Publication Day Review: The Taken Ones: A J.P Beaumont Novel by J. A. Jance

The Taken Ones: A J.P Beaumont Novel by J.A. Jance features a large cast of characters, a horrible multistate missing person case, and a slow-moving tale of greed and deceit. One also wonders if this is the last one in the series. If so, it ends well.

 

It is late May 2025 as the book opens with J.P. Beaumont and his family in Bellingham, Washington. His wife, Melissa Socmes, has just retired from being chief of police for the city of Bellingham. His grandson, Kyle Cartwright, was one of the rookies sworn in by the police chief yesterday shortly before her duties ended. The public side of things is over. Today is for a private party that is part family reunion and part retirement celebration. Everything is to be kept from Mel and Kyle and J.P. might have pulled it off. After the party, Mel and J.P. will head out to Calgary, Cananda, on a vacation trip.

 

At the same time, a friend that J.P. met awhile back while working a case in Alaska, has a lot going on in her life as well. Twinkle Winkleman is at home, running her auto repair business, taking care of her grandson and more. A long-time client, Art Holt, comes to see her.

 

He does not need a mechanic; he needs an investigator and help. His granddaughter, Regina, has gone missing.  Everybody calls her Gina. A brilliant student, she is in college, and went to Seattle where she is supposed to have an internship. It’s been several days since she allegedly arrived at the airport in Seattle and subsequently vanished. The police have been zero help. Because of what Twinkle was able accomplish when she went through something similar a few years back, Art Holt has come to see her to seek her advice on what to do next.

 

She has some ideas. After promising Art she will help before sending him on his way, she reaches out to J.P. Beaumont, former detective and current private investigator, and ask him to help.

 

He does and reaches out for help through his contacts. Beaumont still has contacts and through those contacts he is able to get the ball rolling on the case. What gradually evolves is a tale of multiple brilliant young women being taken for some unknown purpose. The cases are spaced out and occurring all over the country. So local law enforcement has no idea that their solitary case is part of a nationwide network of cases. Until J.P. and his wife, Mel, start putting pieces together.

 

The Taken Ones: A J.P Beaumont Novel by J.A. Jance is a complicated tale full of a large cast of characters, each with their own point of view. Those points of view shift with each chapter as pieces of the tale are related to the reader by the investigators, the captive women, and others. That and all the exposition and backstory of several characters, makes for a very slow moving read for nearly two thirds of this book. The last third is a rocket trip to a finish and a satisfying conclusion.

 

While not one of the best reads in this long running series, the overall read is  enjoyable if you stick with it. It also ends well and provides a nice cap to the series if this is the final book.

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4dVYACo 

 

Make sure you read Aubrey's review here. 

My digital ARC was provided by the publisher, William Morrow, through NetGalley, with no expectation of a positive review.

 

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2026

Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Fetal Position by Carolyn Huynh (Advance Review)

Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Fetal Position by Carolyn Huynh (Advance Review):   Fetal Position by Carolyn Huynh (publication date 12-1-26) Reviewed by Kristin Imagine if in just a few generations the global birth ...

Lesa's Book Critiques: Is it Too Late to Make a Run for It? by Judi Dench with Brendan O’Hea

 Lesa's Book Critiques: Is it Too Late to Make a Run for It? by Judi Dench with Brendan O’Hea

Review: Thunderbird Ranch by Laura Griffin

 

When I realized that Laura Griffin, author of the very good Innocence Road, had a new book coming out, I put my request in on NetGalley. I would not have noticed if not for the awesome Lesa Holstine who brought it to my attention. She did, I went and looked, and soon was approved. While I liked that book more, this one is also a solidly good read.

 

Like Innocence Road, Thunderbird Ranch has a strong female detective being marginalized by her boss. The read also has a lot going on and gets very complicated very fast.

 

As Thunderbird Ranch opens, Lilian Lasko is going with her boyfriend, Will, to meet the family. It is a Friday, deep in the searing heat of a Texas summer, and the day before a birthday party for his widowed mom. Faye’s birthday also will mark the one-year anniversary since her husband, Will’s father, died. It has been a horrible year, the ranch has major issues that some point on the old barn will not fix, and the drought that is searing Texas is taking a toll everything. At least part of the place is still looking good thanks to the reach of a spring fed creek.

