Arsène Lupin, The Gentleman Burglar by Maurice Leblanc

4½ stars for the story, 2 stars for the translation Arsène Lupin is simply a fabulous character. He's a thief, but suave and brilliant and a "gentleman." I just wish this translation by Nicolae Sfetcu had been better. The collection includes the first nine stories: 1)   The Arrest of Arsene Lupin 2)   Arsene Lupin in Prison 3)   The Escape of Arsene Lupin 4)   The Mysterious Traveller 5)   The Queen’s Necklace 6)   The Seven of Hearts 7)   Madame Imbert’s Safe 8)   The Black Pearl 9)   Sherlock Holmes Arrives Too Late Lupin gets arrested, organizes a heist from jail, and escapes from jail. He solves a couple of mysteries, in order to steal the items himself of course and even outwits Holmes. I truly enjoyed the stories. They're fun and light. This particular translation is not well done though. Aside from not being particularly smooth, the pronouns seem to get mixed up a lot - him and her almost become interchangeable, which is more than a little annoying. I could follow the story, and see...
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IQ by Joe Ide

Isaiah Quintabe - IQ - is Sherlock, if Sherlock was a young black man (at least I think he's black) in modern-day LA who actually cares about the people in his community. He's brilliant, uncorruptible, and determined. He understands people and their feelings and motives. He does his research and plans ahead as well as he can. He finds people and things, deals with cases the police can't or won't. Problem is, he will only take what people can afford in payment, so sometimes it's money, but more often it's muffins or a chicken. Isaiah's side-kick, Dodson, is an interesting guy. He's cocky and more likely to play the angles than Isaiah. Not exactly a Watson, but help nonetheless.He's take the case of a rapper in order to make some money. I though the mystery was well-done. There were several suspects and the hit man was a nasty piece of work. I didn't guess who the would-be killer was, but the...
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Newspaper Hats by Phil Cummings

Newspaper Hats is a touching story. Georgie's grandfather is losing his memory and sometimes doesn't even remember her. She and her father go to visit him in the nursing home and Georgie asks her grandpa if he remembers her. Grandpa looks at the photos in his room and tells her some of the things he does remember. Finally she picks up a photo of Grandpa, Georgie and her dad where Georgie is wearing a paper hat. Grandpa does remember how to make paper hats and it provides a connecting point for the family. It's a gentle story that I think would be nice to read with kids who are dealing with a similar situation as Georgie, where someone in their family can't remember as well as they used to, whether it be to due to Alzheimer's or something else. It can be tough for adults to see someone losing their memory, but it's difficult for kids to and they have less...
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The Bay – The Tenderloin by Trent Kennedy Johnson

At least "The Tenderloin" is short. I actually expected to like it; the blurb sounded good: decent cop who may end up charged with murder. Turns out the affair was a couple of years ago and Cole's still obsessing over her. He's also got a major inferiority complex thanks to his dead father and we have to hear over and over how he imagines his dad giving him a B- or exhorting him to more or less be a man. We've got bad guys and worse guys, cops who just don't care about their jobs and are more worried about today's dinner order - Italian in case you wondered. There's a casino in a church, torture, rioting, a dangerous, overwrought lover (other than Cole). Actually, it was almost okay, if a little confusing, until the end, when we get the orgy and the "to be continued." I know this is just episode one, but absolutely nothing was wrapped up. I...
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The Dying Alderman by Henry Wade

The Dying Alderman is the first mystery I've read by Henry Wade; he's not a writer I'd heard of before, but it looks like most of his are out for Kindle now, so I'll probably pick up more. The Dying Alderman is a well-plotted mystery with characters who are nuanced and believable. There are three cops working the case, Race who is new to the job, Vorley who is steeped in local gossip and prejudices, and Lott, the outsider who can be a bit heavy-handed in his questioning of suspects. Each of the men brings something to the plate. My favorite was Race, but Lott's goading of Vorley is rather amusing at times. Lott and Vorley are focussed on two different suspects and each seems reasonable. Wade does a good job with the police procedural aspect, but doesn't leave us with the impression that police are perfect, instead we know some may have their own agendas that don't necessarily fit with finding the truth. The...
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Bangkok 8 by John Burdett

Bangkok 8 has been on my to-read list for a while, and I finally got around to picking up the audio from the library. Let's be honest, it was an obvious choice for me. It's a mystery in an exotic locale and the detective has a philosophical streak. The murder itself was unique - the snakes in a locked car- and although it's a shame that Sonchai's partner was killed too, it was the only reason the crime was actually investigated thoroughly. The cops in Bangkok are mostly corrupt and add in that the US government would really rather at least one of the suspects not be looked at too closely, they likely would have let it drop. Sonchai can't though and his search for the truth leads us across the city and has us meet drug dealers, prostitutes, and business owners from a variety of backgrounds with a variety of vices and interests. Sonchai is a complicated man. He's the son of a prostitute and American...
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