The Kid; Indefensible; Four to Score; The Knife Slipped

I really enjoyed Ron Hansen's "The Kid", a fictionalized account of the short, tragic life of Billy the Kid. I've always been fascinated by Billy the Kid, ever since I saw "Young Guns 2" when I was a teenager, and I've read everything I can get my hands on about him. Hansen's book was a great blend of fiction and nonfiction. I'd love to believe that Billy did escape Pat Garrett's bullet and lived a long life afterwards, but the older I get and the more I read the more I'm forced to admit Garrett probably did get him.

I think I'm the only person who hasn't seen the "Making of a Murderer" yet (although I have watched half of it), but I was interested to see what Griesbach had to say about what the documentary left out. It was very eye opening. I'll have to finish watching the show to see what I think, but the way it looks now Steven Avery did indeed kill Teresa Halbach. Very tragic situation all the way around.

A Janet Evanovich reread, "Four to Score". I've read this one a bunch, so I remembered it pretty well, but it was still good lighthearted entertainment. Stephanie is looking for Maxine, who skipped town after stealing her boyfriend's car. After meeting her boyfriend, Stephanie doesn't blame her much, but she still has a job to do. Maxine is taunting the boyfriend, leaving him clues that Stephanie has to get help deciphering. Enter Sally Sweets, a transvestite who is good at puzzles and all around a lot of fun. There are some great moments in this one.

And finally, a Cool and Lam mystery from the late great Erle Stanley Gardner, published for the first time by Hard Case Crime. I love Erle Stanley Gardner. I love Perry Mason. This one is a Cool and Lam mystery: private eyes Bertha Cool and her right hand man, Donald Lam. What starts out as a simple divorce case when a wife hires Bertha and Donald to trail her philandering husband quickly turns into more when Donald notices how many members of the police and fire department visit Mr. Cunner at his various apartments. Turns out Cunner has quite a racket going, selling supplies to help cheat on the civil service exams, and rather than bring him down Bertha wants a piece of the action. It was great fun. I had no idea there were so many Cool and Lam mysteries out there, I'm going to have to do some investigating to see if I can get my hands on some of the ones that were published back in the day.