Murder Books

The book was well written. Looking forward to reading other books she has written. if anyone enjoys true crime stories this is one you shouldnt miss.

I've been a Police Officer in a large midwest city for 23 years. The last 16 years have been spent on Homicide. This book should be on every law enforcement officials must read list. I was astounded at Dr. Kauflin's insight. In all of my training, and all of the books I've read, this is the one definitive work that you should read, think about, and read again. It gives the detective new insight, and the layperson a glimpse into the mind of the people we encounter everyday, and may not realize it.

This book is good for anyone interested in how serial killers are profiled or come to be. The author correctly points out, too often, that there is little information on female killers. Granted, the number of interviewees is limited, but the author makes that clear but still brings out good detailed information.

There is very little of the actual interviews, primarily because of anonymity agreements between the author and the killers. Still, there are enough tidbits to get the flavor of how the interviews probably went.

The book is not quite as published as other books in the genre. It might have been a polished PhD thesis. Regardless, it is definitely worth a reading. This topic is almost certain to become more significant over the next decade.

I'm a psychologist who works with violent girls. I picked this book up because I wanted to see if there were specific behaviors I should be looking for in my practice. Once I read this book, I immediately understood what the doctor was talking about. I am seeing the behaviors discussed in the book in the girls in my practice. I like the way the book was written and would recommend it to other psychologists and social workers who work with violent girls.

I wanted to comment on this book and tell everyone that this is a must read for anyone connected to law enforcement and child guidance. I have worked for 19 years in several facilities for disturbed teenagers. The patterns discussed in this book mirror what I have actually seen and heard from these teens who have committed violent acts with little >or no remorse shown. as you read the New Predators you see as I have seen that some young women can be as fierce and aggressive as young
men when they decide to attack and feel absolutely no remorse for their acts. This book tells it like it is in the real world of the people in the front line, dealing with these increasingly troubled and hostile young people. I fear for what
is coming from these people as they grow older and more adept at covering their tracks.

craig pierron

Good, but ULTIMATE SACRIFICE the best book ever

While I thought this book was worthwhile in many respects, ULTIMATE SACRIFICE is simply the best book ever on the JFK assassination.Still, worth your time.

Vince Palamara-JFK/ Secret Service expert (History Channel, author of two books, in over 30 other author's books, etc.)
Pittsburgh, PA

BEST JFK ASSASSINATION BOOK: ULTIMATE SACRIFICE
BEST JFK SECRET SERVICE BOOK: SURVIVOR'S GUILT BY YOURS TRULY :)

This work is certainly one of the best investigations into the murder of President Kennedy.
It is a new version of his former book 'Conspiracy'.

Although the author admits that he could not find the ultimate truth, he believes that Lee Harvey Oswald was framed by an alliance of anti-Castro militants, the Mafia and members of the CIA. He could not find out if or not Oswald was a low level CIA agent himself. The author believes however that Oswald was used by U.S. intelligence without his knowledge.

The author also proves convincingly that the version of the killing proclaimed by the Warren Commission is untenable.

This book is a real thriller about a diabolic masterstroke. The real protagonists behind the curtain could load all the suspicions on one person, whom they then ordered to be killed. The whole plot was buried by the Warren Commission.

A masterly investigation.

As far as all facets of the JFK Assassination with objectivity, you won't find a finer book than this. Summers is open-minded, yet, cautious, so he isn't a conspiracy theorist or a debunker, In other words he is one great reporter. Clearly, from Dealey Plaza-to-Parkland Hospital-Bethesda Naval Hospital-Mexico City-New Orleans and the secret war against Fidel..there is plenty of tangible evidence in each area for conspiracy. The new material on Mexico City and a death bed confession from one of the well-connected players in the covert apparatus against Castro is featured.

This book is a completely revised and updated version of Anthony Summer's classic "Conspiracy", which was published in 1980 following a congressional committee's findings that there was a conspiracy to kill President John F. Kennedy. When it was released "Conspiracy" won rave reviews from such prestigious publications as Newsweek, The Washington Post, and The New York Times, and former Kennedy aides such as Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. and Pierre Salinger praised Summers for his thorough research and sensible approach to the problem. It also won the coveted "Golden Dagger" award as the best "true crime" book of 1980. Although there have been many "pro-conspiracy" books written on the Kennedy assassination, this book is BY FAR the best-written, most reliable, and most persuasive. Summers, a respected investigative reporter for the British Broadcasting Company (BBC), did an exhaustive, years-long investigation into the Kennedy assassination. In this book he presents the various groups in America which had a good reason to try and kill Kennedy in 1963 - the mafia, the anti-Castro forces, rogue government agents, and of course Lee Harvey Oswald himself - and then presents the evidence he found for a conspiracy. Wisely, Summers doesn't advocate any single theory - he simply presents the evidence and leaves it to the reader to decide. The result is easily the best single-volume "pro-conspiracy" tome on the JFK assassination, and if you could only read one "pro-conspiracy" book this should definitely be it. However, there are always two sides to every story - and I would also strongly recommend reading Gerald Posner's "Case Closed" to get the single best "anti-conspiracy" book. After reading "Not In Your Lifetime" and "Case Closed" you will have seen the best and most persuasive arguments for and against a conspiracy to assassinate President Kennedy. Highly Recommended!

