Tuesday, March 31, 2026
Mystery Fanfare: PASSOVER MYSTERIES //PASSOVER CRIME FICTION
SleuthSayers: Some Great New Books
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Death Through a Dark Green Glass by Julia Buckley
Bitter Tea and Mystery: Spell the Month in Books — March 2026
Beneath the Stains of Time: The Judges of Hades and Other Simon Ark Stories (1971) by Edward D. Hoch
Publication Day Review: From the Dust: A Novel by David Swinson
Death is something the retired DC Metropolitan
Police Department Detective is very familiar with, professionally and
personally. Graham Sanderson has quiet working homicides in Washington, DC, and
moved into his dad’s house in upstate New York. Most of his possessions sit in
storage as he came to the house to help his brother, Tommy, after dad died. Tommy
is agoraphobic and has not left the property in many years. With dad’s death,
he had nobody to help him, so Graham came with a few things and moved into a
guest bedroom in the house.
He came with some clothes and a few
mementos. That includes the urn with his late wife’s ashes. It sits, top off,
next to his bed and he talks to her on a daily basis. The grief remains strong
and he is coping with that, and other issues, as best as he can. With no
hobbies and the memories of a lifetime of police work, he has far too much time
on his hands to think and brood.
In the hours after the service for dad, William
Finn, who is the Chief of Police, asks for his help as the small local
department is very short staffed. A patrol officer was just recently promoted
to investigator. The guy is good, or he would not have been promoted, but Chief
Finn would like Sanderson to consult as they have a serious problem.
There has been a killer at work in the area
and clues are scarce. Suspects are non-existent. Chief Finn wants to keep the
investigation in house and not ask for outside agency help as the second, and
most recent, victim was his nephew. He wants Sanderson’s help. Something
Sanderson is reluctant to do at all as he is burned out, adjusting to being retired,
mending a relationship with his younger brother that he has not seen in many
years, losing his dad, among other things, and does not want to annoy anyone
inside or outside the department.
But, Chief Finn is persistent, and
Sanderson finally agrees to review the case file to this point and take an
impartial fresh look. The rookie investigator, Mike Gottert, welcomes him with
open arms and quickly invites Sanderson to go along as he goes back to the
scene of the second body with a plan to recanvass the area, knock on doors, and
poke around.
Before long, while not carrying a shield,
Sanderson is almost as involved in the case as if he were a member of the
department. Working helps occupy his mind, even if the case keeps coming closer
and closer to home. A case that may have also, once again, made him a target.
From the Dust: A Novel by David
Swinson is a complex and extremely enjoyable police procedural. With its rich
characters and storytelling, it is also a testimony, in a way, about coping
with complex mental health challenges in a world that often does not understand
what folks are dealing with on a daily basis. This is one of those books that
comes fully alive for the reader in a variety of ways and keeps the reader
turning pages long after one should quit for the night.
All in all, From the Dust: A Novel
by Doug Swinson is a mighty good read and very much recommended.
Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4ccY7vQ
My digital ARC reading copy came by way
of the publisher, Mulholland Books, imprint of Little, Brown and Company,
through NetGalley with no expectation of a positive review.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2026
Monday, March 30, 2026
Little Big Crimes: Solstice Sigil, by Laframboise, Michèle.
Aubrey Nye Hamilton Reviews: What Happened Next: A Novel by Edwin Hill
Edwin Hill’s
sixth book is an action-filled thriller with strong similarities to No Time
for Goodbye by Linwood Barclay. As in Barclay’s book, What Happened Next
(Thomas & Mercer, 2026) tells the story of a young adult who looks back to
a crime that affected him as a child and tries to make sense of it through the
lens of time and adult perspective. Charlie Kilgore was a baby when his father
stabbed a man to death, turned on Charlie’s mother, injuring her severely, and
then came after his two sons. Reid, the older, had the presence of mind to take
Charlie into a boat and push it out into the lake, away from their enraged
father. Their father disappeared into the mountains and was believed to have
died. At least this is what Charlie has always been told.
