Help Your Formatter

I few days ago, I published an article about using paragraph formatting rather than tabs and said it was the number one wish of mine as an editor. However, it's hard for me to say this isn't #1. This one is strictly formatting, but doing this would save SO MUCH TIME. You may be paying by the job rather than by the hour, but it would get the finished product back in your hands sooner.

The desire to see your work look like a "real book" is strong. Especially for new authors. In fact, I used to to this myself, and then would berate myself over and over, later on, when I had to undo everything to actually format the book.

If you want to play around and see what your chapters will look like, or choose small art work to accompany breaks, or whatever... just do it with a few chapters for your own enjoyment or education. This is a good way to test things and see what look you like.

It would be best for the formatter if you just sent the text, with the paragraph indents created as described in Help Your Editor -1. Leave out any other formatting "stuff" except maybe a new page for chapter breaks.

Why? All the formatting you have added will probably need to be stripped out so it can be done correctly.

Things that are a nightmare for a formatter: Using the tab key. Adding a space before every paragraph (this makes no sense to me but I know two authors that must have a nervous habit of doing this). Using the space bar to center or arrange elements. Adding extra carriage returns.

DO NOT add your own page numbers. DO NOT add your own headers and footers. DO NOT set up the page size. DO NOT use two spaces between sentences.

If you want to show the formatter an example of your desired finished product, just send those sample chapters you've been playing with.

Even better... you could copy the manuscript into a program like Notepad that takes out all the extra stuff. It has to be something that truly reduces the MS to text. Even Wordpad will keep a lot of the formatting. Save it as a *.txt file and send that to your editor.

Note various of the no-nos I mentioned in the graphic below. You can click to make it larger. I have turned on the pilcrow (formatting marks) to show them. You can do the same thing, and then you can see if your MS is a mess.

Note the following in this sample: Author has created a page break by hitting the return several times. Author has tried to center text with the space bar. Author has added page numbers. Author has added a header. Author has hit the space bar at the beginning of the paragraph.

Here is what the final copy will look like for that same section.

Your formatter should be able to clean it up no matter what, but the time spent can affect your price and your working relationship.

Samples are from the forthcoming book, The Kommandant's Last Battle, by A. Katie Wood. It will be released in December 2024, assuming I can get the formatting done fast enough. The story is a WWII romance.

Fletch - Gregory McDonald

Gregory McDonald

Gregory McDonald won back-to-back Edgar Awards for best first novel, and best original paperback, in 1975 and 1977. These books are quite raw for the 1970s. The language and themes are definitely not "cozy," and there is plenty of casual sex. However, the plots are complex and clever. The style is almost entirely dialog, and quite clipped. The humor is tongue-in-cheek, which I find pretty funny.

Fletch is variously a reporter and an art writer, having been educated in both. He's a complete free spirit. You never know from one book to the next where he will pop up.

Recurring characters:
Irwin Maurice Fletcher, I.M. Fletcher, commonly known as Fletch.
Marilyn Moxie Moonie, Fletch's friend since childhood.
Alston Chambers, he begins as a rookie attorney in a big law firm, but moves to the DAs office.
Crystal Faoni, an overweight reporter
Jack Faoni, Crystal's son

#1- Fletch 1974
Winner of an Edgar Award. A rough-and-tumble tale of a reporter, Fletch, who is hired to commit a murder. Who is to be murdered? The man who hires him! Fletch is undercover to get the scoop on the local drug dealer in his beach town. His newspaper is giving him a hard time because it's taking so long to get answers. Meanwhile, he's busy also trying to find out why he's been hired to kill someone who seems to have a nearly perfect life, and he's also busy avoiding paying alimony to two previous wives.

An example of the humor: "At eleven-thirty, the phone began ringing persitently. He knew it was... any one of several News-Tribune executives who routinely became excited, one way or the other, in pleasure if they were real professionals, in anger if they were not, when a staff member had snuck a genuine, unadulterated piece of journalism over on them." ,

#2- Confess, Fletch 1976
Winner of an Edgar Award. Fletch has been living in Europe, but comes to Boston to track down some paintings that were stolen from his fiance's father. The father, Count deGrassi, was kidnapped and held for ransom, but without the paintings, the money demanded can't be raised.

Fletch arranges for an apartment swap through an agency so he will have a place to stay in Boston. He arrives, cleans up and goes out to dinner. When he returns, the naked body of a murdered young woman is on the living room floor. Naturally, the police would like him to confess.

There are more twists to this story than you can imagine.

#3- Fletch's Fortune 1978
Fletch is blackmailed by the CIA to bug the rooms of his fellow journalists at a national convention. They say they'll make his ever-mounting tax debt and crimes go away if he complies.

On the very first morning of the convention, the President pf the Journalism Association is murdered. He made lots of enemies over the years, but which one of them hates him enough to do the deed.

The recordings Fletch collects turn out to be useful in other ways, as well.

#4- Fletch and the Widow Bradley 1981
Fletch is back to being a reporter, but he gets fired from his newspaper because he quotes the CEO, Tom Bradley, of a company as being alive when it turns out the man has been dead for a year. Fletch is understandably put out because his boss is giving his incompetent girlfriend good stories and not firing her for little errors.

Meanwhile, he finds a wallet with $25,000 dollars in it, but is having a lot of trouble returning it to the owner. The man doesn't seem to want the wallet back.

Fletch sinks his teeth into finding out what happened to Tom Bradley. The answer is surprising for 1981.

#5- Fletch's Moxie 1982
Moxie has a job acting in a movie that is being filmed. It's not a good script and it's not going well. Moxie has become concerned about her finances- her financial manager has told her some things that are concerning. However, money is not her strong suit, and she has just signed whatever he told her to for years.

Fletch shows up at the filming of a talk show interview with Moxie and Steve Peterman. Steve is the director of the show and her financial manager. During the interview Peterman is stabbed and dies. Yet nothing unusual shows up on the tapes.

Moxie wants Fletch to find out what's wrong with her finances.

Secondary story is of Moxie's father, an aging, well-known classical actor who has been drunk for decades. Keeping him in line is almost a full-time job in its own right.

#6- Fletch and the Man Who 1983

#7- Carioca Fletch 1984
This book is almost a travelogue of Carnival in Rio de Janiero with a bit of story woven in. One of the characters from Fletch, Joan Collins Stanwyk, reappears in this book.

Fletch is enjoying a vacation in Brazil when an old woman approaches and insists that he is her husband, Janio, who was murdered 47 years previously. She wants him to tell her and her children who murdered him.

Fletch ends up being cursed with Brazilian voodoo, chased by a pack of kickboxers, and hounded by Janio's young grandson who has only one leg.

Joan, who reappears in this book, then disappears!

#8- Fletch Won 1985
Although written in 1985, this is really a prequel which tells the story of how Fletch got started in journalism.

As a rookie, he is assigned to write headlines, but he is too clever, and gets reassigned to cover the announcement of a gift to the art museum. The giftgiver is murdered in the News-Tribune parking lot, and he is reassigned again to cover a thinly disguised brothel. Then he gets fired! But that doesn't stop him from pursuing both stories.

#9- Fletch Too 1986

#10- Son of Fletch 1993
Events of Confess, Fletch are recalled in this story.

Fletch is confronted by an adult man who certainly appears to be his biological son. This encounter gives us the most sympathetic and human portrait of Fletch in any of the books.

The primary plot is a set in a neo-Nazi organization bent on creating anarchy and taking over the United States for white supremacy. There are a lot of stereotypes, but it's eerie for a 1993 book. This is my least favorite of the Fletch books.

#11- Fletch Reflected 1994
This is a fairly odd story. Fletch's son is called by an old girlfriend, Shana, to come investigate the estate of an eccentric genius. The genius, Chester, has built a huge closed community. He rigidly controls his wife and four adult children who live there.

Shana is convinced that someone is trying to kill Chester. There have been multiple accidents from which the man has barely escaped. Fletch's son calls Fletch, and while they are at the estate they learn the depths of the children's hatred for their father.

I would say the story is an allegory of some kind, but I'm not sure the Fletch books are that deep. It is an interesting plot, for sure.

Help Your Editor, Help Yourself - 1

There are many things you can do to help your editor/formatter return a clean manuscript to you. Here is one of them. This has a bit more to do with formatting, but, trust me, the better job you do, the better job they can do for you.

Maybe you are saying, "I don't need to do any of that. It's what I'm paying them for."

I respond, "Yes, but unless you are prepared to pay by the hour, giving an editor/formatter a sloppy manuscript is inviting disaster."

No human being can catch all the mistakes on one pass if the errors are numerous. I charge depending on how many times I have to go through a work to make it clean. My rates are reasonable (I want Indie Authors to succeed), but if I have to go through twice, it's going to cost more. And if the formatting is a mess, the formatting will cost correspondingly more.

