Tuesday, May 31, 2022
SleuthSayers: Where I Write by Michael Bracken
One Bite at a Time: Colin Conway, the Brain Behind The 509
Lesa's Book Critiques: A RIP THROUGH TIME BY KELLEY ARMSTRONG
Lesa's Book Critiques: A RIP THROUGH TIME BY KELLEY ARMSTRONG
Review: Fall Guy: A Joe Gunther Novel by Archer Mayor
It is late winter as Fall Guy: A Joe Gunther Novel by Archer Mayor begins and Joe Gunther, Field Force Commander of the Vermont Bureau of Investigation, have been summoned out to a scene bathed in a sea of strobe lights from numerous agencies. It appears that the only party not there is the local dog catcher.
A stolen Mercedes four door sedan has been discovered
abandoned. The car was reported stolen by the owner, Lemuel Shaw several days
ago. Thanks to problems with the onboard GPS system, it was not tracked from
the house in New Hampshire to the final resting place here in Vermont.
If it was a simple stolen car that would be one
thing and would not have generated the massive law enforcement response. In
addition to numerous obviously stolen items in the car, there is a dead body in
the trunk.
If that was not enough, there were six cell phones
in the car. At least one of the phones has pornographic images of a young child
on it and the pictures are clearly very recent. That phone is also tied into
New Hampshire which creates an avenue for Joe and his team to join an Internet
Crimes Against Children Task force with their New Hampshire colleagues. It also
gives them a way to retain jurisdictional control over a rapidly more
complicated case.
The books in this series are always very complicated
and this one is no exception. The police family are always a major factor in
these books, on and off the job, and such is the case in this read as well. All
hands are on deck and repeatedly a part of everything as the team works to clean
up a nasty and extremely entangled mess.
Complicated and highly entertaining, Fall Guy: A Joe Gunther Novel by Archer Mayor is a solidly good read that keeps readers guessing in right to the end.
My reading copy was a digital ARC courtesy of the
publisher, Minotaur Books, via NetGalley. The book is currently scheduled to be
released September 27th.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2022
Monday, May 30, 2022
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: The Good Daughter by Karin Slaughter
Publishing ... and Other Forms of Insanity: 12 Paying Markets Open to Speculative Fiction Short Stories, Novellas and Novels - No agent required
SleuthSayers: Crime Fiction Rules: Rules, Schmules by Elizabeth Zelvin
Aubrey Nye Hamilton Reviews: Cheater’s Game by Paul Levine
Cheater’s
Game
(Herald Square Publishing, 2020) highlights the recent college
admissions scandal in which wealthy parents bribed top universities to admit
their children who otherwise would not be accepted. Jake Lassiter comes out of
retirement to defend his 20-year-old nephew Kip who has been accused of taking
SAT tests in the place of college applicants. Max Ringle, the mastermind of the
bribery and testing scam, turned informant as soon as he realized the FBI was
investigating and made Kip his scapegoat.
Lassiter is hardly at the top of
his game. His past as a football player has caught up with him and he’s been
diagnosed with progressive brain damage. His doctor and fiancé Dr. Melissa Gold
does her best to bolster him for the strain of the job he’s undertaken, but the
stress of defending his nephew exacerbates his visible symptoms. He can’t
always control them in the courtroom. His scenes with the unpredictable Federal
judge trying the case are among the best in what is a very good legal thriller.
Of course the pivotal segment is Lassiter’s questioning of the wealthy entitled parents and their spoiled children, most of whom
were not charged. They show themselves to be positively despicable, presenting
them as blameless in a racket that could not have existed without them.
A secondary theme is the largely
unrecognized but widespread brain trauma so many football players suffer; the
story relays a great deal of data about chronic
traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). The attempts of interested parties to spin the
research findings to their own benefit and to the detriment of the players are
highlighted. Unfortunately this part is probably fact-based too.
A thought-provoking, informative, and entertaining legal thriller. Highly recommended.
·
Publisher: Herald Square
Publishing (April 20, 2020)
·
Language: English
·
Paperback: 422 pages
·
ISBN-10: 173425100X
·
ISBN-13: 978-1734251005
Aubrey Nye Hamilton ©2022
Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal It projects by day and reads mysteries at night.
