Catching up on Crime Fiction, June 2025: Two Legal Thrillers

In the middle of May, many authors who've been donating their time as book reviewers to the New York Journal of Books received sudden and startling news of the online publication's abrupt end. I had reviewed more than 200 books in the mystery, thriller, and crime fiction genre for NYJB; I miss working with Lisa and Ted there. I've already got a commitment to another publication for reviews, and will update you when that takes effect.

Meanwhile, I had some books read-and-ready-to-review, and that's what these two are. 

First is IN DEFENSE OF GOOD WOMEN. Retired attorney Marilyn J. Zimmerman brings us a very controversial look into law and punishment in terms of women who may be charged with infanticide. That can be the charge even if there's a grief-stricken woman who's suffered a miscarriage or stillbirth, should the "system" turn against a particular woman. During a political era when restrictions on pregnant women are tightening, Zimmerman's expert handling of her plot -- a minister's teenage daughter charged with drowning her newborn, and a complicated set of family twists -- leaves room for multiple opinions of fault, morality, and even the law (or maybe especially the law). Criminal defense attorney Victoria Stephens at first can't understand the case or her client; when she does begin to grasp what's happened, she loses her objectivity and takes steps that raise deep concerns, even legal ones. 

Zimmerman writes well (and this is her first published novel) and has a good grasp of the genre as well as the law. The 300-page book provides a slow peeling of layers of truth with a ramping up of tension and suspense. One drawback is that the book is clearly written with a purpose related to the type of crime, rather than to the function of crime fiction, and that makes Victoria, the protagonist, a bit less credible than she might have been without such an obvious point. 

Interested in women's rights and how things go wrong? This could be your fave of the summer.

Former FBI director James Comey offers a third book in his series featuring federal prosecutor Nora Carleton and her tough (but lovable) investigator Benny Dugan, back in New York City after an earlier book placed in Connecticut. FDR DRIVE is an action thriller with plenty of threat and  chase scenes. It's a good summer read, especially if you "know" New York and can recognize buildings and neighborhoods. In terms of plot, it suffers from the same drawback as Zimmerman's book: It's more about legal structures than about the characters, which tend to be only skin deep. I felt there wasn't enough "cost" to Nora, and that the descriptions of buildings in particular went on for way too long. Most of all, the book lacks a sold through-line. Would I read another James Comey? Yes, I would, both for the experience that I know lies behind these and in hopes that he'll wrestle his writing skills into a tighter and more satisfying book next time.

Watch for more reviews on this Kingdom Books blog (named for the mystery specialty shop that my late husband Dave and I owned for 17 years, nurtured by his deep and wide expertise in the genre). It's good to bring it back into action.

Crime Fiction from Nicola Griffith, June's Nebula Grand Master

 Nicola Griffith at center, with her award.

The Nebula Award is for science fiction, not mystery -- but author Nicola Griffith has been able to excel in both genres, so it's a thrill to see her named Grand Master by the sci-fi world this summer. Her acceptance speech is well worth reading, as she talks about "world building" ... something that's also common to crime fiction and historical fiction, not just speculative or sci fi work.

Summer's a great season for discovering a new author and barreling through a series. Thanks to Picador, Griffith's three crime novels featuring Aug Torvingen are newly released in softcover in the US: THE BLUE PLACE (which I just devoured), STAY, and ALWAYS. Check out a long description of Aud (Norwegian born, American by choice, a former police detective now taking specialized private work. In THE BLUE PLACE she agrees to track down a case of art fraud, murder, and a red herring of drugs connected to a Mexican cartel. Why? 

"It's the adrenaline," Aud admits to her new and very close friend Julia. "When everything slows down and my muscles are hot and strong and the blood beats in my veins like champagne I feel this vast delight. Everything is beautiful and precious, and so clear. Light gets this bluish tinge and I feel like a hummingbird among elephants, untouchable."

But that elation and "untouchable" sensation can lead her astray, and does, with nearly unbearable costs. Maybe you'll connect to that part of Aud. Or maybe to the gorgeous descriptive passages of her adopted home area, Atlanta, Georgia, or the home she revisits as a safety location during the crime hunt, Norway, with its mystical winters, stunning landscape, and pervasive legends.

My dad used to say, "Do as I say, not as I do." Let me pass that along to you also: Take Griffith's Aud Torvingen crime novels slowly and luxuriously. Don't devour ... instead, savor. That's what summer was made for.

And here's a postscript from Griffith, to remind you that you may not have heard of her books (especially if you're not reading sci-fi), but you've heard of the authors who praise this sleuthing series: Dennis Lehane, Val McDermid, Dorothy Allison, Lee Child, Manda Scott, Francis Spufford, Laurie King, Ivy Pochoda, Robert Crais, Elizabeth Hand, James Sallis and more.

