About Me

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Melfort, Saskatchewan, Canada
I am a lawyer in Melfort, Saskatchewan, Canada who enjoys reading, especially mysteries. Since 2000 I have been writing personal book reviews. This blog includes my reviews, information on and interviews with authors and descriptions of mystery bookstores I have visited. I strive to review all Saskatchewan mysteries. Other Canadian mysteries are listed under the Rest of Canada. As a lawyer I am always interested in legal mysteries. I have a separate page for legal mysteries. Occasionally my reviews of legal mysteries comment on the legal reality of the mystery. You can follow the progression of my favourite authors with up to 15 reviews. Each year I select my favourites in "Bill's Best of ----". As well as current reviews I am posting reviews from 2000 to 2011. Below my most recent couple of posts are the posts of Saskatchewan mysteries I have reviewed alphabetically by author. If you only want a sentence or two description of the book and my recommendation when deciding whether to read the book look at the bold portion of the review. If you would like to email me the link to my email is on the profile page.

Author Index - Non-Fiction


NON-FICTION


Anderson, Frank W. - (2003) - The Manchur Murder Case; paperback

(2016) - A Letter to Roger Angell on This Old Man Begun and Finished

Andrew, Christopher – (2000) - The Mitrokhin Archive (co-authored by Vasili Mitrohkin)


Ash, Timothy Garton – (2006) - The File by Timothy Garton (Tied for 3rd Best non-fiction of 2006)


Auchard, John – (2004) - Four Trials (Assisted John Edwards) (Second Best non-fiction of 2004)


Backhouse, Constance and Backhouse, Nancy L. – (2005) - The Heiress vs The Establishment (Tied for Third Best non-fiction of 2005)


Baldwin, Ged – (2004) - Frontier Justice


Bascomb, Neal – (2009) - Hunting Eichmann


Behrens, Father James Stephen - (2002) - Memories of Grace - Portraits from the Monastery; Hardcover or paperback


Black, Conrad – (2004) - Franklin Delano Roosevelt; (2007) - A Lift in Progress (Longest book at 1,134 pages)


Black, Roy – (2000) - Black’s Law


Bliss, Michael – (2000) - William Osler: A Life in Medicine


Boies, David – (2005) - Courting Justice (Second Best non-fiction of 2005)


Botein, Justice Bernard – (2004) - Trial Judge


Bower, Tom - (2006) - Conrad and Lady Black – Dancing on the Edge


Boyes, Roger (with Adam LeBor) - (2016) - Seduced by Hitler and Personal Choices in the Third Reich

Boyne, Walter J. - (2003) - The Two O'Clock War


Brands, H.W. – (2005) - The First American - The Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin


Brysac, Shareen Blair – (2001) - Tournament of Shadows (co-authored by Karl E. Meyer)


Bush, George W. – (2015) - 41


Butala, Sharon – (2006) - the perfection of the morning (Most interesting of 2006 – fiction and non-fiction)


Capuzzo, Michael – (2010) - The Murder Room


Caravaggio, Angelo - (2018) - 21 Days in Normandy and 21 Days in Normandy Conclusions 

Carius, Otto – (2005) - Tigers in the Mud


Chernow, Ron – (2005) - Alexander Hamilton


Cooley, Robert – (2009) - When Corruption was King (with Hillel Levin)


Conrads, David – (2004) - I was Right on Time (assisted Buck O’Neil and Steve Wulf)


Copp, Terry – (2003) Fields of Fire (Second best non-fiction of 2003)


Costello, Peter - (2018) - Conan Doyle Detective

Cornwell, John - (2003) - Hitler’s Pope; Hardcover or paperback


Couric, Emily – (2009) - The Trial Lawyers (Possible best non-fiction of 2009)


Cutler, Bruce – (2007) - Closing Argument – Defending (and Befriending) John Gotti, and Other Legal Battles I Have Waged


Davis, Darrell - (2016) - Fire on Ice

Dean, John W. – (2004) - The Rehnquist Choice


Dees, Morris – (2013) - A Lawyer’s Journey (2001) (co-written with Steve Fiffer)


