Transient Desires

 Transient Desires by Donna Leon 272 pp.

This is the thirtieth book in the Commissario Guido Brunetti Series. I will start by saying this book has the most unsatisfying ending of all the ones in the series that I've read. Two young women go on a boat ride with two young men they met at a popular night spot. A boating accident leaves the women injured and to disguise their crime, the young men leave the women outside a hospital and leave before they are seen. One woman is seriously injured and ends up in a coma while the other has a broken arm. Brunetti's investigation locates the young men, one of whom is also injured. The injured suspect's uncle owns a transport business and the accident occurred in one of his uncle's boats. Further investigation into the uncle uncovers illegal trafficking of goods and people, mostly women. With the assistance of the Guardia costiera (coast guard) Brunetti sets up a sting operation. I won't give away the ending but it seems to stop short. While this author doesn't go into the aftermath of arrests, trials, etc. in her books, this one stops short of any kind of closure and leaves the reader hanging with too many unanswered questions.

Moon Over Soho

 

Moon Over Soho (Rivers of London series #2) by Ben Aaronovitch  375 pp.

Peter Grant returns as a London Police Constable / Sorcerer's Apprentice in this second magical installment of the series. This time his investigations turn to the deaths of jazz musicians dropping dead but carrying supernatural signs which show the deaths are magical instead of natural. In the mean time Peter has a new "girlfriend" who is also supernatural but doesn't realize it. While Peter's magical teacher recovers from injuries sustained at the end of the first book, he has to do most of the investigating alone with his limited magical skills. Constable Lesley May, Peter Grant's love interest in the previous book is recovering from the extreme disfiguring injuries she sustained in book one. Because she cannot actively investigate she instead is analyzing old records from Oxford to help with the investigation. To add to the mysterious, magical crimes, a creature Grant calls "The Pale Lady" is killing men she mutilates with her vagina dentata. With all the dangerous supernatural creatures there is quite a bit of grotesque goriness but it is all integral to the story. I have to read the next one to find out how the wizard Thomas Nightingale and Constable May are getting along.

Glass Houses

Glass Houses by Louise Penny, 391 pages.

It's the end of the year and I don't find myself a fan of the Inspector Gamache series, so, there.

The Witch Elm

The Witch Elm by Tana French, 509 pages.

Toby is taking some time to recover from the injuries he suffered during a very violent burglary. He doesn't feel quite himself, still a little shaky, as it were. Toby decides to move in with his terminally ill uncle and help while he himself sorts thing out and gives himself some time. While there, a long buried secret comes to light and many members of the family, a nice middle-class British family, with lots of perqs and privileges, have to revise their stories about the past. Tana French does an excellent job in keeping the twists and turns coming, right up to the end. No one is as innocent as they would like you to think. Tana French is always good.

Dark Sacred Night

Dark Sacred Night by Michael Connelly, 433 pages.
Detective Renѐe Ballard, introduced in last year's The Late Show, is still working that same late shift in the Hollywood division, when she crosses paths with Harry Bosch, retired from the LAPD, and working part-time for the San Fernando PD. She spots Harry when he is sneaking a look through some old files at the Hollywood station under the pretext of waiting to interview a patrolman about a body found nine years ago. Ballard quickly figures out what Bosch was looking for, and the two of them form a tentative alliance investigating the death of a young runaway. As the story moves along, Bosch makes a couple of decisions that put him in danger and have him wondering if it may be time to finally stop investigating. A good solid story with great characters. I was slow to appreciate Kathleen's comment that this should be savored because now it will be another year before the next book from Connelly. I guess it's a good time to be losing my memory, I'll listen to this on audio in three months or so and see if it surprises me.

A false report

A false report: a true story of rape in America / T. Christian Miller & Ken Armstrong, read by Hillary Huber, 291 pgs.

Marie woke one night with a man in her room.  He spent several hours with her, raping her, threatening her and taking photos he said he would show to others if she reported him.  She called the police when he left.  They spent quite a bit of time trying to poke holes in her story.  She ended up telling them she had made it up.  Two years later, a serial rapist is caught in Colorado and he has a camera with Marie's picture on it.  Marie had been charged with making a false report.  The police departments in Colorado had collaborated and shared information about similar crimes and ended up catching the perpetrator.  This book tells of the excellent police work in Colorado and the way the departments in the Seattle area failed victims and the public.  Riveting and horrifying.