Wednesday, January 31, 2018

Jungle Red Writers: Behind the scenes in the SPAM garden...

Jungle Red Writers: Behind the scenes in the SPAM garden...: HALLIE EPHRON: Each day, I go into Blogger (the software the brings you the Jungle Red Writers) and check the comments, looking for spam. S...

Author Terry Shames Hits The Road in Febraury

While this is her current list featuring places everywhere, I am most excited about her Dallas stop at INTERBANG BOOKS over on Preston Road. Brand new place that I have never been. So, hopefully, if things work out right, I will get to check the place out AND meet Terry on the nineth. By the way, this would also mean you too might experience Tipple After Dark.

FEBRUARY 2018 EVENTS
 

2.2 - Tucson, AZ  @ Clues Unlimited || 5:30 PM
2.3 - Scottsdale, AZ @ Poisoned Pen Books || 2:00 pm - with Shannon Baker
2.4 - Austin, TX @ BookPeople (for Lone Star Lawless Anthology) || 5:00 PM
2.5 - Austin, TX @ BookPeople || 7PM - with James Ziskin and Laura Oles
2.8 - Houston, TX @ Murder by the Book with James Ziskin || 6:30 PM
2.9 - Dallas @ Interabang Books || 7:00 PM
2.16 - St. Petersburg, FL @ Books at Park Place || 6:00 PM
2.23 - Davis, CA @ Avid Reader Bookstore || 7:30 PM



Only days left to win books by Barbara Ross, Clover Tate, EJ Copperman, Sandra Balzo & much more from KRL

Only days left to win a copy of "Live and Let Fly" a fun kite mystery by
Clover Tate aka Angela M. Sanders, along with a fun kite related guest post
by Clover http://kingsriverlife.com/01/27/live-and-let-fly-by-clover-tate/

And to win copies of 2 more fun mysteries for your winter
reading-"Unnatural Causes" by Dawn Eastman & "Stowed Away" by Barbara Ross
http://kingsriverlife.com/01/27/pair-winter-mystery-reading/

Also to win copies of 2 fun mysteries-one history related and the other cat
related-"Historically Dead": A Stitch in Time Mystery by Greta McKennan &
"The Trouble with Murder": A Gourmet Cat Mystery by Kathy Krevat
http://kingsriverlife.com/01/27/history-cat-mysteries/

And to win a copy of "Curses, Boiled Again!" by Shari Randall when you
check out the latest mystery Coming Attractions
http://kingsriverlife.com/01/27/february-coming-attractions-the-candy-box-edition/

Also to win a copy of "Grand Lac" by Carl Brookins
http://kingsriverlife.com/01/27/grand-lac-by-carl-brookins/

And on KRL News & Reviews only days left to win a copy of "The Hostess with
the Ghostess" by E.j. Copperman
http://www.krlnews.com/2018/01/the-hostess-with-ghostess-by-ej-copperman.html

And to win an EBOOK copy of "The Importance of Being Urnest" by Sandra Balzo
http://www.krlnews.com/2018/01/the-importance-of-being-urnest-by-sandra-balzo.html

Happy reading!
Lorie

Mystery Fanfare: Murder at the Super Bowl & Other Football Crime Fi...

Mystery Fanfare: Murder at the Super Bowl & Other Football Crime Fi...: Lots of real crime surrounding the Super Bowl : drugs, money, egos, etc. Fodder for the crime writer . So in 'honor' o...

A Writer's Life....Caroline Clemmons: NEW RELEASE, NEW CONTEST!

A Writer's Life....Caroline Clemmons: NEW RELEASE, NEW CONTEST!: I’m excited to announce that DANIEL McCLINTOCK is now available for preorder and will be released on Valentine’s Day. Preorder your copy n...

Tuesday, January 30, 2018

Gravetapping: FALLOUT by Kevin J. Anderson and Doug Beason

Gravetapping: FALLOUT by Kevin J. Anderson and Doug Beason: Fallout (1997) is Kevin J. Anderson’s and Doug Beason’s second science fiction thriller, mixing the science of the 1990s and mystery, s...

Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng: Reviewed by Kristin Secrets lie beneath the peaceful orderliness of Shaker Heights, Ohio, a planned community where there ...

TEXAS BOOK LOVER: Monday Roundup: TEXAS LITERARY CALENDAR 1/29-2/4

TEXAS BOOK LOVER: Monday Roundup: TEXAS LITERARY CALENDAR 1/29-2/4: Bookish goings-on in Texas for the week of January 29-February 4, 2018:  Special Events: FronteraFest 2018 , Austin, January 16-February 1...

The Short Mystery Fiction Society Blog: 2018 Derringer Awards Update - January 28

The Short Mystery Fiction Society Blog: 2018 Derringer Awards Update - January 28: Originally posted to Shortmystery January 28, 2018, 11:59 p.m. EST, by Derringer Awards Coordinator Jay Hartman: Hi, everyone! Below is...

