Saturday, July 11, 2026
Jerry's House of Everything: MORTIFIED #10 (UNDATED)
Jerry's House of Everything: MORTIFIED #10 (UNDATED): Mortified is a continuing series from CNCC Classic Comics. On May 3, 2024 on this blog, I quoted the Comic Book Plus website: "CNCC ...
Scott's Take: This Inevitable Ruin by Matt Dinniman (Dungeon Crawler Carl Series)
This Inevitable Ruin
by Matt Dinniman is the seventh book in the Dungeon Crawler series.
Warlords Donut and Carl are leading the former Crawlers who have returned to
the Dungeon, alongside the remaining Crawlers, against the alien tyrants and
their mercenary forces. Luckly, they have allies in the NPC army, but they are
still vastly outnumbered. Can Donut and Carl beat thousands and thousands of
soldiers even with the help of the former crawlers? Can Donut and Katia find a
way to escape the curse of the Sepsis Whore?
This is action packed humor filled war tale with
Donut becoming a sniper. Yes, she even has her own little ghillie suit. The
main former Dungeon Crawlers are fully realized heroes of their own tales and
one could imagine them having their own separate series. Jamal the mechanical
shark (an NPC hero) is introduced and is given a giant flamethrower. I enjoyed
this character’s sense of humor immensely.
I really liked how the author explored the toll the war is having on
Donut and how the Crawlers band together to help Donut deal with the trauma she
goes through.
There is no shortage of villains in the tale and
plenty of high stakes. The third act gets incredibly weird. Even weirder than
the last book and I did not think that was possible.
The short story in the hardback highlights the
Shadow Mimics that have infiltrated the backstage of the Dungeon and their
plans.
The next book
in the series comes out May Twelfth and is titled, A Parade of Horribles. Donut, Carl,
and those who chose to remain are going to compete in a death race while the AI
continues to lose his mind.
As of right now, there are two more books planned, a
Peacock tv series in production, a graphic novel adaption which can be read for
free on webtoon, a separate graphic novel planned for next year that will
feature, Florin, the shotgun wielding human turned into a Crocodile. There is
also an increasing amount of merchandise such as shirts and other things. There
is also now a table top game. And, Libby signed a deal to be the exclusive home
of the eBooks for libraries. It is
rather amazing how this series has exploded in so many ways.
Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4nqN6uq
I read the eBook by way of the Libby/Overdrive App
in the Dallas Public Library System. While in the middle of the eBook, the
hardback showed up at my local branch as it had been transferred from the
Lakewood Branch. That allowed me to read the short story.
Scott A. Tipple ©2026
Friday, July 10, 2026
In Reference to Murder: Friday's Forgotten Books: The Yellow Turban
In Reference to Murder: Friday's Forgotten Books: The Yellow Turban: Charlotte Jay was the pen name of Australian mystery author Geraldine Halls (1919-1996). Her marriage to Albert Halls of UNESCO enabled her...
Mystery Fanfare: The Chelsea Detective News
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In Reference to Murder: Mystery Melange
In Reference to Murder: Mystery Melange: I missed this bit of news earlier, but the shortlist for the Bloody Scotland Debut Prize was announced. This year's finalists include: ...
Paula Messina Reviews: The Fireballer by Mark Stevens
Please welcome author Paula Messina back to the blog today…
The
Fireballer
by
Paula Messina
The Fireballer,
a novel by Mark Stevens, is the story of Baltimore Oriole rookie pitcher
Frank Ryder who can put the ball over the plate at more than 100 mph. Fueled by
Ryder’s gas, the hapless Orioles are at last truly in the pennant race. Ryder
is haunted by an accident his errant ball caused when he was twelve years old.
Ten years later, Ryder is a phenom, a pitcher who is untouchable.
He has achieved
his goal of playing in the majors, but he can’t relax and enjoy his success.
Ryder misses Maggie, his girlfriend, who is hundreds of miles away in school,
but if he’s willing, there are plenty of women lined up who are even more
willing. He has the sudden wealth that is heaped on athletes, so he can afford
a fancy condo with a fabulous view. But it’s icy, not a home. He’s been
convinced to wear expensive duds, but he feels like a fraud. Ryder is
recognized everywhere he goes, and he has no clue how to handle himself. He’s a
once-in-a-lifetime pitcher driven by his love for the game. All he wants to do
is throw strikes and win games.
And underlying
everything is that accident Frank Ryder cannot escape.
Fireballer
is about guilt and redemption. It is also about baseball, a big business that
eats its own.
Ryder’s pitching
prowess makes him a freak. His success makes the baseball union and the
commission decidedly uncomfortable. They want to ban those 105 mph pitches.
