Nothing Stays Buried

In 2003 I picked up a book called “Monkeewrench” & was instantly hooked. Fourteen years later, nothing has changed. As usual there are multiple story lines that develop separately until evidence begins to weave them together.

Leo Magozzi & Gino Rolseth are homicide detectives with the Minneapolis PD. Which is a good thing because they’ve got a dead body on their hands. A young woman was found murdered in a park & unfortunately the distinctive MO is ringing a few bells. Several months ago another woman was found in a similar setting but the case was never solved. Before they can make much headway, the body count begins to rise. And things get even more complicated when FBI agents show up & aren’t keen to explain why.

Meanwhile, show more over at Monkeewrench, Harley is doing his best to talk the crew into taking a missing persons case. Sheriff Jacob Emmet arranged for him to meet Walt Gustafson, an old farmer whose daughter Marla disappeared without a trace 2 months ago. Harley figures it’s the perfect case. They’ll get to help some decent people while keeping the 6 months pregnant Grace away from the usual brand of bad guys they chase.

Every now & then we spend a chapter with the killer & it’s an uncomfortable experience. Slowly we realize there’s something fundamentally wrong with them, some glitch on a cellular level.

As both investigations progress, we catch up on the characters’ personal lives. Leo is over the moon about becoming a dad (despite Gino sharing his domestic horror stories) & continues to work on the lake house he bought. Grace has been softened by the pregnancy & is beginning to entertain the idea that not everyone wants to kill you.

There’s a subtle shift in tension & pace as information begins to trickle in & before they know it, they’re facing a cold killer, wild weather & a horrific discovery on Walt’s farm. Oh, and what’s the deal with the lion?

Earlier books were more focused on action & hi-tech toys as the characters, their backgrounds & relationships were established. This is a more character driven plot with emphasis on how the investigations affect their personal lives as the situation becomes increasingly dangerous.

I must confess that around book #6, I grew tired of Grace & Leo’s idiot dance as they continued to circle each other. Thankfully the old will-they-or-won’t-they situation was resolved but because the authors took their time, the evolution of Grace’s character is more believable. She’ll never be described as a hugger but the fact there’s a little Magozzi on the way makes it obvious she no longer sheaths herself in emotional (or physical) armour.

If like moi you have a book budget, sometimes it’s hard to decide where to spend your hard earned cash. No drama here, these are a no-brainer. The characters have become old friends & it remains one of my go-to series. These books were written by the mother/daughter team of PJ & Traci Lambrecht . Sadly, PJ passed away in Dec. 2016 but according to the website, Traci intends to carry on entertaining us with suitably tangled cases for the Monkeewrench crew to solve. show less

This is my first encounter with the writing team of P.J. Tracy and while crime/drama isn't my first reading choice I was engaged from the first page. By the middle of the book I had done a search on my public library website and put a hold on the first of the Monkeewrench books and it waiting for me as I write this. This is a fast-paced, hand-wringing, increased respiration read with solid characters, believable plot, hold your breath ending. I was lucky to receive an ARC There is no question that I plan to read the previous seven in the series.

I was so happy to see the daughter continue their work by giving us this addition to the series. The Monkeewrench Software computer geeks are asked to reopen a missing person case which rapidly turns into a case of serial homicide. The only thing I can say that was "off" about this one is if someone new to the series were to read this one first they wouldn't form the same connections to the Monkeewrench investigators and software team that we long-time readers do...because it just didn't seem to be there. However the few chapters that were from the killer’s perspective were excellent and gave us a very dark and twisted view of this individual. Still a great series and the "gang" is certainly worthwhile becoming acquainted with.

This instalment features a serial killer who leaves playing cards with his victims' bodies. That's the police case, and then the Monkeywrench team are asked to help with a missing person case. This was despite what they were being asked to do being solidly detective work - it was difficult to see how their software expertise was going to be any help at all. Also, while I'm complaining, I really dislike it when speeding is treated as an amusing kind of mischief - 90mph in a 30mph zone - I hope it wasn't a school zone. Marla's eventual fate was hinted at during the narrative, but nevertheless seemed a bit unlikely. Also the body count was high - even for this series.