Monday, January 29, 2018

Aubrey Hamilton Reviews: Tahoe Blowup by Todd Borg

Tahoe Blowup by Todd Borg (Thriller Press, 2001) is the second of his series about private investigator Owen McKenna. The local fire department hires Owen to find the arsonist who is setting fires in the tinder-dry forests around Lake Tahoe. Anonymous letters are arriving that describe the scope and size of each fire, claiming they are being set because of crimes against the environment. The first one comes far too close to Owen’s cabin and he is understandably taking a great deal of personal interest in finding the firebug. He uses his huge harlequin Great Dane and a trained search-and-rescue dog to look for traces of the person who set the fires. They find instead a body, which may be the arsonist caught in his own fire. Identifying the victim took some time, and in the meanwhile, more fires are set.

I am always intrigued with books that teach me something along with giving me a good story to read. In this volume discussions with the fire department chief and the Forest Service staff give Borg the opportunity to trot out some facts about forest fires. I did not know that forest fires travel up a mountain, not down.  Crown fires that involve the tops of trees are more dangerous than fires on the ground. The use of fire suppression as opposed to controlled burns is a long-running point of contention among environmentalists, the Fire Service, and others who have a vested interest in forests. Both sides of the argument are thoroughly aired here.

I like this animal-loving private investigator whom I discovered last year, when I read that Borg is this year’s toastmaster at Left Coast Crime. I find authors who like a city or area so much they create a fictional universe in it appealing. Think of Les Roberts and Cleveland, Kathleen George and Pittsburgh, Philip R. Craig and Martha’s Vineyard. Borg makes the mountains and the forests around Lake Tahoe sound immensely attractive as a year-round residential site, not just a vacation resort.

It’s always good news to find another series, and it looks like there are a dozen or so more in this one that I have yet to read. These books have won the Ben Franklin Award for Best Mystery of the Year, made Library Journal's Top 5 Mysteries of the Year list, and found their way onto Amazon's Mystery/Thriller and Private Investigator Bestseller Lists multiple times. Strong recommendations!


·         Paperback: 320 pages
·         Publisher: Thriller Press (September 1, 2001)
·         Language: English
·         ISBN-10: 193129612X
·         ISBN-13: 978-1931296120


Aubrey Hamilton © 2018
  
Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal IT projects by day and reads mysteries at night.

Sunday, January 28, 2018

KRL This Week Update for 1/27/18

Up in KRL this morning a review & giveaway of "Live and Let Fly" a fun kite mystery by Clover Tate aka Angela M. Sanders, along with a fun kite related guest post by Clover http://kingsriverlife.com/01/27/live-and-let-fly-by-clover-tate/

Also reviews & giveaways of 2 more fun mysteries for your winter reading-"Unnatural Causes" by Dawn Eastman & "Stowed Away" by Barbara Ross http://kingsriverlife.com/01/27/pair-winter-mystery-reading/

And we have reviews & EBOOK giveaways of 2 fun mysteries-one history related and the other cat related-"Historically Dead": A Stitch in Time Mystery by Greta McKennan & "The Trouble with Murder": A Gourmet Cat Mystery by Kathy Krevat http://kingsriverlife.com/01/27/history-cat-mysteries/

We also have the latest mystery Coming Attractions from Sunny Frazier, along with the chance to win a copy of "Curses, Boiled Again!" by Shari Randall http://kingsriverlife.com/01/27/february-coming-attractions-the-candy-box-edition/


We also have a review & giveaway of "Grand Lac" by Carl Brookins http://kingsriverlife.com/01/27/grand-lac-by-carl-brookins/

And on KRL News & Reviews a review & giveaway of "The Hostess with the Ghostess" by E.j.. Copperman http://www.krlnews.com/2018/01/the-hostess-with-ghostess-by-ej-copperman.html

And a review & giveaway of "The Importance of Being Urnest" by Sandra Balzo http://www.krlnews.com/2018/01/the-importance-of-being-urnest-by-sandra-balzo.html
Happy reading,
Lorie


--
KRL is now selling advertising & we have special discounts for
mystery authors & bookstores! Ask me about it!
Mystery section in Kings River Life http://KingsRiverLife.com
Check out my own blog at http://mysteryratscloset.blogspot.com/

Saturday, January 27, 2018

Review: A Reckoning In The Back Country: A Samuel Craddock Mystery by Terry Shames

As it approaches Thanksgiving in Jarrett Creek, Texas located about 30 miles west of Bryan in South Texas, something strange is going on. Dogs of various types are vanishing from the property of various residents. What seemed to be an isolated event here and there seems to be adding up to several cases. Police Chief Samuel Craddock assumed, as did most folks at first, that the dogs had just run off. Now he thinks a person or persons unknown might be taking the dogs. Whether they are being taken as bait to train dogs for dog fighting, to be sold for medical experimentation, or some other situation does not bode well for the missing dogs and Chief Craddock is looking into the matter.