 

MILO'S RECKONING by Joseph Olshan: Crime Fiction, Tender on the Tongue

 

[NOTE: With the lamented closing of the New York Journal of Books last month, I am returning to reviewing crime fiction, mysteries, thrillers, and more on this blog site. Welcome back!]

How strange that a novel that opens in 1994 should feel like historical fiction—and yet the tender exploration of MILO'S RECKONING by Joseph Olshan reminds us of how much has changed in the past three decades. 

Graduate student Milo Rossi, an expert in both Italy's language and its literature, confronts the sudden death of his menor, Lenny D'Ambrosio. Though the death is ruled a suicide (but why?), Milo can't believe Lenny would do this. After all, the two of them had in-depth and emotional discussions of Italian and Jewish writer Primo Levi, whose inability to leave behind the "survivor's guilt" of the Holocaust led to a self-imposed death. Suicide wasn't a taboo subject between them! And Milo had spent the evening before Lenny's death with him, intending to reach a topic Lenny wanted to share.

 "So what did you want to tell me?" Milo had questioned him while they were driving to the train station, looking over at Lenny, who seemed about to explain and then faltered. "Let's talk about it in the morning. Call me when you get to your office." If Lenny had been contemplating suicide, why would he have asked Milo to call him the following morning, knowing full well that he would never answer the phone? 

Milo's somewhat sheltered life hasn't equipped him to discuss this with police detectives. Maybe it's a sign of the time that the man questioning him actually knew Milo's deceased father, a golfer. But the real issue 25-year-old Milo can't resolve, and that pushes its way into the investigation of Lenny's death, is the recent death of Milo's own brother.

Here's where the culture-change aspect hits hard: Milo's brother Carlo's death imposed a halt to Milo and his mother ever understanding that handsome family member. Beset with questions around Lenny's death (what if it were murder? who would benefit?), Milo begins to pull back the coverings of his own brother's life, slowly and with a persistent throbbing of horror and doubt -- because the more he learns, the more he faces the certainty that his brother had been gay, something that would have devastated their traditional Italian mother. Rose Marie is still Milo's own "number one," with a life that revolves around cooking and home. Thirty years later, with same-sex love much more open (although once again being framed as "other" by a powerful social force), it's frightening to confront the pain that families endured over less accepted forms of love and attraction. Is that time returning?

If Olshan had only taken the book this far, MILO'S RECKONING would be a literary novel, its part-European languor periodically fizzing with moments of attraction (say, to Lenny's sister) and possible escape routes from being Mama's boy forever. But those familiar with Olshan's earlier novels, like Cloudland and Black Diamond Fall, know that his elegant prose is likely to dip abruptly into potential danger, and even criminal activity. That's the case here also: Terrified that Lenny's possession of a sexually disturbing videotape may mean his mentor's been involved in international trafficking and exploitation, Milo flees to Italy with hope of unraveling what led to his mentor's death. But at the same time, he is desperate to find answers to his own brother's life and to the family structure that failed to support that.

Olshan's writing is direct and evocative, and at times feels as though it's been newly translated from the Italian tongue that Milo embraces. That's not the case — Olshan has New York City roots and has lived on both American coasts — but this gentle tilt of language underlies the explorations Milo commits to. When he faces his own life's shadows on several levels, he carries with him the literary discussions that have framed his beliefs. Must he abandon what's precious to him, in order to accept both his brother and his friend?

Green City Books, release date June 10, 2025,  hardcover, 284 pages.

Book Reviews Continue -- Over at the Writing Blog

The reviews are shorter now, and less formal, but with fresh energy. Don't miss the recommendations for new books, especially Chris McKinney's Eventide, Water City. Here you go: https://bethkanell.blogspot.com

Look Over Here ...

Book recommendations ARE continuing ... over on my author blog, https://bethkanell.blogspot.com. Come read today's material.

Au Revoir but Not Goodbye, May 31, 2023

Dave and I took huge joy in creating Kingdom Books, first as a specialty bookshop (mysteries, poetry, Vermontiana) and then as a review blog. Dave's been gone four years, and I miss him all the time, but ... things must move forward, not back.

Effective today, since I'm reviewing at the New York Journal of Books and Historical Novels Review, I won't be posting more on this blog. But I'll leave it in place so you can search past reviews. 

As of 5:30 pm (Eastern), this blog racked up incredible numbers of page views (see below), and that's because of YOU. Thank you.