Here is my number one tip. DON'T USE THE TAB KEY to start a new paragraph.

Using the computer is not the same as a typewriter. Sure, the tab key was what we did "back then," but I'll bet you were drilled to use the tab key rather than to hit the space bar 5 times. This is the same kind of thing. What I'm going to show you is way better, and more powerful for those people who will come after you to work on the manuscript.

Probably the most popular word processing program is Word. Instead of indenting paragraphs with the tab, do this. (different versions may have a slightly different interface)

Begin by setting the first line indent of every paragraph this way. Under Layout, click on expanded Paragraph options (arrow points to the icon). The window you see in this graphic will open. In the upper circle, choose Special/First Line, and then whatever indent you want. The default is 0.5 inch, which I usually think is too much. I like 0.3. In the lower circle, choose Set as Default. Then you will have an option for all documents or just this one. Whichever you like is fine.

In the above graphic you can see that all the text is aligned to the left. But after you choose OK in the window, Every first line of a paragraph in the text will indent by that magic amount. The result, below, is the half inch indent. You may agree that it's too much. So cut it back to something a little less. You can change the entire document in ONE flash!

Other word processors will have some similar option. I'll show you how in Google Docs another day.

I will stop for now with just this one tiny lesson.

Write Smart! Basic Dialog

Dialog is created when characters are quoted word for word. Bill said, "I don't like squash." This is dialog. Bill told us that he doesn't like squash. That is not dialog.

#1- Dialog is always set off with quotation marks.

#2- Words that describe the speaking are called Dialog Tags. Examples are: said, exclaimed, replied, yelled, etc.

#3- Action tags are not dialog tags. This is ambiguous, and there is some overlap. In this lesson, I'll use clear examples. This is an action tag.
     Bill stood. "I don't like squash." He whirled and left the room.
     "Billy, I try so hard to make you happy." His mother turned her head and began to cry.
     Bill's father threw down his napkin. "Give me a break!"

#4- The quotation marks are always outside the punctuation. All the above examples are correct. This one is incorrect. "Sally lamented, "I just can't stand this family"!

#5- If someone who is speaking quotes someone else, use single quotes for the interior one. Examples: Bill returned to the dining room. "The problem is, Sally, we are not really a 'family.'" [Interesting note, books published in Great Britain use single quotes for standard dialog and double ones for interior.]

#6- Use a capital letter to begin a sentence, even after a dialog tag. Example: Mother said, "Oh, not now, Sally."

#7- Every time someone new begins speaking, make a new paragraph. See item 3 above.

#8- However, if one person continues a speech long enough that it needs to be broken up, leave the closing quotation marks off the first paragraph. Example:
     Sally said, "Don't you think I know that? After all, you were adopted, and blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah. I didn't even love you when you were a baby.
     "And furthermore, you didn't like squash then, either. Mother made me try to feed it to you, and you always spit it back in my face."

There are other nuances to this issue, but this covers the basics.

Write Smart! Seen vs. Saw

There are a number of regions in the U.S. where most of the population does not use seen and saw in the same format as standard English. It's very difficult for people who grew up this way to switch to correct usages. But let's make it clear what standard English says.

Probably the fast and dirty answer is that you must use "have," "has," or "had" in front of the word "seen." However, "See" and "saw" stand on their own. Never use a form of "have" with either of those.

Here are three official categories. Columns two and three are the only tenses of the verb "to see" that use "seen."

Present tense	Present Perfect tense	Past Perfect tense
I see	I have seen	I had seen
you see	you have seen	you had seen
he/she/it sees	he/she/it has seen	he/she/it had seen
we see	we have seen	we had seen
you see	you have seen	you had seen
they see	they have seen	they had seen

So just remember to always use a form of "have" with "seen."

P.S. "Seeing" is a whole different ball game. Maybe another time.

Write Smart! I or me?

Should you use I or me in that sentence? Let's get the names of those things out of the way. "I" is a subject. It can do action. "Me" is an object. Actions can be done to it.

Most of us are good with simple sentences like "I went to the store," or "He gave the book to me."

Where we get in trouble is when we add extra people. "He gave the book to Meg and I," or "He gave the book to Meg and me." It's easy to decide which is correct if you take out Meg. Most of us know that "He gave the book to I" is wrong.

Lots of people say things like "Jack and me went fishing." Again, take out Jack, and you'll know in an instant it should be "Jack and I went fishing."

There are other permutations of this same problem of mixing subjects and objects. I'll cover some of those in other hints.

Write Smart! Introductory Word Group

If a sentence begins with an introductory phrase/clause, place a comma after it. See what I did there?

Other examples:
A. Buried under the apple tree for years, the box decomposed.
A. During February, Michiganders rarely see the sun.
B. In fact, none of what Mr. Smith said was true.
C. Unlike December in Australia, Ontario's Christmas month was snowy.
D. The rain slowing to a drizzle at last, we were able to go for a walk."

A. The phrase may be an adverb clause telling when, how, or why.

B. The phrase may be transitional such as "in fact," or "for example."

C. The phrase may express contrast such as "Not surprisingly," or "Unlike..."

D. The phrase may be an absolute phrase such as "The clouds hovering all week"

Write Smart! No Comma Here

If the second part of the sentence isn’t a sentence, don’t use a comma. Example: John ate the chili and burped loudly. (“and burped loudly” is not a sentence- it has no subject, so there is no comma before the “and.”)

Example: The dog and cat fought but made up. However, if you change that last example to The dog and cat fought, but they made up, it now needs a comma because you’ve added a subject (they) to the second part and made it into an independent clause, then joined them with "but" (a conjunction).

The second part is called a subordinate clause (it will not stand alone). Some examples are:
...and gave the dog a bone.
...for two days and an hour.
...but wasn't able to keep up.
...and found the restaurant on a side street.

Write Smart! #1- Connecting Sentences

A sentence is made up of a noun and a verb. The parts of the sentence are called the subject which contains the noun and the predicate which contains the verb.

These can be simple: People is a noun; think is a verb. Subject=People, predicate=think. The entire sentence is, "People think."

The parts of the sentence can also be much more complicated.

If you have two sentences and combine them with any of the following words (which are call conjunctions): and, but, or, nor, for, yet, or so, add a comma before the conjunction. Example: Sue bought skates, but Tom stole them. OR, you could use a semicolon instead of one of those connecting words. Example: Sue bought skates; Tom stole them.

Each part that could stand alone is called an independent clause. They are independent because each could be a sentence all by itself. Sue bought skates is an independent clause. So is Tom stole them.

You can connect them with a conjunction. These are: and, but, or, nor, for, yet, and so. Put a comma before the conjunction.

Example: Sue bought skates, but Tom stole them.

You can connect them without a conjunction by using a semicolon.

Example: Sue bought skates; Tom stole them.

Both techniques make two sentences into one longer one.

(Yes, sometimes really short sentences like this don’t need a comma according to some sources, but your editor will thank you if you use them anyway. He or she can decide if the comma adds clarity.)

Navajo Tribal Police - Tony and Anne Hillerman

Tony Hillerman (fair use)

Tony Hillerman, May 27, 1925 – October 26, 2008, was the author of a series of mysteries featuring Navajo tribal police. The first three books feature Joe Leaphorn. The next three feature Jim Chee. After that, both men are included in the books. The crimes are always more mysterious due to the lack of understanding between Navajo, Hopi and white people's ways of thinking. They are set in the American Southwest.

Recurring Characters of note:
Joe Leaphorn, Navajo Tribal Police
Jim Chee, Navajo Tribal Police
Bernadette Manuelito, eventual wife of Jim Chee

#1 The Blessing Way (1970)

#2 Dance Hall of the Dead (1973)

#3 Listening Woman (1978)

#4 People of Darkness (1980)

#5 The Dark Wind (1982)
The book opens with three Hopi men walking back from collecting spruce branches for a sacred ceremony. The find the body of a man, but since he is Navajo, and they do not want to disrupt their own ceremony, they do not report it. The palms of the hands and the soles of the feet have been cut off the dead man. By the time the body is found it is badly decomposed.

A small plane with pilot and passenger is night flying in to an arroyo bringing a cargo of cocaine. The experienced pilot crashes. When the plane is found, both men are dead, a third man has a bullet in his back, and the drugs are missing.

This incident occurs on land that has recently been transferred to the Hopi tribe by the government. It used to be Navajo. A well was dug for the Hopi, but the windmill has been severely vandalized three times.

How are these incidents related? Jim Chee is new to this jurisdiction, and he is sent to look into only the windmill damage. But he can't help but find evidence relating to the other issues.