Though there is a far more pressing issue that has to be dealt with first. Thanks to Loretta and her morning delivery of cinnamon rolls, something that Craddock looks forward to though it does not happen nearly as often as it used to, he knows that Doctor Lewis Wilkins is missing. He and his wife, Margaret, live out on the far side of the lake. The local grapevine reports, via Loretta, that his wife has been calling around to various folks they know to see if they know where her husband is as he didn’t make it home the previous night. 

It is not long before the wife, Margaret Wilkins, calls Chief Craddock who heads over to her home. Her house is over on the west side of the lake. Craddock realizes on his arrival that the house has a troubled history. So too do the Wilkins. It isn’t long before the reason he never made it home becomes obvious and the talk of the town. H

A Reckoning In The Back Country by Terry Shames is the seventh book in the series and another excellent read from start to finish. Author Terry Shames brings the world of Jarret Creek alive in the reader’s imagination from the first paragraph. Unlike many series, the characters major and minor, evolve over time as hopefully those of us in the real world do. Theoretically at least, here in the real world, one should learn from mistakes on the past. That same concept is present in this series and makes the characters all the more real to the reader.

Rich and varied dialogue, intriguing and complicated characters, and multiple mysteries are always present in this series and are again at work in A Reckoning In The Back Country. While it would be best to read them in order starting with A Killing At Cotton Hill one could start here. Or almost as easily start with the most recently published book before this one, An Unsettling Crime For Samuel Craddock, as it is a prequel to the series.

No matter where you start, this is an excellent series well worth your time and highly recommended.

For another perspective on the book make sure you check out Lesa Holstine’s review from earlier this month.


The series in order of publication and review:






A Reckoning In The Back Country: A Samuel Craddock Mystery
Terry Shames
Seventh Street Books
January 2018
ISBN# 978-1-63388-367-3
Paperback (also available in eBook format)
283 Pages
$15.95


Material supplied by the Dallas Public Library System.



Kevin R. Tipple ©2018

Friday, January 26, 2018

Lesa's Latest Contest-- Giveaway - Mysteries set in Europe

This week, I'm giving away ARCs of a couple mysteries set in Europe - Lisa
Alber's Path into Darkness (Ireland) and Ashley Weaver's A Most Novel
Revenge (England). Details on my blog at
http://www.lesasbookcritiques.blogspot.com. Entries from the U.S. only,
please.


Gravetapping: Down & Out: The Magazine, Vol 1, Iss 2

Gravetapping: Down & Out: The Magazine, Vol 1, Iss 2: 2017 was a pretty decent year for my fiction writing. I had two short novels published, Blaze! Red Rock Rampage (February) and Blaze! Spani...

FFB Review: THE CASE OF THE SLEEPWALKER’S NIECE (1936) by Erle Stanley Gardner (Reviewed by Barry Ergang)

After taking last week off for obvious reasons and thank you for all your thoughts, prayers, condolences, and messages, FFB returns today with another all new review from Barry Ergang. This week he considers a piece of the Perry mason canon. After you read Barry’s review, head over to Todd Mason's blog for other reading suggestions


THE CASE OF THE SLEEPWALKER’S NIECE (1936) by Erle Stanley Gardner

Reviewed by Barry Ergang


Before I ever read my first Perry Mason novel, I was familiar with the character from the TV series and from advertisements for The Detective Book Club on the back covers of some of the mystery magazines my father read.

There was a neighborhood sundries store my father, brother and I would occasionally go to after dinner a couple times a week if the weather were conducive, where we’d buy ice cream and/or candy, and where my father would purchase a paperback or two and I’d pick up some comic books. (I don’t recall what my brother bought.) As I mentioned in my review of a modern Hardy Boys book, Secret of the Red Arrow, I had begun at age 11 to read mystery fiction aimed at adults. So one evening at the aforementioned store, at the age of 12, I noticed a paperback copy of Erle Stanley Gardner’s The Case of the Vagabond Virgin and handed it to my father to pay for. Thus began my Perry Mason obsession, which resulted in my reading another dozen titles one after the other. It was a good lesson about the pitfalls of binge-reading a particular author and series, because I became so oversaturated with Gardner’s style and approach in the Mason novels that it was years before I could read another one.

Eventually I read quite a few more--spreading them out over time. When I recently came upon an electronic copy of The Case of the Sleepwalker’s Niece, I realized that it had been at least 20 years, probably more, since I’d read a Perry Mason mystery, so I decided to reestablish my acquaintance.
The eighth title in the series, it begins when Mason is hired by Edna Hammer to speed up the divorce of her wealthy uncle, Peter Kent. His estranged wife Doris has suddenly tried to demonstrate a kind of renewed affection for Kent, who wants the divorce so he can marry Lucille Mays. Because Kent once picked up a butcher knife while sleepwalking, Doris was certain he wanted to kill her.

Adding to the story’s complications are the presences in the Kent mansion of, among others, Kent’s shady business partner, Frank Maddox; Maddox’s pettifogging lawyer, John Duncan; Philip Rease, Kent’s hypochondriacal half-brother; Gerald Harris, Edna’s fiancé; and Helen Warrington, Kent’s secretary.

