Sunday, March 31, 2024
Little Big Crimes: I Remember it Well, by Wayne J. Gardiner
Little Big Crimes: I Remember it Well, by Wayne J. Gardiner: "I Remember it Well," by Wayne J. Gardiner, in Black Cat Weekly, #134, 2024. This is the third story by Gardiner to get review...
Beneath the Stains of Time: The Secret of the Pointed Tower (1937) by Pierre Véry
Beneath the Stains of Time: The Secret of the Pointed Tower (1937) by Pierre Véry: Last year, I reviewed the short story " Le mystére de la chambre verte " ("The Mystery of the Green Room," 1936) by Pier...
Guest Post: Excerpt: A Scarlet Death by Elaine Viets
Please welcome author Elaine Viets back to the blog today as she shares the first chapter excerpt from her new book, A Scarlet Death. This is the latest book in her Angela Richman, Death Investigator Mystery Series. The book comes out on Tuesday, April 2nd from Severn House, and is available from Amazon and other vendors.
A Scarlet Death: An
Angela Richman, Death Investigator Mystery
Chapter 1
Selwyn
Skipton’s murder scene was one of the strangest, and I’ve seen a lot of them in
my job.
The seventy-year-old CEO was buck-naked
on a bed with black satin sheets. A silk tie, in a muted shade of blue, was
knotted around his neck. There was nothing muted about the large, red letter
“A” stapled to his gray-haired chest.
Yep, stapled.
I thought Skipton would be the last
man to die on black satin sheets. He was a devoted husband who made big
donations to charities – unfashionable causes that helped the illiterate read,
the hungry eat, and the homeless find shelter. In short, a good man.
Selwyn was strangled in an apartment above the Chouteau Forest Chocolate Shoppe.
My town is so rich, we don’t have shops. We have prissy shoppes.
I’m Angela Richman, a death
investigator for Chouteau County, a fat cat community forty miles west of St.
Louis, Missouri. Chouteau Forest is the largest town in the county.
Selwyn’s
murder was discovered by Maya Richards, the chocolate shop owner. When she
opened the store that morning, Maya smelled something that definitely wasn’t
chocolate. She followed her nose up the back stairs to the apartment, where
the door was unlocked, and poked her head in. One look at the strangled Selwyn,
and she sprinted downstairs. When Maya recovered her breath, she wailed like an
air raid siren, then called 911.
That’s how Detective Jace Budewitz and
I wound up at the scene at eleven o’clock on a freezing December morning, an
hour after the place usually opened. The chocolate shop was chaos. The front
doors were locked, with the three responding uniformed officers inside. Mike
Harrigan, an old pro, was guarding the back door. Scott Grafton was drooling
over a rack of chocolate Christmas candy, and Pete Clayton, the new hire, was
at the front door. Crazed chocolate lovers stormed the place, oblivious to the
falling snow. Jace shooed them away, and had Pete string up yellow crime scene
tape.
Maya Richards unlocked the door with
shaking fingers, and let us in. I was familiar with the interior, thanks to my
craving for sea-salt truffles. The decor hadn’t changed since 1890. Curlicued
dark wood framed mirrors behind mahogany counters. The chocolates were
displayed like jewels in beveled glass cases. The cases were empty today. Maya
knew her shop wasn’t going to open for a while.
Maya was about forty, wearing a
chocolate-brown suit, the same color as her hair. Her face was pale as paper
and her red lipstick looked like a bloody slash. Maya was shaking so badly, I
was afraid she’d collapse. She was clearly in shock, and could barely talk.
Jace was worried about her. He made
sure Maya sat in a chair and called 911. I went back to find her a cup of
coffee. I couldn’t find any, but there was plenty of the shop’s double-dark hot
chocolate. I heated a mug in the microwave, and brought it to her. Maya wrapped
her hands around the mug, and nodded. After a few sips, she recovered enough to
talk. There were long pauses between her words, but she forced them out. Then
the words tumbled out in a rush.
“I . . . get . . . here . . . about
seven . . . to set up the shop,” she said.
