Something Is Going To Happen: All the Ways We Have to Reach You (by Janet Hutchings)
Friday, March 31, 2023
Beneath the Stains of Time: It's a Numbers Game: Q.E.D. vol. 23-24 by Motohiro Katou
Beneath the Stains of Time: It's a Numbers Game: Q.E.D. vol. 23-24 by Motohiro...: The first of two stories from Motohiro Katou 's Q.E.D. vol. 23, "The Liar," begins with Sou Touma arriving in Taiwan to meet...
Jerry's House of Everything: FORGOTTEN BOOK: THE PHANTOM TOLLBOOTH
Jerry's House of Everything: FORGOTTEN BOOK: THE PHANTOM TOLLBOOTH: The Phantom Tollbooth by Norman Juster (1961) The classic juvenile fantasy, made even better (as if that were possible) by illustrations ...
FFB Review: Time of Death by J. D. Robb
Time of Death by J.D. Robb is
a novella collection featuring NYPSD Lieutenant Eve Dallas. Unlike the Three
in Death collection that was primarily straight forward, the strange
and flat-out weird plays a bigger role in this read.
It opens with Eternity
in Death. In late April 2060, Tiara Dent bought into his myth of living
forever. Now she won’t see 24 as the young beautiful woman is a very dead
celebrity. The two puncture wounds on the left side of her throat give some
indication to how it happened.
Eve Dallas hates
stiletto heels. She hates the dressing up to mingle and socialize party
nonsense. But, when you are married to Roarke, a very rich man, you do what you
have to do. That means being very dressed up and in attendance at the gathering
hosted by Maxia Caryle. It was supposed to be a fun evening in Eternity in Death. Certainly not a
murder scene. But, it is, and now there is a victim, one very bloody suspect,
and many other folks that also have to be ruled considered as killers or
witnesses. Now the real party can get started.
It is early
spring in 2060 and the traditional ferries still sail across the water to the Statue
of Liberty. One on those ferries, the Hillary Rodham Clinton, has a very
bloody bathroom. No doubt the person that was in that bathroom is dead. Nobody
could have survived that massive amount of blood loss. Yet, there is no body. That person did not just get up and leave. It
all means that Lieutenant Eve Dallas has a missing victim, a floating crime
scene, and more than a few suspects in Missing in Death.
The three
novellas in the Time of Death collection are all good ones. They push the boundaries
of the strange a little bit, but all three end up being logically solved. As
always, there are plenty of twists and turns as the reads move quickly to a
resolution.
My reading copy
came by way of the Libby/OverDrive App and the Dallas Public Library System.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2023
Thursday, March 30, 2023
Wednesday, March 29, 2023
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Nevermore: Fair and Tender Ladies, Boy Who Talked to Dogs, Dollbaby, Librarian of Burned Books
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Nevermore: Fair and Tender Ladies, Boy Who Talked ...: Reported by Garry Fair and Tender Ladies by Lee Smith. “I used to be a scandal myself. Now I am an institution.” Ivy Crow is a fire...
Bitter Tea and Mystery: Short Story Wednesday: "Birdie" by Lauren Groff
Bitter Tea and Mystery: Short Story Wednesday: "Birdie" by Lauren Groff: Some serendipitous wandering around on the internet on the weekend led me to discover a new (to me) author that I want to read, and a shor...
Jerry's House of Everything: SHORT STORY WEDNESDAY: CLOONATURK
Jerry's House of Everything: SHORT STORY WEDNESDAY: CLOONATURK: "Cloonaturk" by Mervyn Wall (firxt published in Argosy [UK], December 1947; reprinted in Wall's collections A Flutter of Wi...
Short Story Wednesday Review: Guilty Crime Story Magazine: Issue Six, Fall 2022
Guilty Crime Story Magazine: Issue Six,
Fall 2022,
opens with “Overnights at the Bumblebee Motel” by Michael Grimala. Gordon has a driven a long way from Ohio to
southern Louisiana in search of Hannah. He thinks the Bumblebee Motel might
offer a clue or two in his search. He needs to find his sister.
