> re Virginia Lanier
 >  DS> I thought "Death in Bloodhound Red" was wonderful. It's almost a
 >  DS> series of  murders and adventures, all rolled into one book. It has a
 >  DS> number of characters in it, all of whom reappear in her
 >  DS> sequel, "House on Bloodhound Lane". I thought the first one
 >  DS> was a tad bit better than the second, but both were
 >  DS> excellent stories.
 > Is it a novel or a collection of short stories?
 It's a novel. But the adventures are all held together by one main 
theme..the threat of her husband coming back for revenge. Despite the threat, 
her life goes on.
 > The second book in a series frequently is weaker than the first--
 > SBS or > Second Book Syndrome.  
  The adventures just seemed more interesting the first time around.
 >  DS> Just finished Aaron Elkins'newest, "20 Blue Devils". I've loved his
 >  DS> Gideon  Oliver series for years, but his last two haven't been as
 >  DS> good as the first few in the series. In this new one,
 >  DS> murder takes place on a Tahitian coffee plantation. The
 > Did that make it to TV for a couple of seasons?  It sounds
 > familiar.  In the  > TV series, I think he was black?
 Yes, I believe  it was made into a short series but didn't last long. I had 
watched the series on TV and never even realized it was connected to the 
books!
 >  DS> Unfortunately, Gideon's vast knowledge of forensics and
 >  DS> pathology was only slightly touched on.
 > Yes, that's always a disappointment.  I've also read novels in
 > which the
 > Detective only appears near the end of the book--I bought the book
 > because
 > I enjoyed the character, so I feel cheated when this happens.
 That's exactly how I felt.
 Just finished Death In Little Tokyo by Dale Furutani. It was quite good..his 
first novel. The hero is an unemployed computer person who gets caught up in 
a real murder while being mistaken for a real PI. It has a lot of humor, lots 
of clues and a great sense of place for the Japanese community in Los 
Angeles.  It also tells about the relocation camps during WW2 for the 
Japanese-Americans...quite an eye opener. I finished it in two sittings.
       >>
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