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Fiction Sleazy manners, golden heart THE BOOK ARTIST A Hugo Marston Novel By Mark Pryor 272 pp. Seventh Street Books Reviewed by Eric Petersen Mark Pryor returns with the eighth entry in his popular Hugo Marston mystery series. (Previous books in the series are also reviewed on this site.) The middle-aged Hugo Marston, head of security at the US embassy in Paris, is not your typical diplomat. Though he's a big, tough, pistol-packing Texan, (the author is an Englishman who lives in Texas) he possesses a formidable intellect, impeccable manners, and a passion for collecting rare books. He speaks fluent French and adores Paris and the French people. Before Hugo took the job at the embassy, he was a criminal profiler for the FBI. Not exactly a social butterfly, he does have a few good friends in Paris. His best friend, Tom Green, is a fat, foulmouthed, ill-mannered, and sleazy semiretired CIA agent with a heart of gold who refers to himself as a “freelance spook....

--> Fiction And I picked the place myself DIG YOUR GRAVE A Gus Parker and Alex Mills Novel By Steven Cooper 368 pp. Seventh Street Books Reviewed by Eric Petersen Mystery writer Steven Cooper returns with the second novel in his new mystery series featuring an unlikely pair of sleuths, and it’s even better than the first entry, Desert Remains , which is also reviewed on this site. Whenever Phoenix homicide detective Alex Mills is tasked with investigating a bizarre and brutal murder, he turns to his close friend, eccentric psychic Gus Parker, for help – something the police department likes to keep on the down low in these cynical times. Gus is not your typical psychic, as “some people regard him as an aging hippie himself, what with his long raffish hair, the beaded bracelets, the occasional Yoga class, and of course, the psychic visions.” His psychic powers began manifesting when he was a teenager; his visions are unpredictable, varying from clairvoyance to precognition. He n...