This book by Anthony Summers is the best overview available regarding the JFK assassination and the case for conspiracy. Summers comes across as a very objective writer, as well an investigator who made a major effort to track down those who could shed light on the key events. Although believing that a conspiracy existed, and that Oswald was a patsy, he also clearly spells out the evidence, which is quite convincing, that Oswald was also involved in it somehow--given, for example, some lies that Oswald told his questioners after he was arrested on November 22. Summers presents more solid information than just about any other book on the topic. Many witnesses that the Warren Commission ignored are covered in this book. The result is a compelling case that there was a conspiracy in the JFK assassination. This book contains the information that any objective person should be willing to think about before coming to a conclusion about the case. If you bypass this book, you will likely miss some key information required to make a reasoned judgement about what happened in Dallas that day.

I have this item at my desk at work, and I find myself constantly pulling this down, and taking a few minutes to read it whenever I feel down. Almost without failure, it brightens my day. I followed this OJ trial to from the beginning to the end, and it was awesome! I bought at least 20 different books on the crime and the trial, over the past 10 years, most within the 2 or 3 years after the crime.

My mother bought me this notepad, and it is without a doubt, the best book I read on this topic.

I highly recommend it, for its humor and its lasting impression.

OJ was a real scumbag, and this notepad is constant reminder of that fact, and of the fact that we can't bring back Ronald Goldman or Nicole Brown Simpson!

MC White said: Check it out!!!

I found a Xeroxed copy of entire book (shame on someone) in a box from an auction. I've held onto it for years because it's so smart, clever, amusing and imaginative. I watched the trial on tv and wondered many times "what the heck is he writing?" Now I know! Beard and Boswell are demented to be sure, but I've always preferred black humor (don't even go there) and only someone with jumbled brain cells could come up with a book like this one. Buy it..it's priceless!

Here it is, four years after I first spent a summer reading and re-reading it with my friends (one of whom must still have it!). I've got to read it again. Maybe e-bay?

without a doubt, the funniest collection of drawings and text on the o.j. situation. a comical view into the demented mind of a lunatic!

OK, if the humor of the title of this review evades you, this is not the "book" for you. If you think the whole situation is funny, then get this book.

Page after page of doodles and notes that blow political correctness out of the water, and made me laugh out loud. This product is fall down funny.

Again, a classic that is out of print. Shame, shame, shame.

Other Countries/Other Worlds
"Fantasy and Fiction for Adults"
By Louis Fried

This is a delightful collection of stories that hold your attention and imagination. The characters in each story are unique, one-of-a-kind and they pull you into their world never letting go until the end.

Mr. Fried takes the reader on an around the world journey full of his characters and their adventures that remain with you long after the story has ended. Each story is just long enough to enjoy when you have short blocks of time for reading.

Other Countries/Other Worlds is a book that is hard to put down, a must read. Congratulations to Mr. Fried for writing an extremely enjoyable adult fantasy/fiction book.

Tales which draw the reading witht the suspenseful adventure which captivates and overwhelms the leader with joy and longing for more more more.

Wishes do come true in this spirited anthology of short stories, all of which, whether the setting is a mythical planet or 15th century Malta or the pubs of Kilkenny, Ireland, center around the abiding desire of the protagonist. A werewolf desperately desires to rid himself of his substance abuse problem, a woman needs a mermaid's help to find love and motherhood, a guy with a horrible case of sciatica would sell his soul for a cure. All get their wish -- or what satisfies something elemental inside them - but never in the way they've planned, as Louis Fried uses fantastical settings and sometimes absurd, sometimes deadly real problems to paint a picture of human nature as sexual, avaricious, innocent, brave, and, above all, celebratory of the wonderful world of the senses. In essence, this is a thoughtful book wrapped in a sparkling package that will leave you cogitating as you chuckle.

These are the kind of short stories you found in Playboy during its heyday: well-crafted writing that makes you want more.

It reminds me of the science fiction of my youth - a bit of Rod Serling, a bit of Hitchcock, and a lot of magic and mystery. There is no techno-babble and no need to explain everything. And there is just enough sex to keep it interesting without excessive recourse to bodily fluids.

Fried is revitalizing the genre!

