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Tuesday, July 17, 2018
Bitter Tea and Mystery: Murder is Academic: Christine Poulson
Bitter Tea and Mystery: Murder is Academic: Christine Poulson: After reading Christine Poulson's most recent mysteries (Deep Water and Cold, Cold Heart ) I wanted to go back and read her first series...
The Southwest Armchair Traveler: The Murder That Inspired a Romantic #Mystery Novel...
The Southwest Armchair Traveler: The Murder That Inspired a Romantic #Mystery Novel...: Many writers are inspired by real events or people in their lives. This makes difficult situations a form of research. “This stinks, but ...
Crime Watch: Review: DEATH ON D'URVILLE
Crime Watch: Review: DEATH ON D'URVILLE: DEATH ON D'URVILLE by Penelope Haines (Ithaca Publications, 2016) Reviewed by Karen Chisholm Death on D’Urville is the first novel...
Monday, July 16, 2018
A Writer's Life....Caroline Clemmons: MARGARITAS, MAYHEM, AND MURDER!
A Writer's Life....Caroline Clemmons: MARGARITAS, MAYHEM, AND MURDER!: This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions . Mary will be awarding a $20 Amazon or B/N GC to a random...
In Reference To Murder: Media Murder for Monday 7/16/18
In Reference To Murder: Media Murder for Monday 7/16/18
TEXAS BOOK LOVER: Monday Roundup: TEXAS BOOKISH EVENTS July 16-22, 2...
TEXAS BOOK LOVER: Monday Roundup: TEXAS BOOKISH EVENTS July 16-22, 2...: Bookish goings-on in Texas for the week of July 16-22, 2018: Special Events: 33rd Texas Shakespeare Festival , Kilgore, June 28-July 29...
Aubrey Hamilton Reviews: Death’s Door by James Benn
Death’s Door by James Benn (Soho Crime, 2012) is the
seventh title in a compulsively readable historical series set during World War
II. Billy Boyle is a member of a tight-knit Boston Irish family who, having
lost a brother during World War I, decided to pull some strings when Billy’s
draft number comes up for the next war. One of his mother’s cousins is married
to an Army general and the family finagles an appointment for Billy to his
staff, congratulating themselves that he will sit the war out in safety in
Washington, DC. When the cousin, General Dwight Eisenhower, is appointed
Commander of the European Forces and moves to London, Billy finds himself on
the front lines of the war in the kind of danger his family hoped to avoid.
His previous
experience as a detective on the Boston Police Force stands him in good stead in
the military and he becomes General Eisenhower’s unofficial investigator and
troubleshooter, traveling all over Europe. In this story an American monsignor
serving the Vatican has been stabbed and Billy is assigned the task of finding
out why and by whom. The local police found a Jewish refugee near the body and
turned him over to the Nazis, closing the case. The monsignor had influential
friends in the United States who are not convinced the answer was that simple.
First Billy and his sidekick
Lieutenant Piotr “Kaz” Kazimierz have to be
smuggled into the Holy City, crossing German-held territory, and then they have
to negotiate their way among the dizzying number of political and national
factions within the Vatican to identify the killer, then they have to find
their way back out. Complicating the task is the knowledge that Billy’s
war-time girlfriend has been captured by the Germans and he’s been ordered not
to try to find her for fear of disrupting undercover operations.
This book is
as much of a historical snapshot of the last months of the war before the
Vatican was liberated by the Allies as it is a mystery. It describes the
complex and tenuous status of the Pope and everyone in the Vatican in
authoritative detail. While in theory the Vatican City was neutral, it was also
completely surrounded by the German army who could easily overrun the Papal
State, so it was essential for the continuation of the Vatican for them to
placate the Nazis. In the meantime many members of the Catholic Church hid Jews
and refugees at great personal risk to themselves and to the Church. The Pope
and his most senior officials walked a dangerous tightrope every day, appearing
to follow the rules set down by the Germans while helping the thousands of
refugees who made their way into the Holy City. The book also highlights
clearly the lack of solidarity among the German allies, who joined Hitler for
many reasons, not necessarily because they admired him.
