Okay, this is really low-brow, and certainly not a "guy" book (should I take the risk and call it chick-lit?), but it is for cat and dog lovers. Cats Can't Shoot by Clea Simon. This follows Dogs Don't Lie. Pru is a self-described animal behaviorist with a knack for criminal detection. The books are seriously lightweight, but a lot of fun. And if you're a cat lover, all the better.
Stolen Prey, the latest by John Sandford. This is a Davenport novel, not a Virgil Flowers novel. As usual, good story, characters, etc. Sandford is a super storyteller.
Another Time, Another Life by Leif Persson. I don't quite know how to describe this because I'm not sure yet where it's going. The opening story is the police response to a terrorist attack in Stockholm in 1975. It is, safe to say, a debacle of the highest order. Without a real conclusion to this incident, the novel moves on to a murder in 1989, and, as far as I can tell, there's only one overlapping character, whose career seems to have taken something of a downturn since 1975, though this guy is a good cop. In contrast to him and his temporary partner are the team leader, a corrupt cop if ever there was one, and his partner, whom he despises; the attitude is reciprocated. Again, not sure where it's going, but it's riveting. If you're a fan of Scandinavian crime fiction, you'll enjoy it. If not, don't bother. This is not an "entry level" Scandinavian crime novel.
Out of Season by Steven F. Havill. This is book no. 7 (or 8) in a lengthy series featuring an aging undersheriff in a tiny New Mexico county and his colleagues. Like the Simon books, the books are light reading, but entertaining. The characters are quirky and endearing, and their development, for better or worse, is nicely done. The only objection that I have to the series is its timing. I would swear that book one is set in 1986, with one of the characters, the department's sole detective, is about to give birth, in February 1987. I recall this pretty well because the expected delivery date was the same as my son's, just a year later. Then, in book 2, we appear to have jumped to 1996. The undersheriff, who was 62, is now 66 or so (first discrepancy), and the baby is reported to have been born around Christmas of 1996 and is an infant - not possible. Maybe I missed something, but I don't think so. The stories are a bit far-fetched, and the main character prides himself too much on being a dinosaur - old, fat, anti-technology - that he becomes a caricature. But the stories are entertaining, and you find yourself caring about them as if they were real.
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