Broken by Karin Slaughter - Book 45

I'm a real Karin Slaughter fan, so it's no surprise that I loved this book. Broken brings together some of her top characters: former coroner Sara Linton, returning to Grant County for the first time since her father's death, Special Agent Will Trent, as well as a cast of others familiar from Slaughter's previous novels. In this book, which follows the twin stories of a young woman's suicide (or murder) and possible police corruption, the interplay of these familiar characters is as interesting as the main plots themselves. I thoroughly enjoyed Broken and can't wait for the next Slaughter novel, Fallen.

Hard Girls by Martina Cole - Book 44

I've always enjoyed Martina Cole's novels of skulduggery in London's East End and this one was no exception. Though slower to start than most of them, the story follows retired copper Kate Burrowes, her ex-villain boyfriend, Pat, who may not be as retired as Kate thinks he is, and Kate's mentee Annie as they try to solve a series of murders among prostitutes.

I found the omniscient narrator a bit distracting and guessed who had done it well before the end. Still, it's a good holiday read that will provide just enough intrigue without taxing the brain too much.

Stephanie Plum Series - Janet Evanovich - books 36-43

Stephanie Plum is a bond enforcement agent - aka bounty hunter. The only trouble is, she's not very good at it. This series of books by Janet Evanovich follows her exploits as she tries to capture a series of people who have jumped bail with varying degrees of success. Read in succession, the books are a bit formulaic, but what keeps them interesting are the diverse characters who people them and the inherent humor of Evanovich's storytelling. There's bad boy Ranger, a fellow bounty hunter and cop Joe Morelli - through the series Stephanie is involved with one or the other of them. There's Grandma Mazur, whose idea of a good evening's entertainment is to see the people laid out at the local funeral parlor. And former prostitute turned file clerk Lula is a hoot. If you're looking for some light entertainment, then you'll enjoy this crime series. Here's what I've read so far:

• One for the Money
• Two for the Dough
• Three to Get Deadly
• Four to Go
• Hi Five
• Hot Six
• Seven Up
• Hard Eight

You can find all of the books on the Janet Evanovich author page

Update: I've now finished the rest of the series (taking me up to book 53!) as well as a novella entitled Visions of Sugar Plums. There are several of these set in a world in which Stephanie interacts with some sort of archangel. I didn't find them as compelling as the main mysteries and opted not to read the others.