 

Faye Bowen McCann is a strong-willed woman and certainly does not seem to be devasted by grief, no matter what Will said. Faye McCann is not impressed with Lilian and has the resources to address that issue. She also has big plans for the ranch. Plans that Will’s brother and sister do not like at all. They also do not seem to care for Lilian at all.

 

Then there is Sheriff’s Deputy Kate Graham. Late one day she has been out at Mason’s Quarry chasing away beer drinking kids from an adjoining county. Dispatch calls her on her cell phone to tell her that the sheriff wants her to get out to Thunderbird Ranch immediately. He won’t say why, but did tell dispatch to tell her to keep it off the radio.

 

Once Deputy Graham gets out there and finds the sheriff, she realizes he said to keep it off the radio for good reason. There has been a murder.

 

Before long, Sheriff Bruce Hard has made her the lead detective of the case. A case that gets more and more complicated as the pressure from the Sheriff as well as the District Attorney demand it be solved. This is her first murder case, and it easily could be her last, for more than one reason.

 

A complicated read full of interesting characters, Thunderbird Ranch is well worth your time.

 

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://link.amazon/B0eWgiHxl

 

 

My digital ARC came from the publisher, Berkley Publishing Group, through NetGalley, with no expectation of a positive review.

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2026

Lesa's Book Critiques: Have Courage: Longmire Stories by Craig Johnson

 Lesa's Book Critiques: Have Courage: Longmire Stories by Craig Johnson

Publication Day Review: Have Courage: Longmire Stories by Craig Johnson

Have Courage: Longmire Stories by Craig Johnson collects a number of the holiday stories that he wrote over recent years and g away as free reads in his newsletter. The second of such books, following in the tradition of Wait for Signs: Twelve Longmire Stories, (a great read if you have not read it) includes the all-new short story, “Angel Shot with a Twist.”

 

After the introduction by A. Martinez, Jacob Nighthorse, the book opens with “Warms You Twice.” Set on Christmas Eve of December 1972, Walt Longmire is a new and relatively untested Deputy. Sheriff Lucian Connelly decides it is time for Deputy Longmire and he to go out on their first call out together and warns him not to do anything stupid. The cantankerous Sheriff is taking him to see  Willis Dietz who has troubles of his own.

 

Also set in 1972 and a few months earlier, “The Perfect A,” comes next. Walt Longmire was hired days earlier and is pretty much alone when the call comes in at the Absaroka County Sheriff’s Department. Doctor Bloomfield wants to go check on one of his patients, Salvatore Ibarra, up at his mountain camp. He’d been in town earlier and that visit concerned the good doctor. So much so he wants somebody to go check on Mr. Ibarra, a sheep herder, at his camp in the mountains. Doctor Bloomfield wants to go too and to do it now during an ice storm.

 

Sheriff Longmire always heads out alone, for a day or two around Christmas. He doesn’t explain himself. In “Known Associate” we find out why he does what he does. Of course, he does it for good reason and it is nobody’s business at the office but his.

 

One never wants a hostage situation. Especially at Christmas. It’s Christmas Eve in “Land Of The Blind” and that is what is happening out at the Congregational Baptist Church out at the edge of the county. The deputy known as “Double Tough” and Sheriff Longmire head over in an attempt to end things peacefully. Easier said than done.

 

What got Eddie in jail and a lot more is explained in “Elven/Twenty-Nine.” It is also a tale of grace and redemption as are many of the stories in this read.

 

The Sheriff of Campbell County, Sandy Sandburg, and Sheriff Walt Longmire are on the hunt for a murder suspect, Mike Embersoll. That hunt has led them to the Crow Butte Mine. “The Percentages” takes readers on the hunt for Mike Embersoll who is a heavy equipment operator at that mine. Going to a working mine is dangerous enough before you throw in a possible murder suspect that can operate heavy equipment.

