Wednesday, July 31, 2024
Mystery Fanfare: DENISE DIETZ: R.I.P.
Bitter Tea and Mystery: Short Story Wednesday: "The Gay Old Dog" by Edna Ferber
Jerry's House of Everything: SHORT STORY WEDNESDAY: SUB-SATELLITE
Short Story Wednesday Review: The Missing Sniper by Earl Staggs
From
the massive archive….
Thanks
to his gift, Adam Kingston knew he would get a phone call. Who was calling, why
he would be called, he didn’t know. But, he knew it would be a call about
someone dying somewhere and he would be involved. Hard to sleep when you know
something is going to happen. Hard to sleep when you know for absolute
certainty just enough to be worried.
The
phone call finally comes by way of Sheriff Dillon Corbin of Mendes County,
Florida. Adam is on a master list of Law
Enforcement consultants and the good Sheriff needs his help. Three weeks ago
somebody tried to take out a State Senator.
While they know where the shots came from they knew nothing else and
have no suspects. The shooter is still out there and may try again if he or she
isn’t stopped.
Soon
Adam is in Jacksonville, Florida with Sheriff Dillon working the case. The
target, Senator Willy Thornton, has plenty of enemies because of his politics
and the way he lives his life. Business
rivals, spouses of the women he has seduced and many others have good reason to
want him dead. Good thing Adam has a bit
of ability with extra sensory perception and can pick up a few images along the
way as he helps with the case.
Released
from Untreed Reads last January, this is the short story that ultimately gave
rise to Earl Staggs' powerfully good novel, Memory of a Murder. This cozy style type read is full of twists
and turns and on that will keep you very entertained as it moves through the
pages.
Amazon
Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4d0Ymax
Kevin
R. Tipple ©2012, 2024
Tuesday, July 30, 2024
SleuthSayers: More about Voice? Really?
Little Big Crimes: The Man Who Found The Body, by Avram Davidson
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: The Element Encyclopedia of the Celts by Rodney Castleden
Monday, July 29, 2024
Beneath the Stains of Time: Back in Black: Case Closed, vol. 90 by Gosho Aoyama
Aubrey Nye Hamilton Reviews: The Book Club Murders by Alan Gorevan
Alan Gorevan
is an intellectual property lawyer and a crime fiction writer from Dublin with
some 15 books to his credit. He published The Book Club Murders independently
in October 2023.
Izzie O’Brien
has had it with her controlling possessive boyfriend. She waited until he was
at work on her day off and packed everything she owned into her tiny Fiat and
drove south to Dun Laoghaire, a former fishing village where her aunt Elaine
had lived. Elaine died only 10 weeks before in a household accident and she
left her terraced house to Izzie, who was grateful for a place to hide from Adam,
whom she found increasingly frightening.
Adam’s
possessiveness had been worrying but the final straw was when Izzie discovered
Adam’s previous girlfriend had been murdered and Adam had been the primary
suspect. Unfortunately she could easily believe it. Both her aunt and her
friends had warned her about Adam but she was so smitten that she could not
hear what they were saying. Now she understood everything they were telling
her.
Louise, one
of the Izzie’s new neighbors, watched Adam throwing a fit on Izzie’s doorstep. After
he gave up and left, but not before smashing her car window, Louise invited
Izzie to her house for the weekly book club, where she was warmly welcomed by
Kate, Tess, Dee, and Melanie. The group was shocked and stunned when Kate died
on the way home that night, stumbling onto the rocks below the pier where the
garda assumed she’d wandered after drinking a bit too much.
With multiple
narrative threads the story and characters in this book could be hard to keep
straight but the various subplots come together neatly. The major account is
Izzie’s attempt to remove Adam from her life and move on amid his determination
to force her to return. The rapid fire pacing and the crisp writing are
propulsive and I raced through this book without realizing how quickly I was
reading. Highly rated on Amazon and Goodreads. For fans of domestic thrillers
and strong characters.
·
Publisher: Independently published
(September 30, 2023)
·
Language: English
·
Paperback: 408 pages
·
ISBN-13: 979-835381112
Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/3WuyMUG
Aubrey Nye Hamilton ©2024
Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal It projects by day and reads mysteries at night.
