Monday, September 14, 2026
In Reference to Murder: Media Murder for Monday
In Reference to Murder: Media Murder for Monday: It's the start of a new week and that means it's time for a brand-new roundup of crime drama news: THE BIG SCREEN/MOVIES The Arena p...
Aubrey Nye Hamilton Reviews: A Murmuration of Starlings: A Birder Murder Mystery by Steve Burrows
A
Murmuration of Starlings (Durndurn Press, September 2026) is the tenth book
in the Birder Murder Mysteries by Canadian Steve Burrows. The first title, A
Siege of Bitterns, won the Crime Writers of Canada award for Best First
Novel and was selected as one of the Globe & Mail’s top 100 books of
the year. Burrows has pursued his birdwatching interest on eight
continents so far and has published articles on travel and environmental issues
around the world.
In this
newest story with a multi-layered approach Detective Chief Inspector Dominic Jejeune
visits a former superior, Detective Chief Superintendent Colleen Shepherd, now in
the Australian outback, to discuss his future career and becomes enmeshed in
the kidnapping and death of the Environmental Compliance Officer of a large
mining firm. Meanwhile his team back in Norfolk has the sudden death of the CEO
of the largest lithium battery production facility in the country to
investigate. It could have been an accident but the timing was entirely too
convenient for some people not to suspect foul play.
Relationships
are in high focus in this story, both personal and professional, and the
outcome of both cases lead to major turning points for several of the
characters. What is even more prominent is the discussion of present-day
Australian environmental concerns, their history, current impact, and possible
solutions. An aboriginal elder adds a strand of mysticism to the narrative. The
descriptions of the Australian landscape, the animals, and of course the birds
are wonderful and make the book worth reading for the travelogue alone.
Usually I
have no trouble collecting enough back story to understand the context of a
mid-series title but just identifying the location of action, Norfolk or
Australia, wasn’t always clear in this book. This is not the right place to
start the series. Environmentalists and nature lovers will likely already know
this author, but if not, they definitely should. Police procedural fans will
enjoy the complex plot and the careful work of both the Norfolk and the
Australian investigation teams to unravel the mystery. Recommended.
·
Publisher: Dundurn Press
·
Publication date: September 22, 2026
·
Language: English
·
Print length: 360 pages
·
ISBN-10: 1459756592
·
ISBN-13: 978-1459756595
Amazon
Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4rd08xw
Aubrey Nye
Hamilton ©2026
Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal It projects by day and reads mysteries at night
Sunday, September 13, 2026
Beneath the Stains of Time: Half-Mast Murder (1930) by Milward Kennedy
Beneath the Stains of Time: Half-Mast Murder (1930) by Milward Kennedy: Milward Kennedy was an English civil servant, journalist, literary critic, reviewer and mystery writer, who was a founding member of the De...
Update on Santa Rage 2
Acceptances went out Saturday morning into the early afternoon. Make sure to check both your inbox and your spam folder if you submitted.
Rejections have also been sent out as I only had 12 slots and received over 30 submissions. A lot of good stuff did not make the cut.
The result should be one heck of a read.
Saturday, September 12, 2026
KRL Update
Up on KRL this week a review and giveaway of "Purranormal Activity" by Cate Conte https://kingsriverlife.com/09/12/purranormal-activity-by-cate-conte/
And a review and giveaway of "The Art Critic's Last Forgery" by Elaine Orr https://kingsriverlife.com/09/12/the-art-critics-last-forgery-by-elaine-orr/
And a review and giveaway of "Don't Look Close" by Jaima Fixsen along with an interesting interview with Jaima https://kingsriverlife.com/09/12/dont-look-close-by-jaima-fixsen/
We also have a mystery short story by Joli Huelskamp https://kingsriverlife.com/09/12/mystery-short-story-the-missing-employee/
Up on KRL News and Reviews this week we have a review and ebook giveaway of "The Corpse With The Steely Gaze" by Cathy Ace https://www.krlnews.com/2026/09/the-corpse-with-steely-gaze-by-cathy.html
And a review and giveaway of "Treasures and Treachery in Tenerife" by Victoria Tait https://www.krlnews.com/2026/09/treasures-and-treachery-in-tenerife-by.html
And a review and ebook giveaway of "Board to Death" by J.C. Eaton https://www.krlnews.com/2026/09/board-to-death-by-j-c-eaton.html
Happy reading,
Lorie
Scott's Take: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder Vol. 1 by Dan Watters and Illustrators Michele Bandini and Sid Kotian
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles:
Shredder Vol. 1
by Dan Watters and Illustrators Michele Bandini and Sid Kotian is set in the
second series of IDW
TMNT books. The second series is a continuation of the first series, but
they rebooted it because the issue numbers got too high. They also did a
significant time skip forward.