 

For the third year in a row, somebody has stolen the baby Jesus from the church nativity scene. Deputy Santiago Saizarbitoria has been working the case from the start. He is taking the latest theft very hard in “Away, In A Manger.” Soon, Sheriff Longmire arrives at Saint Matthias to assist with the latest investigation.

 

It is Christmas Day in Powder Junction, Wyoming, and there is quite the commotion at the unofficial local trailer park. The Kropky brothers are all large men. They are all currently in mutual and destructive combat with household goods sailing out into the yard around the trailers. In “Who’s your Daddy”  familial history has suddenly come to light and the news has not been universally well received.

 

Barrett Long is the part-time dispatcher. He wants to tag along as Longmire and his dog head out on Christmas Day for a domestic dispute. The call is to the Murdochs’ place and one the good Sheriff have visited many times before. So, after they talk a bit, Longmire decides to let his future deputy come along. In so doing, he gives  the man a glimpse of the job in “Musical Chairs.”

 

It has happened again at the “Durant Home for Assisted Living” and it needs to stop. In “Recidivism” the former Sheriff and current resident, Lucian Connelly, is of little help. Can not really tell you more without blowing up the tale, so I won’t.

 

“Starter’s End” is next where Ruby, the dispatcher, has entrusted Longmire with a jar of sourdough starter. The stuff dates back over 150 years has come down through Ruby’s family. In the here and now of the story, Ruby, as a member of the Methodist Ladies Baking League was supposed to hand it out to various ladies of the league. But, she has to go out of town and has turned it over to Sheriff Walt Longmire for feeding and monitoring. He, in turn, has to deliver the jar of stuff to Barbara Graff, at a precise time. He is on a schedule with the stuff while he is also supposed to doing his duties as Absaroka County Sheriff with nearly everybody in the department gone. Boy, howdy.

 

Barbara Graff makes a repeat appearance in the next story, “Scents Of The Season.” She was hosting a Christmas Eve holiday party and everything was fine. That was until a skunk got inside her place and all the guests fled outside. With it being a holiday resources are limited, so Longmire and Undersheriff Victoria Moretti have to deal with it and more.

 

“Angel Shot with a Twist” is the all-new tale that concludes this short story collection. Bernadette Ochoa needs help this New Year’s Eve. She’s been well known to local law enforcement for many decades now. She has been drinking at the only bar for miles around that will let her in their establishment, the Chicken Shack Bar. Now the seventy-two-year-old woman is a hostage and needs help.

 

Have Courage: Longmire Stories by Craig Johnson is a highly entertaining short story collection. Filled with many historical nuggets and true facts, characters that are like family, and the idea that in the end things work out, the read is a good one. Well worth your time, Have Courage: Longmire Stories by Craig Johnson is perfect for this and all holiday seasons.

 

Make sure you check out Lesa Holstine's review as well. 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://link.amazon/B0aElo6si

 

 

My digital ARC came from the publisher, Viking, through NetGalley with no expectation of a positive review.

 

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2026

Lesa's Book Critiques: Monsters of Ohio by John Scalzi

 Lesa's Book Critiques: Monsters of Ohio by John Scalzi

Lesa's Book Critiques: Kevin’s Corner Annex – Truth to Power by S.A. Cosby

 Lesa's Book Critiques: Kevin’s Corner Annex – Truth to Power by S.A. Cosby

Publication Day Review: The Hollow: A Bosch Novel by Michael Connelly

As The Hollow: A Bosch Novel by Michael Connelly begins, retired LAPD Detective Harry Bosch is at a cemetery. Having undergone a recent knee replacement, he can’t chase anyone, and is using a cane for support. He doesn’t plan on chasing anyone today though he is definitely going to confront Gregory Talbot.

 

He knows without a shadow of a doubt that Talbot killed his wife years ago. It has been 25 years since he did it and got away with it. Jenifer was found beaten to death in her apartment where she had recently moved. The scene appeared to be of an intruder that had waited for her to come home from work and then killed her. Bosch knows that the scene was staged and that the husband did it.

 

Back in the day, Bosch was very close to breaking Talbot. They verbally fenced in the interrogation room for a couple of hours and then Talbot asked for a lawyer and that was that.  