Dershowitz, Alan - (2017) - America on Trial - Part I and Part II

Dolnick, Edward - (2021) - The Rescue Artist

Donavan, Kevin - (2019) - The Billionaire Murders

Douglas, John – (2003) – Mindhunter; (2003) - The Cases that Haunt Us (co-written with Mark Olshaker) Hardcover or paperback


Downer, Martyn – (2007) - Nelson’s Purse


The Dubin Lectures on Advocacy 1998-2002 – (2004)


Edsel, Robert M. – (2010) - The Monuments Men


Evans, C.D. (co-editor with Lorene Shyba) - Tough Crimes and ---

Edwards, John – (2004) - Four Trials (With John Auchard) (Second Best non-fiction of 2004)


Ehrlich, J.W. – (2009) - A Life in My Hands


Evans, C.D. – (2015) - Tough Crimes edited with Lorene Shyba


Evans, Richard J. – (2007) - Telling Lies About Hitler­

Felder, Raoul – (2004) - Bare-Knuckle Negotiation

Fiffer, Steve - (2013) - A Lawyer’s Journey (2001) (co-writter with Dees, Morris)

Fitzsimons, Peter – (2010) - Kokada

Flanders, Judith – (2012) The Invention of Murder – How the Victorians Revelled in Death and Detection and Created Modern Crime

Foster, Tony – (2004) - Meeting of Generals

Frankl, Viktor – (2010) - Man’s Search for Meaning

Fritz, Stephen G. – (2009) - Frontsoldaten – The German Soldier in World War II (Possible Best non-fiction of 2009)

Gladwell, Malcolm – (2006) - The Tipping Point (Best non-fiction of 2006); (2010) - What the Dog Saw

Glantz, David M. - (2003) - The Battle of Kursk; Paperback (co-authored by Jonathan M. House)

Goda, Norman J.W. – (2010) - Tales from Spandau

Goodwin, Doris Kearns – (2006) - Team of Rivals – The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln

* - Graham, Katherine – (2001) - Personal History; Excellent (Second best non-fiction of 2001)

Grant, Ulysses S. – (2007) - The Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant

Greenspan, Alan – (2008) - The Age of Turbulence (Best non-fiction of 2008)

Grier, Howard D. – (2007) - Hitler/Donitz and the Baltic Sea – The Third Reich’s Last Hope, 1944 – 1945

Gruenfeld, Lee – (2004) - Confessions of a Master Jewel Thief (Assisted Bill Mason)

Gutenplan, D.D. – (2001) - The Holocaust on Trial; Hardcover (Best non-fiction of 2001)

Hakakian, Roya – (2013) - Assassins of the Turqouise Palace

Harris, Richard – (2012) - Decision

Harris, Robert – (2010) – Selling Hitler (See also in fiction)

Hastings, Max – (2008) - Armageddon – The Battle for Germany, 1944-1945

Hastings, Patrick - (2020) - Cases in Court (Begun) and (Finished)

Henein, Marie - (2023) - Nothing But the Truth and A Letter to Marie Henein on Life in the Law

Hemming, Henry – (2015) – The Ingenious Mr. Pyke

Herriot, Trevor – (2013) - River in a Dry Land and Reflections on River in a Dry Land

Hett, Benjamin Carter – (2010) - Crossing Hitler

Hines, Stephen - (2003) - The True Crime Files of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Hochschild, Adam – (2008) - Bury the Chains

House, Jonathan M. - (2003) - The Battle of Kursk; Paperback (co-authored by David M. Glantz)

Houseman, John – (2010) - Final Dress

Howarth, David – (2009) - Sledge Patrol

Hunter, Bill - (2002) - Wild Bill (co-authored by Bob Weber) (Second best non-fiction of 2002)

Ignatieff, Michael – (2000) - Isaiah Berlin

James, P.D. – (2000) - Time to be in Earnest; (2010) - Talking About Detective Fiction (Possible ---- best non-fiction of 2010)

Johnston, David - (2017) - The Idea of Canada - Letters to a Nation and Writing to the Governor General about Derek Boogard and Law Clerks

Jones, Brian Jay - (2013) - Jim Henson - Part I and Part II and The Muppets and Me

Jones, Frank - (2019) - Florence Kinrade - Lizzie Borden of the North and What Happened to Florence Kinrade?