Publisher and Editor Brandon Barrows is
next with “One Last Ride.” Foley just wants to park his cab the night and go to
bed. Dispatcher Hugh Spenser is a serious annoyance and he is not done with
Foley yet. Instead, because the next driver is out sick, Foley has to keep
working. He has to go to the airport on a nasty night and pick up a passenger
named Thomas Bailey. Foley’s Bed, and his unhappy wife, are going to have to
wait.
Steve Liskow’s short story, “Peepin’ and
Hiddin’” is next where at least one of the neighbors is a real jerk.
Unfortunately, he is teaching his own son the same bad ideas. Wes and Louie
have fireworks, cherry bombs to be specific, and are perfectly willing to use
them. It is July 1st, a drought is happening, and they have zero concern for
others in their condo complex. That is going to change.
Dan Moore knows the kid is up to
something in “You Wouldn’t Shoot Me” by Anderson Barnes. He tailed him from the
buss and followed him off the bus at a stop in Roxbury. Every step they take
sends Dan Moore deeper in a neighborhood he does not know and where it seems
everyone is watching him.
He used to be a cop. Now, each evening,
he sits in a bar and limits himself to five drinks. He plays an inner game with
himself in “Some Sunny Day, Baby” by Joseph S. Walker and tries to figure out
if this will be the night he goes for six. That is until a face from long ago,
Anson Brancato, shows up and tells him of a problem and Carl Denham. Favors are
owed and he owes Carl Denham.
“I’ll Scratch Yours” by Thomas Nicholson
is next where our man is on a massage table having his bad shoulder and more
worked on by an unseen masseuse. The department is paying and it should help
him feel better. It might actually work if she did not talk so much. She has a
lot to say.
The author, Mr. James, is meeting with a
man known to some as Mr. John Wesley Hardin about an upcoming movie. It is to be a western and he had some
questions as Wyatt Earp, still living out in California, told him to get gone.
Lonnie put the two together for his own reasons. Getting Mr. James to show up
was just the first step in the plan in “The John Wesley Hardin Rag by Coy Hall.
The issue closes with the nonfiction
piece, “The Jeff Davis 8: A True Crime Story” by. N. Fraley. It recounts the
discovery of eight women in and around various bodies of water in Jennings,
Louisiana. During the period between 2005 and 2009 the bodies of the women were
found. All were sex workers who may have been killed by a serial killer. They
may have been the victims of rogue police officers. We may never know as this
piece explains.
As always, the stories in Guilty Crime Story Magazine: Issue Six, Fall 2022 are not happy reads. Like the tales in previous ones, these are not tales of people drinking tea, cats hanging out, or ones that make one content with the state of the world where one is sure all will work out. Far from it. Darkness, in a variety of ways, is probed in the tales that make up this issue. While this reader had his own favorites, all are solidly good reads.
My reading copy was a purchase of the eBook last October by way of funds in my Amazon Associate account.
Kevin R. Tipple © 2023
Tuesday, March 28, 2023
Beneath the Stains of Time: The Killing of Katie Steelstock (1980) by Michael Gilbert
Beneath the Stains of Time: The Killing of Katie Steelstock (1980) by Michael ...: Back in January, I returned to the work of Michael Gilbert and looked at his first mystery novel, Close Quarters (1947), which introduced ...
Publishing ... and Other Forms of Insanity: 85 Calls for Submissions in April 2023 - Paying markets
Publishing ... and Other Forms of Insanity: 85 Calls for Submissions in April 2023 - Paying ma...: This April there are more than seven dozen calls for submissions. All of these are paying markets, and none charge submission fees. As alway...
Review: Wayward Son: An Ed Runyon Mystery by Steve Goble
Picking up a few months after City Problems
and shortly before the Covid outbreak in the United States, Ed Runyon is no
longer a Mifflin County Sheriff’s Deputy. He has started Whiskey River
Investigations and, as a private investigator, will focus on missing kids. Missing kid cases are important to him and a
major reason why he left New York.
Jimmy Zachman is missing. His parents, Tammy and Bob
Zachman meet with Mr. Runyon and are doing everything they can to hold it
together. The 15-year-old has been missing around 24 hours and they have no
idea why he left. While they claim they have no idea, but Ed Runyon sees a
couple of possible reasons right from the start. But, he is not there to
discuss religion or politics. He is there to find their missing son.
