Monday, February 09, 2026
In Reference to Murder: Media Murder for Monday
Aubrey Nye Hamilton Reviews: Best Offer Wins: A Novel by Marisa Kashino
Best Offer
Wins (Celadon Books, November 2025) by Marisa Kashino is Kashino’s debut
novel. She covered the Washington DC real estate market for the Washington
Post and the Washingtonian, and she knows what she’s talking about.
Margo Miyake
and her husband Ian have been house hunting in the Washington DC, suburbs for
18 months. No matter how much they offer, they lose to the well-heeled buyers
who can offer all cash and more of it than Margo and Ian can possibly hope to
finance. They have lost 11 listings in the DC real estate market war zone and
Margo is beginning to despair of ever leaving the cramped apartment they took
after they sold their DC row house. She wants desperately to start a family; at
the age of 37 her biological clock is ticking more loudly every day. But she
must have a home first in which to raise a family, so the house has become an
urgent priority.
When she hears
about a residence in an upscale Bethesda area before it goes on the market, she
and Ian go look at it, ostensibly just to check out the neighborhood. But Margo
can’t resist walking around the house to examine the back yard and to look in
the kitchen windows and she gets caught by one of the owners. She pretends that
she’s lost. Ian has driven away rather than be mortified by his wife who is
unashamedly trespassing.
Margo can’t
stop scheming how to convince the owners of the house to accept their offer
before they list the house on the MLS, despite the huge event her PR firm is
hosting in just a few days. Margo is responsible for a large part of the
details that will make the event stand out. If successful, their client will
put the firm on retainer, a giant PR plum. But she is busy plotting her next
real estate maneuver while she should be listening in meetings and taking
notes. Margo has a laserlike focus that guided missiles would envy.
Her next move
is to stalk the owner she met. She finds out where his yoga class is and “accidentally”
joins his class. Not just joins the class but sits next to him. Nothing subtle
about Margo. She goes from one embarrassing attempt to another without batting
an eye or paying the least bit of attention to her job. Or her husband. Her
ability to lie to her manager, her husband, and to her real estate agent is
awe-inspiring.
It is not
possible to say much more without giving away the entire story line. Suffice it
to say, this book is cringe-inducing, hilarious, and scary. It will strike fear
into the hearts of buyer’s agents everywhere. I can’t wait to see what Marisa
Kashino writes next.
·
Publisher: Celadon Books
·
Publication date: November 25, 2025
·
Language: English
·
Print length: 288 pages
·
ISBN-10: 1250400546
·
ISBN-13: 978-1250400543
Amazon
Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/3ZpuDDd
Aubrey Nye Hamilton ©2026
Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal It projects by day and reads mysteries at night.
Sunday, February 08, 2026
Little Big Crimes: The Summer Tournament, by Jason Starr
Beneath the Stains of Time: Death Below the Dam (1936) by Esther Fonseca
Review: A Study in Secrets: A Redacted Man Mystery by Jeffrey Siger
As A Study in Secrets: A Redacted Man Mystery
by Jeffrey Siger begins, Michael likes to sit in his penthouse window and
imagine the lives of the people he sees that pass by his home. The wealthy
recluse has a good perch as his townhouse faces an entrance to the neighborhood
park directly across the street. A former intelligence operative who gave a lot
to this country, physically, emotionally, and every other way possible, lives a
life of quiet isolation. He rarely goes out and has very limited social
contact. If it wasn’t for his housekeeper, Mrs. Baker, he might not speak to
another person for days.
He has many people to people watch from his perch as
he envisions their imaginary lives. He does not know their names, their
occupations, or anything else real about them. He watches them, the strays and
the regulars, and creates stories in his head of them and how they are going
about their day. That includes a regular, a young woman in her gray coat, who daily
sits on one of the park benches at the entrance to the park. She arrives
shortly before dawn each day, and once the sun is up, walks deeper inside the
park and becomes lost to his view.
While he imagines her life one way, her actual
reality is far different. She has a routine that she must follow, with no
exceptions. Her boss made that very clear on her first day. The same boss who
is soon very dead on the floor of the apartment she shares with two other
women.
Thanks to her boss being shot in the head, she now has
no job. She can’t stay there. She can’t go to the cops. She certainly can’t
tell anyone about her job. How much the roommates know about what she does, she
has no idea, but they can’t be trusted either. She has no money, no resources,
and no option other than to sleep on the bench at the edge of the park. It is
dangerous, but that park bench is the one place that she feels any safety at
all.