“I have a very keen nose,
and something didn’t smell right. I thought a squirrel might have gotten into
the store and died. I checked everywhere, and finally decided the smell must be
coming from upstairs.
“Mr. Selwyn Skipton has the entire
apartment upstairs. I thought he kept it as a second office, or a pied-à-terre
for when he worked late downtown. He owns the building, you see, and he’s a
regular customer. He loves our bear claws.”
“Me, too,” I said. Jace frowned at me
for interrupting.
Maya took another sip of hot chocolate
and kept talking. ‘I’ve never been upstairs in the apartment. Mr. Skipton’s
kept it for years, and he likes – I mean, liked – his privacy. I was afraid he
might have had some kind of accident. He has his own entrance in the back of
the building, and I need a special key to open it. I also need a key to open
the door at the top. The upstairs door was left unlocked.
“I ran upstairs and knocked on the
door. No one answered. I jiggled the handle and the door swung open. All I saw
was this giant bed, covered in black satin, and Mr. Skipton in the middle of
it. Dead. And naked. With bugs crawling on him!”
Now Maya’s teeth were chattering. Her
breathing was rapid and shallow and her skin was clammy. She set her mug on the
floor.
“Are you OK, Ms. Richards?” Jace
asked.
“I’m fine,” she said, and fainted.
“See if she has any family, Angela,”
Jace said. “I’ll call 911.”
I found her cell phone and ran back.
It needed the owner’s fingerprint to unlock it. I grabbed Maya’s limp hand,
used her index finger to unlock the phone, scrolled down to an entry that said “Sis,”
and called the number. Her sister Anita answered, and once I calmed her down,
Anita said she’d leave her office and meet Maya at the hospital.
“That’s the ambulance,” I told her, as
the siren died with a squawk. Doors slammed. Pete opened the shop door, and
four paramedics rushed in, bringing a blast of cold. Jace explained what
happened. They checked Maya’s pulse. “Do you know if this has happened to her
before?” the biggest paramedic asked. He looked like he bench-pressed Buicks.
“No idea.” Jace shrugged.
“It could be a panic attack,” the
paramedic said, “but we’ll take her to the ER to make sure.”
Jace asked Pete to stay with Maya at
the hospital until her sister showed up. The young crew-cut mountain gave Jace
a sour look and stomped out the door.
I raised an eyebrow in surprise.
“Pete’s got a bad attitude,” Jace
said. “He tried to get hired by a big force, and wound up here. Thinks he’s too
good to do scut work.”
I nodded, and let it go. Some
detectives wouldn’t have bothered taking care of Maya at a murder scene, but
Jace had a kind heart.
Meanwhile Mike, the responding
officer, had set up the crime scene log. Jace and I gloved up, put on booties
and trudged up the dark, narrow private staircase. I dragged my death
investigator’s suitcase behind me.
The apartment door was open from when
Maya fled downstairs.
Jace looked in and said, “Good lord.”
.jpg)
Elaine Viets ©2024
Elaine Viets has written 35 mysteries in four series. Her latest is A Scarlet Death: An Angela Richman, Death Investigator Mystery, published by Severn House in London. Elaine passed the Medicolegal Death Investigator Training Course given by St. Louis University’s School of Medicine. Deal with the Devil and 13 Short Stories is her collection of short stories. She’s won the Agatha, Anthony and Lefty Awards. Elaine will be honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Malice Domestic Mystery Conference in Bethesda, Maryland in April, 2024.
Saturday, March 30, 2024
SleuthSayers: The Best Movies You've Never Heard Of
SleuthSayers: The Best Movies You've Never Heard Of: A friend once told me he thought I'd seen more movies than anyone else he'd ever known. I also seem to recall him rolling his eye...
Scott's Take: Superman: Action Comics Vol. 1: Rise of Metallo by Phillip Kennedy Johnson
Superman: Action
Comics Vol. 1: Rise of Metallo by Phillip Kennedy Johnson follows up
his previous Superman Action comics series. This read incorporates plot points from his
previous run so folks can start here and follow along. Clark and Lois have
adopted the two kids Clark rescued from War World. They gave also helped settle
the refuges in Metropolis those who chose to stay on Earth. Life is going
fairly well.