 

He still wants justice for Jennifer. Good thing he has the help of LAPD Detective Renee Ballard and her volunteer cold case team.

 

That isn’t the only long dormant case Bosch is working and seeking justice. Decades ago, after the murder of his mother, Bosch was in the foster system. He spent a lot of time MacLaren Children’s Center (MacLaren Hall). Allegedly a safe place for youth in the foster system in Los Angeles, it was a very bad place.

 

In a way, Bosch was one of the lucky ones. He was only physically abused. He was never sexually assaulted. He survived the horrible place. His friend, Charlie Edward Lamb, known to all as “Chops,” did not.

 

Bosch is convinced that Chops was murdered back in 1965. There was a place, under the stairs, that was referred to as “the hollow.” Bosch is sure Chops was killed in that space. Now that the lawsuit has been settled with the county, and finds will be released to the survivors, the legal case is over. Now, through his lawyer brother, Mickey Haller, Bosch can finally see all of the discovery materials related to the case. That includes internal reports of what happened to Chops and other kids at the facility.

 

Those records give him a thread to begin digging into the past. That digging will also bring him into a world of problems.

 

The result is a complicated and very enjoyable read. We learn quite a bit more, through flashback scenes of his memories of his time at MacLaren Children’s Center (MacLaren Hall), how Bosch came to be who he is now. While it would be best to read this series in order, one could safely read The Hollow: A Bosch Novel first as references to other reads are fairly minimal.

 

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4xEuMRQ

 

 

I received a digital ARC, at my request, of the book from the publisher, Little, Brown and Company, through NetGalley, with no expectation of a positive review.

 

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2026

Aubrey Nye Hamilton Reviews: Midnight in the House of Commons: A Charles Lenox Mystery by Charles Finch

I was lucky enough to receive an early copy of the newest book in one of my favorite series via NetGalley. Charles Finch writes a wonderful historical series set in Victorian London, nicely balancing credible characters with a clear portrayal of a transitional time in English history. Midnight in the House of Commons, the 16^th case of Charles Lenox, a member of the aristocracy turned amateur sleuth who now owns a detective agency, is set for release by Minotaur in a couple of weeks on 3 November 2026. I am happy to report it is up to the standard of its predecessors, maybe even a little better.

Charles juggles multiple cases, including a shocking murder in the House of Commons, where a womanizing conservative MP is found poisoned. The death has far-reaching political consequences, as a hard-fought bill for relief of the poor is tied in the House. With the loss of the dead member’s vote, the bill will pass. One of the members known to favor the bill could not confirm an alibi and is charged with the murder, even though a number of people had cause to object to the victim’s personal life.

In addition, Sari, one of the new members of the Lenox household introduced in the last book, has incurred a romantic disappointment. The man she hoped to marry has older relatives who object to her dark skin and she is devastated. Angela, on the other hand, Lenox’s cousin and ward, is blooming happily with an appropriate engagement and her study of government economics. The visitor to the Lenox menage in this book is a cousin on Jane’s side of the family, an odd young man whom the Lenox daughters tease unmercifully. And Lenox is approached by another young lady whose fiancé has disappeared with no explanation, and Lenox searches for him while he tries to sort out Sari’s romance.

The English social structure is examined closely here, how various placements on the invisible ladder affect life in particular for women, most clearly demonstrated by the two young ladies who were not considered good enough for their prospective husbands. The hotly contested bill for poor relief is a window into the wide gap between the wealthy and the destitute, highlighted by the novels of Charles Dickens. Then there is Laura Runcible, a newly wed matron with great social ambitions, anxious to capture the Lenox couple as guests in her home, as their status would enhance her own.

All in all, this is a lively story with multiple plot threads and a considerable number of characters. Followers of the series will enjoy it immensely. Readers new to the Lenox saga will find enough back story to understand the narrative but will miss the finer detail that has built up over the course of 16 books. An excellent addition to a reliably good mystery series.

