Leslie Keller Books

Here's a list of some new mysteries published in May. I really don't understand the need to include the description "A Novel" in all the titles these days but I suppose the publishers felt it was necessary. I hope you find a few you might like to read. 1.  Into The Water: a Novel by Paula Hawkins.  This is the author of the very famous Gone Girl.  The catch phrase for this book is very intriguing - "Beware a calm surface—you never know what lies beneath." 2.  16th Seduction (Women's Murder Club) by James Patterson. I am hesitant to read this simply due to the fact that James Patterson has his name on the book but there is also another author and a reader. Who actually wrote the book? 3.  Since We Fell: A Novel by Dennis Lehane. This book excites me because it's by the author who wrote Mystic River and Shutter Island which were both great stories with plot twists. 4.  Testimony by Scott Turow.  I haven't read a great legal thriller in ...

The Washington Post has compiled a list of great mysteries or thrillers from 2015. In case you haven't already read all of these, I'm including five here for you to add to your 2016 reading list. Listed below each book is the back cover description. A Banquet of Consequences by Elizabeth George Inspector Lynley Book 19 The unspoken secrets and buried lies of one family rise to the surface in Elizabeth George’s newest novel of crime, passion, and tragic history. As Inspector Thomas Lynley investigates the London angle of an ever more darkly disturbing case, his partner, Barbara Havers, is looking behind the peaceful façade of country life to discover a twisted world of desire and deceit.   The suicide of William Goldacre is devastating to those left behind who will have to deal with its unintended consequences—could there be a link between the young man’s leap from a Dorset cliff and a horrific poisoning in Cambridge?   After various issues with her department, Barba...

By definition, a cozy has no explicit sex but certainly can contain some sexual tension and even some sex scenes. But how much sex is too much?  For some, simply the hint of sexual tension is sufficient. For others, (think Fifty Shades of Grey), details, details, details! For my personal taste too much sex distracts from the point of the mystery. It's fun to have it but I don't want that to be a central part of the story. After all, if you're reading a cozy I'm guessing it's because you want mystery, murder, humor AND maybe a dash of sex. A case in point, Janet Evanovich's character Stephanie Plum , is hopping from bed to bed. She can't make up her mind which guy she really wants. The author has more sex that most cozies I've read but at the same time it's not overdone.  If you remember a television show from the late 1980's called Moonlighting you may recall the tension between the central characters, Cybil Shepherd and Bruce Willis. The...

Goodreads has posted their reader review votes for the best books of the year.  I'm excited that The Silkworm was number 2.  This is a book by author Robert Galbraith, aka J.K. Rowling. Yes the same person who wrote the Harry Potter series. Rumors were flying when this book came out as to why she wrote it under a pen name. Whatever the reason I was glad I read it. Having never read any of the Harry Potter books, nor even watched an entire movie I wasn't familiar with her writing style. This was the second book in the series, the first being The Cuckoo's Calling. I loved the first book. I loved the central character who is flawed beyond being likeable. He is an alcoholic, womanizer and basically appears on the surface to be hopeless. But as you turn each page you begin to warm up to him and want to know more about him. I wasn't as crazy about the second book. Although I still really enjoyed it I found it somewhat lacking some of "getting to know you" of t...

Red Herring: 1.  A dried smoked herring which is turned red by the smoke 2.  Something, especially a clue, which is intended to be misleading or distracting. You may have never heard of the term "red herring" before now. If you have, three cheers for you for being a step ahead of the pack. No, I don't mean the fish but rather definition  number 2 - a clue in a mystery. A mystery writer will intentionally place red herrings in your path. You can gobble them up as you read and then digest which ones are not actual red herrings but true clues. A red herring might be a character who's purpose is to make you think he or she is the killer. Or a red herring might be a subtle clue which isn't a red herring at all but is place such that you aren't sure. Next time you are reading a mystery look for the red herrings in the plot. They shouldn't jump out at you but be woven into the story. Happy trails, Leslie