Metropolis is
being protected by Superman and the rest of his family. With the town being
patrolled by 5 super powered Kryptonians and 2 heavily armed geniuses, the city
should be safe even with the rise in anti-alien sentiment. A new group calling
itself Blue Earth is increasingly becoming violent and engaging in terrorist
activities to spread their hate. They are angered by the presence of aliens and
the use of alien technology by Steel in his new company, Steelworks. Steel
wants to use the tech from War World to make the world a better place.
Metallo, a Superman
villain, soon makes his presence known utilizing new alien tech to strike out
against Superman and his family. For some reason, Metallo is more unhinged than
usual.
Metallo has
never been that interesting to me, but the author does a good job of humanizing
him in this volume and fleshing him out as a character. There is also a spoiler
villain who is pretty terrifying in this story.
There is a lot of body horror in this volume since some citizens are
turned into robotic creatures against their will. There are scenes where their
flesh is being taken away from them. The fights are pretty brutal since it is
established that the people are already dead inside.
The art is
incredible. The author sprinkles the story with a lot of interesting small
details and character development. Whether it’s showing that that Supergirl has
a sweet tooth, how Jon is dealing with the fact he is no longer an only child,
or how the kids are trying to adjust to living life on Earth. For example, the
author shows the kids preferring to sleep on the floor because the beds are too
soft. One of the kids ties herself up at night using the bedspread because she
is used to being chained up as she slept.
For some reason,
the Knight Terror tie ins are skipped in this collection and will
not be in the second volume either. The second volume for this book is also
untitled with no publication date, at this time.
The tie ins for
this book, as well as several other ones from other series, are released together
in Knight Terrors: Knightmare League.
I personally think they should have included the appropriate tie ins here in Superman:
Action Comics Vol. 1: Rise of Metallo as the tie ins consist of the
super twins (the new kids) dealing with PTSD elements after the events of this volume.
One of the villains in this volume causes long term trauma to the kids.
Overall, I
really enjoyed this volume. I have enjoyed all the Superman related things
Phillip Kennedy Johnson has written.
I am looking
forward to the second volume of this series (no title and no release date) and
the event, House of Brainiac, when they do come out. Superman is
getting an event series which he has not had in years as Brainiac and his
family attacks.
Amazon Associate
Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/48YSZ9e
My reading copy
came by way of the Hoopla App and the Dallas Public Library System.
Scott A. Tipple ©2024
Friday, March 29, 2024
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: We All Want Impossible Things by Catherine Newman
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: We All Want Impossible Things by Catherine Newman: Reviewed by Kristin Ash and Edi have been best friends for 42 years. From feeding the nursery school class Venus flytrap together, to ma...
Jerry's House of Everything: FORGOTTEN BOOK: MISS PICKERELL AND THE GEIGER COUNTER
Jerry's House of Everything: FORGOTTEN BOOK: MISS PICKERELL AND THE GEIGER COU...: Miss Pickerell and the Geiger Counter by Ellen MacGregor (1953) One of the greatest accomplishments in my life is that I never grew up. ...
Thursday, March 28, 2024
FFB Review: Obsession in Death: In Death Series by J.D. Robb
It is just days away from the end of 2060 as Obsession
in Death by J.D. Robb begins. The clock is ticking in a variety of
ways. For most, it is the anticipation of a new year. For others, it is a hunt
for a killer.
As the fortieth book in the series begins,
Lieutenant Eve Dallas of NYSPD is standing over a body. This time the body is a
woman, a high-profile defense attorney, and one that tangled with Dallas in
court. Leanore Bastwick is very much dead in her bed. Somebody is proudly
taking credit for the murder via the message on the wall above the headboard. The
message also claims that the killer did it for Dallas to serve justice.
Dallas always saw their conflict as professionals
doing their jobs. Nothing more. Bastwick was doing her job as a good defense attorney.
Dallas was doing hers. However, somebody else Bastwick’s recent actions in
court as disrespect and decided to serve justice by killing Bastwick.