·         Publisher: ‎Minotaur Books

·         Publication date: ‎November 3, 2026

·         Language: ‎English

·         Print length: ‎272 pages

·         ISBN-10: ‎1250433940

·         ISBN-13: ‎978-1250433947

  

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link:  https://link.amazon/B0b6DFvyu

 

Aubrey Nye Hamilton ©2026

Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal It projects by day and reads mysteries at night.

Publication Day Review: The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2026, Editor Megan Abbott, Series Editor Steph Cha

The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2026, Editor Megan Abbott, Series Editor Steph Cha, reprints twenty of their favorite short stories of the year. There are also thirty more tales listed in the honorable mention section to consider. This means you have a lot of good reading here. I won’t try to mention them all. What follows below are the several that really struck a chord with me for one reason or another.

 

“Smoke and Mirrors” by Charles John Harper originally appeared in an unspecified issue of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine.  It features Private Investigator Darrow Nash, in Los Angeles, and quite the historical mystery tale. If you like a whodunit style read, this one is for you. I am not about to ruin it by saying more.

 

“Finding Jimmy Baldwin” by Cheryl A. Head originally appeared in the anthology, Crime Ink: Iconic: An Anthology of Crime Fiction Inspired by Queer Icons. It is June 1954 and Roy has shown up at the diner on schedule. Jimmy is a no show. That isn’t good news. The fact That Jimmy, full name James Arthur Baldwin, now has a missing person’s report according to the officer, a Sergeant Peterson, is worse news. Especially for Roy.

 

“The Corpse Collector” by David Morrell also appeared in an unspecified issue of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine.  A dental hygienist needs a second job to make ends meet. One of her patients, a funeral director, suggested that she could collect the dead for him. Especially in the middle of the night. The pay would be really good and she agreed to do it on weekends. That has led to a lot of interesting pickups, and she will tell you about several of them, and then tell you about the big one last weekend.

 

“Small Things” by Wanda M. Morris previously appeared as an Amazon Original Story. Hannah Ferguson loves the shed out back. She does her art in it and hides her creativity in the small space. Her marriage is on a downhill slide. At least she still has her art and the freedom it can bring her.  

 

For Rosalie, With Love” by M. E. Proctor originally appeared in the anthology, Myopic Duplicity: Do the Ends Ever Justify the Means? The plan is, as it always has been since they first met. Do anything and everything for Rosalie.

 

“Mama” by Rob D. Smith originally appeared In Too Deep. Jimmy “Ton” Roy thought it was all clear to boost the white Corvette. He’s behind the wheel when the beautiful driver comes back for her purse. Jon’s plan to boost the cool car changes as does his future.

 

“Slow Ride” by Mark Thielman originally appeared in Chop Shop. The young guy  known as “Lil Meathead” swiped the Ford F-250 and got away with it. He did the work though the boss of the crew, Woody, fueled by meth and ego, will take much of the credit. Huey, the overall boss and the owner of the day time garage and night time chop shop did not really want another pickup truck. Here in Dallas so the truck won’t bring top dollar. But, there is a possibility of a really big payday. Lil Meathead  knows of a 2022 Bently set up for American driver. It has the steering wheel on the left, is purple, and has all the bells and whistles. Huey is interested. That means  soon Lil Meathead and Woody are dee in conversation while headed up the Dallas North Tollway to swipe the car.

 

The seven stories highlighted here are my personal favorites. No doubt your selections would probably be different. There isn’t a bad one in the bunch. The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2026 will provide you a lot of good reading and is well worth your time.

 

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4spesnf

 

 

 

My digital ARC reading copy came from the publisher, Mariner Books, by way of NetGalley with no expectation of a positive review.

 

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2026

Lesa's Book Critiques: Murder on 34th Street by Mariah Fredericks

 Lesa's Book Critiques: Murder on 34th Street by Mariah Fredericks

Review: Split Screen by Lee Goldberg

Split Screen by Lee Goldberg is the seventh installment of this thriller series. It opens with Homicide Detective Eve Ronin of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department out running solo because her partner, Duncan Pavone, is desk bound. He is going to be there on his desk in the Lost Hill substation for the foreseeable future as the powers that be are still pondering his fate. Detective Eve Ronin is feeling a ton of guilt as he is taking the very public fall for a decision they both made a few months ago. So, she is responding solo to the home of actress Juliette Winter who was found dead that morning in her sprawling home in a gated community in Calabasas.