Now in his
early 20s Charlie would like to know more about the attack. His brash young supervisor
at the radio station where he works is pushing him to collect enough personal
interviews of participants to create a series of podcasts, convinced it would
be a major career move for both of them. And in the back of his mind, Charlie
is not convinced his father is dead. He thinks he’s seen his father here and
there over the course of his school years but never said anything, understanding
he would not be believed.
The podcasts
are uppermost in Charlie’s mind when he returns to his family’s summer home in
New Hampshire on Memorial Day weekend. His mother, aunt, and brother actively
discourage his interest in re-opening barely closed wounds. No one else who was
around at the time wants to be reminded of the tragedy but he records the
interviews he can while spending time with Seton, his long-time friend and
daughter of the murdered man.
His plans for
the podcast go sideways when a house owned by his family’s construction firm is
burned by arsonists, his mother’s body is found a short time later, and a
stalker that a former television actor had come to the village to avoid re-appears.
The arson and murder investigations set off more incidents, some of them
violent. Charlie is sure that most, if not all, of the events are linked to the
long-ago murder and attempted murder attributed to his father and he continues
to ask questions.
An intense,
engaging, and fast-paced story full of surprises to the very end. Starred
review from Publishers Weekly.
·
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
·
Publication date: April 1, 2026
·
Language: English
·
Print length: 317 pages
·
ISBN-10: 1662536852
·
ISBN-13: 978-1662536854
Amazon
Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4bWYMj9
Aubrey Nye Hamilton ©2026
Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal It projects by day and reads mysteries at night.
Sunday, March 29, 2026
SleuthSayers: Hardy Like a Fox at a Crime Scene
Guesting On The Blog
It
has been a few months, almost six now, so I thought I would remind you that I
welcome guest posts here. If you have read this kind of post before, and have
an interest, please read this updated post today as I have added a couple of
things.
Guests
are more than welcome and very much appreciated. Unlike some folks and their
places, I don’t have a lot of forms to fill out or hoops to jump through as I
have made the process as easy as possible. Most questions you may have been
already answered below so please read the post before reaching out.
Depending
on my reviews—Open days are currently Tuesdays and Sundays. I usually run
excerpts from published or about to be published works on Sundays as excerpts
seem to work best on those days.
No AI for anything. Period.
Topic--pretty
much anything goes. While my blog is mainly aimed towards items of interest for
readers and writers of mystery and crime fiction, I am open to pretty much
anything. I do ask that folks avoid the topics of religion and politics unless
either or both directly relate to the work being discussed or promoted.
Please
Note --- I am not going to run anything that advocates big pharma is hiding the
cure for cancer. Folks that come up with that stuff deserve a special place in
hell.
Before
contacting me, please have an actual idea in mind. I absolutely do not assign
topics. That means I am NOT going to tell you what to write about. This is your
opportunity to write what you want to write about. You know your books, your
expertise in topics, etc. I do not. Your idea does not have to be set in stone.
It does need to have some detail. Have something to say beyond the fact that
you have a new book coming out and you want to talk about it in a guest post. Have at least a couple of things that you know
you want to have in your piece and tell me that in your pitch.
And,
yes, book reviews are very popular here. Several folks regularly contribute
book reviews. I would love to have more book reviews from guests.
Word
Count: Totally up to you. I do not set a maximum or a minimum word count.
When
your piece is ready, you send it to me by email and include a 100 words or
fewer bio. Also send any pics that you think should be included in the piece.
While some guest posts are super heavy in pictures, I think it works best to
have two or so. While I can and do lift author photos and book covers from
Amazon and author websites, it is easier if you just send it from the start as
well as any other pics you believe should be included.
Exclusivity:
The period should be original to my blog. I request that you allow me to be the
exclusive home for the piece for 90 days. This allows me to make multiple posts
about your guest post on social media and still bring in readers.