After all, how can the bigwigs watch baseball’s best hitters stand helplessly
at the plate while their batting averages wallow in the toilet. Not to mention
the possibility fans will become bored with all that Frank Ryder winning.
Before the union
and commission can impose a speed limit, Ryder’s teammate is beaned and out for
the rest of the season. The unwritten rule in baseball is that the pitcher
retaliates. Tit for tat. We lose one. You lose one. His teammates on the field,
in the dugout, and in the bullpen expect Ryder to do the right thing, seek
revenge. Only Ryder is having none of it. He shakes off his irate catcher’s
signals to bean the batter.
The next pitch has
a mind of its own and hits the batter in his torso. He’s down, definitely out,
and not moving.
Nobody believes it
was an accident. Ryder is suspended.
But far worse,
Ryder’s arm goes AWOL. He’s a pitching phenomenon who cannot pitch.
The reader roots
for Frank Ryder to overcome his past and find happiness because he is a normal
Joe, a good person overwhelmed by circumstances. His pitching is freakish. He
is not. We know Frank Ryder. He’s your next-door neighbor, the kid you went to
high school with, or your first cousin lucky enough to make it to the majors.
He’s normal in every way except when he picks up a baseball and steps onto the
mound.
Can Frank Ryder
revive his arm, or is he a flash in the pan whose time has already come and
gone?
At times, it’s painful to read Ryder’s story.
I mean this in the best way possible. His agony is so real, so visceral the
reader can’t help but be moved. Most of us never come close to that kind of
fame and success, but we all experience guilt and the need for redemption. We
know what it’s like to struggle to recapture a part of ourselves that was lost.
It’s man’s fate.
The novel’s tension dips when Ryder turns his energy to philanthropy by
visiting a school. This isn’t a surprise. Ryder’s humanity spends most of the
novel hovering around the edges waiting to surface, but Ryder and the students
struggle to communicate. The chapter would have benefited from a bit of
judicious pruning. It’s the pressure Ryder puts on himself and inflicted by the
Orioles staff, the union, and the baseball commission that fuels the novel. The
Orioles’ race for the American League Pennant and the biggest prize of all, the
World Series, keeps the reader turning pages. We want Frank Ryder to prevail
because he is one of us.
Despite the
philanthropy dip, the writing is solid. Stevens creates characters that readers
identify with and care about. He’s a master of description. Ryder’s twin
brother “broods on problems. Ryder only played chess with Josh if they used a
timer.”
Stevens lets the
reader hear the ball as it smacks into the pitcher’s glove and the sound of the
fans in the bleachers. “The crowd buzzes. It’s the hum of humanity. It’s
restlessness. It’s wonder. It’s 37,700 squirming fans who have agreed through
some sort of telepathic communion to react as one.”
Fireballer reminds us that baseball
once was America’s favorite pastime, and within its pages, Frank Ryder, is our
favorite player.
Mark Stevens, a Massachusetts native, lives in Colorado and writes The
Flynn Martin Thriller and The Allison Coil Mystery Series. In
2016 and 2023, Stevens was recognized as
the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers’ Writer of the Year. Stevens knows his
baseball, and he is a wise man. He does not like the designated hitter, neither
does Frank Ryder.
The Fireballer is a
grand slam that should be designated to the top of your to-be-read pile.
Amazon
Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4g4y1ct
Paula
Messina ©2026
Paula Messina writes the
Donatello Laguardia stories, which are set in Boston’s North End during the
1940s. They appeared in the Best New England Crime Stories 2024 and
2025 and another Donatello Laguardia short story is scheduled to
appear in Black Cat Weekly. She lives near America’s first public beach.
Thursday, July 09, 2026
Jerry's House of Everything: LUX RADIO THEATER: THE FALLEN SPARROW (FEBRUARY 14, 1944)
Jerry's House of Everything: LUX RADIO THEATER: THE FALLEN SPARROW (FEBRUARY ...: Robert Young, Maureen O'Hara, and Walter Slezak headline this radio dramatization of the 1943 film based on a novel by Dorothy B. Hughes...
Thursday Treats 7/9/2026
Some reading opportunities of interest this week.
Fellow SMFS list member John A. Tures announced that his short story, Keeping Secrets, was published in the Nat 1 Publishing Presents Gaslamp Pulp: Volume 5-- Summer 2026: Superhero Adventures. Published by Gaslamp Pulp and the literary nonprofit, Nat 1 Publishing, the read can be picked up at Amazon in both digital and print formats. I also remind you of his recent blog guest post appearance here.
