Bernie Rhodenbarr, bookstore owner and expert burglar gets caught up in a spot of murder and intrigue surrounding some missing documents he had been commissioned to steal. At the same time, he is busy falling in love with a beautiful Anatrurian woman who takes him to a Bogart double-bill every night. Is she somehow involved? A nice little mystery in the classic mold. Erudite, funny, and romantic, but the cleverness sometimes feels a bit forced.

Black policeman Chris Wilson was off-duty and out of uniform when he was shot by a white officer, Terry Quinn. Wilson’s mother hires private investigator Derek Strange to look at his death more closely, and find out what really happened. Pelecanos develops the characters nicely, and manages to ask some probing questions about friendship and racism at the same time as telling a tight detective story. This was my first Pelecanos book, and it makes me want to read more.

It’s Christmastime at the 87th Precinct, and Detective Steve Carella catches a double murder. One of the vicitms is a bestselling writer of ghost stories, and his girlfriend is a medium. When she starts making spooky predictions, Carella isn’t sure if she’s faking or for real. But he’s going to find out… It was a bit strange to see a supernatural element in the normally gritty world of the 87th Precinct, but McBain uses it to good effect, producing another tense mystery.

The only thing the recent film has in common with this book is the name “Jason Bourne”, and the fact that he has lost his memory. Everything else is completely different. The book deals with an intricate and highly secret plot to catch an assassin called “Carlos,” and how Bourne comes to learn of the part he has to play in it. Good action thriller.

Hard-boiled science fiction detective story–tough to pull off, but Morgan does a good job. Murder and brutality in a world where death just means you have to get yourself downloaded into a new body–provided you can afford it.