Fortunately, for her, Michael is awake and watching when
she goes to the bench and lies down to sleep. He has always been intrigued by
her. Haunted by those he failed to save, the elderly man is not going to let
her sleep there unprotected. He certainly can’t just walk over and bring her
home. With no other choice, as he sees it, he calls a person he has not spoken
to in decades to ask for help for her.
That action by Michael starts a domino chain of events
as the figure on the bench needs a lot of help. That help will come in many
different ways as the threat to her life evolves again and again.
Beyond the obvious references to the legendary
Sherlock Holmes, what struck my me most was how much this setup reminded me of
the original The Equalizer TV show. During the last half of the 80s, CBS
aired the drama. Edward Woodward was the dashing and sophisticated Robert
McCall. He was a former intelligence operative and a man of considerable means.
He was also your way out if you had no one else to help. All you had to do was
call him by way of his newspaper ad. Back then, it was must see viewing for my late
wife and me. It was also far and away superior to the rebooted version that CBS
came up with in recent years.
That premise seems to be at work here, as I read the
novel. Elderly man with a cane and plenty of money, a recluse who retired after
a long career in the intelligence services, disengaged from the world, is
pushed into a situation where he is compelled to help a very vulnerable young
woman. That push to help begins to break him free of the protective shell he
has created around himself. He gradually reengages with the world and the
people around him, one slow step at a time.
That decision to contact somebody he has not spoken
to in decades to get her help as she laid on the bench that cold night, starts
a chain that changes everything for quite a few people in this very enjoyable first
book of the new series. A solidly good read that gradually builds the tempo to
a very satisfying conclusion. A Study in Secrets: A Redacted Man Mystery
by Jeffrey Siger is well your time and attention.
For another perspective on the book, make sure you
read Lesa Holstine’s recent review here.
Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/3LPgXhO
My digital ARC came by way of the publisher, Severen
House, through NetGalley, with no expectation of a positive review.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2026
Saturday, February 07, 2026
KRL Update
Since the main KRL website is down right now, we are posting everything on KRL News and Reviews this week-
Up on KRL News and Reviews this week the latest Mystery Coming Attractions Valentine's Day Edition by Victoria Fair https://www.krlnews.com/2026/02/mystery-coming-attractions-february.html
And a review and giveaway of "Call In For Murder" (together with some other goodies) by Tammy Barker, along with an interesting interview with Tammy https://www.krlnews.com/2026/02/call-in-for-murder-by-tammy-barker.html
And a review and giveaway of "Gull and Bones" by Sally Goldenbaum https://www.krlnews.com/2026/02/gull-and-bones-by-sally-goldenbaum.html
And a review and giveaway of "A Grace Deception" by Connie Berry, https://www.krlnews.com/2026/02/a-grave-deception-by-connie-berry.html
And a review and giveaway of "Murder Plays Second Fiddle" by Heather Weidner https://www.krlnews.com/2026/02/murder-plays-second-fiddle-by-heather.html
And a review and giveaway of "Mayhem and Malice in Malta" by Victoria Tait https://www.krlnews.com/2026/02/mayhem-and-malice-in-malta-by-victoria.html
And another special midweek guest post, this one by mystery author Kristine Delano https://www.krlnews.com/2026/02/what-i-learned-about-storytelling-from.html
Happy Reading,
Lorie
SleuthSayers: The Long Walk
Bitter Tea and Mystery: Spin #43 for the Classics Club, February 2026
Scott's Take: The Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook by Matt Dinniman
The Dungeon
Anarchist’s Cookbook by Matt Dinniman is the third book in the Dungeon
Crawler Carl series and my least favorite of the series so far. I
got tired of the basic concept of the book before the end.
In this book,
Carl and friends are forced to fight underground in a series of tunnels,
subways, etc. And that’s the book. They flight underground in various locations
and conditions.
There is
intrigue from human crawlers, and world building, and a ton of action. The
human crawlers are finally working together. A lot of the supporting characters
get to come back here. There is humor and it is a fun read, but the concept
does not really need a five hundred plus page book. I just got tired of the
idea of the book before the author wounded it up. He had a lot of clever ideas
in this one, but it just did not work for me.
There is a map
that is added at one point that is supposed to help explain things. As maps go in a fantasy series, the one here is
pretty weak and not very good. I have seen way better. I did like how some of
the chapters had little illustrations on top.
There is a short
story included that continues the things happening backstage. One hopes at some
point that stuff will matter.
The next book
sounds way better. The Gate of the
Feral Gods where Carl and friends deal with a series of castles.
