Two previous series reads that somehow got missed: Blue Moon by Lee Child and The Golden Tresses of the Dead by Alan Bradley

While following up on some of the series I read, I noticed gaps for two them where I seemed to have missed a book. I've taken them out of the library, but as soon as I started reading them I remembered them. I've searched all my notes and don't seem to have written reviews, which is very odd for me. They both date from the same time period, published in late 2019 read either in late 2019 or early 2020 and I guess that I missed them in the busyness of other things at the time. So here they are, now.

Blue Moon by Lee Child, read by Scott Brick

This is the 24th book in the series and once it again it begins with Reacher on a Greyhound bus in the middle of America. He assists an older man after the man is attacked in the street after exiting the bus, and one thing leads to another as he first helps him to the place where the payment the older man needs to do is to take place, and later to his home. The man and his wife are worried about their daughter whose story unfolds for him. He soon finds himself impersonating the old man, and getting between the Ukrainian and Albanian gangs who run the town and are vying for expansion under the new police commissioner in the small city. 

As each gang makes moves and Reacher makes some to protect himself and the older couple, there is luck that happens, as they say, once in a blue moon. Reacher's investigations lead him into the world of paid healthcare in the U.S., IT startups successes and failures, money trails and extortion rings. 

This is classic Jack Reacher, satisfying for the little guy, with the bad guys in deep trouble. 

The Golden Tresses of the Dead by Alan Bradley

This is the 10th book in the Flavia de Luce series. Her oldest sister Ophelia is getting married as the book opens, but there's a shocking item in the wedding cake when she slices it. Flavia is quick on her feet and manages to take the item while the focus is on Ophelia's hysterics. 

Flavia has also teamed up with her father's valet, Dogger, as a private investigation firm. The wedding discovery turns out to be the start of their first case, leading them to a special railway for the dead, a visit from missionaries, and a client who dies before the case is resolved. 

Dogger serves as a guide for Flavia's enthusiasm, putting her on the right track, and encouraging her good ideas. To their clients and the police they present a team that can put things together faster than the officials can. 

This isn't my favourite of the series, but it does offer some interesting scenes, and cousin Undine plays a larger role than in earlier books. 

Cape Diamond

Finished October 13

Cape Diamond by Ron Corbett

This is another mystery centering on police officer Frank Yakabuski, taking place in a small city in northern Canada. As the book opens, the body of a retired leader of one of the main criminal organizations operating in the town is found hung on a fence on the side of town he wouldn't normally be in. The body has been beaten and stabbed and mutilated and a strange object is found in the victim's mouth. This act gives rise to acts of violence between the Shiners and the Travellers, two criminal gangs with a long history in the area and beyond. The escalation of this rivalry with the death of a man in the rival organization and the kidnapping of a young girl has Frank looking back into the history of the groups, and people who have disappeared or kept themselves out of the limelight. 

Frank's father, a retired disabled police officer, has some knowledge of both groups, and he is convinced to share this with Frank given the serious nature of the acts taking place. A young man connected to one gang also offers a bit of useful information. 

There is also another voice in this story, a man travelling from the southern United States toward this northern town, leaving death in his wake. We see him thinking about what he will do when he gets to his destination and killing when the opportunity or a perceived threat comes into play. 

There are themes of disappearing, land claims, family dynamics, and the realities of life in a remote area. A very engrossing read. 

The Chase

Finished August 31

The Chase by DiAnn Mills

This FBI thriller has two main characters.

Kariss Walker is a former television journalist turned novelist. She's written several successful women's fiction novels, but dreams of writing about her true passion, finding justice for those unable to do so themselves. She is haunted by an experience in her past where she was unable to protect someone vulnerable. One case she covered as a journalist was of a young girl, whose body was found, malnourished near an apartment complex. The girl's identity was never determined. This is the case that she plans to base her novel on.

Kariss has gained access to follow an FBI agent to get background information on the world she plans to write about. The agent is Tigo Harris. He has many years of experience, including undercover work, and is currently involved in a case involving gangs smuggling drugs and guns. 

