Hugh Corbett, bloodhound to King Edward I is back in business. Strange lights are being seen in the forest, people are becoming human fire balls and counterfeit money is showing up in the realm. Hugh is sent by the king from York to Framlingham to the temple of the Templar Order in order to search out rumours of Knights Templar trying to assassinate the king. Hugh has to keep his wits about him as he has become the assassins target as well.

P. C. Doherty writes about the 14th century as if he had been there. Hugh Corbett novels are wonderful, some of the best historical mysteries I have found.

I loved this book - Didn't want it to end! A definite must-read for fans of historical fiction and suspense.

A definte read, for "Medival Who dunnit" fans. P.C. Doherty weaves a fine tale within a tale.

While some writers of police procedurals feature a detective who reappears throughout a long series of novels, Bill James repeats not only his detectives, but also his "bad guys," creating an entire world of fascinating characters to which devoted readers (including me) return again and again. James's world is mad, complex, and even violent, but it is always full of irony and wry humor, and it is always thoroughly entertaining. This novel, one of the early Harpur and Iles mysteries, takes a bit longer than some others to get its legs, but once it does, it's off to the races.

Like virtually all the male characters here, Chief Superintendent Colin Harpur does not find that having a wife and child in any way limits his social life. This time, the middle-aged detective's extracurricular love is a 19-year-old college student whose best friend is the lover of Harpur's chief "grass," or snitch. When, as a result of information received from the informer, Harpur interrupts a robbery and kills the son of a vicious but somewhat inept criminal, he sets in motion a series of threats on the life of his lover Denise, thought to be a conduit of information between the informer and Harpur. As Harpur tries to protect her, the informer, his reputation on the force, and his marriage and family, we come to know him as basically a good-hearted man who enjoys living way out on the edge, a man willing to bend every rule, if necessary.

James manages to keep the excitement high and the threat of real violence foremost in the reader's mind at the same time that he presents some wonderfully funny scenes--the funeral of the thief Harpur killed, the disposal of a body which inconveniently appears on the grounds of a house where a lawn party is to be held, and the resulting garden party, almost certain to end the upward mobility of its host. His peripheral characters are quirky and memorable, his dialogue is superb, the plot and motivations feel realistic, and the novel, overall, offers a terrific escape into a well-developed and exciting fictional world.

The good guys are Detective Chief Superintendent Colin Harpur (and his girl friend Denise), and his boss Desmond Iles.

The bad guys are Doug Webb - a truly low class criminal , Courtney Saquhar-Perry - a criminal of more elevated rank and good at organizing, and Ralph Ember - owner of a pub/club, where the low life likes to congregate.

And in between these two groups are the informers who supply the good guys with the inside info on planned criminal activities and, in return, are cut considerable slack when doing wrong themselves. Foremost is Jack Lamb (and his girl friend Helen), who worked his way into a super trophy mansion and a remarkable collection of fine art, most of it stolen and now for resale. On a lower rung is Tony Towler, and also our friend Ralph Ember.

Let the fun begin with a heist the police had been advised about. It turns problematic when Doug Webb?s son Martin is killed by Harpur. Webb needs revenge. Who blew the whistle? Maybe Denise, who is also friendly with Helen and could be the messenger go-between. She has to be eliminated. It definitely could be Lamb, but he is a few numbers too large to just blow away. No such problem with Towler, who quickly gets killed. But who can trust anybody? Saquhar-Perry plans a new heist at a bank. So let?s plant some desinformation to make sure the good guys are in the wrong place. Feed it to Towler, who will pass it on to Lamb, who will then inform Harpur. Towler can?t be found (remember, he is dead). You have to find a substitute. But who can you trust? What information can you trust? As a matter of fact - can Ember trust Webb? Can Saquhar-Perry trust Ember? Can anybody trust anybody?

The author has written a tightly constructed mystery. After introducing the actors, he starts to apply the vise and squeezes the last bit of thought out of them. The result is a cliff hanger not to be missed. I just wonder why it took ten years for this book to make the trip from England across the Atlantic. We desperately need more books of this caliber!

James writes the best dialogue in current mystery fiction; his plots are superb; and his portrayal of police under siege is unequalled. James does not disappoint, and in "Gospel" he excels.

Smoke Gets a Letter from a cousin asking for help. Smoke nevers turns away people in need, and definetely not family. So Smoke packs up and heads for Montana. On the way he looks up some old tough mountain men friends. He knows the battle will be tough and he might even loose. But if he did how would we be able to read another book? Maybe he will win!!

In a review that I read on the book The last mountian man(where Smoke Jensen first comes into play) he is known as Kirby Jensen.
Not untill later on in the book is he referd to as "smoke".Also Preacher didnt take Smoke under his wing after Smokes father had been killed.Preacher had taken Smoke to teach him about being a mountianer and and teach him how to hunt and fight,basicaly train him in living in the mountians.Befor that winter Smokes' father was killed and Smoke spent the winter with Preacher praticing on pulling those 45's in a blur.Also it never mentioned that Smoke was a big man even when he was just a boy.
The only thing that the person got right on his review was start from the beginning and read all the books it will make everything come into play when you get to where you are going.

