Goodbye Torin and the Valor series

HEART OF VALOR: TANYA HUFF

From Publishers Weekly
The fast-paced third military SF novel in Huff's Confederation series (after Valor's Choice and The Better Part of Valor) examines how an interplanetary confederation might unite several distinctive species into an effective military organization despite widely differing physiologies, customs and mores. Marine Gunnery Sgt. Torin Kerr, recovering from injuries suffered in a first contact situation, accompanies a recruit platoon into the Crucible, a training planet where they apply their lessons in a realistic live-fire exercise against robotic drones. While the exercise is underway, the drones begin acting aggressively, without regard to fail-safes or their programming. Has the platoon come under attack by the mysterious Others, or is this related to the alien escape pod that everybody has forgotten exists except for Torin, her lover and an obnoxious reporter? The intriguing and well-designed aliens and intricate plotting keep the reader guessing.

The adventure continues. I like the link between stories and by reading them so close together I haven't lost track. Didn't feel the other characters were as strong in this tale but Torin remains her wonderful self.

THE MERRY MISOGYNIST : COLIN COTTERILL

In poverty-stricken 1978 Laos, a man with a truck from the city was “somebody,” a catch for even the prettiest village virgin. The corpse of one of these bucolic beauties turns up in Dr. Siri’s morgue and his curiosity is piqued. The victim was tied to a tree and strangled but she had not, as the doctor had expected, been raped, although her flesh had been torn. And though the victim had clear, pale skin over most of her body, her hands and feet were gnarled, callused, and blistered.
On a trip to the hinterlands, Siri discovers that the beautiful female corpse bound to a tree has already risen to the status of a rural myth. This has happened many times before. He sets out to investigate this unprecedented phenomenon—a serial killer in peaceful Buddhist Laos—only to discover when he has identified the murderer that not only pretty maidens are at risk. Seventy-three-year-old coroners can be victims, too.

Having stumbled on this series several years back I look forward to each new installment. Mystery readers should check them out but read in order to get the full context of the characters and historical background.

THE SKELETON ROOM: KATE ELLIS

Product Description
When workmen converting former girls' boarding school, Chadleigh Hall, into a luxury hotel discover a skeleton in a sealed room, DI Wesley Peterson and his boss, Gerry Heffernan are called in to investigate. But within minutes they have a second suspicious death on their hands: a team of marine archaeologists working on a nearby shipwreck have dragged a woman's body from the sea. And it becomes clear that her death was no accident. The dead woman's husband may be linked with a brutal robbery of computer equipment but Wesley soon discovers that the victim had secrets of her own. As he investigates Chadleigh Hall's past and the woman's violent death, both trails lead in surprising directions and matters are further complicated when a man wanted for a murder in London appears on the scene, a man who may know more about Wesley's cases than he admits.

I think this series might do better with more time between readings. I'm getting a little jaded. Only one left at our library so I will read it and just wait to see if I come across the rest.

VALOR"S TRIAL: TANYA HUFF

Product Description
The "rousing military adventure" (Locus) continues with a brand new Valor novel.

Gunnery Sergeant Torin Kerr is a Confederation Marine's marine. She's survived more deadly encounters-and kept more of her officers and enlistees alive-than anyone in the Corps. Unexpectedly pulled from battle, Torin finds herself in an underground POW camp that shouldn't exist, where her fellow marine prisoners seem to have lost all will to escape. Now, Torin must fight her way not only out of the prison but also past the growing compulsion to sit down and give up-not realizing that her escape could mean the end of the war.

OH NO is this the end? I am going to miss Torin, her quick wit and raised eyebrow. I will miss the dialogue, the aliens, the marines even the annoying reporter. I just wish she hadn't used gray.

4 books