Thursday, September 21, 2023
Beneath the Stains of Time: The Devil's Flute Murders (1951/53) by Seishi Yokomizo
Wednesday, September 20, 2023
Bitter Tea and Mystery: Short Story Wednesday: Hilma Wolitzer
Tuesday, September 19, 2023
SleuthSayers: Bouchercon takeaways: being a successful panelist
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Hillerman & Dark Winds
Beneath the Stains of Time: Face Value (1983) by Roger Ormerod
Review: Blessing of the Lost Girls: A Brady and Walker Family Novel by J. A. Jance
Blessing
of the Lost Girls: A Brady
and Walker Family Novel by J. A. Jance is an engrossing
read currently scheduled to be published on September 19th. One should make sure to read both of the
afterwords as they are very important to the context of the story.
Readers are
first introduced to Charlie Milton and it is clear very soon that he is a
really bad guy. One of those guys that neighbors always say afterwards during
media interviews that the guy was odd and just didn’t fit in right with other
folks.
It is February
2019 as the book begins and Charlie Milton is in town for the Tucson Rodeo.
Charlie Milton is a serial killer. He likes to hunt for the right victim. He
has a type. He prefers women of color, especially those from Indian
reservations. He counts on law enforcement arguing over which agency should
handle the missing person case which means the case went cold long before it
ever started. That works well for serial killers like Charlie Milton. Once he
has killed, he soon hits the road in his RF and drifts to the next place.
What he didn’t
count on was that fact that DNA from a kill he did several years ago would make
its way into the system in 2022. It did. Field Officer Dan Pardee works for a
new federal agency, Missing and Murdered Indigenous People’s Task Force. Known
as “MIP,” they are part of the Department of The Interior. Their mission is to
work cases involving the disappearances and deaths of Native Americans.
Dan Pardee, an
investigator with a background in Border Patrol, is assigned the case of Rosa
Rios. With the DNA match, it makes it clear to everyone that it was her charred
body was found three years ago on a rancher’s land in the jurisdiction of
Sheriff Joanna Brady of Cochise County. He is going to work the case. He will
need Sheriff’s Brady’s help in bringing justice and, hopefully, a little peace
to her family.
What follows is a complicated read. Dan Pardee is the focus, but Brady and her family make a number of appearances in this very enjoyable read. A tale that also, in addition to providing a complicated and enjoyable mystery, brings attention to what has been going on for decades for missing indigenous women. Complicated and fast moving, Blessing of the Lost Girls: A Brady and Walker Family Novel by J. A. Jance is well worth your time and attention.
My reading copy
came by way of a NetGalley ARC with no expectation of a review.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2023
Monday, September 18, 2023
Aubrey Nye Hamilton Reviews: The Vinyl Detective: The Run-Out Groove by Andrew J. Cartmel
Andrew J. Cartmel is a British
script editor, author and journalist. He was the script editor of Doctor Who between
1987 and 1989. He also worked as a script editor on other television series, as
a magazine editor, as a comics writer, as a film studies lecturer, and as a novelist. The Vinyl
Detective, whose name is never revealed, is a specialist in old and rare vinyl
recordings. His sidekicks are his girlfriend Nevada, who haunts the charity
shops for vintage clothing, and Tinkler, a computer whiz and collector of
vintage rock memorabilia. Their friend Agatha Dubois-Kanes collects vintage
Penguin paperbacks. Their various hobbies engender a great interest in the
thrift shops and estate sales of London.
In The Vinyl Detective: The Run-Out
Groove (Titan Books, 2017) John Drummond and Lucy Tegmark approach the
Vinyl Detective to hire him to help with the book on Valerian, a famous rock
singer of the 1960s, that Lucy’s father, a journalist who followed Valerian’s
band, had started but dropped after Valerian’s sudden death. Drummond is the
singer’s brother who wants to find Valerian’s child who disappeared about the
same time Valerian died. Drummond also wants a 45 single that was due to be
released at the same time as his sister’s last album but in view of her death,
the record company destroyed most of the copies. Tegmark has a wealth of
original source material that needs to be verified and prioritized. Drummond
thinks that the three lines of research overlap and that the Detective can
assist with them.