William W. Johnston writes the best, hardest to put down series I've ever read. His books are facinating. They talk about men that my dad talked about when he'd tell his growing up stories.He could have been an old mountain man. This particular book, JOURNEY OF A MOUNTAIN MAN was the first one of the series I read.It takes place in Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho. Since I was born and raised in Montana and lived in all the rest of these states made the books even more readable.Then when I finished the book I went to the used bookstore I trade at and found many more of the series that had come before. I have not went wrong with any book Mr. Johnston has written. He has several series out such as THE BLOOD BOND SERIES, and THE EAGLES SERIES, and THE LAST GUNFIGHTER SERIES. They are all great reads. I just loved them all. They talk about the magnificent West and the totally magnificent men that populated it. The books display humor (in some),honor,courage, and chivilary. This is what being a man is all about as far as I'm concerned. My husband even read all the ones I found, too. He was a strictly a Louis LAMour reader. I was thrilled to have found something he could read and enjoy that was not a repeat. Myself included.

I quite enjoyed reading this short, fast paced mystery introducing Kat Colorado, a female Sacramento PI.

Kijewski has defended setting her series in Sacramento, and I was quite interested in reading a book set in a smaller Californian city, but in fact Kat's debut case takes her off to Las Vegas in pursuit of a friend's no-good husband. As befits a mystery, things soon take a more murderous turn.

I liked the main character and was carried along by the energy of the narrative, though I think Kat does some rather silly things along the way. I will read more in the series.

I was only able to read a couple of pages the first night I got the book and right away I was dreaming about the story. VERY engrosing characters. Kat is a gal that, for some reason, sticks with you for a while.
The characters were well developed and that was good, considering how fast the storyline moves. I enjoyed the column starting each chapter. It was an entertaining read too. I like to read about strong women who know how to defend themself (Even with a cast on)

This book is one of the more amusing ones, even though the subject matter is just as important as all of the other books. I enjoy Kat and this bookd lets her shine. Go pick it up.

Sara Hoskinson Frommer has taken all the best elements of a murder mystery. She gets you caring about the characters and wanting to find the killer, and when you find out whodunit, you say to yourself, "Of course, I should have seen that." I loved the Gilbert & Sullivan references at the beginning of each chapter, and what an ingenious, Gilbertian plot twist to murder a "ghost." The only problem is that I am a Gilbert & Sullivan performer, and I'm going to be afraid if I ever get cast in the role of Sir Roderic Murgatroyd.

Perhaps the best of the Joan Spenser mysteries, Murder and Sullivan is soooo much fun! The main character is this ordinary music-loving lady, Joan, and she's always up to her neck in danger! I love all of Sara Hoskinson Frommer's books. They're fabulous reads if you like mysteries. A writer friend of mine says she thinks Frommer is the best mystery writer out there today..and she might be right, too.

Murder & Sullivan is another gem from Sara H. Frommer, a writer who understands music and real people. I'm not a professional book reviewer by any means, but I know what's good when I read it. I've read other books by this author and all of them are I think, wonderful.

Earl Emerson's series of Thomas Black mysteries was my father's favorite line of books. Thomas Black, your everyman's hero, is an ex-cop turned private investigator in the university district of Seattle, Washington. Since I went to the UW I thought it might be fun to read these mysteries. I was pleasantly surprised at these books, which feature a hero that almost any guy can relate to on some level. Thomas Black is wonderfully flawed, with a fetish for large breasts and a jealous side that even he can't seem to understand. I really like the characters in Emerson's mysteries too, but this book was rather disappointing in that it introduced Snake Slezak as though he was Black's lifelong friend, even though we haven't seen him in any of the earlier books. Also, I was really confused by the ending, and after reading it a second time I picked up quite a few holes in the story line. I felt like Kathy Bates in the movie Misery when she screams, "What, have you all got amnesia? He didn't get out of the cockadoody car!" Maybe you think I'm being overly critical like someone who brings up flaws in the plot of a porn movie, but I'm just saying that the story could be tighter. However, even though there are mistakes, Emerson's style will definitely keep you reading if you like mysteries, but don't be surprised if you can pick apart the plot and find major flaws. To be honest, I think the guy should find a better editor, because he's pretty creative, and with a little polishing and revision his books would be great.

This was the first book I read by Earl Emerson. As a Portland resident and a Tacoma native I was able to identify with Emerson as he weaves his plot from Seattle to Portland. Thomas Black is the perfect character for this and the other books in the series. An ex-cop turned private investigator, Black has the feel of a Northwest detective. Living in the U Dub district in Seattle, Black is depicted as a down to earth guy trying to earn a living as a private detective. Emerson draws from his own knowledge of the Northwest as a Seattle firefighter and a Tacoma native in unraveling the plot. Many of the characters he creates are unique and present a great composite of Northwest life styles. A great read and terrific climax.