When Kariss is able to get the case reopened, she and the FBI find new evidence that points to the child's identity, and perhaps to new crimes. 

Tigo is very close to his mother, who is dying from a cancer, and this element impacts how he lives his life and sets his priorities. 

Kariss makes a lot of questionable decisions putting her own safety into jeopardy. 

Both characters have families who are strong church goers, but both have distanced themselves from religion. The Christian element in this book is subtle until the end, when it suddenly becomes more evident. 

Snitch

Finished January 8

Snitch by Allison van Diepen

This teen novel is set in Brooklyn, New York and the main character is Julia, a high school student who has managed to avoid recruitment into a gang up until the novel begins. Julia is a good student, writes poetry, and values the independence her father allows her. She is of mixed Italian and Puerto Rican background.

Julia's mother died several years earlier, and her father has a good job with the city. He often spends time with his girlfriend and trusts Julia to look after herself, but he still is interested in her life and obviously cares about her. Julia has a group of girlfriends from school that she spends time with, particularly a girl nicknamed Q, as well as a male friend, Black Chuck, that she has a platonic relationship with. 

When a new boy, Eric, shows up at school, Julia shows interest and is surprised that he also seems interested in her. But she finds that he doesn't always tell her the truth despite the way he claims to feel about her. Her own feelings lead her to make choices that lead her in a different direction that she really wants for herself. As she adjusts to her new reality and gets into difficult situations, I could see how this time was forcing her to face up to some adult decisions that may have long-lasting effects. 

An interesting look into a different culture, with new language and situations that are foreign to me. 

Last Night

Finished September 30
Last Night by Karen Ellis

This novel could be a teen crossover as the major characters in the book are both in their senior year in high school in New York City. Titus "Crisp" Crespo is a high achiever, and has been held to a high standard by the mother and grandparents that raised him. He is set to be valedictorian of his class in a public school, but the day before he is stopped by a cop and he talks back, and that lands him in jail. He isn't released in time for his graduation. After his release, with his judgement still impaired, an argument with his mother causes him to take off, and he decides to go visit Glynnie, a girl he knows only a little. He'd spotted her on the roof of her building when he was on the rooftop basketball court in jail and decides that he wants to let her know why he was there, that he isn't a bad guy. And thus events are set in motion that will have long-lasting consequences for both of them.
Glynnie is from a well-off family, but she likes to push things, and now isn't the time that she feels like stopping with that attitude. Not with her mother planning to send her to Outward Bound for the summer. Crisp is a good kid, but he also doesn't want to let Glynnie go off on her own into a potentially dangerous situation.
This plot has a lot going on, with gangs, drugs, and even guns. With the two teens in over their heads, they struggle to get out of a very bad situation.
I liked the plot and could see how something like this could unfold, one bad decision after another. One young character pulled at my heartstrings, and I liked the way that things started to turn around for him, a kid in a bad situation through no fault of his own, and with no one really caring that he fell between the cracks.
Although this is a second book in the series featuring police detective Lex Cole, it felt to me that the police were more minor characters here. They did have important roles and you did see some of their personal lives, but they weren't at the heart of things.
A good, fast-moving read that will keep you glued to your seat.

Soul of the Desert

Finished April 21
Soul of the Desert by Maria Schneider

This book is set in the 1970s and 80s, with Rand, a young Harlem hoodlum trying to protect his little brother Bo from the life he is caught up in. When chance throws Christina, an ambitious young Latino woman and her coworker into his clutches, he negotiates a way out for Bo.
Christina takes Bo back to New Mexico where she grew up, and places him on the ranch with her parents as his caregivers.
Bo hopes that Rand will eventually be able to join him there, as Rand and Christina work out a clandestine way to keep in touch while trying to minimize the possibility that Bo will be found by the rival gangs back East.
But the drug trade reaches everywhere and it soon shows up in the school that Bo now goes to, and during his high school years he becomes involved in a way he never would have anticipated, and that his new family has reservations about.
This is a tale of a young boy trying for a fresh start, but having to overcome culture shock, prejudice, and a completely new enviroment.
It grew on me as I got further into it.