Tracking down people who knew the singer
proved to be more difficult than expected. The Detective did manage to locate
the photographer who shot the big rock groups of the time, Valerian’s
psychiatrist, and some of her friends. None of them have worn well. When the
Detective manages to interview a few of them, he hears a different theory about
the child from each person. The 45 single was a little easier to find but
someone else wanted it too. The Detective’s apartment was thoroughly tossed, as
was the shop of the record seller where they found it. They found themselves
locked into a house set ablaze in one scene and under attack by a goose trained
to guard her home in another.
The book is full of references to the English music scene of
the 1960s with its personalities. It’s worth reading just for the social
history. The complicated Drummond family story alternates between the
preposterous and the somber. The antics of The Detective and his friends are
entertaining and the ending was ingeniously plotted. The
seventh book in this very good series is scheduled for publication in April
2024. Recommended.
·
Publisher: Titan Books (May 9,
2017)
·
Language: English
·
Paperback: 320 pages
·
ISBN-10: 1783297697
·
ISBN-13: 978-1783297696
Aubrey Nye Hamilton ©2023
Aubrey Hamilton is a
former librarian who works on Federal It projects by day and reads mysteries at
night.
Sunday, September 17, 2023
Little Big Crimes: Lavender Diamond, by Edward Sheehy
Saturday, September 16, 2023
KRL This Week Update for 9/16/2023
Up on KRL this morning a review and giveaway of "Murder in the Book Lover's Loft" by Ellery Adams https://kingsriverlife.com/09/16/murder-in-the-book-lovers-loft-by-ellery-adams/
And reviews and giveaways of 3 more fun mysteries for your fall tbr-'All that Glitters Isn’t Gold": A Whit and Whiskers Mystery by Gabby Allan, "Death of a Clam Digger": A Hayley Powell Food & Cocktails Mystery by Lee Hollis, and Steeped in Malice: A Tea by the Sea Mystery by Vicki Delany https://kingsriverlife.com/09/16/mysteries-for-your-fall-tbr/
We also have a review and giveaway of "Seams Deadly" by Maggie Bailey along with an interesting interview with Maggie https://kingsriverlife.com/09/16/seams-deadly-by-maggie-bailey/
And a review of the second season of "The Chelsea Detective" on Acorn TV https://kingsriverlife.com/09/16/the-chelsea-detective-season-2-on-acorn/
For those who prefer to listen to Mysteryrat's Maze Podcast directly on KRL, you can find the player here for the new episode which features "Murder Faux Paws" by T.C. LoTempio and is read by local actor Ariel Linn https://kingsriverlife.com/09/16/new-mysteryrats-maze-podcast-featuring-murder-faux-paws/
Up during the week we posted an excerpt from Martin Clark's new thriller "The Plinko Bounce" https://kingsriverlife.com/09/13/the-plinko-bounce-by-martin-clark-excerpt/
And a special midweek guest post by mystery author Rebecca K. Jones about her latest book "Stemming the Tide" https://kingsriverlife.com/09/13/damsels-in-distress/
Up on KRL News and Reviews this week we have a review and giveaway of "Desert Deadline" by Michael Craft https://www.krlnews.com/2023/09/desert-deadline-by-michael-craft.html
And a review and ebook giveaway of "Sliced, Diced, and Dead" by JC Eaton https://www.krlnews.com/2023/09/sliced-diced-and-dead-by-j-c-eaton.html
Beneath the Stains of Time: DeKok and the Immortal Death (1998) by A.C. Baantjer
SleuthSayers: The Scene of the Crime by Josh Pachter
Scott's Take: Invincible Iron Man Vol. 1: Demon in the Armor by Gerry Duggan
Invincible Iron Man Vol. 1: Demon in the
Armor by Gerry Duggan is the latest new Iron Man
series. This book is heavily crossing over with the X-Men titles and is
considered part of the Fall of X series. Iron Man
is an X-Men title and is being run by the X-Men editors. The Fall of X
is about the X-Men losing their island and being scattered across the globe and
elsewhere. They are being hunted by the organization, Orchis, and the general
public has turned on the X-Men. This volume is set before that stuff and helps
setup how the X-men lose their island. The next volume is set during the Fall
of X and the Hellfire gala (3rd one).
