Showing posts with label October 2022. Show all posts
Showing posts with label October 2022. Show all posts
Friday, October 31, 2025
In Reference to Murder: Friday's "Forgotten" Books: Victorian Tales of Mystery and Deception
In Reference to Murder: Friday's "Forgotten" Books: Victorian Tales of My...: Historical crime fiction has been popular since the likes of The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco and the Cadfael mysteries by Ellis Peters. ...
Tuesday, October 03, 2023
Review: Guilt Strikes at Granger’s Store: A Samuel Craddock Mystery by Terry Shames
As Guilt Strikes at Granger’s Store
by Terry Shames opens, Wendy is frantic. Samuel Craddock has been dating her
for a couple of years now and has never heard her like this before. She is very
upset and for good reason.
Her daughter, Allison, is in jail in
Monterrey, Mexico. Chief of Police Samuel Craddock has some influence locally,
but Mexico is far out of his jurisdiction and sphere of influence. Apparently,
Allison was in some sort of auto accident. She is okay, but in custody because
she did not have Mexican auto insurance. The authorities take a dim view of
this kind of situation. Finding out what is going on as well as how to help, if
he can, is going to take time.
At the same time, a far more urgent
matter, and one that is in his jurisdiction comes up while he is talking to
Wendy and trying to calm her fear. A few months ago, Melvin Granger had a
stroke that resulted in him being bedridden. The prognosis for Melvin is not
good.
His son, Mark, moved back home from
Houston to take care of Dad and run the Feedstore. Word has gotten around that
Mark has big plans for the store. He plans to update it and add some sort of
gift shop, among other things. None of his plans should have caused anybody to
attack him, yet that is exactly what has happened.
Found by his sister, Chelsea, who is just
now also home to take care of dad as well as to talk to Mark about his plans, he
was on the floor of the store this very morning. Mark had a cut on his forehead
and was very dazed. Mark and Chelsea were to meet and go over his renovation
plans. Not that their meeting would have moved her, in all likelihood. She is
very much against the idea of any changes. The fact that this happened
reinforced her belief that this idea of Mark’s is a bad one.
It might be, according to the attackers,
as one of the two men who attacked Mark, also told him to leave town. Before he
is loaded into the ambulance, Mark tells Chief Craddock that there have also been
a couple of strange and threatening phone calls. Clearly, somebody wants the
store left as is and is not taking no for an answer.
As the situation with Wendy’s daughter in
Mexico gets stranger by the day, so too does the situation with the store in
Jarret Creek, Texas. The result is Sameul Craddock is forced to juggle both
deals and a couple of other things in Guilt Strikes at Granger’s Store.
So much for that idea that small town life is easy.
A long running and very good series that
began with A
Killing at Cotton Hill, this tenth book in the series is another solidly
good one. No new ground in character development is broken here as the majority
of these characters were fleshed out long ago. Instead, the primary focus is on
the mysteries of what happened with Alison south of the border and what
happened at Granger’s store. Each is a satisfying mystery in its own right.
This latest book in the series very briefly references earlier events, but does so in such a way that one could easily read this one first if new to the series. For long time readers, it is a much-needed treat to go back to Jarret Creek and the life of Samuel Cradock and friends. Guilt Strikes at Granger’s Store is strongly recommended, as is the entire series.
My reading copy came as an ARC from the
publisher, Severn House, through NetGalley.
Kevin R. Tipple © 2023
Tuesday, November 01, 2022
Little Big Crimes Review: Do-Ye0n Performs a Cost-Benefit Analysis by Mark Niemann-Ross
Little Big Crimes: Do-Ye0n Performs a Cost-Benefit Analysis, by Mark ...: "Do-Ye0n Performs a Cost-Benefit Analysis on a Career Based on Questionable Activities," by Mark Niemann-Ross, in Crooked 2, edit...
Monday, October 31, 2022
Aubrey Nye Hamilton Reviews: Present Darkness by Malla Nunn
Malla Nunn is
an Australian film maker and author of young adult books and adult crime
fiction. She was born in Swaziland, now known as Eswatini. Her family emigrated
to Australia to escape apartheid. Her four mysteries about Detective Sergeant
Emanuel Cooper are set in the 1950s in South Africa, amid the cruelty and abuse
of the race-based apartheid laws, which existed from 1948 into the 1990s. Her
books have been shortlisted for the Edgar, the Barry, the Macavity, the
Anthony, and the Ned Kelly awards.
The most
recent one Present Darkness (Emily Bestler Books, 2014) finds Cooper in
Johannestown a few days before Christmas. Everyone is wrapping up their
assignments in anticipation of a long break. Instead all vacations are
cancelled when a white schoolteacher and his wife are found murdered in their
home and their traumatized daughter names two black students as the culprits.
One of them is the son of Zulu Detective Constable Samuel Shabalala, Cooper’s closest
friend and to whom Cooper is indebted for an earlier rescue. Once Shabalala’s
son is under arrest, Lieutenant Walter Mason insists on closing the case with
no real investigation. Cooper and Shabalala and Cooper’s friend Dr. Daniel
Zweigman work around Mason and his corrupt cronies at significant danger to
themselves to get to the truth of the killings.
A carefully considered and plotted police
procedural. What elevates it from good to outstanding is the reconstruction of
apartheid, an inhuman system of segregation in all areas of life based on skin
color and race. The degree to which the state could legally and did interfere
with the freedom of South African citizens is unimaginable. Readers from the
United States will automatically compare apartheid to the laws of the Jim Crow
South with good reason. The two were miserably similar, although I do not know
of an instance in which the police in the U.S. South were authorized to enter
homes at night to check on sleeping arrangements.
