As many are aware, Bouchercon 2019 is here in Dallas this week. That makes it here and I am attending my first and only one. The blog will be dark the next few days as I am not taking my old laptop down to the Hyatt.
I will be representing SMFS for the Derringer award presentation at 11 AM Friday. Other than that, I plan on floating around a bit and trying to have some fun as I have nothing to plug.
See you all on the flip side.
Wednesday, October 30, 2019
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: The Hunger by Whitley Strieber
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: The Hunger by Whitley Strieber: Reviewed by Christy John is dying. His long time love Miriam expected it but not so soon because, after all, John ...
Tuesday, October 29, 2019
Publishing ... and Other Forms of Insanity: 33 Calls for Submissions in November 2019 - Paying Markets
Publishing ... and Other Forms of Insanity: 33 Calls for Submissions in November 2019 - Paying...: Pixabay There are 33 calls for submissions in November. All of these are paying markets, and none charge submission fees. Some accept re...
Sandra Ruttan Reviews: Beneath the Ashes by Dea Poirier
In her sophomore offering, Dea Poirier
sends Claire Calderwell on her next big case. A girl's body has been found in a
motel. There are ritualistic elements at the scene that hint at a murderer who
has been killing girls for a long time, and when more bodies are discovered.
Meanwhile, Claire's boyfriend Noah is
busy dealing with his own ghosts miles away. Claire misses him, but is struggling
with whether or not to take their relationship to the next level. Meanwhile,
she's assigned to partner with a young female officer who's never worked this
type of case before, and finds herself in the role of teacher and mentor.
In her investigation, all roads seem to
lead to the same hospital. The female administrator is heartless and there are
plenty of reasons for suspicion, but the hospital is uncooperative and has
enough influence to make it hard for Claire's investigation to advance.
There are plenty of discoveries along
the way as Claire, and the reader, sort out what information is relevant and
what isn't. One of the strengths of Poirier's approach is that she doesn't rush
to quick fixes and simple solutions. Claire feels very real because she is
damaged and solving her sister's murder doesn't automatically make everything
better. She'll spend a lifetime working through the damage from that trauma,
and no relationship, drink or life choice is going to change that. Claire
wrestles with demons. She struggles with what she wants - Noah - and her fears
about loss.
Poirier's stories are as much about the
slow road of recovery from trauma and dealing with grief as they are about the
murders Claire investigates. It's one of the hallmarks that sets her series
apart, and readers leave Beneath the Ashes with the sense that whatever
crimes Claire deals with next, she will continue to work through her personal
issues as well as she heals, making her a relatable and compelling character to
revisit with each new series installment.
Sandra Ruttan ©2019
Sandra Ruttan
is the YA, sci fi, fantasy and horror acquisitions editor for Bronzeville Books
http://www.bronzevillebooks.com/
and the managing editor for Bronzeville Bee http://www.bronzevillebee.com.
Stay up to date via twitter @sandraruttan
Monday, October 28, 2019
Mystery Fanfare: HALLOWEEN CRIME FICTION // HALLOWEEN MYSTERIES
Mystery Fanfare: HALLOWEEN CRIME FICTION // HALLOWEEN MYSTERIES: Happy Halloween! Halloween so lends itself to crime fiction ! Here's my updated 2019 list of Halloween Mysteries . Let me k...
SleuthSayers: Playing Fair, or the Death of Logic by Steve Liskow
SleuthSayers: Playing Fair, or the Death of Logic: by Steve Liskow A few weeks ago, I was reading a novel I'm supposed to review, and I encountered a dialogue exchange that brought me t...
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: The Spook in the Stacks: A Lighthouse Library Myst...
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: The Spook in the Stacks: A Lighthouse Library Myst...: Reviewed by Jeanne Lucy Richardson loves her job at the Bodie Island Lighthouse Library, a real repurposed lighthouse. Lucy ...
Beneath the Stains of Time: The Locked Room Reader XI: Locked Out
Beneath the Stains of Time: The Locked Room Reader XI: Locked Out: Back in 2016, I compiled a blog-post, " The Locked Room Reader IV: The Lazy Anthologist ," in response to an angry rant ...
TEXAS BOOK LOVER: Monday Roundup: Texas Literary Calendar Oct. 28-No...
TEXAS BOOK LOVER: Monday Roundup: Texas Literary Calendar Oct. 28-No...: Bookish goings-on in Texas for the week of October 28-November 3, 2019 compiled exclusively for Lone Star Literary Life by Texas Book L...
