Monday, January 19, 2026
SleuthSayers: Bill Crider Rides Again
SleuthSayers: Bill Crider Rides Again: Bill Crider Having a few health issues in recent months like throwing arterial fibrillations aka AFibs and finally had ablation surgery to ...
Aubrey Nye Hamilton Reviews: The Asset by Mike Lawson
The nineteenth book by Mike
Lawson about political fixer Joe DeMarco, The Asset (Atlantic Grove,
February 2026), finds DeMarco in the midst of his usual covert investigation
and problem solving while yearning to perfect his golf swing. Former Speaker of
the House, and still mightily annoyed about it, John Mahoney is approached by an
ex-CIA agent who tells him that she witnessed the wife of a senior Senator
meeting with a Chinese intelligence agent. Instead of reporting the matter to
the FBI, Mahoney tasks DeMarco with verifying the connection and then learning
more. DeMarco finds out that the wife is being blackmailed over something her college-aged
daughter did that could send her to prison. The Chinese agent is willing to
exchange his silence for her classified information, creating an impossible
situation for this veteran political wife.
DeMarco doesn’t understand how
the information came into the agent’s hands initially and wonders if the
videotaped evidence has been falsified, and if so, why. He delves further into
the background of the daughter, the Chinese agent, and the technical genesis of
the video, which yields more questions than answers.
Although DeMarco is denied the
assistance of his usual sidekick, retired DIA agent Emma, who despises Mahoney
but helps DeMarco when she’s bored, he does have the expertise of a
professional hacker now turned white hat and working for the Department of
Homeland Security. Neil is happy being on the right side of the law for a
change, although large sums of money can make him revert to his old ways.
I was amused to note that the
description of the Senator and his wife bears close resemblance to an actual
power couple on the Hill.
DeMarco manages to just barely
escape being shot or drowned as he is caught up in a dizzyingly escalating
torrent of backstabbing players who double-cross each other and then
double-cross the double-crossersn.
While this outing starts out amusingly
with DeMarco on one of his expeditions for Mahoney, this one in the bucolic
hills of eastern Kentucky where he’s getting his city clothes muddy, the story becomes
serious quickly and grows increasingly bleaker until the end, which is
stunning.
·
Publisher:
Atlantic Crime
·
Publication
date February 3, 2026
·
Language:
English
·
Print
length: 320 pages
·
ISBN-10:
0802167004
·
ISBN-13:
978-0802167002
Amazon Associate Purchase
Link: https://amzn.to/4qMRTqo
Aubrey Nye Hamilton ©2026
Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal It projects by day and reads mysteries at night.
Sunday, January 18, 2026
Little Big Crimes: Squirrel Day Afternoon, by Gregory Fallis
Little Big Crimes: Squirrel Day Afternoon, by Gregory Fallis: "Squirrel Day Afternoon," by Gregory Fallis, in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, November/December 2025. This is the fi...
KRL Update
Up on KRL this week we have a review and giveaway of "Murder at the Scottish Games" by Traci Hall https://kingsriverlife.com/01/17/murder-at-the-scottish-games-by-traci-hall/
And a review and giveaway (book and a goodie bag) of "A Ferry Long Way to Go" by Misty Simon, along with a fun guest post by Misty about her writing https://kingsriverlife.com/01/17/a-ferry-long-way-to-go-by-misty-simon/
And a review and giveaway of "Vows and Villainy" by Elizabeth Penney, https://kingsriverlife.com/01/17/vows-and-villainy-by-elizabeth-penney/
And a review and ebook giveaway of "Itch of Greed" by Christa Nardi, along with an interesting interview with Christa https://kingsriverlife.com/01/17/itch-of-greed-by-christa-nardi/
Up on KRL News and Reviews this week we have a review and ebook giveaway of "How Deep is the Body?" by Ivanka Fear https://www.krlnews.com/2026/01/how-deep-is-body-by-ivanka-fear.html
And a review and ebook giveaway of "The Lizzie Borden House Anthology" Edited By Sèphera Girón https://www.krlnews.com/2026/01/the-lizzie-borden-house-anthology.html
Happy Reading,
Lorie
Beneath the Stains of Time: Best Served Cold: Case Closed, vol. 96 by Gosho Aoyama
Beneath the Stains of Time: Best Served Cold: Case Closed, vol. 96 by Gosho Ao...: This is probably going to be a slightly shorter review than usual, because Gosho Aoyama 's 96th volume of Case Closed only has one comp...
