Investigating a forty-year-old cold case in Split Tree, Arkansas, FBI Agent Michael Levine discovers the odds against uncovering any new evidence are firmly against him. For starters, the locals are less than cooperative. Compounding his problem is the absence of a body, which despite its status as evidence, has gone missing. Finally, there's his own abrasiveness, which aggravates everybody, including folks who should be allies, people like Robert Dean McKelvey from the Army's Central Identification Laboratory. Despite these formidable obstacles, Levine and McKelvey slowly begin to unravel the riddle of the unidentified corpse. Unfortunately, there are those who don't wish to see those secrets revealed, and are willing to kill to make sure that the truth remains obscured.

One Drop of Blood was written, the author states, when he had "the sobering vision" one day that he could write a novel every bit as bad as the one that he was reading. Well, if Holland achieved that goal, then the book he was reading that day couldn't have been too bad. Despite being a bit derivative, this novel is a very readable, very entertaining work of suspense. Holland's prose is clean and spare, the story is compelling, and the underlying mystery is worthy. Although the supporting players sometimes seems right out of central casting, the author handles the key relationship between Levine and McKelvey well. If Holland chooses to feature this odd couple in future novels it's a good bet that readers of his debut will pick them up.

Orchid Shroud is a pot-au-feu, bubbling over with plots. An interior decorator, Mara Dunn, finds a murdered infant in the walls of an ancient castle she is refurbishing for Christophe de Bonfond. Julian Wood, Mara's sometime lover and an avid orchidologist, is fascinated by the embroidered orchid on the baby's wrappings, an orchid no one but he believes existed. De Bonfond, trying to trace the identity of the infant, discovers the family may have some werewolf ancestry! And the murder of a very sexy, clever genealogist brings everything to a head.

Wan writes skillfully, and I found the many subplots fascinating. Individual stories move quickly and suspensefully, though, if the reader is interested only in the genealogist's murder, these supporting stories may seem distracting. The rural Dordogne setting is beautifully described, along with some unique glimpses of French werewolf history and folklore. Local peasants believe there truly is a werewolf, though a doctor suggests there may be a lycanthropic psychosis connected to the rare orchid, the Lady Slipper.

Some of the characters may seem eccentric to American readers, but they are made believable and interesting. Mara and Julian have a mature, realistic love affair, though both seem wedded to their work. And the charming genealogist is delightfully sneaky and manipulative. Even the dogs are lovable with personality.

Overall, this is a charming, unique mystery that is jam packed with back stories, and orchid and lycanthropic lore. Quite enjoyable.

Memories of his drinking days haunt Dave Robicheaux in more ways than one. Though his life in New Iberia is a sober one, at night his dreams carry him back to homicides he investigated in New Orleans, to rice paddies and fire-fights, even to ragged Confederate soldiers marching through the mists of his ancestral homeland. And in his waking hours, violence from the past begets crimes in the present.

Years ago, Robicheaux witnessed the murder of a friend in an armed robbery, but was too drunk to prevent it. When the man's daughter turns up in New Iberia passing dye-pack-stained bills, he suspects she's targeting her father's killers who are now deeply entrenched in Louisiana's legalized gambling industry. She skirts the edges of a complex investigation into the apparent suicide of a young woman, the hit-and-run death of a homeless man, and the murder of a college student. Only Robicheaux senses some underlying pattern that links them together.

Pegasus Descending opens in the spring of 2005, when Hurricane Katrina is no more than a confluence of breezes stirring far out over the Atlantic. Throughout the book the emotional barometer falls and the clouds begin to churn. All the moral complexity, lyricism, and mythic themes that are the hallmark of James Lee Burke's fiction are present in this complex novel, the latest in a brilliant series that drills through layers of the past and the present to explore the consequences of violence.

Chicago police lieutenant Jacqueline--a/k/a Jack--Daniels is appalled when she receives a video of a murder. She's even more distressed when she realizes that the killing has occurred in a house involved in a previous, similar murder case. Other victims quickly follow and all have a connection to Daniels' cases. Frantic about a copycat killer, Jack scrambles to investigate as speedily as possible.

