Monday, April 29, 2024

Lesa's Book Critiques: KEVIN’S CORNER ANNEX – DARK STORM RISING BY LINDA CASTILLO

 Lesa's Book Critiques: KEVIN’S CORNER ANNEX – DARK STORM RISING BY LINDA CASTILLO

Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Flight Risk by Cherie Priest

Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Flight Risk by Cherie Priest:   Reviewed by Jeanne Leda Foley is a psychic who moonlights as a travel agent—or maybe it’s the other way around.   Her one-woman travel...

Kathleeen Marple Kalb's Blog: So You Wrote the Book, Now What?: BE READY

 Kathleeen Marple Kalb's Blog: So You Wrote the Book, Now What?: BE READY

In Reference To Murder: Media Murder for Monday 4/29/2024

 In Reference To Murder: Media Murder for Monday 4/29/2024

Markets and Jobs for Writers 4/29/2024

 Markets and Jobs for Writers 4/29/2024

Little Big Crimes: Coming Attractions, by Vinnie Hansen

Little Big Crimes: Coming Attractions, by Vinnie Hansen:   "Coming Attractions," by Vinnie Hansen, in Invasive Species: Stories by Northern California Crime Writers, edited by Josh Pacht...

Bitter Tea and Mystery: The Humans: Matt Haig

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Aubrey's Nye Hamilton Reviews: The Witching Hour by Catriona McPherson


The sixteenth book in the Dandy Gilver historical mystery series by Catriona McPherson is scheduled for release in the UK on 2 May 2024 and in the US on 3 September 2024. I had the great good fortune to receive an advance copy of the story so I don’t have to wait until September.

The series began shortly after the end of World War I in 1922, with Dandy the epitome of a bored housewife, and has progressed chronologically through the social and economic upheaval of the interwar years. The Witching Hour (Hodder & Stoughton/Mobius) takes place in spring of 1939, with a second war imminent, to the great fear of Dandy whose two sons are now the right age to be called up.

Hugh Gilver’s 60th birthday was being observed with all the pomp it deserved. The family and close friends were gathered for an enormous feast and the family cook had done herself proud. Of especial interest to Dandy is the guest her younger son had invited. To all appearances Dandy was to acquire a second daughter-in-law. Dandy’s close friend Daisy Esslemont was there alone, her husband Silas had pleaded a previous unbreakable engagement, and Daisy was peeved about it. Silas has a long history of philandering and Daisy has tolerated much from her sadly deficient husband.

In the night the telephone unexpectedly rang. The police in a remote village are looking for Daisy. Silas has been found dead, and they think Daisy has killed him. Dandy is happy to advise them Daisy was sound asleep in Dandy’s guest bedroom. But on inquiry, Dandy learns both Daisy and Dandy’s automobile are gone. She and Alec Osborne, Dandy’s investigative partner, tear off to the village where Silas was found and hope that Daisy is not there.

The village turns out to be an odd little place with hints of otherworldliness and witchcraft. No one is especially helpful but Dandy is desperate to clear Daisy and Alec, who had his own reasons for disliking Silas, is up for the challenge.

I am once again reminded that this series is not cozy, despite blurbs that say otherwise. Inevitably there are serious underlying issues at play in each book, even if perhaps the overall premise is lighthearted and improbable. The UK is facing the advent of war once again, and this time Dandy knows she may lose her sons. The memory of the earlier war is all too clear and her entire generation is devastated at the thought of a repetition. Dandy also has the opportunity to review her very fortunate marriage compared to that of her friend Daisy. While Hugh is boring, he is also kind and would never humiliate her the way Silas mistreated Daisy. The contrast emphasizes how little freedom women had then to improve their circumstances. A bad marriage was something to be borne, not discarded.

The resolution was entirely reasonable, considering the life that Silas led, but I found the fact so many others suffered from his thoughtlessness deeply sad.