Sunday, July 28, 2024
SleuthSayers: The Shelf Dilemma
Sample Sunday: Excerpt from One Of You: A Tower District Mystery by Lorie Lewis Ham
Please welcome author
Lorie Lewis Ham to the blog today as she shares an excerpt from her new novel, One
Of You: A Tower District Mystery. This is the second book of the series
that began with One
of Us: A Tower District Mystery.
Prologue
I’m back! Did you miss me? Boy, do I have
some juicy gossip! Spotted: A whole lot of trouble coming your way! Murder, did
you say? Why, of course, there will be murder!
When I typed “The End” I knew it was just the beginning. They would never expect the trouble I have in store for them! Some surprises are worth waiting for, and some are deadly.
Chapter 1
My
alarm clock went off at eight a.m. and I groaned. It was way too early for this
night owl. I rolled over and looked at my Buffy calendar. October 21. I
couldn’t believe I’d been in Fresno for three months. The worst thing so far
had been the weather. I survived the brutal heat of the summer, and now I was
getting to experience the wonderful Tule fog—so thick I could almost
pretend I was in London instead of the San Joaquin Valley of California.
Thankfully,
the temps were now in the 60s to low 80s, which made me feel like I was back in
Ayr, the California coastal town I’d been forced to leave when my publisher
dropped my children’s book series featuring a pet rat—still a very sore subject
for me.
At
thirty-five, I packed up my life and moved in with my P.I. cousin, Stephen
Carlucci. I arrived with everything I owned—being sure to bring in the car with
us the things I valued the most—my Sherlock Holmes collection, a replica of
Excalibur, and my pet rat, Merlin.
The
only bright spot had been that he lived in the cultural oasis of Fresno, the
Tower District. It was the hub of all things artsy, and I loved it! He also had
a great house. It was a cocoa-colored, early Mediterranean-style place that
instantly felt like home. Since my only transportation was my trusty red bike,
I seldom ventured beyond the Tower, despite Stephen’s best efforts, which was
fine with me.
I’d
rented out my house in Ayr for extra income and now worked for Stephen as a
part-time P.I.
“Hey
there sleepyhead, want coffee?” yelled Stephen from the kitchen, which was
close to my bedroom.
“Yes,
please! I’ll be out as soon as I feed my bedmates.”
Reluctantly,
I extracted myself from the furry heating pads wrapped around my body under the
covers and sat up. Watson, the Pit Bull, and Dan, the black cat, had been left
homeless after a murder that had taken place soon after I arrived and were now
a part of our family. There was a wonderful rescue in the area for bully-breed
dogs and great cat rescues, but I couldn’t bear to let them go to rescue after
already losing one owner. It wasn’t a surprise that I’d collected two more
animals since moving here; it was something I’d done my whole life.
After
feeding them, I went to the large cage on the floor by my desk to feed Merlin,
a dumbo rat with big round ears set more to the side like an elephant. He’d
been the star of my books. Thankfully, Dan ignored Merlin, and they managed to
coexist without any problems. Of course, Merlin never seemed to be scared of
anything. Maybe it was because he was a wizard.
When
living in Ayr, I’d run a hamster and pet rat rescue. Domestic rats are
wonderful pets. They bear little resemblance to their wild counterparts—they’re
much smaller, come in many different colors, and are very affectionate.
After the furries were fed, I pulled on jeans and a Supernatural
t-shirt, ran a brush through my long black hair, and stumbled into the kitchen.
Stephen
was already dressed for the day in perfectly pressed jeans and a t-shirt—his
normal non-working garb. When he worked, he wore expensive Italian suits. My
handsome cousin with his blond hair and gray eyes was more of a clotheshorse
than I would ever be.
“Good morning, Roxi.” He handed me coffee, then shooed me from
the kitchen into the living room. I plopped down on the brown faux leather
couch, and he sat in one of the comfy brown and red chairs on the other side of
an oak coffee table. The house was decorated in earthy tones, except for my
bedroom. He had decorated that in purple and black just for me.