The novel's point of view moves back and forth from Jack to Alex, the murderer. The contrast between them provides an intriguing look at the complexities of human nature. Both are subjected to an incredible amount of stress, but handle it very differently.

Jack has a complicated life, with an intense job and a sick mother. She copes with both situations with aplomb and still finds time to enjoy small pleasure. Instead of letting rough situations overwhelm her, she uses her best efforts to resolve them.

The killer has been scarred by a horridly traumatic childhood. Alex views the smallest annoyance as a personal affront and seeks revenge on those he blames for his situation. The devolution of his troubled personality is deftly detailed and is an intense reading experience.

With its vivid descriptions, fast pace and engrossing characters, this story is truly riveting.

Divorced, engaged to a cop, but seen cruising on the arm of Rafe Simic, one of Hollywood's sexy young heartthrobs? Cece Caruso is back and in up to the neck of her vintage dress in trouble.

Cece's biography of Dashiell Hammett is being optioned for the movies and Hollywood hunk Rafe Simic is set to star. Only Rafe hasn't a clue about Hammett so Cece is hired to tutor him for his role. Studies are briefly interrupted when Rafe is called on to identify a dead woman whom he says is Maren Levander, a past flame of his and the sister of his manager. The death appears to be a suicide, but Cece has her doubts.

There's theft, deceit, and a whole lot of snooping into other peoples' business, and that's just Cece. Someone else is using violence in an effort to dissuade her from her amateur sleuthing, but Cece isn't listening. Cece's investigative skills hang on pluck, luck, and persistence, and Kandel pulls all the clues together in the end and provides an amusing read with a twist or two.

A resident of West Hollywood, California and a former teacher at UCLA, Kandel knows her southern California setting and attractions, and she has definitely done her homework on the background theme of Dashiell Hammett's life and works.

When the daughter-in-law of Superintendent McQuarrie is shot to death in broad daylight, with her little girl watching, Detective Hal Challis is put in charge of the investigation. Though the crime is baffling, the case becomes even more provocative and frustrating when it's discovered that the victim and her husband, the superintendent's arrogant and powerful son, were members of a suburban wife-swapping club. And when pictures of prominent townspeople are uncovered in explicit compromising positions, it appears that the victim's demise may have been the dire consequence for her duplicitous blackmailing ways. But like the best mystery novels, there is always plenty more simmering underneath the surface--or the covers, as the case may be.

Excellent and evocative, this third entry in the series should satisfy Disher's growing fan base here, and win some new ones as well. While the character of Detective Challis sometimes has difficulty breaking free of the police procedural clichs--e.g. a failed marriage haunts him; frustration with his role within a sometimes ineffectual bureaucracy--the plethora of side characters are consistently vibrant and nicely sketched throughout. Recommended.

An innocent cell phone call by an Al Qaeda underling in Pakistan allows collaborating intelligence agencies to track the signal and raid his apartment. A captured laptop reveals references to a huge terrorist operation that will dwarf 9-11. Trouble is, there are no details. Western intelligence decides it needs to do the impossible: infiltrate an agent into Al Qaeda to learn the plan and its target.

British Special Forces retiree Col. Mike Martin, fluent in Arabic and a veteran of Afghanistan, becomes their candidate. Martin is painstakingly coached to take the place of an Afghan commander captured among the Taliban and held at Guantanamo for five years. At the same time, wheels of the terrorist plot are steadily set in motion. Once Martin is inserted, intelligence must painfully wait to see if their agent can successfully thwart an unknown catastrophe.

Frederick Forsyth, best known for Day of the Jackal (1971), has been producing thrillers for the last 37 years. His latest never achieves heart-stopping suspense, but does a good job of depicting the history and culture of modern Afghanistan and the craft of intelligence. Background on the recently headlined National Security Agency is close enough to reality to make a believable story. The Afghan's preponderance of organizational and technical details may appeal only to intel junkies, but what comes across effectively is the senseless, arbitrary, brutality of war and its dependence on the blind obedience of frontline fighters.