Reading In/Out 3/10/2026

I don't think there will be any surprises in this post, but for the sake of continuity, I will tell you what I finished and started.

OUT

Payback in Death by J.D. Robb - This was really interesting. In this one, our victim is a retired Captain of the police in charge of Internal Affairs. It was meant to look like a suicide, but it was done very badly. Dallas starts looking into all the dirty cops the man had investigated over his long career, looking for someone who had committed suicide the same way. They found one really bad dude who had committed suicide the same way, and whose son hung himself months later. The day of the Captain's wake, his son was found hanging in the playroom of the house hosting the wake. He lived, but this event definitely solidified the link to that one dirty cop. But his family had alibis, and honestly didn't seem to be interested in revenge. So, who has been carrying a grudge for 9 years? The thing that made this go deeper than the plot was the discussions about how hard it was for the detectives to look at file after file of cops who had dishonored the badge, used their position to coerce, tamper with evidence, destroy files, intimidate witnesses, and take bribes. It made it hard to keep believing in the job. Like I said, really interesting.

ON HOLD

The Last Bookaneer by Matthew Pearl - I had to put this on pause while I finished the Book Club Book for Friday. I did make it to the halfway point, but there was no way I would finish it in time to read the other by Friday.

IN

Encore in Death by J.D. Robb - Surprise! I started the next one. An A-list actor dies by cyanide poisoning at a party at his own house, celebrating the revival of a Broadway musical starring his equally famous wife. She got her first starring role in the same one as a teenager, and now she is playing the mother of the character she originally played. Someone slipped the cyanide in his drink. The thing is, the drink was meant for his wife. She handed it to him to hold while she sang a song. He toasted her with it while she performed, then tossed it back. Then he died. The party had close to 200 people in attendance, including media types, but who would have wanted either one of them dead? And who was the poison actually intended for?

The Windsor Knot by S.J. Bennett - This is the Book Club book I keep mentioning. I've read it before, but I don't remember who dunnit, so I have to read it again to have something to discuss. Luckily, it is a quick read. There's a good chance I will have it finished. It's a lot of fun. The queen is 90 years old, and she has really sneaky ways of making herself heard and making people think they came up with it themselves.

So there you have it. What are you reading now?