#6 The Ghostway (1984)

#7 Skinwalkers (1986)

#8 A Thief of Time (1988)

#9 Talking God (1989)

#10 Coyote Waits (1990)

#11 Sacred Clowns (1993)

#12 The Fallen Man (1996)

#13 The First Eagle (1998)

#14 Hunting Badger (1999)

#15 The Wailing Wind (2002)
Young and new, Officer Bernadette Manuelito finds a dead man in a pickup truck in one of the many dry arroyos of the area. Seeing no wounds, she assumes he drank himself to death like so many others have done. Her hobby is botany, and while waiting for other authorities to arrive, she collects some seeds for certain Navajo ceremonies and carries them in a cast-off tobacco tin she finds.

But the tin has ties not only to the dead man, but to an old murder, and a long lost gold mine. Chee and Leaphorn manage to get the tobacco tin re-placed at the site without getting Bernadette in trouble.

Denton Wiley had confessed to the old murder, served his time, and is still hunting for his wife who disappeared at about the same time. He engages Joe Leaphorn to try to find her. How are all these events related?

#16 The Sinister Pig (2003)

#17 Skeleton Man (2004)

#18 The Shape Shifter (2006)

After Tony's death, Anne Hillerman wrote the following books:

#19 2013 Spider Woman's Daughter (2103)

#20 2015 Rock With Wings (2015)

#21 2017 Song of the Lion (2017)

#22 2018 Cave of Bones (2018)

#23 2019 The Tale Teller (2019)

#24 2021 Stargazer (2021)

#25 2022 The Sacred Bridge (2022)

#26 2023 The Way of the Bear (2023)

#27 2024 Lost Birds (2024)

Mystery/Thriller Series - Ali Reynolds

J.A. Jance (Creative Commons)

Judith Ann Jance, born 1944, is an author of three different mystery series, all written under her own name. Alison Reynolds is the protagonist in this series. She begins the series as a news reporter for a TV station in the Los Angeles area.

Recurring characters of note:
Alison Reynolds, Ali
Edie, her mother
Bob, her father- her parents run a restaurant in Sedona
Christopher, her adult son.

#1 Edge of Evil (2006)

#2 Web of Evil (2007)
A man is left on railroad tracks in the trunk of a car where he is subsequently killed by the train. Ali passes the emergency vehicles in the middle of the night, having no idea what the commotion is. She is on her way to a meeting of all parties to finalize her divorce proceedings from Paul Grayson. Paul needs the divorce to go through because he's scheduled to marry the next Mrs. Grayson the very next day. That woman, April, is 8 1/2 months pregnant with Paul's child. But Paul does not show up for the meeting.

#3 Hand of Evil (2007)

#4 Cruel Intent (2008)

#5 Trial By Fire (2009)

#6 Fatal Error (2011)

#7 Left for Dead (2012)

#8 Deadly Stakes (2013)

#9 Moving Target (2014)

#10 A Last Goodbye (novella) (2014)

#11 Cold Betrayal (2015)

#12 No Honor Among Thieves (novella) (2015)

#13 Clawback (2016)

#14 Random Acts (novella) (2016)

#15 Man Overboard (2017)

#16 Duel to the Death (2018)

#17 The A List (2019)

#18 Credible Threat (2020)

#19 Unfinished Business (2021)

#20 Collateral Damage (2023)

Mystery Series - Donut Shop Mysteries

Jessica Beck is the author of several cozy mystery series and has been awarded many honors in the mystery field. The Donut Shop Mysteries are cozies in the most modern of terms. They have a female protagonist who owns a small shop- a donut shop, they are set in a small town, the violence and sex are played way down. This series is considered a culinary cozy set. Sprinkled throughout the book are recipes for several kinds of donuts. There is a heavy emphasis on who is dating whom. Most of the plot is dialog.

Recurring characters of note:
Suzanne Hart, owner of the donut shop
Grace, her best friend
Dorothy, Suzanne's mother

Glazed Murder (2010)
Fatally Frosted (2010)
Sinister Sprinkles (2010)
Evil Eclairs (2011)
Tragic Toppings (2011)
Killer Crullers (2012)

Drop Dead Chocolate (2012)
This book opens with everyone in town being angry with the mayor, Cam Hamilton. He has bid on a construction job, and it's clearly a conflict of interest. Dorothy storms into his office to tell him what for and comes out with the determination to collect enough signatures to file and run against the mayor in the upcoming election. But the next day the mayor is dead.

Dorothy is dating the police chief, Suzanne is dating Jake (a police officer), Grace is dating a man named Peter. The book is strongly aimed at readers who want to enjoy the relationships.

Powdered Peril (2012)
Illegally Iced (2012)
Deadly Donuts (2013)
Assault and Batter (2013)
Sweet Suspects (2013)
Deep Fried Homicide (2014)
Custard Crime (2014)
Lemon Larceny (2014)
Bad Bites (2014)
Old Fashioned Crooks (2014)
Dangerous Dough (2015)
Troubled Treats (2015)
Sugar Coated Sins (2015)
Criminal Crumbs (2015)
A Holiday Donut Steal (2015)
Vanilla Vices (2015)
Raspberry Revenge (2016)
Fugitive Filling (2016)
Devil's Food Defense (2016)
Pumpkin Pleas (2016)
Floured Felonies (2016)
Mixed Malice (2016)
Tasty Trials (2017)
Baked Books (2017)
Cranberry Crimes (2017)
Boston Cream Bribery (2017)
Cherry Filled Charges (2017)
Scary Sweets (2017)
Cocoa Crush (2017)
Pastry Penalties (2018)
Apple Stuffed Alibis (2018)
Perjury Proof (2018)
Caramel Canvas (2019)
Dark Drizzles (2019)
Counterfeit Confections (2019)
Measured Mayhem (2019)
Blended Bribes (2019)
Sifted Sentences (2019)
Dusted Discoveries (2020)
Nasty Knead (2020)
Rigged Rising (2020)
Donut Despair (2020)
Whisked Warnings (2020)
Baker's Burden (2020)
Battered Bluff (2020)
The Hole Truth (2021)
Donut Disturb (2021)
Wicked Wedding Donuts (2021)
Donut Hearts Homicide (2022)
Jelly-Filled Justice (2022)
The Last Donut (2023)

Mystery Series - The Secrets of Heathersleigh Hall

Michael Phillips

Michael Phillips has written over 100 books, including Christian fiction and various scholarly works on the Scottish author George MacDonald. The Heathersleigh Hall series is categorized as mystery, but the mystery is rather thin, although the books are well written. They are set in England in the late 1800s and early 1900s, following the Rutherford family for several generations. The mystery is laid out right in the beginning when a set of twins is born in 1829.

However, most of the action in the books cover the lives of the children and grandchildren of those twins. A lot of emphasis is placed on Christian living, although the books are well-written enough that they don't become sermonizing. But the books are more about the interactions of the family members than they are about solving a mystery. The books so accurately reflect attitudes of the era, so much so that Phillips received criticism from some women for various passages in the book. As he points out in introductions, prefaces, etc... his goal was to make the characters true to the time period, a I think he has done so.

Recurring Characters of note
Charles Rutherford, Lord of Heathersleigh Hall
Jocelyn, his wife
George, their sone
Amanda, their daughter
Catharine, their daughter
Gifford Rutherford, Charles' cousin, son of the other twin
Gregory Rutherford, Gifford's son
Bobby McFee, gardner
Maggie McFee, his wife
Timothy Diggersfeld, a pastor

#1 Wild Grows the Heather in Devon (1998)
The book begins with the birth of twins in 1829 and a secret which remains hidden for three generations.

Jumping to the 1890s and early years of Charles and Jocelyn's marriage, he is a member of the House of Commons. Jocie has never come to terms with a large red birthmark on her face. Charles becomes a Christian, and soon Jocie joins the faith. Their son George readily accepts their new lifestyle, but Amanda does not like the changes in her family which she considers to be too restrictive for the life she wants to live.

Cousin Gifford visits, demanding that they find an old Bible, but no one alive has ever seen it

This is all set in the backdrop of the political conditions of Britain and Europe prior to World War I. Amanda rebels from her family and goes to London to join the suffragette movement.

#2 Wayward Winds (1999)
Amanda is taken in by the Pankhurts and becomes embroiled in the suffragette movement. Charles, although he has resigned from Parliament, is still a well-known figure in England, especially as he and George work together to electrify rural England. Charles is recruited by a nebulous movement called the "Fountain of Light." But he resists, sensing that their motives are more subversive than noble.

Meanwhile, Amanda realizes that she is being used because of her name. She leaves the Pankhursts, only to be sucked into one of the secret groups who are also using her, although she is still too rebellious and angry to see it.

She leaves London to travel to Europe and is actually in Austria when WWI breaks out.