I
have had folks write for me one weekend and, within two weeks, ignore the
exclusivity period and run the exact same piece elsewhere. Rather kills the
point of my efforts to bring attention to your post.
This
is, as always, a nonpaying opportunity. Yes, I absolutely value your work. I
also have no income other than SSD (and that is just a few hundred each month)
and am supporting myself, my adult son, and this old house on what little I
inherited when my Mom passed. The bank account is steadily shrinking and I am
doing the best I can to hang in here as inflation, my worsening health, and
other issues are making it even harder. Things are going downhill, rapidly, but
as long as I can keep this place going, I will.
While
I have no funds to pay you, I can promise to promote the heck out of your
appearance. You will be seen. I can’t promise a certain number of sales, but
most guests do see a spike in their sales. Guests who are on the blog on a semi
regular basis do far better than one off appearances, but everyone does see an
impact.
Questions/
pitches should be sent to me at Kevinrtipple AT Verizon.net
I
hope you choose to be a part of things here. Looking forward to hearing from
you.
Kevin
R. Tipple © 2026
Saturday, March 28, 2026
KRL Update
Up on KRL this week just in time for Easter, a review and giveaway of "Easter Egg Murder" by Leslie Meier, Lee Hollis, and Peggy Ehrhart https://kingsriverlife.com/03/28/easter-egg-murder-by-leslie-meier-lee-hollis-peggy-ehrhart/
And a review and giveaway of "Tell-Tale Treats" by Jennifer J. Chow, https://kingsriverlife.com/03/28/tell-tale-treats-by-jennifer-j-chow/
And an Easter mystery short story by Margaret Hamilton https://kingsriverlife.com/03/28/a-pinch-of-death-an-easter-mystery-short-story/
We also have the latest Queer Mystery Coming Attractions from Matt Lubbers-Moore https://kingsriverlife.com/03/28/queer-mystery-coming-attractions-april-2026-lambdas/
Up on KRL News and Reviews this week we have a review and giveaway of "Deadly Ambitions" by Terry Odell https://www.krlnews.com/2026/03/deadly-ambitions-by-terry-odell.html
And a review and giveaway of "Baking Up a Murder" by Hattie Fox https://www.krlnews.com/2026/03/baking-up-murder-by-hattie-fox.html
Happy reading,
Lorie
Publishing ... and Other Forms of Insanity: 74 Calls for Submissions in April 2026 - Paying markets
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: A Grim Reaper’s Guide to Cheating Death by Maxie Dara
Scott's Take: Absolute Batman Vol 2: Abomination by Scott Snyder and Marcos Martin (Illustrator), and Nick Dragotta (Illustrator)
Absolute Batman Vol 2: Abomination by Scott Snyder and Marcos
Martin (Illustrator), and Nick Dragotta (Illustrator) collects issues 7 through
14. The previous issues in the series were collected in Absolute Batman
Vol. 1: The Zoo which I reviewed here
last September.
In
this action-packed volume, Batman takes on Mister Freeze, Bane, and learns more
about the mysterious man in white, aka the Joker. Bane has Batman in his sights
and has plans for Batman that Bruce is not going to like. Batman investigates
Arkham M, which is supposed to be treating the mentally ill, but instead is creating
monsters to terrorize the world with.
This
is a really interesting action-packed saga, but there is a lot of body horror
and torture sessions. This book introduces new versions of Bane, Cat Woman, and
Mister Freeze, and others. The new version of Killer Croc is pretty cool.
The art for the Mister Freeze section was not
good in my opinion, but the art for the Bane story, which is the main story was
excellent. This series will continue as Batman will face off with Poison Ivy.
We will also meet the new version of Robin. The title of the volume and the
release date have yet to be announced.
Amazon
Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4rBlQL0
I
read some of this through the DC
Universe Infinite app and some through Hoopla by way of the Dallas Public
Library System.