A very fine if depressing piece of historical
crime fiction. This book leaves a few threads in Cooper’s life loose; hopefully
another story is in development.
Starred review from Publishers Weekly.
·
Publisher: Emily Bestler
Books; Original edition (June 3, 2014)
·
Language: English
·
Paperback: 352 pages
·
ISBN-10: 1451616961
· ISBN-13: 978-1451616965
Aubrey Nye Hamilton ©2022
Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal It projects by day and reads mysteries at night.
Sunday, October 30, 2022
Beneath the Stains of Time: The Case of the Treble Twist (1958) by Christopher Bush
Beneath the Stains of Time: The Case of the Treble Twist (1958) by Christopher...: Christopher Bush 's The Case of the Treble Twist (1958) is the 51st mystery novel in the Ludovic Travers series and the first title fro...
Saturday, October 29, 2022
KRL: Kings River Life Magazine for 10/29/2022
Up on KRL this morning a review and giveaway of another Halloween mystery, "The Plot and the Pendulum" by Jenn McKinlay https://kingsriverlife.com/10/29/the-plot-and-the-pendulum-by-jenn-mckinlay
And a review and ebook giveaway of "Duck for Cover & Other Tales" A Collection of short stories by Barbara Venkataraman https://kingsriverlife.com/10/29/duck-for-cover-other-tales-by-barbara-venkataraman/
We also have the latest mystery Coming Attractions from Sunny Frazier along with giveaways of books by Diane Kelly and Laurien Berenson https://kingsriverlife.com/10/29/november-coming-attractions-books-to-digest/
And our last Halloween short story of the season, this one by Chris Dreith https://kingsriverlife.com/10/29/halloween-short-story-phantom-whines/
Up this morning in honor of Halloween weekend we have another local ghost story from Sarah Peterson-Camacho https://kingsriverlife.com/10/29/lost-in-the-fog-the-hooded-phantom-of-ave-15/
Up during the week we posted another spooky short story by PM Raymond perfect for Halloween reading https://kingsriverlife.com/10/26/halloween-short-story-gotcha/
And another Halloween short story, this one by mystery author Pamela Ebel https://kingsriverlife.com/10/26/halloween-short-story-good-fences-make-good-neighbors/
Up on KRL News and Reviews this week we have a review and ebook giveaway of "Before There Were Skeletons" by Judy Penz Sheluk https://www.krlnews.com/2022/10/before-there-were-skeletons-by-judy.html
And a review and ebook giveaway of "Killer in the Kitchen" by Judy L Murray https://www.krlnews.com/2022/10/killer-in-kitchen-by-judy-murray.html
Happy Halloween
Lorie
Scott's Take: Strange Vol 1: I Belong to Death by Jed Mackay
Strange
Vol 1: I Belong to Death
by Jed Mackay picks up after The
Death of Doctor Strange. Doctor Strange is dead and his wife, Clea,
is heartbroken. She has agreed to become the Sorcerer Supreme and take his old
job. She has to deal with new threats that have arisen since the forces of evil
think its open season now that Doctor Strange is dead. She will be a different
kind of Sorcerer Supreme. She is more violent than her late husband and does
not have the ties to the hero community that her husband had. She was raised to
be a warlord and New York’s magical villains are about to learn what that
means. She also has another goal in mind---
to bring Doctor Strange back from the land of the dead. Not that death is going
to give up him without a fight.
Featuring great art and tons of action, this is a different kind of book. Clea is a rather different kind of character and it works well in this volume. I am looking forward to the second volume when they do release it. It is currently untitled and it is unknown when it will release.
My
reading copy came by way of the OverDrive/Libby app through the Dallas Public
Library System.
Scott
A. Tipple ©2022
Friday, October 28, 2022
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: She Kills Me: The True Stories of History’s Deadliest Women by Jennifer Wright
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: She Kills Me: The True Stories of History’s Deadli...: Reviewed by Jeanne In case you haven’t gathered it from the title, this is relatively light hearted look at women who kill. Note tha...
Jerry's House of Everything: FORGOTTEN BOOK: THE QUEST OF THE SACRED SLIPPER
Jerry's House of Everything: FORGOTTEN BOOK: THE QUEST OF THE SACRED SLIPPER: The Quest of the Sacred Slipper by "Sax Rohmer" (Arthur Henry Sarsfield Ward) (first book publication 1914; first published in eig...
FFB Review: A Werewolf Named Wayne by Bill Crider
Readers who have read A Vampire
Named Fred are well aware that Hermie and Al helped Fred and his
assistant, Carl, with a couple of issues. While Kermit felt it wasn’t easy
being green, being a vampire in these times of extreme prejudice caused by
bogus Hollywood movies isn’t easy. Not to mention the fact that cats don’t like
vampires and will come by the hundreds to the home and yowl in the yard.
Neighbors don’t like that sort of thing.
Thanks to Hermie and Al’s friendship and
efforts, things are far better for Fred and Carl these days. So much so they
are moving to Vegas and that means the house has been sold again. Al and Hermie
are really going to miss Fred and Carl. But, people as well as the creatures of
the night move on when circumstances change. Fred has made it clear to the new
owner how helpful the boys were and that is a good thing. The new owner is
Wayne and he is a werewolf. Good thing the boys are in 7th grade now as he
needs their help with a far more complicated problem than Fred ever had.
While not as humorous as the previous
book, this is another very good read that will appeal to both adults and kids
alike. Wayne’s issues are far different than Fred and his concerns are far
different. With characters and expectations firmly established in the preceding
book, A Werewolf Named Wayne focuses primarily on his unique situation and the
help he needs. The result is a very good fun read that keeps the adventure
going.
Material was picked up during a recent author promotion for my use in an objective review.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2014, 2022
Thursday, October 27, 2022
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