So, this is another Iron Man loses everything while
he is being introspective about himself run. Yes, that is the book. I realize
this is pretty much covers the same ideas has the previous Slott, Bendis, Cates
runs.
But, this one is done way better than these runs
even if the core ideas are the same.
It’s hard to talk about the villain for this run
since it is a character that heavily ties into the X-Men books. There is
murder, a conspiracy, and hostile takeover of Tony Stark’s company. He has a
new place and new status quo. If one keeps up with the current promotions by Marvel
comics, one probably knows that this (major spoiler) series is building to the
wedding of Emma Frost of the X-men to Tony Stark (aka Iron Man).
The art is good and Gerry Duggan has a good grasp on
the character of Iron Man. This is the most interesting Iron Man book in a long
time, in my opinion. I still don’t like the current Iron Man suit. I also think
that Tony’s mustache is a really bad look. Outside of those nitpicks, Invincible
Iron Man Vol. 1: Demon in the Armor is a really good book even if it is
reusing the same ideas that all the previous other most recent writers have
done.
The second volume of this series currently does not have a title or a release date.
My reading copy came from the Dallas Public Library
System and the Hoopla app. This read was read on hoopla.
Scott A. Tipple ©2023
Friday, September 15, 2023
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Sandwiches and Sweets: Cookbook Roundup!
Sweet Freedom: A MYSTERY, CRIME & NOIR NOTEBOOK by Gary Lovisi
Jerry's House of Everything: FORGOTTEN BOOK: COMFORT STATION
Thursday, September 14, 2023
Bitter Tea and Mystery: A Fire Story: Brian Fies
Wednesday, September 13, 2023
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Nevermore: Mrs. Plansky's Revenge, Pachinko, Magician's Assistant
Beneath the Stains of Time: Key Without a Door (1988) by Anthony Lejeune
Jerry's House of Everything: SHORT STORY WEDNESDAY: THE STONE THAT THE BUILDERS REJECTED
Short Story Wednesday Review: Moonlight & Misadventure: 20 Stories of Mystery and Suspense Editor Judy Penz Sheluk
With
the recent announcement by Judy Penz Sheluk that she is gearing up to do a
fourth anthology, it seemed a good time to remind you of this anthology from
Superior Shores Press. From the massive archive…
Moonlight
& Misadventure: 20 Stories of Mystery and Suspense opens with a powerful tale by Joseph S. Walker titled
“Crown Jewel.” Keenan Beech has brother issues. Specifically, twin brother
issues. Xavier has now taken something that rightfully belonged only to Keenan.
Xavier knew how to stick the knife in--figuratively-- and Keenan intends to
restore balance by getting back what is his. At least, that was plan before
everything got so very complicated.
Twins
and their relationship are also a major part of the following story, “The
Ballard of The Jerrell Twins” by Clark Boyd. Whether Darrell and Terrell really
are or are not twins is not the question. The real question here is the
accepted idea that two heads are better than one. In this case, they may not be
as neither one is all that smart. That is apparent before the mystery, the
nitrous oxide, and many other things come to light.
Tammy
Lee Swanley sets up to watch Lombard’s Jewelry as “Tammy Loves Derek” by
Bethany Maines begins. She has history with Derek Lombard. The same Derek
Lombard coming out of the jewelry store as he is locking up for the night. She
has a plan. In fact, she has a five-step plan to gain wealth. That plan is now
in motion.
