Thursday, February 12, 2026
Beneath the Stains of Time: The Hit List: Top 10 Favorite Hybrid Mysteries
Thursday Treats: 2/12/2026
Welcome back to “Thursday Treats.” Viewership dropped significantly again, week to week, so maybe this was not the bright idea I thought it was when I started it.
Michael Bracken recently announced that
his short story, Takes the Cake, appears at the “Micromance Magazine Substack.”
You can read it here for free. By
the way, he also announced that the Mickey Finn: 21st Century Noir
annual anthology series will continue. He has a new publisher (no word if the
previous volumes will also be republished) and that once he has release dates
for the sixth and seventh books with the new folks, he will put the call out at
his website. http://www.CrimeFictionWriter.com
Authors John M. Floyd, Steve Liskow, Nick
Guthrie and several others appear in Black Cat Weekly #232. 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.
Nick Guthrie also announced that his
short story, The Youth of Today, appears online at the Urban Pigs Press. You
can read it for free here.
Fellow SMFS list member by Justin L. Murphy announced on the list that his true crime book, Ruth Snyder: The Real-Life Murderess Inspiring The Modern Femme Fatale. Available at Amazon in digital form, the book details the 1927 Ruth Snyder case. This is the fourth book in his True Crime series.
Author Kris Bock reached out recently to
me recently to let me know she had another book in her The Accidental
Detective Mystery Series about to come out. Something Prowling in
Paradise Park: A Kate Tessler Amateur Sleuth Mystery comes out on March
2nd in digital format from Thule Publishing. You can preorder it now
on Amazon and other vendors. Make sure you
come to the blog this Sunday as she is contributing a guest post featuring an excerpt
from the new book. Just as she has done for previous book in this series and
her other reads.
Author Tom Milani announced his short
story, Someday You Will, appears at The Yard: Crime Blog. You can read the tale
for free here.
The March/April issue of Alfred
Hitchock’s Mystery Magazine is now out. Authors Kevin Egan, R. T. Lawton,
and others, are in the new issue. Learn more at the website.
So, if AHMM is out, you already
know that the new issue for Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine is out. It
is and includes short stories by Ashley-Ruth M. Bernier, David Dean, John M.
Floyd, Robert Lopresti, Josh Pachter, Marilyn Todd, and others. Learn more at
the website.
Author Lois Winston announced that her
latest novel, Embroidered Lies and Alibis, is now out. This is
the 15th book in her long running Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery
Series. You can learn more about the mystery on her website or just go
straight to Amazon and get it in
various formats.
Until next time….
Kevin R. Tipple ©2026
Wednesday, February 11, 2026
Mystery Fanfare: VALENTINE'S DAY MYSTERIES. //VALENTINE'S DAY CRIME FICTION
Bitter Tea and Mystery: Short Story Wednesday: More Short Stories by the Lockridges
Jerry's House of Everything: SHORT STORY WEDNESDAY: NOBODY LIVES THERE NOW, NOTHING HAPPENS
Jim Nesbitt's Guest Post Review: The Poison Dart by Geri Dreiling
Please welcome back author Jim Nesbitt back to the blog today with his latest guest post review …
The
main character in Geri Dreiling's second mystery novel, The Poison Dart,
isn't a cop or a shamus so she doesn't carry a badge or a gun.
But
Debbie Bradley, an investigative reporter, uses some of the same sly, dogged,
bold, deceitful and sometimes illegal tricks a detective routinely pulls out of
their hat.
Her
lies are smooth and sweet. Her trespassing skills are stealthy and cat-burglar
quick. Her stake-out chops are tenacious and iron-bottom sound. And she's a
master at chasing the social media breadcrumbs that show the connects between
the subjects of her stories.
Best
of all, she takes the reader on a fast-paced ride-along as she shuffles through
her tradecraft tricks to discover the next tendril of an ever-more-dangerous
web of rich-kid heroin addicts, sleazy roadside deadbeats, redneck money mules,
cartel killers and a Mexican family shackled to a network of ruthless drug
traffickers.
Bradley,
known as Crime Beat Girl for her underworld stories in a slick city magazine
and the accompanying podcast that gives her a certain measure of fame, also
takes readers on a tour d'horizon of St. Louis and its satellite towns.
It's
a place where the top two questions everybody asks a stranger are: Where did
you go to high school? And, which parish do you belong to? Yeah, it's a
clannish town more than it is a city, very much focused on its storied past
rather than its threadbare present, and the author takes the perfect snapshots
that show its insular folkways.
There's
a great riff on a St. Louis institution, the Wednesday lunch at St. Raymond's,
the Maronite church just south of downtown that serves as the spiritual home
for the city's Lebanese and Syrian immigrants. It's still a place where deals
are made and pols, cops, mobsters and just plain folks rub elbows.