The
coffee table had a couple of big books on it; one was on Sinatra—a love he and
I shared—come on, we're Italian. The other book was about opera. I was grateful
Stephen didn't blast his opera music loudly—that was a love we did not share.
I
looked at the fireplace. “Can you please light a fire? It’s cold.”
Stephen
laughed. “Soon, I promise. The afghan Aunt Carol made is on the back of the
couch, grab that.”
I glared at him as I grabbed the brown and tan afghan and
wrapped it around me. I had to admit I loved this place. The living room was
perfectly cozy, like the rest of the house. It wasn’t big, but it was big
enough. The walls were decorated with beautiful paintings of horses. Stephen
used to own several, which he bred and raced, but the corruption in the
industry led him to get out of the business. He kept his two favorites so we
could go riding. At his mother Maria’s urging, he had reluctantly stabled them
at his parent’s ranch just outside of Donlyn.
Stephen’s
father, Antonio, was again involved with the local Mafia, after having supposedly retired, so
Stephen’s relationship with him had gotten even worse than it already was.
Originally, becoming a P.I. had been as much to piss off his father as it had
been an outlet for his sense of justice. He ended up being very good at it.
Not
only did Stephen hate what his father did, but he blamed him for his brother’s
death. Stephen had been at Julliard studying piano when his brother was killed
by the Mafia. He left school and became a police officer and later a P.I. He
still played the piano, but it had taken him a long time to return to it.
Though
we were both raised in a Mafia family, mine hadn’t been involved in the illegal
side of the family business. They ran the family winery in Paso Robles
on the coast until their deaths.
“What
are you up to today?” he asked.
I
took a sip of the heavenly coffee—Stephen only bought the best—and sighed. “I
need to meet with Clark around ten to finish everything for Mysteryfest.”
Soon
after arriving in Fresno, I was persuaded to volunteer for a community theatre
production and was shocked when a crew member was murdered. It led to all sorts
of adventures, and I’d gotten to know some wonderful people. One of them,
playwright Clark Halliwell, had become a dear friend. Clark recently purchased
the local bookstore Walt’s Book Nook and renamed it Halliwell’s Book Haven.
About
a month ago, Clark decided Halloween would be a perfect time for a mystery
event. The Tower Halloween Mysteryfest was this weekend. With my and Stephen’s
help, along with several volunteers, he’d managed to pull it all together. He’d
even done an adaptation of Edgar Allen Poe’s Murders
in the Rue Morgue to be performed as part of the event. His
connections as a BookTuber, and now a bookstore owner, made getting local
authors for the event easy. He even managed to get the reigning Queen of Cozy
Mysteries, Marilyn Bradford.
When
I first met Clark, I knew he looked familiar, but it took me forever to figure
out why. I later realized he was a BookTuber, and an extremely successful one.
His YouTube channel was called
Halliwell Reads—which
always made me think of the show Charmed. Clark was
amazing. If I were to decide I was ready for a relationship, maybe…but not now. He was also
attractive. At six feet, he was a little taller than me, slender, and had
shoulder-length dark brown hair and expressive brown eyes.
Stephen
flicked a lock of hair from his eyes—something he’d done since we were
teenagers. “Mysteryfest opens on Friday evening, doesn’t it? How’s it going?”
I
took another sip of my coffee before answering. “Good. I never dreamed it would
be so much work. If it wasn’t for the volunteers, it would never happen.”
“You
have a heavy contingent of volunteers from the theatre community, don’t you?”
“Well,
they do make up a good percentage of the population around here.”
Most
of the friends I’d made over the past three months came from volunteering with
that theatre production when I first arrived—so they were mostly theatre
people. I still didn’t know much about Clark, but I knew he loved books,
Sherlock Holmes, old movies, and animals, so that was a great start. Oh, and
most importantly, Star
Trek and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. After my parents were
killed in a car accident when I was thirteen, TV had been a faithful companion,
providing hope and inspiration in an often dark world.
