Black Diamond Fall --by Joseph Olshan

Fiction / police procedural

411 pages

5 Stars

I must state up front that I read an ARC so my copy may be a smidge different than yours.

My biggest complaint was the lack of chapter numbers. I don't know why this bothered me, but I would have liked to have chapter numbers with the current titles used as epigraphs. 

The story is told in many POVs, all in first person. I had no problem with that, but if you aren't used to reading that style, you may have a slight learning curve. Had I started reading earlier in the day, it would have been a one sit read.

Luc Flanders is playing hockey on a frozen pond in modern-day Vermont, when the game is over and he's nearly home, he realizes his necklace has broken and he has lost a ring that means everything to him. He goes back to look for it and is never seen again.

As the police interview everyone who might have information to impart, we meet many people from guys who sell steroids to ex-girlfriends to parents, and of course, Sam Solomon, Luc's (secret) lover. 

Although this is a mystery I did not find it an adrenaline gusher; it is also a love story. More than once I cried with Sam, more than once I hurt with Luc's mother. 

I understand this is based on a couple of true stories – the disappearance of a student during winter break at Middlebury College; and the vandalism of the Robert Frost Homestead. This book is well written, worth my time to read, and I heartily recommend it.

Gun Games

Gun Games –by Faye Kellerman

Fiction, Police Procedural

467 pages

I read few police procedurals, but when I find an author I like, one I know won't bog me down with gruesome details, I know I'm in for a good read, and Gun Games was a very good read.

For those of you who don't know, Mrs. Kellerman is married to the award winning novelist, Jonathon Kellerman. Both authors are practicing Orthodox Jew, and that plays into their books in important ways.

Peter Decker, the police Lt. has been begged to investigate the "suicide" of a young boy by his distraught mother. In the meantime, the Deckers have taken in the teen aged son and musical prodigy of a friend, an ex Mafioso, so he can get the training he needs before entering Julliard School of Music.

Of course, the two stories intertwine, and their is a love interest for Gabe, the boy, as he meets and falls in love with not just a pretty Jewess, but a Persian Orthodox Jew. Gabe is not a Jew. Can you see the troubles coming?

There are love struck teenagers, a high school "Mafia," Holy Days that must be observed, and a rather surprising ending.

For those who follow this series, Rina Lazarus (Decker's wife) does not play such an important part in this one, but she is there. This time her role is more supportive mother than detective.

For a good read, with an interesting twist or two, get this book. Frankly, I enjoyed the heck out of it.