Fellow
SMFS list member Cate Moyle announced
that her short story, The Secret Redcoat, was published online at Kings River
Life Magazine. Read the tale for free here.
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Fellow
SMFS list member Abe
Margel announced the publication of his short
story, Pay Phone, at The Literary Garage. You can read it for free here.
SMFS
list member Leigh Saunders announced that her short story, To Weave the Winds,
is in the recently published anthology, Sand and Storm: An Opal Kingdom
Press Anthology. Billed as the fifth book in their ExtraOrdinary Beasts
series of anthologies from Opal Kingdom Press, the read is
available from Amazon and other vendors.
Black
Cat Weekly #253 is now out. Among the various reads is
Michael
Bracken’s short story, The Tattooist, James
Patrick Focarile’s short story, Last Kiss, and the
cover short story, Pitchapalooza, by Robert Parker.
Mr. Parker’s story is also the latest in a long line of SMFS list members being
featured on the cover. You can pick up the latest issue here.
Also out now is Guilty Crime Story Magazine: Issue 017 - Summer 2026: The Detective Annual. Edited and published by fellow SMFS list member, Brandon Barrows, the issue includes short stories by Mr. Barrows and others. I am way behind on my reading, but I have enjoyed and reviewed previous issues. You can pick it up here.
Until next time….
Kevin R. Tipple ©2026
Wednesday, July 08, 2026
Doing the Unwelcome Eye Thing Again--Part Two
As an update to my post of yesterday, things are not good. It is a PVD (Posterior Vitreous Detachment).
The eye is also a freaking mess and required a bunch of extra tests.
The only good news at this point is that, so far, the retina has not torn. But, the doc thinks it is highly likely to tear. She can see the floater and it is one of the worst and biggest she has ever seen. The floater itself has blood clots in it. There are way more clots where the detachment line is. And there are at least two, maybe as many as five, blood clots free floating.
This is why I keep seeing a black dot, like a dead pixel on the tv, floating through. That is a blood clot. The floater is very black in the center of it and that is…blood clots. There is so much debris free floating in the eye, she had a very hard time making sure the retina was still intact.
Of course, she never saw me back in December 2024, when the left eye did this. So we have no idea if this is how my eyes do this deal OR this one now is way worse than what happened back then. I had several large floaters before. This time is seems to be one huge planet destroying space alien warship thingy, so why knows?
I am to come back three weeks from tomorrow so they can rescan everything. They had to do a bunch of extra tests yesterday to establish my baseline and it took over two hours from start to exhausting finish. My hope is that some of those tests won't be necessary this next time.
If anything changes, no matter how minor, I am under strict instructions to call in and they will juggle patients to get me in as an emergency. Apparently the tear normally happens during REM sleep so I should not be surprised if it happens and I wake up to being way worse off.
So, there you have it. My right eye is a mess. I can't read books. I bumped up the type here on the laptop and my old Kindle so I can still read some. But, if the floater hits just right, it can block out an entire sentence or four or five words. Watching TV means I can lose an actor's face or entire body. the damn floater is my own personal eye eclipse that is blocking out a lot. Annoying as holy hell.
And the car may or may not be having issues. I had a hard time driving yesterday to the doc and a way harder time coming home as I was heavily dilated and the sunshine with the throw away glasses they give you was still blinding. I kept having issues working the gas and the brakes for some reason so it may be just that and nothing actually wrong with the car.
The same thing happened on Monday a little bit when we hit the store and the library, and I know that was me and the shape I am in, so hopefully that was all it was yesterday. Just another thing to worry about.
And none of this is an expensive I need as big bills are due and Scott is home due to a lack of work and that means he isn't earning a thing. Just like his dad.
Mystery Fanfare: Macavity Award Nominations 2026
Mystery Fanfare: Macavity Award Nominations 2026: Macavity Award Nominations 2026 (for works published in 2025) The Macavity Award is named after Macavity: The Mystery Cat , in ...
The Short Mystery Fiction Society Blog: Make Mine Mystery: Great Recent Reads For Fans of ...
The Short Mystery Fiction Society Blog: Make Mine Mystery: Great Recent Reads For Fans of ...: Hard to believe we're halfway through 2026 already! As we round the bend into the second half of the year, the crime and mystery thrills...
Jerry's House of Everything: SHORT STORY WEDNESDAY: BLACK STUFF
Jerry's House of Everything: SHORT STORY WEDNESDAY: BLACK STUFF: "Black Stuff" by Ken Bruen (from Dublin Noir , edited by Ken Bruen, 2006) The world lost one of its greatest hardboiled and noi...
