It’s for these reasons, as well as the increased confidence Butcher shows in the writing that Summer Knight is one of my favorite in the series, (the rest of which are constantly shifting in rank as they are reread). As a person who likes to start a series in the beginning, it’s startling to consider that this book is probably the best place to enter the Dresden Files series of books if you want a delicious serving of adventure without the early-days problems that dog most series.
The Years Change A City
Leaving Berlin by Joseph Kanon
This is the first book by Kanon I’ve read, and it has ensured that this will not be the last. He paints a vivid picture of the shabby glamour and desolation of Berlin, and of the struggles of the people who are just trying to survive after having a brutal separation imposed on them by outside forces after the horrors of WW2.
False Smiles And Coded Letters
Our Man In Charleston by Christopher Dickey
A consul could be a valuable witness and resource to his superiors during a time of unrest, and the time leading up to the Civil War was certainly one of those.
In Sherlock’s Shadow
Some Danger Involved by Will Thomas
When a young Jewish man who looks very similar to the popular image of Jesus is found crucified, a detective with a close relationship to the Jewish community, Cyrus Barker, is called upon to investigate soon after he has hired his new assistant.
One In A Crowd
The Italian Secretary by Caleb Carr
The story itself is an odd hodgepodge of ideas, mixing cruel noblemen, Scottish Nationalism, mysterious deaths, and the possibility of supernatural forces at work (which in itself is a dubious idea in Sherlock’s world, given his firm adherence to practicality and logic).
A Flock of Facts
Crows: Encounters With The Wise Guys by Candace Savage
Crows: Encounters With The Wise Guys is not a long book; only about 105 pages. But it is chock-full of fascinating stories and facts about these ubiquitous yet uncommonly-fascinating birds that we see every day.
Adding Color To A Marble Saint
The Making Of The Prefident 1789 by Marvin Kitman
Kitman does an excellent and in-depth examination of Washington’s early life, military & election campaign, as well as the schemes and tricks apparently used to gain him the Prefidency, all without losing his respect for Washington or suggesting he was the wrong man for the biggest job in the world.
Do They Cover Deicide on NCIS?
Three Parts Dead by Max Gladstone
Together, under the direction of Tara’s boss from the mystical firm of Kelethres, Albrecht & Ao, they set out to answer the three simple questions that pop up in any suspicious death: Whodunnit, how, and why? The fact that the who is Kos Everburning, god of the city of Alt Coulumb, does make it a little trickier.