#3 Heathersleigh Homecoming (1999)
This is my favorite of the four books, mostly because I prefer intrigue and action to long passages about what the characters are thinking. It's mostly about Amanda

Amanda has become seriously entangled with a group that is plotting against the Allies. She finally realizes this and plans an escape. She makes it as far as Switzerland where she is protected by a group of women who are not attached to a church as a convent would be, but they challenge her to spiritually examine her life in ways she was never before ready to hear.

Charles is called back into service of the Navy, and George is stationed on the same ship.

#4 A New Dawn Over Devon (2001)
Although WWI continues, it is very far away from Heathersleigh Hall. Many changes come to the manor and the village. Telling very much about this book and period of their lives would definitely be a spoiler for the rest of the series.

The secret surrounding the twins' birth, three generations in the past, is brought to light and it has ramifications for them all.

Cousin Gifford, his wife Martha, and son Geoffrey are important characters.

Mystery Series - Fethering (Carole Seddon)

Simon Brett (photo by Nigel Cull)

Simon Brett is a British writer with five series to his credit. The Fethering series is set in the fictional town of Fethering in the south of Sussex, England. They are written in the style of the "Golden Age" mysteries. Anyone who enjoys classic Brit mysteries will enjoy this series. Brett has a strong grasp of the convoluted emotions of his characters. The primary sleuth in this series is Carole Seddon, a somewhat insecure middle-aged woman who is very good at seeing the weaknesses in others, but not so much in herself.

Recurring Characters
Carole Seddon, a middle-aged retired public servant
Jude (presumably Judith), her friend and fellow sleuth, a "healer."

#1 The Body on the Beach (2000)
#1 Death on the Downs (2001)
#3 The Torso in the Town (2002)
#4 Murder in the Museum (2003)
#5 The Hanging in the Hotel (2004)

#6 The Witness at the Wedding (2005)
Carole Seddon's son Stephen is getting married. His fiance is a young woman called Gaby, although her given name is Pascale. Carole immediately likes Gaby, but the girl's family is something else again.

The mother is practically unable to cope with life and faints at anything stressful. Her father is much older, a giant of a man, and deaf besides. Adding extra strain to the usual meetings and planning associated with weddings, Stephen wants to include his father David. Carole is not interested in resuming any sort of relationship with her ex-husband, but she is too formal to admit it.

Adding to this difficult situation is the hint of a thirty-year old murder. Then the current murders begin.

#7 The Stabbing in the Stables (2006)
#8 Death Under the Dryer (2007)
#9 Blood at the Bookies (2008)
#10 The Poisoning at the Pub (2009)
#10 The Shooting in the Shop (2010)
#12 Bones Under the Beach Hut (2011)
#13 Guns in the Gallery (2011)
#14 Corpse on the Court (2012)
#15 The Strangling on the Stage (2013)
#16 The Tomb in Turkey (2014)
#17 The Killing in the Cafe (2015)
#18 The Liar in the Library (2017)
#19 The Killer in the Choir (2019)
#20 Guilt at the Garage (2020)
#21 Death and the Decorator (2022)

Mystery Series - J.P. Beaumont

J.A. Jance (Creative Commons)

Judith Ann Jance, born 1944, is an author of three different mystery series, all written under her own name. The Beaumont series features Jonas Piedmont Beaumont, a police detective from Seattle.

The Beaumont and Joanna Brady series converge in Partner in Crime, Fire and Ice, and briefly in Proof of Life.

Recurring Characters of Note:
Jason Pierpont Beaumont, variously a policman, retiree, and private eye
Mel Soames, his third wife
#1 Until Proven Guilty (1985)
#2 Injustice for All (1986)
#3 Trial by Fury (1986)
#4 (nominated for: 1987
#5 Taking the Fifth (1987)
#6 Improbable Cause (1987)
#7 A More Perfect Union (1988)
#8 Dismissed with Prejudice (1989)
#9 Minor in Possession (1990)
#10 Payment in Kind (1991)
#11 Without Due Process (1993)
#12 Failure to Appear (1994)

#13 Lying in Wait (1995)

J.P.'s grandfather, from whom he gets the Pierpont name, has recently died. He is attempting to pay more attention to his grandmother.

A horrific death in a fishing boat fire turns out to be a torture murder, and the widow is a woman J.P. attended school with. Else was a cheerleader when he was a basketball player. Also living at the fishing marina is a man named Alan Torvaldsen, who was also a classmate. The dead man is Guntar Gebhardt, whose father was an S.S. officer in World War II. Guntar quietly honored his father's memory with a secret collection of toy German soldiers.

But when a woman on a nearby island dies in a similar manner, all previous conclusions seem to be wrong.

This is a fast-paced book with twists and turns at ever juncture.

#14 Name Withheld (1997)
#15 Breach of Duty (1999)
#16 Birds of Prey (2002)
#17 Partner in Crime (2003)
#18 Long Time Gone (2005)
#19 Justice Denied (2007)
#20 Fire and Ice (2009)
#21 Betrayal of Trust (2011)
#22 Ring in the Dead (novella, 2013)
#23 Second Watch (2013)
#24 Stand Down (novella, 2015)
#25 Dance of the Bones (2015) (Brandon Walker crossover)

#26 Proof of Life (2017)
Beau has retired, had knee replacement surgery, and is living happily with his third wife, Mel Soames. She is Chief of Police in Bellingham, WA. While they are having dinner out, an acquaintance of theirs, Max, a journalist stops by the table and makes several cryptic statements. Since he and Beau were never on good terms, Beau doesn't pay much attention.

However, just hours later, Max is dead. A young woman, not a blood relative of Max's, but nevertheless one of his only friends and his heir asks Beau to look into the death. She suspects it is not an accident.

If you are a dog lover, this is a great book. Beau and Mel end up "temporarily" babysitting a black Irish Wolfhound. Not only is Lucy Rambo a loveable addition to the story, she plays a large role in the denouement.

#27 Still Dead (novella, 2017)

#28 Sins Of The Fathers (2019)
#29 Nothing to Lose (2022)
#130 Den of Iniquity (2024)

Mystery Series - Anna Pigeon

Nevada Barr (Creative Commons license)

Nevada Barr, born 1952, is best known for her Nevada Barr series of mysteries set in various US National Parks and Historic Sites. The book series grew out of personal knowledge, as Barr worked as a ranger early in her life. With a background in theater, she pulled together the critical elements to write a best-selling series.

Anna Pigeon's character evolves throughout the series, but is always involved in rough-and-tumble, serious situations. The settings make the series. These are definitely not cozies, and in fact, beginning with Burn they really morph into thrillers.

#1 Track of the Cat (1993) set in Guadalupe Mountains National Park
#2 A Superior Death (1994) set in Isle Royale National Park

#3 Ill Wind (1995) set in Mesa Verde National Park
Anna is assigned to law enforcement in the area of the Anasazi Cliff Dwellers' caves. It's a busy tourist season, and due to a housing shortage, she is sharing dorm space with some of the youngest of the staff. Between beer parties and the annoyance of southern belle Jennifer who seems so unfit to be a ranger, and Jamie the interpreter who insists she is Native, but Anna suspects otherwise, Anna is having a difficult summer. There have been an unusual number of medical emergancies, attributed to the high altitude. After one young girl dies from a severe asthma attack, Anna decides to check current records with previous years to compare the frequecy of medical evacuations.

Not only does she confirm a much higher rate in the current season, but she discovers a pattern to the emergencies. Jamie attributes it to the displeased spirits of the Anasazi who have been appearing during the nights.

Then one of Anna's favorite rangers goes missing.

#4 Firestorm (1996) set in Lassen Volcanic National Park
#5 Endangered Species (1997) set in Cumberland Island National Seashore
#6 Blind Descent (1998) set in Carlsbad Caverns National Park
#7 Liberty Falling (1999) set in Statue of Liberty National Monument
#8 Deep South (2000) set in Natchez Trace Parkway
#9 Blood Lure (2001) set in Glacier National Park
#10 Hunting Season (2002) set in Natchez Trace Parkway
#11 Flashback (2003) set in Dry Tortugas National Park
#12 High Country (2004) set in Yosemite National Park
#13 Hard Truth (2005) set in Rocky Mountain National Park
#14 Winter Study (2008) set in Isle Royale National Park
#15 Borderline (2009) set in Big Bend National Park

#16 Burn (2010) set in New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park
A house fire is watched by a young mother, and she believes her two daughters have died in the blaze. Then she learns that they are not dead, but she is under suspicion for setting the fire. She goes on a mission to find the girls while remaining on the run.

Anna is on leave after the traumatic events of Borderline which was supposed to be a respite in itself. She's in New Orleans and living in the cottage of a friend. A young punk named Jordan turns out to be one of her neighbors. The boy seems to be involved in voodoo and other strange practices.