 

A predictable and tragic end for the former child star who became known for drugs and partying more than anything she accomplished in front of the camera. Her assistant found her in the steam room. Clearly, she had been there for quite some time before discovery. That same assistant, Georgina Sabella, had last seen her around 7 the evening before when she left.

 

According to Ronin’s fellow LASD Deputies manning the perimeter, the house was locked and the security alarm was on when Georgina arrived earlier that morning. The firefighters that responded to the initial call had also reported that the steam room door was not locked and that the door was unblocked.

 

Ronin went up to the second-floor steam room and found Medical Examiner Emilia Lopez and the head of Crime Scene Unit, Nan Baker, assessing the body and the scene. With Juliette Winter’s history, it would be very easy to assume she just overdosed and died.

 

But, did she really?

 

That is just one of the questions Ronin has to answer while also dealing with departmental politics and pressure. Her celebrity status continues to dog her career. The last thing she ever wanted was for the publicity to overshadow her actual work doing the job. So, she tried very hard to keep considerable distance between herself and the job and the very fictional tv series based on her.

 

That plan is out the window now as there is a new sheriff in town. Sheriff Waylon Gifford is well known for coming in and taking over a law enforcement agency for a year or too, improving the image of that agency, and then leaving for a bigger and more prestigious job. He took over the LASD, the biggest in the nation, two weeks ago and has a very preconceived notion of who she is, how she got to her position, and what she has done in the department.

 

He demands that Detective Eve Ronin use her celebrity status to help the department and has several expectations of how she will do that. Not only does she have to participate in the new ad campaign, she also has to actively participate in the department’s active social media. She has to participate a certain number of times a day, every day. She also has to conduct a week-long ride along with the actress, Erin Casey, who plays her on the show and participate in their social media videos as well. Otherwise, there will be huge consequences for herself as well as her partner, Duncan Pavone.

 

If that was not enough, she has to deal with the hatred and death threats coming from within the department. While that has always happened, it had died back some, until recent events stirred everything back up again. At least she can still count on Duncan Pavone and a few others who see her for what she actually is and still have her back.

 

And there is the Juliette Winter case to solve as well as some other crimes.

 

The result is another fast paced and highly entertaining read in this great series. The author has steadily built, book after book, a complicated primary character, and a host of interesting secondary characters while still delivering on a heady mix of action, mystery, and suspense. The latest read, Split Screen, fits that mandate and delivers from start to finish.

 

As the author notes at the front of the book, a reader can safely start here, if they wish. But, if you intend to read the second book in the series, Bone Canyon, you absolutely should read that one first as there are huge spoilers for it in Split Screen.

 

Strongly Recommended.

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/3S9emlp

 

Entire Series Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/447nfP7

 

My digital ARC came from the publisher, Thomas & Mercer, through NetGalley, with no expectation of a positive review.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2026

Lesa's Book Critiques: Christmas at Honeycombe Bay by Lilac Mills

 Lesa's Book Critiques: Christmas at Honeycombe Bay by Lilac Mills

Publication Day Review: Truth to Power: A Luke Cage Marvel Crime Novel by S. A. Cosby

Truth to Power: A Luke Cage Marvel Crime Novel by S. A. Cosby is the author’s latest read. S. A. Cosby switched genres for this read, but brings his usual themes of racism, greed, and racial oppression while adding in superhero powers.

 

In this case, Luke Cage, who lives in Harlem, is initially having a quiet morning on the streets. He is a superhero with phenomenal strength, an impervious skin to most projectiles, and other abilities. Those abilities make Luke Cage a formidable opponent. He is on the phone with Jessica Jones, whom he is dating and in a serious relationship, when the conversation is interrupted because a dude just came crashing down out of a 12th story window and landed in the street. Polar Bear Man is definitely alive and looking for a battle.