“I
imagine Tabitha has been a big help,” said Stephen. “There’s nothing that woman
can’t do.”
Tabitha
O’Reilly was another person I’d gotten to know. Not only was she the owner of a
local tea shop, she ran her own theatre company, and helped run Happy
Paws. Happy Paws rescued dogs and trained them to be emotional support animals.
Dan
jumped in Stephen’s lap and he nearly spilled his coffee. That cat wasn’t shy.
“How’s the podcast going?” Stephen asked after he averted disaster.
Three
months ago I started a podcast called Tower Talk. I covered local arts and
entertainment and interviewed pillars of the community like Marcel Nunes, who
created the Rogue Festival—a local Fringe festival that happened in the Tower
every spring.
“Great!
The coverage the podcast got in the local media after the murder was a huge
boost. It didn’t hurt that it took up the slack left behind by Tower Gossip
either.” Tower Gossip had been a local gossip website like the one on the TV
show Gossip Girl. It revealed secrets everyone would have preferred to
leave hidden. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when solving the murder led to
the end of Tower Gossip.
“I
need to edit the Zoom interview I did yesterday with Marilyn Bradford and get
that up. I can’t believe how nervous I was. I hope I did okay.”
“Considering you’ve been a fan of her mystery novels since you
were a teenager, I’m not surprised. I’m sure you were fine,” reassured Stephen.
Marilyn
was the biggest name coming to Mysteryfest. The authors were all published by
Bradford Publishing, owned by Marilyn’s husband Edward, who was also a local
actor.
“I
heard Nathan is doing a one-man show of Edgar Allan Poe for Mysteryfest. Have
you seen much of him lately?” asked Stephen, a mischievous twinkle in his gray
eyes.
I
wadded up a napkin and threw it at him, but he ducked. If I were
looking for a relationship, the dreamy Nathan Gilmore would be another option.
Not only was he a talented local actor, but he worked in the library at Fresno
State University, was an environmentalist, Master Gardener, vegan, and just too
good to be real. I had failed to find a fault in him, yet. The only
thing I could say, was that he was too busy to be human. Perhaps he was from
another planet, or maybe an android, though his heart was way too big for that.
But Data from Next
Generation had a big heart, so I couldn’t rule that out.
My
phone dinged. It was a text from Clark. “When can you get here? I really need
your help!!!” The exclamation marks were a concern. He never used
exclamation marks.
I
jumped up. “Duty calls. Sounds like Clark may have an emergency, and since he
never freaks out, I’m guessing it’s bad. You off today, or do you have a case?”
“I
have a client meeting in about an hour, guess I’d better change and get going.
Good luck. If it has to do with Alec again and you need help, let me know.”
Alec
Dunne and his husband Matt Freeman were two more theatre people I’d gotten to
know. Alec had been the director of that first show and could be a bit
difficult in that role. As a friend, he was a delight and a great source of
gossip. Matt was a successful realtor and the total opposite of Alec in
personality, a great big teddy bear. Alec was directing Murders in the Rue
Morgue.
He and Clark had butted heads before, so it was definitely a possibility that he was the urgent problem. “Will do.”
Lorie
Lewis Ham ©2024
Lorie Lewis Ham lives in Reedley, California and has been writing most of her life. She has published numerous articles, short stories, and poems, has written for a local newspaper, and published 7 mystery novels. For the past 14 years, Lorie has been editor-in-chief and publisher of Kings River Life Magazine, and she produces Mysteryrat’s Maze Podcast, where you can hear an excerpt of her new book One of You, book 2 in The Tower District Mystery series. You can learn more about Lorie on her website mysteryrat.com and find her on Facebook, BookBub, Goodreads, and Instagram @krlmagazine & @lorielewishamauthor.