The Shredder returns with PTSD and
without the Foot Clan. He is now alone in the world. He returns to find that a
new Foot Clan has risen in his absence. This Foot Clan seeks to cause the end
of the world. The Shredder isn’t going to allow that to happen. Things are way
more complicated than this, but that is the basic synopsis without revealing
too much.
This is a violent story that uses the
complex character of the Shredder in a dark tale as he goes around the globe on
his mission. This tale is more violent than the usual TMNT story. The Shredder
has no qualms about leaving people in bloody heaps as he goes about his
mission.
The art is excellent and detailed. The
character work is interesting. By the end, Shredder has a new purpose and a new
mission. If one is expecting to see the Turtles in this one would be
disappointed as they only get a brief cameo.
This story is about the Shredder and I
am interested to see where it goes from here in Volume 2. At this time, I have
no idea what the title is for that and could find no record of it anywhere.
But, I want to read it.
Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4wFFaIo
I read this by way of Hoopla through the Dallas Public Library System.
Scott A. Tipple ©2026
Friday, September 11, 2026
In Reference to Murder: Friday's "Forgotten" Books: The Dancing Man
In Reference to Murder: Friday's "Forgotten" Books: The Dancing Man: Philip Maitland Hubbard, better known as P.M. Hubbard (1910-1980) studied at Oxford where he won the Newdigate Prize for English verse in 19...
Mystery Fanfare: 2026 McIlvanney Prize Shortlist
Mystery Fanfare: 2026 McIlvanney Prize Shortlist: Bloody Scotland International Crime Writing Festival announced the shortlist of nominees for the 2026 McIlvanney Prize. The winner will be ...
In Reference to Murder: Mystery Melange
In Reference to Murder: Mystery Melange: Bloody Scotland revealed the shortlist for the 2026 McIlvanney Prize. The finalist titles will be promoted in bookshops throughout Scotland...
Thursday, September 10, 2026
Thursday Treats: 9/10/2026
Some reading opportunities of interest this week.
SMFS
list member Norman Birnbach announced
that his short story, Bad Drivers & Careless People, was published online
at Bull magazine. Billed as a “… noir
retelling of The Great Gatsby…” you can read it, for free, here.
SMFS
list member Edith Maxwell’s short
story, Labor’s Peril, appears online in the latest installment of Kings River
Life Magazine. You can read it online, for free, here.
Black
Cat Weekly #262 is out and includes the short story, Sugar
and Spice and a Spoonful of Vice, by Ashley-Ruth
M. Bernier of the SMFS. You can pick up the latest issue here.
SMFS
list member Elizabeth Zelvin announced that her latest short story collection, Rifts
& Reprisals: Collected Stories II, is now available in digital form
at Amazon. The fifteen tales were previously published between 2017
and 2025 in EQMM, AHMM, Black Cat Mystery Magazine, and online
at Yellow Mama. This book joins her previously published short story
collection, Breaches
& Betrayals: Collected Stories,
released in 2016 and also available on Kindle Unlimited.
Punk
Noir Press announced on Twitter that FAFO—A
Punk Noir series had started. The first group of four stories are online, and
free to read here. Had 138
submissions. Word count limit of 300 words. The results should be highly
entertaining.
A reminder that quite a few SMFS list members are in the new anthology, Hooked on Urban Legends—and Murder! The members are Editor Barb Goffman (Into the Woods), Shari Held (The House of Blue Lights Revisited), Kathryn Holland (A Knocking at Fairweather Hall), Smita Harrish Jain (Poison Maidens), Jane Limprecht ( Alan Orloff (Face to Face), Pat Remick (Screaming Jenny), KM Rockwood (They Lurk In The Lake), Daphne Silver (A Curse to Remember), Shannon Taft (The Cave Man), and Joseph S. Walker (The Things We Remember). Published by Wildside Press, the read is available in digital and prints formats at Amazon.
SMFS
list member, and editor, Michelle Kubitz
announced that Shotgun Honey Books will be releasing the new anthology, Daydream
Believer: Crime Stories Inspired by the Songs of the Monkees!. The book
includes a short story by fellow SMFS list member Alan
S. Orloff as well as tales by numerus other
folks. Proceeds go to American Library Association. You can preorder the book
now at the publisher
or at Amazon.
I
have been a fan of author Frank Zafiro
for quite a few decades now. His latest read in his River City police
procedural series, The Quick of the Night, is coming out on September 15th.
Published by Code
4 Press, the read is available now for
preorder at Amazon and will be part of the Kindle Unlimited program at time of
publication.
Also
out on September 15th is the latest read from author C. W.
