Friday, February 06, 2026

In Reference to Murder: Mystery Melange

In Reference to Murder: Mystery Melange:  Author James Sallis passed way last week after a long illness. Sallis was 81 years old. He began writing science fiction for magazines in ...

Writer Beware: Unhappy Returns: Harper’s Bazaar Short Story Contest, America Star Books

 Writer Beware: Unhappy Returns: Harper’s Bazaar Short Story Contest, America Star Books

Bookblog of the Bristol Library: A Child in the Forest by Winifred Foley

Bookblog of the Bristol Library: A Child in the Forest by Winifred Foley:   Reviewed by Jeanne Winifred Foley, called Poll, was born in 1914 to a miner and his wife, the fourth of eight children. They lived in ...

The Hard Word: GENTLEMAN AND GUNMEN: R.F. RYAN'S OF A DIFFERENT STAMP

 The Hard Word: GENTLEMAN AND GUNMEN: R.F. RYAN'S OF A DIFFERENT STAMP

Happiness Is A Book: Friday’s Forgotten Book: Murder with Relish by Guy Cullingford

 Happiness Is A Book: Friday’s Forgotten Book: Murder with Relish by Guy Cullingford

Jerry's House of Everything: FORGOTTEN BOOK: KILLERS ARE MY MEAT

Jerry's House of Everything: FORGOTTEN BOOK: KILLERS ARE MY MEAT:   Killers Are My Meat by Stephen Marlowe  (1957) Marlowe's Chester Drum was a Washington, D.C.-based private eye who blazed his way thro...

Patricia Abbott: FFB: CITY OF DRAGONS, Kelli Stanley

 Patricia Abbott: FFB: CITY OF DRAGONS, Kelli Stanley

Bitter Tea and Mystery: Books Read in January 2026

Bitter Tea and Mystery: Books Read in January 2026: I am always excited to start a new year of reading. This year I would like to read one each of the following every month: A vintage mystery ...

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

Lesa's Book Critiques: What Are You Reading?

 Lesa's Book Critiques: What Are You Reading?

Criminal Minds: Pro-mojo from James W. Ziskin

Criminal Minds: Pro-mojo from James W. Ziskin: What is the best money you ever spent on promotion and marketing? Travel for bookstore reading events? Advertising? (If so, where—in a confe...

Beneath the Stains of Time: Masterclass: "Touch of a Vanish'd Hand" (2000) by Phil Mann

Beneath the Stains of Time: Masterclass: "Touch of a Vanish'd Hand" (2000) by ...: If you read my recent review of Fredric Brown's "Handbook for Homicide" (1943), you know the intention the intersperse the lo...

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.

 


Also out now is Guilty Crime Story Magazine: Issue 16 Winter 2026. Edited and published by Brandon Barrows, the issue includes short stories by Mr. Barrows, Vinnie Hansen, and others. I am way behind on my reading, but I have enjoyed and reviewed previous issues.

 


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.

 


Speaking of free reads, Michael Bracken announced that his short story, Store-Crossed Lovers, appears at the Substack of Cold Caller Magazine. You can read it here. By the way, he also recently announced that he, Joe R. Lansdale, Cheryl Head, and Warren S. Moore, will lead a writing workshop for the month of July on learning how to write crime fiction. Looks like it will be a really cool thing to do. You can learn more at the Newberry College website.  

 


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.

Lesa's Book Critiques: Chasing the Ring by Lauren Rowe

 Lesa's Book Critiques: Chasing the Ring by Lauren Rowe

Mystery Fanfare: SUPER BOWL: Super Bowl Crime Fiction & Football Mysteries

Mystery Fanfare: SUPER BOWL: Super Bowl Crime Fiction & Football My...: It's no longer just Super Bowl Sunday--it's Super Bowl Week! The game this year is being played in San Francisco - -but it's no...

SleuthSayers: Main Character Energy

SleuthSayers: Main Character Energy:  I have mentioned Not Always Right here before . It is a website where people anonymously report terrible encounters with customers.  I rec...

Bitter Tea and Mystery: Short Story Wednesday: USA Noir

Bitter Tea and Mystery: Short Story Wednesday: USA Noir:   I have had a copy of USA Noir for nearly 10 years, and this is the first time I have read any stories from the book. It contains stories ...