Saturday, July 27, 2024
A Writer's Life....Caroline Clemmons: Award Winning GRANT ME THE MOON
Publishing ... and Other Forms of Insanity: 73 Calls for Submissions in August 2024 - Paying Markets
SleuthSayers: The Story is Writing Itself
Scott's Take: Transformers Volume 1: Robots in Disguise by Daniel Warren Johnson
Transformers Volume
1: Robots in Disguise by Daniel Warren Johnson, colorist Mike Spicer, is
the first volume of the series that handles the Transformer part of the new
Energon Universe where the G.I. Joe and Transformers live in the same time
period on Earth. As the book opens, Optimus Prime and his surviving autoboots
crash land outside of a small remote town. The surviving robots landed
alongside their enemies, the Decepticons led by Starscream. Megatron is missing
so Starscream is in charge.
Where Megatron
is does not get not addressed in this read, but in Cobra Commander.
I am working on getting a copy through the Dallas Public Library System.
Back to this
book…. Soon the Autobots encounter human children and befriend them quickly at
the crash site. At the same time, the Decepticons, realizing how weak the
native life forms are, begin to terrorize the local population for fun while also
taking control of the local power plant for their own purposes. The Autobots,
despite being severely outnumbered and more injured by their own crash landing,
will not let this happen without a fight.
The main Autobot
character is Optimus while the primary human characters change from time to
time as the story progresses. This is an exploration of trauma, grief, and war.
There is plenty of action and there are several graphic deaths. This read is very
adult in parts.
Such as when
Starscream crushes a man alive just for fun. Then there is the part when Optimus
Prime rips his own arm off to whup some butt. Using his own arm to beat the Decepticon
is pretty cool, but he also suffers greatly doing it, as clearly and graphically
depicted.
The art is
detailed in spots incredibly well while at other times frantic sketch lines art
are used to make up the faster action sequences. It’s all done very well.
Overall, this
tale is a little rushed, in my opinion, since so much happens in it there is
little time to breath. One could also argue how quickly Optimus falls in love
with humanity and the Earth is rushed, but one could also argue Optimus would
not be the robot he is if he did not care so much so easily. The ending leaves
Optimus Prime in a place I have never seen him before. It will be incredibly
interesting to see how Volume 2 deals with the fallout of these
events.
Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/3VZa9ix
My print reading
copy came from the Mountain Creek Branch of the Dallas Public Library System.
Scott A. Tipple ©2024
Friday, July 26, 2024
Beneath the Stains of Time: They Can't Hang Me (1938) by James Ronald
FFB Review: Leverage in Death: In Death Series by J.D. Robb
What could
motivate an executive known as a good man to walk into a room and detonate the
bomb vest he wore? That is the question that Eve Dallas and her team must
answer in Leverage in Death by J.D. Robb.
There is no
question that Paul Rogan did it. He walked into a room where the executives of Quantum
Air and EconoLift were meeting to sign the paperwork for the merger of the two
companies. He walked up to Derrick Pearson, The President and CEO of Quantum
Air, said something to him that sounded like an apology according to survivors,
and detonated.
When Lieutenant
Dallas arrives, Lieutenant Lisbeth Salazer, head of the Explosives and Bombs Unit,
informs her nine people in the conference room survived. Eleven are dead,
including the bomber. Fortunately for folks in the hallway and nearby offices,
the suicide vest had limited range. Otherwise, things would have been far
worse.
Married with an
eight-year-old daughter, and known to all as a good guy, there seems to be no
explanation for Paul Rogan’s actions. Upon learning the news that neither his
wife or daughter showed up at school, Dallas sends officers to their house.
Soon the officers find the wife and child in the home and in considerable distress.
All evidence in
the first hour or so points to the family being taken hostage, terrorized
physically and emotionally, and Paul Rogan forced to make a horrible choice.
The choice was do either walk in and do what he did or watch his family go
through far worse than they had already suffered and then be killed. Who forced him to do what he did and why are
the two primary questions Dallas, Peabody, and the team must answer. Especially
since the folks who did this show no signs of stopping.
What follows is
another good read in this series that blends police procedural and romance. It
may be set nearly twenty years in the future, but what happens in Leverage in
Death by J. D. Robb, could be happening now, or happened last week. It is that
relevant.
Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4deJwNB
My large print
reading copy came from the Dallas Public Library System.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2024
Thursday, July 25, 2024
Bitter Tea and Mystery: A Cast of Falcons: Steve Burrows
Wednesday, July 24, 2024
Publishing ... and Other Forms of Insanity: 37 Writing Contests in August 2024 - No entry fees
Jerry's House of Everything: SHORT STORY WEDNESDAY: THE ROMANCE OF ROSY RIDGE
Earl Staggs Reviews: From Hay To Eternity: Ten Devilish Tales of Crime and Deception by Sandra Murphy
From the archive comes this review by
the one and only Earl Staggs when he considered this short story
collection, From Hay To Eternity: Ten Devilish Tales of Crime and Deception by
Sandra Murphy.
In the ten stories in this collection,
Sandra Murphy exhibits her deliciously inventive imagination to create stories
and memorable characters which will involve you and entertain you from
beginning to end.
Here's a sampling.
In “Superstition,” a woman
ponders them all: stepping on a crack, walking under a ladder, a
black cat crossing your path, three black birds on your roof mean
death, and more. What is real and what is foolish imagination and
silliness? Once she figures it out, she knows what she must
do.
“The Chicken Pot Pie Fiasco,” concerns a large quirky family
in the process of preparing their own traditional Thanksgiving meal. In this
family, it's a huge chicken pot pie. Our narrator, who manages too
observe it all without getting involved due to his “stealth,” explains,
“There’s one big pie, and if there’s some of the inside stuff left over, there
are little pies for later. I like that part.” Everyone adds
their own favorite ingredients, but a surprise ingredient somehow gets added
which no one expected.
For “The Space Heater vs. the
Window Fan,” we meet a woman who only needs to get dressed and
prettied up for her sister's wedding. Unfortunately, every necessary machine,
from her computer to the local laundromat's equipment, refuses to cooperate and
do its part, culminating in a major struggle with one particularly stubborn
appliance.
The title story, “From Hay to
Eternity,” takes on a darker turn and gives us a murder
mystery. It begins with the driver announcing, “Welcome to the
hayride. Listen up! Find a seat on the bench or one of the hay bales and hold
on. Our horse, Sam, sometimes rocks the wagon when he starts, but it will be a
smooth ride after that.”
Riders on the haywagon include a cross
section of local parents and children, along with a pair of feuding brothers
and an attention-grabbing teenage girl wearing tiny cut-off jeans and a tight
top designed to “show what your momma gave you.” Her goal
is to turn the hayride into a photo op which will make her the next
supermodel. She has no idea that one photo will turn the
hayride into something other than a smooth ride.
There are six more stories in this
collection and each one is a delightful gem. Sandra Murphy is an author to
watch. Her stories will not disappoint.
Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/3LzKzMb
Earl Staggs © 2017
Texas author Earl Staggs earned all Five Star reviews for his novels MEMORY OF A MURDER and JUSTIFIED ACTION and has twice received a Derringer Award for Best Short Story of the Year. He served as Managing Editor of Futures Mystery Magazine, as President of the Short Mystery Fiction Society, and is a frequent speaker at conferences and seminars. http://earlwstaggs.wordpress.com
Tuesday, July 23, 2024
Little Big Crimes: Her Dangerously Clever Hands, by Karen Odden
Publishing ... and Other Forms of Insanity: 24 Awesome Writing Conferences and Workshops in August 2024
Review: Shades of Mercy: A Porter Beck Mystery by Bruce Borgos
Shades of Mercy: A Porter Beck Mystery by Bruce Borgos is the second in the series that began with The Bitter Past: A Novel. This one might be better than the first.
Among other things, massive wildfires are ripping through the Nevada countryside and adding to the long
list of Sherriff Porter Beck’s worries. The government helicopter arriving to
land near his house means even more trouble.
Aboard the helicopter is Special Agent Ed Maddox of
the Office of Special Investigations. OSI is the equivalent of the Army’s
Criminal Investigation Department. He wants Beck’s help in locating a piece
that came off an aircraft last night. He has a general idea of where it went
down and wants Beck to ride in the small unmarked chopper to go look.