When sometime around midnight--or was it later in the morning?--a figure is seen walking across a patio toward another entrance to the house where people are sleeping, and said figure appears to be holding a knife, and still later someone is found dead in bed, having been stabbed to death, the most likely suspect, and the party arrested, is Mason’s client. The questions confronting the lawyer: was Kent actually sleepwalking, was he pretending somnambulism to commit a murder, or was he framed by someone else? And if he was actually walking in his sleep, how to prove it.

Anyone with even a passing familiarity with Perry Mason knows the answer to some of those questions. I’m not going to answer them lest I spoil some of the book’s surprises, of which there are several. Having said so, I must also admit I found this one to be among the weaker entries in this classic series. Erle Stanley Gardner’s style in the Mason novels relies on lean narrative and an extensive use of dialogue to move the story along. But in The Case of the Sleepwalker’s Niece, there is too much talk and not enough action. It isn’t until Mason finally gets into the courtroom that the pace quickens a bit.

If you’re a Mason fan and have missed this one, you might want to read it for the sake of completeness. If you aren’t a completist, pass on it in favor of better entries in the series.


© 2018 Barry Ergang

Some of Derringer Award winner Barry Ergang’s work can be found at Amazon and Smashwords.

Thursday, January 25, 2018

Upcoming Reviews


Been outside working on reviews today....






Publishing... and Other Forms of Insanity Blog: 8 Writing Conferences in February 2018

8 Writing Conferences in February 2018: February is brutal little month punctuated by a groundhog, chocolates, and valentines. Winter is still with us, but by now the snow has lo...

A Writer's Life....Caroline Clemmons: SAVING MADELINE

A Writer's Life....Caroline Clemmons: SAVING MADELINE: Women’s Fiction Date Published:  May 2017 On Sale for $1.99 for a Limited Time!! SAVING MADELIN...

Review: Mexico Fever: A Bill Travis Mystery by George Wier


It has been awhile since the events of Desperate Crimes and as Mexico Fever opens it is not long before the peace and quiet of Bill Travis’ world is broken. Walt Cannon is missing somewhere in Mexico. He’s a retired Texas Ranger and saved a few folks over the years including a Governor of Texas, Richard Sawyer, and our family man and reluctant hero, Bill Travis. While Sawyer has been out of his office for the last 4 years, he wants to see Bill Travis at his home down in River Oaks in Houston. When a Governor of Texas asks to see you, you go see him.

Governor Sawyer may be dying and a shadow of his former self, but his mind is still sharp. He knows that their mutual friend, Walt Cannon, is missing down in the state of Yucatan in Mexico. He even knowns exactly where Cannon was conducting business before he vanished. Governor Sawyer should know as he sent Cannon down there to track down and deal with a former religious leader that these days is arming rebels and seeking to overthrow the Mexican government. Some of his followers acting on his behalf executed a family on the Texas side of the border near Eagle Pass and Sawyer wanted Cannon to get him.

It was over two months ago that Cannon went down there chasing the elusive figure known as “Sunlight” and he has not been heard from since. Sawyer wants Travis to go down after Cannon and get him back home where he belongs. The last personal request of a dying man who feels responsible would be difficult to refuse as it is, but Travis also owes Cannon so going is never the question.  A debt has come due.

Explaining it to Julie and leaving her and the kids behind is going to be hard. Dealing with looking for Cannon, the local politics, a guerrilla movement, and more in Mexico Fever is going to be very hard.

Mexico Fever is the twelfth in the Bill Travis Mystery Series that began many years ago in The Last Call. While the family continues to grow and long running characters continue to evolve in the series, the hallmarks of action and adventure are as strong as ever in this read. Also present are the frequent and often humorous observations about Texas, Texans, the weather, and the human race in general.

While the series began with The Last Call and readers that have been onboard since the beginning will get more out of this read, those folks new to the world of Bill Travis could easily start here. There are references to several earlier events as we play catch up with folks we have seen before, but those references would not destroy earlier reads in the series. As always there is a hint of pulp adventure to the read. Events and actions slide dangerously close to the edge and may push the ability to suspend disbelief for some readers.

That same thing could be said about almost of the books in this fun and engrossing series. Those readers who want everything to be totally logical and realistic might find Mexico Fever a bit of a challenge since the author does not play by those rules. This read is another engrossing tale in a long rail of great reads by prolific author George Weir. 


Mexico Fever: A Bill Travis Mystery
George Wier
Flagstone Books
May 2016
ASIN: B01FYEU48E
eBook (paperback available)
160 Pages
$4.99

According to Amazon, I picked this up back last August to read and review. I believe I did it by way of the Author’s free read promotion.


Kevin R. Tipple ©2018

Wednesday, January 24, 2018

Nasty. Brutish. Short.: "Remembering Tally" by John M. Floyd

Nasty. Brutish. Short.: "Remembering Tally" by John M. Floyd: Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine , January-February 2009, p. 102–109 At what his campaign calls their "blue-collar" offic...