One of which is a floating fortress guarded by gnomes. A castle made of sand. A
robot guarded submarine. A haunted
crypt. Somehow, I guess all four count as castles.
Amazon Associate
Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4a9FiXs
My hardback reading
copy came from the Forest Green Branch of the Dallas Public Library System.
Scott A. Tipple ©2026
Friday, February 06, 2026
In Reference to Murder: Mystery Melange
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: A Child in the Forest by Winifred Foley
Jerry's House of Everything: FORGOTTEN BOOK: KILLERS ARE MY MEAT
Bitter Tea and Mystery: Books Read in January 2026
Paula Messina Reviews: Agony Hill by Sarah Stewart Taylor
Please welcome back author
Paula Messina to the blog today…
Agony Hill
by Paula Messina
In fiction, character, plot, and setting are equal, but character
is more equal. At least that’s true for this reader. If I don’t like the
characters or find them intriguing, I’m reluctant to spend time with them.
Think about it. We don’t hang around with individuals who are boring or
dislikable or nasty. Why should fictional characters be any different?
Agony Hill by Sarah Stewart Taylor
is the first novel in her third mystery series. I had no trouble diving in
because the characters are both likable and relatable. The main character,
Franklin Warren, isn’t a genius à la Sherlock Holmes or Nero Wolfe. He isn’t a
barrel of laughs like Donald E. Westlake’s Dortmunder, nor is he an eccentric
like Hercule Poirot. He’s a normal guy, but a normal guy haunted by his past.
He’s also empathetic and compassionate.
Plot might come in second to character, but it definitely matters.
After all, you can’t have a novel without a story. Agony Hill is set
during the 1960s, and it opens with Sylvie Weber and her sons swimming in a
pond. A stranger appears out of nowhere, waves a knife at Sylvie, and demands
she speak to him.
The action shifts to Warren, who has moved from Boston to Bethany,
Vermont, to join the state police. He hasn’t had time to unpack when he’s
ordered to report to the site of a fire on Agony Hill where Hugh Weber has
died. Everyone is convinced he committed suicide, everyone except for Warren.
It was impossible for anyone to enter or exit the barn, but Warren
think Weber was murdered. After all, this is a mystery, and the story would end
before it barely began if foul play wasn’t suspected. Warren sets out to prove
his theory that foul play is afoot.
While investigating, Warren spots someone in the woods. Is he the
murderer? Warren chases him but is outrun. The detective isn’t the only one
concerned about a suspicious character. Someone had trespassed on Alice
Bellows’ property. Warren’s next-door neighbor, Bellows senses that someone is
spying on her and is determined to find out who is it. She sets out on her own
investigation.
Agony Hill is in the whodunit mode,
but it has elements of several mystery sub-genres. The small town where
everyone knows each other is definitely a cozy element. Taylor never wanders
into John Dickson Carr territory, but the murder takes place in a locked barn
with no possible entry or exit. Franklin Warren is a detective, but Agony
is not a police procedural. This novel is character driven.
A recurring cast of characters is one reason for readers to wait
anxiously for the next book and the book after that. It’s a technique used by
the best mystery writers. Sherlock Holmes has his Lestrade, the Baker Street
Irregulars, and the infinitely patient Mrs. Hudson. Nero Wolfe has the crew
living in his brownstone and catering to his every whim, the cigar-abuser
Inspector Cramer, and Archie Goodwin’s favorite dancing partner, Lily Rowan.
I suspect the characters we meet in Agony Hill will appear
in subsequent books. Alice Bellows, is something of an amateur sleuth, another
cozy element. Pinky Goodrich, a new officer who blushes early and often, is
Warren’s sidekick. I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if Sylvie Weber and
her children reappear. It’s obvious from the get-go Warren is drawn to her.
I realized the importance of setting when I gave a writer and
Robert Parker fan a tour of Boston. The top item on her list of things to see,
the only spot she had to see, was Spenser’s office on the corner of
Boylston and Berkeley Streets. The next day, she was off to Cambridge to
discover Susan Silverman’s house.
Characters aren’t the only ones who navigate a novel’s setting.
Readers do as well. The more vivid the setting, the more readers are immersed
in its milieu. I’m not immune either. When I walk down Boylston Street, I often
look up at the building on the corner of Boylston and Berkeley and think,
“That’s Spenser’s office,” and I look at the empty shop across the street and
remember it used to be a Dorothy Muriel’s Bakery.