Scott
A. Tipple ©2026
Friday, March 27, 2026
In Reference to Murder: Friday's "Forgotten" Books: Murder at the Villa Rose
Beneath the Stains of Time: Back for More: Q.E.D. iff vol. 1-2 by Motohiro Katou
Publishing ... and Other Forms of Insanity: 51 Writing Contests in April 2026 - No entry fees!
Thursday, March 26, 2026
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Nevermore: Paper Girl, Eleventh Hour, A Death in the Family
Thursday Treats: 3/26/2026
The latest reading opportunities…
SMFS President Joseph S. Walker announced that
his short story collection, Crime Scenes, was released by Level Best Books. Currently available in eBook
format with print scheduled later this year, the collection features twenty
stories. A number of them won or were finalists for various awards. Pick it up
at Amazon and elsewhere.
SMFS list member Andrew Welsh-Huggins’ new book, The Delivery: A Mercury Carter Thriller, came out earlier this week. Aubrey reviewed it here, as she did the first book. Lesa Holstine also reviewed this new book earlier in the week and previously reviewed the first one.
Punk Noir has published, Find What You
Love and Let It Kill You #3 — a PUNK NOIR Magazine series. This series of short
stories are all free to read online at their website. SMFS list
member Sandra J. Cady (For the Love of Writing) and S. B. Watson’s (My Human),
short stories appear as do others.
SMFS member Tom Larsen announced that
his short story, "El Fantasma (The Ghost), is in the latest issue of Black
Cat Weekly. You can pick up Black Cat Weekly #238 here.
Finally, next week sees the release of From the Dust: A Novel by David
Swinson. I was able to read an ARC of this from Mulholland Books through
NetGalley months ago and very much enjoyed it. The police procedural comes out
next Tuesday as does my review of it here on the blog. This is a really good
one, folks, and well worth your time.
Until next time….
Kevin R. Tipple ©2026
Wednesday, March 25, 2026
Bitter Tea and Mystery: Short Story Wednesday: Sidney Chambers and the Perils of the Night
Tuesday, March 24, 2026
Publishing ... and Other Forms of Insanity: 34 Awesome Writing Conferences and Workshops in April 2026
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Underfoot in Show Business by Helene Hanff
Monday, March 23, 2026
In Reference to Murder: Media Murder for Monday
Beneath the Stains of Time: Puzzle in Porcelain (1945) by Elizabeth Gresham (writing as "Robin Grey")
Aubrey Nye Hamilton Reviews: The Delivery: A Mercury Carter Thriller by Andrew Welsh-Huggins
Make sure you read Aubrey’s review of The Mail Man,
the preceding book, here.
The
Delivery (Mysterious Press, March 2026) by Andrew Welsh-Huggins is the
second thriller about former U.S. Postal Inspection Service agent Mercury
Carter. Carter is now a freelance courier, hand-transporting cargo too precious
to entrust to the usual delivery mechanisms.
In Pawtucket,
Rhode Island, Carter is en route to Providence to deliver a vintage 1951
baseball card signed by Cleveland Indians/Boston Red Sox shortstop Lou Boudreau
to 91-year-old Lenny Pellegrino, who had seen Boudreau play in person. Carter,
also a baseball fan, was looking forward to making the delivery and meeting
Pellegrino.
The pounding
rain makes navigation precarious and Carter encounters a wrecked vehicle with
an unresponsive driver, an obvious victim of hydroplaning and diminished
visibility. He is attempting to extract the bloodied woman behind the wheel
when another vehicle stops and its driver, a large man with a gun, demands that
Carter get away from the accident victim. Carter declines and the first
physical altercation of the book, and there are many, ensues.
Thus begins a
complicated tale in which Carter takes on what he thinks will be a quick
delivery in Pawtucket before he goes on to Providence, which turns out to be
nothing of the sort. The quick side trip spirals into multiple encounters with
an assortment of human rogues--traffickers, drug sellers, and IT
fraudsters--each of whom is running a separate con while angling for a larger
piece of the profits from the various scams underway with their colleagues. Double-crossing
and backstabbing abound.