Jerry's House of Everything: SHORT STORY WEDNESDAY: THE MOON FOR A NICKEL

Jerry's House of Everything: SHORT STORY WEDNESDAY: THE MOON FOR A NICKEL: "The Moon for a Nickel" by Fredric Brown  (first published in Street & Smith's Detective Story Magazine , March 1938; repr...

Patricia Abbott: Short Story Wednesday: A MEMORY OF MURDER, Ray Bradbury

 Patricia Abbott: Short Story Wednesday: A MEMORY OF MURDER, Ray Bradbury

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

Lesa's Book Critiques: Stolen in Death by J.D. Robb

 Lesa's Book Critiques: Stolen in Death by J.D. Robb

The Hard Word: MIND AND MATTERS OF CRIME: MEIKE ALANA LOOKS AT THE DS GEORGE CROSS MYSTERIES

The Hard Word: MIND AND MATTERS OF CRIME: MEIKE ALANA LOOKS AT THE DS GEORGE CROSS MYSTERIES

Happiness Is A Book: Wax Flowers for Gloria by Pat Flower

 Happiness Is A Book: Wax Flowers for Gloria by Pat Flower

Mystery Fanfare: FATHER BROWN Season 13 News

Mystery Fanfare: FATHER BROWN Season 13 News: Father Brown, Season 13 , is finally airing (February 3) on Britbox here in the U.S (one episode a week). There are 10 episodes. So glad it...

The Hard Word: "...IT WAS NECESSARY TO GET INTO HAMMETT'S APPROACH": THE RETURN OF THE MALTESE FALCON'S MAX ALLAN COLLINS

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Little Big Crimes: El Artista Fugitivo, by Tom Larsen

Little Big Crimes: El Artista Fugitivo, by Tom Larsen:  "El Artista Fugitivo," by Tom Larsen, in Black Cat Weekly, #227, 2026. This is the second story by Larsen to make this list, and...

The Hard Word: MURDER AND MEDICINE: S.J. ROZAN'S FIRST DO NO HARM

 The Hard Word: MURDER AND MEDICINE: S.J. ROZAN'S FIRST DO NO HARM

SleuthSayers: One in Six

SleuthSayers: One in Six: A few days before this post went live, Queer Crime Writers released “ One in Six is Not Equity: The State of Queer Representation in Mystery...

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.

 

 Kevin R. Tipple ©2026

Monday, February 02, 2026

Lesa's Book Critiques: A Study in Secrets by Jeffrey Siger

 Lesa's Book Critiques: A Study in Secrets by Jeffrey Siger

Bookblog of the Bristol Library: New February Fiction!

Bookblog of the Bristol Library: New February Fiction!:   Adams, Taylor   Her Last Breath Armstrong, Kelley   First Sign of Danger (Haven’s Rock) Beaton, M.C.   Death of a Groom (Hamish) ...

The Short Mystery Fiction Society Blog: Derringer Award Announcement: 2026 Best Anthology Finalists

The Short Mystery Fiction Society Blog: Derringer Award Announcement: 2026 Best Anthology ...: Image by Bethany Maines The Short Mystery Fiction Society is a group of writers, readers, editors, publishers, and others dedicated to the p...

Aubrey Nye Hamilton Reviews: The Flack by Brad Parks

  

The Flack (Oceanview, February 3, 2026) by Brad Parks is another stand-alone thriller from the author of the Carter Ross investigative reporter series.

Curt Hinton and Angel Reddish meet as college freshmen and form an enduring bond that lasts through college, career ups and downs, and marriage. Eventually Angel’s degree in business and his strong career drive sent him across the country to California to serve as chief operating officer in a large logistics company that specialized in transporting electronic components used by the tech firms in Silicon Valley. Curt on the other hand became a journalist, committed to researching and reporting the news factually and completely. He found his livelihood growing increasingly constrained by the shrinking newspaper industry. When Angel contrived to offer him the position of public relations officer at his logistics corporation, he felt compelled to accept it.