Guest Post: THE ASSASSINATION WE CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF by Jim Nesbitt
Please
welcome author Jim Nesbitt back to the blog today with his latest guest post
review …
THE
ASSASSINATION WE CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF
America
is a conspiracy-crazed nation, addicted to the breadcrumbs of "insider
information" that only the few are smart enough to suss out, hyped on the
latest finger-pointing revelation of shadowy string-pullers manipulating
dastardly deeds too many are fervently willing to believe without question.
How
did we get this way? Don't just blame the rise of social media that can inject
a fresh dose of outlandish intrigue from your smartphone right into your
brainpan. Look to the mother of all cabals, the malignant fountainhead of dark
machinations and evil intrigue, the gateway to America's addiction to
conspiracy theories -- the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
JFK's
shocking murder in Dallas' Dealey Plaza on November 22, 1963 was one of the
first major temblors of the turbulent 1960s. It was a seminal event that ripped
a huge rift in America's cultural and political fabric and taught us a searing inaugural
lesson about mistrusting our own government, hammered home by the
assassinations of JFK's brother, Robert F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King, Jr.
as well as the violent upheaval and unrest caused by the Vietnam War.
More
than sixty years after those fatal shots rang out, we're still morbidly
fascinated, fixated on the question that still remains unanswered for many
Americans: who killed John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the nation's 35th president?
Author
Terrence McCauley shrewdly capitalizes on this eternal interest in JFK's murder
with a superbly written historical novel, The Twilight Town: A Dallas '63
Novel, the second in a planned trilogy. It is work firmly rooted in the record,
including a prequel novella focused on the squad of Cuban gunmen that fruitlessly
awaited Kennedy's arrival in Chicago earlier that year. The book also leans on
the most plausible alternatives to the official finding that an overwhelming
majority of Americans don't believe -- Lee Harvey Oswald, acting alone, killed
Kennedy.
McCauley,
a talented author of thrillers, Westerns and crime fiction, deftly weaves
characters of his creation with the real-life figures of this American tragedy,
including former Major Gen. Edwin Walker, a rabid right-wing extremist; Jack
Ruby, the transplanted minor mobster and strip club owner who killed Oswald;
J.D. Tippit, the Dallas police officer who was gunned down less than an hour
after Kennedy's assassination, a murder pinned on Oswald by the Warren
Commission; and, George de Mohrenschildt, a Russian-born geophysicist and
occasional CIA asset.
But
it's a smart move to center the narrative on a character of his own creation --
Dan Wilson, an ambitious Dallas police detective seconded to an FBI unit
eavesdropping on the cop and criminal patrons of a popular diner. That way, the
reader discovers the scattered pieces of this lethal puzzle as Wilson does,
meeting the players along the way, both real-life, like Tippit, a fellow Korean
War vet styled as Wilson's former partner, and fictional, like Harry Denton, a
Dallas cop and sharpshooter who is part of cadre of hard-core segregationists
and right-wingers commanded by a hyper-political captain.
Wilson,
the son of a legendary Texas Ranger named Duke, is trying to parlay his FBI
work into a gig as one of J. Edgar Hoover's boys and figures digging up dirt on
Walker and his minions is the quickest way to climb this ladder.
He
also befriends Oswald, turning him into a snitch and trailing him on a
gun-running trip to camps in the Louisiana swamps used to train Cuban exiles
for a possible sequel to the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion.
The
camps are connected to two New Orleans figures who become targets of Orleans
Parish DA Jim Garrison's later investigation of JFK's assassination, former
Eastern Airlines pilot David Ferrie and former senior FBI agent Guy Banister,
both rabid anti-Communists. Oswald spent the summer of 1963 in New Orleans,
where he frequently passed out pro-Castro pamphlets printed at the building
where Banister's private eye agency was located, which puts his political
stance in question.