For fans of social history the bits about proper dinner table and drawing room behavior are fascinating. The conversation between Dandy and Hugh about their potential new daughter-in-law reveal the conventions about appropriate marriages in the landed gentry and just how much those conventions had changed.

A fine addition to a solid historical series. Recommended.

 

 

·         Publisher: Mobius (September 3, 2024)

·         Language: English

·         Hardcover: 320 pages

·         ISBN-10: 1399720392

·         ISBN-13: 978-1399720397

 

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4dfrw6s

 

 

Aubrey Nye Hamilton ©2024

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

Sunday, April 28, 2024

Sunday Funny

 


Lesa's Book Critiques: SUNDAY SPOTLIGHT – KATE MICHAELSON

 Lesa's Book Critiques: SUNDAY SPOTLIGHT – KATE MICHAELSON

A Writer's Life....Caroline Clemmons: WHAT ELSE HAPPENED?

A Writer's Life....Caroline Clemmons: WHAT ELSE HAPPENED?:  By Caroline Clemmons Do you wonder about what was going on in the world at the time of a series you’re reading? Okay, I’m a history nut, so...

SleuthSayers: Is That a Derringer in Your Pocket?

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Beneath the Stains of Time: The Case of the Burnt Bohemian (1953) by Christopher Bush

Beneath the Stains of Time: The Case of the Burnt Bohemian (1953) by Christoph...: Christopher Bush 's 42nd Ludovic Travers novel, The Case of the Burnt Bohemian (1953), takes place during the period in the series when...

Guest Post: Could this be the beginning of a great friendship? The making of a novella … by M.E. Proctor



Please welcome M. E. Proctor to the blog today…

 

 

Could this be the beginning of a great friendship?

The making of a novella …

 

By M.E. Proctor

 

  

I don’t know how often I’ve heard these words: We should do something together. Considering I’m neither into bank robbery, quilting bees, or barn raising, the suggestion always has some relationship with a writing project. It is also always comfortably vague and about as binding as the clichéd “let’s do lunch one of these days”.

 

I’m not sure why an innocuous social media chat on December 12, 2023, with writer friend Russell Thayer turned into something completely different.

 

On that cold December day, Russ typed: “Tom should go after Gunselle someday. Imagine the interrogation scene!”

 

The comment wasn’t completely out of the blue. Russ is the author of over twenty short stories featuring the contract killer nicknamed “Gunselle”. She’s a hot hit number. All the stories take place between the late 1930s and the early 1950s. Russ had a new one coming out and I had just placed a piece of retro noir at The Yard Crime Blog. The coincidence was the spark that started our conversation. My recurrent character (a dozen stories so far) is Tom Keegan, a homicide detective in 1950 San Francisco.

 

As it often happens in a chat, when both parties have time and like to talk craft, we got into a fun back-and-forth. We threw a few plot ideas against the wall. What if she’s hired to bump him off. What if they’re after the same killer…

It didn’t go any further that day. Or the next. It didn’t go anywhere until January 30.

 

We must have both been unconsciously chewing on the idea of bringing our two characters together, à la CSI meets NCIS, because we picked up our chat right where we left it six weeks earlier.

 

Neither of us had ever written anything in collaboration. How it would work, who would do what, was there a process, a kind of division of labor … could we pull it off, would we fight over stuff, shout at each other through email? We didn’t talk about any of that. All we knew was that we wanted to write a story with our characters in the lead roles. What that story might be, we had no idea. We weren’t flying completely blind however. Russ had read my Keegan pieces and I knew everything about Gunselle’s dangerous life. Our writing styles were different but not jarringly so, and we were improvising in the same time period with a strong flavor of classic crime fiction. If there were rough edges in the writing, they could be polished off later once the story was laid out.

 

We brainstormed a few ideas and decided to build the story around a political assassination that would involve both characters, coming at it from their respective angles. The detective investigating the case, in straight procedural fashion, and the contract killer being embroiled in it sideways, yet not guilty of the crime.