Fried's stories always delight with an unexpected ending.
Fried tells tales of humor, sex and war with endings you should have expected but do not.
These stories are for adults.

Alice Wilson-Fried has written a murder mystery that keeps the reader engaged from cover to cover. "Outside Child" introduced me to New Orleans, its beauty, its politics, the many challenges of its residents. Although I've never visited New Orleans, my heart yearns to experience Mardi Gras and the music and joy of New Orleans. After reading this book, I feel a sense of familiarity with New Orleans that is very inviting. In her book Ms. Wilson-Fried takes the readers on a journey through New Orleans, including the Louisiana riverboats, which were the main focus of the book, and into the world of drugs, slave-trading and dirty politics. The book's characters are very colorful and I'm excited to read where their adventures lead them in the sequel to "Outside Child." I really loved this book and highly recommend it to fellow lovers of mysteries.

Outside Child, by Alice Wilson-Fried is a marvelous masterpiece of murder and mayhem on the Mississippi. Ladonis Washington wants nothing more than to make it to the top of her career. She will do just about anything to get there. She is tough, hardworking and dedicated. She works for the Floating Palace Steamboat Company in public relations. One day her friend and mentor Tim is reported missing, presumed dead. She is put in charge of keeping a lid on publicity. Her assignment quickly places her in the midst of the mysterious investigation into his death. When his body is found it is determined he was murdered. Ladonis spends her time searching for answers to Tim's death, although through it all has an epiphany of her own that impacts her own outlook on life.

This is a debut novel by a storyteller with a natural gift for capturing the southern dialect and conversational speech from both ends of New Orleans' society. At times her characters' conversations touch your emotions like a symphony that plays to the depth of your soul. It can be sharp, quick, witty, laughable, attacking and often deadly. The characters are memorable, so much so that it could easily be adapted to a screenplay or live theater. Each character is shaped by their speech and the role they play or the nickname they're called by. How can you forget Laundry Man, Preacher Man, HeartTrouble, L'il Boy, JockStrap and Big Blake?

My favorite scene from the book is when Ladonis visits her mother. Her mom is complaining because Ladonis doesn't visit often and says to her, "You don't miss the water till the well is dry." Now who can't relate to this remorse ridden remark? I immediately felt guilty for women all over the world. The words are priceless. Ladonis on the other hand has nicknames for her mother's three personalities and decides that this day she is Martyr Theresa. On other days she may call her Sick Puppy or Pissed Off.

This situation is so real, images of a time ticking by come to mind. Ladonis is too young to get that yet. It's a mother daughter thing. You love your mom, yet she drives you crazy. This conversation touches my heart and I felt the writer is very honest in her portrayal of their relationship. She makes you think about how precious the time you spend with your mom is and she captures the moment here beautifully.

Wilson-Fried, who grew up in the Magnolia Housing Projects, tackles the racism and social aspects of New Orleans. She shows how the marginal members of society, blacks, women and gays are still the city's outside children. To break into the New Orleans' white male dominated business and political arena there are challenges and tough choices needed to succeed with the endurance of a marathon runner. This is a theme that does not overpower the story but is the story. The mystery is a bonus, a wonderful who-done-it.

Anxiety ridden moments of anticipation will make you read on. You will hang on a limb at the end of each chapter. Don't miss reading this pre-Katrina New Orleans thriller.

Wow! This book has it all. It's a great mystery with underlying insights into pre-Katrina New Orleans. It's full of interesting characters with fantastic nicknames. And just when I thought I'd figured out where it was going, the story would take an interesting twist, and I'd be back to square one again. Just the kind of book that keeps me interested and intrigued.

When I first received it from Amazon I was busy studying for a test, so thought I'd take a break and just read one chapter. Several chapters later I was still saying just one more... I couldn't put it down!

I'm hoping for more of the main character, Ladonis Washington. She will easily become among my favorite literary characters.

Alice Wilson-Fried's mystery novel, "Outside Child," introduces readers unfamiliar with pre-Katrina New Orleans to a society where people can either transcend the social law of gravity in order to rise or must struggle against the social law of gravity in order not to fall. Through the eyes of Ladonis Washington, readers see what Ladonis sees and rejoice or cringe with her as she makes her way through the menace and puzzle of the corporate jungle. This mystery reveals the dilemma of a young woman who, on her way up, tries hard not to lose her way. Her self-imposed demand to solve a status-changing murder tests her resolve, her convictions, and the values she holds dear. And throughout the novel, steadfast, moves the leitmotif of the great river and the paddleboats that ply the waters of the Great Mississippi.

