books by Mysterious Pr (dollmaker mysteries inspector)

books by Mysterious Pr

books:

5 reviews
Abigail Padgett

Mysterious Pr, 1997

Wonderful--unpredictable, and I love Bo Bradley!
This book was wonderful. It was unpredictable with no clear-cut villain. It's very inspiring to have a competent heroine with manic-depression, or any mental illness for that matter. It adds a whole new dimension to the story and an unusual one at that for a detective story. The characters are all complex and well-written. This book, like Padgett's other Bo Bradley novels, are wonderfully ...

Kahawa

6 reviews
Donald E. Westlake

Mysterious Pr, 1995

Read long ago, but not forgotten
As I remembered the novel, it was the best I ever read. My rating may have been coloured by my living in Liberia 15 years ago when reading the book. Samuel K. Doe was at the time turning our life upside down (I later lived for some years in Tanzania, bordering lake Victoria). The book is totally different from anything else that I have read from Westlake. Did I find it good if I'm searching for ...

Dark Chant in a Crimson Key

6 reviews
George C. Chesbro

Mysterious Pr, 1993

Another great Mongo novel
Of all the Mongo novels, this one is my second favorite. (#1 is The Beasts of Valhalla.) All the action, suspense and mystery with an exciting fight scene in a castle (which is what really put it over the edge for me.) You will never believe that the hero of the novels is a dwarf with a black belt. And yet after reading just one book, you'll believe it and want more. Stop reading these ...

The Columbo Phile: A Casebook

7 reviews
Mark Dawidziak

Mysterious Pr, 1989

I love the book too
I refer to the book many times when I watch Columbo episodes I've taped over the years. I think it's a great book, but like others, I think it should either be updated, or a sequel book, possibly titled "The Columbo Phile - Just One More Thing" that just covers the newer cases and updates the statistics (such as how many times William Shatner has been a murderer on Columbo, which used to be 1 ...

Icy Clutches

4 reviews
Aaron J. Elkins

Mysterious Pr, 1994

The best of "Gideon Oliver"
As soon as I stumbled on my first book by Aaron Elkins, I raced through all of his others. I love the type of mysteries surrounding a character like his Gideon Oliver; an academic and forensic anthropologist rather than a cop. All of the G.O. mysteries are set in interesting places, and all have a good dose of physical anthropology. This particular one is set near a glacier (which holds the ...

32 Cadillacs: A Dka File Novel

8 reviews
Joe Gores

Mysterious Pr, 2002

Dare I Say, A Must Read
Why Joe Gores isn't a better known author is a complete mystery to me. Ok, Ok, he's won 3 Edgar Awards and all, but still you don't hear his name mentioned too often when asking for recommendations. His DKA Files series are full of action, humour, cons and scams and in short are pure entertainment. Well, no matter, I've discovered him now and I'm here to tell you that the series, and 32 Cadillacs ...

Musclebound

6 reviews
Liza Cody

Mysterious Pr, 1997

a wild and crazy ride... can't wait to read the next...
Just finished "Musclebound", having previously read "Monkey Wrench" (reviewed separately). I am even more confirmed liking this character and series. Eva Wylie is an unusual character, to say the least, and I won't go into the plots as these are available in the other reviews. It's the character that appeals. The novels are told in first-person narrative. You feel like an older, wiser ...

Voodoo, Ltd.

7 reviews
Ross Thomas

Mysterious Pr, 1992

Convoluted, but in a good way.
The book's title, Voodoo, Ltd., derives from a mispronounciation of Wudu, Ltd., a London based detective agency run by two Americans, Artie Wu and Quincy Durant. Early in the course of this smartly written dark comedy, a wealthy German businessman with the improbable name of Enno Glimm hires Wu and Durant to locate a pair of British hypnotists who have suddenly gone missing in Southern ...

Strawgirl

5 reviews
Abigail Padgett

Mysterious Pr, 1995

Imaginative, well-written and unputdownable
Abigail Padgett is one of today's best mystery writers, right up there with Laurie R. King (and that's high praise). "Strawgirl" is the second in her series about Bo Bradley, a manic-depressive investigator of child-abuse cases. Sounds like a downer, but it's not. Ms. Padgett's skillful, imaginative writing, ingenious plotting and complex characterization make this fascinating reading, high on ...

Fallen into the Pit (Inspector George Felse Mystery)

5 reviews
Ellis Peters

Mysterious Pr, 1994

A great modern English mystery, best she's written.
This was one of the best mysteries I have ever read. I came upon it by accident, not even knowing if it were a mystery or not. It is a wonderful successor to the great writers of the original English mystery. George Felse ranks up there with Poirot and Holmes, but shows a bit more humanity. The other characters, also, show qualities that make you forget that you're reading. The plot, I'm sure, ...