 

Russ sent me a snippet of Gunselle being hired for a job she disliked—fixing somebody else’s mess, i.e. the assassination—and a few days later, I sent him Tom’s arrival at the crime scene, the ballroom of a luxury hotel. The suspect was a musician in the jazz band hired for the event.

 

These simple first steps turned out to have an enormous impact on the structure and the vibe of the story.

 

It would be told from a double point of view (POV). Each of us writing scenes from the perspective of our protagonists. It felt natural and we never discussed that choice or had any reason to revisit it later. It worked and we could write in the particular voice of our characters, which took care of the differences in our writing styles.

 

Everybody knows that most of the research should be done before starting to write a story, it’s a lot more efficient, but we were both eager to get something going. Now, with two scenes drafted, we had to make sure we were historically correct on the when and the where.

 

It was a stroke of luck to find out that 1951 was an election year. That November, San Francisco re-elected the incumbent republican mayor. It put a time stamp on the assassination and the identity of the victim: June, at a fundraiser for the democratic mayoral candidate. The Palace Hotel is conveniently located downtown, with a good size ballroom. An internet deep dive delivered period-accurate floorplans. We were in business. We knew when, where and who, but like our two lead actors, we were stumped by the motive. Why was Charles Forrester shot? We wouldn’t find out for a while.

 

Writing a story is like a treasure hunt. Every sentence, written on the fly, contains potential clues. Here’s an example. The decision to make the killer a jazz trumpeter gave the plot a definite slant. It also gave us the opportunity to dig into the rich Bay Area music scene of the early 50s, the various clubs, the talent on display, the racial tensions, the lure of the city at night, the early involvement of the Mob in the drug trade. Russ had touched on the music angle in some of his stories and brought all that background into the plot, with great secondary characters. One of them, Maggie, became central to nailing down the motive and the final resolution. Through Maggie, we also brought in the war, only six years in the past, and its aftermath, how deeply it scarred many characters in the story.

 

Very soon, the project got bigger, a lot longer than a short story, maybe not a book, but close.

 

During the two months it took to complete a solid first draft (I’m writing this in mid-April, we’re in the final polishing stage, and the word count sits at 50,000), we had a couple of mini-debates, all of them civil and considerate. One of them was about who would enter the scene first.


Homicide cops always get there after the fact, it’s the nature of the job. We decided to start with Gunselle and put her at the scene, at the very beginning, before the shots ring out. That was the story hook. She was hired for the hit and somebody beat her to it. She’s pocketed the down payment. For doing nothing. As a professional, it sticks in her craw.

 

Another discussion was about the key scene where we bring our two characters together. Up to that moment, they’d both been going through their moves separately, with only a glancing accidental contact that showed mutual interest. Yes, this is where it gets sexy … Who would write that hot scene, in whose POV? We briefly considered writing it twice, in a “he says, she says” tango, but it proved clunky. I wrote the initial scene, from Tom’s voice, then Russ took it and turned it around. It worked a lot better that way, Gunselle initiated the event and was the more active character.

 

Those were the only scenes that required a decision on who does what. The rest flowed naturally. After writing separate scenes for a couple of weeks, we built a master document that we carried all through to the end, highlighting changes, giving each other a go at adjusting things. Our different writing styles became apparent. Russ writes snappy action scenes and I tend to be atmospheric. Using the master document, we started blending things. He added bite to my stuff and I added background.

 

As the story evolved, the beginning needed continuous revisions. It’s the inevitable result of not having an outline, of letting the story be told by the characters to be taken wherever it wants to go. Somebody will throw a curve ball once in a while and provoke a scramble. It keeps things fresh and exciting.

 

Mid-way through the process, having a timeline became critical. The characters were all in motion and the investigation picked up speed. A detailed timeline helped us figure out the ending. None of what happens in the last act was in the cards from the start.