#17 The Rope (2012) set in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area
#18 Destroyer Angel (2014) set in Superior National Forest
#19 Boar Island (2016) set in Acadia National Park

Mystery Series - Alex Cross

James Patterson

James Patterson, born 1947, is one of the most prolific and richest authors of all time. He has written or co-authored well over 100 books. There are currently 32 books in the Alex Cross series.

Alex Cross is a psychologist and police detective, an FBI agent, and one of the most popular fictional black heroes. He's a large man with plenty of brains to go with his imposing presence. His family is highly important to him. Since his first wife was killed, he is continually searching for another woman.

These are police and/or psychological thrillers with plenty of gory and disturbing details.

Recurring characters of note
Maria- Cross' first wife, the mother of Damon and Jannie
Nana Mama- Cross' grandmother who has always been in charge
Damon- his oldest child
Jannie (Janelle)- his daughter
Ali (Alex Junior)- son by his second wife
John Sampson- Cross' partner, they've been friends since childhood, a 6'9" giant
Kyle Craig- an enigma who fills several roles throughout the series
Adele Finaly- Alex's own therapist
Gary Soneji- a recurring nemesis

#1 Along Came a Spider (1993)
#2 Kiss the Girls (1995)
#3 Jack & Jill (1996)
The book begins with an immediate introduction into two high-profile cases. There are a man and woman who are killing people in Washington, DC, apparently chosen at random as part of a bizarre game. Also, someone is murdering small children who attend the same school as Cross' son.

There is more than one twist to the plot before the cases are resolved.

The spectre of Gary Soneji is never far from Alex's mind.

We learn how Alex's parents died and why Nana Mama raised him since he was nine years old. It is mentioned how Alex's first wife died, but this contradicts the details given in Cross. He meets Christine.

#4 Cat and Mouse (1997)
There are two intertwined plots in this book. Alex's nemesis Gary Soneji is still around and intent on mass murders with more apparent abandon then previously. Cross figures out why the man has changed and tries to get ahead of his thinking. Another murderer, dubbed Mr. Smith, has been methodically killing and dismembering one person at a time across the globe. Thomas Pierce is brought in by the FBI, as his amateur study of the killer is most thorough.

Soneji meets his own supposed death, but vows to reach out and kill Cross from beyond the grave. The very next day, the detective is brutally attacked.

Cross is healing from the death of his first wife, the mother of his children. He begins to fall in love with the prinicpal of his children's school, Christine.

#5 Pop Goes the Weasel (1999)
#6 Roses are Red (2000)
#7 Violets Are Blue (2001)

#8 Four Blind Mice (2002)
This book has only one story, and the reader is told right up front what is going on. An Army officer is found guilty of murdering three women. He swears he is innocent, and he is a friend of John Sampson. So Cross, who is trying to resign from being a detective, agrees to look into it. We immediately learn that the murders were done by a group of three other ex-military men, code name Three Blind Mice.

How are they finally brought to justice, why did it all happen, and who is the Fourth Mouse?

We learn about John Sampson's childhood. Nana Mama is 82 and may finally be showing her age. Alex's current flame is a Detective from SanFrancisco named Jamilla.

#9 The Big Bad Wolf (2003)
#10 London Bridges (2004)
#11 Mary, Mary (2005)

#12 Cross (2006)
This book begins with a flashback to when and how his first wife Maria died, killed by a hit man's bullet.

Then it jumps ahead to 2005 when Alex sees a hit man take a bow before he disappears. The hit man turns out the be "The Butcher," who works for the mob, freelances, and is a serial rapist for kicks. He leaves no one alive who threatens him. Is there a connection to Maria's death? Cross and Sanders embark on a long quest to hunt down "The Butcher."

#13 Double Cross (2007)
Bizarre murders begin happening that appear to be staged, literally, as in the murderer is committing them as if he is an actor on a large stage. There seems to be some clue left by the killer at each one, but Cross is having a hard time figuring out what it means.

Also, Alex is in jeopardy from Kyle Craig, despite the man being in prison.

His current girlfriend is named Bree, who is also a Detective.

#14 Cross Country (2008)
This is one of the more horrific and brutal books in the series. Alex investigates two incidents in Washington, DC, where the entire family was killed. He knows one of the victims. His search for justice takes him to Africa where he witnesses the insanity and injustice of anarchy in Siera Leone, Niger, and the Sudan. In fact, he becomes the victim of a fair amount of brutality himself.

He finally returns home, beaten both literally and in his quest for justice. There, he learns that his family has disappeared and he is kidnapped yet again.

Warning- this is a seriously violent story.

#15 Alex Cross's Trial (2009)

#16 I, Alex Cross (2009)
Alex's neice, whom he has not seen for quite a few years is murdered, and her body is disposed of in a most brutal manner. Cross gets involved in trying to solve this crime which leads him to an exclusive sex club. It involves all the alphabet soup agencies, and even the White House.

Meanwhile, Nana Mama, who is in her 90s although she won't admit to an exact age, has a heart attack.

#17 Cross Fire (2010)

#18 Kill Alex Cross (2011)
The children of the US President manage to evade their Secret Servce protectors and while out of their sight, Ethan and Zoe are kidnapped. A van is seen speeding from the school, a chase and crash ensue, but when the van is cut open, the children are not there.

Meanwhile, terrorism on US soil rachets up a notch with a potential attack on the water supply.

Alex is still with Bree.

#19 Merry Christmas, Alex Cross (2012)
#20 Alex Cross, Run (2013)
#21 Cross My Heart (2013)
#22 Hope to Die (2014)
#23 Cross Justice (2015)
#24 Cross the Line (2016)
#25 The People vs. Alex Cross (2017)
#26 Target: Alex Cross (2018)
#27 Criss Cross (2019)
#28 Deadly Cross (2020)
#29 Fear No Evil (2021)
#30 Triple Cross (2022)
#31 Cross Down (2023) (co-written with Brenden DuBois; also a John Sampson solo book)[2]
#32 Alex Cross Must Die (2023)

Mystery Series - Travis McGee

John D. MacDonald

John D. MacDonald (1916-1986) wrote thrillers and various standalone crime stories from 1936 on. In 1964, the first Travis McGee book appeared. McGee is not a detective, but a salvage consultant living on a boat in Florida. McGee is 6'4" tall, ex-military, and has a commanding presence. He consistently gets pulled into high-stakes adventures, usually to solve problems that are beyond the reach of the law. These are rather hard-boiled stories with lots of action and some sex (not explicit), but there is a cerebral element to all the problems he is called upon to solve. His sidekick is Meyer, an economist, with whom he shares everything. He has few emotional ties, but two women do appear in the series, both of whom have an impact on his life before they are abruptly removed (for different reasons). All the books in this series have a color in the title.

Recurring Characters of Note
G. Ludweg Meyer, economist and his best friend
Puss Killian, one of the few women Travis really loved
Gretel, another of the few women Travis loved

#1 The Deep Blue Good-by (1964)
#2 Nightmare in Pink (1964)
#3 A Purple Place for Dying (1964)
#4 The Quick Red Fox (1964)
#5 A Deadly Shade of Gold (1965)
#6 Bright Orange for the Shroud (1965)
#7 Darker than Amber (1966)
#8 One Fearful Yellow Eye (1966)
#9 Pale Gray for Guilt (1968)
#10 The Girl in the Plain Brown Wrapper (1968)
#11 Dress Her in Indigo (1969)
#12 The Long Lavender Look (1970)
#13 A Tan and Sandy Silence (1971)
#14 The Scarlet Ruse (1973)
#15 The Turquoise Lament (1973)
#16 The Dreadful Lemon Sky (1975)
#17 The Empty Copper Sea (1978)

#18 The Green Ripper (1979)
The Green Ripper is a child's mispronunciation of The Grim Reaper. McGee has been living aboard his boat with Gretel, one of his true loves. She has temporarily moved to a location closer to her new job as an all-purpose-person at a health spa. She is telling Travis and Meyer about an odd occurance where she recognized a man from her past with one of the owners. A few day later, the man is dead from a fall off his bicycle and Gretel is in the hospital with an unexplained flu-like disease. Her condition worsens, and the pathogen can not be identified.

When Gretel does not survive, Travis insists on an autopsy, and a clever murder is revealed.

McGee embarks on a quest to find the man Gretel recognized, find out what's going on and exact revenge. His quest takes him to a militant terrorist "church" in California with a chilling agenda.

#19 Free Fall in Crimson (1981)
#20 Cinnamon Skin (1982)
The Travis McGee Quiz Book (compiled by John Brogan, introduction by MacDonald) (1984)

#21 The Lonely Silver Rain (1985)
This is the final book in the series. It's not exactly clear if MacDonald intended to end the series, but it does make a nice conclusion. The final chapter takes place in a rain so heavy it bounces off the pavement. Travis calls it a "lonely silver rain."