Aubrey Hamilton Reviews: Jury Double by Edward Stewart
The fourth book in the Vincent Cardozo series, Jury
Double, originally published by Headline Books in 1996, is an interesting
mixture of a legal thriller and a police procedural. The complicated plot
centers around Corey Lyle, a cult leader similar to Charles Manson and Jim
Jones, who is believed to convince his followers to commit murder and other
crimes while staying far removed himself. The New York City prosecutor thinks
they have established a case against Lyle in the deaths of an elderly wealthy
couple who left their considerable estate to Lyle. Called to jury duty is Kyra
Talbot, who is enmeshed in a custody battle with her ex-husband. Her mother
left a significant trust to her only grandchild, Kyra’s son, and whoever has
the son has control of the money. Both Kyra and her ex-husband outspend their
earnings, so the outcome of the upcoming custody hearing is crucial to them
both.
Kyra doesn’t want to miss the custody hearing
so she pressures her twin sister Anne Bingham to take her place on the jury,
just for a day, she says, but it turns out for the duration of the trial.
Because of the extreme publicity, the judge decides to sequester the jury: no
contact at all with the outside world. Even though the hotel telephones are supposed
to be blocked to external calls, Anne gets an outside call in her room telling
her that her nephew has been kidnapped and if she wants to see him again, she
must secure an acquittal for Corey Lyle. There are no phone records showing
that the call took place and the judge thinks she’s trying to get out of jury
duty. The judge is looking for a promotion so she has no intention of calling a
mistrial.
In the meantime, a former supporter of Lyle’s
turns state’s evidence in return for immunity for his own misdeeds, which is
sending the police around the bend, as the supporter is far too interested in
children for anyone to reasonably overlook it. One of Cardozo’s detectives
disappears after following him and is later found murdered.
Multiple interwoven plot lines, all of which
are resolved, perhaps not completely realistically, by the end of the book. Fast-moving,
good escapist reading.
This review was based on the Kindle version of
the book released a few years ago.
·
File Size: 1508 KB
·
Print Length: 384 pages
·
Publisher: Open Road
Media (February 18, 2014)
·
Publication Date: February 18,
2014
·
Sold by: Amazon
Digital Services LLC
·
ASIN: B00I3TJIGM
Aubrey Hamilton ©2019
Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on
Federal It projects by day and reads mysteries at night.
Sunday, October 27, 2019
Crime Review Update: 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 Alex Marwood in the Countdown hot
seat:
We’re on Twitter at:
Crime Review: @CrimeReviewUK
Linda Wilson: @CrimeReviewer
Sharon Wheeler: @lartonmedia
This week’s reviews are:
THE TURN OF THE KEY by Ruth Ware,
reviewed by Madeleine Marsh
Rowan lands what seems to be her ideal
job, a role as live-in nanny with a family in a remote village in Scotland,
paying a generous salary, bonus and with all living expenses covered. But what
should have been a dream turns into a nightmare.
SAVAGES 2: THE SPECTRE by Sabri
Louatah, reviewed by John Cleal
France’s first Arab president is shot
on election night. As he lies between life and death, riots explode, terrorist
attack threatens and political factions battle for power. Caught in the middle
is a third-generation French family whose roots are in the Kabyle region of
Algeria.
NIGHT by Bernard Minier, reviewed by
Ewa Sherman
Detectives Kirsten Nigaard from Norway
and Martin Servaz from France join forces in search of a notorious cunning
serial killer on the run. All clues point to Martin’s earlier personal painful
history with the murderer, but this time the life of a five-year-old boy is
also at stake.
THE PUPPET SHOW by MW Craven, reviewed
by Linda Wilson
A serial killer is torturing men and
then burning them alive, leaving their bodies in stone circles in and around
the Lake District. Disgraced copper Washington Poe teams up with the brilliant
but socially inept civilian analyst Tilly Bradshaw in the hunt for the killer.
DIARY OF A DEAD MAN ON LEAVE by David
Downing, reviewed by John Cleal
As war looms, a Soviet undercover agent
faces a crisis of belief when he becomes involved with the German family he
lodges with.
LADY IN THE LAKE by Laura Lippman,
reviewed by Sylvia Maughan
Maddie Swartz, a respectable housewife,
decides she needs a change, so she goes to live on her own and tries to get a
job in a newsroom. A young girl is murdered and Maddie finds the body. This is
just the start of Maddie’s troubles.