On the plus side the plot was coherent and fast moving, and the section show more about the tornado touching down was exciting and interesting - I learnt things! show less

Marla Gustafson was on her way from Minneapolis to Cottonwood County to visit her dad on the family farm. She stopped along the road near the farm to help out someone stalled along the gravel road. Getting closer she saw a black bloody garbage bag in the road. She ran and was never seen again, just leaving a ring behind near a tree. Sheriff Jacob Emmet was out of clues after searching for Marla for 2 months. He called up to Minneapolis to hire the Monkeewrench crew to use their computers to help look for Marla. Meanwhile Homicide Detectives Magozzi and Rolseth were on the trail of what appeared to be a serial killer. Victims were found strangled in parks with a playing card tucked under their shirts. Leo Magozzi was also worried about show more Grace McBride, a member of the Monkeewrench crew, as she was expecting their child. The two separate cases in two areas of Minnesota were starting to link together: casinos, drug cartels, FBI, more vitims and a wild southern Minnesota tornado bring the cases together in a wild ride.

I have enjoyed Monkeewrench mysteries since book #1. This one caught my attention as I used to live in Cottonwood Co, Minnesota. However, I soon discovered that the author, although being a Minnesota native, placed the county near the Iowa border on I-35W, which is a good 125 miles southeast of the real Cottonwood Co. It shouldn't have bothered me, but I found this glaring error really irritating to me while reading. But, then folks who live in the Twin Cities area call everything beyond the Minneapolis metro area, "outstate Minnesota", not worthy of keeping the details straight. Nevertheless, it was a good read. show less

I really liked this one, perhaps it's my favorite of the series. It had a number of really likable characters in addition to the usual group. There was a good dose of the Monkeewrench group, who agreed to help a rural farmer, Walt, whose daughter went missing. He was an old-fashioned farmer who wasn't used to people like Monkeewrench, and it was interesting to see how they got to be close after a short time, even Annie with her inappropriate clothes, high heels, and disdain for country life in general. When a big storm was on the way, he worried that he might have to carry her from their motor home to the storm cellar, a feat that would take a lot out of an old man considering her ample size.

When detectives Leo Magozzi and Gino Rolseth show more discover that their case of a serial killer seems to be connected to the area of Walt's farm (partly due to the presence of lion's fur!), they decide to go out and join Monkeewrench there. Of course, they have to run into a huge storm along the way, and a discovery of dead bodies. Nothing's easy for these guys. But they don't complain - much. Well, not much considering how they complain about most everything.

This was one book I had trouble putting down. I'll be reading the next one soon that I got from Net Galley. show less

Tracy has done a great job in providing an interesting series since her first book, Monkeewrench, and like many long running series there have been ups and downs.

The character interaction between the main group of characters has been what kept bringing me back time and again regardless of any negatives. Their personalities, charm, and skills have often made hard days end on a highpoint as I was provided with a great escape and a positive way to close out an otherwise stressful day.

Lately it seems Tracy has been taking the bulk of the attention away from what made this a great series and shifting it to other characters like the detectives. They’re not bad characters and I do read a lot of law enforcement books but I had come to depend show more on this series solely for its focus on something other than detectives. If I wanted to read more police procedurals I have plenty to choose from written by authors in the States, the UK and Australia.

Why write these stories under the Monkeewrench banner if the focus isn’t going to be on them? If you want to write police procedurals do so as standalones or under a new series banner.

The positives still outweigh my petty grievances with great pacing, well-written suspense, fleshed out storylines, and well-developed characters with a balance in viewpoints so you get a more interesting novel.

You don’t necessarily need to read the series in order so if you haven’t read Monkeewrench I would not want you to feel dissuaded from picking this up. show less