The
pace is swift and the action is sudden and often violent, like Wilson's
decision to murder one of Walker's key minions after he delivers a
not-so-veiled threat toward Wilson's wife, leaving the body on Swish Street, the
"pink part" of downtown Dallas.
It's
a line you don't expect Wilson to cross and when he does, without as much as a
blink, you instantly think of James Ellroy's murderous cops and that author's
flawed masterpiece, American Tabloid. McCauley skillfully treads some of
the same ground but refrains from the juddering and distracting gimmicks to
tell a straight, edgy story we think we know but find out we don't.
So,
let's ask the question again. Who killed Jack Kennedy? The Mob, pissed about
Bobby's relentless prosecutions and the botched Cuba invasion? Gen. Walker's right-wing
crazies who helped make Dallas a city of hate? How about the CIA, also angry
about Cuba and Kennedy's desire to negotiate with the Soviet Union to ease Cold
War tensions and get us out of Vietnam.
Or,
it could have been D, all of the above, a hellish confluence of conspirators,
with freelancers and operatives keeping a foot in several camps. McCauley does
a masterful job portraying the criss-crossing connections and the swirl of
deadly plots with no Mr. Big to rule them all.
Take
your pick. Remember, though -- none of these players are a sure thing, but all
had a reason for wanting Kennedy dead. And if you want to know where McCauley
stands, buy his book. And the prequel, Chicago '63, as well as the sequel.
Amazon
Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4pLE0I2
Jim Nesbitt ©2026
Jim Nesbitt is the award-winning author of five hard-boiled Texas crime thrillers that feature battered but dogged Dallas PI Ed Earl Burch. The fifth Ed Earl Burch novel, THE FATAL SAVING GRACE, has just been released. Nesbitt was a journalist for more than 30 years, serving as a reporter, editor and roving national correspondent for newspapers and wire services in Alabama, Florida, Texas, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Washington, D.C. He now lives in Athens, Alabama, where he is writing his sixth Ed Earl Burch novel, THE PERFECT TRAIN WRECK.
Saturday, January 17, 2026
2025 Critter's Poll Results: Kevin's Corner wins "Best Review Site"
The results have been announced today and this site
has won Best Review Site in the annual poll.
This means, the last six of seven years, this blog has won. After taking a year
off and not entering, this place has again won BACK to BACK to BACK.
FOR THE SECOND TIME!!!! Just amazing.
We were once again the only place reviewing
mysteries and crime fiction. We were also the only site that was not one of the
big guns with book giveaways, special events, and the like. We just do what we
do and roll on. No bells. No whistles. No gimmicks. Just reviews, guest posts,
and news of other things in the massive book world.
On behalf of myself, Scott, Aubrey, and numerous
other folks who have been a part of things here for another year, Thank
You. If it was not for all the guests who contribute to this blog every
month, this award and the recognition does not happen.
A massive and heartfelt THANK YOU goes
to you, the readers, who come by here and read this blog. You have stuck by the
place as things have gotten slower due to my health challenges and other
issues. If it was not for your support over these years, this never would have
happened one more time. I’m grateful.
I have always said I have a very hard conceiving of
the idea that anything I do, especially with the blog, really impacts other
folks. People tell me otherwise on a fairly frequent basis, but I have a very
hard time wrapping my head around that idea. Then this happens and I just shake
my head in amazement.
Thank You. It truly means a lot.
Kevin
SleuthSayers: Christmas Movie Night
SleuthSayers: Christmas Movie Night: Around this time last month, we did the same thing we've done every Christmas for years: Our whole family--my wife and I and our three...
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Murder at Royale Court by G.P. Gardner
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Murder at Royale Court by G.P. Gardner: Reviewed by Jeanne Cleo Mack is settling into her job as director of Harbor Village, a retirement community in Fairhope, Alabama but t...
