Copyright 2016 by Smart Blond, LLC. Published by St Martin’s Press, New York.

I think I have criticized Scottoline before as being too “girly” – spending a lot of time and verbiage on feminine things. That may be a feature for some, but not for a macho man like me. In this book, in which Mary DeNunzio is preparing for a second marriage, an entire chapter is devoted to her dress fitting. Not exactly “must read” prose for those of us with testosterone.

I have another complaint about this particular book: it sometimes reads like a primer on family law. Necessary, perhaps, as this is a mystery involving child abuse and placement, but not the kind of stuff that normally makes me want to not put the book down.

Yet I didn’t want to put the book down. I think that says a lot about Scottoline’s skill as an author. She manages to make even the dry stuff compelling.

Quick synopsis: Mary is engaged by Edward O’Brien, the paternal grandfather of 10-year-old Patrick O’Brien, a dyslexic student who is unable to read and has been sued by a teacher’s aide for allegedly attacking him with a scissors. Mary gets Patrick’s side of the story, which is that the aide has been verbally and physically abusing him and, in fact, struck him in the face (with a bruise to back him up). Patrick denies attacking the aide. Mary quickly gets Patrick interviewed by a child abuse social worker who believes Patrick’s side and also lines up private schooling to address his dyslexia. Everything is going well until…

Edward dies in his sleep that very night. Mary discovers the dead Edward, who has soiled the sheets. She does all the right things – calling the police, finding the will, calling the executor. She even washes the sheets so that Patrick won’t notice the mess. All very sad. Mary, who has quickly bonded with the now-orphaned Patrick, decides to become his legal guardian (without consulting her fiancée!). She goes to the guardianship hearing expecting to get custody of Patrick, but…

It is revealed in the hearing that the police are investigating Patrick for suspicion of murder. And are investigating Mary as a possible accomplice. Edward’s cause of death was an insulin overdose (he was diabetic) and both Patrick’s and Mary’s fingerprints are found on the fatal syringe.

Suddenly the “simple” civil lawsuit has become a criminal case, with Mary in legal jeopardy.

It is a quick read. It kept me interested. That outweighs the heavy “girl” orientation.

8 out of 10.

Copyright 2019 by David Benjamin. Published by Last Kid Books, Madison WI.

Those of you who have been paying attention know that David Benjamin is a high-school-buddy-cum-author who has mentioned me by name or included me as a character in several of his books. That flatters me, of course, but doesn’t shade my critical eye. I think I can be objective as a reviewer of literature.

This one is pretty darn good even though I am not in this one. Benjamin penned the perfect one-line summary for Black Dragon in his Chapter 27 title: “Blood and Guts. Tits and Ass.” This story has plenty of all of that, nicely packaged in a whimsical and amusing (it had me laughing out loud at times) narrative that proceeds at a brisk pace. This is a fun read that has “movie script” written all over it. Maybe it is because I just finished watching the Bourne movies, but I could easily see Matt Damon playing the part of Steve Knight, the intrepid reporter for the US Journal in Tokyo who unwittingly finds himself, like Forrest Gump, present at historical events that rock Japan.

I won’t be giving away too much to tell you that the book opens with a terrorist attack – a bombing at a right-wing political rally – that kills his long-time Japanese assistant, Kuniko Nishimura. Blood and guts. His new assistant is Kuniko’s daughter, Mie, a beautiful young recent college grad. Tits and ass.

The culprits behind the bombing – and other violent acts that follow in quick succession – belong to the Black Dragon Society, a nationalist cult determined to restore Japan to what it believes is Japan’s proper place in the world. However, a lot of blood is spilled – both in large-scale mass murder events and quiet assassinations – before the culpability of the Black Dragon Society becomes known, largely due to the investigative skills of Steve and Mie, along with some of their journalist buddies.

There are a lot of characters in this book. The casting director for this movie is going to be employing a lot of American and Japanese actors. Maybe an Australian, too. Benjamin helps out with a list of characters at the beginning. Also a lexicon of Japanese terms at the back. Both are very helpful.

But this is more than an action/adventure/mystery story; it is also a primer on Japanese culture and politics. Only a foreigner who has been immersed in Japanese society and has studied the culture and politics could have written this book. Benjamin is just such a person. He knows whereof he speaks. I felt, after finishing the book, that I know much more about Japan. This book is both educational and entertaining.

My only complaint is that the final terrorist attack is so complex, involves so many characters and is so highly dependent on the layout of the grounds surrounding the Imperial Palace that a map would have been helpful.

But that is a small stain on an otherwise perfect kimono of a book.

9 out of 10.

Copyright 2007, 2009 by Susan Lisa Jackson. Published by Kensington Publishing Corp., New York.

I will start with a statement that this is my first Lisa Jackson mystery and possibly my last. It wasn’t horrible but I won’t go out of my way to find more of her books.

Amazon categorizes this book as a “Bentz/Montoya novel” meaning that it supposedly features Rick Bentz, ace New Orleans police detective, and his able sidekick Reuben Montoya. But they are minor characters in this episode. The main character is Rick Bentz’s daughter, Kristi Bentz, who is returning to All Saints College in Baton Rouge to continue working on her English degree. But four students have disappeared from campus. The prevailing theory is that they were all loners who departed on their own. Lost souls.

Kristi, of course, thinks that they were victims of foul play and decides to play amateur detective, ostensibly to get material for a book she wants to write (see how the English major and detective’s daughter personas merge?). Not surprisingly, she gets ensnared in the evil and nearly becomes a victim herself.

The plot has a few twists and there is a romantic thread that weaves in pretty seamlessly. There are even some cringe-worthy sex scenes with purple prose that seems to be lifted from a 1940’s pulp paperback. The theme of the plot is “vampires” – both real and literary. This does not involve the supernatural, but Kristi’s ability to sense the demise of others (she sees someone who is about to die as colorless) does. That was a bit much for me.

So not terrible. But not very good either. And quite long – 488 pages in this edition. Mediocre books should be short.

4 out of 10.