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.
Saturday, September 05, 2026
Update on Santa Rage 2
Submissions closed last Monday night. I received
nearly three dozen submissions for twelve slots. All the stories have been read
once.
My plan is to let things sit and then read everything
a second time, starting early next week. Once that is completed, hopefully by
the middle of the week, I will start reaching out to folks to make absolutely
sure their stories are still available as well as letting other folks know
their status.
If you submitted, and wish to now withdraw for
whatever reason, please let me know so I can remove your story from
consideration.
Please and thank you.
KRL Update
Up on KRL this week reviews and giveaways of 3 more fun cozy foo mysteries-"Murder at First Slice" A Baker Street Mystery by Valerie Burns, "Savvy Summers and the Po’boy Perils" Savvy Summers by Sandra Jackson-Opoku, and "Killer Donuts" A Deputy Donut Mystery by Ginger Bolton https://kingsriverlife.com/09/05/delicious-fun-food-cozy-mysteries-for-your-september-tbr/
SleuthSayers: The Old Man and the Sand and Sea
Jerry's House of Everything: SHOWCASE #19: ADAM STRANGE (MARCH-APRIL 1959)
Scott's Take: Star Trek: Strange New Worlds- The Seeds of Salvation by Robbie Thompson and artists Travis Mercer and Serg Acuña
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds- The Seeds
of Salvation by Robbie Thompson and artists Travis
Mercer and Serg Acuña and more is set, apparently, sometime before season 4 of
the television show, but the story is not clear on the timeline. The author,
Richie Thompson, is one of the writers for season 4 which started airing in
late July 2026. I read this collected five issue comic book through Hoopla.
In this story, Chapel (one of the medical team) is
bored after a series of uneventful missions and decides to visit an old friend
at an arctic research lab on some planet. She convinces Captain Pike to take
the Enterprise there and send her down with an away team.
In this Lovecraftian horror story, the Enterprise away
team arrives at the facility and discovered everyone missing. That is except
for a lone robot that states that all
the staff of the research station has gone into the dark waters below. Part of
the group went down in a mini sub and all contact was soon lost. So, the rest
of the station personnel went down in the second mini sub and contact was lost.
There remains a third mini sub available for use so
the usual suspects on the away team will use that to go hunt for the station personnel.
Led by the XO with Chapel, Spock, and others, they go down while Captain Pike
aboard the Enterprise monitors their efforts. Of course, there are things down
below that are more than willing to greet the crew of the Enterprise…
The read is advertised as focusing on Chapel and
Spock, but that’s not really true. The read is mostly focused on Chapel. Spock
does get some of the spotlight, but he is not a focus. The characterization of
everyone is really good and it feels like an episode of the show in the short
five issues of this miniseries.
The art is good, but has one main problem the
characters don’t look exactly like themselves. While the Enterprise is right,
every person on the crew is just a little off. I get who they are supposed to
be but the art style does not help. Pike and Scottie especially suffer from
this. I think it’s just the style of art is the problem, but it is good art.
This is action themed and horror episode with an optimistic
ending that kind of feels unrealistic. Overall, I enjoyed Star Trek:
Strange New Worlds- The Seeds of Salvation even with these minor flaws.
Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4fudD6o
My reading copy came by way of Hoopla through the
Dallas Public Library System.
Scott A. Tipple ©2026
Friday, September 04, 2026
Mystery Fanfare: LABOR DAY AND LABOR UNION MYSTERIES: Updated Lists
SleuthSayers: Going After Publicity for Your (small, precious) Book
In Reference to Murder: Friday's "Forgotten" Books: Speaking of Murder
Jerry's House of Everything: FORGOTTEN BOOK: FAITHFUL
Review: First Chance by Kasey Lansdale
It is summer in deep Southeast Texas and
all that entails as First Chance by Kasey Lansdale begins. Heat,
humidity, drought, and a side of murder. It has been 10 months since 16-year-old
Patience Milroy had been found with her throat cut, missing a shoe, and her
clothes on backwards. She had not been raped. So why was she killed. And why
were her clothes put back on her backwards? Local police have not figured out
either question and are no closer to doing so than the day she was found tossed
into the high grass along a roadside.
Darla Weaver, married, and sister to
Patience, has come to see Chance Kirby. She wants to hire her to look into the
case and find the killer of her baby sister. This is going to be her first case
as a fully licensed private investigator, but Chance has worked cases before for
her step mom, Harper Jones. So, she knows some things. Her dad, John Kirby,
also does investigative work, and it seems that the apple did not fall far from
the tree.
As the local private eye in Hopeful,
Texas, down near Houston, Chance Kirby knows some people. While Chance knew a
bit about the Patience case, she did not know about the case, in a nearby small
town, where another young woman was found dead in nearly identical circumstances.
That case seems to mirror what happened a few months later with Chance.
According to Darla, the respective police departments didn’t tell each other
about their cases. The cops now call it all a coincidence, but Darla does not
buy that. She also does not think much of the cops, or even Chance now that she
has met her.
Yet, Darla is desperate, and at her
whits end. She decides to go ahead and hire Chance to try and get some answers.