TEXAS BOOK LOVER: Review: INTO THE BLACK NOWHERE by Meg Gardiner

TEXAS BOOK LOVER: Review: INTO THE BLACK NOWHERE by Meg Gardiner: I reviewed Into the Black Nowhere: An UNSUB Novel  (Dutton, Penguin Random House) by Austin's Meg Gardiner for Lone Star Literary Life...

FROM DUNDEE'S DESK: Noteworthy Reads: ANSWER DEATH (a Dan Spalding mys...

FROM DUNDEE'S DESK: Noteworthy Reads: ANSWER DEATH (a Dan Spalding mys...: I've written here many times about the work of Spur Award-winning author Richard Prosch. Most of that has been to herald his work in ...

Guest Post: Jeanne and Treadmill Books: The Clock Shop Mysteries by Julianne Holmes

Back last May, Jeanne of the Bookblog of the Bristol Library started something new with her Treadmill Books Review. Proving that she is far more coordinated on a treadmill than I ever was (very glad there are not videos of the spills I took back in the day), these are books that she reads while on the treadmill. Such books have to fit her criteria of “… A book has to be entertaining without being too demanding. If I’d rather walk than read, that is not a good book. On the other hand, if the book is so enjoyable that I end up walking extra steps just so I can read another chapter, then that is a fine book indeed.” This week she considers The Clock Shop Mysteries by Julianne Holmes.


Treadmill Books:  The Clock Shop Mysteries by Julianne Holmes

Ruth Clagan’s world is in disarray.  Her marriage has fallen apart. Her plans to end the estrangement with her beloved grandfather are derailed when she learns he has died unexpectedly, but he has left her his clock shop, The Cog and Sprocket. Ruth is uncertain how her step-grandmother will take the news of the bequest.

To make matters worse, it appears her grandfather’s death might have been murder.

So begins Just Killing Time, the first in the Clock Shop Mystery series.  I have to say the first book hooked me.  I liked that Ruth has a true passion for clocks that shines through the pages, and that she is a well-rounded character with a mature outlook.  She isn’t one of those weepy girls (and I do mean girls, no matter what their alleged age) who wallows in self-pity while ogling the amazingly numerous handsome men who populate such books, all of whom inexplicably find Weepy Girl attractive. That alone put the book up a notch for me. Most of the secondary characters were also well done, especially Caroline, Ruth’s step-grandmother with whom Ruth begins to forge a tentative friendship.

The setting is another of those quaint New England towns that seem to have supplanted the generic Southern town in popular paperback mysteries.  Orchard, Massachusetts has an old clock tower built by Ruth’s great-great grandfather, a collection of small shops, a close-knit community, and a city manager who is anxious to turn the place into a strip mall filled with chain stores.

Definitions vary, but I would consider this series both a cozy and a whodunit:  no graphic violence and the murderer is someone we’ve met.  There’s a bit of romance, some nifty information on clocks, and a cat named Bezel.  I did figure out a number of things before the dénouement, but the clues weren’t so obvious as to make the solution a no-brainer.

On the down side, there is the stock character who is universally hated through all three books, a character who exists only to antagonize the main character and her friends. In book two, my least favorite there’s one of those (in)famous misunderstandings which could be, and eventually is, cleared up when two characters take a moment to talk to one another.  Such things are supposed to create tension but I find them annoying.

 For me, the pluses much outweighed the minuses, and I have enjoyed the three books in the series very much.  They also make good treadmill books, thank goodness, because with the cold weather I’ve had to do more of my walking indoors.  Ruth has been very good company indeed.   I don’t know if there will be further books or not—a number of story lines were tied up in a very satisfying manner—but should a fourth book come out, I’ll be at the bookstore for my copy.

The books in the series are:

1.      Just Killing Time
2.      Clock and Dagger
3.      Chime and Punishment

Tuesday, January 23, 2018

The Short Mystery Fiction Society Blog: 2018 Derringer Awards Update - January 20

The Short Mystery Fiction Society Blog: 2018 Derringer Awards Update - January 20: Originally posted to Shortmystery January 21, 2018, 12:58 a.m. EST, by Derringer Awards Coordinator Jay Hartman: Here's the complete...

Neil Diamond

Neil Diamond was Sandi's absolute favorite musician. She loved him and the music. Even when she was at her sickest coming home from the hospital, one of his songs would briefly perk her up. Then there was the time several years ago when she was crocheting with music playing in her hospital room. Pretty soon all the nurses on the floor were in  her room singing along with her to "Sweet, Caroline" as one changed her chemo bags.

Every couple of years when Neil Diamond would be in town for a concert, we talked about trying to work things out to see him in concert. Things never worked out financially. In the last year when news of the tour came and his stop here, we again talked about doing something as fincially we could have pulled it off. As the date came closer, it was clear that even if we had rented alimo to try and get her tehre as easily as possible, she was far too weak to go.

We never made it to his concert. Obviously, we never will now. News that Neil Diamond is having to retire from touring due to Parkinson's is very upsetting and another symbol of how things have changed.