The imaginary Bethany, Vermont, is as much a character as the rest
of the crew. It’s a place where everyone knows his neighbors. The characters
are part of a community that cares about the people who live there, and I’m
convinced, they’re waiting to welcome readers in the next Franklin Warren
mystery. I can imagine Taylor fans searching for the “real” Bethany.
I have one quibble. Boston’s North End is referred to as Little
Italy. No Massachusetts native ever refers to the land on Shawmut Peninsula as
Little Italy. Warren would know better.
That little hiccup aside, Agony Hill is an engaging read.
And yes, there is another Franklin Warren mystery, Hunter’s Heart Ridge. I look forward to
reading it.
Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/3LNJaFL
Paula Messina ©2026
Paula Messina is writing an historical mystery
set in Boston’s North End. Donatello Laguardia, the WIP’s main character,
solves crimes in Devil’s Snare and Snakeberry. Her contemporary
fiction appears in Black Cat Weekly, The Ekphrastic Review, THEMA,
and Wolfsbane. And yes, her Donatello Laguardia stories have recurring
characters.
Thursday, February 05, 2026
Criminal Minds: Pro-mojo from James W. Ziskin
Beneath the Stains of Time: Masterclass: "Touch of a Vanish'd Hand" (2000) by Phil Mann
Thursday Treats: 2/5/2026
Welcome back to “Thursday Treats.” Viewership dropped more than half from week one to last week, so that was less than thrilling. So too was our weather event though things easily could have been way worse.
We survived the three inches of sleet and a dusting of snow, though not completely unscathed. Scott fell twice last week on back to back days trying to get stuff out to the bins. With my cane, there was no way I could do it. He did not break anything, but his neck remains sore and stiff.
As to publishing news of interest….
Author Nikki Knight has the third book
in her Gracie “The Hit Mom” Mystery series coming out next week. Murder on the Sea Otter Express: A Grace
"The Hit Mom" Mystery takes readers to the New Haven
Aquarium where Gracie’s intended target dies without her taking action. Comes
out Tuesday in hardback, paperback, and eBook.
Author Michael Bracken, and many others, appear in Black Cat Weekly #231. This
is a weekly publication featuring short stories and novellas in multiple
genres. You can buy individual issues or one of the far better subscription
deals at blackcatweekly.com.
Fellow SMFS list member Ron Clyburn
announced on the list that his short story, The Fence, was available to read
online at The Literary Garage.
This is a free read and well worth your time.
M. E. Proctor also
announced that her short story collection, A
Book to Live By: Stories from a Different World, is now out.
Published by Wordwooze Publishing, the
read is available in eBook and paperback.
Jeffrey Siger announced on Facebook that his book, A Study In Secrets is the first book in his new The Redacted Man series. He explains the background of the book in this blog post as well as at his website. It is at Amazon as well as at other places. I have read the book, enjoyed it, and will have my review up on this blog soon.
Until next time….
Kevin R. Tipple ©2026
Wednesday, February 04, 2026
Yellow Boners
When Sandi was doing chemo, she had to eat a lot of them. I started calling them "Yellow Boners." There was one day in infusion when I got her to say loudly, "I do NOT want a Yellow Boner. Stop it!" I die laughing. Nurses ask what is going on and I tell them. A couple of infusions later, one of the nurses tells me that she she told her husband who thought it was funny. Her teenage son heard her tell Dad. Later, a day or two, he yelled at the store while holding up bananas, "Mom! You want some more Yellow Boners?" Apparently the phrase had taken hold in her house between her teenage son and her younger son. She told me how this was all my fault while I sat there and laughed.
Mystery Fanfare: SUPER BOWL: Super Bowl Crime Fiction & Football Mysteries
SleuthSayers: Main Character Energy
Bitter Tea and Mystery: Short Story Wednesday: USA Noir
Jerry's House of Everything: SHORT STORY WEDNESDAY: THE MOON FOR A NICKEL
Review: The Hadacol Boogie: A Dave Robicheaux Novel by James Lee Burke
History and the mystical have always been a constant
presence in this series. Such is the case here where both are major characters
in The Hadacol Boogie: A Dave Robicheaux Novel by James Lee Burke.
The setting itself, at the very end of the late 90s with a new year fast
approaching, is its own character as well.
Though one could, if so inclined, argue that all of
this started way earlier. In Eden, perhaps. Or back during the Civil War. Or
any other location in time that you would like to choose. Maybe we, as the
reader, just think it starts in the late 90s at the dawn of the new year.
