Books - 3 Mysteries

I've been on a bit of a mystery roll right now.  This forms an interesting trio of books.  Three mysteries, two about kidnapping, all about mind games, one a private eye story, one a police procedural, and one something a little different..  Two are very good and one, well...

The Danger - Dick Francis - I read my first Dick Francis this past summer and really enjoyed it.  The joy continued with this one.  Francis tells the story of a man who specializes in dealing with high end kidnapping.  As always with Francis it takes place around the horse racing track.  What really got me was the glimpse inside the process of a kidnapping.  Most of the basics were obvious or already known to me.  But it's the approach to the victim that fascinated me.  The lingering pain and shame that can cling to the kidnapped after they've been returned home.  The story was compelling and sucked me right in.  The writing is excellent with an easy, seemingly casual tempo to the action that in fact belies a tightly written story.

U is for Undertow - Sue Grafton - I didn't realize that I'd read quite this many Kinsey Milhone stories, lol!  The California female private eye lives her life her own way and likes it that way.  An old kidnapping case lands her lap and Kinsey can't quite get herself to let go.  In the meantime the prickly subject of family is forced on her one more time.  This time things have to change.  If you're a Milhone/Grafton fan you won't want to miss this one.  Sue Grafton has a really firm grip on the character and the world she lives in and you'll appreciate that mastery.  It's a good story told well.  But if we're at U does that mean there are only four more stories left for Kinsey?  That would be very sad.

Coyote's Wife - Aimee and David Thurlo - With the death of Tony Hillerman two years ago I thought I'd had my last chance for a mystery novel set in the Navajo reservation.  When I spotted these novels on the shelf I was excited.  The Thurlo's have written a whole series featuring Navajo Police Special Investigator Ella Clah.  It was a  funny feeling like I was re-visiting my old stomping grounds as Clah journeys through the same area as Jim Chee had done before.  The story focuses on the clash between traditional and modern Navajo culture as a new cell phone service is proposed for the Rez.  One man gets the "gaslight" treatment and Clah has to figure out who is behind it all.  The story is quite interesting but the writing kept getting in the way.  At times the Thurlos do a nice job but periodically it descends into the kind of writing that got sent back to me in my high school writing classes with the words "Try again".  The phrasing is awkward and overly formal.  The sentence structure is cumbersome.  To be honest even with a great character and good stories I'm amazed that the writing is till this stilted 13 books into the series.  I will probably try another simply because I like the characters but the writing may be a real stumbling block.  Too bad.

Working on another Dick Francis right now while I await the next BIG THING, my new Nook Color WiFi.