Scott's Take: The Malevolent Eight by Sebastien De Castell
The Malevolent Eight by Sebastien De
Castell is second book in the Malevolent series that began with The Malevolent Seven. At this point
there is supposed to be a third book in the series, The Malevolent Nine,
but the publishing date is unknown. All we have, for now, is the reference to
it in the author’s multi page acknowledgement section at the back of the book.
Spinning out of the events of the first
book, The Lords Celestine (their version of angels) and the Lords Devilish
(their version of demons) are recruiting humans to wage war against their
counterparts on the Mortal Plane (quasi Earth). Cade and his friends (The
Malevolent Seven) are attempting to stop the war before it truly gets going by
murdering people both sides until they call it off. Of course, things only get
worse from there. As happened with the first book, the plot synopsis does not really
reflect what the book is actually about and I am not going to ruin with a more
accurate description.
This book has humor, action, sex,
extensive and graphic torture scenes, and much more. If you enjoyed the first
read, you should enjoy this book as it is more of the same. As was true with
the first one, this is very much an adult book. Like the previous read, this
one also gets weird at times, but in a good way. For example, one of the new
characters introduced to join the team includes a vampire Kangaroo from another
dimension. About halfway through the read, the Kangaroo also learns and can
speak Samuel L. Jackson’s favorite movie curse word.
I read the hardback book through my
local library and enjoyed it a lot. I am eagerly awaiting the third book which
is supposed to be the final book in the series.
Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4aRlp9V
My hardback reading copy came from the
Central, aka Downtown, Branch of the Dallas Public Library System.
Scott A. Tipple ©2026
Friday, January 16, 2026
SleuthSayers: Is Accuracy Overrated? by Mark Bergin
SleuthSayers: Is Accuracy Overrated?: Filling in for me today is Mark Bergin, a retired police lieutenant, talented writer, and dear friend. Mark generously helped me with resear...
In Reference to Murder: Friday's "Forgotten" Books: Cry the Beloved Country
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Jerry's House of Everything: FORGOTTEN BOOK: HE DONE HER WRONG
Jerry's House of Everything: FORGOTTEN BOOK: HE DONE HER WRONG: He Done Her Wrong: The Great American Novel and Not a Word in It -- And No Music, Too by Milt Gross (1930) American copyright law is a str...
FFB Review: Dance On His Grave by Sylvia Dickey Smith
After the sudden death of her brother
Warren due to a traffic accident, Sidra Smart comes to the small southeast Texas
town of Orange to permanently close his private investigator business. Recently
divorced after thirty years of a mind-numbing marriage, Sidra knows absolutely
nothing about private investigations or running her brother’s business with the
intriguing moniker of "The Third Eye: Intuitive Investigations."
While she isn't sure what she is going to do with her life, she knows that she
isn't going to take over and run Warren's business and she isn't going back to
her old life as a preacher's wife.
Somewhere during the course of that thirty-year
marriage that started when she was so very young, she lost her identity. It is
something she wants back and just isn't sure how to get it back. She isn't
alone with that problem as the visibly agitated blonde woman makes clear by
showing up while Sidra is paying bills and clearing mail in Warren's old
storefront office. The woman's name is Jewell Stone and Warren had just barely
opened a file for her. With Warren dead, Jewell expects Sidra to take over and
help her. Jewell is haunted by nightmares of a naked woman who she thinks might
have been killed by her father, Roy Manly back when Jewell was a child. If the
memories that come out of Jewel and her emotional pain aren't disturbing
enough, while Jewell cries and talks, Sidra sees a small blue flame appear in
the air over Jewell's head for a few seconds. Despite all the reasons not to
get involved, Sidra eventually begins to investigate a sinister world of child
abuse and possible murder far different than her experiences of bake sales and
back stabbing church politics as a preacher's wife.
This is an intense read with frequent and very graphic recounts of horrible child abuse and molestation. Such scenes are intense and very disturbing and will no doubt upset a number of readers. Author Sylvia Dickey Smith details the horrific abuse over and over again to various parties throughout the entire novel while occasionally adding a little new information at the various tellings. After awhile, the graphic abuse and molestations become a bit much and could distract readers from a compelling story.