Sunday, May 29, 2022
SleuthSayers: The Boyz by R. T. Lawton
Guest Post: Practice Makes Perfect by Paula Messina
Practice Makes Perfect
by Paula Messina
After the
publication of his novel, a writer I know told me he was petrified of reading
in public. His admission was hardly surprising. Speaking before an audience is
said to be our number one fear.
I’d like to share
with you the advice I gave my friend, who not only excelled at his readings. He
learned to enjoy them.
First, let’s get the
nitty gritty stuff out of the way. Before you decide what section of your opus
to read, you need to nail down a few details. The time and place of the event.
Duh. The audience. Is it the local Little League team or the Society for
Classics Studies? Are you the only writer or will you be sharing the stage?
Will there be a question and answer period? Will you be paid? May you sell your
books? Will there be a signing after the reading? You can probably think of
more questions.
How much time will you have? This is one of
the most important questions to ask. You don’t want to show up with ten
minutes’ worth of material when you’re expected to speak for an hour. Nor do
you want to show up hoping to cram an hour’s worth of material into twenty minutes.
It’s wise to have more material than you need in case something happens. Maybe
the other scheduled speaker has laryngitis or his plane is still hovering over
Logan Airport.
If possible, go to
the venue beforehand to get a lay of the land. If that’s not possible, arrive
early so you can get a feel for the room and request any adjustments you deem
necessary. Make sure you’ll have water. If you’ll be using a microphone or any
other equipment, test it. Perhaps you don’t want to speak from behind a
gigantic rubber plant or you don’t want to share the stage with a life-sized
poster of Bozo the Clown. Ask for them to be removed.
If it’s a Zoom
session, make sure you are framed nicely on the screen and that your background
is pleasing to the eye. Instruct the host to mute the audience while you speak.
Above all, make sure the equipment is working beforehand.
Agatha-Award-winning
author Sarah Smith (https://www.sarahsmith.com) says, “If you're reading on
Zoom, consider using a teleprompter.” She recommends Teleprompter Pro
(https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/teleprompter-pro/9wzdncrfjss3#activetab=pivot:overviewtab).
Provide an
introduction that is short and sweet. I recently attended a poetry reading
where the introduction went on for five minutes. Boring. Unnecessary. Just the
highlights, please. Tell the person introducing you to read the introduction
exactly as written.
This is rather
obvious. Decide which passage(s) you’ll read.
Joan Leotta, a story
performer, spoken word artist, poet, and author (https://www.facebook.com/joanleotta),
says, “Select material you like a lot. Balance the emotional arc of what you
are presenting...serious, humorous, poignant....don’t make it all of one kind.”
“Shorten your text.
Text that reads well on paper doesn't always work aloud,” Sarah Smith says.
“You don't have to read one long text. Read a little, talk a little, read some
more.”
Whenever I read in
public, I take advice I stumbled upon in a book by Dorothy Sarnoff, who worked
with Jimmy Carter, Menachem Begin, and Danielle Steel. Read your selection out
loud a minimum of three times. This isn’t the same as memorizing the piece.
It’s becoming familiar and comfortable with it. This allows you to glance down
at the page, know what comes next, look up at the audience, and say it. This
takes practice, but it’s easy to master.
This works even if
you only as a few moments to prepare. When I’m asked to read at the last
minute, I find a quiet corner where I can read the passage out loud at least
the requisite three times. This has never failed me. I am able to read with
confidence.
Time yourself. You
don’t want to read a passage that takes 15 minutes to read when you only have
ten minutes. This is comparable to a word count. You don’t want to give your
editor ten thousand words than she asked for three thousand, nor do you want to
submit five hundred words when he requested five thousand.
It’s helpful to
record yourself. You’ll know if you are hitting the allotted time, and it will
help you with your interpretation and delivery. Audacity is open-source
software (https://www.audacityteam.org/) that is easy to use. It’s also useful to
practice in front of a spouse or friend, but only if that person will be honest
and constructive.
When you practice
reading aloud, identify the pauses. You might find it helpful to mark them. If
you’re reading dialogue, consider highlighting each character’s lines in a
different color. You spent a lot of time making each character’s dialogue
distinct. You want to bring those distinctions alive in your reading.
