On Crime Review Columns

Published in the Boston Globe

Dead and gone - sort of - December 2008

BONE BY BONE (Carol O'Connell), ECHOES FROM THE DEAD (Johan Theorin), QUICK STUDY (Maggie Barbieri)

Dark knights, with and without armor -- November 2008

VEIL OF LIES: A MEDIEVAL NOIR (Jeri Westerson), THE FIRE KIMONO (Laura Joh Rowland), DIVINE JUSTICE (David Baldacci)

Toxins, terror, and a friendly ghost - October 2008

EXPOSED (Alex Kava), HELL BENT (William G. Tapply), GHOST AT WORK (Carolyn Hart)

White vs. red, and other conflicts - September 2008

RED KNIFE (William Kent Krueger), SWEETHEART (Chelsea Cain), IT'S A CRIME (Jacqueline Carey)

Violence blows through broken lives - August 2008

SWEEPING UP GLASS (Carolyn D. Wall), ENVY THE NIGHT (Michael Koryta), THE WATER'S EDGE (Daniel Judson)

Artful homage offers Tey and sympathy - July, 2008

AN EXPERT IN MURDER (Nicola Upson), WHERE MEMORIES LIE (Deborah Crombie), THE LIKENESS (Tana French)

In baffling case, Aix marks the spot - June, 2008

CEZANNE'S QUARRY (Barbara Corrado Pope), EIGHT IN A BOX (Raffi Yessayan), THE FOREIGNER (Francie Lin)

Chasing white rabbits, and long lost truths - May, 2008

ISLAND OF LOST GIRLS (Jennifer McMahon), JUDGMENT DAY (Sheldon Siegel), HEAD WOUNDS (Chris Knopf)

A house called Wit's End is only the beginning - April, 2008

WIT'S END (Karen Joy Fowler), DELUSION (Peter Abrahams), CHEATING AT SOLITAIRE (Jane Haddam)

Sifting through a surfeit of clues - March, 2008

FRIEND OF THE DEVIL (Peter Robinson), AN INCOMPLETE REVENGE (Jacqueline Winspear), JUDAS HORSE (April Smith)

A return to Oz, marred by a wicked killing - February, 2008

MOONLIGHT DOWNS (Adrian Hyland), OF BLOOD AND SORROW (Valerie Wilson Wesley), UNKNOWN MEANS (Elizabeth Becka)

Sleuths bearing wrenches, old wounds - January, 2008

BLUE HEAVEN (C. J. Box), THE BOOK OF OLD HOUSES (Sarah Graves), THE FAULT TREE (Louise Ure)

Sleuths stuck in their own tracks - December, 2007

PERSON OF INTEREST (Theresa Schwegel), ABSOLUTION (Caro Ramsay), SOULS OF ANGELS (Thomas Eidson)

Murder most macabre - November, 2007

LAST RITUALS (Yrsa Sigurdardóttir), The Darkest Evening of the Year (Dean Koontz), Hidden Moon (James Church)

There's no place like home--fortunately   - October, 2007

DOWN RIVER (John Hart), LITTLE FACE (Sophie Hannah), MISSING WITNESS (Gordon Campbell)

Farewell my lovelies  - September, 2007

NIGHT WORK (Steve Hamilton), A KILLER'S KISS (William Lashner), SECOND SHOT (Zoë Sharp)

In a refreshing debut, a PI who's his own Greek chorus  - August, 2007

THE CHICAGO WAY (Michael Harvey), AMMUNITION (Ken Bruen), BURNT HOUSE (Faye Kellerman)

Uneasy times in Exile   - July, 2007

DEAD CONNECTION (Alafair Burke), KILLER WEEKEND (Ridley Pearson), REDUCED CIRCUMSTANCES (Vincent O'Neil)

Sherlocks in sheep's clothing   - June, 2007

THREE BAGS FULL: A SHEEP DETECTIVE STORY (Leonie Swann), ONLY THE CAT KNOWS (Marian Babson), LITTLE TINY TEETH (Aaron Elkins)

Through a camera lens, darkly   - May, 2007

GENERATION LOSS (Elizabeth Hand), THE BIG GIRLS (Susanna Moore), WHAT'S SO FUNNY? (Donald Westlake)

Woods that are lovely, dark, deep. But mostly dark - April, 2007

THE WOODS (Harlan Coben), THE NAMING OF THE DEAD (Ian Rankin), THE MISSING (Chris Mooney)

Armed with vision and fashion chic, sleuths dig in - March, 2007

BLIND SPOT (Terri Persons), PAST PERFECT (Susan Isaacs), MURDER ON THE ILE SAINT-LOUIS (Cara Black)

What puts the 'killer' in 'thriller'? - February, 2007

THE TRIUMPH OF THE THRILLER: HOW COPS, CROOKS, AND CANNIBALS CAPTURED POPULAR FICTION (Patrick Anderson), THE GRAVE TATTOO (Val McDermid), THE STRANGLER (William Landay)

Evil schemes: From Western Mass. to the White House - January, 2007

THE ARMAGEDDON PROJECT (by Tom Sancton), McMANSION (Justin Scott), THE KILLING MOON (Chuck Hogan)