This is a shame because the main story
is quite strong and would move the story along very well if allowed to do so
instead of being stopped by the detailed abuse materials. The novel revolves
around a thirty-year-old murder case and accompanying arson in the small town
of Orange as well as Sidra's efforts to find herself. During the course of
investigating the case, we learn quite a lot about Sidra, her relationship with
her former Pastor and husband as well as the congregation, a fellow private
investigator George Leger, Sidra's rather eccentric Aunt Annie, and numerous
other characters along with a strong slice of life in that shadowy land full of
mystique and mystery where Texas and Louisiana meet.
Evil walks in many forms in this intense novel. Full of suspense, interesting characters and a heroine trying to find herself once again, the novel delivers on all levels while disturbing repeatedly with the constant scenes of abuse and molestation. Few readers will find this a relaxing read but all will certainly find it suspenseful, intense, and not easily put down.
Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4jEyIfT
Material supplied by the author in
exchange for my objective review.
Kevin R. Tipple © 2007, 2012, 2026
Thursday, January 15, 2026
In Reference to Murder: Mystery Melange
In Reference to Murder: Mystery Melange: On Sunday, January 25, the Westport, Connecticut, Library will host a Crime Writing Panel Discussion, "Ripped from the Headlines: Weavi...
The Short Mystery Fiction Society Blog: Kicking off 2026 with the Short Mystery Fiction Society!
The Short Mystery Fiction Society Blog: Kicking off 2026 with the Short Mystery Fiction So...: The talented writers of the Short Mystery Fiction Society finished out 2025 with a wealth of great new publications, and are heading into 20...
Beneath the Stains of Time: My Grandfather, the Master Detective (2023) by Masateru Konishi
Beneath the Stains of Time: My Grandfather, the Master Detective (2023) by Mas...: Masateru Konishi, a TV and radio writer, debuted as a novelist in 2023 with Meitantei no mama de ite, vol. I ( Stay a Great Detective ), re...
Wednesday, January 14, 2026
Jerry's House of Everything: SHORT STORY WEDNESDAY: MR. SMITH KICKS THE BUCKET
Jerry's House of Everything: SHORT STORY WEDNESDAY: MR. SMITH KICKS THE BUCKET: "Mr. Smith Kicks the Bucket" by Fredric Brown (first published in Street & smith's Detective Story Magazine , August 194...
Review: Crimeucopia - The Not So Frail Detective Agency
Recently released by Murderous Ink Press, Crimeucopia
- The Not So Frail Detective Agency, is a good read. The entertaining
anthology focuses on the female private investigator and does so by way of a
variety of tales set across multiple time periods and featuring women often not
fully appreciated by others. In other words, just like women experience in real
life every single day of the week. In this case, while these ladies may not
have the brawn of a man, they also walk down mean streets and get the job done.
The anthology contains fifteen solid stories from as
many authors. Several tales I personally preferred over others, as you can see
below. No doubt your preferences would vary from mine. There is also no doubt
that you will find lots of good reading here as you would in any of the long
running series of Crimeucopia books.
The tales that resonated with me, in order of
appearance, are:
Steve Liskow’s “Slam Dunk” where Tatiana, known to
all as “Tats” for reasons soon made clear, takes a case where the client is
sure the husband is cheating on her. He plays basketball for incredible money.
AmyLee signed a prenup and she knows the kind of guy she married. But, now she
is pregnant, and wants proof of what he is doing so she make sure that the child
and her have a secure financial future.
It has been decades since she last saw her. Lorriane
coming loudly into her office in Detroit was absolutely not a sight for sore
eyes. She could have gone the rest of her life never thinking about Lorriane
again. In Sandra J. Cady’s “High School Reunion,” she is back in Bonnie’s life and
won’t take no for an answer. She wants to hire Bonnie to look into the death of
her husband, Harvey Harris. He died a few weeks earlier, in a traffic accident,
and the cops are not moving fast enough to suit her as she needs access to his
money. She wants Bonnie’s help and is very willing to use her pollical connections
to make sure Bonnie never works again as a private investigator should she
refuse. It is very clear that in the more than three decades since they last
saw each other that Lorriane has not improved one bit as a human being.