While some have some have shot off fireworks and had
a good time, Dave Robicheaux is thinking about the long history of Louisiana,
good and bad, as well as the things he has seen and done. He’s in his kitchen and
trying to stay sober so he settles for some chocolate milk when he sees some
kids in a small boat out on the Bayou Teche fire off a bottle rocket. Instead
of going skyward, the flaming bottle rocket ends up going inside a tent he has
set up on the end of his yard to protect an armadillo and her babies from the
wet weather.
In the aftermath of putting the fire out, the kids
tell an annoyed Dave Robicheaux that they fired the thing into his yard to
light it up as they did not have a flashlight. They saw a large man who scared
them. They saw him dragging a big plastic garbage bag through his yard. They
lost sight of him and the bag. The kids are seemingly good kids that he has
seen around and they certainly are very clearly scared.
Robicheaux soon finds the bag. He gets it open and discovers
the nude body of a woman inside. She has a wire wrapped around her throat that
may or may not be a guitar string. She is very clearly dead. Now he has to
report in to his boss and others, see to it that the kids get to their respective
parents safely, and do a lot of other stuff.
After calling it in to the Iberia Parish Sheriff's Department
where he works and other folks that need to know, he also calls his former
homicide detective partner, Clete Purcell. Soon, seemingly, half the local population
has shown up to his house and yard, as does Purcell. Identifying the dead woman
is his first course of business. Then comes figuring out who did it and why
dump her body in his yard?
Before long, things get strange in the neighborhood. History and the mystical constantly power this latest read in the series. As often happens, though not usually nearly to this level, The Hadacol Boogie: A Dave Robicheaux Novel by James Lee Burke is part mystery and part out of reality adventure. While both aspects are very common in this series, here they are so constant and so large in their presence, that they threaten to overshadow the actual murder case and the complications surrounding that.
Despite that aspect of the read, the book keeps the
reader turning pages and hooked in the story. In the end, that is all that
matters.
Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4aK8MNG
My digital ARC came by way of the publisher, Atlantic
Crime (Grove Atlantic, through NetGalley, and with no expectation of a positive
review.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2026
Tuesday, February 03, 2026
Mystery Fanfare: FATHER BROWN Season 13 News
Little Big Crimes: El Artista Fugitivo, by Tom Larsen
SleuthSayers: One in Six
Publication Day Review: Stolen in Death by J. D. Robb
It is September 2061 and Eve Dallas and Roarke
are attending a gala event to benefit a charity that assists victims of
domestic abuse. While Dallas thinks their mission is great and very worthwhile,
she isn’t a fan of getting all gussied up and trying to make small talk. But,
the night has gone well and she has had a lot of fun with friends and Roarke.
The night has not gone so well elsewhere
in the city that never sleeps. As a result, her night out gets cut short as there
has been a murder. Dispatch sends her to the legendary Barrister House. Until late
last year when the wealthy shipping magnate, Harry J. Barrister died, the home
had not seen a death. Now it has seen another death just a few months later.
The son who inherited the house and a lot more, Nathan Barrister, CEO of Zip Global,
is very much dead on the floor of his office.
The blood on the floor, as well as on
his head and in his hair, make it abundantly clear that this was no accident.
He was struck over the head very hard by some object. Probably the decorative
amethyst rock that the victim had on his desk. The same rock that still has his
blood and other material on it.
The murder might have something to do
with the vault that still hangs open for all to see inside. The vault that is still full of artwork, jewelry, and other fantastic treasures. Treasures that were
stolen at one point or another, according to Roarke, and they found their way
to this vault in NYC.
Of course, Roarke knows a thing or three
about liberating treasures from others. Some items, according to the meticulous
inventory, are missing from this vault. That includes a treasure Roarke lifted
long ago when he was a mere lad.
Once again, Roarke’s past is both a hinderance and a major help in solving the current case. Lieutenant Dallas is again dealing with the two headed coin of being involved with Roarke. On one side---solve, find, and arrest those responsible. That mission never changes. The flip side of the coin is to try and protect the man she loves from the long arm of the law should his past deeds come to light. There remain many in law enforcement that would like to take Roarke down.
Stolen in Death by J. D. Robb is the latest in the long running series and another solidly good read. This book, as well as the series as a whole, is primarily a police procedural with a hint of romance. Family, the one you have by blood, as well as the one you make by way of good friends that care, plays a role once again here in this fast-moving read. The chase is on for a killer and the read is a good one well worth your time.
For another perspective on the book, make sure you read Lesa Holstine’s review.
Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4mTNDTM
My ARC digital reading copy came from
the publisher, St. Martin’s Press, by way of NetGalley.
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