Once onboard the helicopter, Maddox reveals the
impact site is out at the Double J Ranch. Owned by a childhood friend who has
moved back home, Beck coming along should help smooth the way. It might have if
they were still close. They aren’t and a lot has changed at the ranch that has
existed for decades.
It is also clear that the impact was not a piece of
the aircraft. Maddox claim a fuel tank did it. There is no way. Beck is ex-military
and knows missile debris when he sees it.
Maddox finally admits that they lost control of a Remotely Piloted Aircraft the night before. It was hijacked and flown way off
course. It ultimately fired a missile at the prize bull at the ranch. Somebody
targeted the bull of the owner who just happens to be a guy Beck grew up with a
long time ago. Who would want Jesse Roy’s prize-winning bull exploded into
pieces? What are they planning to do next? And the biggest question of all –
how did they take control of the RPA?
Those three big questions and many others are
answered in the incredibly entertaining, Shades of Mercy: A Porter Beck
Mystery. This review only carefully scratches the surface as much is in
play here and I am not going to spoil any of it for readers.
Additional character development, multiple complex story
lines, and plenty of action make this second in the series a very good book.
For a more in-depth look at the very good read, make sure you read Lesa Holstine’s review.
Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/3SFeNS7
My digital ARC reading copy came by way of the
publisher, Minotaur Books, through NetGalley.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2024
Monday, July 22, 2024
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: LOL Mysteries
Aubrey Nye Hamilton Reviews: The Blind Devotion of Imogene: The Misadventures of Imogene Taylor
David Putnam,
former California law enforcement officer, put his name on the crime fiction
map with 11 well-regarded books about ex-cop and paroled ex-con Bruno Johnson. Putnam
has been branching out a bit recently with sheriff’s deputy Will Donnelly and
homicide detective Dave Beckett but still staying within the construct of
policework. With his newest book he travels further afield, to the life of a
paroled chain-smoking elderly lady who spent 10 years in jail for murder.
The Blind
Devotion of Imogene: The Misadventures of Imogene Taylor (Level Best
Books, July 2024), released July 9, is an alternately entertaining and somber
look at the life of a parolee who had few resources before spending time behind
bars and even less now that she is a convicted felon. The only job Imogene
Taylor can find is in a rundown scratch and dent store in a low-rent strip
mall. Her parole officer relentlessly looks for ways to demonstrate Imogene has
violated the terms of her probation, leaving Imogene in a constant state of
fear. At the age of 73 she knows she won’t survive prison to be released a
second time.
Her neighbor
thoughtfully maintained her house while she was gone so Imogene does have a
roof over her head. She also has her neighbor Suze to confide in. Suze’s father
dies as the book opens and Imogene is busy trying to support the bereft only
child. Suze’s mother left years ago when Suze was small so Suze is the only person
left to handle everything. In clearing out the junk-filled garage, they find
the body of a long-dead woman. They both assume it’s Suze’s mother. Suze is
horrified, believing her father killed her mother, and Imogene is terrified
that her parole officer will twist this discovery around to blame Imogene for a
second death. They agree to hide the body a second time.
Then a thug
visits the stores in the strip mall and tells them what will happen if they
don’t start paying him protection money. And Imogene gets a visit from Eugene,
her assigned Secret Service agent. While she was in prison, she wrote a series
of threatening letters to the president of the United States. Her letters were
convincing enough for her to become an object of interest to the Secret Service
and whenever the president is in the vicinity, Eugene stops by to check on
Imogene. The book that she wrote while she was incarcerated is another thread.
Imogene is a woman of many parts.
This is an
offbeat story full of eccentric but relatable characters. It seems overlong in
places but the rambling narration reflects the stream of conscious inner dialog
of Imogene’s mind. Putnam has planned another two books about Imogene; it will
be interesting to see what she’s up to in the next volume. For fans of unusual
character-driven crime fiction.
· Publisher: Level Best
Books (July 9, 2024)
· Language: English
· Paperback: 246 pages
· ISBN-10: 1685126170
· ISBN-13: 978-1685126179
Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/3A23Zqk
Aubrey Nye Hamilton ©2024
Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal It projects by day and reads mysteries at night.
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