OUTSIDE CHILD is a remarkable book in that while ostensibly a "mystery story",it really is a novel about New Orleans and the folk who have lived and worked there. It is an encomium of how class,gender,race and kin, combine to provide an understanding of the glory,pride and family values of those who created New Orleans,while having to surmount the history of the repression of both class and white supremacy. The people in the book are ttreated with an understanding and respect that is reminiscent of John Oliver Killens' "YOUNGBLOOD". I can think of no higher praise.

I absolutely love Camille Minichino's books, and The Oxygen Murders is no exception. The heroine is so much like me--older, a teacher, unsure about men--until Gennaro--I just think she's great. Not only are but books entertaining but also a good learning experience. The most amazing things is that she can write entire books without using sex and profanity. They are there, but she has enough vocabulary available to her that she knows how to express the feeling without the "explicit sex and language," as so many other writers do. I read their books, too, but I can't wait for the next Gloria Lamerino adventure. Linda Lunsford

It's Christmastime and retired physicist Gloria Lamberino is spending it in New York city with her new husband and best friends, Rose and Frank Galigani. While Gloria's husband Matt Revere, a Massachusetts homicide detective, attends a police conference Gloria plans to (reluctantly) shop with her friends and visit with Matt's niece, Lori Pizzano. When Gloria discovers the body of Lori's roommate in the young women's loft, there's no question that Gloria will be lending a hand in the investigation, especially when it's discovered that the two women were involved in the making of a documentary exposing the ozone depletion by a shady corporation. In between dining at famous New York eateries with her friends and visiting the City's famous sites Gloria discovers that the murdered woman was making a profit at blackmail and gathering no shortage of enemies, including the clients of a private investigator and the executives of a powerful corporation. Gloria finds herself torn between family loyalties and her need to ferret out the truth when she discovers that Lori has been less than truthful and may be implicated in the murder.

Surprisingly, the chapters from the point of view of Lori Pizzano prove to be the most interesting in this extremely pleasing mystery. Minichino does an admirable job conveying the moral conflict plaguing Lori as she finds herself unable to disclose either to the police or her own uncle her complicity in her roommate's schemes. Also refreshing is that after an initial rebuking, Rose and Matt are resigned to Gloria's investigation and refrain from their usual warnings to not interfere. Rose does, however, continue to campaign for a "real" wedding reception for Rose and Matt despite their attempt to escape a big party with their elopement. The Periodic Table Mysteries continues to be a reliable series sure to please fans with its humor, steady pace, and very likeable characters.

Gloria Lamerino, a retired physicist, and her fiancé, Homicide Detective Matt Gennaro, head to New York City for a vacation with their best friends Rose and Frank Galigani before Christmas. They plan to visit Matt's niece Lori Pizzano, a documentary filmmaker. Rose plans to shop and take in shows and to get Gloria to participate with her as much as possible. Matt is there to attend an NYPD conference.

Lori is doing a documentary on ozone and environmental issues. When Gloria goes to her apartment, she stumbles over the body of her camerawoman, Amber Keenan.

Later Gloria learns that Amber had been scheming, and there is an abundance of suspects. Can Gloria enjoy her vacation while finding a killer? And can she help Lori stay safe in the process?

Before I read my first book in this series, I worried about it being full of science jargon. It's not. The author has done a great job of presenting needed information without taking you out of the story. And all the technical data is in layman's terms.

I really like Gloria and Matt. They are a great couple with real problems and issues to deal with. The New York location of this book adds to the story and provides great ambiance. I highly recommend this book and the whole series.

Gloria Lamarino is glorious again as the physicist turned slueth in her newest science-based adventure. While a somewhat unlikely "heroine," Gloria, in her latest adventure, is becoming as unforgettable a character as Miss Marple. Once again, she has moved beyond her upper room roost above a Revere, Massachusetts funeral home. Now, instead of visiting friends in California, she and her new husband, Matt, find themselves in New York City. While Matt attends a conference, Gloria discovers a murder amidst old friends. Naturally, an element is involved -- oxygen. There are many twists and turns before the case is solved and the miscreant is brought to justice. But the real fun is in the wonderful characters that Minichino has created. To enter their world is a delight.

The eighth installment of Minichino's Periodic Table mysteries finds retired physicist and part-time sleuth Gloria Lamerino on a pre-Christmas trip to New York City with her new husband Matt Gennaro and their best friends Rose and Frank Galigani. The trip was supposed to be a pre-holiday shopping and sight-seeing getaway, combined with a police conference for Revere Police detective Matt. However, when Gloria pays a visit to Matt's niece Lori Pizzano, a documentary film maker, and discovers Lori's dying camerawoman Amber Keenan in Lori's studio/loft, Gloria and Matt suddenly find themselves searching for Amber's murderer. It turns out that there are lots of reasons why Amber could have been murdered, which range from the corporate secrets regarding ozone emissions which Lori and Amber were investigating in their latest documentary, to victims of Amber's blackmailing schemes which she was running on the side. Matt's niece Lori finds herself as a murder suspect, so of course Matt and Gloria want to find the real murderer. The mystery in this story is a good one and very enjoyable, with a soltuion which took me by surprise. As usual in this series, author Minichino mixes in quite a bit of scientific information in the plot, with the subject this time being ozone emissions from welding.