Monday, January 22, 2018

Last Few Days Have Been Really Rough

Trying to handle things as best as I can, but the last few days have been very rough emotional wise. Been online very sporadically and for very short periods at a time. Escapist television has had limited effect. I'm reading some, but having a very hard time staying focused on what I am reading.

I am still having a very hard time sleeping and that does not help.Most nights I wake up several times an hour and thus sleep for only a few minutes at a time. I have always had insomnia issues, but nothing to this level with what I have been going through the last few weeks.

 In short, this remains hell.

Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Once Upon a Spine by Kate Carlisle

Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Once Upon a Spine by Kate Carlisle: Reviewed by Jeanne Brooklyn Wainwright is a bibliophile and bookbinder in San Francisco, so it’s a good thing that she’s also i...

TEXAS BOOK LOVER: Monday Roundup: TEXAS LITERARY CALENDAR 1/22-28

TEXAS BOOK LOVER: Monday Roundup: TEXAS LITERARY CALENDAR 1/22-28: Bookish goings-on in Texas for the week of January 22-28, 2018:  Special Events: FronteraFest 2018 , Austin, January 16-February 17 How ...

Aubrey Hamilton Reviews: The Funeral Boat by Kate Ellis


The Funeral Boat by Kate Ellis (Minotaur, 2002) is the fourth book featuring Detective Sergeant Wesley Peterson. This is an enduring series, with the 22nd title scheduled for release in April 2018. Peterson left the turbulence of London for the quiet life of a Devonshire policeman and finds that Devon police can sometimes be given tough problems to solve too. Peterson has a degree in archaeology which is useful in this region rich with ties to the past. Each story in the series invariably has a contemporary whodunit with some kind of link to a misdeed from long ago, resulting in a crime novel that is part historical mystery and part police procedural and, at least in the case of this book, the best of both. Fans of Elly Griffiths’ books about Ruth Galloway are likely to enjoy this series, although it is heavier on police procedure and lighter on romance than Griffiths’.

In this book home invasions are occurring in the isolated farms outside Devon, with the burglars threatening the families with shotguns to keep them at bay as the crooks ransack the houses and make off with the farm vehicles. Wesley and his boss Inspector Gerry Heffernan are called to the latest incident, where the farm owner decided to challenge the thieves and is severely wounded for his trouble.

Then a resident finds a skeleton while excavating his land for drainage. Wesley calls in his university friend who is on an archaeological dig at a nearby church to confirm that it is centuries old and not the body of the former owner who disappeared a few years ago, as Heffernan believes. Back at the police station one of Wesley’s colleagues takes a report from a local bed-and-breakfast owner whose Danish lodger has not returned from her day out. The family of one of the police constables becomes the next target of the home invading crew before Wesley can make much headway on any of these cases. Suddenly the small police force is stretched to the utmost trying to handle this quick crime wave.

Some of the crimes have surprising connections to others. The author ties each thread up efficiently and logically. The best bits of this book include the short excerpts from a diary written by a medieval monk that precede each chapter. The diary documents a raid on the Devon area by the plundering Danes around 1000 A.D., destroying the monk’s church and most of the surrounding community, which sets the context for the centuries-old skeleton.

This book reminded me of another Ellis who based a mystery on the Danish invasions of England in 1144, The Summer of the Danes by Ellis Peters, Brother Cadfael #19.

  

Hardcover: 240 pages 
Publisher: Minotaur Books; 1st edition (July 15, 2002) 
Language: English 
ISBN-10: 0312274548 
ISBN-13: 978-0312274542


Aubrey Hamilton © 2018

 
Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal IT projects by day and reads mysteries at night.

HuffPost Shuts Down Its Unpaid Contributors Network after 13 Years

HuffPost Shuts Down Its Unpaid Contributors Network after 13 Years: Aspiring writers, bloggers, citizen journalists and celebrities will now not be able to contribute unvetted stories on the popular news aggregator and blogging site.

2017 Preditors & Editors Poll Review Site Results

 
The 2017 Preditors and Editors Poll has concluded and the results have been finalized. This year this blog finished in SECOND PLACE behind the mega review and book giveaway site, I Smell Sheep. As they focus primary on romance, horror, and fantasy in terms of reviews and book giveaways, that means Kevin's Corner is the top review site for mysteries, crime fiction, etc.

On behalf of myself, Barry, Aubrey, Jeanne, Earl and the many other contributors to this blog each year, thank you for your support.

New Issue of Crime Review

We feature new 20 reviews in each issue of Crime Review (
www.crimereview.co.uk), together with a top industry interview. This time
it’s author Tim Baker in the Countdown hot seat.

We’re on Twitter at:
Crime Review: @CrimeReviewUK
Linda Wilson: @CrimeReviewer
Sharon Wheeler: @lartonmedia

This week’s reviews are:

AFTER THE FIRE by Henning Mankell, reviewed by Kati Barr-Taylor
 Fredrik Welin was lucky to escape the fire in his home alive, but now he
must rebuild his life, and find out who wanted him dead.