The search for Jimmy will take him far from Jimmy’s
home on Poplar Street in Ambletown, Ohio. It will involve technology, a chess
app, and a lot more, in a complex case where nothing is as it seems.
As this the second book in the series that began with City Problems, it would be best to have read that book first. Not only do several of the recurring characters return here, time has passed, and some situations have changed a little bit. Additionally, events of the first book are referenced repeatedly and ultimately play a role here, so read in order.
Wayward Son: An Ed Runyon Mystery is a good one. Like City Problems, the read is highly recommended.
My reading copy came from the Kleberg Rylie Branch of the Dallas Public Library System.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2023
Monday, March 27, 2023
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Hollywood Horrors: Murders, Scandals, and Cover-Ups from Tinseltown by Andrea Van Landingham
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Hollywood Horrors: Murders, Scandals, and Cover-U...: Reviewed by Jeanne While the lurid title and red blaze across the cover might entice some to pick up this book, it almost had the opposi...
Publishing ... and Other Forms of Insanity: 51 Writing Contests in April 2023 - No entry fees
Publishing ... and Other Forms of Insanity: 51 Writing Contests in April 2023 - No entry fees: This April there are more than four dozen free writing contests for short fiction, novels, poetry, CNF, nonfiction, and plays. Prizes range ...
Bitter Tea and Mystery: A Man and His Cat, Vol. 1-3
Bitter Tea and Mystery: A Man and His Cat, Vol. 1-3: A Man and His Cat is a Japanese manga series; the writer and artist is Umi Sakurai. This comic started out on Twitter, self-published on Tw...
Aubrey Nye Hamilton Reviews: Pesticide by Kim Hays
Kim Hays
holds U.S. and Swiss dual citizenship and lives in Bern, Switzerland. After a
wildly diverse career she turned to writing crime fiction. Pesticide
(Seventh Street Books, 2022) is her first book about Inspector Giuliana Linder
and her younger colleague Investigator Renzo Donatelli of the Bern police. It
was shortlisted for the 2020 Debut Dagger award by the Crime Writers'
Association. The second book in the series is scheduled for release in April
2023.
Linder is assigned
the difficult task of looking into the death of a member of the public,
possibly at the hands of a police officer during a street celebration that
turned into a riot. The officer in question reported hitting the young man but
not hard enough to cause fatal damage. Her first job is to identify the victim.
While he was carrying cash, his identity papers are missing. In the meantime
Donatelli is pulled into investigating the clear murder of François Schwab, an
elderly organic farmer outside Bern who was found in his barn drenched in the
pesticide that he loathed. When their separate investigations reveal the two
knew each other and that they had business dealings, Linder and her associates
begin to believe the deaths are connected.
Linder’s husband Ueli
is a journalist who keeps their home going in the face of her grueling work
schedule and cares for their two children while fitting in his writing and
research as he can. The understandable tensions this arrangement generates are clearly
portrayed. Ueli has a dual role in the book, demonstrating the strain a police
officer’s work exerts on home and family and carrying the secondary theme of
the book, the issue of police brutality, which is examined from both sides. It
is an ongoing source of concern within the Linder marriage.
Donatelli is
unhappily married but adores his children. He makes no secret of his interest
in the older Linder, who is committed to her marriage while finding Donatelli
attractive. I am not a fan of crime fiction that is more romance than mystery
but this push/pull is realistic and takes a back seat to the criminal search. Anyone
who works with other people will recognize the potential for the situation.
This book is
a very good procedural; I don’t understand why it has not received more
attention, although Kirkus did give it a starred review. The plot is original,
the setting is intriguing, and the characters are wonderful. Even the secondary
characters are lifelike. The issue of police brutality is shown from both sides
in a balanced and compassionate picture. The insight into the Swiss law
enforcement system is fascinating. Highly recommended.
·
Publisher: Seventh Street Books (April 19, 2022)
·
Language: English
·
Paperback: 358 pages
·
ISBN-10: 1645060462
·
ISBN-13: 978-1645060468
Aubrey Nye Hamilton ©2023
Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal It projects by day and reads mysteries at night.
Sunday, March 26, 2023
SleuthSayers: A I on Short Story by R.T. Lawton
SleuthSayers: A I on Short Story: Artificial Intelligence once was a concept of science fiction, a thing of the future. Now, it's a creature of the present and we are st...
