Second Raquel Laing Investigation from Laurie R. King: Sept. 8

When I reviewed book one of this series in 2022, BACK TO THE GARDEN, author Laurie R. King was calling it a stand-alone. And I found that regrettable at the time.

Well, four years later, here comes a second! Laing works for the San Francisco Police Department. I've pre-ordered my copy. So for the moment, consider this a reminder that you might want to do the same.  My favorites of King's books are quirky picks within her Mary Russell series -- but that won't stop me from being excited about this new Laing sequel!

Edgy San Francisco Mystery, Dystopian, from Jonathan Moore: THE NIGHT MARKET

Wow!

I really liked Jonathan Moore's mystery from last year, The Dark Room. And I figured I'd enjoy the 2018 book, which was already scheduled at that time. But I had no idea what was in store -- THE NIGHT MARKET knocked me breathless.

Fiercely plotted with twists and blade-sharp revelations, wrapped around homicide detective Ross Carver in a San Francisco of the hauntingly near future, THE NIGHT MARKET takes "techno-thriller" to a new height of expert writing and psychological disturbance. I couldn't put it down, and I'm shaken by the suggestions on how Big Money and Big Advertising may already be twisting our culture -- and threatening our lives.

Here's how it starts: Ross Carver and his partner, as the homicide team on duty, answer a call to a home where there's a presumed murder that's just taken place. That is, there's a corpse, and blood -- and the neighbor reported sounds of a frightening disturbance. But when Carver gets into the room with the body, what he sees makes no sense ... a covering of some kind of fungus already engulfing the body. Even less does the next moment make sense, as the FBI bursts onto the scene and drags Carver and his partner out to some kind of biological decontamination rig.

We know that -- but Carver, waking up in his own apartment with a neighbor he's never met taking care of him, has to start from scratch, because his memory has been wiped, and so has his partner's. The messed-up records of where he may have been are enough to suspend him from duty. But the tiny scrap of information left for him -- a fragment from a case he and his partner were supposed to investigate -- turns out to tie him back to the dangerous experiment he seems to have stumbled into.

The trouble is, it looks like organized crime and Very Very Big Money are running a scam in San Francisco -- maybe across the country -- that Carver can't afford to discover if he wants to survive.

Here's a scrap of conversation between Carver and his mysterious neighbor, Mia, who might be on his side. Or not. At any rate, she's ahead of him on figuring out the technology behind the crime scene that he witnessed:

"I didn't know what else to do," Mia said. "I've been sitting here for weeks, waiting. Either to be killed, or for someone to pull me out. And there wasn't any other choice. I  can't do this alone. I don't even know how they got to her, so I have no idea what's safe and what isn't." ...

"Did Johnny Wong kill her?" Carver asked.

"I don't know."

"But you didn't hear that name for the first time from me. You already knew about him, didn't you?" ...

"We finally had a lead," she said. "Years in the dark, and then we thought we had a way in."

"Tell me."

"It's like what they said about J.F.K. You want to know who killed the president? List the world's best marksmen, and then find out which ones were in Dallas. Making these devices would be incredibly hard. We guessed only a few scientists in a few labs could do it."

"So you did your research, and then you made a list."

The closer Carver gets to figuring out the trap he's in, the closer he gets to a very nasty death. Or worse.

I couldn't put this one down, and I know I'll re-read it, tugging at the dangerous truths woven into the page-turning fast-paced plot. I know it took Moore a while to bring this one to publication -- he had to insert at least one other book before it -- and it was worth the wait. He sees it as the finale of a three-book painting of San Francisco: The Poison Artist, The Dark Room, The Night Market. Which of course suggests there won't be a sequel -- I wonder what he'll next bring to dark, vivid life on the pages.

From HMH, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. And do check out Moore's author webpage, here. Last but not least, should I point a finger at the character name, for mystery/suspense fans who know their classics??