 

We’re now done with the novella, except for minor tweaking, and as I look back on the collaboration, I wouldn’t change a thing in the way we proceeded. The time taken in considering options, writing them and discarding parts of them, might appear to be a waste but was crucial in coming up with the best solution. Multiple iterations, trial and error. It happens the same way when writers work individually (unless they’re rigorous plotters). The fun of the collaboration is having your partner put something on the table that you would not have come up with on your own.

 

And, in closing, the personalities have to match … that is the secret sauce. Unfortunately, there’s no readily available recipe for that.

 

The title of the novella is “Bop City Nocturne”. Will there be more? When will it be published? To be continued …

 

What Russell says …

 

Martine asked me to slide in with a comment or two. When I first brought up the idea of Gunselle and Keegan appearing in a story together, it was in a joking way, but it did seem appropriate. Both characters move through the hilly streets of San Francisco at the same time. They might have stood on the same ground at some point, one with a pistol in her hand, then the other, later, with a notebook and a furrowed brow under his fedora.

 

I knew Martine liked to do the research, as do I, and though I was joking a little when I suggested the idea, I was hoping she would say yes. And I’m glad she did, because this project, whether it ever comes to print, has been a joy from beginning to end. No struggles, except for me keeping up with my partner, who is an extremely fast worker. Our styles are a little different. She writes longer scenes, full of detail and observation. I like mine short and jazzy, with lots of humor. I write a little differently now that I’ve watched Martine’s process, and we’ve both had fun working with each other’s characters. May I add that there is some natural sexual tension between these two Bop City toughies? And though they ply their trade on opposite sides of the law, and live by their own rules, they manage to find common ground as they pursue the villains.

 

As Martine says, perhaps this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Cut to: Gunselle and Tom walking into the mist.

 

 

Read a Gunselle story here: Par for the Course (Urban Pigs Press).

Read a Tom Keegan story here: Footwork (Mystery Tribune). He also takes the lead in A Redhead and a Green Car in the great “Motel” Anthology from Cowboy Jamboree.

 


 

M. E. Proctor ©2024

 

M.E. Proctor’s short story collection Family and Other Ailments is available in all the usual places. She’s currently working on a contemporary PI series. The first book, Love You Till Tuesday, comes out from Shotgun Honey in 2024. Her short fiction has appeared in VautrinBristol Noir, Mystery TribuneReckon ReviewBlack Cat Weekly, and Thriller Magazine among others. She’s a Derringer nominee. Website: www.shawmystery.com

Russell Thayer’s stories have been published in magazines such as Bristol Noir, Apocalypse Confidential, and Shotgun Honey. A “Gunselle” collection is in the works. Find him on Twitter @RussellThayer10. 

Saturday, April 27, 2024

Dru's Book Musings: New Releases Apr 27, 2024

 Dru's Book Musings: New Releases  Apr 27, 2024 

Lesa's Book Critiques: FUNNY STORY BY EMILY HENRY

 Lesa's Book Critiques: FUNNY STORY BY EMILY HENRY

Scott's Take: Jean Grey: Flames of Fear by Louise Simonson


Jean Grey: Flames of Fear by Louise Simonson, illustrated by Bernard Chang, is another Fall of X title dealing with Jean Grey who died at the Hellfire Gala, but is not gone completely. She is in between being alive and dead. In the first three issues, Jean Grey explores her past and sees what would have happened if she chose a different thing. In the fourth Jean reflects and decides what to do from here.

 

The art and the stories are excellent. But. one must be somewhat familiar with her history as a character to appreciate the stories. One example, is in the first issue that deals with the question -- what if Jean when she was a teen and the rest of the original X-Men that had been sent to the future did not have their memories of the future wiped from them and instead chose to keep those memories to change their present.

 

This was a good book even if the final issue connects to an Immortal X-Men Volume I have not read yet since it was not out as I was reading this. This is a good Jean series, but one would get the most out of it if they are familiar with the comic book character’s history.

 


Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/3TPZQ0f


My reading copy came by way of the Hoopla App and the Dallas Public Library System.