Set against a festive pre-Christmas New York setting, this latest entry in the series is one of the best of the series so far. Whether you are an old friend of Dr. Gloria Lamerino or new to the series, this is a story that all mystery fans are sure to enjoy.

THE RAGTIME KID is a historical mystery based on actual people and events surrounding Scott Joplin's composition and publication of The Maple Leaf Rag in Sedalia, Missouri in 1899. The story is told through the eyes of Brun Campbell, a young white piano player who hears Scott Joplin's "colored" Ragtime music and becomes obsessed with it and the composer. He leaves his home to study piano with Joplin in Sedalia and becomes involved in a murder case and an interracial struggle for control of the black composer's music.

Until I read this book, I knew little about Joplin or Ragtime music, but I found this book fascinating. Karp has done a wonderful job of bringing to life a time and place that seems very distant to many us now. Karp's Sedalia is a turbulent mixture of blacks and whites with strongly held feelings about the desired relations of the races - former Union and Confederate soldiers, freed slaves, freeborn blacks, abolitionists, and KKK members all live in this small town. And when Scott Joplin, a talented, educated black man, refuses to sell the rights to his music cheaply to a white man, it is like putting a match to a powder keg.

The thing I found so interesting about this book was the amount of historical fact that Karp has used in the story. He has basically created the mystery to suit and explain the fantastic and unprecedented events of 1899. While he did create several fictional characters for the story, Karp populated Sedalia with many of its actual inhabitants and businesses. Those of you who know more about Ragtime than I did may already know that Brun Campbell isn't a fictional character, that he did study with Joplin in 1899, and was a professional musician for much of his life. Me? I was surprised.

While the resolution of the mystery is a little too sensational to ring true, Karp's exploration of the motivations of the different historical characters is a delightful study of conflict and compromise. Frankly, I couldn't put the book down because I wanted to find out how these real-life people from long ago turned out.

Favorite character? Dr. Walter Overstreet. Did I guess it? Mostly. Will I read another? This is the first book of a Ragtime trilogy and the quality of Karp's writing and the ability to draw in the reader makes this a definite yes. I have to know how it ends!

We already knew that Larry Karp was a talented mystery writer, thanks to his previous novels. This latest work shows that he can write historical fiction and make it fascinating. Even though I started the book knowing nothing about ragtime music, by the end I wanted to learn more!

His other strength is his ability to create characters that are so real, and so endearing, that the reader quickly begins to identify with and root for the protagonist(s). This makes the book a real page-turner, because you can't wait to read more about what "your" characters are doing!

If you haven't read anything by Larry Karp yet, you're in for a treat!

I've just re-read Larry Karp's The Ragtime Kid, and just as you shouldn't play ragtime too fast, you shouldn't read Karp's book too fast, either, lest you miss the music of his prose and the nuances of the stories he tells.
In this, his latest book, it's 1899, and young piano player Brun Campbell has run away from his rural home in Oklahoma to Sedalia, Missouri. He's only just heard ragtime for the first time, and hopes to learn this new music from the master himself, Scott Joplin. Arriving in Sedalia, and looking for a room for the night, he stumbles, literally, upon the body of a woman, and picks up two objects that will become vital to the solution of her murder. He finds employment at a music store, and begins studying with Joplin, but when a man he knows is innocent is arrested, Brun is, however unwillingly, drawn into the search for the real murderer.
Though Sedalia is a town filled with music, it is only 30 years since the end of the War Between the States, and racism is very much a part of this story. Joplin insists on being taken seriously as a musician, and receiving royalties on the sheet music which will bear his name as composer, an unprecedented demand for the times. Thus, another plot line develops, as Joplin pursues his ambitions despite some unprincipled and amoral adversaries.
The characters here are a mixture of real, from Joplin and Campbell and other musical figures, and fictional, to some of the townspeople. In skin color, they are black and they are white, and in character they are black and white, as well, but the two categories do not necessarily overlap. Brun himself is a fifteen-year-old, a musical Huck Finn in some ways, coming of age in a world more complex than he ever imagined, and he's learning, at first hand, what black and white are all about. As events unfold, Karp vividly captures the sheer awfulness of racial (and other) bias as it was then.
Just as there are two plot lines, there are two narrative voices here, speaking in a gentle counterpoint. One voice is someone who knows Brun and tells his part of the story, occasionally noting that "Brun once told [him]" about one event or another. The other voice is an omniscient third-person narrator, who recounts Joplin's story, and the ongoing search for the murderer of the woman whose body Brun found. As Brun's music lessons commence, his plot and Joplin's intertwine, connected by some unscrupulous music promoters, and by his own efforts to absolve the innocent man.
All the characters, and some of them are surprising, are vividly realized, and they all speak very much in their own voices. Those voices, moreover, are often eloquent. Early in the book, Joplin tells Brun that ragtime is like "a bright sunny day, just a perfect day, but . . . sooner or later, the lovely day will have to end." Even more moving is a grieving father's lament for the brutal death of his son, which he knows will not be investigated: "[We] was born slaves, and now we been set free, but I don't see the leas' difference. White men kill us on the plantation, they kill us now, an' it's no matter."
From the geography of Sedalia to its weather, the sense of place in the novel is intense. It's a book that takes place in a hot Missouri summer, when the air is "close to drinkable," and we breathe in that heat and humidity as we follow Brun through the city. More characters appear, his life becomes more complicated, and as he puzzles out the solution to the murder, the action leads up to a triple denouement. First there's a violent confrontation with some brutal men, followed by an even more suspenseful encounter which culminates in the unmasking of a murderer. Then, in a shocking turnaround, Brun's own "lovely day" is over, and his life moves in a new direction.
The Ragtime Kid is a scrupulously researched look at a time in America's musical and social past, a fiction that can, as Karp notes in the concluding pages of his book, tell "a truth more striking and wondrous than any historical reality." It's a book written with humor (and not a little irony), with occasional pathos, and always with generosity . Listen to some Joplin while you read it