Lorretta
Bremer with two little ones and an important job to do she has her hands full
in 1921 as she rides a train from Camden to Atlantic City. You do what you do
when you are a widow and on your own. Things are hard. Finding a body in her
hotel room makes things so much worse. The fact that the body is of Roger
MacNair who had hired her for dictation and typing at the convention is going
to be a huge problem in “Moonset” by Jeanne Dubois.
After
reading “Reunions” by John M. Floyd, you may think again about striking up a
conversation on a plane. Larry Taylor did just that, helped out Roger
Farnsworth by paying for his drink, and things went into motion.
Uncle
Kenny has a plan, but Josh O’ Leary does not want to hear it. Uncle Kenny’s
plans are never fool proof-- even when he claims they are-- and often result in
long prison sentences. Uncle Kenny is sure his plan will absolutely work this
time because they will keep it in the family in “A Currency of Wishes” by Kate
Fellowes.
Gwen,
as a child, started lifting items here and there. The Barbie doll was the first
treasure in “Cereus Thinking” by Tracy Falenwolfe. She lived with her
grandparents, Don and June, who never leave the campground they run. Manatee
Playground Campsite is her home and she lifts treasures from those folks who
tick her off as they come through while on vacation. By the time she is of
legal age, she has long since realized she needs to get out of there. Leroy
Lafontaine might be her ticket out.
Readers
go back in time to the early 1930s in the next tale, “Just Like Peg Entwistle”
by Robert Weibezahl. In the time of the big studios and controlled access to
movie stars, the sudden death of Peg Entwistle was huge news. Was it a suicide?
Was the death of the young actress murder? What really happened is the subject
of this tale.
The
trio is out in the swamp hunting for a lost treasure in “Scavenger Hunt” by
Michael A. Clark. It was lost in February 1958. All these decades later, the
three are deep in the Wassaw Sound with the faint city light glow of Savannah
far to their south. Lit by moonlight, the search is on.
It
is back in time again with the next short story, “My Night with the Duke of
Edinburgh” by Susan Daly. It is the fall of 1951 and Princess Elizabeth and her
husband, Prince Phillip, will soon arrive in Canada for a royal tour. The group
of college students in Toronto want to make some sort of symbolic public
statement regarding Canada’s sovereignty as a nation. Exactly what kind of
statement and the repercussions of their act are the theme of this tale.
She
had a pretty good idea of who her big brother was, warts and all, and now
Oliver is “Dead on the Beach” by KM Rockwood. At least, she thought she knew
everything. But, what she is being told regarding his death does not make a lot
of sense. She starts asking questions. As any reader should know, not only do
snitches get stiches, asking questions can get you killed.
Mom
is dead and now Uncle Peter wants his share of what the daughters have coming
to them. Not that there is a lot in “Madeline in the Moonlight” by Susan Jane
Wright. Mom was an artist and a bit eccentric so pretty much what you see is
what you get. Peter, being Mom’s baby brother, has no claim but he certainly is
pushing things.
Murder
is hard and messy work. Especially when you use a sledgehammer. It was well
worth it in “Not a Cruel Man” by Buzz Dixon. Cleanup should be easy.
Angie
Kritt is more than ready to shut down the old tavern for the night. It has been
a long day and she is very much ready to go in “12 miles to Taylorsville” by
C.W. Blackwell. Once she gets rid of the last few guys from the logging crew,
she can do a couple of things and get home. That is until Meena shows up
terrified and on the run.
Old
Man Harper is some sort of creepy perv who likes teen girls. At least, that is
what everybody at school says. Everybody knows what he is and want him gone.
Katy, Ron, and Grace-Rose have decided to give him a push on to somewhere else
in “Chicken Coops and Bread Pudding” by K.L. Abrahamson.