 

Scott A. Tipple ©2024

Friday, April 26, 2024

Lesa's Book Critiques: WINNERS AND THIS WEEK’S GIVEAWAY

 Lesa's Book Critiques: WINNERS AND THIS WEEK’S GIVEAWAY

Publishing ... and Other Forms of Insanity: 85 Calls for Submissions in May 2024 - Paying markets

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Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Finding Mr. Purrfect by Codi Gary

Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Finding Mr. Purrfect by Codi Gary:   Reviewed by Jeanne Charity Simmons is a baker with a love for cats, so she and her veterinarian friend Kara pool their resources to op...

Happiness Is A Book: FRIDAY’S FORGOTTEN BOOK: THE CASE OF THE TERRIFIED TYPIST BY ERLE STANLEY GARDNER

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Jerry's House of Everything: FORGOTTEN BOOK: THE DEAD WORLD

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FFB Review: Carnosaur Weekend by Garnett Elliott

 

Imagine, if you will, a world where it is possible to go back in time to play golf in relative safety while dinosaurs move around you. That idea is just a small part of the three highly entertaining tales in Carnosaur Weekend. The three tales in the book are all good ones and highly entertaining.

 

“Carnosaur Weekend” opens the book where pterodactyls fly above the golf course and an allosaurus and a carnosaur are on the fairways. A RPG is a most helpful weapon in times like this where the super-rich are being courted by real estate developers selling time shares in the late cretaceous period. Those running this deal somehow got their hands on a “Zygma Projector” making their very questionable venture in the timeline possible. Damon Cole is already working the case in the far distant past and is under deep cover. Kyler Knightly is being sent in to assist because the deal has to be shut down before they screw up the past and cause irreversible changes in the present.

 

“The Zygma Gambit” comes next and was also published in the very good The Lizard’s Ardent Uniform and Other Stories. Set a bit before the preceding story, Kyler Knightly is one of those very special people known as “dreamers” and is employed by Continuity Inc. Through their dreams the dreamers have the ability to foresee the future. Kyler has been awakened by a dream in his own bed in the early morning hours of April 14, 2223. For this to happen outside of the Precog bays where he normally works means that this dream was very powerful and definitely coming true. Kyler has to get to his Uncle Damon Cole and tell him about the dream before Cole goes on his mission.

 

The final story title “The Worms of Terpsichore” is very good and highly reminiscent of the classic type of science fiction many of us grew up on. The spaceship Sallust sent off a one word message via their orbital beacon and then went radio silent. No further transmission has come from where they landed on the surface. The one word message also does not make sense. Clearly, something has happened.  Raj and Thea will go down to the site by way of a lander from their spaceship known as the Astarte. This type of search and rescue mission is just part of what they do as members of “Frontier Swift Response.” While this isn’t at time travel story and Damon Cole and Kyler Knightly are not involved at all, it is still a very good tale. After all, any story that uses a flame-gun is automatically pretty good.

 

Author Garnett Elliot’s bio and ads for other books from Beat To A Pulp including installments of the excellent Jack Laramie Drifter Detective series finish out the book.

 

The three science fiction tales in Carnosaur Weekend quickly yank readers to a very different time and place. The multiple characters involved have considerable depth that never gets in the way of the science fiction adventure. These are adventures when anything is possible as the dangers are many and one has to stay alive by one’s wits. The tales of Carnosaur Weekend are all very good ones very much worth your time.

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/3xShuYR

 

Material supplied by the publisher in exchange for my objective review.

