Ink Flamingos by Karen E. Olson

Ink Flamingos is being released today, so you totally need to run out and buy a copy. This is the last book in the Tattoo Shop mystery series, and it's thoroughly enjoyable.

Tattoo artist Brett Kavanaugh has promised her brother--a homicide detective--that she'll stay out of his business. But when a longtime client and friend is found dead with a botched tattoo, Brett can't help getting involved, especially when someone is trying hard to point the blame at her. Someone else--unless it's the same person--is impersonating Brett, and creepy-stalker photos of her keep showing up online. Worse, the dead woman was a singer whose band had recently shot to fame, and her fans are out for Brett's blood.

It's no secret that I absolutely love Karen Olson's writing. I've reviewed her previous books here and here and here. Her plots are intricate, her characters fascinating. Ink Flamingos is a great addition to her other books.

The plot in this one is particularly complicated, with lots of clues and a great resolution. I had no idea who the murderer was or why they had done it until the reveal, and then I could have kicked myself for not picking up on those clues. I love that feeling. The parts about the stalker were perfectly creepy; as a result, Brett is understandably more shaken than usual, although she's still a likable, strong character.

Since this is the last book in the series, a low-key romantic subplot takes on more importance as well. I was really hoping for that, since I like the character in question. I wasn't disappointed. I'm sorry that there won't be more books about Brett, but the series has a thoroughly satisfying finish. I'm looking forward to reading whatever else Olson writes.

B&N link

Annie Seymour mystery series by Karen E. Olson

I wrote a very short review of the first Annie Seymour mystery a few days ago. Now I've read the next three.

The books in order are Sacred Cows, Secondhand Smoke, Dead of the Day, and Shot Girl. It looks like they're all out of print, which is a damn shame. At least they're available as ebooks; that's how I got my copies (although I've also ordered used copies, and in fact I delayed writing this review until after I'd ordered them so no one would swoop in and get the last copy or anything).

I really enjoyed the books, obviously. I've also read and really enjoyed Olson's other mystery series (reviewed here). I think what I like most about both series is the truly fine characterization. None of the characters are flat or stereotypical; I care about all of them, even the ones I want to loathe. Olson keeps surprising me by twisting things around so I see the good in otherwise bad people and recognize the bad in people I like. It's subtle, nuanced, and doesn't slow the first-rate pacing at all. This is good writing.

Main character Annie Seymour, a journalist at the New Haven Herald, is cynical, bitter, and suspects she's as burnt out on her job as her coworkers think. As I said in the previous review, Annie's the type of character readers either love or hate. Some people will undoubtedly find her offputting, but I loved her. I found her bitterness oddly refreshing, and she's cynical without being sassy like so many mystery heroines. She's also extremely sharp--and frequently very, very funny.

Since Annie's a reporter on the crime beat, it makes sense that she keeps getting mixed up in murders. That's kind of refreshing too; I don't mind the mystery series where someone stumbles across a corpse in every book, but it does start to seem weird after a few books. Annie's just doing her job. The mysteries are well constructed, the plots complex but never confusing. And again, the pacing is excellent.

In addition to the mysteries, the equally important subplots and character arcs are just as important. Annie has to deal with her coworkers, especially the eager young reporter she's afraid will end up with her job; her hotshot lawyer mother, who won't give her anything on record and who's dating her boss; her cop ex-boyfriend and her private investigator current boyfriend; and many others. Most of all, though, Annie has to deal with herself. This is most obvious in the fourth book, where her ex-husband is murdered and she's suddenly confronted with parts of her past she's tried not to think about for years.

The fourth book gives such a feeling of closure that I'm not sure if Olson plans to write more in the series. I hope so, but I also don't want her to neglect her other series. Frankly, at this point I'm ready to read whatever she writes, no matter what it is.

Karen E. Olson's books at Powell's (where you can order used print copies of her books)
Karen E. Olson's books at B&N (where you can download ebooks for a nook if you have a nook)
I bought my e-copies through the Sony Reader store, and I'm sure they're available for Kindle and other ereaders too.

Sacred Cows by Karen E. Olson

I've read and loved Karen E. Olson's other mystery series, which I reviewed a few months ago. I've been wanting to read her first series, this one, but her books are hard to find. My local B&N doesn't carry her at all, and Sacred Cows doesn't seem to be available at all except as an ebook. So I downloaded the ebook.

Annie Seymour is a reporter and has been for years. She's not happy with the way her newspaper, the New Haven Herald, has become more interested in keeping the tourists and powers that be happy than in actually digging into stories. When a Yale student turns up dead, and her murder seems connected to a local bigshot, Annie tries to ferret out the real story. Before long, she's become a target--not just of the murderer, but of her own boss, who's been told to bury the story and have Annie take a mandatory vacation.

I loved Annie, who's bitter and cynical and doesn't give a shit what people think of her, but I suspect a lot of people would dislike her. Probably this is one of those books you either love or hate. I loved it, and I can't wait to read the sequels I've already downloaded. The mystery is clever, the characters fascinating. Best of all, the book is funny. I highly recommend it and I'll be going into far more detail about why once I've finished reading the sequels.

Powell's link (I've linked to a used copy of this book, but please support the author and buy new if you can find the book)

Tattoo Shop series by Karen E. Olson

I don't know why I'm devouring whole mystery series right now. I guess I'm just finding lots of good stuff out there. The Missing Ink is the first in this series, followed by Pretty in Ink and Driven to Ink. The fourth book is due out next summer.

In the first book, we meet tattoo artist Brett Kavanaugh, who owns her own upscale tattoo parlor in Las Vegas. When a girl makes an appointment for a tattoo--a heart with the name "Matthew" in it--and then disappears, Brett can't stop herself from snooping around. It turns out the girl wasn't who she said she was, and her fiance's name wasn't Matthew, either. And suddenly a man with an eagle tattoo seems to be stalking Brett.

It would be easy to dismiss the books as yet another gimmick mystery series (at least there are no recipes or knitting patterns in the back), but the writing is good and the plots intricate. Brett is smart, strong, and practical without coming across as snide or street-smart. The mysteries kept me guessing and played fair with the clues. I especially appreciated that Brett is active in solving the mysteries without doing stupid stuff just for the sake of the plot.

Best of all are the relationships Brett has with her coworkers and her brother. Her coworkers are awesome, each of them fully realized characters as interesting as Brett herself. Brett lives with her brother--he broke up with his longtime girlfriend about the same time that Brett decided she didn't want to marry a man who expected her to put her career on hold for his. Her brother happens to be a cop. Their sibling relationship is depicted realistically, possibly better than any brother-sister relationship I've ever read. They fuss at each other, stick up for each other, and have a comfortable friendship. I really liked that.

I like also that Brett's relationships grow naturally from book to book. While the mysteries are fun and often funny, I'm at least as interested in what's going on in Brett's social life. That's a nice change from many mysteries, where the most a reader can expect is a drawn-out romance.

B&N link