Jordan Jr., Vernon with Annette Gordon-Reed (2021) - Vernon Can Read! and Vernon Jordan Jr. Takes a Great Cover Photo

Kershaw, Ian - (2002) Hubris and Nemesis Volumes I and II of Hitler's biography; Hardcover (Best non-fiction of 2002)

King, James - (2016) - Jack - A Life with Writers and The Letters of Jack

King, Larry (with Rabbi Irwin Katsof) – (2001) - Powerful Prayers

Kipp, Charles – (2006) - Because We Are Canadians (Tied for 3rd Best non-fiction of 2006)

Knight, Amy – (2006) - How the Cold War Began

Knightley, Phillip - (2020) - The Second Oldest Profession - Begun and Finished

Lahav, Pnina - (2001) - Judgment in Jerusalem


Lampe, David – (2014) - Hitler’s Savage Canary (1957

Lang, Jim (with Bob McKenzie) - (2019) - Everyday Hockey Heroes


Larson, Erik – (2013) - In the Garden of Beasts


LeBor, Adam (with Roger Boyes - (2016) - Seduced by Hitler

Leibovich, Mark - (2019) - Big Game - The NFL in Dangerous Times

Levin, Hillel – (2009) - When Corruption was King (assisted Robert Cooley)


Lewis, David – (2008) - The Man Who Invented Hitler



Lewis, Michael – (2004) - Moneyball (Best non-fiction of 2004); (2012) - Boomerang – Travels in the New Third World



Lucas, James – (2004) - Battle Group



MacEwan, Grant – (2011) - He Left Them LaughingWhen He Said Good-bye



Macintyre, Ben – (2009) - Zig Zag



MacMillan, Margaret - (2003) - Paris 1919 (Best of 2003 – fiction and non-fiction)



Manning, Preston - (2003) - Think Big; Hardcover


Mason, Bill – (2004) - Confessions of a Master Jewel Thief (With Lee Gruenfeld)

Mazzeo, Tilar J. - (2016) - The Hotel on Place Vendome



McAleer, John – (2005) - Rex Stout – A Majesty’s Life



David McCullough – (2005) - John Adams



McGrath, Alister – (2001) - In the Beginning



McInnes, Craig - (2017) - The Mighty Hughes and Politics is an Honourable Profession

McKenzie, Bob (with Jim Lang) - (2019) - Everyday Hockey Heroes

McKillop, A.B. – (2000) - The Spinster and the Prophet (Best non-fiction of 2000)



Meyer, Karl E. – (2001) - Tournament of Shadows (co-authored by Shareen Blair Brysac)

Mitchell, Barbara and Ormond – (2007) - Mitchell – The Years of Fame 1948 – 1998

Mitchell-Halter, LuAn – (2004) - Paper Doll

Mitrohkin, Vasili – (2000) - The Mitrokhin Archive (co-authored by Christopher Andrew)

Montillo, Roseanne (2022) - Deliberate Cruelty and A Letter to Roseanne


Mortenson, Greg – (2011) - Three Cups of Tea (with David Oliver Relin)

Mosier, John – (2006) - The Blitzkreig Myth (2nd best non-fiction of 2006); (2006) - Cross of Iron; (2007) - Grant

Moynahan, Brian – (2009) - Forgotten Soldiers

Murphy, Bruce Allen – (2003) - Wild Bill; Hardcover

Napley, Sir David – (2012) - Not Without Prejudice

Newman, Peter – (2007) - The Establishment Man

O'Donnell, Pierce and McDougal, Dennis - (2002) - Fatal Subtraction - The Inside Story of Buchwald v. Paramount; Hardcover or paperback

O'Keefe, David - (2020) - Seven Days in Hell and Accountability for the Disaster



Olshaker, Mark – (2003) - The Cases that Haunt Us (co-written with John Douglas)



O’Neil, Buck – (2004) - I was Right on Time (with Steve Wulf and David Conrads)