Strangulation by wire garrote. If that was not enough, the killer cut her
tongue and put in a dish next to the bed.
It’s bad enough that the woman is dead, but now
Dallas has somebody who believes that he or she is the one true friend and destined
to right wrongs done to Dallas. Bastwick was just doing her job and died. Who
else does Dallas interact with that might be on the list of a killer? Not just
folks doing their job, but actual friends who else will become a target as the
idiolatry fades because it is not appreciated or reciprocated?
Like the list of potential targets, the list of potential
suspects is huge and a daunting one. Good thing Dallas has Roarke, Peabody, and
a lot of other people willing to work as the hunt begins for a killer. The killer
might be crazy, but the initial planning and execution of the first kill is
very good. The first kill has been accomplished without a trace left behind.
It won’t be the last.
Obsession in Death
by J.D. Robb is another entertaining read in this long running police procedural
series. A good series that does not get enough credit as the incredible
reviewer and book champion Lesa Holstine noted in her review of Random in
Death.
The series does not get enough attention. One
suspects that might be because the romance angle in the books and the fact that
the author is well known for romance reads. If that is why, it is unfortunate
as these books are primarily police procedurals where crime and justice are the
main course and the romance is a nice side dish.
Amazon Associates Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/3UUjvgL
My reading copy came by way of the Overdrive/Libby
App and the Dallas Public Library System.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2024
SleuthSayers: Forget "Time to Write" – What About Headspace?
SleuthSayers: Forget "Time to Write" – What About Headspace?: Hello fellow Sleuthsayer Faithful! Feels like forever since I jumped into the swirling maelstrom of thought and discussion which is our bel...
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: New in April: Non-Fiction
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: New in April: Non-Fiction: April is turning out to be a big month for books! While there is a lot of good fiction on the publishers’ calendars, there are some very...
Bitter Tea and Mystery: The Silver Swan: Benjamin Black
Bitter Tea and Mystery: The Silver Swan: Benjamin Black: In early March, I read The Silver Swan by Benjamin Black (pseudonym of John Banville). Set in Ireland in the 1950s, it is the 2nd book abou...
Wednesday, March 27, 2024
Publishing ... and Other Forms of Insanity: 83 Calls for Submissions in April 2024 - Paying markets
Publishing ... and Other Forms of Insanity: 83 Calls for Submissions in April 2024 - Paying ma...: This April there are more than six dozen calls for submissions. All of these are paying markets, and none charge submission fees. As always,...
Beneath the Stains of Time: The Summer of the Ubume (1994) by Natsuhiko Kyogoku
Beneath the Stains of Time: The Summer of the Ubume (1994) by Natsuhiko Kyogoku: Natsuhiko Kyogoku is a graphic designer, yokai researcher and mystery writer whose debut, Ubume no natsu ( The Summer of the Ubume , 1994...
Jerry's House of Everything: SHORT STORY WEDNESDAY: WOLF OF THE STEPPES
Jerry's House of Everything: SHORT STORY WEDNESDAY: WOLF OF THE STEPPES: Wolf of the Steppes by Greye La Spina Letter from Doctor Thomas Connors to Amdi Rubdah, the adept, Teheran, Persia. To my dear Master, gre...
Short Story Wednesday Review: All Systems Red: The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells
From the massive
archive and one of Scott’s reviews. You can read more of his reviews each
Saturday.
All Systems Red by Martha Wells
is the first novella in a series of novellas and at least one book that is part
of The Murderbot Diaries. It stars as a security unit that is
part robot and part human that calls itself Murderbot. It is an antisocial mix
of robot and human that is not fully either. In the far future where everything
is run by corporations, Murderbot has a simply defined job. That task is to
protect the human exploratory teams that are doing research on unsettled
planets. Like most things, contracts are awarded to companies based to the
lowest bid so they don’t have the resources Murderbot needs to do her job. When
a team of scientists on a planet stop responding to any calls and goes missing,
it is up to Murderbot and her team to figure out what happened. The planet is
not supposed to have any threat, so where is the team and why are they silent?
