Thursday Treats: 2/25/2026

Welcome back to “Thursday Treats.”  Been a hard week. Mixed bag doc appointment Monday, a couple of falls, and then late-night Tuesday evening, my oldest called to tell me that they are getting divorced. She suddenly took the kids, my grandkids, from their place about six weeks ago, has not communicated one word since, and has now, apparently, filed for divorce. He has no idea why at all. I am too sick and too broke to be of any help at all. So, this week has sucked.

 

Publishing wise, things seem to be a bit light. A couple of things did cross my desk though….

 

SMFS member S. B. Watson announced that her new novella, Laughing Matter: An Impossible Crime, was now out. Published by Black Beacon Books, this is the first of three planned novellas they are releasing this year. It is only available in eBook format at Amazon.  These new novella’s join Cameron Trost’s Let Darkness Take Hold: A Tale of Suburban Suspense released in 2012.Weekly.

 

SMFS member Barb Goffman shared the news of the latest issue of Black Cat Weekly. Available at the website, Black Cat Weekly #234 is now out and features numerous short stories, novellas, and more. A single digital issue is $2.99, but the longer subscriptions are the real deal and the way to go.

 

We have also a well respected and solidly good market. SMFS Member Michael Bracken announced in a recent SleuthSayers blog post that Black Cat Mystery Magazine has closed down. It ran for 16 issues. I think I have several of them here in digital format in my TBR pile. Several are also reviewed here on the blog. I am sad to see it go. You can still pick up issues, for now at least at the publisher, Wildside Press, and at Amazon.

 

Then there are the publishing delays. Last week was supposed to see the release of Diversion: A Probation Case Files Mystery by Cindy Goyette. Thanks to the digital ARC from the author, I had the publication day review. It wasn’t until later in the day I learned that the publisher, Level Best Books, had delayed the release to some unspecified time in the future and had to correct the review and my social media posts. 

Delay with them has happened again this week. This time it is fellow SMFS member, and my VP when I was SMFS President, Kathleen Marple Kalb. She reports that her latest book, The Stuff of Malice, did not release on time as scheduled on Tuesday. This third book in the series that began with The Stuff of Murder: An Old Stuff Mystery is now “coming soon” with no new release date announced.

 

Level Best Books does have a spiffy new revamped website now so one hopes that is a sign they are getting back on track to fulfill their publicly  stated mission of being “… one of the premiere publishers of mysteries and thrillers.”

Out now and reviewed by yours truly earlier this week is The Crossroads: A Joe Pickett Novel by C.J. Box. I am a big fan of this series featuring Wyoming Game Warden Joe Pickett. They made a tv series of it awhile back, but as almost always happens, the books are way better. If you missed my review of this new read, go here.

 

And, finally, The Politician: A DS George Cross Mystery by Tim Sullivan comes out next Tuesday. This is the fourth book in this excellent police procedural series being released here in the United States by Atlantic Crime, an imprint of Grove Atlantic. Like the Eve Dallas series, I came to this one by way of reviews by Lesa Holstine. I have been getting digital ARCs through NetGalley and have massively enjoyed the reads. Make sure you start at the beginning and read Lesa’s review of The Dentist. Come here Tuesday when my publication day review of The Politician: A DS George Cross Mystery will appear here.

 

 

Until next time….

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2026