Reporter Nell Mathews and her boyfriend Mike Svenson are back in their third mystery, and an outstanding one it is.

Nell Matthew and Mike Svenson are helping out at a Women's Shelter. While there, a man arrives and forces past Nell to see Patsy who runs the Shelter. In an attempt to stab Patsy, Mike is forced to shoot the intruder. This leads to problems for Mike since the person he just shot isn't your ordinary wife abuser and his wife isn't your ordinary abused spouse. Mike is traumatized from the shooting, so Nell takes to sleuthing on her own. This leads her to suspect the shelter director of some shady, extra-curricular business and Mike's mother might be of covering it up.

I know spousal abuse has been used many times in mysteries, but Ms. Sandstrom takes it a step further with some informative information and I found this fascinating. Readers can expect a storyline with a reporter's insight, some interesting facts about women's shelters, and a mystery that will take them in many directions to one superb conclusion.

The third in a series, this book takes a look at the consequences of the shooting by an off duty police officer who is forced to kill to prevent another from being killed. While I enjoyed the mystery of what exactly happened and why the attack occurred, the truly fascinating part of this book was the look at the consequences of the shooting by the off duty officer and how it impacted on him and the people who cared about him. Usually the focus of a mystery is on the capture of the killer. I felt that this book focused on the character of the policeman caught up in the tragedy of another. I could not put this book down and highly recommend it to all.

Nell Matthews and Mike Svenson have a complicated love relationship. Both are adept at trickery in order to survive in their professions. Nell works as a newspaper reporter and Mike is a policeman. Sometimes their quest for information and promises of confidentiality conflict with the natural expectation of honesty within a relationship.

In The Smoking Gun, Sandstrom does a superb job of weaving enough clues to create a page turner that keeps the reader guessing "who done it" until the very end. Issues of old money versus labor, domestic violence committed by law enforcement officers, right versus the law, and the effects of the trauma of killing a person in the line of duty engage the intellectual reader.

Universally disliked (at least at the Grantham Gazette), obnoxious gossip Martina Gilroy is found dead by reporter Nell Matthews, shortly after hinting she has news about Nells father, missing these past 20 years for reasons unkown to Nell. Nell finds out her father is alive and working incognito at the Gazette, and after her initial rage, she see this as a chance to get to know her father and to dump all the emotional baggage she has been carrying for years and that affects her ability to handle close relationships-especially important now that she has Mike Svenson, Grantham PD's hostage negotiator, in her life. In another shocking revelation, Nell learns that her mother was murdered and that her father, as chief suspect, has been on the run for all this time.. Now they are together trying to find out who really killed their wife/mother. Someone feels threatened by their delving into the old murder--especially by Nell., who has more than one narrow escape. But what could she know? She was only 8 when her mother died. This is a very suspenseful read, It also developes the characters of Nell Matthews and Mike Svenson., opening the way for future growth in their relationship. And hopefully many more stories about them. Linda Snide

Grantham Gazette Chief Copy Editor Martina Gilroy asks Nell Matthews, who just transferred from the crime beat to editing to meet her in the newspaper basement, affectionately known as the hellhole. Since her boyfriend, police detective Mike Svenson happens to be at the paper visiting Nell, he accompanies her to the basement. There they see Martina lying unconscious. As Martina regains her senses, she mumbles something about Nell's family and someone named Alan. Martina refuses to provide any other information.

Martina soon dies from a suspicious fall. This motivates Nell into investigating what the woman had previously mumbled. Nell soon learns that her father, Alan, was accused of murdering her mother, a fact that her grandparents hid from her. Rather than face a certain conviction, Alan vanished into the night. Nell wonders if her father really killed her mother, and she plans to find out the truth, using all the means at her disposal.

Though r! eaders will need a leap of fate that the murder mystery of her parents could be hidden from an ace crime reporter like Nell, the second novel in the Matthews mysteries is a marvelous story that demonstrates why Eve K. Sandstrom has received many award nominations. The suspense-laden story line moves swiftly forward even as the sub-plot of the relationship between Nell and Mike adds a nice bit of romantic distraction that humanizes the protagonists. THE HOMICIDE REPORT, like its predecessor, THE VIOLENCE BEAT, is a fascinating novel that will leave readers clamoring for more regional tales starring this dynamic duo.

