Magic, mayhem, and menace REVIEWS BY TOM CORCORAN

Carol O'Connell's sixth New York-based Kathleen Mallory mystery Shell Game is not the simple illusion its title suggests. Its convolution and deciphering transform penny-ante poker into high-stakes investigation, loyalties into levers to gain clues, dementia into a shield fordecades-old guilt.

Just prior to Thanksgiving, on national television, an old-school magician's attempt at an ambitious, dangerous trick results in his death. His failings are blamed: He was out of his league; his timing was off. Unlike everyone else, detective Kathleen Mallory believes that the death was planned. When her initial attempts to gather information on a magicians' float at the Macy's Parade are twisted to her professional embarrassment, Mallory digs in deeper.

O'Connell's protagonist is the veteran of a childhood on urban streets -- a focused, tough detective, a source of bafflement to her colleagues. But self-knowledge, stubbornness, and cyber-skills give her an edge in confronting clever, violent opponents. Be warned: Shell Game may result in lost sleep, not for its subject matter but for its relentless puzzle. You do not get what you see.


The sequencing of the Stephanie Plum series, by Janet Evanovich, is self-evident from its titles but not mandatory. The first Plum novel, One for the Money, was nominated for five respected awards. It won two -- the Dilys and the Creasey. Evanovich's fifth offering, High Five, once again set deep in the heart of Trenton, aligns skip-tracing Plum with crazed associates and pits her against a menagerie of over-the-top antagonists.

Problem One: Uncle Fred, who's been feuding with the garbage collectors, is missing. A packet of gruesome photos is found in his desk. Problem Two: someone from the garbage collection company is murdered. Is Fred the victim or the culprit?

Nothing for Stephanie is storybook perfect. Her job and finances frustrate her. Her family offers off-kilter comfort; her love life consists of a rocky affair with city detective Joe Morelli and a complicating attraction to her mentor, an ex-Navy Seal and domestic mercenary. Plum also must confront two stalkers -- the hapless Bunchy, who claims Fred owes him a gambling debt, and the menacing Ramirez, a fresh-from-prison psychopath with a "thing" for Stephanie.

Evanovich wields wonderful humor while weaving a tight story and sustaining suspense.


In 1997 Lee Child's Killing Floor won two "Best First Mystery" awards. Child's third Jack Reacher mystery, Tripwire, maintains his quality and accelerates his thriller-style plotting.

After a career in military police investigation, Jack Reacher opted for a lifestyle removed from the Army's constant-boss, constant-schedule routine. He began wandering the country, living a Teflon life with no paper trail, no credit cards. Tripwire finds him in laid-back Key West, digging swimming pools by day, moonlighting as a bouncer in a nude dance club. But Costello, a New York private eye working for a mysterious Mrs. Jacob, shows up looking for him. Then two toughs show up looking for him. Reacher knows none of them, or their reasons for contacting him. Too soon he discovers that the toughs have found Costello, in ugly fashion. Reacher sees no choice. He must abandon his idyllic existence and confront the mystery head-on.

Child's complex tale explores a violent underworld and the determination of a tough, thoughtful main character. Throughout this cross-country cat-and-mouse tale, the author's spare style reveals telling details: layers of intrigue, poignant moments, hideous crimes, and ingenious solutions.


Tom Corcoran is the Florida-based author of The Mango Opera and the forthcoming Gumbo Limbo.

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