First off, I want to thank you all for helping to make the launch of The Hidden Mine at Agua Dulce a big success. And I hope you’re enjoying the discounted KD Thorne books.

Just got back from vacation, and I’m starting to plot a new Travelers book. Every Travelers book needs to be complex and original, so the plotting can take longer than I would like. In the meantime, here’re two mysteries I read last month.

Cold in Hand (Charlie Resnick Mysteries Book 11, 2008) by John Harvey. An intense, extremely realistic British police procedural. Detective Inspector Resnick is brought out from behind a desk to deal with a teen gang dustup that resulted in the death of a young woman.

To add to the problems of lying witnesses and community distrust, the father of the slain girl blames Resnick’s partner, DI Lynn Kellogg, who was first on the scene, for her death.

The pages fly by in this complex, beautifully crafted thriller. If you like British crime books, you won’t be disappointed.

Second, Peerless Detective (2015) by Michael Raleigh. It’s the late 1970s or early 1980s. Billy Fox, fresh out of the army, comes to Chicago to look for his missing high school sweetheart, where a chance meeting with detective Harry Strummer leads to a job learning to be a private detective. Lots of detailed tradecraft and descriptions of the city.

This is really a coming-of-age story, as Billy learns some hard lessons about life and love, but it also contains two mysteries that are unraveled very realistically, one involving Billy and the other involving Harry. Lots of fun.

Happy reading!