 

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2014, 2020, 2024

Wednesday, April 24, 2024

Publishing ... and Other Forms of Insanity: 72 Writing Contests in May 2024 - No entry fees

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Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Nevermore: Golden Doves, Anxious People, Dreamland

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Beneath the Stains of Time: The Hit List: Top 5 Intriguing Pieces of Impossible Crime Fiction That Vanished into Thin Air

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The Rap Sheet: A Trio of Pinckleys

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Bitter Tea and Mystery: Short Story Wednesday: The Habit of Widowhood and Other Murderous Proclivities

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George Kelly: WEDNESDAY’S SHORT STORIES #171: THE STAR TREK READER II By James Blish

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Jerry's House of Everything: SHORT STORY WEDNESDAY: LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT

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Patricia Abbott: Short Story Wednesday: William Maxwelll, ALL THE DAYS AND NIGHTS, collected stories

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Tuesday, April 23, 2024

The Elysian: No one buys books by Elle Griffin

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The First Two Pages: “And Now, An Inspiring Story of Tragedy Overcome” by Joseph S. Walker

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Little Big Crimes: The Lover of Eastlake, by Sam Wiebe

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Lesa's Book Critiques: THE MAYFAIR DAGGER BY AVA JANUARY

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SleuthSayers: The Magic of Malice

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Bookblog of the Bristol Library: The Raven Thief by Gigi Pandian

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Review: Circle in the Water: A Sharon McCone Mystery by Marcia Muller

 

Circle in the Water: A Sharon McCone Mystery by Marcia Muller finds Sharon working a complicated case involving private street ownership. In San Franciso, there are more than 200 streets that are owned by private individuals or entities. As these streets are not city property, they are lucrative targets for land speculators and others.

 

As the book opens, it is almost midnight Halloween, and Sharon McCone is on a stake out. Being a co-owner of the agency with her husband, Hy Ripinsky, who is currently overseas, she is out in the rain so that she does not have to fool with trick-or-treaters and somebody else does not miss a party or spending time with their kids this dark night. The rain fits her mood. One that she has been in for months now. A mood that she can’t really explain to herself or others that have noticed.

 

She is on Rowan Court trying to prevent another vandalism attack. McCone & Ripinsky International has been hired by the wealthy homeowners on the street to stop a rash of vandalism that has been happening to their homes and vehicles. Not just stop it, but identify the culprits and why they are doing it. One of their members has been reaching out to other folks and have discovered that this sort of thing is happening on other private streets, rich and poor, across the city.

 

Soon McCone finds things are linked across various neighborhoods. Events start to move forward and become deadly.

 

Circle in the Water: A Sharon McCone Mystery is a complicated and often slow-moving read. At least a third of the book, if not more, consists of reminisces of previous cases and things that happened to McCone, Hy, and many others in the past, and an acknowledgment and recognition of how far all those involved have come in the here and now. Even if one had not seen the guest post by the author at SleuthSayers announcing this book is the end of the series, it is clear with the way the book unfolds for the reader.

 

It is also a good read. The case is complicated and chugs along at a semi steady pace between the many memories of the past. Circle in the Water: A Sharon McCone Mystery ends the series well. 

 


Amazon Associates Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/3JhwuSp 

 

My ARC reading copy came from the publisher, Grand Central Publishing, via NetGalley with no expectation of a review.

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2024

Monday, April 22, 2024

Lesa's Book Critiques: AT THE EDGE OF THE WOODS BY VICTORIA HOUSTON

 Lesa's Book Critiques: AT THE EDGE OF THE WOODS BY VICTORIA HOUSTON

Bitter Tea and Mystery: Books Read in March 2024

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In Reference To Murder: Media Murder for Monday 4/22/2024

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Markets and Jobs for Writers 4/22/2024

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Aubrey's Nye Hamilton Reviews: Robbed Blind by Roy Hart


Between 1987 and 1994 Roy Hart, a British avionics engineer, wrote nine police procedurals fronted by Detective Superintendent Douglas Roper of the Dorset County Criminal Investigation Department on the southern coast of England. In line with the procedural that was popular in the 1980s, they are all set in villages and the plots all focus on the investigation rather than the psychology of the crime. While there are quirky characters, they take a back seat to the detailed and systematic description of police activities in collecting and sifting clues to find the culprit. The fifth in the series Robbed Blind (Macmillan London, 1990) is a good example.