SLEEP NO MORE by PD James, reviewed by John Cleal
Six inventive, occasionally witty and convincing scenarios involving
murder, its motives and the course of natural justice from one of crime
fiction’s greatest writers.

THE THIRST by Jo Nesbø, reviewed by Ewa Sherman

A woman is found dead after a Tinder date, and marks left on her body
indicate that the killer used iron teeth to kill her, and then drink her
blood. Oslo’s ex-detective Harry Hole reluctantly gets involved in a search
for a vampirist.

STATE SECRETS by Quintin Jardine, reviewed by Linda Wilson 
Former Chief Constable Bob Skinner has been asked to the Palace of
Westminster to talk about the possibility of him accepting a peerage, which
puts him in the right place at the right time to investigate a crime that
will shock the nation.

DARK PINES by Will Dean, reviewed by John Cleal 
Tuva Moodyson, a deaf local paper reporter, dreams of a story that could
make her career. Two bodies, their eyes cut out, copies of three unsolved
murders 20 years before, give her the chance – and plunge her into secrets
and fear in the dark forests.

THE RELUCTANT CONTACT by Stephen Burke, reviewed by Arnold Taylor
It is 1977 and Yuri is returning from attending his brother’s funeral in
Moscow to Pyramiden in the Svalbard Archipelago north of Norway. He is
about to discover that the quiet life of which he is so fond is about to
come to an end.

SIRACUSA by Delia Ephron, reviewed by Sylvia Maughan
Two American couples go on holiday together. Their friendship begins to
disintegrate almost immediately and death is the result.

THE BLACK SHEEP by Sophie McKenzie, reviewed by Kati Barr-Taylor
Francesca believes her husband’s death was a senseless attack, but then a
stranger’s words shakes her belief to the core. 
 
THE HIT by Anna Smith, reviewed by John Cleal
Reporter Rosie Gilmour, investigating the disappearance of an accountant
and the killing of his wife’s lover, becomes involved in an international
crime ring which steals and sells babies as well as trafficking people.

MAIGRET AND THE MAN ON THE BENCH by Georges Simenon, reviewed by Arnold
Taylor 
Maigret receives a call from Inspector Neveu of the Troisième
Arrondissement saying that a man has been stabbed to death on the Boulevard
Saint-Martin, that the murder seems out of the ordinary and that he would
be grateful for his help.

THE ABSENCE OF GUILT by Mark Gimenez, reviewed by Chris Roberts
District Judge Scott Fenney is asked to rule on the detention of suspected
terrorists, and becomes involved with a plot to bring down the Dallas
Cowboys’ stadium.

THE PAINTED QUEEN by Elizabeth Peters and Joan Hess, reviewed by John Cleal
Amelia Peabody and her archaeologist husband Radcliffe Emerson are again in
danger as they search for a priceless, stolen bust of legendary Queen
Nefertiti.

FROM THE SHADOWS by Neil White, reviewed by Linda Wilson
Robert Carter is accused of the murder of a 24-year-old woman. His defence
is flimsy and he seems determined not to help himself. But young solicitor
Dan Grant is determined to uncover the truth.

ROOTED IN EVIL by Ann Granger, reviewed by John Cleal
When a man’s body is found in a Cotswold wood, it looks like suicide, but
DI Jess Campbell and Superintendent Ian Carter soon discover looks can be
deceptive.

LIGHTNING MEN by Thomas Mullen, reviewed by Chris Roberts
In post-war Atlanta, police on both sides of the racial divide struggle to
contain criminals exploiting the tension, especially when family and
friends are involved.

THE CHILD FINDER by Rene Denfield, reviewed by Linda Wilson
Naomi is a private investigator who specialises in finding missing
children. Her latest case is that of five-year-old Madison Culver, who went
missing three years ago.

THE DEAD by Mark Oldfield, reviewed by Chris Roberts
Investigator Ana Maria Galindez seeks Leopoldo Guzman, who recently
reappeared in Madrid after years of dirty work in a shadowy squad created
by Franco – even now reluctant to surrender its powers.

MODESTY BLAISE: THE KILLING GAME by Peter O’Donnell (illustrated by Enric
Badia Romero), reviewed by Linda Wilson
Modesty and Willie go up against another set of villains in three more
iconic comic strip adventures.

NEMESIS by Brendan Reichs, reviewed by Linda Wilson
Every other year since Min turned eight, she’s been hunted and killed by a
sinister man in black. Every time, she wakes up, alive and unhurt, but
knowing the nightmare was real, and it isn’t ending any time soon.

BEYOND THE WALL by Tanya Landman, reviewed by John Barnbrook
Cassia is the slave of a wealthy Roman living in Roman Britain. She escapes
the attention of her master and runs to Roman London and then on up beyond
Hadrian’s Wall, saving her brother and meeting Marcus, who she is not sure
she can trust.