As expected,
Carter’s quick wit and resourcefulness come into play again and again. It takes
some time to sort through the assorted agendas of the multiple players and
their schemes, I had to re-read sections of the narrative here and there to
make sure I understood them, but Carter eventually works his way through a
truly impressive quagmire of grift, larceny, and violence to the other side and
a satisfying ending.
I am grateful
for the early review copy of Mercury Carter’s latest adventure and recommend it
unreservedly to thriller fans who will be pleased to make Mercury’s
acquaintance.
·
Publisher: The Mysterious Press
·
Publication date: March 24, 2026
·
Language: English
·
Print length: 336 pages
·
ISBN-10: 1613167172
·
ISBN-13: 978-1613167175
Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/3Nv0ZtY
Aubrey Nye Hamilton ©2025
Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal It projects by day and reads mysteries at night.
Sunday, March 22, 2026
Little Big Crimes: The Tattle-Tale Heart, by John Leonard Pielmeier
The Short Mystery Fiction Society Blog: SMFS Spotlight: Barb Goffman
Saturday, March 21, 2026
KRL Update
Up on KRL this week reviews and giveaways of 3 cozy mysteries for your spring tbr-"A Whiff of Murder" A Sixth Sense Mystery by Angela M. Sanders , "Murder from A to Z" by VM Burns, and "A Spirited Supper at Dundoon Castle" by Darci Hannah https://kingsriverlife.com/03/21/a-trio-of-cozies-for-your-spring-tbr/
And a review and ebook giveaway of "The Cat's Eye Charm" by Clea Simon https://kingsriverlife.com/03/21/the-cats-eye-charm-by-clea-simon/
And a review and ebook giveaway of "Diversion" by Cindy Goyette, along with an interesting interview with Cindy https://kingsriverlife.com/03/21/diversion-by-cindy-goyette/
We also have another local ghost story by Sarah Peterson-Camacho https://kingsriverlife.com/03/21/the-headless-bride-a-bordello-banshee-of-frontier-stockton/
During the week we posted another special midweek guest post, this one by mystery author Verlin Darrow, where he shares a fun story about book promotion, and about his new book "The Brighter the Light, the Darker the Shadow" https://kingsriverlife.com/03/18/one-authors-attempt-to-generate-sales-via-emails/
Up on KRL News and Reviews this week we have a review and ebook giveaway of "A Scoop of Deceit" by Lena Gregory https://www.krlnews.com/2026/03/a-scoop-of-deceit-by-lena-gregory.html
And a review and ebook giveaway of "Eyes of Deceit" by Gabriel Valjan https://www.krlnews.com/2026/03/eyes-to-deceit-by-gabriel-valjan.html
And a review of "Magic and Mischief" by Elizabeth Everett https://www.krlnews.com/2026/03/magic-and-mischief-at-wayside-hotel-by.html
Happy Reading,
Lorie
Market Call: Novellas
As posted on Twitter…
Ruadan Books @RuadanBooks
Attention, authors! We open to novella submissions on
April 1st.
We're looking for dark thrillers, crime noir, and dark
speculative fiction—if you've got a complete manuscript between 25k-40k words
in one of these genres, we want to hear from you.
Submission guidelines here: https://ruadanbooks.com/submission-guidelines/#Novella2026Guidelines
SleuthSayers: Pulpwood Fiction
Scott's Take: New Avengers Vol 1: Killuminati by Sam Humphries and Ton Lima (Illustrator), Tiago Palma (Illustrator), and Stephen Segovia (Cover Art)
New Avengers Vol 1: Killuminati by Sam Humphries and Ton Lima
(Illustrator), Tiago Palma (Illustrator), and Stephen Segovia (Cover Art) more
collects the first five issues of the series. Somone has cloned the Illuminati
( a group of heroes that tried to police the world). So, there are evil
versions of Iron Man, Professor X, Namor, Reed Richards, Dr. Strange and others
running around causing havoc. They need to be killed so Bucky Barnes and the
Black Widow have assembled a team of killers to take them out. Carnage (Eddie),
the Hulk (who is in this volume a little bit), Wolverine (Laura) and others.
