Reading In Front Of A Crackling Fire …

The Ploughmen

By Kim Zupan
Henry Holt. $26

Set in Montana, this intriguing novel focuses on two men with very dissimilar lives yet some odd connections as well. John Gload is a contract killer who has a long list of victims. In his late seventies, he has been arrested and is locked up in a small, rural jail.

Valentine Millimakui is the Deputy Sheriff who draws night duty and must look after the killer. During the long, cold, lonely nightshift the two men strike up an acquaintance and share some of the particulars that brought each one to this point in his life.

Both men share a love of nature and a farm background. Also, important events in their youth set the course for how their adult lives turned out. As the complicated friendship between these two develops, the reader will discover the relevance of the novel’s title and how it relates to these individuals.

Zupan lives in Missoula, Montana, and his knowledge of the natural environs of his home state is central to the development of this unforgettable tale of friendship and violence. Kim Zupan sets his hook early and once he reels you in, you are his until you finish this spellbinding story.

 

Woman with a Gun

By Philip Margolin
Harper. $26.99

An actual photograph that the author saw by Leslie Jeter inspired this latest Phillip Margolin novel. Once he purchased the rights to the photo, Margolin began to create a story around the questions the picture raised.

The black and white photo shows a woman dressed in a wedding dress sanding in the surf with a gun in her hand. In the novel Stacey Kim, the story’s heroine, sees the Pulitzer Prize winning photo and learns the woman pictured was involved in a murder investigation.

The night of her wedding the bride’s millionaire husband was found dead. The ten-year-old crime was never solved, so Kim decides she will do a little informal digging to satisfy her own curiosity. Kathy Moran, the photographer, and the woman pictured, Magan Cahill, hold the key to the mystery and now it will be up to Stacey to get these two women to unlock the door to the past.

There are plenty of twists in this remarkable thriller and it’s not until the final pages that the mystery behind the photo and death of Cahill’s husband is finally revealed.

If you are a Philip Margolin fan you may agree with the critics who are calling this one of his best novel to date. He definitely raises the bar with this riveting story.

Spring Tide

By Cilla and Rolf Borjlind
Hesperus Nova. $16.95

Olivia Ronning intends to follow in her father’s footsteps and is finishing up her course of study at the Stockholm Police Academy. One of the final activities Olivia encounters is resurrecting a cold case to see if she can shed new light on the dormant investigation.

Selecting a horrendous murder that occurred over two decades earlier, Olivia decides to find the detective who was assigned to the case. She discovers Tom Stilton has left the police force and is now a street person.

Locating Stilton, and with his help, Olivia begins to dig into the past never imagining that the repercussions will touch her own life in some very unexpected ways.

At the same time, a series of crimes against street people is also a situation the Stockholm authorities must address and this informal investigative duo becomes pulled into that case also.

To say this novel has some twists and surprises the reader will never see coming is a gross exaggeration. Be ready for a few gut-wrenching shocks but don’t “cheat” and look ahead!

An Unwilling Accomplice

By Charles Todd
William Morrow. $25.99

This richly textured series of life during the World War I continues with featured battlefield nurse and amateur sleuth Bess Crawford home on leave. Bess is asked to accompany a wounded soldier to Buckingham Palace where he is to be decorated by the king.

When Bess goes to pick up the war hero at his hotel room, he has mysteriously vanished and Bess is blamed for the disappearance. How could a man forced to use a wheelchair just disappear like this?

When the Shropshire police report that the soldier has been sighted in their area and he’s been implicated in the murder of a man, Bess wonders what is going on here. Determined to get to the bottom of this mystery, the nurse heads for the hinterlands where her patient has supposedly done the unthinkable.

This atmospheric series has attracted a lot of readers with its realistic portrayal of Great Britain during this difficult period in the country’s history. Since this year marks the 100th anniversary of the start of World War I, this is a rather timely addition to the series as well.

The Bishop’s Wife

Nu Mette Ivie Harrison
Soho. $26.95

When Jared Helm claims his wife ran off and left him, there are some people who question his claim in the Mormon community. Linda Williams, the wife of the ward’s bishop, is one of them. Going against her husband’s wishes, Linda begins to quietly look into the affair and what she discovers is more than just a little troubling.

The secrecy of the Mormon Church and its patriarchal structure comes under attack in this novel as Linda brings to light a series of secrets that suggest that someone is going to get away with murder unless she intervenes.

Inspired by a strange but true story of a real life disappearance in Utah, this novel raises some major questions about faith, the rights of women and a patriarchal religion. Harrison’s debut as a novelist has more than likely raised a few eyebrows in her Utah home.

Father Adams

By Nick Adams
Tate Publishing. $14.99

Based on a true story, this novel by Capitola resident Nick Adams follows the adventure two men have on a vacation trip to Mexico. Supposedly, Adams and a friend, Father Mike Cross, fly down to Mexico in the clergyman’s airplane.

Weather and other factors make for an exciting adventure but the trip turns rather nasty on the flight home when the two men discover an unpleasant surprise in their airplane’s cargo area.

You’ll have to ask Adams how much license he took with this tale and how much of it is actually true!