From Bruges with Love

by Pieter Aspe

                When a young girl discovers a skeleton on the property her family is renovating, Asst. Commissioner Pieter Van In is charged with finding out who buried the body decades ago. As Van In looks for records of the previous property owners for a clue to the skeleton’s identity, he finds a disturbing history of prostitution, drugs and pedophilia going back decades involving some very important government officials. When he is cautioned to proceed carefully, Van In chooses to do the opposite, and in the process almost costs a young female police officer her life.

            This is the third of Aspe’s Pieter Van In series to be translated to English. The book is filled with a cast of quirky characters, however it takes a while for this book to really take off and become interesting. Part of the problem in my opinion is with the translation. There are so many characters whose last name begins with a V that it is difficult to differentiate who is who in the book. Add to this the fact that the average English reader is not familiar with Belgian names and it becomes tedious to remember which ‘V’ character is which. At one point, I made a cheat sheet list of which V character was which.

            For all its translation issues, this is still a very good book. The characters are flawed, misguided, and truly evil; but they are believable. Bruges with Love builds slowly and steadily in intensity until it captures the reader. With a couple of wonderful twists at the end, it’s a worthwhile read.

            I look forward to more of this author’s works. Hopefully the translation issues will become less pronounced with each new book.

Disclaimer: I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

The Devil’s Bridge

by Linda Fairstein

                The seventeenth installment in Fairstein’s Alexandra Cooper series is a wonderful departure from her previous novels. In The Devil’s Bridge, the story is told almost exclusively from the perspective of Cooper’s new love interest, and old friend, Detective Mike Chapman. Fairstein shows a different Alexandra Cooper, one seen through the eyes of others.

            The novel opens with a successful cyber-attack on the files of Cooper. Files that contain everything about a current case; a case that is now horribly compromised. When Cooper turns up missing, the police wonder who orchestrated this attack, and did they also kidnap Cooper.

            Devil’s Bridge also shows a side of Mike Chapman that is new. When Cooper goes missing, it is not the detective in Chapman who works the case, but the lover who is distraught and not thinking clearly. As one clue leads to another, we are left wondering who will eventually find Cooper, the detective or the lover, and what price will he pay?

            This is a wonderful addition to the Cooper series. While it is a mystery, it is also an excellent character study of Cooper and Chapman. First time readers as well as fans who have followed this series will enjoy the different perspective on these two characters.

            Scheduled for publication on August 11^th, this is a book to buy and enjoy.

Disclaimer: I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Pretty Little Things

by Lori Radar-Day

            Two young women, star athletes in high school, best friends who share everything, or do they?  Radar-Day’s latest book focuses on two young women, Juliet Townsend and Madeleine Bell. They were best friends and track stars in high school, always finishing first and second in every race. Madeleine was the star with Juliet always just one step behind in life as in their races. So why did Madeleine (Maddy) take off right after graduation without a word to anyone, even Juliet?

            Ten years later, Juliet is still living in the same small Indiana town, working as a house keeper in a run-down motel. It is an existence with little future and no surprises, until the night Maddy walks into the motel. Well dressed and sporting a large diamond ring, Maddy is clearly living better than Juliet. Theirs is a brief, tense reunion that evening. The next morning, Maddy is found hanging from the balcony of an upper room at the motel. The police’s chief suspect: Juliet. As Juliet works to clear herself of Maddy’s murder, she finds a layer of secrecy and evil that someone will do anything to protect.

            Radar-Day does a good job of capturing small town life where everyone knows everyone. Less successful is her portrayal of some of the characters. It is difficult to believe that the same petty rivalries would exist between adult women ten years after high school. At times, some of the characters act as if they were still teenagers. While this does detract somewhat from the story, it does not sink it. Pretty Little Things is still a good read. However, this is not really a suspense novel since the reader (at least this one) will easily figure out the many clues of who killed Maddy and what led to her death.

            All in all, a good entertaining read. Borrow this from your library.

                        Disclaimer: I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.