This
is a big budget action movie style read with a conspiracy and humor thrown in.
The characterization for a lot of the characters is somewhat off for comedic
effect. This book is just about having a fun time with a big idea. If you want
to see what evil versions of some heroes could be as they terrorize the Marvel Universe
than this is a book for you. There will
be a volume 2 to end the series, but the title and the release date have not
been announced yet.
Amazon
Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4qNq2pC
I
read this through the Marvel Unlimited
app.
Scott A. Tipple ©2026
Friday, March 20, 2026
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Cat’s Claw by Dolores Hitchens
Bitter Tea and Mystery: A Brush with Death: Sheila Pim
In Reference to Murder: Friday's "Forgotten" Books: The Black Stage
Thursday, March 19, 2026
In Reference to Murder: Mystery Melange
Beneath the Stains of Time: The Case of the Case of Kilcladdich (2023) by P.J. Fitzsimmons
Thursday Treats: 3/19/2026
The latest reading opportunities…
Murderous Ink
Press
released the new anthology, Crimeucopia - A
Coterie Of Dicks. SMFS list members Josh Pachter, Gerald Elias, Jim
Guigli, M. E. Proctor, and others, have short stories in the read. Pick it up at Amazon and elsewhere.
Rock and A Hard Place announced their
new book, A Woman’s Guide
to True Crime by Mary Thorson was now out. Each piece
in the book details a historical event by way of the victims, the killers, or
the woman impacted by the crime. You can learn more about the book at their website.
Musician and author Tim Bryant has been busy. The Ballad of Peechie Keen: A Dutch Curridge Mystery is out as is
the short story collection, Angels, Unaware:
Stories from East Texas.
SMFS list member Nikita Costiuc announced that his short story,
A Yellow Speck, appears online at the Canadian literary journal, Moonlit
Getaway. He bills it as a “southern gothic” tale. You can read it for
free at the website.
SMFS list member DK Snyder announced
that her solve-it-yourself mystery, Harmonica Blues, was published in the March
23rd issue of Woman’s World Magazine. The issue is available
now on newsstands, grocery stores, and elsewhere. You are looking for the issue
with Valerie Bertinelli on the cover.
For Friday the 13th, Punk
Noir published, Find What You Love and Let It Kill You #2 — a PUNK NOIR
Magazine series. This series of short stories are all free to read online at
their website. SMFS list
member Elizabeth Dearborn (Shop Till You Drop) and Wil A. Emerson (Scored Zero),
short stories appear as do others.
SMFS member Barb Goffman shared the news of the latest issue of Black Cat Weekly. As always, the issue is full of short stories, novellas, and more. You can pick it up here. A single digital issue is $2.99, but the longer subscriptions are the real deal and the way to go.
Inkd Publishing announced their
Kickstarter for the
anthology, Detectives, Sleuths, & Nosy Neighbors III. The
book will include short stories by SMFS list members, N. M. Cedeño (The
Assassination Game), Shari Held (The Mansion on the Hill), Kathleen Marple Kalb
(Spring Death Cleaning), Aime Kluck (Peril in Provincetown), Bev Myers (Three Fingers
of Fate), Karen Oden (Murder at Angelique), and SB Watson (The Silent Herd), among
others, are going to be in the anthology scheduled to be out in June.
Bev Myers also has a short story in the
new anthology, The Dichotomy of Love. Published by Lowell &
Benson Publishing, the read is available at
Amazon and other vendors.
Until next time….
Kevin R. Tipple ©2026
Posts