Good thing Chance has contacts in her local police department and some other
folks she can count on in the weeks ahead.
Finding the truth about what happened to
Patience and others is going to take considerable time. Chance also has her
hands full with a teenage foster daughter, a dog that gets loose, and a
complicated relationship with her family. All of those situations provide an
enjoyable backdrop to the main story line of
Chance finding out what happened to Patience and trying very hard not to
get killed doing it.
While it reads to me as this could be
the first book of a planned series, I have no idea if that is the plan or not.
It could just be a really good stand alone, but there are a lot of support
beams here for the floor of a series. Either way, First Chance by
Kasey Lansdale is a complicated and really good mystery. It is very much worth
your time.
Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/46Ctrjm
My digital reading copy came from the
publisher, Blackstone Publishing, through NetGalley, with no expectation of a
positive review.
Kevin R. Tipple 2026
Thursday, September 03, 2026
In Reference to Murder: Mystery Melange
Bitter Tea and Mystery: Books Read in June and July 2026
A Writer's Life....Caroline Clemmons: The McClintocks: A Family to Visit Again
Thursday Treats: 9/03/2026
Some reading opportunities of interest this week.
SMFS
list member Pam Ebel announced that her short story, Happy Hour at the Holy
Grail Bar, was published online at The Yard: Crime Blog. You can read it for
free here.
Pistol
Jim Press has announced their published short stories for their most recent
call. “Doors, Gates, & Portals” was edited by M. E. Proctor of the SMFS. You can read,
for free, the ten stories as well as vote on them at the Substack.
SMFS
list member David Hendrickson
announced that his short story, If Only I Were Pretty, appears in the recently
released Mystery, Crime, and Mayhem: Spring Break. Published by Knotted
Road Press, you can pick it up at the publisher
and Amazon.
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), Alan Orloff (Face to Face), KM Rockwood (They Lurk In The
Lake), Shannon Taft (The Cave Man),
and Joseph S. Walker (The Things We
Remember). Published by Wildside Press,
the read is available in digital format now at Amazon with the print version coming out on September 8th.
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.
Until next time….
Kevin R. Tipple ©2026
The recent lunar eclipse photographed by another Dallas area resident. I could not see it at all in my part of NE Dallas.
Wednesday, September 02, 2026
Mystery Fanfare: The Detection Club: A new Golden Age Mystery series
Jerry's House of Everything: SHORT STORY WEDNESDAY: THE COFFIN BEARER
Review: Tear the City Down: A Novel by Andre Hardy
One last deal and then get out. Coltrane
Davis had already been thinking about pulling up stakes and leaving San Diego.
That idea gained momentum in Florida recently as his teen daughter competed in
a tournament. She did not win. But, she did really well. She has the chance to
be somebody great in the tennis world with the right coaching and support. It
would also give her a chance to put some physical distance from a tragedy that
has haunted them both these past few months and caused incredible grief in
their lives.
All he has to do is manage his boss,
Saul Sollman, for one more deal. The problem is Saul Sollman is certified nuts.
He’s the crooked kingmaker who allowed Coltrane Davis into his world. That
decision has financially rewarded them both. Saul is not pleased with Coltrane
Davis right now. Getting summoned to Saul’s in the middle of the night,
especially on a date night, is the latest reminder that it is time to get out.
Coltrane is also less than pleased. Not
only because he was summoned to Saul’s place like he is some sort of indentured
servant working for his white king, Dylan Banks also arrived. Coltrane has to
work to hide his disgust as Dylan Banks is one of those white guys who appropriates
language, culture, and mannerisms not his own when speaking to others outside
of his race. Then, when there are consequences, hides behind the wall of privilege.
The agent has a huge problem. His
client, Anthony Riddell, an all-pro running back for the Chargers, is in a
situation that could cost him everything. Riddell has his own history and it is
not good. In the here and now, Riddell is being extorted because of a picture
that shows him in a sexually compromising position with another man. Coltrane
wants no part of any of it at all and the hard sell by Saul and Dylan begins in
earnest.
Dylan is sure that his client was set up.
That the whole deal is a plot by the GM to low ball him as they argue about the
next contract. The Chargers already declined his fifth-year option, didn’t negotiate
a fair market deal, and then put the franchise tag on him. Then stories started
getting leaked to the press about health issues, domestic violence, and gang
ties.
Being black in the NFL brings issues
that white players don’t have to deal with at all. Things between the Chargers
and the player are very heated. Now this problem. If word of it, let alone the
pictorial proof, go out he could lose his football career, his endorsements,
everything.
Coltrane grudgingly agrees to poke
around and try to clean up the matter. He soon gets involved deeper than ever
intended, as he looks for a way out for the player as well as the people Coltrane
loves.
Along the way, readers are treated to a
side of San Diego they never see and how race plays a major factor in the NFL
and far beyond. It’s a complicated tale, a debut novel, and a good crime
fiction read.
Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4zopxHZ
My ARC digital reading copy came by way
of the publisher, Grand Central Publishing, through NetGalley, with no expectation
of a positive review.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2026
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