One
of Bradley's regular podcast guests is a retired cop still known as Captain
Jack Flannery, a renown raconteur who gives listeners -- and readers -- a fast,
colorful summary of the mob wars of the early 1980s between the Mafia, the
Syrian faction and a crew with connections to The Outfit in Chicago. More than
a few tit-for-tat car bombings.
But
this is a sideshow to the book's main event -- Bradley's initial intent to do a
story about rich kids hooked on heroin, centering on the overdose death of a
teen named Caleb Webb, the son of prominent real estate developers and twin
brother to Connor.
This
leads Bradley to Macie Holloway, Caleb's semi-girlfriend who blames herself for
his death because she believes the source of his last heroin hit was someone
she touted. Macie has the gaunt, doom-struck look of heroin addict deeply
depressed about Caleb's death and his constant, spectral presence as a ghost
whispering in her ear.
While
Bradley is worming her way into Macie's confidence, a big drugs-and-money raid takes
place out in the boonies west of St. Louis. At first, this seems like an event
only tangentially related to Caleb's death.
But
as Bradley pulls at the tendrils of this web, it becomes apparent that there's
a direct connection between Caleb's death and the cartel that got stung by the
raid and the murderous boss who runs it, El Duro.
Every
tendril is another step in harm's way. But Bradley is relentless, locked on the
trail of a suddenly far bigger story, refusing to back down, jazzed by the
thrill of the hunt. After all, she's the Crime Beat Girl, a nickname she lives
up to in this terrific novel by Geri Dreiling.
Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4akwzSn
Jim
Nesbitt ©2026
Jim Nesbitt is the award-winning author of five hard-boiled Texas crime thrillers that feature battered but dogged Dallas PI Ed Earl Burch. The fifth Ed Earl Burch novel, THE FATAL SAVING GRACE, has just been released. Nesbitt was a journalist for more than 30 years, serving as a reporter, editor and roving national correspondent for newspapers and wire services in Alabama, Florida, Texas, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Washington, D.C. He now lives in Athens, Alabama, where he is writing his sixth Ed Earl Burch novel, THE PERFECT TRAIN WRECK.
Tuesday, February 10, 2026
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Ossman and Steel’s Classic Household Guide to Appalachian Folk Healing
Mystery Fanfare: Murder at the Olympics: Crime Fiction set at the Olympics
Publication Day Review: Robert B. Parker’s Big Shot: A Jesse Stone Novel by Christopher Farnsworth
Paradise Police Chief Jesse Stone is on the night
shift as Robert B. Parker’s Big Shot: A Jesse Stone Novel begins
and he likes it. He really likes it. It is something he does from time to time
as they are an eleven member police department. There Is plenty of money in
Paradise, Massachusetts, so the sight of the McLaren sports car on its own is
not surprising. At the same time, summer is over and that means the summer
people are gone. So, it is something to look at as it is just parked at the
side of the road.
When Jesse looks closer he realizes the driver is passed
out in the car. Woken up by Jesse, he comes out of the car belligerent and very
intoxicated. Not only does he refuse to cooperate, he takes a swing at Jesse.
Before long, he is in cuffs and on his way to the jail.
It isn’t until late in the morning of the next day
that Molly informs him that he arrested and jailed a notorious celebrity. The
man is Ramsey Devlin. The same Ramsey Devlin that beat the federal fraud case,
moved out of NYC, and into a newly constructed mansion monstrosity in the area.
The same house that many of the neighbors complained to the police about as the
eyesore was being constructed even though the situation had nothing to do with
the police.
Like his client, his attorney, Gordon Wilkes, is
arrogant and aggressive. The attorney claims that the arrest is nothing more
than police harassment at the behest of the federal government. Neither he nor
his client see that Devlin was out of line. Instead, they plan to sue the
department into oblivion.
Unfortunately, that first incident is not the last.
All too soon, Jesse is accused of murder and gets another lesson regarding
actual friends.
Robert B. Parker’s Big Shot: A Jesse
Stone Novel by Christopher Farnsworth is a mighty
good read. As author Reed Farrel Coleman did with the series years ago across several
books, and as Mr. Farnsworth did in the last novel, Buried Secrets, he again
captures the voice and spirit of the series as written by Robert B. Parker. The
book comes alive for the reader. It only takes a handful of pages before that
the tale is from somebody other than the original author. He has every aspect
of those reads down and this new tale just flows for the reader.
Strongly Recommended.
Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/48ZTwtx
My digital ARC came by way of the publisher, G.P. Putnam's Sons, through NetGalley, and with no expectation of a positive review.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2026
Monday, February 09, 2026
In Reference to Murder: Media Murder for Monday
Aubrey Nye Hamilton Reviews: Best Offer Wins: A Novel by Marisa Kashino
Best Offer
Wins (Celadon Books, November 2025) by Marisa Kashino is Kashino’s debut
novel. She covered the Washington DC real estate market for the Washington
Post and the Washingtonian, and she knows what she’s talking about.
Margo Miyake
and her husband Ian have been house hunting in the Washington DC, suburbs for
18 months. No matter how much they offer, they lose to the well-heeled buyers
who can offer all cash and more of it than Margo and Ian can possibly hope to
finance. They have lost 11 listings in the DC real estate market war zone and
Margo is beginning to despair of ever leaving the cramped apartment they took
after they sold their DC row house. She wants desperately to start a family; at
the age of 37 her biological clock is ticking more loudly every day. But she
must have a home first in which to raise a family, so the house has become an
urgent priority.
When she hears
about a residence in an upscale Bethesda area before it goes on the market, she
and Ian go look at it, ostensibly just to check out the neighborhood. But Margo
can’t resist walking around the house to examine the back yard and to look in
the kitchen windows and she gets caught by one of the owners. She pretends that
she’s lost. Ian has driven away rather than be mortified by his wife who is
unashamedly trespassing.
Margo can’t
stop scheming how to convince the owners of the house to accept their offer
before they list the house on the MLS, despite the huge event her PR firm is
hosting in just a few days. Margo is responsible for a large part of the
details that will make the event stand out. If successful, their client will
put the firm on retainer, a giant PR plum. But she is busy plotting her next
real estate maneuver while she should be listening in meetings and taking
notes. Margo has a laserlike focus that guided missiles would envy.
Her next move
is to stalk the owner she met. She finds out where his yoga class is and “accidentally”
joins his class. Not just joins the class but sits next to him. Nothing subtle
about Margo. She goes from one embarrassing attempt to another without batting
an eye or paying the least bit of attention to her job. Or her husband. Her
ability to lie to her manager, her husband, and to her real estate agent is
awe-inspiring.
It is not
possible to say much more without giving away the entire story line. Suffice it
to say, this book is cringe-inducing, hilarious, and scary. It will strike fear
into the hearts of buyer’s agents everywhere. I can’t wait to see what Marisa
Kashino writes next.
·
Publisher: Celadon Books
·
Publication date: November 25, 2025
·
Language: English
·
Print length: 288 pages
·
ISBN-10: 1250400546
·
ISBN-13: 978-1250400543
Amazon
Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/3ZpuDDd
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 08, 2026
Little Big Crimes: The Summer Tournament, by Jason Starr
Beneath the Stains of Time: Death Below the Dam (1936) by Esther Fonseca
Review: A Study in Secrets: A Redacted Man Mystery by Jeffrey Siger
As A Study in Secrets: A Redacted Man Mystery
by Jeffrey Siger begins, Michael likes to sit in his penthouse window and
imagine the lives of the people he sees that pass by his home. The wealthy
recluse has a good perch as his townhouse faces an entrance to the neighborhood
park directly across the street. A former intelligence operative who gave a lot
to this country, physically, emotionally, and every other way possible, lives a
life of quiet isolation. He rarely goes out and has very limited social
contact. If it wasn’t for his housekeeper, Mrs. Baker, he might not speak to
another person for days.
He has many people to people watch from his perch as
he envisions their imaginary lives. He does not know their names, their
occupations, or anything else real about them. He watches them, the strays and
the regulars, and creates stories in his head of them and how they are going
about their day. That includes a regular, a young woman in her gray coat, who daily
sits on one of the park benches at the entrance to the park. She arrives
shortly before dawn each day, and once the sun is up, walks deeper inside the
park and becomes lost to his view.
While he imagines her life one way, her actual
reality is far different. She has a routine that she must follow, with no
exceptions. Her boss made that very clear on her first day. The same boss who
is soon very dead on the floor of the apartment she shares with two other
women.
Thanks to her boss being shot in the head, she now has
no job. She can’t stay there. She can’t go to the cops. She certainly can’t
tell anyone about her job. How much the roommates know about what she does, she
has no idea, but they can’t be trusted either. She has no money, no resources,
and no option other than to sleep on the bench at the edge of the park. It is
dangerous, but that park bench is the one place that she feels any safety at
all.
Fortunately, for her, Michael is awake and watching when
she goes to the bench and lies down to sleep. He has always been intrigued by
her. Haunted by those he failed to save, the elderly man is not going to let
her sleep there unprotected. He certainly can’t just walk over and bring her
home. With no other choice, as he sees it, he calls a person he has not spoken
to in decades to ask for help for her.
That action by Michael starts a domino chain of events
as the figure on the bench needs a lot of help. That help will come in many
different ways as the threat to her life evolves again and again.