This is a
fine historical series, easily balancing academic detail and mystery plot
without sacrificing sound characterization and engaging writing.
·
Hardcover: 358 pages
·
Publisher: Soho Crime; 1st Edition edition
(September 4, 2012)
·
Language: English
·
ISBN-10: 1616951850
·
ISBN-13: 978-1616951856
Aubrey Hamilton © 2018
Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian
who works on Federal IT projects by day and reads mysteries at night.
Sunday, July 15, 2018
Saturday, July 14, 2018
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: You Will Know Me by Megan Abbott
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: You Will Know Me by Megan Abbott: Reviewed by Jeanne We’ve all seen the little inspirational biographies of young athletes in the media: how the child develope...
For Dallas Area Folks: Stone Soup Peer Critique Groups
I just found out that one of the groups meets over here at Lucky Dog Books on Garland Road. I am nowhere near emotionally steady enough these days to face a critique group nor do I have anything remotely ready. But, in case you are in the Dallas area and also did not know about this, I share the link for Stone Soup Peer Critique Groups http://www.writersgarret.org/project/stone-soup/
Criminal Minds: To Tweet, or Not to Tweet by Paul D. Marks
Criminal Minds: To Tweet, or Not to Tweet: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Blogs, Newsletters…what social media do you use and how do you use it? What don’t you use, and why not? Any ad...
KRL This Week Update for 7/14/18
Up in KRL this morning a review and giveaway of "Ruff Justice" by Laurien Berenson http://kingsriverlife.com/07/14/ruff-justice-by-laurien-berenson/ And a review and giveaway of "Widow's Wreath" by Cynthia Riggs along with an interesting guest post by Cynthia about her senior main character http://kingsriverlife.com/07/14/widows-wreath-by-cynthia-riggs/ Also a review and giveaway of "Ghost Ranch" by Carole Beers along with an interesting interview with Carole http://kingsriverlife.com/07/14/ghost-ranch-by-carole-t-beers/ And a review and giveaway of "Death by Expresso" by Alex Erickson http://kingsriverlife.com/07/14/death-by-espresso-by-alex-erickson/ We also have a review & giveaway of "Confessions of a Red Herring" by Dana Dratch http://kingsriverlife.com/07/14/confessions-of-a-red-herring-by-dana-dratch/ And a review of the mystery TV show The Brokenwood Mysteries http://kingsriverlife.com/07/14/the-brokenwood-mysteries-streaming-on-acorn-tv/ On KRL News & Reviews we have a review & giveaway of "Murder on the Left Bank" by Cara Black http://www.krlnews.com/2018/07/murder-on-left-bank-cara-black.html And a review and giveaway of "Once Upon a Fact" edited by Katherine Tomlinson. This one is more fantasy and scifi-but a lot of familiar mystery names in it like Kaye George and local authors like Bonnie Hearn Hill http://www.krlnews.com/2018/07/once-upon-fact-futuristic-fairy-tales.html Happy reading, Lorie
Saturdays With Kaye: Kill Devil Falls by Brian Klingborg
Kill Devil Falls by Brian
Klingborg
After an ominous beginning, the action escalates with plenty of
brutality to go around. Each denizen of Kill Devil Falls is more bizarre than
the last.
U.S. Marshal
Helen Morrissey gets an unwanted, but not particularly difficult-sounding
assignment—to drive to Kill Devil Falls and pick up a felon who is being held
there. The sheriff who was supposed to take her, Rita Crawford, back to
Sacramento, has been called away on another emergency. Helen doesn’t realize
that she has made herself a target just by driving north to that desolate
mountain spot, now almost a ghost town.
And no wonder! The town has been declared an environmental
disaster area, sink holes and a tainted water supply, prompting the government
to attempt to move everyone out. The people who remain have their own dark
reasons for being there, some of them deeply hidden. Nothing is quite what it
seems when she gets there and she is given the run-around by nearly everyone.
Not knowing who to trust, she wonders if she’ll make it out alive.
A rocky ride! I loved it!
Reviewed by Kaye George, author of, Death on the Trek, for Suspense Magazine. Death on the Trek is currently on sale for $2.50 at Smashwords.