Larry Karp writes books. He doesn't just write genre fiction; he writes each work as an individual, well-crafted, offbeat narration. Even in his Music Box series, published by the now-defunct Write Way, all three novels were entirely singular, and unique. So, too, is *The Ragtime Kid*, an outstanding piece of historical intrigue that focuses on the origins of ragtime music and is written within the murder mystery/crime literature category of fiction.

Dr. Karp is a particularly fine writer, and his prose shines, but here, the story itself--and the characters--truly dominate.

The protagonist of the book, young Brun Campbell, is so drawn by the allure of the new music craze, ragtime, that he runs away from home to study with the great Scott Joplin in Sedalia, Missouri. Just off the train, Brun stumbles over the body of a woman, Then, not long after, he has himself a job and becomes a student of the elegant black composer, Joplin, who very well might be a homicide suspect.

Another great theme of the book is American racism. Although the Civil War has been over for a good long time, those who fought in the war--and many in Sedalia did--haven't forgotten--from one side of the great divide, or the other.

Racism, ragtime, and murder are his topics, and Karp intertwines the three adroitly for the novel's readers, then throws in a little romance as a sort of seasoning. Male/female relationships are as complex in The Ragtime Kid as they are in real life.

But perhaps the element that tickled me most about the book is the fine detailing of the time and place. Karp, a longstanding ragtime enthusiast, took the Scott Joplin biography and that of the real-life Brun Campbell, and without distorting the documented facts, wove a tale of what might have occurred. Behind that marvelous foreground though lies a backdrop lending the intoxicating particulars of the time: memories of the Chicago's World Fair in 1893, a young woman eager to perform in vaudeville, a spring-powered fan to drive away the heat, and yellow streetcars providing the Sedalia citizens their transportation.

In short, Karp has created a darn good read, a compelling and literate story that entertains on many levels--as a novel, as a mystery, and as a chronicle of one stage in our national history--a tale peopled by very real and believable characters.

*The Ragtime Kid* proves itself to be both a fun and an enlightening pastime.

G. Miki Hayden, author of *Writing the Mystery* and *The Naked Writer*.

What makes a historical novel work for me is that the story as presented could not take place at any other time or place in history than where it is. Too many times in recent years, I've stopped reading because the characters are not sensible of their time in history, or the clothing or manners or locale or vocabulary just don't match the time and place. It can't happen there just because the author says it does. To me, that indicates a lazy author and/or editor, and the result is simply not worth my time as a reader.

The RAGTIME KID by Larry Karp is an absolutely perfect example of everything as it should be. There are a sprinkling of real people, so cleverly mixed with characters created by the author that the the two groups are virtually indistinguishable from each other. It's true I was not in Sedalia Missouri in the summer of 1889, but I can't believe it was one bit different from that location as described a century by Mr. Karp.

I know the music descriptions are accurate as well as the clothing, and I'm quite certain that the social history regarding the Civil War and left-over feelings regarding blacks and whites and their interactions with each other are presented exactly as they really were at that time. (Unhappily, as a nation, we still haven't progressed very far from too many of the ignorant opinions expressed by some very intolerant persons in this book.)

