“The Right to Remain”; James Gripando’s 20th Jack Swyteck Novel

/ Pamela Kramer

“The Right to Remain” is author James Grippando”s twentieth Jack Swyteck novel and my first experience with the author and his protagonist, criminal defense attorney Jack Swyteck. And the very good news is that Grippando makes the reader so aware of all of the characters’ strengths, flaws, beliefs, and concerns that we get to know them well during the course of the novel and don’t for a moment miss the backgrounds provided in the first nineteen. As a stand-alone legal/suspense piece of work, it’s a riveting page-turner from beginning to end.

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Matt Witten’s new novel, “51%”, serves as both a warning and an extremely enjoyable read

/ Pamela Kramer

Author Matt Witten’s new mystery novel, “51%,” is both scary and suspenseful, and it points clearly to a problem which presents a major trap for America. No, it’s not about the potential takeover of the country and the world by artificial intelligence. That subject has already been treated in numerous articles, essays, videos, and some excellent novels. But in “51%,” an equally dangerous trap for the U.S.A. is at the heart of this complex novel. This time, it’s the all-too-likely takeover of the country by the world of corporations and powerful syndicates, groups of those companies and institutions. Even as the U.S. exists right now, huge corporations are so ubiquitous and so powerful that it sometimes feels hopeless to attempt to overcome their power. And that is essentially what this novel is about.

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‘The Last Letters of Sally and Walter’ by Cammie McGovern is about family, relationships, and Scrabble

/ Pamela Kramer

When we think of letters, and perhaps especially “last letters,” we think of heartfelt correspondence between people sharing ideas and emotions. We don’t usually think of the board game Scrabble and the letters we use when playing that game. The main characters in “The Last Letters of Sally and Walter” meet at an independent living community when Sally decides to try attending the Scrabble club one evening.

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‘No One Knew’ is the second in the ‘Noelle Marshall’ series by Kendra Ellliot

/ Pamela Kramer

“No One Knew” is a thriller that grabs you from the first page, wherein a lonely teenager finds a dead body. Author Kendra Elliot knows the central Oregon setting well, and through her capable descriptions, we feel the bitter cold of winter as main character Noelle Marshall, along with her coworkers and FBI boyfriend, try to figure out who is behind the murder of that man and two other dead bodies that appear in succession and why the FBI is getting whispers about something big being planned by domestic terrorists.

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‘Mad Mabel’ by Sally Hepworth is brilliant and unexpectedly gut-wrenching

/ Pamela Kramer

“Mad Mabel” is a magnificent novel. Usually, after reading a story that is engrossing, that has unexpected twists, and that really packs a punch at the end, writing the review is easy. I like to say about a great novel, “The review practically writes itself.” So while I think this is a brilliant novel, and I believe it would be a fabulous choice as a book club read, the review for this complex story is not writing itself. There are so many layers to Mabel’s story that delicacy is required so as to not spoil the novel for those who have not read it.

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‘Agnes Sharp and the Wedding to Die For’ by Leonie Swann is the last novel in this senior murder mystery trilogy

/ Pamela Kramer

When one gets to a “certain age,” it’s a kick to read novels, especially murder mysteries, in which the main character is also a person of a “certain age.” And in Leonie Swann’s very clever “Miss Sharp Investigates” series, Agnes Sharp and her fellow pensioners, who all live together in Sunset Hall, her large home, prove that age is no deterrent to fighting crime.

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‘Cat on a Hot Tin Woof’ by Spencer Quinn is the latest in the fabulous ‘Chet and Bernie Mystery’ series

/ Pamela Kramer

How can you not love a book narrated by a dog who understands a lot of what’s going on, but also — in true, believable doggy style — misses so much? Spencer Quinn has an almost supernatural ability to write like a dog. Or at least what we think our dogs really might be thinking as they go through life with us. And in his (and Chet and Bernie’s) latest story, “Cat on a Hot Tin Woof,” there’s finally a cat! Actually, as Chet might put it, “There might be two cats, but I can’t count past two.”

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Murder and Mindfulness: An Inseparable Pair? Highly recommended: ‘Murder Mindfully’ by Karsten Dusse

/ Pamela Kramer

Author Karsten Dusse is well-known in Germany as a lawyer, TV star, and very funny man. “Murder Mindfully” is his first novel, and it’s a doozy, This magnificently conceived novel amply demonstrates all his talents and does so in a stunning fashion that will leave many readers, including this one, with huge smiles and awe that such a humorous piece jumps off the pages of a pretty darn gory murder novel.

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‘The Hired Man’ by Sandra Dallas; historical fiction about the dust bowl and tragedy

/ Pamela Kramer

Well-written, gripping historical fiction like “The Hired Man” takes us back to another place and time and allows us to experience that setting through the eyes, and usually meticulous research of the author. Sandra Dallas takes us back to Colorado in 1937, during the time of the Dust Bowl, when instead of rain falling from the sky, dirt blew in from neighboring states blanketing the ground and covering everything with layers of dirt and grit. Thanks to her careful, detailed descriptions we can almost feel the grit in our mouths and eyes as a storm blankets the town with dirt.

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‘Dog Person’ by Camille Pagán is a love story: to dogs, to people, to bookstores, and to books

/ Pamela Kramer

“Dog Person” is Camille Pagán’s ultimate love story. It’s a story about all kinds of love, and maybe, most of all, it’s a love story about the love we feel for our dogs and what they bring to our lives. But it’s not “just” a dog story (funny thing, when I was typing this review, without thinking, I wrote “Dog Story” as the title). This lovely, heartwarming, heartbreaking, beautifully conceived novel is about love in all its permutations; a mother’s love, our love for our animal companions, our love for our partner, our love for our parents (or not), our love for our friends and family, and our love of reading and finding safe spaces in which to read.

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‘Moonlight Runner’ by Karen Robards is historical fiction at its best

/ Pamela Kramer

Karen Robards’ brilliance lies in her ability to take historical events, add fictional characters, and wring us dry emotionally as her strong, independent female protagonists march through important historical events risking everything to follow their beliefs. “The Moonlight Runner” takes us to Ireland in 1918. The Great War, as they called World War I, has just ended, but instead of being felled by a German-speaking enemy, people are being killed by an invisible organism known as the Spanish flu. Living in a small Irish town on the coast is Rynn Carmichael.

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