neighbors awake at all hours of the night.
“The Department of Sensitive Crimes” is more about the meditations on life and the rights and wrongs of human behavior than it is about the mysteries of everyday life in Malmo. Smith weaves an intelligent narrative but brief—a laugh-out-loud and humorous novel worth your time and patience for the entire ride.
★ ★ ★
“The Book
of Cold Cases”
A blogger and doctor’s receptionist, Shea Collins, is looking into a cold case that happened in 1977 in Simone St James’s disjointed mystery, “The Book of Cold Cases.”
A serial killer case revolves around The Lady Killer, a woman named Beth Greer, whom many in Claire Lake, Oregon, believe killed two men with the same gun. She was acquitted of those killings, but many residents and law enforcement believe she is responsible.
Collins looks into the case and interviews Beth Greer herself, the police who worked the case, and a few close-knit people in the community. But as Collins digs into the incident and Beth’s mysterious past, she thinks that Beth may not have committed those murders. When Beth invites Shea to the crime scene, the big sprawling mansion, spooky at every angle, Collins begins to experience strange happenings: doors opening and closing by themselves. Faucets spewing blood. And she hears unusual whisperings on the tape recorder she uses to interview the infamous Greer. Haunting voices in the background that do not belong to either woman.
The book’s first half is a meandering slog, which slowly builds to a semi-satisfying, if predictable, conclusion. Unlike St James’ previous novels, “The Book of Cold Cases” is a mediocre effort, more family drama than a thriller, and void of atmosphere and scares. The supernatural aspect of the plot is underwhelming.
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
“The Night Shift”
Alex Finlay’s gripping new thriller, “The Night Shift,” should be read in one sitting.
The story starts in 1999 when Y2K is a looming threat. The random shooting at a local Blockbuster video store sends a small New Jersey town into chaos. One night four teenagers are attacked, and only one of them lives to tell the story.
Fifteen years later, the Blockbuster murders still linger in the back of many peoples’ minds because the case was unsolved. That gruesome period resurfaces when another inexplicable murder takes place at a local ice cream shop where five teenagers are attacked, and only one of them survives.
The same M.O. after fifteen years later, baffled and unnerved, the town is in an uproar. As the police department struggles to find out whether these murders are the work of a copycat, the propulsive narrative will keep readers turning pages until the shocking and startling ending.
Sentimental characters and an exceptional plot make Finlay’s latest thriller a superb read. Thriller and mystery fans will be pleased.
Thomas Grant Bruso is a Plattsburgh resident who writes fiction and has been an avid reader of genre fiction since he was a kid. Readers and writers are invited to connect and discuss books and writing at www.facebook.com/thomasgrantbruso.facebook.com/thomasgrant-
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