The Stacks
All book reviews
613 honest reviews across fiction, non-fiction, mystery, sci-fi, romance, and more.
Showing 169-192 of 613
The Evidence Exposed
by Elizabeth George
The Evidence Exposed by Elizabeth George review. A three-novella mini-collection of Inspector Lynley and Barbara Havers shorter cases, useful but uneven.
The Edge of Nowhere
by Elizabeth George
The Edge of Nowhere by Elizabeth George 2011 review. A YA mystery on Whidbey Island about a fourteen-year-old with a psychic gift she cannot control and a boy who disappears.
Wicked Charms
by Janet Evanovich
Wicked Charms by Janet Evanovich and Phoef Sutton 2015 review. The third Lizzy and Diesel paranormal-cozy sends the duo after a pirate's treasure tied to the Stone of Avarice.
Tricky Twenty-Two
by Janet Evanovich
Tricky Twenty-Two by Janet Evanovich 2015 review. Stephanie Plum chases a Kappa Beta Theta fraternity president across a New Jersey campus while Lula deals with a chimpanzee.
The Scam
by Janet Evanovich
The Scam by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg 2015 review. The fourth Fox and O’Hare con-artist caper sends Kate and Nick to Hawaii to take down a casino-owning money launderer.
Thanksgiving
by Janet Evanovich
Thanksgiving by Janet Evanovich 1988 review. An early Evanovich romance set in Colonial Williamsburg about a veterinarian, a single-dad pediatrician, a runaway rabbit, and one badly burned turkey.
Love Overboard
by Janet Evanovich
Love Overboard by Janet Evanovich review. A 1989 contemporary romance about a Vermont woodworker booked onto a schooner cruise with a captain who is not what she expected.
The Wrecker
by Clive Cussler
The Wrecker by Clive Cussler and Justin Scott 2009 review. Isaac Bell hunts a saboteur targeting the Southern Pacific Railroad in this second Van Dorn historical thriller.
The Chase
by Clive Cussler
The Chase by Clive Cussler 2007 review. A Van Dorn Detective Agency historical thriller set in 1906 about a bank robber called the Butcher Bandit and the man hunting him.
Thriller: Stories To Keep You Up All Night
by Lee Child
Thriller: Stories to Keep You Up All Night, edited by James Patterson and featuring Lee Child, review. A 30-author anthology that punches above its weight.
Make Me
by Lee Child
Make Me by Lee Child 2015 thriller review. Reacher rolls into a Mother Wells, South Dakota for a single name on a sign and stays for the bodies underneath the wheat.
Eyes Of The Empress
by Camille Bacon-Smith
Eyes of the Empress by Camille Bacon-Smith review. A contemporary fantasy with demons, Philadelphia, and the academic-turned-novelist's second urban-fantasy entry.
Ed McBain / Evan Hunter : A Literary Companion
by Elizabeth Foxwell
Ed McBain Evan Hunter A Literary Companion by Erin E. MacDonald, with Elizabeth Foxwell. A reference work on the 87th Precinct and Blackboard Jungle author. Sharp, comprehensive.
![Blue November Storms [Novella]](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.sanity.io%2Fimages%2Fwi5vdf7q%2Fproduction%2Fc9b7fd93d2db9f1e8a3da47451ec3a79ce626db2-330x500.jpg%3Frect%3D0%2C3%2C330%2C495%26w%3D260%26h%3D390&w=3840&q=75)
Blue November Storms [Novella]
by Brian Freeman
Blue November Storms by Brian Freeman review. A psychological thriller novella. Short, atmospheric, useful sampler for the Minnesota crime writer.
A Bridal Bouquet and a Body
by Cindy Bell
A Bridal Bouquet and a Body by Cindy Bell review. The 8th Sage Gardens cozy. A wedding-themed retirement-community murder. The form running on its established energy.
A Deadly Serious Gardening Contest
by Cindy Bell
A Deadly Serious Gardening Contest by Cindy Bell review. The 7th Sage Gardens cozy. Retirement-community garden show, predictable comfort, the cozy formula in late form.
The Cat Who Smelled Smoke
by Lilian Jackson Braun
The Cat Who Smelled Smoke by Lilian Jackson Braun review. The unfinished 30th Cat Who book. The series winding down with the same gentle texture.
The Cat Who Had 60 Whiskers
by Lilian Jackson Braun
The Cat Who Had 60 Whiskers by Lilian Jackson Braun review. The 29th Cat Who book. Late-series formula at its most relaxed.
The Cat Who Dropped A Bombshell
by Lilian Jackson Braun
The Cat Who Dropped A Bombshell by Lilian Jackson Braun review. The 28th Cat Who book. Late Braun running on long-built community texture.
Fall Guy
by Carol Lea Benjamin
Fall Guy by Carol Lea Benjamin review. A standalone Benjamin novel outside the Rachel Alexander series. Pleasant change of register, useful for readers who want her voice in a different form.
The Long Good Dog
by Carol Lea Benjamin
The Long Good Dog by Carol Lea Benjamin review. The 6th Rachel Alexander novel. A Westminster Kennel Club case and Benjamin's most carefully observed dog-show writing.
The Wrong Dog
by Carol Lea Benjamin
The Wrong Dog by Carol Lea Benjamin review. The 5th Rachel Alexander mystery. A genetic-cloning case and the most morally complicated entry in the dog-mystery sequence.
The Sunken Sailor
by Elizabeth Foxwell
The Sunken Sailor by Elizabeth Foxwell review. A 2004 round-robin collaborative mystery with thirteen authors. Foxwell editing the kind of curiosity volume the form occasionally produces.
The Robert B. Parker Companion
by Elizabeth Foxwell
The Robert B. Parker Companion by Elizabeth Foxwell review. A 2005 reference book on the Spenser novelist. Sharp critical-and-biographical assembly of the long career.