This novella is an interesting first work in a long running series. Murderbot is an introvert trying to deal with doing her job and the fact she is not like anyone else. She was built to do a job of a security guard to be embedded with exploration teams. That mix of organic and robot parts has created an introvert that would much prefer to be away from everyone and just watch their version of television. But, she has a job to do and does so in this read that has a nice mix of action, drama, and humor.
I recommend All
Systems Red by Martha Wells if someone is looking for something
different with a unique protagonist and likes space exploration stories. I am
currently on hold at the library for the sequel, Artificial Condition.
This read is also a novella.
My reading copy came from the Skyline Branch of the Dallas Public Library System.
Scott A. Tipple ©2021, 2024
Tuesday, March 26, 2024
Monday, March 25, 2024
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: The Columbo Collection by William Link
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: The Columbo Collection by William Link: Reviewed by Jeanne There are a few television characters who become such icons that they are recognized practically the world over.* ...
Publishing ... and Other Forms of Insanity: 54 Writing Contests in April 2024 - No entry fees
Publishing ... and Other Forms of Insanity: 54 Writing Contests in April 2024 - No entry fees: This April there are more than four dozen free writing contests for short fiction, novels, poetry, CNF, nonfiction, and plays. Prizes this m...
Aubrey Nye Hamilton Reviews: Bones Under the Ice by Mary Ann Miller
Bones Under
the Ice
(Oceanview, 2023) is Mary Ann Miller’s debut and the first in a series about
small-town sheriff Jhonni Laurent, Field’s Crossing, Indiana’s first female
sheriff. Snow removal in northern Indiana is a constant winter headache but
Field’s Crossing has been piling the excess in a park for years, creating a
sledding opportunity for the town children. Two boys thus occupied after the
most recent blizzard find an arm in an enormous pile of snow, launching Sheriff
Laurent’s first murder case.
The arm
proved to be attached to the body of a popular student at the local high
school. At first everyone thought the teenager had tried to walk home during
the blizzard after her truck ran out of gasoline but the autopsy revealed a
more direct cause of death. Her boyfriend was the most obvious suspect but he
had an alibi of sorts.
Laurent’s
investigation is hampered by a subordinate who ran in the election for sheriff
against her and lost but stayed on as a deputy, undermining her at all turns.
The local newspaper, such as it is, attacks her routinely and the board of
supervisors does not want to pay overtime for her staff.
My first
impression is how very well Miller knows rural small town life. The retired
farmers who camp in the local diner for breakfast know more than anyone about
what is happening and to whom. When Laurent wants to tap into the grapevine,
that’s where she goes. The generational feuds between families she describes are
realistic and damaging. And she pulls in the family farming crisis. Many
farmers are retiring with no one to leave their land to because their children
are unwilling to live a life of uncertainty and backbreaking labor. While the global
demand for food grows, there are fewer farmers to meet it. She adds the
controversy of wind farms to the mix with an informed discussion of the pros
and cons.
A tight structure,
even pacing, and understanding of small town operations, including the way an
investigation like this would be carried out in a resource-limited department.
A little more than midway through the book, the killer is revealed to the
reader and from there on there are two story lines, one the investigation and
the other the killer’s attempts to avoid identification. I found the change from
a straight police investigation disconcerting and unnecessary.
The second
book in the series is scheduled for October 2024. Especially for readers of
police procedurals and small town crime fiction.
·
Publisher: Oceanview Publishing
(March 21, 2023)
- Language: English
- Hardcover: 336 pages
- ISBN-10: 1608095371
- ISBN-13: 978-1608095377
Amazon Associate Purchase Link:
Aubrey Nye Hamilton ©2024
Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal It projects by day and reads mysteries at night.
Sunday, March 24, 2024
Little Big Crimes: No One Will Believe You, by Paul Ryan O'Connor
Little Big Crimes: No One Will Believe You, by Paul Ryan O'Connor: "No One Will Believe You," by Paul Ryan O'Connor, in Mystery Magazine, 2024. Ayden is not a very lucky guy. He's a di...
