Sunday, October 18, 2026
Mystery Fanfare: KAREN PIRIE, Season 3, NEWS
Things Seriously Suck
Halfway through October and things continue to seriously suck.
For all intents and purposes, Scott has been laid off. Having not worked for months now, word has come down that based on the job flow, it would be January, at the earliest before he went back to work for the contractor neighbor.
He continues to apply for anything and everything and can’t even get an interview. A lot of places are using AI chatbots, or AI as a screening tool after the application is submitted, and he can’t get by them. Even for entry level minimum wage jobs.
So, I am flat out 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 really need the help.
Please and thank you.
Saturday, October 17, 2026
KRL Update
Up on KRL this week we have a review of "Pumpkin Vice Cafe" by Ellie Alexander along with a giveaway of a signed copy of the book & a pumpkin bookmark, and we have a fun pumpkin recipe from Ellie perfect for your Halloween celebrations! https://kingsriverlife.com/10/17/pumpkin-vice-cafe-by-ellie-alexander/
And a review and giveaway of a perfect read for Halloween season, "Summer Coven" a vampire cozy by Kat Hillis and Rosiee Thor https://kingsriverlife.com/10/17/summer-coven-by-kat-hillis-rosiee-thor/
And a review and giveaway of "Murder Like Magic" by Trisha Blanchet, along with a fun interview with Trisha https://kingsriverlife.com/10/17/murder-like-magic-by-trisha-blanchet/
We also have the latest Crime Writers of Color Coming Attractions https://kingsriverlife.com/10/17/crime-writers-of-color-coming-attractions-october-december-2026/
For those who prefer to listen to Mysteryrat's Maze Podcast directly on KRL, here is the latest episode featuring a Halloween mystery short story by John A. Tures, read by local actor Sean Hopper https://kingsriverlife.com/10/17/mysteryrats-maze-podcast-halloween-short-story-kill-your-darlings/
Up on KRL during the week, another special midweek guest post, this one perfect for the Halloween season! Mystery author Mark Leslie talked about his new book "Ghost Stories of the Great Lakes" https://kingsriverlife.com/10/14/the-ghost-stories-that-get-ghosted-along-the-way/
And another special midweek guest post perfect for Halloween season. Mystery author Ed Seaward talks about his new book "London Gothic" https://kingsriverlife.com/10/14/london-gothic/
Up on KRL News and Reviews this week we have a review and giveaway of "Essentials of Homicide" by Kim Davis, https://www.krlnews.com/2026/10/essentials-of-homicide-by-kim-davis.html
And a review and ebook giveaway of "Haunted Homicide" by Kelly Rey https://www.krlnews.com/2026/10/haunted-homicide-by-kelly-rey.html
And a review and ebook giveaway of "Haunted Hula-ween" by Sally J. Smith https://www.krlnews.com/2026/10/haunted-hula-ween-by-sally-j-smith.html
SleuthSayers: Since the Ball's in My Court
Beneath the Stains of Time: She Woke to Darkness (1954) by Brett Halliday
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Halloween Picture Book Favorites: Johnston, Williams, Mueller, Boynton
Jerry's House of Everything: BING BANG COMICS #30 (SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 1946)
Scott's Take: Cyclops: Seeing Red by Alex Paknadel, illustrator Roge Antonio, cover art by Federico Vicentini
Cyclops: Seeing Red by Alex
Paknadel, illustrated by Roge Antonio, the cover artwork by Federico Vicentini,
is a short five issue mini-series. In this series, Cyclops, leader of the X-Men,
is alone and without his visor he uses to keep his powers in check. He is also stranded
behind enemy lines with Reavers (mutant hating cyborgs) hunting him. Things are
further complicated because he also has a young girl in tow. He is going to
have to use all his wits and savageness to keep them both safe. Can he?
This is action packed thriller with body
horror. The art is great. The Reaver are
absolutely disgusting.
There is a small plot hole, I think, but
maybe I missed it. It seems they don’t address why he can’t just call for help
telepathically since he is friends with so many telepaths. You would think that
is worth trying.
I read each of the five issues through Marvel Unlimited. The trade version
that has all the issues together will not be released until early November. I
enjoyed this solo Cyclops outing.
Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/3TI2isu
Scott A. Tipple ©2026
Friday, October 16, 2026
SleuthSayers: Book DNA – is it for you?