Pauses are part of
your interpretation. They also help the listener. At that poetry reading
mentioned above, the poet read as if he were attempting to break a world record
for the fastest poetry reading. His poems went by in a blur.
Your audience needs
time to process your words. Now I’m not suggesting you join the Slow Talkers of
America (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysHUfjSMGWQ), but this isn’t a time for speed reading.
Robert Frost was a
master of the pause. Listen to him read “The Road Not Taken” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrBHd41YqTc). Frost takes his time. He
milks the pauses. He demands that you listen to him, that you hang on his every
word.
Breathe.
Ten out of ten
doctors recommend their patients develop this habit. It’s advice worth taking.
After all, breathing has numerous benefits.
You’ll survive the
reading.
Breathing steadies
your nerves.
Breathing helps
project your voice. If you are soft spoken, as I am, it’s helpful to imagine
that you’re speaking to someone at the back of the room or even across the
street. You could also ask someone to sit at the back of the room during the
event to signal if you are not loud enough.
Breathing helps with
your inflection and interpretation. Think about it. You used punctuation,
sentence and paragraph length to create pacing and tension. Those are the
places where you breathe. Those are your pauses.
Breathing helps your
audience absorb what you’re saying. I once watched a
demonstration of a pat down. The instructor said, “Slow down. If you go too
fast, you’ll miss something because your brain won’t be able to keep up.”
Stephen
D. Rogers (https://stephendrogers.com), author of Shot to Death and more than
eight hundred shorter works, explains it this way,
“Breathing creates a space where the last thought can echo and grow.”
How you breathe is
also important. We’re told to use diaphragmatic breathing, expand our belly,
but what is diaphragmatic breathing? It’s rarely properly explained and often
improperly explained.
Place your hand
below your belly button. That’s where you want to start breathing. Now, place
your hands on your sides. If you breathe properly, you’ll feel your rib cage
expand three hundred and sixty degrees. Here’s a useful video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sgb2cUqFiY
Listening to great orators and actors is an excellent way to improve your
own speaking skills. Listen to Multi-award-winning writer David Dean read his short story,
“The Duelist” (https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/eqmm/episodes/2020-07-02T06_44_37-07_00).
To spare the
audience from staring at your bald spot, make eye contact. If you read your piece aloud at least three times, you’ll be able to make
eye contact with you audience.
Sarah Smith says, “Your
audience wants to like you. They want to have fun and be amazed. Remember that
and have fun too.”
One way to make your audience
like you is eye contact, something else we’re told to do but that is rarely
explained. Eye contact is simple. Select a member of the audience and look
directly into his eyes for a sentence or two or until you need to glance down
at the page. When you look up again, select another audience member and look
into her eyes. Repeat, working the room. If this seems too scary, look at a
person’s forehead. Eye contact
also takes practice. Eventually it becomes second nature.
Appearing before an
audience can seem overwhelming. It doesn’t have to be. Practice these simple
steps and you’ll be fantastic. Practice reading out loud a minimum of three
times. Pause. Breathe. Slow down. Make eye contact.
Finally, you worked
hard. Enjoy yourself.
Paula Messina © 2022
When Paula Messina isn't walking along the United States' first public beach, she's working on a novel set in Boston during the 1940s.
