@partnersincr1me (@PICVirtualTours - FB), @Archaeolibrary, @GValjan, #Crime, #Mystery, #Procedural, #Historical, #Fiction

 

"Robert B. Parker would stand and cheer, and George V. Higgins would join the ovation. This is a terrific book--tough, smart, spare, and authentic. Gabriel Valjan is a true talent--impressive and skilled--providing knock-out prose, a fine-tuned sense of place and sleekly wry style."-- Hank Phillippi Ryan, nationally bestselling author of The Murder List

Shane Cleary, a PI in a city where the cops want him dead, is tough, honest and broke. When he's asked to look into a case of blackmail, the money is too good for him to refuse, even though the client is a snake and his wife is the woman who stomped on Shane's heart years before. When a fellow vet and Boston cop with a secret asks Shane to find a missing person, the paying gig and the favor for a friend lead Shane to an arsonist, mobsters, a shady sports agent, and Boston's deadliest hitman, the Barbarian. With both criminals and cops out to get him, the pressure is on for Shane to put all the pieces together before time runs out.

Read this one for:

 

 

Book: Read a pastiche, a book authorized by a deceased author’s estate, the 4th book in a series, a book with the word “four” in the title, a book featuring four siblings, or a book with a wreath, pines or fir trees on the cover.

Awwww, these books are so cute. I loved them so much when I was a kid.

Reading this for:

 

 

Book: Read a pastiche, a book authorized by a deceased author’s estate, the 4th book in a series, a book with the word “four” in the title, a book featuring four siblings, or a book with a wreath, pines or fir trees on the cover.

 

These were some of my favorite books as a kid (Ramona Quimby, Age 8 was my favorite of the lot), so I thought it'd be a good time to reread this one, especially as it ends at a Christmas play.

Well, I was "conned" into spending a few days in Queens, taking care of my 6-month old granddaughter, Ramona, while her parents were sampling beer in Germany...and other things, perhaps even a spot of "work". So, naturally, I had to read the next Ramona book to get into shape for the "ordeal", so to speak.

In this book, Ramona is now 8-years old, in third grade, and is going to a new school. She's old enough to ride the school bus on her own. Naturally, she gets some things wrong and has some issues learning to get along with the people in her class and with her teacher. She also gets stomach flue and vomits all over the place. But, of course, it all turns out ok in the end. I think Ramona in the book is almost as adorable as my Ramona.