Beth

KINGDOM BOOKS Blog Stats, Page Views, as of May 31, 2023:

All Time 646759

Today 416

Yesterday 208

This Month 8640

Last Month 8485

Adventure, Murder, and Twists of Bookstore Merriment from Tamara Berry, in MURDER OFF THE BOOKS

Tamara Berry's wicked sense of humor is a great match for her neatly twisted plots in her "By the Book Mysteries," set in the Big Woods country of the Northwest. Crime novelist Tess Harrow's family legacy in this timber-centric town isn't as wild as her best-selling status, but it does include a former hardware stores (see the earlier books of the series) that she's turning into a bookshop of her own, with of course a stack of her newest release on the counter.

But Grand Opening plans run awry when (of course!) murder sweeps into town once again. This time, a top-selling podcaster arrives at the same time, and starts to paint Tess's recurring corpse discoveries as possible indications that she herself is a criminal!

Perish the thought, or even better, perish the podcaster. Except that's not going to happen. Tess's daughter is thrilled by the visitor. Her definitely difficult mother sweeps into town at the same time -- and the corpse turns out to be Tess's mother's boyfriend of the moment, the notorious Levi Parker, who might have tried something deadly if he hadn't been killed first. And oh yes, Tess and the sheriff may or may not be an item. Complications.

Is your head spinning yet? Jump into this lively bibliomystery laden with smart sassy women and to-die-for dialogue, as well as a plot that gets more crazy and more likely at the same time, page by page. MURDER OFF THE BOOKS is the fun mystery your summer reading stack has been waiting for. 

[The earlier books in the series are Buried in a Good Book and On Spine of Death -- treat yourself!]

PS: Looking for more mystery reviews, from cozy to very dark? Browse the Kingdom Books mysteries review blog here.

Nordic Noir in 13th Harry Hole Crime Novel from Jo Nesbø, KILLING MOON

 [Originally published at New York Journal of Books]

“Nesbø never releases the heartstrings through an otherwise classic dark police procedural.”

 

Harry Hole, depressed Norwegian detective, has fled to California as the 13th book in this “Nordic noir” detective series opens. It takes one to know one, they say, and an aging actress and gambling addict named Lucille, hanging out in the bar with him, nails Harry as running as running away from something—his wife? No, she’s dead. “Ah. You’re running from grief,” Lucille readily assesses.

 

For Harry, that could be both the sum and his ending, since he’s ready to give up on everything. But (with plenty of Leonard Cohen lyrics along the way) it turns out that seeing Lucille assaulted because of her gambling debts wakes up the protective side of this aging police detective. And that, in turn, readies him to accept a return to Norway to solve a crime, provided he can get a big enough fee to pay off Lucille’s life.

 

It's a poignant and emotional way to pull Harry Hole back into action, and Nesbø never releases the heartstrings through an otherwise classic dark police procedural. DNA analysis, cocaine trafficking, violent crime—it all piles up across nearly 500 pages of detection. Alternating points of view bring in forensic sleuth Alexandra Sturdza, as well as a highly unpleasant set of manipulative criminals. Sturdza, despite her first gray hairs, is glad to recall once being told “her body was a cross between a tiger and a Lamborghini” and her wry comments and quirky expertise add fun to the narrative.

 

As detective novels go, this one is on the edge of being a thriller, since there’s a “ticking clock” for Harry Hole to discover and arrest a serial killer. Technically, he’s only got to prove his client didn’t do the crime, in order to have the needed funds wired to his bar buddy Lucille’s account and get her released. But of course, proving innocence is much more direct if someone else is clearly guilty. Because he’s on a short time leash, Hole takes bigger risks and cuts more legal corners than might be wise. It makes sense, in the context, and it ramps up the suspense.

 

Fans of the series will find this sleuth’s grief and loss powerful, and will appreciate how life forces Harry back into the work he does so well. Newcomers to Nesbø’s well-established investigations won’t struggle for context, though; Harry Hole’s sense of blame for his wife’s death and his overwhelming need to accept responsibility for another life are quickly established and push the plot.

 

At the core of Killing Moon is the painful reawakening of attachment in Harry’s life, through reconnecting with an old flame and her child. It’s a terrific contrast to the self-centered menace of criminals, and lets Nesbø dip into more classic tunes, beyond Leonard Cohen. The most satisfying lullaby Harry can offer to a child turns out to be “a low, slow chanting in a rough voice that now and then hit the notes of an old blues song about the perils of cocaine.” Truth seems to be the best currency with this child. For Harry, that in itself offers more risk and pain.

 

At the same time, it provides another hostage to keep Harry Hole investigating, as a new kidnapper invites Harry to check out the night’s moon: “You can see the eclipse is under way. When the moon is completely covered,” the villain offers, he’s going to slit the throat of someone Harry loves.

 

Running away from grief? Rephrase that: Once again, Harry Hole is running for the sake of love.

 

PS:  Looking for more mystery reviews, from cozy to very dark? Browse the Kingdom Books mysteries review blog here.