Harriet Klausner

If southern Oklahoma is anything like the rural Missouri I grew up with, then Sandstrom nailed the atmosphere. The landscape is a bit different (no oil wells in Harrison County, MO), but every page evoked some memory of summers and holidays spent on my grandparents' 440 acres. The reminiscence factor was so great that I almost forgot that there was a mystery to be solved.

Looking back, I pegged the murderer almost as soon as the character was introduced. I don't normally get such a strong intuitive feel for a character, and there wasn't anything in the writing that blared, "This is a bad, bad person!" So I was a little surprised when clues started popping up to support my hunch, but it made for a smooth read.

The other characters were well drawn, also, but I wish Sandstrom, writing from Nikky's point of view, hadn't felt the need to make fun of the local speech patterns. It made an otherwise sympathetic character seem smallminded and petty. I was also a little disappointed that Sam started off the book in military CID stationed in Germany for what amounted to no real good reason. I'd like to see Sam and Nikky return to military life in a future book.

For those who like light,fun, easy to read mysteries will love this book. Eve Sandstrom makes the caracters come alive, and she paints a very vivid picture of the characters and the action. You can actually see "Big Sam", Billy, Nikky, and Sam. I wish I could Live in Catlin county Oklahoma.

David M.

I try to finish most books I start, but I just couldn't go on with this book. The plot and character development weren't very good, and it was all so predictable. I kept trying because I thought the writer has real potential, but it got to the point that boredom overwhelmed my desire to give Ms. Sandstrom a fair chance.

Nell Matthews is an experienced reporter for a mid-size town's only daily newspaper in the flatlands of Oklahoma. She gets involved in a hostage situation with an out of work,drugged mechanic holding is own son over a rail.A strange,unusual chain of circumstances pushes Nell into the hostage role. After she and the baby are rescued,the mechanic whispers something that doesn't make sense to her. She goes back to the newspaper to write her story,wind down from the excitement and eventually goes out with the policemen who rescued her.Eventually she becomes involved with sexy,rugged,red-haired deputy,Mike Svenson. They continue to investigate the death of the mechanic in the hospital,andthen some other crimes occur which bring Nell into some danger. Nell lives in a house with a gay male landlord and two other women. During the course of escaping from an attacker,Nell and a cryptic female witness run into the gay bar owned by her landlord.He is helpful and provides some humor throughout the story. Another humorous moment for Kate and Mike is the sudden appearance of Mike's mother in his house after a special night. The humor is mixed with the danger,crooked cops,old crimes involving Mike's father, and a really dunb reporter. All of this combines for a fascinating,fun, and sexy adventure.The ending brings a surprise and a hope for more fun in the future for Nell and Mike.

Nell Matthews is the dayside reporter covering THE VIOLENCE BEAT (the police, sheriff, and fire departments) for the only local newspaper in Grantham. She loves her job, which she performs extremely well. However, even Nell is not prepared to become part of a hostage situation. Yet, that is exactly what happens when a local mechanic holding a hostage (his own son) demands Nell's presence or he will kill the boy. Events conspire to turn Nell into a hostage until she is rescued by police officer Mike Svenson, a former big city detective who has returned to his roots. The child also survives the ordeal due mostly to Mike's professional handling of the dangerous situation. While the suspect is taken a way for psychiatric testing, Nell and Mike make time to get up close and personal. When the suspect dies the next day, foul play is suspected. Nell repeats his final words to her ("They killed Eric") for Mike.

She is shocked when Mike deals poorly with the message. Nell is unaware that Mike's father, the deceased chief of police who died in an accident, used that code name. Nell begins to investigate the possibility that Mike's father was on the take and soon receives an anonymous call from a friend of Eric, claiming the former police chief was murdered by his peers. Nell is afraid that she is falling in love with Mike while searching for the truth behind the legend of his illustrious dad, a situation that could prove heartbreaking if not downright dangerous

THE VIOLENCE BEAT is crime writing at its very best. The author weaves a mesmerizing police procedural tale that places the two protagonists in a realistic relationship, yet that same relationship is blended within (as opposed to overwhelming) the story line. Readers become caught up with the twists and turns that this one sitting read provides as it showcases the talent of Eve K. Sandstrom, an author whose novel seems to be heading for the best seller lists.

Harriet Klausner