A VERSION OF THE TRUTH by BP Walter,
reviewed by Kati Barr-Taylor
Joanne’s life will go into freefall the
moment her son opens the file on his iPad.
KEEP HER CLOSE by MJ Ford, reviewed by
Arnold Taylor
DS Josie Masters is on her way to see
her mother in an Oxford care home when her phone rings and she is told to go
immediately to Oriel College where a girl student appears to have gone missing.
It soon becomes clear that she is not the only one.
WHISKEY
WHEN WE’RE DRY by John Larison, reviewed by John Cleal
Seventeen-year-old
Jessilyn Harney, orphaned and alone, is desperate to fend off starvation and
predatory neighbours, so cuts her hair, binds her chest flat and rides to find
outlaw older brother Noah and bring him home.
CALL HIM
MINE by Tim MacGabhann, reviewed by Chris Roberts
When
journalist Andrew and his photographer boyfriend Carlos come across a body in
the street, Carlos pushes for answers and pays a terrible price. Andrew is
determined to identify those responsible and exact some sort of retribution.
TAKE IT
BACK by Kia Abdullah, reviewed by Linda Wilson
Former
barrister Zara Khaleel is branded a traitor to her religion when she starts
working with a white teenage girl who accuses four seemingly well brought up
Muslim boys of rape.
THE
CLOSER I GET by Paul Burston, reviewed by Kati Barr-Taylor
Tom never
realised a moment’s politeness at one of his book signings would take him to
the edge of hell.
THE
RINGMASTER by Vanda Symon, reviewed by Chris Roberts
Detective
Sam Shephard fights unfair criticism from her boss as the Dunedin police tackle
the murder of a student in the Botanic Garden.
THE
FATHERLAND FILES by Volker Kutscher, reviewed by John Cleal
When a
drowned man is found in a freight elevator in a Berlin pleasure palace,
Inspector Gereon Rath faces a case which leads him into confrontation with the
rising Nazi party.
THE WREN
HUNT by Mary Watson, reviewed by Linda Wilson
Wren
Silke is sent undercover to the sinister Harness Foundation in an attempt to
uncover its dangerous secrets.
DEATH AT
THE PLAGUE MUSEUM by Lesley Kelly, reviewed by Kati Barr-Taylor
Mona and
Bernard are called in after a secret meeting in Edinburgh, where two of the
four attendees are dead and a third is missing.
JUDGE
WALDEN: CALL THE NEXT CASE by Peter Murphy, reviewed by Chris Roberts
Resident
Judge of Bermondsey Crown Court Charlie Walden introduces another selection of
cases coming under his purview, together with more of the administrative complexities
which complicate his life.
WHERE THE
TRUTH LIES by MJ Lee, reviewed by Anthea Hawdon
An empty
grave. An old murder. DI Tom Ridpath must find his way through new tasks and
old loyalties to find the truth about a serial killer stalking the streets of
Manchester.
HIS DARK
SUN by Jude Brown, reviewed by Linda Wilson
The year
is 2022 and the world is sweltering in the grip of a permanent heatwave.
Nineteen-year-old Luke Spargo knows that he’s the only one who understands and
can halt the inevitable. But Luke’s methods won’t meet with universal approval.
THE
CORPORATION by TJ English, reviewed by Chris Roberts
The
non-fiction story of exiled Cubans who contested Castro’s leadership from the
USA, and of one who built a lottery-based organisation which moved into
money-laundering, drug trafficking and murder.
Best
wishes
Sharon
Saturday, October 26, 2019
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: The Trial of Lizzie Borden: A True Story by Cara ...
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: The Trial of Lizzie Borden: A True Story by Cara ...: Reviewed by Jeanne It was a hot day in Fall River, Massachusetts in 1892 when Adelaide Churchill looked across the way to see...