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

San Francisco Police Suspense from Jonathan Moore, THE DARK ROOM

A couple of weeks ago, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt released Jonathan Moore's newest crime novel, THE DARK ROOM; there should still be plenty of time to collect a first printing of this powerful and intricately plotted investigation. Moore's third book, The Poison Artist, is also set in San Francisco, that city of fog and back alleys that forms such a powerful backdrop for pain and loss.  In Moore's hands, the city itself is an enabling force -- one that investigators must confront.

In THE DARK ROOM, we meet Gavin Cain, an SFPD homicide investigator. He's in the midst of witnessing an exhumation when a phone call drags him away at top speed: The city's mayor is being blackmailed about what looks like violent and sadistic sex games from his past. And Cain's task is to stop the possible release of dirty information about the mayor, as well as protecting him and his family -- against a very angry blackmailer with a ticking clock.

Complicating the investigation, for Cain, are threads that lead from it toward his own secret: He's become the committed lover of a former crime victim, whose chance at resuming normal life depends on his ability to protect her from further threats. Soon the cases inevitably cross, and the tension ramps up exponentially.

Despite the emotional risks involved, Cain's investigation is at heart a skilled and multipronged one, so that THE DARK ROOM is also an adept police procedural. Here's Cain thinking things through and prioritizing:

Cain stopped at a light on Santa Cruz Avenue, put his phone on his knee, and began to dictate a note to himself. This didn't require any real precision. He just spoke in a free flow of thoughts.

Thrallinex. Benzyldiomide.

Redding thought the drug was the key, and he might be right. In an hour, the ME could tell Cain how it compared to a hypnotic like Rohypnol, what a dozen pills would have done to the girl. Then there was the dress. When it came to high-end fashion, he had no idea where to begin. He'd been wearing the same suit three days running, and knew switching ties and shirts wasn't fooling anyone. But every problem had an entrance. Maybe a clerk in one of the shops around Union Square could poin him in the right direction.

The '84 Cadillac Eldorado was something he might be able to work with, though. No one had to register a dress. Pills got passed from hand to hand. But cops know how to find cars.

It's clear that the city's mayor has a dark past that's made him vulnerable. But it's the present that matters most, and Cain's hampered by the mayor's refusal to open up -- and tangled in the dodgy information that the mayor's family ekes out to him.

Intense pace, taut plotting, an investigator who gambles his own life to save others -- it all adds up to one heck of a good thriller, with a highly satisfying ending. Count this as a little darker than Michael Connelly in terms of plot, and a bit less dark in terms of how haunted the investigator is, but with the same gift of compelling storytelling and, of course, overlapping terrain.

Finally, there's a note from the author that makes it clear THE DARK ROOM is effectively the prequel to another book that Jonathan Moore had already written, called The Night Market. Its publication will follow this one (scheduled for January 2018). Count me among the people who will be preordering a copy.

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

Noir: The Darker Side of Life, and Mysteries

When I was a child, one of my grandmothers regularly sent me milk chocolate squares from Switzerland, and I understood that it was the finest chocolate in the world.

Now we live in an era of chocolate gourmands, and most of the best chocolate seems to be dark -- with various additions that still surprise me.

Mysteries, of course, range widely in "color" (whether that's an emotional term, or a plot description). Many of the cozy mysteries that I've reviewed recently are sweet, to the point of describing a lot of desserts, as well as affection between characters, human or not. Then I appreciate in fresh ways the contrast and bite of the darker mysteries, of which today's Scandinavian police procedurals are among the very darkest. Today's dark Irish and Scottish ("tartan noir") crime novels often come in as close seconds.


Hollywood explored the possibilities of these dark, moody, stormy mysteries very effectively, even decades ago. From the gritty urban mysteries of Raymond Chandler, to the eerie perspectives of Alfred Hitchcock, to the special effects of smoke, fog, and gruesome visual death effects, film noir  -- via the mystery and crime dramas that took root in the 1940s and 1950s -- continues to capture the desolation and danger that translate brilliantly across many kinds of boundaries.