The secret to good ragtime is that it must be rendered slowly. That advice pertains to this novel as well. If you follow that advice while reading it, you will afford yourself innumerable pleasures as they expose themselves slowly, a layer at a time.

This is also a mystery novel, in addition to being a dandy historical tale, and all the clues are right there in front of one's eyes. This is where reading slowly and savoring it as you go will serve the reader well. Read too fast, and you'll miss out on myriad clues that will leave you asking 'where did *that* come from?'

Scott Joplin was a gentleman of great talent and intelligence. He was also dark-skinned, and that fact alone could easily have negated every other facet of his existence, had it not been for fair-minded persons who gave him the oppportunity to be himself. He was very capable of playing the 'classical' music of his time, by the pre-eminent European composers -- Beethoven, Liszt, Chopin and others. But he wanted to join their ranks by creating a new genre -- classic ragtime. In spite of the opposition he encountered, he did just that, as exemplified by his music that lives on, a century after he wrote it.

Of course, Joplin wasn't the only creator of ragtime music, but his particular style may be the best-known today. Fortunately, some of the events that unfold in this scintillating novel didn't really happen, afater all, or we might not know the music of Scott Joplin at all. We would all be the poorer, had that happened. Also fortunately, Mr. Joplin had the great good fortune to encounter people of foresight who could see past the color of his skin to the great talent that lay within, and were willing to promote both the man and his music.

This is, without question, one of the very best books I've read in a long, long time. I'll recommend it highly to readers of historical or mystery novels -- as well as those who just simply like to read, period. It will more than repay the time you spend -- all the more so for reading slowly.

Good story with vivid characters. The heros are real and the setting of Las Vegas filled with excitement. Keeps you on your toes trying to figure out who did it! Couldn't put it down. I look forward to the next book with the same detectives.

This book kept me in suspense and kept me guessing until the end.
I loved it and hope everyone gets the chance to read it. I see good things for this author and would even like to see a movie made from this book - that would be the greatest!!!

The  SkyDive Murders-First Book of author J. Kaatz- I could not put it down. It has action, murder, and  suspense- just what you would expect from  Las Vegas, but the plot is  presented with an exceptionally spell binding approach. Hope she is working on the sequel. M. McMillan"

I'm a native of Las Vegas so I really enjoyed reading and recognizing familiar places near my home where this suspensful "fictitious" mystery takes place. The familiar imagery kept me continually placing myself at the scene of each crime. It was so engaging. I felt like I became part of the story myself.

What I particularly enjoyed about J.A. Kaatz" novel was the "right on" dialogue which I can just imagine really occurs between real-life homicide detectives. Their constant benigh bickering and blabbering throughout the book was a riot.

The suspensful crescendo of her plot kept me fast-forwarding to the next page right up to the very last page. Is it possible to read it backwards and have twice as much excitement?

Enjoy my mystery-loving friends. Enjoy!!!

This is well written book It kept me guessing all the way to the end. It has plenty of twist and turns to keep the suspense and intrest of the reader.

I LOVE this author. I could not put it down once I started. I definitely recommend her book(s).

In her author's notes, Nancy Moser quotes a phrase that embodies the recurring theme in this inspirational story: Characters live to be noticed; people with character notice how they live. As the tale unfolds, her characters become people of character who graciously hold up a mirror for us to reflect on our own foibles. Revealing the masks we wear and the roles we play in order to protect ourselves from the judgment of others often keep us from being the real person we were created to be.

Patti McCoy, a naïve resort worker, is on trial, accused of killing her boyfriend, Brett Lerner, an arrogant opportunist who had his share of dark secrets. As Patti proclaims her innocence, a jury is empanelled, and we are introduced to four of them, each with a unique interest in the case and each with a lesson to learn about his or her own character. Each one has flaws that many of us struggle with. Among the demons of Ken Doolittle, a former golf pro, are pride, lust and fear. Deidre Kelly, the wife of a prominent pediatric surgeon, wears the mask of a perfect society wife and mother while living in fear that her past will be discovered. Abigail Buchanan is a lovely actress who, at age 77, still longs for fame and fortune. And Bobby Mann, a father of two who works three jobs to provide for his family, is filled with self-doubt and fear, and refuses to accept the faith that his wife holds out to him.

The author deftly moves among these characters and their stories while providing interaction during the jury deliberations. Each one is clearly defined and easy to follow in short, fast-moving chapters. As the secrets and character flaws of each are revealed, the themes of hope and redemption recur, sometimes offered by friends and relatives, and sometimes by the testimony of wise pastors. The mother-in-law who provides love and stability, the wife whose faith encourages and never waivers, the soft, still voice of God whispering words of hope, the son with AIDS who has been changed by God's love, all hold up the mirror to the characters and to us. Though the Biblical message of salvation is clear, it is never contrived nor does it distract from the story.