Guest Post: Barracuda Backfire Inspirations by Tom Milani
Please welcome Tom Milani back to the blog today with a guest post on his novella, Barracuda Backfire. This is the fourth novella in the Chop Shop series created and edited by Michael Bracken. This installment of the Dallas, Texas, based series comes out on April 1st exclusively on Amazon for the Kindle. You can read more from Tom in his guest posts about a story for Black Cat Weekly (Issue 78) here as well as his story in Groovy Gumshoes: Private Eyes in the Psychedelic Sixties anthology here.
Barracuda Backfire Inspirations
My friend John once owned a Plymouth Barracuda, an early
model with a wraparound rear window and a fold-down rear seat. He told me that
a few weeks after he sold it, he drove to the new owner’s house and got behind
the wheel. The owner came out. “You miss your car,” he said.
That story has stuck with me because it’s a reminder of
the attachments we have to our firsts—cars, loves—and how they can achieve an
outsize importance in our memories. Their faults fade from from our
recollections until all that remains is an idealized version that never
existed.
When Michael Bracken invited me to pitch an idea for Chop Shop, a series of novellas
set in Dallas and featuring Huey’s Auto Repair, I knew what car my story would
involve—a Plymouth Barracuda like my friend’s—and what the theme would be—first
loves and their holds over us.
Early on, I decided to structure the story with two
timelines, one set in 1976, the other in 2021. I thought I had a good setup.
The only problem—I knew nothing about Dallas. Enter my friend Chris, who grew
up in Texas. I offered to buy him coffee in exchange for some of his memories.
I got the better end of the deal.
He showed up with three maps of the Dallas area and
proceeded to tell me what each neighborhood was like in the 1970s and now. He
knew which auto parts stores were prominent then and which beers kids drank. I
took notes as fast as I could. As an afterthought, I asked him if people drag
raced then.
“Oh, yeah,” he said. “Forest Lane.”
That led me to an online article on the history of Forest
Lane as a site for cruising teenagers. The details in the article, and those
from my other research, informed the drag race scene in the story.
About that race … I knew that Billy Wright, my
protagonist, would be racing his car against Skip Parker. The question became
what would Parker be driving? Among the cars featured in the January 1965 issue
of Motor Trend, which I found
for sale on Amazon, were a Ford Mustang 2+2 and a Plymouth Barracuda. The
article had quarter-mile times and speeds for each vehicle, along with a host
of driving impressions. Now I had Skip’s car.
I’ve talked about the car, but there was also a girl
involved: Veronica Valdez. This inspiration for her isn’t as clear cut, but my
memories do play a role.
I am grateful to Michael Bracken for including me in this fantastic series. At one point during the writing, I saw how all the pieces of the story would fall together, and I began to get excited about putting it out into the world.
I hope you have as much fun reading it as I did writing it.
Amazon
Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/3TOmDtq
Tom Milani ©2024
Tom Milani’s short fiction has appeared in Groovy Gumshoes: Private Eyes in the Psychedelic Sixties, Illicit Motions, Black Cat Weekly, and Urban Pigs Press. Barracuda Backfire will be out on April 1, 2024. His website is https://www.tommilani.com/
Saturday, March 23, 2024
Mystery Fanfare: MYSTERY READERS JOURNAL: Southern California Myste...
Mystery Fanfare: MYSTERY READERS JOURNAL: Southern California Myste...: Mystery Readers Journal is a quarterly thematic mystery Journal. Each issue contains articles, reviews, and author essays on a specific th...
Beneath the Stains of Time: Gospel of V (2023) by H.M. Faust (a.k.a. "DWaM")
Beneath the Stains of Time: Gospel of V (2023) by H.M. Faust (a.k.a. "DWaM"): H.M. Faust is a Croatia-born mystery writer who " primarily specializes in writing impossible crime stories " and " his main ...
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Je...: Reviewed by Jeanne Vera Wong is the proprietor of the somewhat misleadingly named Vera Wang’s World Famous Teahouse. (Yes, it’s Wang ,...
