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/
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
Mystery Fanfare: 2026 McIlvanney Prize Shortlist
In Reference to Murder: Mystery Melange
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
The Short Mystery Fiction Society Blog: Fall into Great Reading with the Short Mystery Fiction Society!
Jerry's House of Everything: SHORT STORY WEDNESDAY: KUDZU
Tuesday, September 08, 2026
Mystery Fanfare: Mysteries set during the Days of Awe: Rosh Hashana through Yom Kippur
Little Big Crimes: No Property in a Witness, by Mat Coward
Beneath the Stains of Time: The Argentinean Butterfly Mystery: C.M.B. vol. 13-14 by Motohiro Katou
Jerry's House of Everything: OVERLOOKED JUVENILE DELINQUENTS: THE VIOLENT YEARS (1956)
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
Monday, September 07, 2026
In Reference to Murder: Media Murder for Monday
Aubrey Nye Hamilton Reviews: Songs of Saigon by Ed Teja
Ed Teja is a
versatile guy. In his own words, he has been a magazine writer and editor in
several countries. He lived for years as a Caribbean boat bum and blues
musician. He is a member of The Short Mystery Fiction Society, was a finalist
for the Shamus Award for short PI fiction in 2025, and his stories appear
frequently in magazines and anthologies.
His newest
book is an appealing historical crime thriller with an unusual setting. Most
World War II thrillers focus on the European front although the very good Secret
War of Julia Child by Diana Chambers (2024) looks at Child’s work for the
OSS in China, India, and Ceylon. Teja sets his story in 1943 Vietnam, where the
collaborationist Vichy French government co-managed with Japan, which had
overrun Southeast Asia by spring 1942.
Cole Miller joined
the small OSS office in Saigon about a year ago. Their assignment is to
destabilize Japan’s hold on the region wherever and however they can while
going through the motions of a shipping business. Miller is delivering arms to
a group of Vietnamese insurgents in the jungle when the book opens. The
Japanese ambushed them, killing a number of the rebels and leaving Miller to
wonder who had betrayed them. When he returns to Saigon, his boss Major Fred
Olson tells him via a note left at his hotel to meet him at their usual café.
When Miller reports as scheduled, a group of snipers sprays the cafe with
bullets and Olson’s body is found among the victims. It’s clear to
investigators that Olson was dead before the café shooting. A local member of
the Vichy France government who dislikes Miller pushes the police to arrest
him. Miller has two jobs, to find who actually did kill Olson and to identify
the traitor who is feeding information about OSS activities to the Japanese.
While the
plot is straightforward enough, the setting is anything but. Vietnam with its
significant natural resources was a valuable asset to both sides of the war,
creating a complex political tug-of-war over a small nation about the size of
New Mexico. Vietnam was a French colony before the war and the French intended
to maintain its control after the war ended. In the meantime Japan had asserted
dominion over the entire region. The Free French were also present, trying to
dislodge the Vichy collaborationists. The Allies had established a presence via
U.S. and Great Britain intelligence groups, working to undermine the Japanese.
Behind the scenes Ho Chi Minh had established the Communist party in Vietnam,
tapping into the great desire of the Vietnamese people for freedom from
external rule. In short the country was seething with political tensions and
barely contained hostility, creating a powder keg with a very short fuse.
I found the
time and the place as described fascinating. The Vietnamese people were
hard-working, resourceful, and far more intelligent than invading forces
believed. It is easy to see why and how the armed conflict in the country
during the 1950s and 1960s broke out. Miller is a credible character with
series potential; it will be interesting to see if Teja brings him back.
Readers who
enjoy modern historical crime fiction, especially World War II and espionage
fans, will want to add this book to their TBR stacks. Recommended.
·
Publisher: Float Street Press
·
Publication date: September 1, 2026
·
Language: English
·
Print length: 318 pages
·
ISBN-13: 979-8994688823
Amazon
Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4ctfqrH
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 06, 2026
Flat Out Begging For Help
I am flat out begging for help and hate myself.
Things
are very brutal money wise. Not just with the groceries, gasoline, and more, that is hitting all of us. Continuing the situation that was in place all summer, Scott did not work
most of August as there was not any work for him. He hasn’t worked at all this
month and there is no sign of that changing. No work means no paycheck and no
income.
So,
I am begging for help. If you like what we do at Kevin's Corner, please
consider making a donation through the PayPal widget on the left side of the
blog. We could really use the help.
Please
and thank you.
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