Kathleen Marple Kalb takes readers to the fall of 1987
with her very young private investigator in “Danno and the Babysitter.” Diana
Czednik wants the case. A mutual friend, Gary Bigelow, sent Mark McKinnon to
her. Somebody has been killing men in Shadyside, a gay friendly neighborhood in
Pittsburgh. The cops, to this point, have done less than nothing. Gary, Mark,
and others, have decided it is past time to get some professional help. She’s
willing, but the owner of the agency and her boss, Mr. Kozakevich, does not
want his rookie investigator on the front lines on a murder case and thus in
danger from a serial killer. He severely limits what she can do at the start,
but, before long, she is deep into it.
Crimeucopia - The Not So Frail Detective Agency
has twelve more tales to interest you beyond the three that I highlighted. The
read, as these books always do, showcases a variety of authors with varied
writing styles, characters, time periods, and more. The read is full of
interesting cases. It features female private investigators often dealing with
those who do not understand their capabilities. They soon do, one way or
another, in the very enjoyable read.
Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/45JBWZQ
My digital ARC was provided by the publisher with no
expectation of a review.
Kevin R. Tipple © 2026
Tuesday, January 13, 2026
SleuthSayers: 2025 Year in Review: Writing and Other Things
SleuthSayers: 2025 Year in Review: Writing and Other Things: In my previous SleuthSayers post , I discussed my year as an editor; in the following I discuss my year as a writer, and I discuss some of ...
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Too Old for This by Samantha Downing
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Too Old for This by Samantha Downing: Reviewed by Kristin Lottie Jones has gotten away with murder. Frequently. Lottie thought her killing days were behind her, until s...
Publication Day Review: The Cyclist: A DS George Cross Mystery by Tim Sullivan
It has been a few months since the
events of The Dentist as the police procedural, The Cyclist:
A DS George Cross Mystery by Tim Sullivan begins, and DS George Cross
is at, in all likelihood, a crime scene. An annoyed contractor wants to get his
men back to work on the teardown of a row of garages, but the dead body wrapped
in plastic and sitting in the bucket of a digger has meant that all work is
stopped. Detective Sergeant George Cross of the Somerset and Avon police force
flatly and calmly explains the reality of the situation in his unique style and
returns to the business at hand—solving a murder.
The unique style of Detective Sergeant
George Cross is due to the fact that he is on the autism spectrum with
Asperger’s syndrome. He has a very hard time picking up on social cues and
interacting with people. He does not recognize emotions and has to go through a
sort of mental catalog to figure out the emotion a person is displaying on their
face. So, he is working hard to be civil and polite with the contractor who
wants nothing more than to get the project back underway, and doesn’t quite get
why DS George Cross is saying what he is saying to him. DS Ottey is soon able
to rescue Cross before things go sideways with the man.
DS George Cross is detail focused and
driven and is an exceptional investigator though he drives everyone around him
a bit mad at times. Of course, if everyone had his attention to detail, that
would really help everyone. Since the pathologist clearly does not, she might
have noticed clues on the body that would give them an idea as to the identity
of the victim. The victim had no identification, no engraved watch, no cell
phone, nothing at all that would identify him. But, in his close examination of
the body in front of the perturbed pathologist in the morgue, DS Cross identified
several clues that indicate the victim was a serious cyclist.
That fact soon proves out to be true and
the team is able to identify the victim. Now that the victim is identified, they
can actually start investigating him, his background, relationships, etc., and
begin to make slow progress in a complicated case.
This second book in the series builds
off the first book, The Dentist, and does so very well. Further
character development of George Cross, as well as several other characters, is
underway here and does not distract from the main storyline. Also present are
the economic budgetary issues impacting the police in the name of efficiency and
are, actually, doing the exact opposite. Also present is a complex mystery with
far reaching implications.
A police procedural series that should
be read in order, The Cyclist: A DS George Cross Mystery by Tim
Sullivan is a highly entertaining read.
The book, and the series, to date, is
highly recommended.
Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4omEQLH
I received a digital ARC from the
publisher, Grove Atlantic, through NetGalley, with no expectation of a positive
review.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2025
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