Exploring the website and writings of Eddie Muller, "noirchaeologist," adds valuable background and insight to this darker side of mysteries, and to how authors and filmmakers portray life and death. There are moments when despair and loss serve to highlight how to value the light and hope that other places and plots include -- even if that light is simply the glow of the windows in a diner, seen down a hard road.

The poster shown here is from one of the Noir City festivals that Muller curates and nurtures. Kingdom Books is thrilled (really!) to present this -- as Muller himself signed it. It's available for purchase, and could be exactly the right gift for someone who treasures this side of the mystery world. Drop us an e-mail at KingdomBks at gmail dot com and we'll provide details on price and shipping (and conversation, of course!).

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

At the New Edge of Cozy: CRIMINAL CONFECTIONS, Colette London

Colette London's new "Chocolate Whisperer" mystery series begins with CRIMINAL CONFECTIONS, as top-secret consultant Hayden Mundy Moore, on hand for the noted Maison Lemaitre retreat -- a gathering of the makers of the finest chocolate products -- tries to keep her client relationships a secret, even while looking for her next possible consultant assignment at the posh location just outside San Francisco. Because she's on hand to rescue chocolatiers whose processes hit snags, she's got to stay quiet about her actual contracts. An expert in the many forms of Theobroma cacao and its exquisite flavors and textures, she's honored (but a bit out of her depth, in terms of elegance and wealth!) to attend the conference, and she's invited her hunky bodyguard Danny to keep her company.

So it's a shock when the Lemaitre staffer she's been worried about turns out to be a victim during the first day's events:

Instead, I saw Adrienne. Her limp body was propped in Nina's arms, slumped at a strange angle. Her head lolled. Her chef's coat was stained with blood. Her sleeves were speckled with it, too, as though she'd held up her arms to ward off ... something.

Something, I realized, that had killed her.

Adrienne was ... dead?

It didn't seem possible. But then suddenly Danny was there.

He was fighting through the crowd, pulling me into his arms, tucking my head against his shoulder. "That's enough now."

Oh God. That's when I knew it was true.

Astute readers may already notice more descriptions of bodies (living and dead) and their positions and contacts than many a mystery can boast. And that's surely part of this author's established style -- because Colette London is a new pen name for established romance author Lisa Plumley.

But in spite of its foodie angle, sensuous moments, and sweet recipes (included at the end), CRIMINAL CONFECTIONS is more edgy than many of today's food-related "cozy" mysteries. Hayden takes investigation seriously, and the malicious motivations of some of her fellow chocolate-linked conference attendees are downright dangerous at times.

Even more important, you know the notion that a "cozy" involves a cat and a cup of tea? In this one, even a warm cup of chocolate can be dangerous. Hayden's escapades give a whole new sense to the host who may offer a drink by asking, "What's your poison?"

I'm particularly intrigued by the edginess in CRIMINAL CONFECTIONS because recent work from another author known for her gentler mysteries, Maine writer Lea Wait, also has a fresh uptick in the sting of malice and suspense (see Twisted Threads review).  I'll be watching for more of this trend. I think it's a healthy twist toward blurring the edges of today's mystery subgenres!

But -- back to CRIMINAL CONFECTIONS: Hayden's task quickly shifts from kitchen consults to sorting out whose motivations are murderous, and who might benefit from the death of a significant Maison Lemaitre staffer -- one who actually should have been worried about Hayden's in-process consulting report, about to be issued to company head Christian Lemaitre. Could someone have known what she'd found in the firm's chocolate lines?

I enjoyed the setting, the scenario, and the plot twists, as well as Hayden's confusion of lust and affection for the men in her life. London's style gave me the feeling that this first book of the series had been reworked too many times, with multiple pauses per page for Hayden to analyze what's going on. I'm hoping the second in the series, Dangerously Dark, will move boldly ahead and avoid the "hesitation cuts" of the series debut. After all, the puns and wordplay in this series are so marvelous that it must have a terrific future. Even the cover of this debut announces: "Revenge is bittersweet." Ah, chocolate!