Friday, July 13, 2018
FFB Review: POLITICALLY CORRECT BEDTIME STORIES by James Finn Garner (Reviewed by Barry Ergang)
The review below
by Barry first ran on September 21, 2012. Considering the state of things these
days, it seemed a good time to run it again as part of FFB. For the full list
of reading suggestions, head over to Patti’s fabulous blog.
POLITICALLY CORRECT BEDTIME STORIES (1994)
by James Finn Garner
Reviewed by Barry Ergang
 |
| Paperback |
“Political correctness” is one of
those cultural concepts that some abhor, some wholeheartedly embrace, and some
treat selectively. It’s had a profound effect on our language, but not always
for its betterment. It’s caused us to rethink certain attitudes and approaches
to people and situations and alter our behaviors accordingly. With both
positive and negative attributes, it’s ripe for satirizing, and that’s exactly
what James Finn Garner has done to it in Politically
Correct Bedtime Stories. As he points out in an introduction, “When they
were first written, the stories on which the following tales are based
certainly served their purpose—to entrench the patriarchy, to estrange people
from their own natural impulses, to demonize ‘evil’ and to ‘reward’ an
‘objective’ ‘good.’...Today, we have the opportunity—and the obligation—to
rethink these ‘classic’ stories so they reflect more enlightened times.” We
used to call these stories “fairy tales,” but that term, Garner says, reflects
a “heterosexualist bias” and must thus be done away with.
This slim, undersized volume (it runs seventy-nine pages and
measures seven-and-a-quarter by five-and-an-eighth inches) contains thirteen
very short renderings of familiar stories. Without giving away too much lest I
spoil the surprises, I’ll try to convey a sense of what the author has done.
For instance, in “Little Red Riding Hood,” we’re told of the titular character
that “One day her mother asked her to take a basket of fresh fruit and mineral
water to her grandmother’s house—not because this was womyn’s work, mind you,
but because the deed was generous and helped engender a feeling of community.”
The tailor in “The Emperor’s New Clothes” tells the vain
monarch, “...I have brought with me a special fabric that is so rare and fine
that it can be seen only by certain people—the type of people you’d want to
have in your realm—people who are
politically correct, morally righteous, intellectually astute, culturally
tolerant, and who don’t smoke, drink, laugh at sexist jokes, watch too much
television, listen to country music, or barbecue.”
 |
| Audio |
The “economically disadvantaged” miller in “Rumpelstiltskin”
“was very ashamed of his poverty, rather than angry at the economic system that
had marginalized him, and was always searching for a way to get rich quick.”
In the longest story in the book “Snow White,” fleeing from
the wicked queen, runs into the woods and comes upon a cottage inhabited by
“seven bearded vertically challenged men” who refer to themselves as “the Seven
Towering Giants.” When the queen learns where the girl is, she disguises
herself as “a chronologically gifted woman,” goes to the cottage, and begs Snow
White to buy an apple. “Snow White thought for a moment. In protest against
agribusiness conglomerates, she had a personal rule against buying food from
middlepersons. But her heart went out to the economically marginalized woman,
so she said yes.”
The other stories, which in “updating” Garner turns on their
heads so their endings are not usually what readers have come to expect, are
“The Three Little Pigs,” “The Three Codependent Goats Gruff,” “Rapunzel,”
“Cinderella,” “Goldilocks,” “Chicken Little,” “The Frog Prince,” “Jack and the
Beanstalk,” and “The Pied Piper of Hamelin.”
Readers whose taste runs to satire will most likely enjoy Politically Correct Bedtime Stories.
They may not want to read it at bedtime, however, lest their laughter give them
a second wind and consequent insomnia. The book is available in both physical
and e-book (Kindle, Nook, Smashwords) editions. There is a sequel, Once Upon a More Enlightened Time, as
well as Politically Correct Holiday
Stories: For an Enlightened Yuletide Season. I also just discovered that
the author has put out what appears to be (so far, at least) a Kindle edition
only, Tea Party Fairy Tales.
I may eventually have to look at all of them. In any case,
this one is recommended.
