The Black Book

By James Patterson & David Ellis

I find Patterson an entertaining read, but every once in a while a book goes from entertaining to really good suspense. This is one of them.

Billy Harney and his partner are Chicago PD homicide cops. While shadowing a murder suspect, they realize he seems to be frequenting a brothel on a regular basic. They figure that raiding the place and capturing him with his pants down might give them an edge when questioning him. Billy makes the decision to raid the place, without Vice's help. Turns out they also bagged the mayor, an archbishop, and other major players in Chicago. The political storm that erupts is beyond what any of them imagined. Patterson and Ellis craft a story with twists and turns that keeps you guessing to the end. You may have your suspicions of the culprit, but you start second guessing yourself.

I couldn't wait to find out the who was behind it all.

~ Rochelle

All Summer Long

By Dorothea Benton Frank

Olivia promised her husband Nick that she would go with him to the Lowcountry of South Carolina when it was time to retire. She is a born and bred New Yorker and worries about acclimating to their new life. Their finances are also a worry that she only shares with her co-worker Roni. Olivia and Nick are invited to travel with her billionaire clients and friends where they really experience life like the ultra rich. While traveling on a yacht in Spain, one of the passengers goes missing and that causes the relationships of all the other passengers to change. I never read this author before and was disappointed in the story line and the slow speed of the plot.

~ Dixie

Celine

By Peter Heller

Celine is an aristocratic private eye who has a better record of finding people than the FBI. She specializes in reuniting broken families. A young woman, Gabriela, asks for her help finding her father who was a photographer and disappeared near Yellowstone National Park. His body was never found and it was thought that he was attacked by a Grizzly bear. Gabriela thinks something more was going on and wants Celine’s help. Celine and her husband/partner discover early on that they are being followed and that someone must not want this case solved. I enjoyed the book.

~ Dixie