It was an enormous upheaval for the Hintons to move from one coast to the other, but it was a golden opportunity. The people at the company are warm and welcoming, and Curt feels sure he will learn to fit in quickly. On his first day in the office, though, Angel is killed and Curt is too distraught to let the police handle the investigation. Angel was an essential part of Curt’s life and he felt he owed it to Angel to find out what happened and why.

Thus begins a cracking page-turner that gallops through a hair-raising story. Parks’ strong feelings about the compelling role journalists play in society is evident. The dedication to the book is to his colleagues at The Washington Post and The Star-Ledger and to all the newspaper people who have had to do something else with their lives. Early in the story he draws a clear line between the journalist and the public relations specialist: Journalists existed to search for and tell the truth. PR people existed to manipulate and obfuscate it. They were paid mouthpieces, spin masters, shills. Old school reporters referred to them as flacks.

Parks is a master at pulling in the reader from the beginning and keeping them engaged. More than once I doubted the likelihood of an action or event, such as how an established journalist could walk into a senior PR role, but setting all questions of credibility aside--it is fiction, after all--the book is a walloping good read.

 

·         Publisher: Oceanview Publishing

·         Publication date: February 3, 2026

·         Language: English

·         Print length: 384 pages

·         ISBN-10: 1608096475

·         ISBN-13: 978-1608096473



Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4t38Gax

 

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 01, 2026

Kathleen Marple Kalb: A Good Base

 Kathleen Marple Kalb: A Good Base

Beneath the Stains of Time: Mind-boggling Mysteries of a Missionary (2010) by Bertil Falk

Beneath the Stains of Time: Mind-boggling Mysteries of a Missionary (2010) by ...: Bertil Falk was a Swedish newspaper reporter, TV journalist, magazine editor, translator, writer and something of a pop-fiction historian wh...

Lesa's Book Critiques: March 2026 Treasures in My Closet – Part 1

 Lesa's Book Critiques: March 2026 Treasures in My Closet – Part 1

Review: The Patient: A DS George Cross Thriller by Tim Sullivan

 

Third in the police procedural series that began with The Dentist, DS George Cross is outside the Major Crime Unit in Bristol as The Patient: A DS George Cross Thriller by Tim Sullivan begins. He is about to ride home on his bicycle when he sees a woman who has been inside the station each day for the last several days. She is soaked from the falling rain and eating a sandwich in the bike shelter. After a little back and forth, she tells DS Cross that her name is Sandra Wilson and her daughter was murdered.

 

He takes her inside, has Alice Mackenzie get the soaked woman a towel, and looks at the paperwork Sandra Wilson brought with her. Her daughter, Felicity, known to all as Flick, had a very long history of drug use. The police that handled the case decided the death was an accidental overdose, maybe even a suicide, and closed the case. Mom is very sure that her daughter did no such thing. She is sure that it was murder. After going through the file repeatedly and question the woman, DS George Cross spots an inconsistency in the case that makes no sense at all.

 

That is what he does. He spots the smallest of details because he is on the Autism Spectrum. The inconstancy he spotted was ignored by those who worked the case. The system has failed the mother of the victim, the victim herself, and the very young daughter of the victim. He starts working the closed case as if it were his own regardless of who is annoyed that he is doing so.

 

This includes his boss, DCI Carson, who would very much prefer he not waste his time on a closed case. Especially when Cross could focus on the current open case of a body being found in the river. Undeterred, Cross does what he wants because he is a very good detective.

 

It isn’t like they are going to fire him as he is very good. Much to the annoyance of others, including a fellow detective, who should be focused on doing their own jobs better. Including a fellow detective who is now bringing charges internally against him in order for the Force to take disciplinary action against DS Cross.

 

This third book in the series now being published in the United States by Grove Atlantic is a very good read. As is the police procedural series to date. Best to read in order as Cross, Ottey, Mackenzie, and other characters are fast becoming family for this reader.

 



Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/3Y9MXPY

 

 

I received a digital ARC from the publisher, Atlantic Crime, imprint of Grove Atlantic, through NetGalley, with no expectation of a positive review. 