KRL Update: KRL This Week for 10/26/19
Up in KRL this morning a
review of "Valleys, Vehicles, and Victims" by Tonya
Kappes
Also up this week, a review
of "Agatha Raisin and the Haunted House" which
airs on Acorn TV on October
28
And a Halloween mystery
short story by Cindy Sample
We also have a review and
giveaway of another paranormal mystery perfect
for Halloween reading,
"A Golden Grave" by Erin Lindsey
And a review and giveaway
of "Blackthorn" by Judy Nedry
For those who prefer to
listen to Mysteryrat's Maze Podcast directly on
KRL, you can find the
player for the new episode here. This episode
features the first chapter
of "The Society" by C.G. Abbot aka Avery Daniels,
read by local actor Ariel
Linn
And we have the latest
mystery Coming Attractions from Sunny Frazier, with
giveaways of books by
Alexis Morgan, Karen MacInerney, and Maya Corrigan
And for more books great
for Halloween reading, we have an article about
the books of Ruth Ware
Up on KRL News and Reviews
this week we have a review and giveaway of
"Fanny Newcomb and the
Irish Channel Ripper" by Ana Brazil
And a review and giveaway
of "The Bodies in the Library" by Marty Wingate
And for those who also
enjoy vampires, a review and giveaway of "Shattered
Bonds" by Faith Hunter
Happy Halloween,
Lorie
Review: The Batman Who Laughs by Scott Snyder
The Batman Who Laughs by Scott Snyder has a Batman known as “The Batman Who Laughs.”
This is a version of Batman that killed the Joker and was contaminated by Joker
toxin. The result was that he morphed in an evil version that was part Joker
and part Batman. This evil version proceeded to murder his Bat family by
killing Robin, Batgirl, Alfred and others.
Also at work in this graphic novel is
the “Grim Knight.” This is a Batman that
has become like “The Punisher,” but way worse. His version does not have a Bat
family. He kills all criminals and is hunted by the police who he is also
trying to kill.
Both bad versions of Batman come from
the “Dark Multiverse” and have come to what is all intents and purposes “Our Multiverse”
where they seek to wreak havoc and must be stopped by our good Batman. This won’t
be easy as the bad Batmans (Batmen ?) have lived the same lives for the most
part, had the same trainings, and know all the faults and weaknesses as well as
tactics.
This horror/mystery graphic novel pushes
Batman, Jim Gordon, and Alfred to their limits as they face off and combat the
evil Batmans in The Batman Who Laughs. The result is a good read that is complicated
and sets up another series where Superman and Batman team up.
The artwork in the book is good though,
at times a bit confusing, as anytime the Batman Who Laughs talks his font is
red on top of black to emphasize how messed up he is. That way of doing things
makes it hard to read since the story is very dark as it is.
While The Batman Who Laughs by
Scott Snyder is a good story with plenty of action as well as mystery and horror
elements, there is a large body count and there are horror aspects to the tale.
So, this is not a book for young readers unless you just feel the need to freak
them out.
The Batman Who Laughs
Scott Snyder
DC Comics
ISBN# 978-1-4012-9403-8
Hardback (also available in digital
format)
232 Pages
Material came by way of the “Central
Branch” of the Dallas Public Library System.
Scott A. Tipple ©2019
Friday, October 25, 2019
Beneath the Stains of Time: Death After Evensong (1969) by Douglas Clark
Beneath the Stains of Time: Death After Evensong (1969) by Douglas Clark: Douglas Clark was an English author of twenty-seven traditional, puzzle-oriented detective novels of the typical, post-World War II polic...
FFB Review: Bloody Halls by Carl Brookins
I first told you about
this book back in 2008. Anything by Carl Brookins is guaranteed to be a good
read. He has had a lot more books come out since. For the rest of the reading
suggestions today, head over to Todd Mason’s Sweet
Freedom Blog. FFB Review wise, see you all after Bouchercon 2019!
As Director of the Office of Student Life at City College of
Minneapolis located in a number of buildings scattered across downtown Minneapolis
Along the way he has found time to begin building a
relationship with Lori, a young lady in another department. There are issues
there as well and they are trying to keep things as quiet as possible. Not
because they are doing anything wrong but because people will talk and gossip
can kill your career in a heartbeat in the world of academia.
Jack Marston has also found the time to indulge in his
desire to act on stage. The College will be presenting Ibsen’s play, “Enemy of
the People” and as Ibsen is a personal favorite, Marston is hoping for some
minor role after he auditions. Instead, the young bitter director from the
University across town selects him for the major role as Dr. Stockman, the
enemy of the people. Marston knows he is overmatched and he also knows he has
absolutely no way of getting out of it.