Ink Me

Finished February 28
Ink Me by Richard Scrimger

This book is the fourth in Seven: the Series, following  Between Heaven and Earth, Lost Cause, and Jump Cut). Seven cousins are each given a task to do by their grandfather as part of his will. Along with the task, they are given the funds necessary to carry it out. Here, the cousin whose story it is is Bernard, nicknamed Bunny. Bunny is fifteen, big for his age, and developmentally delayed. His brother's story was told in Jump Cut and the books stories integrate with each other. Bunny's task is to get a tattoo of his grandfather's service insignia. Arrangements have already been made with the tattoo shop in question, and Bunny's chooses to go on his own. When he gets off the streetcar near the shop he finds a large boy beating up a smaller one and comes to the smaller boy's assistance. In the tattoo shop, communication goes awry and Bunny comes out with a different tattoo than the one intended, and it is this, along with the assistance he gave the boy that will chance his life's direction in a radical way. Bunny is used to being underestimated and pushed to the sidelines, so when his new friends seem to genuinely value some of his skills and accept him into their group, they earn his loyalty. This book has some interesting twists, and Bunny is a very interesting character. Really enjoyed this one.

Pigeon English

Finished October 30
Pigeon English by Stephen Kelman
This is one of those novels with a clear voice, here the voice of Harri (Harrison) Opoku. Harri lives with his mom (a midwife) and his older sister Lydia on the 9th floor of an apartment building in London, England. Harri's dad, little sister and grandma are still back in Ghana and Harri wants desperately to see them again, as the phone calls aren't enough for him. Harri has made a friend, Dean, and the two boys spend a lot of time together. Another boy from Harri's school has been knifed and killed and Harri and Dean take it upon themselves to look for the killer since the police don't seem to be making headway. The two boys relish their role as detectives and take clues seriously, trying to gather fingerprints and other hard data.
Harri is also a bird lover, and takes a special liking to a particular pigeon, having secret conversations with it. He is also both fascinated and repelled by the local gang, the Dell Farm Crew, and is occasionally singled out by their leader X-Fire.
Harri is an innocent, trying to be the man of the house in his father's absence, and is a good boy at heart. Even his work to find the boy's killer is a good work, one he feels drawn to because the boy once did a nice thing for him. This is a story that will stick with you, young Harri's voice grabbing you and not letting go.

Black Alley

Finished September 11
Black Alley by Mauricio Segura, translated from the French by Dawn M. Cornelio
This is a short intense novel set in the Côte-des-Neiges area of Montreal. Marcelo is the son of Chilean refugees and a quiet boy. Cleo is the new boy at school and is from Haiti. It is grade five for the two boys and they both run track. A bond is formed as they both make the top relay team for the school.
Years later there is a rivalry between two gangs, Latino Power and the Bad Boys with events and revenge escalating between the groups. The leaders of the two groups must decide whether the old childhood friendship will influence what happens next or race ties will triumph.
Set in a diverse multicultural community in a poor neighbourhood, this novel moves back and forth seamlessly between the two time periods, adding to the feeling of intensity. The use of language adds to the reality of the scenes. The way dialogue is used here is interesting with conversations moving in and out of each other.
This is an interesting novel, showing an environment unfamiliar to me, but relevant today to society as a whole. We see the struggle for acceptance that the youth have and how the different relationships influence them.
This is a good book to show the issues that are relevant on our streets today.

Teen Novel

Finished July 8
Innercity Girl Like Me by Sabrina Bernardo
Set in Winnipeg this book follows Maria, alias G Child, as she becomes a member of the Diablos gang until she leaves it several years later. It looks at the forces that drew her and her friends into gang culture, the relationships in the gangs and between gangs, and the results of gang life.
G Child's friends include Gina and her brothers, Roland and Darrell, who all end up in gangs, as well as kids from both poor families and middle class families who look to gangs for what they aren't finding in their life.
This is an interesting look at a side of life most of us don't see.