My review of this book appeared originally in another publication and is reprinted here:

The Samaritan’s Secret: An Omar Yussef Mystery
by Matt Beynon Rees
Soho, 2009 (2009)

Omar Yussef, the engaging protagonist and indefatigable amateur sleuth in two previous novels from Matt Beynon Rees, travels from Bethlehem to Nablus when the story begins in The Samaritan’s Secret.

Yussef is a teacher of history and a keen student of Palestinian culture, and life has generally been peaceful and pleasant for the 57-year-old family man, but he is about to get an extremely troublesome immersion into the social and political maelstrom that threatens Nablus – a singularly dirty and dangerous town from which ‘even the stones might get up and run away.’

As the friend and unofficial assistant of Lieutenant Sami Jaffari of the National Police, Yussef accompanies Jaffari on a routine investigation into the apparent theft of an ancient Torah from a Samaritan synagogue.

My review of this book appeared originally in another publication and is reprinted here:

Black Tide by Peter Temple
Publisher: MacAdam/Cage. ISBN: 1-59692-130-7

Jack Irish, the tough and complicated but somewhat flawed Australian lawyer (who seems to have given up practicing law), is now principally employed in Melbourne as a private investigator (of sorts) who specializes in collecting debts (from very reluctant deadbeats) and finding (or even occasionally inventing) witnesses for clients who need a little extra unorthodox help with their cases.

My review of this book appeared originally in another publication and is reprinted here:

Jar City by Arnaldur Indridason
Publisher: St. Martin’s Minotaur.
ISBN: 0-312-34070-2

Inspector Erlendur Sveinsson, a fifty year old veteran police officer in Reykjavik, Iceland, knows that murders are actually quite rare in his country.

Dead Weight by John Francome
Publisher: St. Martin’s Minotaur
ISBN: 0-312-32981-4

Phil Nicholas had been one of the best jump jockeys in England. But after a devastating fall and life-threatening injuries, Phil wondered if he would ever regain his confidence and ability to win.

Shark Island by Joan Druett
Publisher: St. Martin’s Minotaur.
ISBN: 0-312-33456-7

Travel back in time to 1838. The United States has sent a small flotilla of seven ships on an exploratory adventure to Antarctica on a scientific mission. As an important member of the expeditionary force, twenty-four year old Wiki Coffin has been assigned to one of the ships, the Swallow, as translator and scientific officer.