Best wishes

Sharon

Saturday, January 20, 2018

Lesa's Latest Contest-- Mysteries featuring amateur sleuths

This week, I'm giving away two mysteries featuring amateur sleuths. One is Katherine Hall Page's The Body in the Casket. The other is the first in a new series, Nancy J. Parra's A Case of Syrah, Syrah. Details on my blog, http://www.lesasbookcritiques.blogspot.com. Entries from the U.S. only, please.


Lesa Holstine  

KRL This Week Update for 1/20/18

Up in KRL this morning a review & giveaway of "Comic Sans Murder" by Paige
Shelton http://kingsriverlife.com/01/20/comic-sans-murder-by-paige-shelton/



And a review & giveaway of "Escape Claws" by Linda Reilly along with an
interesting interview with Linda
http://kingsriverlife.com/01/20/escape-claws-by-linda-reilly/



Also a review & giveaway of "Crust No One" by Winnie Archer along with an
interesting guest post by Winnie that takes you behind the scenes of the
book and the food in the book
http://kingsriverlife.com/01/20/crust-no-one-by-winnie-archer/



We also have a review & giveaway of "Splintered Silence" by Susan Furlong
http://kingsriverlife.com/01/20/splintered-silence-by-susan-furlong/



And a review & EBOOK giveaway of "And Death Goes to..." by Laura Bradford
http://kingsriverlife.com/01/20/and-death-goes-to-by-laura-bradford/



And we have a look at and review of the new season of "Murdoch Mysteries"
on Acorn TV
http://kingsriverlife.com/01/20/murdoch-mysteries-season-eleven-streaming-on-acorn-tv/



And for those who also enjoy fantasy, a review & giveaway of "Through a
Dark Glass" by Barb Hendee, and a giveaway of the next book in the series
coming out soon
http://kingsriverlife.com/01/20/through-a-dark-glass-barb-hendees-magical-medieval-fantasy/



And on KRL News & Reviews a review & giveaway of "Courage Lost" by R. Scott
Mackey http://www.krlnews.com/2018/01/courage-lost-by-rscott-mackey.html 
 
 
 
Happy reading,
 
Lorie

Chess, Comics, Crosswords, Books, Music, Cinema: Merrick by Ben Boulden, 2017

Chess, Comics, Crosswords, Books, Music, Cinema: Merrick by Ben Boulden, 2017: "Thief, gunman, killer. A hero you'll hate, but root for anyway."   Every time I watch a movie about a heist or read a story...

Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Artemis by Andy Weir

Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Artemis by Andy Weir: Reviewed by Kristin Andy Weir dazzles with Artemis , which hit the bestseller charts instantly upon publication in November, deserv...

Friday, January 19, 2018

Thursday, January 18, 2018

Blood-Red Pencil: List of Writing Workshops Requiring Early Registra...

Blood-Red Pencil: List of Writing Workshops Requiring Early Registra...: Whether a one day session, one week conference, or a month-long workshop, writing related events are a good way of communing with other wr...

Review: Another Man’s Ground by Claire Booth


“’I know that ain’t what the Bible says, but I do,’ she said. ‘He’s always got horrible music playing, he don’t got no housekeepin’ skills, and he’s mean as a constipated goat.’” (Page 145, Another Man’s Ground)



While that description fit more than a few of our neighbors at the old apartment complex over the years, the same could also be said of several different characters in Another Man’s Ground by Claire Booth. Second in the Sheriff Hank Worth Mystery Series, the events of The Branson Beauty are still on everyone’s mind. Those events had a definite impact on the local community and could easily affect the upcoming election for sheriff. Just doing the job isn’t good enough, especially when you have a slick and well-funded opponent.  An opponent who is going to take advantage of everything that happens as a result of the current investigation.

Vern Miles is upset as well as he should be because somebody is messing with his land and his livelihood. A person or persons unknown has been coming onto his land and stripping the bark off his trees. His particular type of elm tree has a substance in the bark that get processed and sold in stores as a supplement to treat various conditions. Not has somebody trespassed on his land and stolen bark from trees in such large quantities that the trees will die, that damage also destroys his income.

Unfortunately, those damaged and dying trees are just the start of the problem in the woods for Branson, Missouri Sheriff Hank Worth. There are undocumented workers running around the woods as well. The same woods are also hiding a couple of bodies and it least one potential murder suspect. All those problems in the woods, past events, and a couple of other things, are messing with his chances of being elected Sheriff in the upcoming election.

Dealing with it all is going to be difficult to say the least.

The second in the series that started with The Branson Beauty is a very good read. Another Man’s Ground seamlessly picks up the action after several months after the first book and keeps things rolling right along to a very satisfying conclusion. All the characters are back along with some new folks, a complex mystery, and the author’s clear appreciation for the area. Another Man’s Ground  is a very good read well worth your time. 


For a more detailed review of this very good book, check out Lesa Holstine’s review.


 
Another Man’s Ground
Claire Booth
Minotaur Books (St. Martins Publishing Group)
July 2017
ISBN# 978-1-250-08441-5
Hardback (eBook format available)
320 Pages
$25.99


Material supplied by the good folks of the Dallas Texas Public Library System. 


Kevin R. Tipple ©2018