Toxin by Paul Martin Midden

This posting is a little different from what I usually do. I introduced the book in the title - Toxin. The author of this book is Paul Martin Midden. Let me tell you a little about this author. He has written one other book titled Absolution. In addition to writing these books, he is a psychologist. Apparently he uses some of the same skills in understanding his patients when he writes his books.

In this book, Toxin, Jake Telemark is a United States Senator. He got involved in politics and ultimately became a Senator at the urging of some drinking buddies. He has been in the Senate now for two years and as a moderate Republican has been working with like minded colleagues. He has no idea what may be required of him when he agrees to meet with Isadore Hathaway.

What he knows about Isadore is she was the daughter of Frank Hathaway. Frank Hathaway was a bigtime Senator before Jake came along. When she calls and speaks to him on the phone, he is intrigued by her. He agrees to meet her and is amazed by how young and pretty she is. He immediately feels an attraction towards her. But he is dumbfounded when he hears what she has to say to him.

Isadore tells him there is a plot to overthrow the government. There is a group of 12 men who want to change the form of our government to a managerial council of twelve. They want to change our country into a theocratic oligarchy with themselves in charge. She wants to enlist his help to stop them and throws him for a loop when he learns what she wants him to do - she wants him to kill them.

Now this sounds like a far fetched idea but we learn she knows something about him that only a few are supposed to know about. As a young man when he was in the service, he was a sniper. For several years he served in a Special Ops group and killed people. It finally got to him and he got out and this information was highly classified, so how did Isadore know this?

She tells him of some of the things they are planning to do in order to convince the people they need to be in charge. This includes plans to get rid of people likely to oppose their plan and she tells him they have already determined he would be a threat to them - he will be a target as well.

Even though he is attracted to her, Jake is not convinced this can be true and has his doubts. He thinks she may be a nutcase until some things start happening. There is a terrorist attack on a Colorado water supply killing thousands of people. When a friend and colleague mysteriously dies, he becomes convinced and joins forces with Isadore.

It quickly becomes apparent this involves more than them against the twelve. Will they be able to survive attempts on their lives? Will they be able to prevent this attempt to overthrow the government? Sounds like one of those "STAY TUNED" right? Well ... in order to find out you should pick up the book and read it. It is a good suspense and mystery - take it from me.

If you want to know more about the author and his books, check out his website : http://www.paulmidden.com/. Oh ... by the way. I hear there will be a virtual book tour for Paul Martin Midden and his new book. For more information on this, check out http://paul-martin-midden.omnimystery.com/.

Discussion Group Selection For July

Our mystery discussion group met last night at the Barnes and Noble at Firewheel. Our book for July was Deep South by Nevada Barr. This is the eight book in the Anna Pigeon series. There were seven people in attendance and everybody gave it a thumbs up!!!

So what is it about this book and author that was so interesting? Well..., a few of the group had read one or more of her books before. The character - Anna Pigeon - a National Parks Ranger is one of interest. You learn about her and the place where she is stationed at. It is no wonder!! The author Nevada Barr writes from experience as a National Parks Ranger. Plus she throws in her creative writing to make some good reading.

In this book, Anna Pigeon has just gotten her first supervisory position in a Natchez Trace park. This will definitely be an interesting move for her and not everybody is exactly happy about it. She has to take leadership in a place where women are not typically in this type of position. In addition, she has to deal with some personal issues - she learns her sister is going to get married and her adopted dog gets hurt badly defending her from an alligator. She also finds the body of a young lady and must investigate to determine who killed her. There are several possibilities.

No more on the book. I know this is short. Let me just say I strongly agree with the other members of our group AND I think is was worth reading. Check it out!!!

Virtual Book Tour - Rosemary & Larry Mild's Boston Scream Pie

Welcome to this stop on the Virtual Book Tour for Rosemary and Larry Mild's Boston Scream Pie. Other stops on this tour can be found at http://rosemary-larry-mild.omnimystery.com/. Boston Scream Pie is the third book in the series featuring Paco and Molly. The first two books in the series include Hot Grudge Sunday and Locks and Cream Cheese.

This book and story included a lot of interesting characters. It is interesting to see how all these characters are connected. The first chapter introduces Delylah who I certainly am glad is not my wife. Her husband (was it husband number 4?) has a breathing problem during the night. Instead of taking him to the hospital, she tells him to call for an ambulance or his daughter to take him to the hospital. When she cannot get information over the phone from the hospital the next morning, she mails out his obituary to the newspaper. Rather than go direct to the hospital first thing in the morning, she goes out and does other things (including seeing another guy). Her husband dies later when he is leaving the hospital. INTERESTING!!!

Caitlin is a teenager who has started having dreams about a fatal automobile accident. She had been in a fatal automobile accident that killed her parents and her twin sister but this is somewhat different. Against her grandmother's wishes she asks Paco LeSoto (a retired detective) and Molly (his wife) to help her discover the truth about this recurring dream. Now ... Molly is an interesting character ... she has a vocabulary of her own. It was funny hearing some of the words she put together and this added an aspect to the story.

This is a murder mystery and there is no shortage of suspects. Now I do not want to give away the story (and there is a lot to it) but here is a synopsis of it.

Seventeen-year-old Caitlin Neuman, a Maryland high school student, is plagued by a series of bizarre nightmares about a horrific car accident on a snowy road. The lone survivor of a car crash that claimed both her parents and twin sister years earlier, Caitlin was too young to remember the details of that fateful night. But are these present-day nightmares simply Caitlin’s mind working out the past, or is there more to these vivid images that haunt her every waking moment?