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2026

Saturday, January 31, 2026

Saturday Evening Humor Seen On Facebook

 


Lesa's Book Critiques: This Book Made Me Think of You by Libby Page

 Lesa's Book Critiques: This Book Made Me Think of You by Libby Page

Dru's Book Musings: New Releases ~ Week of February 1, 2026

 Dru's Book Musings: New Releases ~ Week of February 1, 2026

Mystery Fanfare: WESTMINSTER KENNEL CLUB DOG SHOW: Dog Show Mysteries

Mystery Fanfare: WESTMINSTER KENNEL CLUB DOG SHOW: Dog Show Mysteries: T he 150th  Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show  starts tonight and continues through February 3 in New York  City, The Show f eaturies thousa...

KRL Update

Just a quick note before sharing what we have up this week, KRL has been having some website issues off and on this week, so if you can't access the website please try again later.

Up on KRL this week, our staff shares their favorite books they reviewed in 2025. We hope you will check it out and share with us some of your favorites in the commentshttps://kingsriverlife.com/01/31/staff-favorite-books-of-2025/

And reviews and giveaways of 3 historical mysteries-"The Mysterious Death of Junetta Plum" by Valerie Wilson Wesley, "Murder at Cottonwood Creek" Stella and Lyndy Mystery Book Seven by Clara McKenna, and "The Queen Who Came in From the Cold" Her Majesty the Queen Investigates by S J Bennett https://kingsriverlife.com/01/31/historical-mystery-trio/

And a review and ebook giveaway of "Poison and Prejudice" by Daphne Silver, along with an interesting interview with Daphne https://kingsriverlife.com/01/31/poison-and-prejudice-by-daphne-silver/

We also have the latest Queer Mystery Coming Attractions from Matt Lubbers-Moore https://kingsriverlife.com/01/31/queer-mystery-coming-attractions-february-2026/

Up on KRL News and Reviews this week we have a review and ebook giveaway of "Wings of Deceit" by Ruth J. Hartman https://www.krlnews.com/2026/01/wings-of-deceit-by-ruth-j-hartman.html

Happy reading,
Lorie

SleuthSayers: Simsubs: Yes or No?

SleuthSayers: Simsubs: Yes or No?:     NOTE: The topic of this post will probably be of interest only to writers of short stories--I doubt other people would even know what we...

Scott's Take: Resurrection by Derek Landy

 

Resurrection by Derek Landy is the tenth book in the Skulduggery Pleasant series, but it is a relaunch point, so it is supposed to be a fresh start. I read this book through the Hoopla App by way of the Dallas Public Library System.

 

In this book, Valkyrie Cain and Skulduggery reunite several years after the ninth book. Valkyrie Cain is suffering from PTSD, but has finally returned to Ireland alongside her dog Xena. Skulduggery convinces her to return to duty for just 24 hours to help him stop the resurrection of an ancient evil. They also need someone to go undercover and infiltrate the group that is recruiting at the local magical high school.

 

In a satire of Harry Potter, they recruit Omen Darkly, the Chosen’s One’s brother. Often overlooked and used to being forgotten, he is the perfect spy since no one notices him or cares about him besides his brother, some of the teachers, and his best friend, Never.

 

There are plenty of new characters since most of the previous cast of the nine previous books are benched. A satire of Donald Trump is also introduced, but I found it too accurate to the real deal to really find it funny at all. There is plenty of action, humor, and character development.

 

Skulduggery Pleasant’s past is explored more and secrets he has kept are revealed. I liked the relationship between Auger (the Chosen One) and Omen his brother. I do wish the event’s involving Auger, who is clearly a hero doing heroic things, were better fleshed out and filled. Even if it is funny that characters will run across him while he is fighting monsters with his friends.

 

The 11th book in the series is currently in my TBR pile through Hoopla, Midnight picks up after Resurrection. According to the Hoopla’s plot synopsis paraphrased-- A serial killer has abducted Alice (Valkyrie Cain’s sister) and it’s up to Valkyrie and friends to save her. Valkyrie has not been in touch with Alice that much after what she had to do in the ninth book to save the world. Valkyrie will have to confront her past if they stand a chance on saving Alice. 

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/49vwif0

 

 

I read this book through the Hoopla App by way of the Dallas Public Library System.

 

 

Scott A. Tipple ©2026