When Aubrey Lynd's six-year-old nephew vanishes from a street carnival, she rushes to her family home in Miami to comfort her mother and help the family find the boy. As the F.B.I. takes up residence and family members gather to await news, Aubrey, concerned that the agents are overlooking important steps, investigates on her own.  She learns about a ransom note that seemed to have escaped the F.B.I.'s notice and begins to suspect that her mother has secrets she won't share.Aubrey's search takes her deep into her family's past.  What ensues is an exciting tale that had this reader racing through the pages, hoping the boy would be rescued.
     Sharon Potts is in top form in this latest mystery.  She's created a full contingent of intriguing characters populating an extended dysfunctional family as well as an unforgettable story.  Aubrey, the protagonist, has her hands full with this crowd and has no one to turn to, with the possible exception of a lone F.B.I. agent.
     Potts sets her story in Miami, a place she evidently knows very well and takes pains to bring to life. Her descriptions bring one right into the scene, without choking the reader with minutia. It takes a deft hand to achieve such a balance while painting the backdrop.
     Someone Must Die is, in short, informative, entertaining, and compelling.  I enjoyed every page. READ IT! Thomas and Mercer, Signed: 15.95
 

Down the Darkest Street

Death at Breakfast 

By Beth Gutcheon 

Reviewed by Joanne Sinchuk. 

Are you in the mood for a cozy but can't find one that is interesting, well-written, and has all the detection elements of a good mystery?  Have I got the book for you!
      Death at Breakfast is written by Beth Gutcheon, a well-known writer of fiction about women and their relationships with each other.  I've always been a fan, so when I saw she was trying her hand at a mystery, I couldn't wait to read it.  And I was not disappointed.
      Maggie and Hope are old friends, well over retirement age, who plan on taking a few weeks vacation at the Oquossoc Mountain Inn in Bergen Maine where Hope's son Buster is the local sheriff. We meet a series of very interesting characters who are guests, and another set who are the staff of the Inn.  When the most obnoxious guest is murdered in his room, Hope and Maggie decide that two women of experience equipped with healthy curiosity, common sense, a cheerfully cynical sense of humor can "help" her son solve the crime.  Lots of fun ensues.
Great fun when you're in the mood for a light, charming, entertaining story.
William Morrow $25.99

Champagne and Cocaine 

by Richard Vetere 

Reviewed by Joanne Sinchuk 

The setting is early eighties in New York City. Danny Ferraro is living the high life.  A high school teacher who moonlights as a professional gambler, he decides to quit his day job and gamble full time.  Of course, that is exactly when his luck runs out at a high stakes game, and he finds himself $10,000 in debt to the mob with one week to pay.
      As Danny gets deeper into the club and mob scene, he becomes involved in a murder of a mobster's girlfriend, and they bury the body in the shed on his aunt's property.
      Sitting at the poker table, Danny studies each player for their "tell" to know who is bluffing and who is not.  There's an old saying in poker that if you look around the table and you can't find the sucker at the game, it's probably you. Each game is a fascinating character study with the characters changing all the time. I was totally engrossed.
      This was a wonderful stroll down memory lane for me, since I was in NYC in the eighties.  But not, however, in the mob scene.  I loved the book, and loved Danny.
Three Rooms Press, 15.95