 

In the aftermath, Luke Cage realizes he missed a call from family in Majestic, Virgina. Luke had asked his cousin, Rashon, to keep his eyes and ears open, as he was working in the area of a medical factory that might have been working on some sort of high-tech cybernetics. Stuff that was winding up in the hands of low-level street criminals. Rashon was not supposed to do anything more than pay attention and call if he spotted something or heard something. Now Rashon is dead, Aunt Letty is devasted, and Luke has to go down there and find out what happened and why.

 

He can’t bring Rashon back. But, he can find out what happened and who did it as those in charge probably are not doing anything on the case. The massive confederate flag still flies just outside town. The local police are incompetent, corrupt, or both. Luke is going to look into what happened and will tear the place apart figurately, and maybe literally too, until he finds out what happened.

 

If you have read this author before, it is no surprise that the same themes of his other books are present here. The difference in this fast-moving and action filled tale is that Luke is not a mere mortal. Luke has superhero powers. Those outfitted with the cybernetics are, at worst, his equal if not better.

 

The result is an entertaining read and one worthy of your time.

 

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4jzG7ze

 

 

My digital ARC came from the publisher, Hyperion Avenue, through NetGalley with no expectation of a positive review.

 

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2026

Lesa's Book Critiques: The Memory of Borrowed Books by Meg Anderson

 Lesa's Book Critiques: The Memory of Borrowed Books by Meg Anderson

Lesa's Book Critiques: Mrs. Claus and the Fatal Figgy Pudding By Liz Ireland

 Lesa's Book Critiques: Mrs. Claus and the Fatal Figgy Pudding By Liz Ireland

Lesa's Book Critiques: The Ghost and the Dead Librarian by Cleo Coyle

 Lesa's Book Critiques: The Ghost and the Dead Librarian by Cleo Coyle

Lesa's Book Critiques: Damned If I Do by Alexandria Bellefleur

 Lesa's Book Critiques: Damned If I Do by Alexandria Bellefleur

Review: First Chance by Kasey Lansdale

It is summer in deep Southeast Texas and all that entails as First Chance by Kasey Lansdale begins. Heat, humidity, drought, and a side of murder. It has been 10 months since 16-year-old Patience Milroy had been found with her throat cut, missing a shoe, and her clothes on backwards. She had not been raped. So why was she killed. And why were her clothes put back on her backwards? Local police have not figured out either question and are no closer to doing so than the day she was found tossed into the high grass along a roadside.

 

Darla Weaver, married, and sister to Patience, has come to see Chance Kirby. She wants to hire her to look into the case and find the killer of her baby sister. This is going to be her first case as a fully licensed private investigator, but Chance has worked cases before for her step mom, Harper Jones. So, she knows some things. Her dad, John Kirby, also does investigative work, and it seems that the apple did not fall far from the tree.

 

As the local private eye in Hopeful, Texas, down near Houston, Chance Kirby knows some people. While Chance knew a bit about the Patience case, she did not know about the case, in a nearby small town, where another young woman was found dead in nearly identical circumstances. That case seems to mirror what happened a few months later with Chance. According to Darla, the respective police departments didn’t tell each other about their cases. The cops now call it all a coincidence, but Darla does not buy that. She also does not think much of the cops, or even Chance now that she has met her.

 

Yet, Darla is desperate, and at her whits end. She decides to go ahead and hire Chance to try and get some answers. Good thing Chance has contacts in her local police department and some other folks she can count on in the weeks ahead.

 

Finding the truth about what happened to Patience and others is going to take considerable time. Chance also has her hands full with a teenage foster daughter, a dog that gets loose, and a complicated relationship with her family. All of those situations provide an enjoyable backdrop to the main story line of  Chance finding out what happened to Patience and trying very hard not to get killed doing it.

 

 

While it reads to me as this could be the first book of a planned series, I have no idea if that is the plan or not. It could just be a really good stand alone, but there are a lot of support beams here for the floor of a series. Either way, First Chance by Kasey Lansdale is a complicated and really good mystery. It is very much worth your time.

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/46Ctrjm

 

 

My digital reading copy came from the publisher, Blackstone Publishing, through NetGalley, with no expectation of a positive review.

 

 

Kevin R. Tipple 2026