The Skin Palace

4 reviews
Jack O'Connell

Mysterious Pr, 1996

Combat zone is the place to be
I am a big-time O'Connell fan. I had to special order Box 9 because it was out of print. I can't wait until the next O'Connell book comes out. He has a wonderful way of telling a quirky story. It includes dwarfs, porno houses, strange photos, lesbian groups, unusual mail carriers, and God knows what. If you are a fan of Tom Robbins or William Kotzwinkle, you will love Jack O'Connell.

Scam (Stanley Hastings Mysteries)

3 reviews
Parnell Hall

Mysterious Pr, 1997

Another fascinating Stanley Hastings mystery drama
Cranston Pritchert hires New York private investigator Stanley Hastings to learn more about a woman he recently met in a singles bar, one who may be used to hurt him at his job at the Philip Greenberg Investment Company. Stanley thinks the story is full of holes, but Cranston is a paying customer and that is more important than indulging in one's pride of being used. Stanley accepts the case and ...

Actor

3 reviews
Parnell Hall

Mysterious Pr, 1993

Stanley Hastings is an adorable sleuth
I am in the process of collecting all of the Stanley Hastings books in hardcover. I have read them all and he is the most entertaining sleuth in the business. His reluctance at being drawn into the mystery makes the plots all the more irresistable and as a result, they are not predictable. He makes me laugh out loud...never have I read a more charming character.

Christmas Stalkings: Tales of Yuletide Murder

2 reviews

Mysterious Pr, 1994

I LOVE AMAZON & Charlotte MacLeod
This is a really great collection of stories that will have you laughing and turning pages. Great authors and reallly clever plots

Blood Mud

3 reviews
K. C. Constantine, K. C. Costantine

Mysterious Pr, 1999

Is that an elephant on my chest, or the weight of the world?
Lemme start by saying I've read every one of K.C.C.'s Rocksburg books. I am a fan. Even though there have been some wherein the dialog was TOO 'authentic'--whole screeds from Valcanas in Mo's bar that went--and then re-visited--nowhere; in-term-in-a-ble bickerings between Mario & Ruthie that tripped every buzzer on the redundancy meter, enough already; Carlucci's internal ...

The Black Mask Boys: Masters in the Hard-Boiled School of Detective Fiction

2 reviews
William F. Nolan

Mysterious Pr, 1987

Educational and entertaining.
Eight stories which originally appeared in Black Mask magazine between 1923 and 1933 are reprinted in this delightful and highly readable book. The featured stories are: -Three Gun Terry by Carroll John Daly -Bodies Piled Up by Dashiell Hammett (reprinted elsewhere as "House Dick") -Hell's Kettle by Erle Stanley Gardner -Sal the Dude by Raoul Whitfield -Rough Justice by Frederick Nebel ...

The Rape of Ganymede

3 reviews
John Peyton Cooke

Mysterious Pr, 1998

Great read...
This is a great read. Well written story about a gay detective, who surprisingly isn't having sex every other paragraph. Yet, it was a good story and I couldn't put it down. Highly recommend.

Butchers and Other Stories of Crime

2 reviews
Peter Lovesey

Mysterious Pr, 1988

Short stories with surprise endings
This is great little volume of 16 short stories, all which have a surprise or a twist at the end. Usually the villain gets their comeuppance or a misunderstanding leads to the hero winning the day. I recommend this book highly for those who like their reading in small batches; I just wish Lovesey would write a few more batches of stories.

If You Can't Be Good

4 reviews
Ross Thomas

Mysterious Pr, 1993

Ross Thomas at his best.
The lion's share of the narrative of this superbly crafted mystery unfolds in Washington, D.C., circa early 1970s. Deke Lucas makes his living by uncovering waste, fraud and abuse for various governmental agencies. And he's very good at what he does. So good in fact that Frank Size, a syndicated columnist of considerable reknown, lures him away from his latest governmental post to investigate a ...

The Seersucker Whipsaw

4 reviews
Ross Thomas

Mysterious Pr, 1992

A lesson in democracy.
The Seersucker Whipsaw, one of Ross Thomas' earlier novels, also happens to be one of his best. What is most remarkable about this novel is the utter smoothness with which the narrative unfolds. The plot revolves around two Americans who have been recruited to run a political campaign in newly independent Albertia, a former British colony in West Africa. The younger of the two men, Pete ...