Saturday, March 25, 2023
KRL This Week Update for 3/25/2023
Up on KRL this morning a review and giveaway of an Easter mystery, "Chocolate Bunny Betrayal" by Tonya Kappes https://kingsriverlife.com/03/25/chocolate-bunny-betrayal-by-tonya-kappes/
And a review and giveaway of "Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers" by Jesse Q Sutanto https://kingsriverlife.com/03/25/vera-wongs-unsolicited-advice-for-murderers-by-jesse-q-sutanto/
And a review and giveaway of "A Midsummer Night's Scheme" by Harper Kincaid along with a fun interview with Harper https://kingsriverlife.com/03/25/a-midsummers-night-scheme-by-harper-kincaid/
We also have a review of the latest Hallmark Movies & Mysteries movie "The Cases of Mystery Lane" https://kingsriverlife.com/03/25/hallmark-movies-mysteries-the-cases-of-mystery-street/
And a mystery short story by Mary Jo Robertiello https://kingsriverlife.com/03/25/mystery-short-story-hit-and-run/
Up during the week we posted another special midweek guest post, this one by mystery author Michelle Corbier about researching the crimes and methods of murder in her books and about her latest book "Murder in Gemini" https://kingsriverlife.com/03/22/research-your-crimes/
Up on KRL News and Reviews this week we have a review and ebook giveaway of the limited release novella "Mystic Wedding Bell Blues" By Sally J. Smith & Jean Steffens <https://www.krlnews.com/2023/03/limited-release-mystic-wedding-bell.html> https://www.krlnews.com/2023/03/limited-release-mystic-wedding-bell.html
And a review and giveaway of "Star Tangled Murder" by Nancy Cohen https://www.krlnews.com/2023/03/star-tangled-murder-by-nancy-j-cohen.html
And a review and giveaway of "Priceless Betrayal" by VictoriaTait https://www.krlnews.com/2023/03/priceless-betrayal-by-victoria-tait.html
FYI KRL will not have an April 1 issue as I will be out of town.
Happy reading,
Lorie
Beneath the Stains of Time: The Hit List: Top 10 Favorite Reprints from Dean Street Press
Beneath the Stains of Time: The Hit List: Top 10 Favorite Reprints from Dean S...: If you're a casual mystery reader who looked at our little niche corner on the internet, you might get the impression that the prevailin...
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Death by Smoothie by Laura Levine
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Death by Smoothie by Laura Levine: Reviewed by Kristin Jaine Austen (no, not that Jane Austen), can’t seem to get away from Cryptessa Muldoon. Cryptessa was the main ch...
Scott's Take: Ghost Rider Vol 1: Unchained by Benjamin Percy
Ghost Rider Vol 1: Unchained by Benjamin Percy (the author of the current Wolverine series) is the newest Ghost Rider series with Johnny Blaze as the lead. We find Johnny currently living a happy life with his wife and kids in a quiet town. He is suffering from the after effects of a motorcycle accident. He suffered a head injury and is dealing with occasional hallucinations that cause him to see the people around him as monsters. As long-time readers know, his wife and kids are dead so something is clearly wrong.
The first part of the read is about Johnny trying to what
is real and what is not. When he does, he then goes across the country fighting
against the demons who have made rural America their hunting grounds while
being hunted by the FBI.
This is a back-to-basics Ghost Rider volume which
establishes how hard the Johnny Blaze life is and why the world needs the Ghost
Rider. Since most superheroes are not nomadic, evil can build up in small towns
that people don’t care about. In a way, he is Jack Reacher and cleaning up
rural America one town at a time.
The art is really good and the monsters are suitable disgusting and horrific. The violent battles are bloody and full gore. There is a ton of death, body horror, and gruesome images. This is not for kids. This is a dark tale with strong horror themes. This series continues with the late April 2023 release of Ghost Rider Vol 2: Shadow Country. There are also two more miniseries that are supposed to be launching out of this series as well. This revitalization of Ghost Rider seems to be doing quite well. It’s nice to have Johnny back as a lead character again.
My reading copy came via the Hoopla app of the Dallas Public Library System.
Scott A. Tipple ©2023
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