Peter
Hayes puts in a lot of unpaid hours. In “The Promotion” by Billy Houston, that
hard work is finally going to pay off. One way or another.
Just
before the power went out, the police got an alert from the security system at
the library. Officers Grabowski and Tyler are dispatched in “The Library Clue”
by Sharon Hart Addy. A broken basement window means they have to check it out.
The
plan is the thing in “Ill Met By Moonlight, Proud Miss Dolmas” by Elizabeth
Elwood. Teaching Drama and English is hard enough due to the actions of some
students who think they are entitled. Some want to ignore the rules. They seem
to have found an ally in the new principal, Martha Dolmas, who has never taught
a class in a day of her life.
Being
a public health inspector is a hard job. Having an overbearing and incompetent
boss, as was present in the preceding story, just makes things worse. In “The Moon God of Broadmoor” by M. H.
Callway, Liz gets reminded that her job means she has to shovel some stuff.
Figuratively and literally.
The
last tale is “Strawberry Moon” by Editor Judy Penz Sheluk. All she wants to do
is cross the border into the US. Unfortunately, she is dealing with a United
States border guard that likes his power a little too much.
From
the complicated and powerful opening tale to the twist ending in the last one,
the twenty stories in the book are all good ones. Moonlight as well as
misadventure in a variety of ways plays a major role in all of them. So does
more than a hint of madness in many of the tales. In some cases, things
happened as they always would because of the nature of the folks involved. In
others, the plan failed sometimes in surprising ways.
Moonlight & Misadventure: 20 Stories of Mystery and Suspense is an anthology that features many complicated reads. Every tale selected is a good one and well worth your time.
Editor
Judy Penz Sheluk sent me a digital ARC of the book with no expectation or
promise of a review.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2021, 2023
Tuesday, September 12, 2023
Monday, September 11, 2023
Little Big Crimes: The Last Shot, by Dave Waskin
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Clinchco: History of a Coal Camp by Dennis Reedy and Jeff Reedy
Aubrey Nye Hamilton Reviews: Perfectly Nice Neighbors by Kia Abdullah
Kia Abdullah’s latest thriller, Perfectly
Nice Neighbors (Putnam, 2023), published in the U.K. as Those People
Next Door (Harper Collins, 2023), takes the reader to a middle-class community
in London, where Salma and Bilal Khatun and their teen-aged son Zain have
moved to get away from a less desirable part of the city. From the beginning,
differences between them and their neighbors arise. Their neighbor objects to
the “Black Lives Matter” banner that Zain posts in the Khatun front yard. Salma
finds it on the ground a few times and then she sees the neighbor knock it
down. She confronts him and he is furious that she dared to challenge him.
Complaints about parking and cooking smells ensue. Salma’s car is damaged. All
the while, the unofficial community president and busybody keeps advising Salma
that the neighborhood is nice and that she should try to fit in.
Zain records one of the
confrontations between the neighbor and his mother, and he posts it to Twitter.
The image of the large white man looming over the smaller brown woman goes
viral, and the neighbor loses his job. Tension skyrockets, between the
neighbors and between Salma and Bilal, who wants his wife to back down and
ignore the abuse. He’s worried about money, having lost his restaurant during
the pandemic shutdown; the family is barely making ends meet. They cannot
afford to move again. Salma thinks that the meanness has to be faced or it will
never stop.
The outcome of the animosity is
completely unexpected and changes both families forever.
Abdullah describes the attempts of
second- and third-generation immigrants in England to create a home and to go
about their business while being viewed askance by those whose families have
been in the country much longer. It makes for painful reading. Racism and
intolerance appear in the most unlikely places; Abdullah makes it her mission
to display the uncompromising reality.
The role of social media in
polarizing contemporary society does not escape her eagle eye. The speed that
word spread about the conflict via Twitter drew the line between the two
families more deeply and left little room for easy resolution of their
differences.