Saturday, May 28, 2022
Beneath the Stains of Time: Murder in Mandalay (1961) by Aster Berkhof
KRL: KRL This Week for 5/28/2022
Up on KRL this morning reviews and giveaways of 3 more fun mysteries for your summer reading-"Poppy and the Backstabbing Bachelor": A Desert Flowers Mystery by Lee Hollis, "A Margin for Murder": A Beyond the Page Bookstore Mystery by Lauren Elliott, "‘Til Death": A Witch City Mystery by Carol J. Perry https://kingsriverlife.com/05/28/end-of-may-mystery-catchup/
We also have a review and giveaway of "Something Wicked" by David Housewright along with an interesting interview with David https://kingsriverlife.com/05/28/something-wicked-by-david-housewright/
And the latest Mystery Coming Attractions from Sunny Frazier https://kingsriverlife.com/05/28/june-coming-attractions-books-to-bring-on-vacation/
And reviews of more BritBoxTV mysteries-"Life on Mars", "Ashes to Ashes" and the latest season of "Shakespeare and Hathaway" https://kingsriverlife.com/05/28/shakespeare-hathaway-life-on-mars-ashes-to-ashes/
Up during the week we posted another special midweek guest post this one by thriller author Brian Lebeau about some of the research for his first book "A Disturbing Nature" along with some of his own background https://kingsriverlife.com/05/25/fear-hovers-somewhere-between-11-and-54/
Up on KRL News and Reviews this week we have a review and ebook giveaway of "Mrs. Odboddy's Desperate Doings" by Elaine Faber
https://www.krlnews.com/2022/05/mrs-odboddys-desperate-doings-by-elaine.html
And a review and giveaway of "The Lady with The Gun Asks Questions" by Kerry Greenwood
https://www.krlnews.com/2022/05/the-lady-with-gun-asks-questions-phryne.html
Bitter Tea and Mystery: Bangkok 8: John Burdett
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Pride, Prejudice, and Peril by Katie Oliver
Scott's Take: Robin Vol.1: The Lazarus Tournament by Joshua Willamson
Robin Vol.1: The Lazarus Tournament
by Joshua Willamson collects the first six issues of Damian Wayne’s solo
adventures into one volume. The son of Batman has run away from home and he is
in mourning after the death of Alfred and wandering the globe without purpose.
That is, until he discovers a martial arts tournament on an island hosting the
world’s greatest fighters. He quickly learns that there is more going on than
he suspected on arrival.
This action-packed mystery features great art and several
legendary fighters. There are cameos by various members of the Bat family, but
for the most part, this is a solo story featuring Damian trying to reconcile
with his life. Robin Vol.1: The Lazarus Tournament by Joshua
Willamson is a violent tale with plenty of fights as one would expect in a
martial arts tournament. I highly
recommend this series for fans of Robin or just DC comic readers looking for a
mostly self-contained story.
This series is continued in Robin Vol. 2: I Am
Robin which is currently scheduled to be released in September.
My reading copy came from the Dallas Public Library
System via the Hoopla App.
Scott A. Tipple ©2022
Friday, May 27, 2022
Publishing ... and Other Forms of Insanity: 77 Calls for Submissions in June 2022 - Paying markets
Jerry's House of Everything: FORGOTTEN BOOK: MURDER, LONDON--AUSTRALIA
FFB Review: Tequila Sunrise: Hardboiled P.I Nathaniel Rose: Bullets, Booze and Broads by Michael Bracken
While these days
Mr. Michael Bracken is busy editing numerous anthologies that are often
nominated and win awards, he is also a very talented writer in his own right.
This is just one example from my magnificently massive archive.
Having read and
enjoyed very much the novel, Deadly Campaign by this author, I have been
looking forward to reading this book for quite some time. But, getting my hands
on a copy wasn't easy for a number of reasons. Finally, I got one and I wasn't
disappointed in this hard hitting collection featuring private Investigator
Nathaniel Rose.
The 103-page book is made up of seven complex stories involving Nathaniel Rose and a recurring cast of characters over a significant period of time. In almost every case, the women are sexy, the violence is hard hitting, and Rose gets the crook by any means necessary.
The book opens
with the story "Partners" where Rose is nearly killed when his
Mustang explodes. He survives and, with little idea who wanted him dead, starts
looking.
"Fair
Warning" follows and is a case involving a missing husband, fast food, and
a tantalizing wife.
"Heartbreak
Hotel" comes next in the book as well as in the book arc in terms of
character development and time, and involves a missing fiancée. Simply making
photocopies can get one killed it seems.
"Lucky
Seven" is another aptly named story. In this case, seven witnesses can all
detail for court how they saw a man kill his wife and her lover. The client
just needs to know how good the case is, which on the surface, seems simple
enough.
"Even Roses
Bleed" revolves around a beautiful woman and her need to have her husband
dead. Word on the street is Nathaniel Rose would fit the bill nicely, in more
ways than one.
Strippers have
always been a hallmark in detective fiction but rarely used to such good effect
in "Tequila Sunrise and the Horse."