A friend of McGee asks him to try to recover his custom yacht that was stolen. It's a real long shot, because stolen boats are usually quickly transformed so as to be unrecognizable. However, the custom build of this one does suggest a method to find it. When McGee finds the boat, there are three dead bodies aboard, and someone in the drug smuggling world seems to want to blame McGee and the boat owner for the murders.

McGee travels to Mexico to try to keep from being killed by finding out who is really to blame.

Meanwhile, someone is leaving whimsical pipe-cleaner cats in various colors on his own boat.

Mystery Series - Kinsey Millhone

photo by Mark Coggins

Sue Grafton (1940-2017) began writing the "Alphabet Series," after a fairly successful career as a screenwriter. The books are usually categorized as hard-boiled PI thrillers. However, Kinsey Millhone brings a softer touch between the adventurous parts. They are set in the fictional Santa Teresa, which is a thinly disguised verson of Santa Barbara, California.

Recurring Characters of Note:
Kinsey Millhone, policewoman and then private investigator
Henry, her neighbor
Rosie, Henry's Hungarian sister-in-law who runs a small restaurant
Con Dolan, a cop
Cheney Phillips, a cop

"A" Is for Alibi (1982)
"B" Is for Burglar (1985)
"C" Is for Corpse (1986)
"D" Is for Deadbeat (1987)
"E" Is for Evidence (1988)
"F" Is for Fugitive (1989)

"G" Is for Gumshoe (1990)
Kinsey returns to her renovated home (after it was destroyed by a bomb), and takes on a job to locate an elderly woman who has lived most of her life as a recluse in a desert "community" populated by people considered homeless. But the woman is missing, and someone seems to be trying to kill Kinsey!

She becomes so alarmed that she hires a bodyguard, but working with him presents issues of a different kind. The woman is located. She is suffering from dementia and her daughter brings her to a nursing home nearby. Then the mother escapes. Relationships get complicated.

"H" Is for Homicide (1991)
I think this is one of the best books in the series. Kinsey begins with being only peripherally involved in the investigation of a network of insurance fraud where the perpetrators file small claims that can't be disproven. The number of claims adds up to significant losses for the insurance companies.

While trying to track down Bibianna, who may be involved in these scams she ends up being picked up and sent to jail with the woman. She doesn't dare blow her cover, so she plays along. Bibianna's boyfriend, Raymond, has Tourette's Syndrome. Most of the time, he's just odd, but when he has a full-blown attack he's unpredictable and scary. Kinsey ends up having to participate in the racket until she can make contact with anyone in the lawful world.

"I" Is for Innocent (1992)
"J" Is for Judgment (1993)
"K" Is for Killer (1994)
"L" Is for Lawless (1995)
"M" Is for Malice (1996)
"N" Is for Noose (1998)
"O" Is for Outlaw (1999)

"P" Is for Peril (2001)
Kinsey is asked to investigate what happened to Dr. Purcell who disappeared nine weeks earlier. The doctor's ex-wife is her client. The doctor's current young wife is very much a part of the investigation. It turns out that Purcell was about to be investigated for Medicare fraud as he is the administrator for a nursing facilty. That, coupled with a couple of disappearances in the past have made the authorities less interested in suspecting that something happened to the doctor. There have been no bodies matching his that turned up and no hospitals treating anyone matching his description.

Meanwhile, Kinsey is trying to find new office space. She finds a nice remodeled duplex half that is perfect for her needs. The brothers who are renting it seem fine at first, but before long, there seems to be something off about them.

"Q" Is for Quarry (2002)
Year is 1987. Millhone has just moved to new offices after years of sharing space in the Kingman building. Her friend, Con Dolan, is on medical leave after suffering a heart attack. He wants to privately look into a cold case with an old cop friend Stacey, who is being treated for cancer. Kinsey agrees to work with them.

This book is based on an actual case of an, even yet, unidentified body of a young girl who was murdered in 1969. Other than the basic facts of the body, the rest of the story is complete fiction.

Kinsey, Con, and Stacey travel to Lompoc to see where the body was found, and Kinsey is stunned to find it has connections to her estranged biological family. We learn how Kinsey's parents died when she was five.

"R" Is for Ricochet (2004)
"S" Is for Silence (2005)
"T" Is for Trespass (2007)
"U" Is for Undertow (2009)
"V" Is for Vengeance (2011)
"W" Is for Wasted (2013)
"X" (2015)
"Y" Is for Yesterday (2017)

Mystery Series - Butch Karp

Robert K. Tanenbaum (b. 1942) was a member of the District Attorney staff of New York City. From this experience, he found source material for his books. The series featuring Roger "Butch" Karp and Marlene Ciampi is snarky, smart and often raunchy (although this gets toned down a bit as the series progresses). However I find the books honest and engaging. The main players are not cookie-cutter caricatures. The character development over time is superb.

The first book was published in 1987 but is set in 1970 in New York City. The main characters all work for the New York District Attorney's Office. The first 15 books were ghost written by Michael Gruber. The character of Butch is somewhat biographical of Tanenbaum.

Recurring Characters of Note:
Roger Karp, "Butch"
Marlene Ciampi, "Champ"
Raymond Guma, "Goom" - ADA
Roland Hrcany - ADA
Vernon Talcott (V.T.) Newbury - ADA
Kevin Tighe - criminal
Clay Fulton - police detective
Harry Bello - almost retired/retired cop
Ariadne Stupenagel - reporter and long-time friend of Marlene
Tran Vinh - a Vietnamese with an interesting past
Dirty Warren - a street vendor with Tourettes
The Walking Booger - a street person
John Jojola - a Taos Pueblo
David Grale - a former relief worker, now "father" of the Mole People
Ned Blanchet
Nadya Malovo

#1 No Lesser Plea (1987)
Karp is a young lawyer working in the District Attorney's office of New York City. He begins to learn the painful reality of bureaucracy vs. justice. Cutting plea deals is the way to keep the office running smoothly. However, there is one case that Karp can not let go of. Mandeville Louis and two other men were involved in the killing of a liquor store owner and his son during a robbery. Butch realizes that Louis has been committing similar crimes for a number of years and is determined to cut through the man's manipulations and bring him to punishment.

Marlene Ciampi joins the DA staff part way through the book, and she and Karp quickly become an item. He is rebounding from his wife's decision to leave him for another woman. Is his affair with Marlene just a reaction, or is it the real deal?

Butch respects the DA, Philip Garrahay, and fights for his reelection.

Then Louis sends a bomb.

#2 Depraved Indifference (1989)
The book begins with Croatian Freedom Fighters hijacking a plane. Their weapon is a homemade bomb that turns out to be a fake. However, a real bomb they left in a locker does go off, killing a policeman. This brings the full weight of the justice system to bear. At least it should, but Butch is finding that many different parties seem to want this case to go away.

Karp and Marlene are in a serious relationship, and Karp is now the Assistant Bureau Chief... until he gets fired by his ever political boss. Story date is 1976.

#3 Immoral Certainty (1991)
The title of this book comes from Butch's definition of "immoral certainty," the assurance that some criminals have that they never do anything wrong. The book begins with Felix Tighe being caught red-handed in a robbery. However he almost manages to turn the tables and get the police in trouble for hitting him even though he attacked them with a knife. He is convicted, but has jumped bail and is loose in the city.

A secondary plot deals with the murder of a small-time mobster.

The other primary case in the book involves a Satan-worshipping sex cult participating in the abuse and murder of children (well, this was set in the seventies, and there were a lot of such stories).

Butch and Marlene are seriously planning to get married, and Butch must get the consent to divorce his wife Susan who moved out before the series of books began.

Story date is 1977. Felix Tighe's first adult crime. Butch is Chief of the Criminal Courts Bureau. The recurring theme in all the books is the difficulty of bringing criminals to justice when there is no time for trials and almost every case is resolved with a plea bargain. This book is perhaps more violent and graphic than others in the series.

#4 Reversible Error (1992)
One of the two primary plots is that of a serial rapist who eludes identification because there is no way to track similarities. The book refers to a change in NY law (perhaps 1975 Federal statutes) which allows rapes to be prosecuted without a confirming witness, but requires evidence of force. This was a big improvement over the previous requirements for proving rape. Marlene works with a student who has been one of the rape victims to develop a computer program to identify patterns.

The other plot involves the systematic killings of city drug lords. One of Butch's friends, a cop, seems to be involved. Butch is being groomed to be the new DA, but things don't always work out politically, especially for Butch.

It looks like Butch and Marlene are actually going to get married, but city rules will not allow her to continue to work in the same department. She's not about to become a housewife.

#5 Material Witness (1993)
The book opens with the murder of a man who is left dead in a Cadillac. The two men who commit the murder think no one has seen them, but then they realize there was a trucker and his girlfriend in the parking lot who have to be dealt with.