Abdullah is one of those contemporary thriller writers who tells a good story while highlighting serious social issues. It isn’t hard to see parallels between the experience of immigrants in the U.K. and here in the U.S. Her books are not easy to read but they always give me a lot to think about. Recommended.
·
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons (September
12, 2023)
·
Language: English
·
Paperback: 352 pages
·
ISBN-10: 0593713818
·
ISBN-13: 978-0593713815
Aubrey Nye Hamilton ©2023
Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal It projects by day and reads mysteries at night.
Sunday, September 10, 2023
Jungle Red Writers: Mugging for Mugshots Over the Centuries by Christin Brecher
Saturday, September 09, 2023
Bitter Tea and Mystery: The Mulberry Bush: Charles McCarry
KRL This Week Update for 9/9/2023
Up on KRL this week we have reviews and giveaways of 2 mystery novels that involve bees-"Honey Drop Dead" by Laura Childs and "Birder She Wrote" by Donna Andrews https://kingsriverlife.com/09/09/mysteries-with-bees/
And a review and giveaway of "Between a Wok and a Dead Place" by Leslie Budewitz https://kingsriverlife.com/09/09/between-a-wok-and-a-dead-place-by-leslie-budewitz/
Up during the week we posted another special midweek guest post, this one by mystery author Sarah Bewley about the main character in her new book "Burning Eden", you can also enter to win a copy of the book https://kingsriverlife.com/09/06/the-reluctant-legacy-sheriff/
And another special midweek guest post, this one is by the editors of the new mystery anthology released by the Florida Gulf Coast Sisters in Crime, "Paradise is Deadly" talking about how they chose the stories in it https://kingsriverlife.com/09/06/what-do-editors-look-for-in-an-anthology/
With the holiday and KRL being on vacation it looks, I didn’t get the chance to share these that went up midweek last week so here you go! Another special midweek guest post, this one by mystery author Shelley Costa
https://kingsriverlife.com/08/ 30/the-first-scene-in-no- mistaking-death-is-not-on- page-one/
And another special midweek guest post, this one by mystery author J. Woollcott https://kingsriverlife.com/08/ 30/writing-an-emotional- roller-coaster/
Up on KRL News and Reviews this week we have a review and giveaway of "Mrs. Plansky's Revenge" by Spencer Quinn https://www.krlnews.com/2023/09/mrs-planskys-revenge-by-spencer-quinn.html
For those who enjoy fantasy, we have a review and giveaway of "Secrets in the Shadows" by Kaitlyn King https://www.krlnews.com/2023/09/secrets-in-shadows-by-kaitlyn-king.html
Beneath the Stains of Time: The Golden Window: Q.E.D. vol. 29-30 by Motohiro Katou,
Scott's Take: Avengers Mech Strike by Jed MacKay
Avengers Mech Strike by Jed MacKay is
a self contained stand alone Avengers title that is supposed to sell the toys
aka the mech suits the characters use. In this tale, the Avengers are fighting
giant monsters that are attacking the whole world. Each attack is becoming more
frequent. To combat the threat, the Avengers build giant mech suits to pilot. So,
such as the movie Pacific Rim, superheroes will be piloting big robots
vs giant monsters.
This is well written as one would expect
from Jed MacKay and he does a great job of exploring each member of the team.
This book is surprisingly deep for something designed to provide the background
for the toy line. For one example, Spider-Man deals with having to face his
insecurities as being part of the Avengers since he is not one of their most
powerful members. The art is really good
in this tale.
The reader gets the feeling that this book is the reason that Jed MacKay is now in charge of the current main Avenger book. Several of the characters in this book have journeyed on to the current Avengers read that has yet to be put out in trade format. This is a good book to hold one over while the first trade is still being collected.
My reading copy came from the Vickery
Park Branch of the Dallas Public Library System.
Scott A. Tipple ©2023
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