Barry Ergang © 2012, 2018
Some of
Derringer Award-winner Barry Ergang’s work is available at Amazon and Smashwords. The latter
site is running its annual sale through the month of July. Barry and Kevin
Tipple are among the participating authors, so take advantage of their reduced
prices.
Thursday, July 12, 2018
Publishing ... and Other Forms of Insanity: 10 Feminist Publishers - No agent required
Publishing ... and Other Forms of Insanity: 10 Feminist Publishers - No agent required: New Woman by Frances Benjamin Johnston - Wikimedia Commons Although there are many women authors, writing is a man's world. In 2017,...
Do Some Damage: The Great e-Book War
Do Some Damage: The Great e-Book War: By David Nemeth When I started my blog, I was a devotee to e-books; they’re cheaper, quicker to obtain, and advance reader copies cost ...
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Nevermore: Girl in the Tower, DNA, Adventure Cats,...
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Nevermore: Girl in the Tower, DNA, Adventure Cats,...: Reported by Kristin Nevermore began with a lovely story of fairy tale fiction: The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden, secon...
Review: Twisted Prey: A Lucas Davenport Novel by John Sandford
Twisted Prey: A Lucas Davenport Novel opens, as many of the recent books in
the series do, with bad guys doing bad things to somebody. Readers know from
almost the start the identities of some of the bad actors though the motivation
for the criminal events has yet to become apparent. In this case the victims are a United States
senator and his mistress who are run off the road as they attempt to return to
Washington. In the aftermath, Senator Smalls is lucky to be alive. He also has
pretty good idea regarding the identity of the person who tried to take him
out.
Not that Senator Taryn Grant would have
done it herself. She would not have gotten her hands dirty directly. But, as a
member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, she may have been making use of
her contacts in the intelligence community and elsewhere as Small has been an
ongoing problem for her. Especially recently after he brought her a fresh round
of unwanted media attention which seems to have impacted her carefully crafted
media image just a little bit.
U. S. Marshal Lucas Davenport has been
bored. Very bored with routine boring cases. The kinds of case he did not sign
up for when he joined the United Sates Marshal’s Service. Senator Smalls knows
the automobile accident was no accident and is sure that Senator Taryn Grant is
behind it all just like she was two years ago. Smalls is convinced she is not
going to stop until he is dead. He also knows Lucas Davenport might be the only
one to not only understand his situation but to appreciate the threat from Grant
and be able to do something about it. He wants Lucas to investigate and
hopefully by doing so, keep him alive, and stop the next attempt to kill him.
What follows is a straight action
adventure read with Lucas Davenport on the hunt for professional Killers,
probably ex-military members who are now most likely private contractors, and
proof that Grant is behind it all. Of course, that means Lucas and others he
cares about become targets for retaliation.
Straight action and adventure with
little character depth or development for any of the new characters in this
series—several of which will most likely pop up again in coming books--- the
read is about action and moving forward by way of following numerous characters
as they go about their criminal and otherwise activities. The story structure
is very reminiscent of an EKG with regular spikes of action and the predictable
lulls between events. Overall, the book moves forward at a rapid pace despite the
occasional segue into politics (that clearly inflames some conservatives who
are reading something, based on their “reviews,” far beyond what is actually in
the book), sight-seeing destinations in Washington, and other reading
suggestions regarding various books and magazines made during those lulls in
the action.
While a good read for what it is – a
straight action/adventure book – it is not nearly as good as many previous Prey
books in this long running series. Sheer escapism, Twisted Prey: A Lucas Davenport
Novel, settles some scores and keeps the reader fairly well entertained
and turning pages. For those readers who prefer more escapist type read for
their trips to the beach or mountains, this latest read in the series should do
very nicely.