Meanwhile, a mistake is made by a young ADA which releases a dangerous criminal whose conviction should have been a sure thing. Butch takes responsibility and resigns from the department.

Butch and Marlene are married, living in her industrial apartment, and their first baby is due in about four weeks. They are both free of career responsibilities. Butch takes up playing basketball again. He had been on the way to the pros when an injury permanently sidelined him.

However, it turns out that the murdered man was a pro player on the fictional New York Hustlers basketball team. The coach asks Butch to look into it, because the police don't seem to be taking things very seriously. Butch joins the team as their replacement player. Marlene stubbornly continues to investigate despite her advanced pregnancy.

Their daughter Lucy is born under interesting circumstances.

#6 Justice Denied (1994)
The Homicide Bureau of the DA Office has been reinvented with Butch as its head. Marlene is back to work as head of the Rape Bureau.

The book opens with the murder of a Turk who worked for the U.N. in New York. An Armenian is arrested for it- just one more bad story in centuries of strife between the two ethnic groups. The girlfriend and alibi for the Armenian disappears. Is this suspicious or not?

Marlene is cultivating a near-retirement, drunk cop who helped solve the Material Witness case. His name is Harry and he has cleaned himself up and becomes the godfather of baby Lucy. He begins working for her, helping to find the perpetrators of a supposed suicide that occurred after a rape.

Butch and Marlene are in danger of losing their "apartment" on one floor of an old industrial building in Manhattan.

In book time, it's still the late 1970s.

#7 Corruption of Blood (1995)
It's been 8 years the Butch has worked under Bloom so 1983 or 84. Lucy is 3, but it's supposedly 13 years since Kennedy assassination, so 1976. Thus the book timeline is pretty fictitious.

This is a straight-up fictional conspiracy theory book about the Kennedy assassination. Butch accepts an appointment to a Senate Committee to investigate the Warren Commission Report. Butch and his new boss originally think this is to be a legitimate investigation, but soon learn that what they are supposed to do is rubber stamp the original report. Butch has taken V.T. Newbury and Clay Fulton with him to staff the new investigation

Marlene is angry and refuses to go to Washington, D.C., but when D.A. Bloom pulls some of his shenanigans, she heads for D.C. and finds a legal adventure of her own, aided by Harry Bello.

They adopt a huge Neopolitan Mastiff dog abandoned by the neighbors and name her Sweety.

#8 Falsely Accused (1996)
Butch is working for a private firm where he is finally making a lot of money. He and Marlene have remodeled the loft into a beautiful apartment. Lucy is 7 and goes to PS1, where they must drop her off every day. She makes friends with a girl whose mother is being stalked. The mother hires Marlene to help her get this guy away from her. Marlene enlists the help of her policeman friend Harry Bello. They are so successful that they decide to open an agency to help women who are being stalked or abused. Marlene becomes pregnant again.

The Medical Examiner, Murray Stelig, is fired by the Mayor and the D.A. for reasons that seem completely bizarre to Butch. He hires Butch to bring a lawsuit against the city.

Meanwhile Ariadne Stupenagel is researching a story about gypsy cab drivers being held up and possbily murdered. Then she is seriously beat up.

#9 Irresistible Impulse (1997)
Butch is once again Chief of the Homicide Bureau of the DAs office. It's 14 years since he first became an ADA (stated to be in the late 60s, and the book says it is the "start of the 1980s," but book time does not flow quite like real time). James Keegan has replaced the corrupt Sanford Bloom, who was ousted in the previous book. Keegan was hoping for a judgeship, but was passed over, and is now the District Attorney of New York County.

The book opens with a doctor somewhat reluctantly issuing a death certificate for a womn when he is asked to do so by another doctor friend, Vince. Eventually, the death seems suspicious and the body is exhumed. Vince seems to be tied to Medicaid fraud, but proof is elusive

Meanwhile, Butch takes on the biggest trial of his career. A young white man has killed five elderly black women, but his family has hired the best defense attorney in the country, who is going to argue for insanity.

Marlene has expanded her security business, protecting celebrities from stalkers. With the funds these clients bring in, she can also protect low-income women who have no way to fend off unwanted attentions. She is simultaneously guarding a pro tennis player and a famous cellist. Vince turns up again, and reveals his true colors.

Marlene and Lucy usually stop at a Vietnamese noodle shop for her after-school snack. When the shop is burned by arsonists, Marlene learns that Vinh has many talents

#10 Reckless Endangerment (1998)

Karp is now the Deputy District Attorney for Special Projects. This position is a lightweight compared to his past jobs. However, he is currently content.

The book opens with the shooting of a Jewish couple by an Arab cell calling themselves Duhd el Dar al-Harb (Against the House of War). It looks like this group is nothing but four young men with a grudge and a lot of energy. However, things begin to heat up between the NY Arabs and Jews.

Two Mexican brothers are in jail for a murder related to a drug deal which also involves an Arab.

Lucy is 10, and the twins are 2. The year is given as 1981. Tran Vinh now works for Marlene, but Harry is getting worried about their near-illegal (and probably actually illegal) methods of protection. He goes to work for a bigger security firm and wants Marlene to follow. Vinh becomes something of Lucy's mentor and definitely her protector.

#11 Act of Revenge (1999)
Lucy is 12, and very much the pre-adolescent mother-hater. She's feeling particularly self-pitying because her ability to learn languages so easily has resulted in her being studied scientifically, and also because her figure hasn't begun to develop.

A double murder occurs in the back room of the Chen's retail Asia Mall. Lucy's friends witness the crime. Lucy is there but does not actually see it happen.

The alternate plot involves the mob-style murder of an upper-level member of organized crime.

When the two murders turn out to be related things get crazy.

We learn more about Tran's background. He is still serving as Lucy's protector, but he can't take too many more chances with the American's finding out who he really is.

#12 True Justice (1999)

At the beginning of the book, Marlene is forced to shoot yet another scumbag of a man, and she gives up her protection business. A rash of thrown-away newborns has hit the city and the media is in a feeding frenzy. Marlene agrees to defend one of these young mothers.

The parallel plot is the murder of the parents of a friend of Lucy, who is now attending Sacred Heart High School. The twins are 7.

#13 Enemy Within (2001)

The book begins with a police chase where the person being chased is gunned down when he flees. There is no question that that man killed is a lowlife, but there are a lot of forensic details that verify this was more of an assassination than a clean shoot. Race again becomes an issue as the policeman is white and the dead man is black.

Several street people are murdered. Again, there is no public outcry because these are invisible people. Lucy is now 17, and her fervent piety takes her into the deepest pits of despair where many of these people live. She also thinks she might be in love.

When a rich, white woman kills a person who she claims threatened her with a knife, Butch begins to believe there is a connection with the "bum slashings," as they have been dubbed.

Marlene makes a fortune when the IPO of the security company she works for rises in the market on the first day. However, she does not handle this well and may be teetering on the brink of a mental breakdown.

The best part of this book is a chase scene in the dark through the lowest levels of old subway and sewer tunnels.

#14 Absolute Rage (2002) This book is really a turning point in the series. The action becomes more violent. The title is fitting.

Lucy is now 18 and in Boston College. On the train, on the way home for vacation she is somewhat attracted to a boy, Dan Heeny, who is an MIT student. "Home" is now partly on Long Island. Marlene bought an old estate and fixed it up. There, she escapes the city and raises Neopolitan Mastiffs to be guard dogs. It turns out that Dan's family has the house next door. However, his family is from West Virginia, and they are only on Long Island to finish closing that house in preparation to sell it. The house had been in Rose's (the mother) family.

Dan's father, Red, is a mine worker in West Virginia. He has been fighting the "company union" for years, trying to get in a real union to help the working people. Dan stays on LI, and the rest of the family returns to West Virginia. Then he gets a call that real trouble has erupted at home because Red did win the election, but the company isn't going to accept that.

Marlene gets involved in the West Virginia mess as she tries to get a simple-minded patsy out of jail. Butch accepts an assignment to represent the feds in their attempt to clean up the politics of the coal-mining county. Before the end of the book, the entire family is in West Virginia.

This is an action-packed and sometimes shocking narrative, exposing many of the evil practices of strip mining in the mountain states.

The twins are ten, and Giancarlo becomes blinded at the end, but he handles it much better than anyone expected. Lucy has a crisis of faith.

This book is based on the true story of Jock Yablonski, and a labor crisis in Pennsylvania. The true crime book is also by Tanenbaum and is titled, Coal Country Killing.

#15 Resolved (2003)

Marlene is just barely sane and functional. She can't put the events of West Virginia behind her, and she is mostly living on Long Island, only coming back to their Manhattan loft occasionally.

Meanwhile, one of Butch's old nemeses, Felix Tighe (Immoral Certainty), is out of prison and determined to exact vengence. He get mixed up with a group of terrorists who plan to blow up the courthouse.