Scott's Take: Fantastic Four: The Ultimate Collection Book One by Mark Waid and Mike Weiringo
Fantastic Four: The Ultimate
Collection Book One by Mark Waid and Mike Weiringo is a book about what
makes the Fantastic Four different than other superhero teams. A PR expert is brought in to help figure why
the Fantastic Four are losing popularity. Another storyline features Sue Storm and
her plan to make Johnny grow up. Additionally, the Fantastic Four must face off
with giant bugs, a living mathematical equation, and deal with other strange
events.
This is a fun collection with a cartoony
art style. This is a good starting place for new readers of the Fantastic Four.
This is an old book reissued and recollected here multiple older issues of the
Fantastic Four.
Additionally, a very old Avengers tale that
was the first time Mark Waid and Mike Weiringo worked together. The Avengers
tale is completely irrelevant and not connected at all.
Overall, I enjoyed this Fantastic Four
collection. There are three more in my reading pile from the same creative
team.
Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/3SM06vE
My reading copy came by way of the
Hoopla App and the Dallas Public Library System.
Scott A. Tipple ©2024
Friday, March 22, 2024
SleuthSayers: Getting Ideas From Characters by O'Neil De Noux
SleuthSayers: Getting Ideas From Characters: Elmore Leonard has been the subject of many fine posts here at SleuthSayers. Just search through the blog for posts by David Edgerley Gates,...
Jerry's House of Everything: FORGOTTEN BOOK: BRAND OF THE BLACK BAT
Jerry's House of Everything: FORGOTTEN BOOK: BRAND OF THE BLACK BAT: Brand of the Black Bat by "G. Wayman Jones (Normand a. Daniels) (from Black Book Detective Magazine , July 1939; reprinted as by Da...
FFB Review: The Perfect Defective: A Novella by Clark Casey
From the massive archive here at Casa
Tipple and Home Eatery Library…
P. I. Jake Hannigan has a “…square jaw and
skepticism that can’t be bought on Sundays in Blue Law States.” (Page 5) That means he has a fondness for
alcohol and will indulge that fondness whenever the mood strikes including his
own office. That is where Professor Durgen found him on a certain Monday
morning.
Professor Durgen teaches writing at a community
college when he isn’t working on his novel.
Unfortunately, his novel has been stalled for over two months. He has a
huge problem. He’s lost his talent, his creative juice. He’s tried drinking
heavily and all that has done is made him write bad poetry. He needs his talent
back as soon as possible and wants P. I. Jack Hannigan to find it for him. For
twenty bucks a day and all the Johnnie Walker Blue Label he can drink, Hannigan
will take the case.
Of course, when you are paid by all the booze you
can drink, you don’t want to solve the case too fast. It helps if you get another case you can also
stall a bit. The case here that fits the bill is his next client. A sexy cheerleader
wants a dead man killed.
The result is a fast and often laugh out loud
satirical novella that has the potential to offend just about anyone. Often
crude in terms of language between characters, descriptions of characters
(attributes of cheerleaders being a major discussion point), and scene setting,
the result is an often bluntly coarse read. It is also often funny, especially
when Hannigan contacts the agent and discovers that there is a lot of truth to
what disgruntled writers have claimed for years.
A twisted and perverted read that will appeal to
those with a wide dark streak of humor in them, this fun book is not for
everyone. It will especially appeal to writers in general and mystery fans in
particular as it takes shots at all the expected conventions of the genre. It
most definitely is a change of pace from the serious noir mysteries that seem
to be increasingly common these days. Twisted funny and flat out warped, this 56-page
read is just fun as it punches out all the detective novel stereotypes one by
one while managing to slap the reader upside the head with twist after twist
after twist.
Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4a0x0Qp
Material supplied by the author in exchange for my
objective review.
Kevin R. Tipple © 2011, 2014, 2024
Thursday, March 21, 2024
Criminal Minds: I’m Always Chasing Rainbows from James W. Ziskin
Criminal Minds: I’m Always Chasing Rainbows from James W. Ziskin: Having one’s book rise above the crowded marketplace is difficult. What have you tried to get yours noticed — what has worked and what has n...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