But after all,
for any P.I. the cases are "Only Business." Something to remember in
the sometimes stormy waters of love.
With an overall story arc linking the stories in this anthology and providing character development, this book is a very good read and more complex than many novels. The writing style is terse and hard hitting and usually in dialogue form. At the same time, scene descriptions come alive for the reader who will quickly become lost in the murky world of Bullets, Booze and Broads.
Material received from the author in exchange for my objective review.
Kevin R. Tipple
© 2004, 2010, 2015, 202
Thursday, May 26, 2022
Publishing ... and Other Forms of Insanity: 55 Writing Contests in June 2022 - No entry fees
Review: Dangerous Consequences: A Sheriff Hank Worth Mystery by Claire Booth
As Dangerous Consequences: A Sheriff Hank Worth Mystery by Claire Booth begins, the ripple effects of the recent termination of several deputies, continue. New staff is being brought in while some of the still employed old guard continue to work from within against Sheriff Hank Worth and Chief Deputy Sheila Turley. The rot within the department still lingers, but getting rid of the rest of the folks who need to go is not going to be easy.
A far more immediate issue is the recent
spate of emergency cases in the local hospital. Sheriff Worth’s wife, Maggie
McCleary, is a doctor and personally knows of a couple situations that troubled
her. She did some quiet investigating on her own and identified at least ten
cases of elderly patients who have to be treated in the last month for
dehydration and other issues. All were tourists. All were part of various tour
groups. Whether it is all a massive coincidence or something the Sheriff’s
department as well as Branson City Police Department should be looking at, she
does not know. She does now something is not right and she is worried.
So, she brought what has been happening to
her husband. Like those of us who were lucky to have been married to a very
smart women and caring woman, Sheriff Worth knows Maggie is almost never wrong.
If she believes something is going on, it most certainly is happening. The real
question is why it is happening, who is involved besides the elderly victims,
and how to stop it before more are imperiled and somebody dies.
These storylines and others combine into
another excellent installment with Dangerous Consequences. A Sheriff Hank
Worth Mystery by Claire Booth. As in the preceding books, ongoing character
development and storyline arcs continue,
so it is best to have read the preceding books. Mystery, action, and the
occasional laugh out loud funny moment make this read, and the series, one of
my favorites. Highly recommended.
The series in order and my reviews:
The Branson Beauty (September
2016)
Another Man’s Ground (January
2018)
A Deadly Turn (March
2019)
Fatal Divisions (January 2021)
My reading copy came from the author with no
expectation of a review. For another take on the book, make sure you check out Lesa Holstine's review.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2022
Wednesday, May 25, 2022
Publishing ... and Other Forms of Insanity: 41 Glorious Writing Conferences in June 2022
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Dancing Naked in the Mind Field by Kary Mullis
Beneath the Stains of Time: Ripples (2017) by Robert Innes
Casual Debris: Casual Shorts: Jack Finney, Of Missing Persons (1955)
Bitter Tea and Mystery: Short Story Wednesday -- Catfantastic: Nine Lives and Fifteen Tales
Jerry's House of Everything: SHORT STORY WEDNESDAY: THE VALLEY OF UNREST
Little Big Crimes Review: Dreaming of Ella by Francelia Belton
Short Story Wednesday Review: Blood Moon: A Kate Burkholder Short Mystery by Linda Castillo
Blood Moon: A Kate Burkholder Short
Mystery by Linda Castillo begins as more than
one tale in the long running series has--- a buggy crash. In this case, Merle
Beachy is on his way home from The Strawberry Festival and things are going
wrong. He was already running late and had missed the evening meal. The thick
fog certainly isn’t helping as the damp and cold settle in on man, beast, and
every surface, including the roadway.
Things go way worse when a loud noise in the woods
just after a bridge crossing causes his horse to spook and run flat out. The terrified
horse plunges off the roadway, through a ditch, and towards the trees where it
soon becomes clear that the buggy is not going to slide in between the trees. Merle
is thrown clear of the damaged buggy only to be, within a couple of minutes, attacked
by the creature that spooked the horse.