Twisted Prey: A Lucas
Davenport Novel
John Sandford
Random House Large
Print
April 2018
ISBN#
978-0-5255-9378-2
Large Trade Paperback
(also available in hardback, audio book, and eBook formats)
512 Pages (497 pages
of actual story)
$31.00
Material supplied by the good folks of
the Dallas Library System.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2018
Wednesday, July 11, 2018
Only days left to win books by Nora Page, Betty Webb, Daryl Wood Gerber, Krista Davis, and more from KRL
Only days left to win a copy of "Better Off Read" by Nora Page, and while there check out an interesting interview with Nora http://kingsriverlife.com/07/07/better-off-read-by-nora-page/ And to win copies of some more yummy food mysteries-"A Soufflé of Suspicion": A French Bistro Mystery by Daryl Wood Gerber aka Avery Aames, "Death and a Pot of Chowder": A Maine Murder Mystery by Cornelia Kidd, "Kappy King and the Pickle Kaper": An Amish Mystery by Amy Lillard, "Murder with Cinnamon Scones": A Daisy’s Tea Garden Mystery by Karen Rose Smith, and "The Diva Cooks up a Storm": A Domestic Diva Mystery by Krista Davis http://kingsriverlife.com/07/07/more-yummy-food-mysteries/ Also to win a copy of "The Otter of Death" by Betty Webb and while there check out a sweet guest post by her about a trip to the zoo with her dad as a child http://kingsriverlife.com/07/07/the-otter-of-death-by-betty-webb/ And to win a copy of "Dying for a Deal" by Cindy Sample http://www.krlnews.com/2018/07/dying-for-deal-by-cindy-sample.html And to win a copy of "Confound It" a mystery with a fantasy twist by Maggie Toussaint http://www.krlnews.com/2018/07/confound-it-dreamwalker-series-by.html
Happy reading, Lorie
Mystery Fanfare: I'LL COP TO IT: Guest post by Jim Doherty
Mystery Fanfare: I'LL COP TO IT: Guest post by Jim Doherty: JIM DOHERTY: I'LL COP TO IT When a policeman writes a police procedural novel, people are bound to wonder if the main character is ...
SleuthSayers: Writers: Their Rooms and Pets
SleuthSayers: Writers: Their Rooms and Pets: by Paul D. Marks One of the things I really enjoy is seeing other writers’ offices/work spaces. I’m curious about how other people go abou...
Guest Post: Jeanne and Treadmill Books: Mobile Library series by Ian Sansom
Treadmill
Books: Mobile Library series by Ian
Sansom
Israel Armstrong is a librarian—or he would be if he
could find a job as a librarian.
Instead, he works part time at a London bookshop and enjoys his lattes,
vegetarian cuisine, and spending time with his ambitious (and more affluent)
girlfriend, Gloria. However, it appears
Israel’s luck is about to change: he has actually gotten a full time position
at a library, even though it’s going to require him to move to Northern
Ireland, to a small town called Tumdrum. He’s got a three year contract, and at
the end of that time he can return in triumph to London and get a proper
library job—say, at the British Library.
His first clue that things may not be going smoothly
is the large sign announcing the Tumdrum library is closed—permanently.
Instead, he’ll be a mobile librarian, or he will be
as soon as they find the bookmobile and get it running, leaving only one minor
problem: the books are missing.
So begins Ian Sansom’s Mobile Library series with
the appropriately named first novel, The Case of the Missing Books. It’s an extremely funny book, a take on the
“fish out of water” theme as Israel tries to navigate the strange ways of the
Irish (quite a surprise, since Israel’s father was Irish). For Israel, it’s like falling down a rabbit
hole. If there’s a way to make a bad
situation worse, Israel will instinctively find it.
It’s been a long time since I laughed so hard at a
book. I especially enjoyed some of the literary discussions carried on by the
natives, discussing the authors they like (or don’t) and sometimes leaving
Israel at a loss. The Irish setting was vivid and the characters were
memorable.
I read the second book right after I finished the
first and liked it as well, though it wasn’t quite as amusing—probably because
I knew some of the author’s habits from The Case of the Missing Books. I
will be reading the rest of the series, but I’m going to let a little time pass
so it will seem fresher.
I find it hard to walk and laugh at the same time,
so while these do not make good treadmill books they are recommended as one
funny read.
The books in the series are The Case of the
Missing Books, Mr. Dixon Disappears, The Book Stops Here, and
The Bad Book Affair.
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