Tuesday, July 07, 2026
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Sex and Death on the Beach: A Florida Beach Mystery by Elaine Viets
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Sex and Death on the Beach: A Florida Beach Myster...: Reviewed by Jeanne The Florodora is a very exclusive apartment complex in Peerless Point, Florida. You can’t just buy your way in, or ...
Publication Day Review: River Deep: A Bitterfrost Thriller by Bryan Gruley
River Deep: A Bitterfrost
Thriller
by Bryan Gruley takes readers back to the town of Bitterfrost on the shore of
Lake Michigan. Like the first book of the series, Bitterfrost,
this new book is also marketed as a “thriller.” This reader would label it a “mystery.”
Regardless of label, this second book in the series lives up to the very good
first read in every aspect.
Before going further, I am being very careful
not to reveal background details here that tie into that first book. Like in his
other series, this second book should be read after reading the first book. Some
storylines continue, characters develop,
things have happened because of the first book, etc. Read in order.
There are repercussions and unfinished business
from the first book as River Deep begins. The glory of hockey is
back in this read as is another major trial. Devyn Payne has returned full
time, at least for now, to her roots. A former criminal defense lawyer, she has
her reasons for coming home, and going to work as a prosecutor. It was supposed
to make her life easier.
So much for that idea. Tragedy has again
struck. She is standing on a dark and cold riverbank watching late one night as
a crane pulls a SUV from the frigid river waters. The river, the Jako, leads
into Lake Michigan. It has taken two lives this night—twin boys that will not
see their first birthday.
That cold river water barely released
the parents back to dry ground. Catriona Delaney is on a medical helicopter
headed to Grand Rapids. The father, Sammy Hardt, fared better in the crash into
the river, and is in decent shape, all things considered. He apparently got
Catriona out. Unfortunately, he was unable to save the kids.
As the police begin the crash investigation,
the case is led by Detective Garth Klimmeck. A year older and that much closer
to retirement, he is eyeballing the increasing need for a hip replacement, and other
things. Local politics played a major role in the case last year. He is fully
aware that with the people involved, local
politics will definitely play a role in this situation, no matter what he
uncovers.
It certainly does, but politics and familial
history is not even half of it. Much is going on here. Before long, there is a full-scale
murder trial with twist after twist. Much like real life, this fictional world
is full of chaos, grief, and unpredictability.
As previously noted, the events of the
first book, Bitterfrost, play a significant role in this read. I
strongly recommend reading this very good series in order. The author continues
to develop a complicated world which gives this reader hope that the series
will continue. A mighty good read and very much well worth your time, as are
his other books.
Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4dRFnCw
My digital ARC reading copy came from
the publisher, Severn House, through NetGalley, with no expectation of a
positive review.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2026
Monday, July 06, 2026
Doing the Unwelcome Eye Thing Again
It has happened again. Saw a flash, maybe three, in the corner of my right eye Saturday evening. We were outside doing the evening walk to the corner and back, so I did not think anything about it. Saw the massive floater yesterday and the tissue paper effect. Thought it had been this same eye before. Had a day of sheer panic that has stretched into today as my eye doc seems to be closed, at least for now, and the retina specialist place he told me call if anything ever happened will not see me without doctor notes.
So, they decided to send me to an eye doctor next door, and after some discussion with the very nice scheduler who wanted me to wait two plus weeks as a new patient, I go in early afternoon tomorrow for an exam.
Finally remembered I had blogged about this before. Read this and then figured out that it was the LEFT last time and now it is the RIGHT. SO NOT THE SAME FREAKING EYE, AFTER ALL.
Panic Level Alert dialed down to a 7 as it was diagnosed as a posterior vitreous detachment before and was told it would most likely happen again with the other eye. Once you do it in one, it is a virtual guarantee. As long as the retina has not also detached, I should be fine after an annoying few weeks of the giant floater with the tissue paper effect.
So, if you will, keep a good thought as I deal with this tomorrow. Please and thank you.
In Reference to Murder: Media Murder for Monday
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Little Big Crimes: Three Billy Goats Gruff, by Michael Bracken
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Aubrey Nye Hamilton Reviews: The Haul: A Heist Novel by Gary Phillips
Los Angeles
native Gary Phillips has been called the hardest-working man in crime
fiction. He has written novels, comics, novellas, and short stories. He’s been
a contributing columnist to the Los Angeles Times, LA Watts Times,
Rap Pages, the San Francisco Examiner, CrimeReads, and Black
Scholar. He edited the Anthony-winning anthology The Obama Inheritance:
Fifteen Stories of Conspiracy Noir. Almost thirty years after its
publication, his debut, Violent Spring (West Coast Crime, 1994), his
first book about PI Ivan Monk set in the aftermath of the 1992 riots, was named
one of the essential crime novels of Los Angeles. He was also a writer and
co-producer on Snowfall, a show that streamed on Hulu for 60
episodes. Taking place mostly in the 1980s, it describes the first crack
epidemic in Los Angeles and its impact, particularly in South Central where Phillips
grew up.