The same is true when the President of the College, Arthur
Trammel assigns him the role of police liaison after a student is found murdered
and dumped in the lobby of the theater. While Jack Marston would have had some
contact possibly with the media once the story gets out, President Arthur
Trammel expects him to do far more. Tapped for being discreet and with a
mandate to assist the police with their investigation any way possible so that
they quickly close the case because there is a fund drive and other issues at
stake, Marston has no choice and must accept his new role for however long it
takes. When not working on his role in the play, Marston plays his other role
of investigator. He starts with the troubling fact that the entire record of
the deceased student has vanished from the computer system. The dead student no
longer exists in the system. If he can figure out who did it and why that might
point him in the direction of who committed the murder as opposed to the Police
who seem to going in other directions. As the days turn into weeks and another
death rocks the campus, Marston is led down a trail of lies, office politics,
perversion and murder, until a violent confrontation in a snowstorm just outside
his office puts everything he has worked for at risk.
Featuring some cutting humor about the joys of working at intuitions
of higher learning, this cozy style mystery steadily ratchets up the suspense
factor. Jack Marston has more than a cynical humor working for him and readers
who work in academia will find themselves often nodding in agreement.
Couple that with an engaging writing style that quickly
pulls readers into a world populated with interesting real life characters, a
constantly changing mystery full of expected and unexpected twists, and plenty
of action as Jack Marston gets out and gets his hands dirty investigating, this
read is a real treat to start off the year. As in his other books and short
stories, Author Carl Brookins, a member of the “Minnesota Crime Wave,” shows a
real talent for story telling.
Bloody Halls
Carl Brookins
Echelon Press
Large Trade Paperback
ISBN# 1-59080-570-4
260 Pages
ARC
Material supplied by the author in exchange for my objective
review.
Kevin R. Tipple © 2008, 2010, 2019
Thursday, October 24, 2019
Crime Time : LIBRA – Don DeLillo
Crime Time : LIBRA – Don DeLillo: This is not a book review, contrary to its appearance and what you may have been expecting. I will explain shortly why I cannot review Li...
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Nevermore: Veronika, Plover, Dalai Lama's Cat, Onc...
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Nevermore: Veronika, Plover, Dalai Lama's Cat, Onc...: Reported by Kristin Twenty-four year old Veronika looks like a successful young woman with much to live for, except that she fee...
Publishing ... and Other Forms of Insanity: 29 Writing Contests in November 2019 - No entry fe...
Publishing ... and Other Forms of Insanity: 29 Writing Contests in November 2019 - No entry fe...: Pixabay There are more than two dozen writing contests in November for short stories, poetry, essays, scripts, and books in every genre....
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Bird Box by Josh Malerman
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Bird Box by Josh Malerman: Reviewed by Damean Driven by an unknown force, people all over the world are killing each other before killing themselves. ...
Beneath the Stains of Time: The Case of the Dead Shepherd (1934) by Christophe...
Beneath the Stains of Time: The Case of the Dead Shepherd (1934) by Christophe...: Christopher Bush retired in 1931 from teaching in order to dedicate himself full-time to his writing career and his twelfth detective no...
Review: The Bitterest Pill: A Jesse Stone Novel by Reed Farrrel Coleman
If you have been
paying any attention at all you know about the Opioid crisis and the fact that
the war on drugs has been a colossal and expensive failure. Author Reed Farrel
Coleman uses that common knowledge as the background for The Bitterest Pill: A Jessie Stone
Novel.
The opioid crisis has made it to the coastal region of Paradise,
Massachusetts. When the legal drugs run out, those desperate have to turn to
heroin to get their fix. That can have tragic and disastrous consequences. Local
student and cheerleader Heather Mackey has been found dead in the bedroom of
her home thanks to a heroin overdose. Clearly, she had to have gotten the drugs
from somewhere and the most obvious place would by way of somebody, at her
school, Paradise High School.
The end user is just the tip of the iceberg. Somewhere and hidden
in the shadows are the folks pulling strings and make money off of addiction
and death. While Paradise Police Chief Jesse Stone and his team work to uncover
the bosses, the bosses and others work to obstruct and kill off all venues of
investigation by any means necessary.
The latest book in this series is another good if depressing read.
Plenty of facts about the drug problem in this country are interwoven into the
fictional storylines as work in The Bitterest Pill: A Jesse Stone Novel.
For those of us who have battled our own addictions to pain killers and alcohol
while dealing with chronic pain and more, much of this read will ring very true.
As one would expect from this author, the book is another solidly good read
well worth your time.
The Bitterest Pill: A Jesse Stone Novel
Reed Farrrel Coleman
Thorndike Press (Gale, a Cengage Company)
2019
ISBN# 978-1-4328-6858-1
Large Print Hardback
475 Pages
Large print material came from the Lakewood Branch of the Dallas
Public Library System.
Kevin R. Tipple © 2019
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