It is exciting to discover yet another "Faithful Writer" who is talented, timely and witty without resorting to the more graphic and gritty style of fiction. I am eager to read Nancy Moser's Sister Circle series, three books about a widow who is forced to open her Victorian home to boarders. Sounds like it will be full of possibilities!

--- Reviewed by Maggie Harding

You just never know what will happen in a novel by Nancy Moser...and that's a very good thing!

Patti McCoy is on trial for her life. She's accused of killing her boyfriend, Brett Lerner. Did she do it? Or did she just show up at the worst time ever?

The jurors listen to all of the evidence, and then begin to deliberate. Among the twelve, we get up close and personal with several of them...and discover that this story is about far more than just Patti's trial...

Ken, the washed up golf pro, has a choice of reuniting with his estranged son or living the life he pretends he wants. We also meet Abigail, a starlet in her time...now trying out for roles that really shouldn't be hers--question is, what will she do about it?

Bobby works three jobs and is supporting a wife and three kids...and hiding from a past that makes him hang his head in shame. Can he overcome the obstacles in his way and succeed in life, or will he hang onto what is known, even if it's destructive?

Finally, we meet Deidre, wife of famous surgeoun Sigmund Kelly...striving to have the perfect life she's always wanted and has finally earned...right? What lengths will Deidre go to in order to keep her family whole and complete?

What we thought was about a murder trial turns out to be so much more...and that's just like Nancy Moser! A muli-layered author who always surprises with so much more, you just can't go wrong with her novels.

I'm giving "Solemnly Swear" five out of five bookmarks with a gavel as a charm...and an order to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth...I loved this book, and I think you will as well!

Happy Reading!

Deena from A Peek At My Bookshelf

If you're considering giving Nancy Moser's latest novel a read, allow me to Solemnly Swear to my belief that you'll throughly enjoy it.

From the prologue (which I found entirely engrossing) on, Moser had me spellbound. Seldom have I wondered about the personal backgrounds, life experiences, and motivations of jurors, but in Solemnly Swear we get a glimpse into the lives of four such people. And we end up realizing how one misconception, one slight, one lie, and one missed purpose could unite to condemn (or possibly free) the accused.

If you've ever thought you might have what it takes to be an impartial and fair jury member, read this gripping tale. And then if you get called to jury duty, remember it....

Brett Lerner was a blackmailer who was waiting in his hot tub for the mark to arrive and give him his payoff money. Instead, the blackmailer hits Brett over the head. Brett is later found by his pregnant girlfriend Patti McCoy who starts screaming and then runs away when the police come. They find her and arrest her and put her in jail until the trial date arrives.

The members of the jury are a mixed group from a famous actress to a man who works three minimum wage jobs because he doesn't believe in his own talent. Also in the group are a former golf chairman and the wife of a doctor who operates on children for free. One of the members of the jury is pushing his/her spouse to sway the jury for a guilty verdict and though that person agrees to do so, the price paid is enormous.

Nancy Moser is a fantastic storyteller who lets her audience see into the hearts of the characters. There is nobody evil in this book, just lost misguided people making awful, not to say illegal decisions. SOLEMNLY SWEAR shows how one fabrication can spiral into many more lies and hurt other people, especially loved ones; as Sir Walter Scott proclaimed: "Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive." Some of the jurors learn from their experience and try to turn their lives around to become better people; none of them will be like they were before the jurisprudence experience.

Harriet Klausner

The quaint Susquehanna River valley seems an unlikely setting for a brutal murder, but the author peels away the veneer to reveal a depravity that stretches back over generations. Using her background as a psychiatric nurse, and her extensive knowledge of the area, Holly constructs a fast-paced story full of surprises.

The readers' satisfaction at the day of reckoning for the guilty is only exceeded when we cheer the success of the winsome hero and heroine, both in tying up the case, and when they discover their newly-forged partnership promises more for them beyond solving mysteries.

A very good murder mystery-who dun it? Not the butler.

The plot continues to thicken. Subtle clues are there for the careful observer. I got most of them, but the author surprised me more than once.

Characters include good solid police detectives, nurses, egotistical doctors, rich socialite wives, over indulged children, and diamonds, big diamonds. Then there is Bunky, a few pounds of highly energetic Yorkshire Terrier. Mix this with a little infidelity, a Vietnam poker game, an illegitimate orphan--and oh yes, a pedophile--stir, and you have a great read.

I hope Holly writes another mystery. I will certainly buy and read it.

This is one of the best mystery books I've read yet!
I would recommend it to all. Can't wait to read her next book!

Enjoyed this book immensely. Easy read and want to read more by this author.

If you love a mystery, I highly recommend this book. The twist at the end will surprise you!