Jerry's House of Everything: FORGOTTEN BOOK: RIPTIDE
In Reference to Murder: Mystery Melange
The Rap Sheet: Oh No, Not Again
The Rap Sheet: Oh No, Not Again
I have the same concerns having been flagged in the past on a couple of reviews. For now, I am leaving things alone and hoping for the best.
Review: Split Screen by Lee Goldberg
Split Screen by Lee Goldberg
is the seventh installment of this thriller series. It opens with Homicide
Detective Eve Ronin of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department out running
solo because her partner, Duncan Pavone, is desk bound. He is going to be there
on his desk in the Lost Hill substation for the foreseeable future as the
powers that be are still pondering his fate. Detective Eve Ronin is feeling a
ton of guilt as he is taking the very public fall for a decision they both made
a few months ago. So, she is responding solo to the home of actress Juliette
Winter who was found dead that morning in her sprawling home in a gated
community in Calabasas.
A predictable and tragic end for the
former child star who became known for drugs and partying more than anything
she accomplished in front of the camera. Her assistant found her in the steam room.
Clearly, she had been there for quite some time before discovery. That same assistant,
Georgina Sabella, had last seen her around 7 the evening before when she left.
According to Ronin’s fellow LASD
Deputies manning the perimeter, the house was locked and the security alarm was
on when Georgina arrived earlier that morning. The firefighters that responded
to the initial call had also reported that the steam room door was not locked
and that the door was unblocked.
Ronin went up to the second-floor steam
room and found Medical Examiner Emilia Lopez and the head of Crime Scene Unit, Nan
Baker, assessing the body and the scene. With Juliette Winter’s history, it
would be very easy to assume she just overdosed and died.
But, did she really?
That is just one of the questions Ronin
has to answer while also dealing with departmental politics and pressure. Her
celebrity status continues to dog her career. The last thing she ever wanted was
for the publicity to overshadow her actual work doing the job. So, she tried
very hard to keep considerable distance between herself and the job and the very
fictional tv series based on her.
That plan is out the window now as there
is a new sheriff in town. Sheriff Waylon Gifford is well known for coming in and
taking over a law enforcement agency for a year or too, improving the image of
that agency, and then leaving for a bigger and more prestigious job. He took
over the LASD, the biggest in the nation, two weeks ago and has a very preconceived
notion of who she is, how she got to her position, and what she has done in the
department.
He demands that Detective Eve Ronin use
her celebrity status to help the department and has several expectations of how
she will do that. Not only does she have to participate in the new ad campaign,
she also has to actively participate in the department’s active social media. She
has to participate a certain number of times a day, every day. She also has to
conduct a week-long ride along with the actress, Erin Casey, who plays her on
the show and participate in their social media videos as well. Otherwise, there
will be huge consequences for herself as well as her partner, Duncan Pavone.
If that was not enough, she has to deal
with the hatred and death threats coming from within the department. While that
has always happened, it had died back some, until recent events stirred
everything back up again. At least she can still count on Duncan Pavone and a
few others who see her for what she actually is and still have her back.
And there is the Juliette Winter case to
solve as well as some other crimes.
The result is another fast paced and
highly entertaining read in this great series. The author has steadily built,
book after book, a complicated primary character, and a host of interesting
secondary characters while still delivering on a heady mix of action, mystery,
and suspense. The latest read, Split Screen, fits that mandate
and delivers from start to finish.
As the author notes at the front of the
book, a reader can safely start here, if they wish. But, if you intend to read
the second book in the series, Bone Canyon, you absolutely should read that one
first as there are huge spoilers for it in Split Screen.
Strongly Recommended.
Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/3S9emlp
Entire Series Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/447nfP7
Kevin R. Tipple ©2026
Thursday, October 15, 2026
Mystery Fanfare: MACAVITY AWARD WINNERS 2026
Jerry's House of Everything: MR. MOTO: A FORCE CALLED X07 (MAY 20, 1951)
Thursday Treats: 10/15/2026
Some reading opportunities of interest this week.
Black Cat Weekly #267 is out and again
features short stories and more. This issue is dedicated to Halloween and
spooky season. You can pick up the issue at the website.
