Kathleen Hennrikus

“. . . we all miss the Wild West: Cruller Heaven, Chet’s best pal Iggy, and Bernie’s son Charlie. . . . Let’s go home.”

“. . . the pencil illustrations interspersed throughout the book are charming.

“She may have just gotten to this Podunk town, but this story is hers, dammit!

Hunting Shadows is an exceptionally good entry in an outstanding series.

The perfect Christmas present is a novella.

Of the many virtuoso choices Ruth Rendell has made in her Inspector Wexford series (this is number 24) perhaps the best decision is to have characters age.

If you are one of those folks who feels it’s never too early to shop for holiday gifts, get this beguiling little book for the dog lover on your list.

“. . . a deserving read . . .”

Is it possible for a middle age man to write a novel with a young female protagonist? Maybe, but this isn’t that book.

“Doom hangs over this book, but doesn’t inhabit it.”

Bring this book to the beach, but don’t forget to keep putting on sunscreen, because once you start reading, you’ll forget everything else around you.

“Alan Jacobson knows how to write suspense. . . . Don’t say you weren’t warned.”

If you are ever in Pittsburgh and run across psychologist and trauma expert Daniel Rinaldi, run in the opposite direction. He attracts mayhem like pollen attracts bees.

“. . . a girl who works hard deserves a break.”

Can a down-on-her-luck queer sista catch a break in ’90s Brooklyn?

Here’s a new concept in a legal thriller: a litigator who suffers from stage fright.

But only in court.

It’s no surprise this celebration of Ted Williams is released on the Opening Day for Major League Baseball. Now fans have two reasons to celebrate on April 1.

“The monsters Anne Perry creates are not easy to live with, and their actions linger long after the book is closed.”

“If Thomas Perry can pair Jack with a strong female who is worthy of the story he concocts next, this series just might take off.”

“. . . if Maisie drew a map of her life in Leaving Everything Most Loved it would mirror a Jackson Pollock painting.”

Charles Todd opens Proof of Guilt with a terrifying historical incident.

Sarah Graves’ Home Repair Is Homicide series has always had two of the three components for a great mystery: a compelling lead character and a great setting.

“Babe Ruth didn’t hit a home run every game.” Anne Perry’s Christmas novellas are treats for her fans, starved for more Victorian suspense from the master.

“If you’re a sucker for all things Christmas, this book is for you.”

It’s not easy to write the second book in a series. The author doesn’t want to bore the readers with a re-hash of the characters’ lives. Yet the new reader must be made aware of the backstory.

“Invariably, when the author has this much fun, the reader benefits.”

Bodies, seemingly killed by wild animals, have been showing up in Sherlock Holmes’ London.

“The Hollywood pitch for Fool Me Twice would be A Star Is Born meets Tweakers.”

“The device used . . . is clever. . . . These stories are dull.”

Lots of writers strive for a gritty tale with humor; it’s an overused description, but when it’s apt, it conveys a useful sensibility.

“Anne Perry puts the reader in the middle of London . . . tackling a terrifying subject with high style.”

“Take a bow, Mr. Stashower, you’ve earned it.”

“. . . masterful . . . the ‘Antiques Roadshow’ of mysteries.”

“. . . well written and entertaining.”

“The death of Robert Parker in 2010 did not slow the output of his Spenser books.

Long before the “Downton Abbey” craze, Jacqueline Winspear was writing remarkable mysteries about life in England circa WW I.

“The Royal Wulff Murders is long, the ending especially protracted and tiresome. There’s no need to wrap up everyone’s life; use your characters for a second book.

“In Flagrant Conduct: The Story of Lawrence v. Texas, Dale Carpenter takes readers through the maze of the judicial system with ease.

“Murder at the Lanterne Rouge is wonderfully plotted, and Cara Black ties together the past and present with élan. We’ll always have Paris.”

“There’s much to be admired about Val McDermid; her understanding of the human psyche is breathtaking.”

“Mr.

“Craig McDonald uses his skills to write a drama that demands the reader pay attention, if a character has a Latino or Anglo name, the reader can’t make assumptions about where the characte

“Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine Presents Fifty Years of Crime and Suspense is not an anthology of the best crime stories of the past 50 years, the best that were published in AHMM

“. . . the point with The Feng Shui Detective Goes West is to enjoy the effervescent ride.”

“The action, indeed the story, seems like it takes place another world, distancing the reader from the reading experience—the opposite of what you want in a thriller.

In the second book in this series, Daniel Rinaldi, a psychiatric consultant to the Pittsburgh police department for trauma victims, gets called to bank robbery/hostage situation.

“In The Dog Who Knew Too Much, the mountains hide secrets that some folks want to keep covered up. . . .

Would you consider getting a tattoo that looks as if Hieronymus Bosch had painted it?

Understanding the power of Washington, DC, the city where her father was president, and her husband was chief of the New York Times Washington bureau, Margaret Truman used the setting for

The Gilded Shroud is a romance with a mystery, not to be confused with a mystery that has a romance. Every genre has rules that are followed.

The contrast is startling and seems contradictory: How can you have a peaceable small town that hides hatred so deep it results in animal bloodletting?

It’s risky to write a book about a season spent with a sports team.

Knockdown is not a whodunit, or a whydunit. Both are clear from the beginning. The question is how. The book gets to the answer by painting a study in contrasts.