I bought this book in the Portland airport just before a flight back home. Usually I pick up a book for reading on a flight, and when done leave it for either the airline people or another passenger to pick it up -- but not this one. I was hooked from page one and when finished I kept it and loaned it out to others as a highly suggested read.

This was my first Emerson novel; what is interesting is how it shows that he (the author) had developed his ability to paint characters richly as well as handle plots with more dexterity than in his earlier novels, which I sought out to read after this one. I also have read books he's written since this one (except his latest, "Catfish Cafe"), and feel this is his best effort -- both in the Thomas Black series (this book features Thomas Black) and in the Mac Fontana series.

If you are an Emerson fan and haven't read this one, by all means read it. If you've not read any Emerson books yet, make this your first one. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Johnstone's Mountain Man novels are so fast-paced and exciting, you have to catch your breath. This is classic writing!

SMOKE JENSEN LOST HIS FIRST WIFE AND CHILD TO a small group of worthless hired guns. It was quite some time ago but felt like only yesterday when he rode into a town named BURY, a town he believed the 3 bandits now resided. If it did the population was going to decrease just as soon as Smoke found the cowards.

I Enjoyed the return of the Mountion man The Preacher,Was one tought &very cool Man .that didn't take any Fool Hartedness
He would try walk away .But the Bad guys would not have any of that walking away,So they keep on pushing

striker1

While yearning for more Tony Hillerman after reading his last book, I accidently came across The Shaman's Bones. I absolutely loved it. I could easily imagine neighbors from my childhood that could easily play some of the characters in this book. The only problem I had with this novel were the few dream sequences, which I thought tended to be unnecessarily long and disruptive to the flow of the the plot. Regardless, I intend to read the other 'Shaman' novels.

Mr. Doss writes in a style that gives the reader vivid mental pictures of what is happening with each of his characters. I have not enjoyed any murder mystery this much before. The Shaman's Bones integrates humor, murder, and mystery with emotion and Ute mysticism and lore.

Anyone who likes Tony Hillerman's books will LOVE the Shaman series by James D. Doss. I recommend that anyone who wants to step into Mr. Doss' world, begin with the first book in the series (The Shaman Sings) and work their way through the series. Warning: If you read one, you'll have to read them all!

Always enjoyable reading and a good yarn. Great characters.

I have read Very Old Bones and thought that the theme is true to life. Many people look at their ancestors to discover something of themselves. I found the narration interesting using Orson Purcell, the illegimate child of Peter Phelan to portray the Phelan family. I have also read Ironweed and found that some of my questions about protagonist Francis Phelan (in Ironweed) answered or more informative anyway. Enjoyed both books. I love Kennedy's style.

One of my favorite books. Reads like an old friend. It is a thrill to read his Albany series, as the books relate to each other. Just like a family conversation, one sentance may relate to a person or event from a previous book in which you know the whole story. Read this one first, then any of the others.

William Kennedy is one of America's best living writers. This is far away his best book. Although it shares characters and events with other books in Kennedy's 'Albany Series', its not necessary to have read any of Kennedy's previous work to enjoy Very Old Bones. Kennedy's greatest skill is in his dialogue. He allows his characters to speak for themselves, rather than mouth his own intentions. As a result, his work gives wonderful insight into one family, one city, and one point in time. Despite the fact that his most recent work, The Flaming Corsage, was a waste of paper, Kennedy will one day be the deserving winner of a Nobel Prize. After reading Very Old Bones go back and read the jury's commentary on the Nobel Prize given to John Steinbeck. Their words could just as easily been written about Kennedy. His is a fine American voice.

I bought this book and Sean Smith's biography of the same name as I love the Harry Potter books and wanted to find out more about the author, who seems to be quite private and doesn't reveal much about herself. There is no new material in Kirk's book - in fact she has taken a lot of the information from Smith's book which came out 2 years ago so you may as well just buy that one!

If you buy this book thinking you'll read something new, don't bother.

My mom and I both read this book while we were waiting for Harry Potter #5 to come out. It has some things in it I've never heard of before about Ms. Rowling. My mom said she thought the Forest of Dean near where Ms. Rowling grew up sounded like a magical place and maybe that's where some of her ideas came from. We loved the names of the mushrooms they have there! We liked this book a lot and recommend it to any Harry Potter fans out there who would like to know more about the author. It's also the most up-to-date biography we know of--it even mentions her new baby!

This book is very informative and provides a clear way of undrstanding parts of J.K. Rowling's life. It is by far the most accurate and up-to-date biography of J.K. Rowling.
I give this book 5 stars because of its accuracy and the fact that this book is the most up-to-date biography of J.K. Rowling.