Back in September 2023, on the SMFS
blog, as SMFS President at the time, I announced the publication day news
of the release of Prohibition Peepers: Private Eyes During the Noble
Experiment. Editor and fellow SMFS list member Michael Bracken
announced on social media that the anthology is back in print with a new
publisher. Crimson Gate Books is
releasing it on October 19th and you can pick it up on Amazon now. The SMFS list members that
previously annpunced their presence in the book are: Michael Bracken (Cigarette
Girl), David Dean (Three Irishmen), Jim Doherty (The Private Untouchable), John
M. Floyd (River Road), Nils Gilbertson (Lovely and Useless Things), Richard
Helms (West of the Ashley), Hugh Lessig (Cloths of Heaven), Steve Liskow (Peace
of Mind Guaranteed), Adam Meyer (The Dance), Joseph S. Walker (Getting Away
Clean), and Stacy Woodson (Moonshine Turn).
A reminder
that SMFS list member Elizabeth Zelvin recently announced that her latest short
story collection, Rifts & Reprisals: Collected Stories II, is
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.
You can learn more at her website.
A reminder
that SMFS list member M. E. Proctor’s
new mystery, The Way You Say My Name: A Declan
Shaw Mystery, is now out. will be coming out next week from Shotgun Honey Books. You can pick it up at Amazon and other vendors. This is the 3rd read
in the Declan Shaw Mystery series.
SMFS list member John A. Tures announced on the SMFS list that he had a short story podcast up on the Mysteryrat’s Maze Podcast. His short story, Kill Your Darlings, is free to listen to at the website.
The new issue of the online publication
Yellow Mama is now out. Yellow Mama #118 includes short stories by SMFS list
members Sandra J. Cady (New Orleans
Bound), Pamela Ebel (The
Tenth Muse), and Joseph S. Walker
(Things That Didn't Happen at a Place That Doesn't Exist). You can read the
issue online, and for free, here.
Also now out is Black Petals
Horror/Science Fiction Magazine #117. Full of short stories and more, you can
read the issue online, for free, here.
After Claire A. Murray last week announced that her short story, Ned's Bedevilment, placed as an Honorable Mention in the Bethlehem Writers Roundtable 2026 Short Story contest, fellow SMFS list member, Debra H. Goldstein, announced earlier this week that her short story, My Pinball Knight, appears in the new anthology, Illusive Worlds: Sweet, Funny, and Strange® Tales of Science Fiction and Fantasy, published by the same group. The book comes out today and is available at Amazon and other vendors.
The Alfred
Hitchcock Mystery Magazine: November/December 2026 is now out and includes short stories by SMFS
list members. John M. Floyd (Moneyland), Kate Hohl (Advance Obituary), Michael
Penncavage (Mr. Muktod Stays For Dinner) and S.B. Watson
(Under Pressure) are in the issue. Additionally, SMFS list member Ed
Ridgley announced that
his short story, A Matter of Culture, won the May/June Mysterious
Photograph Contest and is posted in the Nov/Dec issue. Per Mr. Ridgley, “This
is my second time winning the contest!” You can pick up the issue at the website
and at other vendors.
The Ellery
Queen Mystery Magazine: November/December 2026 issue is also now out. “Be Still, Your Heart”
by SMFS list member Josh Pachter is
in the issue as is “My War 2” by Stephen M. Pierce. You can pick it up on the website
and at other vendors.
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A reminder that the latest season of
podcasts, Stuff That Can Kill You (Mysteries to Die For), is now
available in eBook format at Amazon and other vendors. SMFS list member Kathleen Marple Kalb announced
on social media her short story, The Current Situation, is in the read of
twenty stories. You can get your copy at Amazon
and other vendors.
The Sisters in
Crime Colorado Chapter has announced that their lates anthology, Colorado
Mystery Merge: Crime Fiction Collection 2, is coming out later this
month. SMFS list members Chris
Dreith (The Clueologists Club), and Lisa Harkrader (The Mall
Walkers), reported being in the read. The 26 tales are not only complete individual
mysteries; they also provide the clues to solve the overarching mystery of the
book. Sounds pretty cool to this reader. Learn more at their website. You
can also preorder the digital format at Amazon.
A reminder that coming next week is Tollund
Man: Stories by SMFS list member Jeff Esterholm who announced
this fact on social media. Published in print format by Cornerstone Press, you
can order it now in advance of the October 20th publication day on Amazon.
Until next time….
Kevin R.