Phillips
generally takes his readers to Los Angeles in mid to late 20th
century with its uncontrolled growth and social upheaval. I can always count on
seeing references to the LA music scene, some of the performers who made the
national stage I recognize but others are unknown to me because they remained
local gems. Some of the same places and events emerge often in his work, which
reminds me of the fiction of Rabbi Chaim Potok whose Depression-era childhood consistently
appears in his early novels.
In The
Haul (Soho, July 2026), the newest book from Phillips, O’Conner, the
professional thief who first appeared in The Warlord of Willow Ridge (Dafina
Books, 2012) is back, settled into a quiet middle-class life with Gwen who
knows his criminal past and doesn’t particularly object. He thinks he’s retired
and then someone asks him to plan the theft of several million dollars from an
unscrupulous tech bro who can spare it. In his methodical planning and
scheduling O’Conner reminded me of mercenary Cat Shannon as he prepared to take
over a third-world country in The Dogs of War (Hutchinson & Co., 1974)
by Frederick Forsyth.
With
flashbacks to O’Conner’s childhood on the streets of LA, it’s easy to see how
the adult O’Conner took shape. Of course plenty of mentions of LA night clubs
and jazz performers sprinkled throughout the pages. There’s even a quick, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it
reference to Harry Ingram from One-Shot Harry, Phillips’ historical
crime story published in 2022 and its sequel Ash Dark as Night, (Soho,
2024).
In the
afterword Phillips gives credit to Donald Westlake and Westlake’s professional
thief Parker for the inspiration for this suspense-filled takedown of an
apparently impenetrable facility with a sizable payday at the end. I always
loved the Parker books so of course I enjoyed this one.
A Los Angeles Times Best Summer Read and a
starred review from Publishers Weekly.
·
Publisher: Soho Crime
·
Publication date: July 14, 2026
·
Language: English
·
Print length: 304 pages
·
ISBN-10: 164129664X
·
ISBN-13: 978-1641296649
Amazon
Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4eIKzZJ
Aubrey Nye
Hamilton ©2026
Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal It projects by day and reads mysteries at night.
Sunday, July 05, 2026
Review: Beach Blonde Betrayal: A Florida Beach Mystery by Elaine Viets
This book comes out this Tuesday….
Having previously read the first book of
this series, Sex and Death on the Beach, I happily requested Beach
Blonde Betrayal when it appeared on NetGalley. As the publisher, Severn
House, has had me preapproved for anything in their vast catalog for years now,
I was quickly able to download the book and start reading. There is less sex on
the beach, but a lot more murder in this installment of The Florida Beach
Mysteries.
Nora McCarthy, a native Floridian, owns
and operates, “The Florodora” in Peerless Point. The classic apartment building
sits on the beach approximately at the midpoint between Fort Lauderdale and
Miami, Florida. Her tenants, beyond her boyfriend Dean who has law enforcement experience
and is now in exile in Witness Protection for very good reason, are people who
honor the idea of the Florida Man/Woman you see in news reports. But, they do
it in good ways by being eccentric, colorful, trusting of others, and bastions
of the South Florida culture and style. They are all fun, eccentric, and play a
major role in keeping the building alive and vibrant.
Because of the way they are, they could
be a bit more susceptible to romance scams than the average person. It is also
way easier for the police, in a separate storyline, to suspect one of their own
as the culprit behind a string of murders of blonde women found dead on the
beach. Both are in play in this complicated mystery that also features a separate
murder just outside the four story Florodora apartment building as well.
Fortunately, Norah has a knack for investigation
and Dean is present to assist with his law enforcement investigative skills. As
they deal with new issues in their personal relationship and hurt feelings,
they unite to help their fellow friends in the building. A building where the
people think of themselves as family and have their own interrelationship
issues. Things get complicated and don’t always work out as planned, but like
life itself, this is how it plays out.
The result is an entertaining mystery full of a cast of characters and constant twists and turns. While it is always preferable to have read the first book of a series first, one could easily read Beach Blonde Betrayal: A Florida Beach Mystery first as spoilers for the previous book are minimal. It is also a solidly good cozy style mystery and a lot of fun.
Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4oveckC
As previously noted, my digital ARC came
from the publisher, Severn House, through NetGalley, with no expectation of a positive
review.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2026
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