Blackwell. The Cold Dark Forever: A Novel, published by Shotgun Honey Books,
is a crime fiction read set in 1942. The read is now available for preorder at Amazon.
Also
out on the 15th is the young adult read, It Should Have Been
You: A Novel by Lynn Slaughter. Now published by Picarones Press, an
imprint of Misti
Media Publishing, the book is available for preorder at
the White City Press.
Back
last June, professor and author John
A. Tures did a guest post
here on the blog about his book, Branded, published by Huntsville Independent
Press. His next book, Independent Thought, is now up for preorder at the same
publisher. This sequel deals with the possibility of a third-party presidential
candidate and more.
Until next time….
Kevin R. Tipple ©2026
Wednesday, September 09, 2026
Mystery Fanfare: 2026 Golden Poppy Book Awards Finalists: California Indie Booksellers Alliance
Mystery Fanfare: 2026 Golden Poppy Book Awards Finalists: Californi...: The California Independent Booksellers Alliance (CALIBA) announced the 2026 Golden Poppy Awards in recognition of the most distinguished bo...
The Short Mystery Fiction Society Blog: Fall into Great Reading with the Short Mystery Fiction Society!
The Short Mystery Fiction Society Blog: Fall into Great Reading with the Short Mystery Fic...: Absurdly unseasonal heat waves notwithstanding, summer is winding down and autumn is hurtling in. Whether you're sheltering in the AC or...
Jerry's House of Everything: SHORT STORY WEDNESDAY: KUDZU
Jerry's House of Everything: SHORT STORY WEDNESDAY: KUDZU: "Kudzu" by Ace Atkins (from Birds of Prey , edited by Harlan Coben & C. J. Box, 2026; also available in Kindle) Mook and Juani...
Tuesday, September 08, 2026
Mystery Fanfare: Mysteries set during the Days of Awe: Rosh Hashana through Yom Kippur
Mystery Fanfare: Mysteries set during the Days of Awe: Rosh Hashana...: According to Jewish religion, the Days of Awe are the days between the beginning of the New Year (Rosh Hashana) and Yom Kippur. There are ...
Little Big Crimes: No Property in a Witness, by Mat Coward
Little Big Crimes: No Property in a Witness, by Mat Coward: "No Property in a Witness," by Mat Coward, in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, September/October 2026. This is the eleve...
Beneath the Stains of Time: The Argentinean Butterfly Mystery: C.M.B. vol. 13-14 by Motohiro Katou
Beneath the Stains of Time: The Argentinean Butterfly Mystery: C.M.B. vol. 13-...: Motohiro Katou's C.M.B. vol. 13 comprises of four, one-chapter stories starting with one of those human, heart-shaped puzzles, "Th...
Jerry's House of Everything: OVERLOOKED JUVENILE DELINQUENTS: THE VIOLENT YEARS (1956)
Jerry's House of Everything: OVERLOOKED JUVENILE DELINQUENTS: THE VIOLENT YEAR...: It didn't start with The Amboy Dukes but that 1947 novel helped lead the way. America was soon realizing that its teenagers were disaf...
Publication Day Review: Fury in Death by J. D. Robb
It is September 2061 as Fury in Death
by J.D. Robb begins, and Eve Dallas, a Lieutenant in the Homicide Division of
NYSPD, has seen a lot of death over the years. Just today in fact as this is
her second time standing over a body. While the previous situation was an
accident, this one certainly was not.
The crime scene she is at is striking. The
broken and mangled body of Lawrence Chu is something unique. Somebody beat him
to death and then kept going. Whomever it was, they kept going long after he was
dead. The killing is clearly a rage killing as the victim was tossed around
like a rag doll.
He was later found by his wife, Rachel
Chu, when she got home. She knows next to nothing about his job as director of
bioengineering science for Banner-Wyst. She has no idea who wanted him dead to
the point that they moped the walls and floor with him.
Dallas knows the killer had to be hyped
up on something to inflict the damage that was done. It was also very personal.
The main questions are of who and why, as they always are. It is up to Dallas,
Peabody, and the team to identify and stop the killer. A killer who has an
agenda and is showing no signs of stopping.
The latest in the long running series is
another good read. All the familiar characters are back with much going on in
the background of the murder investigation. The result is a fun and fast read
where readers know from the earliest stage who is killing and why and the focus
is on the chase. While not one of the best books in the series, Fury in
Death by J. D. Robb is solidly good and well worth your time.
For a more detailed look at the book, make sure to read Lesa Holstine's review.
Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/45wqRes
My digital ARC reading copy came from
the publisher, St. Martin's Press, through Edelweiss, with no expectation of a
positive review.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2026
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