Tipple ©2026
Wednesday, October 14, 2026
Jerry's House of Everything: SHORT STORY WEDNESDAY: THE PHANTOM DEATH
Tuesday, October 13, 2026
Beneath the Stains of Time: The Thirteenth Apostle (2020) by Jamie Probin
SleuthSayers: The Self-Taught Writer
In Reference to Murder: Media Murder for Monday
Little Big Crimes: What's Her Name Today?, by Mark Billingham
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Lost Souls Meet Under a Full Moon by Mizuki Tsujimura
Publication Day Review: Truth to Power: A Luke Cage Marvel Crime Novel by S. A. Cosby
Truth to Power: A Luke Cage
Marvel Crime Novel by S. A. Cosby is the author’s latest read. S. A.
Cosby switched genres for this read, but brings his usual themes of racism,
greed, and racial oppression while adding in superhero powers.
In this case, Luke Cage, who lives in
Harlem, is initially having a quiet morning on the streets. He is a superhero
with phenomenal strength, an impervious skin to most projectiles, and other
abilities. Those abilities make Luke Cage a formidable opponent. He is on the
phone with Jessica Jones, whom he is dating and in a serious relationship, when
the conversation is interrupted because a dude just came crashing down out of a
12th story window and landed in the street. Polar Bear Man is definitely alive
and looking for a battle.
In the aftermath, Luke Cage realizes he
missed a call from family in Majestic, Virgina. Luke had asked his cousin, Rashon,
to keep his eyes and ears open, as he was working in the area of a medical
factory that might have been working on some sort of high-tech cybernetics.
Stuff that was winding up in the hands of low-level street criminals. Rashon
was not supposed to do anything more than pay attention and call if he spotted
something or heard something. Now Rashon is dead, Aunt Letty is devasted, and
Luke has to go down there and find out what happened and why.
He can’t bring Rashon back. But, he can
find out what happened and who did it as those in charge probably are not doing
anything on the case. The massive confederate flag still flies just outside
town. The local police are incompetent, corrupt, or both. Luke is going to look
into what happened and will tear the place apart figurately, and maybe
literally too, until he finds out what happened.
If you have read this author before, it is no surprise that the same themes of his other books are present here. The difference in this fast-moving and action filled tale is that Luke is not a mere mortal. Luke has superhero powers. Those outfitted with the cybernetics are, at worst, his equal if not better.
The result is an entertaining read and
one worthy of your time.
Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4jzG7ze
My digital ARC came from the publisher, Hyperion
Avenue, through NetGalley with no expectation of a positive review.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2026
Monday, October 12, 2026
Aubrey Nye Hamilton Reviews: The 10:12 by Anna Maloney
The 10:12
by BAFTA winner Anna Maloney is scheduled for release in the US on 20 October
2026. It was released in January 2026 in the UK. An original and
thought-provoking story, it relates the hijacking of a train near Manchester
and its aftermath in chilling and realistic detail.
Art
instructor Claire Fitzroy is one of the passengers who fought back against the
hijackers. While many hailed her as a hero, others objected to a gray-haired
woman taking an aggressive stand against a group of men who threatened harm to
her and the rest of the travelers on the train. After the trial, she decides to
document her experience to set the record straight. The book purports to be her
working final draft with notes from her editor, text messages, emails, quotes
from testimony transcripts, and snips from newspaper articles.
In the second
half of the book Claire became obsessed with the ideological and political
beliefs driving the hijackers, seeking to understand how those philosophies
radicalized the young men into acting as they did, which worried the Secret
Service agents assigned to the case. They feared Claire was attracting an
element of danger she did not fully understand.
Inevitably
perhaps in reading something terrifying but entirely believable like this, I
asked myself if I could have stepped up the way Claire and other passengers did
to prevent a wholesale loss of life. We never know what we are capable of but I
suspect in my case the answer is no.
The structure
of the book is impressively creative and the portrayal of the hijacking is
frighteningly convincing, as is the unhinged social media response to Claire
and the misogynistic expectations of older women. Anyone would find an
experience like that traumatic and I found her need to process the event
through knowledge of the drivers behind it credible.
Starred
reviews from Publishers Weekly and Booklist. Reader reactions
vary widely, many who listened to the audio version found the narrative hard to
follow, which is understandable considering the way the story is presented in
multiple forms.
·
Publisher: Harper Perennial
·
Date: October 2026
·
Pages: 320
·
ISBN-10: 1526689162
·
ISBN-13: 978-1526689160
Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/3Uk04zN
Aubrey Nye Hamilton ©2026
Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal
It projects by day and reads mysteries at night.
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