Showing posts with label February 2022. Show all posts
Showing posts with label February 2022. Show all posts
Friday, March 04, 2022
Beneath the Stains of Time: The Illusionist (1970) by Stephen Frances
Beneath the Stains of Time: The Illusionist (1970) by Stephen Frances: Stephen D. Frances was a " South London-born clerk turned journalist turned author " who founded his own publishing company in the...
Monday, February 28, 2022
SleuthSayers: Rolling With The Punches by Steve Liskow
SleuthSayers: Rolling With The Punches: by Steve Liskow The last two years have shown the wisdom of not asking "How can things get even worse?" Fortunately, most of us a...
Aubrey Nye Hamilton Reviews: Van Gogh Blues by D. H. Beckwith
Van Gogh
Blues by
D. H. Beckwith (independently published, 2020) is the first book in the series
about Roscoe Pines, specialist in locating missing artwork. Pines was seriously
injured in the past in retrieval attempts so these days he simply locates the
stolen paintings or jewelry and leaves the dangerous labor of actually
separating the goods from whoever has them to law enforcement. Limiting the
danger of his career is not good enough for mega-millionaire Webb Smythe, who
has assured his only child Magnolia that he will disinherit her if she marries
Pines, which has stymied the progression of their romance.
Pines assumes
that the command visit to Smythe’s Fifth Avenue penthouse is yet another
attempt to end his relationship with Smythe’s daughter. However, Smythe needs
his help. Many years previously Smythe bought three Van Gogh drawings from an
old friend and art collector. He did not question their authenticity until he acquired
a Van Gogh catalog and found two of the drawings there but not the third.
Investigation showed the provenance for the drawing to be an elaborate fraud.
Tracing the
provenance proves tricky, as the bankers representing the family who sold the
drawings to Smythe raise questions in Pines’ mind about their ethics. Pines
also starts looking for practicing forgers who might actually be capable of
producing an authentic-looking Van Gogh, which takes him into some skeevy neighborhoods.
Then one of the bankers Pines wondered about is shot on the street and the
police become involved.
A surprisingly involved and fast-moving story with multiple threads that get tied neatly together. Pines’ chosen field means he deals with the underworld, and the resulting body count is higher than I expected. His sidekick is Pete, who drives limos for a living and interns with Pines to earn his PI credentials. The characters are not always credible, of course this is fiction. Writing is better than many independently published books I have seen; the author seems to have been wise enough to use a professional editor. Detailed information about authenticating art and the world of art forgery is integral to the story line, rather than appearing as a data dump. Lots of detail about New York City, as Pines’ research takes him through the city, and plenty about the local restaurants. Overall, a well-done book. Especially for fans of contemporary private investigator stories, art-related mysteries and of mysteries set in New York.
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ASIN: B08GKWNS98
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Publication date: August 23, 2020
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Language: English
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File size: 1860 KB
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Print length: 336 pages
Aubrey Nye Hamilton ©2022
Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works
on Federal It projects by day and reads mysteries at night.
Sunday, February 27, 2022
Mystery Fanfare: MARDI GRAS CRIME FICTION // MARDI GRAS MYSTERIES
Mystery Fanfare: MARDI GRAS CRIME FICTION // MARDI GRAS MYSTERIES: Mardi Gras aka Carnivale . Whatever you call it, it's a great setting for Murder ! Busy streets, crowds, costumes, drinking .. m...
SleuthSayers: In Another Man's Shoes by R.T. Lawton
SleuthSayers: In Another Man's Shoes: There's a fellow member in our Denver MWA Chapter who keeps telling me that I write like Damon Runyon. In case you haven't heard of ...
Guest Post: The Timely Writing Process by E.E. (Gene) Williams
Please welcome author
E. E. Williams back to the blog today. This is not the first time he has
discussed his writing process as he did so in this post
last July. After you read the post today, make sure you also check out his post from
last August which was an excerpt from his book, My Grave is Deep: A Noah
Green Mystery.
The Timely Writing Process by E.E. (Gene) Williams
A throng of people has asked me about my writing process.
By throng, I mean, um, me. I ask myself about the process each
morning when I look in the mirror and wonder who the heck that old man is? What
are all those wrinkles and those suitcases under the eyes and the jowls and the
gray hair and all that stuff growing out of that his nose and ears and … ?
Sorry.
Anyway, the ancient dude asks what my writing process is and
would I like to share it with others, like those nice folks at the Short
Mystery Fiction Society. To which I say, absolutely!
So here goes.
First thing in the morning, I grab my computer, turn it on and
go make breakfast. After I finish eating, I sit in my easy chair, place my
computer on my lap and turn on the TV. I check Netflix, Hulu, HBO Max, Prime
Video, and PBS for anything worth watching while I write. I find a movie and
begin watching. In the meantime, I call up Yahoo and read a couple dozen
stories on the computer as the film plays in the background. I miss something
important in the movie and rewind. It happens again, and once more I rewind and
then figure I might as well start it over because the characters are speaking
French and my knowledge of the language extends to Oui, Oui. I finish with
Yahoo and move to Collider, followed by Entertainment Weekly, followed by
Screenrant, followed by The Hollywood Reporter, and, finally, Movieweb.
Thus mentally stimulated, I type the word IT. Then the word WAS.
Then the letter A.
I drive to Publix and pick up popcorn chicken and return home. Realize that I forgot to get Diet Coke and return to Publix. Come back home. Realize it slipped my mind that I have a prescription ready at Publix and get back in the car again. Return home. Eat lunch. Sit back down at the computer. Type AND.
Fingers stiff and sore, I put the computer down, watch another
movie, this one in Spanish (Si, Si) and fall asleep in my chair. I dream of
writing a novel.
When I awake a few hours later, it dawns on me that I haven’t
yet done the laundry. More hours later the clothes are washed, dried, folded,
and put away.
During this time, my mind has been working furiously, overtime
really, to determine the direction of my story. A lightbulb blinks on. I have
it. I rush to the computer and type the words, STORMY NIGHT. Add an exclamation
point. Add a second. Hit the paragraph return.
And … that’s it. Time to make dinner. After that, find some
Scandinavian mystery with subtitles that I haven’t watched before.
At 8:15, it’s time for bed where I’ll dream of writing the next
best-selling novel.
It may take some time.
E.E. Williams, aka Gene, is the author of three Noah Greene
mysteries. The fourth Greene novel will be published … sometime.
E. E. Williams ©2021
E.E. Williams is a former journalist who worked
at some of the country's best and biggest newspapers. A 1971 graduate of Kent
State University, he published in 2002 his first Noah Greene novel, Tears
In The Rain. His second novel, Tears of God, was
published in 2014. The third Noah Greene thriller, My Grave Is Deep,
was published last year.
Saturday, February 26, 2022
Bitter Tea and Mystery: Ten Years of Blogging
Bitter Tea and Mystery: Ten Years of Blogging: On February 25th, 2012, I wrote my first blog post. My goals for blogging were to keep track of what I was reading, review the books I read,...
Beneath the Stains of Time: Dead Men's Guns: "The Cold Winds of Adesta" (1952) by Thomas Flanagan
Beneath the Stains of Time: Dead Men's Guns: "The Cold Winds of Adesta" (1952)...: Thomas Flanagan was an American university Professor of English Literature at the University of California, Berkeley, who specialized in Iri...
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