Patterson, James and Wallace, Benjamin - (2022) - Defense Lawyer and More on Defense Lawyer

Pausch, Randy (with Jeffrey Zaslow) – (2008) - The Last Lecture

Pecover, J. - (2017) - The Work of Justice - The Trials of Robert Raymond Cook and Assessing the Evidence and Considering the Judgment from Causes of Wrongful Conviction and Cook Facing Execution

Pepin, Jacques – (2013) - The Apprentice - My Life in the Kitchen



Perrot, Amanda - (2019) - 47 Days: A Journey Back Home

Powers, Thomas – (2012) – Heisenberg’s War



Raab, Selwyn – (2007) - Five Families



Radzinsky, Edvard - (2002) - Stalin; Hardcover



Reid, Brian A. – (2005) - No Holding Back (Best non-fiction of 2005)



Relin, David Oliver – (2011) - Three Cups of Tea (with Greg Mortenson)



Reynolds, Michael – (2008) - Steel Inferno



Rice, Cy – (2000) - Defender of the Damned: Gladys Towles Root


Riebling, Mark - (2016) - Church of Spies and Josef Muller - A German Catholic Hero of World War II

Ronald, Susan - (2016) - Hitler's Art Thief - Begun and Completed

Rose, Arthur – (2000) - Scandal at the Savoy


Rosenbaum, Ron - (2002) - Explaining Hitler; Hardcover


Rowe, C.D. - (2002) - The Western Flair


Ruddick, James – (2004) - Death at the Priory


Rutland, Robert A. – (2005) - James Madison – The Founding Father



Sands, Phillipe – (2008) - The Torture Team



Ryback, Timothy W. – (2008) - Hitler’s Private Library



Schandling, Nina – (2007) - Hellish Nell



Schroeder, Alice – (2010) - The Snowball – Warren Buffett and the Business of Life



Segev, Tom - (2001) - One Palestine, Complete; (2011) - Simon Wiesenthal



Sereny, Gitta – (2005) - The Healing Wound (Tied for Third Best non-fiction of 2005)



Sides, Hampton – (2001) - Ghost Soldiers

Simpson, Gary L. – (2003) - Tiger Ace (Most interesting of 2003 – fiction and non-fiction)


Sisman, Adam - (2016) - John Le Carré and John Le Carré as Real Life Spy

Smith, Doug - (2021) - We The North

Smith, Helmut Walser – (2009) - The Butcher’s Tale


Smith, Jean Edward – (2005) - John Marshall

Spence, Gerry – (2004) - How to Argue and Win Everytime

Stevens, John Paul - (2017) - Five Chiefs

Stewart, Walter – (2004) - The Life and Political Times of Tommy Douglas; possible hardcover


Thomas, Frank – (2000) - Last Will and Testament


Thomas, Helen – (2000) - Front Row at the White House (Second best non-fiction of 2000)

Toobin, Jeffrey - (2008) - The Nine



The Trial of Socrates (2000); The Trial of St. Thomas More - (2000)




Treliving, Jim - (2018) - Decisions

Vallant, John – (2007) - The Golden Spruce (______ best Non-Fiction of 2007)

Wallace, Benjamin and Patterson, James - (2022 - Defense Lawyer

Ward, Don - Bush Dweller - Essays in Memory of Father James Gray, OSB Part I and Part II

Warwaruk, Larry – (2008) – Red Finns on the Coteau


Weber, Bobby - (2003) - Wild Bill (co-authored by Bill Hunter)



Wiener, Jon – (2007) - Historians in Trouble (______ best Non-Fiction of 2007)



Wilson, Garrett and Wilson, Kevin – (2013) – Diefenbaker for the Defence



Wilson, W. Brett – (2013) - Redefining Success – Still Making Mistakes



Woodward, Bob – (2008) - Maestro – Greenspan’s Fed and the American Boom



Wulf, Steve – (2004) - I was Right on Time (assisted Buck O’Neil and David Conrads)



Wurth, Bob – (2010) - 1942



Zuehlke, Mark – (2005) - Holding Juno