Cry rape: the true story of one woman’s harrowing quest for justice by Bill Lueders

         

   Patty was a legally blind single mother, sharing an apartment with her adult daughter, when an intruder held a knife to her neck and raped her.  She reported the rape to the Madison police, but was bullied into recanting her story, and was subsequently charged with obstruction of justice for filing a false report.  Lueders is a journalist who followed Patty’s case through the courts.  It is a shocking, painful book to read, showing how in some cases the justice system abuses the very victims that should be helped.

Bad Monkey by Carl Hiaasen

There are a couple of things you can count on in a Carl Hiaasen book. One is that the bad guys will be despoiling the environment in some way. Another is that there will be a deranged animal running amok. And finally, that the result will be a wickedly funny book. In “Bad Monkey,” Andrew Yancy has been asked to leave both the Miami-Dade Police and the Monroe County Sheriff's office, and has been hidden away doing restaurant inspections. His predecessor died of Hepatitis and Yancy, who can't stomach another filthy kitchen, has dropped eleven pounds in three weeks.
Then he comes into possession of a human arm, hooked by tourists on a charter fishing boat. The sheriff, who has political ambitions, wants the arm out of his jurisdiction.
Meanwhile, a developer is putting up a huge house right next door to Yancy, and has driven away the tiny Key deer and spoiled Yancy's view. A fun story, where the good guys prevail and the bad guys get what's coming to them.

June's Books

“Guy Fieri Food” is a big, bold , colorful volume, much like the author himself. Fieri writes about his lifelong love of food and tells stories about his family and friends. He started with a pretzel cart when he was a child, opened a restaurant “Johnny Garlic” and became a fixture on television food shows. Many of the recipes feature frilled meats, bacon, and hot peppers. There’s bacon-wrapped shrimp with chipotle BBQ sauce, banana pepper sauerkraut, and penne with Cajun hot links and chipotle shrimp.

Not all the recipes are so over-the-top. There are also some with interesting flavors, but lighter on the heat and the meat. Like pepper jack pretzels, coffee bananas foster, and watermelon pork tacos.

Robert B. Parker’s Wonderland by Ace Atkins

Murder at the Castle by Jeanne Dams

Time Flies by Claire Cook

Guy Fieri Food by Guy Fieri

The Kill Room by Jeffery Deaver

Bad Monkey by Carl Hiaasen

Trouble in the Town Hall by Jeanne Dams

A Tine to Live, a Tine to Die by Edith Maxwell

In High Places with Henry David Thoreau by John Gibson

The Case of the Man who Died Laughing by Tarquin Hall

Author Tarquin Hall really knows how to set the stage in his book, “The Case of the Man Who Died Laughing.” The sights and sounds of modern India are a major part of this intriguing mystery. Private investigator Vish Puri looks into the death of Dr. Suresh Jha, well-known for unmasking fraudulent swamis and godmen. Dr. Jha died in a fit of laughter at his morning yoga class when a vision of the goddess Kali appeared in a cloud of smoke and ran him through with a sword.

   While Puri is trying to find the murderer, his wife and mother have a mystery of their own. During one of their ladies’ get-togethers, two masked bandits robbed them. They’re determined to solve the crime, without telling Puri.

   The audiobook, narrated by Sam Dastor, is wonderfully entertaining. Highly recommended, especially to readers of Alexander McCall Smith’s No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series.

The Cat, the Lady and the Liar by Leann Sweeney

Rich and eccentric Ritaestelle Longworth's cat has gone missing, and Jillian Hart has been called by the animal shelter director to discreetly check out the situation. He doesn't want to return the cat to an unsafe house.

Jillian finds the Longworth household suspicious and silent. Ritaestelle has been accused of shoplifting at local stores, and relatives hint that her mental state may be in question.

When Ritaestelle shows up at Jillian's door at night in her bathrobe, she tells her she suspects her family is poisoning her. But when Jillian discovers the body in the lake, both she and Ritaestelle are under suspicion.

Plenty of suspects and plenty of cats add up to an entertaining mystery with a likeable amateur sleuth.

May's Books

Dock Bass suspects his wife is cheating on him with his boss. When Dock gets a letter from a lawyer in Gettysburg telling him he’s inherited a house, he packs his truck and heads off to take a look. “Busted Flush” by Brad Smith combines history, mystery and humor in this tale of a man who refuses to be bought.

Dock discovers a secret workshop in his new house which may contain authentic civil war relics. In this history-mad town, everyone wants a slice of what Dock has found. That includes Amy Morris, TV news superstar who would rather be chasing down a hot political scandal in Aruba.

Great cast of characters and a plot that includes a lot of colorful civil war history and Abraham Lincoln background.

 

American Boy by Larry Watson
Six Years by Harlan Coben
Carte Blanche by Jeffery Deaver
Busted Flush by Brad Smith