As the harrowing images escalate, Caitlin takes matters into her own hands and seeks out the one source she knows can solve the mystery of the nightmares: retired Baltimore detective Paco LeSoto.

For any other detective, such a case would seem impossible. But for Paco LeSoto, nothing is impossible. Paco, after all, has both a keen ability to solve mysteries, and the loving support of his wife and biggest cheerleader, Molly, a woman whose deliciously skewed language, exquisite culinary skills, and shrewd cleverness are equaled only by her girth.

As Paco and Molly set out to find answers, they’ll uncover a string of unsolved deaths and a case of mistaken identity buried deep in the past. As the clues mount and the tension builds, Paco and Molly are led to a nearby family embroiled in a crisis of its own.

Newlyweds Newton Boston and his blonde bombshell wife Delylah are mired in their own family turmoil as Delylah’s adult children churn up trouble that threatens this already-fractured family. But what Newton does not know is that four dead husbands lie in Delylah’s past. When another Boston family member dies under suspicious circumstances, all clues point to murder.

Can Paco and Molly stop another killing, bring justice to the culprits, and right an egregious wrong from the past—before it’s too late? As they uncover the sinister clues, Paco and Molly will either shed light on a long-hidden secret, or stir up a recipe for disaster.

If you want a light and funny mystery to read, this would definitely be one I recommend.

Rosemary and Larry Mild are giving away a signed copy of their book, Boston Scream Pie, to one lucky tour visitor. Go to their book tour page, http://rosemary-larry-mild.omnimystery.com/ , enter your name, e-mail address, and this PIN, 9709, for your chance to win. Entries from this blog site (Mystery Reader Discussion) will be accepted until 12:00 Noon (PT) tomorrow (Wednesday, July 8th). No purchase is required to enter or to win. The winner (first name only) will be announced on their book tour page next week.

A Miniature Mystery-Malice in Minature

Another subject for another series. This series is developed around miniatures - the people whose hobby is to make miniatures. I had intentions to start from the beginning of the series. In fact, I had ordered the first in the series but instead got Malice in Miniature by Margaret Grace in it's place. When I had started reading it something seemed amiss and I realized this was NOT the first one in the series. Oh well ... once started, I could not put it down. I will have to get the first one (and second one) to read later.

The main character is retired and her hobby is miniatures. Her name is Geraldine Porter. She is a widow and her son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter have moved in with her until their house is finished. She (and her daughter-in-law who is an artist) are preparing for a local event centered around the reenactment of the Lincoln-Douglas debates.

Another artist also involved in the event is discovered murdered and paintings are slashed. Geraldine is asked by a neighbor to look into the incident since her best friend was involved with the artist. So why did her neighbor ask her to get involved? Apparently she had become involved in some earlier investigation/books and been successful. A lot of things keep pointing to the friends' guilt but other things do not add up. It will take the help of family (including her granddaughter and nephew who is a cop) and friends for Geraldine to get to the bottom of this.

This book blended a lot. It was not just a mystery - it included a lot of other interesting aspects of the story. There were good development of character relationships. There was a good blend real life events - not to mention a Texas event involving murder in a cheer leading competition. There was even a good use of the local library - and I am partial to the local library.

This was a good book and I am glad to have read it. This is another series I will have to follow. Incidentally, the author has another mystery series based on the periodic table. She uses a different pen name for the series - Camille Minichino. I may have to check it out as well.

Incidentally, Margaret Grace (aka Camille Minichino) does not just write about a character who makes miniatures, she als o makes miniatures herself. To see some of her work go to http://www.dollhousemysteries.com/Gallery/index.html.

Reading Habits

What are your reading habits? When (and where) do you read? The other evening on my way home from work, I saw something that amazed me and got me to thinking about my reading habits.

I was at a traffic light and a lady walked across in the pedestrian lane. She was pushing a baby stroller and had a hold of her dog's leash in one hand. After she got on the sidewalk, I noticed she had a book sitting on top of the stroller with her thumb holding the place in the book. She quickly opened the book back up, glanced ahead, then back down at the book and read as she continued walking. WOW!!! I know I couldn't do that - as one of my friends pointed out to me when I shared the story. Boy ... do I know!!!

Anyhow ... there are times when I read and when I can't read. If I have time in the morning before I go to work, that is the best time. Sometimes I stop at Whataburger on the way to work and get some reading time in but these days I am going into work earlier. Nighttime / bedtime is NOT a good time for me to read.

Now that it is summertime (and now that my pool is finally clean), I can stand in the pool (at the edge) and read. This is a little trick I learned from my wife last year. But of course it also depends on how my eyes are after working on the computer all day.

On occasion, I have checked out books on tape (or CD) from the public library. These I can LISTEN to while I am driving. This works out sometimes (and if you see me sitting in my car it might be because I did not want to stop listening to the book).

I've had one experience listening to an audio (digital) book from one of our local libraries - Nicholson Memorial Public Library. It uses Overdrive Media Console. At first I downloaded a book on my laptop and tried listening to it on it. This kind of defeats the purpose for me - plus I started having problems with sound on my laptop. I finally figured out how to get it downloaded to my mp3 player. Then I had a learning curve how to use my mp3 player with the audio book. Each time I quit listening to a "track" I would have to start listening from the beginning of the "track". I finally figured out how to speed forward in a track to the approximate point in time I left off. The jury is still out on this since it was a "learning" experience.

So ... I ask again ... what are your reading habits?