The night of Good Friday in the village of Little Crow Stella Pumfrey was found dead at the foot of the stairs in her home. Her shoe caught in the carpet on the landing bore mute testimony to an accidental fall that caused Stella’s head to collide with ferocity against the newel post. The post-mortem, though, showed the damage to Stella’s skull could not have been caused by the fall.

By the time the police received the autopsy report recommending further investigation, the crime scene had been thoroughly contaminated, much to Roper’s frustration. Initial inquiries reveal that Stella had money and her husband and her sister were in line to inherit it. Neither of them was on good terms with the victim. Then there was the lover rumored to be in the background. But perhaps it was not personal at all: an exquisite and valuable pair of earrings is missing. Could she have been surprised by the burglar that was known to be in the neighborhood? As Roper talks to Stella’s family and friends, he finds no shortage of possible scenarios and people with adverse interests to Stella’s.

This series seems to have flown under the radar in the U.S. The first two titles were not published here, and none of them seem to have been reprinted after the initial hardback and paperback issue. Roper isn’t given much of a back story, although there is some information about him, and perhaps he wasn’t vivid enough to capture lasting interest. A review from Publishers Weekly said he lacked the edge of a Sherlock Holmes, although both Publishers Weekly and Kirkus spoke highly of the series. While nine books is a respectable run, timing probably also affected its popularity, as reading tastes were moving towards gritty, violent crime fiction with lots of action.

I found this series entry a solid, capable detective story with complex plotting, plenty of red herrings, and plausible suspects. Recommended for fans of police procedurals and admirers of traditional mysteries.

 


·         Publisher: St Martins Press; First Edition (January 1, 1990)

·         Language: English

·         Hardcover: 206 pages

·         ISBN-10: 0312044143

·         ISBN-13: 978-0312044145

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/44b3G80 

 

Aubrey Nye Hamilton ©2024 

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

Sunday, April 21, 2024

OUT NOW!! Notorious in North Texas: Metroplex Mysteries Volume III


Though it was not supposed to be out yet, Notorious in North Texas: Metroplex Mysteries Volume III, is now out at Amazon and should be available within days at Barnes and Noble. Published by the Sisters in Crime North Dallas chapter, the read is edited by Michael Bracken, and includes a forward from author Kathleen Kent. It also includes my short story, Whatever Happened To…?, set in my little part of NE Dallas.

I am very grateful to Michael Bracken, Karen Harrington, and to everyone involved in the process. It is my understanding that there will be book signings in early June and other events. My hope is that, health permitting, I will be at those events.

Lesa's Book Critiques: SUNDAY SPOTLIGHT – KIM HAYS

 Lesa's Book Critiques: SUNDAY SPOTLIGHT – KIM HAYS

Beneath the Stains of Time: The Conjure-Man Dies (1932) by Rudolph Fisher

Beneath the Stains of Time: The Conjure-Man Dies (1932) by Rudolph Fisher: Rudolph Fisher was an African-American physician, radiologist and a notable author from the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s, but, during the...

The Rap Sheet: Who Has the Edge in Daggers Contest?

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The Rap Sheet: A Chorus of Praise for Pochoda

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Saturday, April 20, 2024

Lesa's Book Critiques: KEVIN’S CORNER ANNEX – PIERCE BY PATRICK B. SIMPSON

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Dru's Book Musings New Releases ~ Week of April 21, 2024

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SleuthSayers: Dryer Is a Noun

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Bookblog of the Bristol Library: A Shimmer of Red by Valerie Wilson Wesley

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Scott's Take: X-Men: Hellfire Gala: Fall of X by Gerry Duggan


X-Men: Hellfire Gala: Fall of X by Gerry Duggan collects the issues that compose the third Hellfire Gala book. This book kicks off the Fall of X books. The Fall of X is the banner name for a series of titles for the X-Men.  Since this is the beginning, there are a lot of plot points setup that are not finished here. In this story, the X-Men are hosting their third annual party trying to build relations between humans and mutants. Of course, things go horribly wrong for the X-Men.