Beyond the obvious references to the legendary
Sherlock Holmes, what struck my me most was how much this setup reminded me of
the original The Equalizer TV show. During the last half of the 80s, CBS
aired the drama. Edward Woodward was the dashing and sophisticated Robert
McCall. He was a former intelligence operative and a man of considerable means.
He was also your way out if you had no one else to help. All you had to do was
call him by way of his newspaper ad. Back then, it was must see viewing for my late
wife and me. It was also far and away superior to the rebooted version that CBS
came up with in recent years.
That premise seems to be at work here, as I read the
novel. Elderly man with a cane and plenty of money, a recluse who retired after
a long career in the intelligence services, disengaged from the world, is
pushed into a situation where he is compelled to help a very vulnerable young
woman. That push to help begins to break him free of the protective shell he
has created around himself. He gradually reengages with the world and the
people around him, one slow step at a time.
That decision to contact somebody he has not spoken
to in decades to get her help as she laid on the bench that cold night, starts
a chain that changes everything for quite a few people in this very enjoyable first
book of the new series. A solidly good read that gradually builds the tempo to
a very satisfying conclusion. A Study in Secrets: A Redacted Man Mystery
by Jeffrey Siger is well your time and attention.
For another perspective on the book, make sure you
read Lesa Holstine’s recent review here.
Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/3LPgXhO
My digital ARC came by way of the publisher, Severen
House, through NetGalley, with no expectation of a positive review.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2026
Saturday, February 07, 2026
KRL Update
Since the main KRL website is down right now, we are posting everything on KRL News and Reviews this week-
Up on KRL News and Reviews this week the latest Mystery Coming Attractions Valentine's Day Edition by Victoria Fair https://www.krlnews.com/2026/02/mystery-coming-attractions-february.html
And a review and giveaway of "Call In For Murder" (together with some other goodies) by Tammy Barker, along with an interesting interview with Tammy https://www.krlnews.com/2026/02/call-in-for-murder-by-tammy-barker.html
And a review and giveaway of "Gull and Bones" by Sally Goldenbaum https://www.krlnews.com/2026/02/gull-and-bones-by-sally-goldenbaum.html
And a review and giveaway of "A Grace Deception" by Connie Berry, https://www.krlnews.com/2026/02/a-grave-deception-by-connie-berry.html
And a review and giveaway of "Murder Plays Second Fiddle" by Heather Weidner https://www.krlnews.com/2026/02/murder-plays-second-fiddle-by-heather.html
And a review and giveaway of "Mayhem and Malice in Malta" by Victoria Tait https://www.krlnews.com/2026/02/mayhem-and-malice-in-malta-by-victoria.html
And another special midweek guest post, this one by mystery author Kristine Delano https://www.krlnews.com/2026/02/what-i-learned-about-storytelling-from.html
Happy Reading,
Lorie
SleuthSayers: The Long Walk
Bitter Tea and Mystery: Spin #43 for the Classics Club, February 2026
Scott's Take: The Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook by Matt Dinniman
The Dungeon
Anarchist’s Cookbook by Matt Dinniman is the third book in the Dungeon
Crawler Carl series and my least favorite of the series so far. I
got tired of the basic concept of the book before the end.
In this book,
Carl and friends are forced to fight underground in a series of tunnels,
subways, etc. And that’s the book. They flight underground in various locations
and conditions.
There is
intrigue from human crawlers, and world building, and a ton of action. The
human crawlers are finally working together. A lot of the supporting characters
get to come back here. There is humor and it is a fun read, but the concept
does not really need a five hundred plus page book. I just got tired of the
idea of the book before the author wounded it up. He had a lot of clever ideas
in this one, but it just did not work for me.
There is a map
that is added at one point that is supposed to help explain things. As maps go in a fantasy series, the one here is
pretty weak and not very good. I have seen way better. I did like how some of
the chapters had little illustrations on top.
There is a short
story included that continues the things happening backstage. One hopes at some
point that stuff will matter.
The next book
sounds way better. The Gate of the
Feral Gods where Carl and friends deal with a series of castles.
One of which is a floating fortress guarded by gnomes. A castle made of sand. A
robot guarded submarine. A haunted
crypt. Somehow, I guess all four count as castles.
Amazon Associate
Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4a9FiXs
My hardback reading
copy came from the Forest Green Branch of the Dallas Public Library System.
Scott A. Tipple ©2026
Friday, February 06, 2026
In Reference to Murder: Mystery Melange
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: A Child in the Forest by Winifred Foley
Jerry's House of Everything: FORGOTTEN BOOK: KILLERS ARE MY MEAT
Bitter Tea and Mystery: Books Read in January 2026
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.
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