Butch becomes the District Attorney, filling out the term when Jack Keegan gets a federal judgeship.

Books from the beginning through Resolved were ghost written by Michael Gruber.

#16 Hoax (2004)

The next three books are a trilogy involving a maniac, Andrew Kane, who wants to control all of New York

You can definitely tell that the books from here on were written by a different person (Tanenbaum himself). There is an awful lot of backstory in Hoax. When the action finally gets moving, I think the story is comparable to the earlier ones, but it takes a while to get there.

As noted previously, book time is out of sync with real time. It is now past Sept. 11, 2001. The twins are eleven and Lucy is 20. Giancarlo has taught himself how to play several musical instruments, and he and Zac spend a lot of time on the streets busking for spare change. They sneak into a rap club to support a rapper friend of theirs. When the rival rapper is gunned down and their friend is charged with the murder, they become material witnesses.

Meanwhile, Marlene and Lucy have taken a trip to New Mexico to bond, and so that Marlene can try to recover from the accumulated trauma of the life she has led. Whle there, they become friends with a Taos native John Jojola, sheriff on the pueblo reservation. Four young boys have gone missing in the past six months. Marlene has no intentions of getting involved, but she seems to be a trouble magnet. Lucy falls for a young rancher, a man named Ned.

#17 Fury (2005)

This book is clearly the weakest in the story to date, although it doesn't lack for action. The use of language is not nearly so precise as in earlier books, and there is still a lot of backstory. In addition, there are many errors that no one would tolerate from an independent author. A punch to a victim later turns into a bite. Other bits of the story turn up later as something different. One event of the final courtroom scene is a blatant problem.

A rape and beating that took place ten years ago is one of the central plots. The Brooklyn DA is suing the city of New York for intimidating the confessions of the five young black men who were charged and convicted.

Two other disgruntled young men join up with an Islamist terror group, but they get more than they bargained for.

Marlene ends up defending a professor against a rape charge.

Throughout, Butch is accused of being racist, anti-police, of being soft on prosecuting crimes in his own office, but he doggedly clings to doing what is right.

The action is a bit over the top, but it includes all the interesting characters of the series, and another chase in New York's subterranean tunnels.

#18 Counterplay (2006)

The Neopolitan Mastiffs have suddenly turned into Presa Canario dogs which, though hard to believe, are even more ugly. This is not simply a change in the kind of dogs Marlene trains. Gilgamesh himself has changed breeds. Salt water taffy in the last book has changed to licorice. These are not major errors, but they are the kind of detail that I think should be caught in mainstream, best-selling books.

The earlier books, although action-packed, were somewhat believable. The three in this trilogy: Hoax, Fury, and Counterplay, have devolved into something more like a superhero comic book. They are not exactly bad, but they are quite a change from the earlier books. Characters have become more like characatures- the straight-arrow DA, the violence-loving wife, the mystical daughter, a cowboy, an Indian, a villian who seemingly has tentacles everywhere, and the mysterious shadow world of underworlders who live in the tunnels beneath New York.

Guma is persuing cold cases and decides to prosecute an unsolved disappearance that was probably a murder. The body of the missing person is found, but things are not quite that simple.

The Islamic terrorists who seem to be allied with the primary villian are planning another major assault on New York.

#19 Malice (2007)

Book year is 2006. This one is filled with political intrigue as the Karps try to figure out who has taken over the evil organization that was personified by Andrew Kane. The terrorist groups are still trying to cause havoc in New York City, and we begin to get an inkling of who is really behind all this.

Lucy is living in New Mexico with Ned, but that doesn't keep her from becoming involved when the Department of Homeland Security calls upon her to translate a message in an obscure language.

Butch is still recouperating from the attack at the end of the previous book, and he takes on a civil case in Idaho involving the brother of a college basketball friend. Of course, everything ends up being related.

From Hoax onward, the books are more like episodes in one continuing saga.

#20 Escape (2008)

One of the two parallel stories in the book is taken from the real-life case of Andrea Yates who drowned her five children in the bathtub. This part of the story does an excellent job of balancing the legal definition of insanity with the obviously deranged mother who thought God had told her to kill her children to save their souls.

The other story is the ongoing saga of the Islamic terrorists who are trying to bring down the United States, the Sons of Man who are attempting an economic control of the country, and the crazy cast of Butch Karp's family and friends who are constantly involved in preserving New York City and the country.

Although Tanenbaum (since Resolved) has written the books himself, this one is slightly less wordy, with more of the text to the point of action. I keep reading because I like the diverse and implausible cast of characters.

#21 Capture (2009)

The series continues very much in comic book mode with the unlikely cast of the Karp-Ciampi family, Ned the cowboy, Tran the Vietnamese who is now best friends with his old enemy the Pueblo Indian John Jojola, the ruthless reporter, the evil arch-enemy, the treacherous Sons of Man, David Grale with his army of homeless tunnel-dwellers, and don't forget the District Attorney's office. But it works!

The terrorists are still at it, having recovered from being foiled in their previous plot. Of course, they may only be tools of the Russians or the Sons of Man.

The courtroom secondary plot involves the trail of a Broadway producer. Did the girl in his room commit suicide or did he kill her?

#22 Betrayed (2010)

This book has one story revolving around a "Fixer," a man who makes big problems go away for rich people. This person and the man who hired him are woven through events which are purposely mis-interpreted. A young woman goes missing and is believed to have been taken into the slave trade in Mexico. "Dirty Warren" the street newspaper vendor at the courthouse is arrested for the murder of a woman he used to know.

The terrorist saga continues with the trail of the Imam at the mosque where Jojola and Tran witnessed the murder of Miriam Kalifa. But the men are under deep cover in anti-terrorist activities and can't say as much as they'd like, and the defense for the Imam is claiming that Jojola and Tran actually committed the murder. The Sons of Man are suffering setbacks.

Karp's children are less involved in this book, but Marlene chooses to defend Dirty Warren.

#23 Outrage (2011)

This book seems to be better written again with more focus. Lucy is having second thoughts about getting married to Ned. The twins are 15, over 6 feet tall, and learning to stand up for what's right. Their private school baseball team has a chance at the playoffs, but an Hispanic boy who has a scholarship is being not-so-subtly pushed off the team by the coach even though he's an excellent player.

The primary theme is that of suggestive confessions forced by police. A not-terribly-bright young man is arrested for several brutal murders across two buroughs. Karp is embarrassed and outraged when his office indicts the man who is clearly not the guilty party. The only way to save face is to find out who really is the killer.

#24 Bad Faith (2012)

The legal theme of this book is whether parents have the right to withhold medical treatment from their children for religious reasons. The reader is not forced to think about it too hard, though, because it turns out that the "Reverend" definitely has motives that go beyond the spritual.

Chechyn terrorist Nadya Malovo is still up to her tricks, having now convinced the US government that she will give up terror plots in exchange for a place in the Witness Protection Program.

#25 Tragic (2013)

This is the "calmest" book in the series, and probably the most realistic. No terrorism, just a tragic story of two young men who are minor criminals, but they are enticed to help with a killing for money. The lives that are changed forever, even though they later are sorry for what they have done, can't be altered.

The feud is between two factions of a dockworkers union. One has the best interests of the workers in mind, and the other is corrupt, stealing money from the union pension fund.

The subject of the book is loosely woven on a framework of Macbeth.

#26 Fatal Conceit (2014)

In the opening scene, Lucy is in terrible jeopardy due to her "job" with the super-secret anti-terrorism group. She and Ned are on assignment in the Middle East. When the compound is attacked, Lucy manages to get a message out on a cell phone.

Two advisors to the U.S. President are running the military response, and refuse to call up a drone strike on the attack that is taking place. Lucy is taken hostage and Ned is missing.

The President refuses to admit that Al Queda is still powerful, and this leads to the murder of the candidate for CIA director.

#27 Trap (2015)

The main theme of this book is how much can be at stake between traditional teacher's unions and charter schools. Another good read about people in power going wrong for greed, when an attempt to cover up theft leads to murder. No terrorists in this book, but there are some Neo-Nazis.

The personal aspects of Butch's life deal with his twin sons who are now almost grown.

#28 Infamy (2017)

Intrigue and black-market oil are the key elements of this book. A powerful businessman with the President's ear will do anything to prevent the truth coming out about how he has protected his own oil-production facilities. The code word MIRAGE keeps turning up as Karp tries to unravel the truth. Along the way, the businessman's beautiful wife, a decorated soldier and a dirty cop are murdered.

#29 Without Fear or Favor (2017)

The final book in this series is almost entirely a courtroom case, but with flashbacks to the scenes that are elements in the lawsuit. Racism is rampant for both good and bad reasons. A radical young black man calling himself NatX is mostly looking for ways to kill people under the umbrella of black rights. Butch gets in the way of his goals.