 

There is plenty of gore, violence, and death as the party is ruined. Some big-name characters are killed along with several lower-level names. The big names of course will return quicker since they already have books set after the events depicted here. The art for the most part is spectacular in the main Hellfire Gala issue, the free comic book day issue, and the Iron Man issue.

 

However, the art is just adequate in the X-Men unlimited issues which are set before the gala. Marvel has a series of comics that are exclusive to their app Unlimited. In this case, the X-Men Unlimited issues are short stories that expand on minor plot points using lower tier art and lower tier, name recognition wise, writers. They don’t get the budget the main titles get.

 

Additionally, the prequels are presented in this collection after the main issue.  By doing it that way, the momentum of the collection is derailed. It also kills the idea of giving some character development to certain characters who are later killed.

 

Jean Grey is the highlight in this read, in my opinion, as she has some impressive moments. However, there are plenty of cool scenes for other characters such as Wolverine, Talon, Emma Frost, and Iron Man. The Kingpin (who has now joined the X-Men) also has a cool moment himself. Professor X is put through the ringer in this Gala. The villains are impressive and well prepared. They remain formidable foes as the X-Men are forced to go on the run.

 

Overall, I enjoyed this volume despite some hiccups in how Marvel chose to handle this story.



 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/43rPhUo

 

 

My reading copy came by way of the Hoopla App and the Dallas Public Library System.

 

Scott A. Tipple ©2024

Friday, April 19, 2024

We Have A Cover!

As shared by Sisters in Crime North Dallas earlier today, the anthology comes out next month. It includes my short story, "Whatever Happened To...?" In my tale, I make extensive use of aspects of my life and my NE Dallas neighborhood. 



Lesa's Book Critiques: A MYSTERY GIVEAWAY

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Publishing ... and Other Forms of Insanity: 37 Marvelous Writing Conferences and Workshops in May 2024

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In Reference To Murder: Friday's Forgotten Books - The Saint in Europe

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Happiness Is A Book: FRIDAY’S FORGOTTEN BOOK: DEATH OF A BOVVER BOY BY LEO BRUCE

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Jerry's House of Everything: FORGOTTEN BOOK: THE LAST CHRISTMAS

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Patricia Abbott: FFB: Hollywood and LeVine, Andrew Bergman

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Barry Ergang's FFB Review: Fast One by Paul Cain


From the massive archive…

 

I can enthusiastically recommend Fast One to any reader who loves the hardboiled school—especially from the pulp era—but don’t ask me for a detailed plot summary. That’s next to impossible. Suffice it to say that a tough character named Gerry Kells, who is visiting L.A. from New York and who seems to know every major racket boss in southern California, is in the first chapter framed for a murder he didn’t commit, and who spends the remainder of the book either dodging or deliberately confronting cops and hoods with words, fists, and firearms. Along the way he considers trying to take over L.A.‘s rackets himself.

 

It’s an aptly titled book because the story roars along at a hectic pace. The pace is aided in no small measure by Cain's staccato prose style, which almost redefines “lean and mean.” But the pace and the story’s complexity are the book’s undoing because there is no characterization for readers to relate to. Most of the players—including the principal female—are referred to only by their last names. The absence of character definition reduces them to mere names on the page. It’s frequently an effort trying to recall from one chapter to another who's who and who's done what to whom.

 

Fast One has long been hailed as the ne plus ultra of hardboiled gangster tales by the likes of Bill Pronzini, E.R. Hagemann, and Raymond Chandler. David A. Bowman, in his introductory essay to the 1987 Black Lizard edition I have, writes: “Cain took the hardboiled style as far as anyone would want to. Fast One is the Antarctica of hardboiled writing. There is nowhere else to go.”

 

Forget about any insights into the human condition or any other sorts of profound meanings. Just buckle up and go along on the wild ride.

 


For more on this novel or the Golden Age of Detection follow the link to the GA Detection wiki. http://gadetection.pbwiki.com/Fast-One

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4aX3gnK

 

Barry Ergang © 2007, 2014, 2024

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