After fighting off the creature, which he thinks
might be a bear, the injured man makes his way to a nearby farm. As it happens,
that farm is Levi Miller’s place. Levi Miller and Kate Burkholder have known
each other since they were kids, so when she learns his call is why dispatch is
calling her, she knows that his request for her presence is legit and needed.
Before long, Chief Burkholder and her partner, John Tomasetti, are in her unit
and headed towards Miller’s farm.
Good thing too as there will be more incidents this
foggy dark night. Something is in the woods and things are definitely rapidly escalating.
What it is and how to deal with it are two of several questions in Blood
Moon: A Kate Burkholder Short Mystery.
An interesting tale that is a bit of a change of
pace from what goes on normally in this series. While billed as a “short
mystery” this read is a novella and is action orientated with virtually no
character development and very little backstory. It is just a fun short visit
with some characters long known to readers and new folks.
Also included in the eBook is the opening chapters of the next novel in this long running series, The Hidden One.
I picked this up, pre-publication, using funds in my Amazon Associate account.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2022
Tuesday, May 24, 2022
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Under the Whispering Door by T.J. Klune
SleuthSayers: What Fired Me Up to Write a Fireworks Story by Barb Goffman
Publication Day for Back Road Bobby and His Friends Editor Colin Conway
If you read my story, I hope you like it. If you don’t,
at least you have eleven other short stories to read so I am sure you will find
ones you do like in Back Road Bobby and His Friends.
Monday, May 23, 2022
Coming Next Month
Noir at the Bar: Dallas returns to Wild Detectives with our headliner, Joe Lansdale!
Once again, yours truly will also be reading. Make sure to book the date.
Bitter Tea and Mystery: Last Seen Wearing: Hillary Waugh
SleuthSayers: Writing Outside the Outlines by Steve Liskow
Aubrey Nye Hamilton Reviews: Skelton's Guide to Suitcase Murders by David Stafford
I seldom burble about
books, having read too many to think that they are all exceptional, but I find
myself burbling about the second book in the Skelton’s Casebook series by David
Stafford. I cannot remember who was so ecstatic about the first book that I
felt compelled to find the sequel but I located Skelton's Guide to Suitcase Murders (Allison & Busby, 2021) and was
straightaway enthralled.
Set in 1929, this
series follows the career of barrister Arthur Skelton, who had the reputation of
salvaging the most hopeless of defenses. In this book a woman’s corpse is found
in a suitcase and her husband, an Egyptian doctor, is accused of killing her.
She was believed to have been straying from the marriage, and potentially
incriminating materials are found in their home. There was no real evidence
against the doctor and the condition of the corpse was such that identity could
not be categorically proven. However, the doctor appeared to be on his way to
the gallows from sheer xenophobia. Skelton and his clerk Edgar Hobbs are
determined to do their best to save him.
In addition to
this major homicide case, Skelton is defending a man accused of knowingly
driving a truck full of stolen peacock feathers. He is also defending a young
tearaway charged with burglarizing a factory and setting it on fire to cover up
his depredations. His novel approaches to both cases are mesmerizing.
On the home front,
Skelton has another set of challenges. His wife is determined to buy an
airplane and fly it to Australia. His father is newly retired from his job and
is at a loss as to what to do with himself. He is sad and depressed, sitting in
his chair all day long.
This tale gently parodies
the classic mysteries of the Golden Age while delivering a cracking good
puzzle. The witty writing and deliciously eccentric characters are icing on the
cake. The thread about a guinea pig named Primrose Moorfield is worth the price
of the book all by itself.
Like the Bryant
and May books, this mystery captures the flavor of the time beautifully. Again
like Bryant and May, there are periodic data dumps of incredibly esoteric
information. I now know more about peacock feathers than I ever thought
possible. The tongue-in-cheek narrative has a spot-on sense of comedic timing,
no doubt gathered from Stafford’s theatre experience.
This book is utterly delightful and I cannot recommend it highly enough.
·
Publisher: Allison & Busby
(September 23, 2021)
·
Language: English
·
Paperback: 352 pages
·
ISBN-10: 0749026987
·
ISBN-13: 978-0749026981
Aubrey Nye Hamilton ©2022
Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on
Federal It projects by day and reads mysteries at night.
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