Up Around The Corner: Book Signing on Nov. 8 in Sidney, Ohio

 Up Around The Corner: Book Signing on Nov. 8 in Sidney, Ohio

Publication Day Review: Rage: A Novel by Linda Castillo

 

Rage: A Novel by Linda Castillo is the latest in the long running Kate Burkholder series. A series that, while still very good, is becoming increasingly graphicly detailed in terms of the violent murders and the aftermath. In this case, the aftermath of what was done to the first victim.

 

Painters Mill Chief of Police Kate Burkholder and Officer Chuck “Skid” Skidmore are out at Painters Mill Elementary School as the books begins. Chief Burkholder loves doing the annual presentation for the kids. Officer Skidmore is not enjoying himself as he is cooking alive in the costume he must wear to play the role of “Kip the Cow.” It is late August, the first week of school, and unbelievably hot.

 

During their presentation, Chief Burkholder gets a call from dispatch regarding the fact that some kids have found something very disturbing. They think they have found pieces of a body. Before long, Burkholder and Skidmore are on their way to the scene.

 

Upon arrival at Sweet Potato Ridge Road, an area known to flood, Burkholder is still hoping it isn’t what the kids, and now their dad, thinks it is alongside the creek. That hope is quickly dashed by Officer Rupert “Glock” Maddox who has confirmed the presence of body parts.

 

The kids were playing down in one area next to Painters Mill creek when one of them found things that no child should have ever see. The kid found a severed hand and a foot. Soon, more parts are discovered and it becomes abundantly clear this was no accidental drowning and somehow the body just fell apart.

 

It won’t be the last killing either.

 

The latest read in the series is another good one with a lot going on throughout the book. It also goes into incredibly graphic detail about the murders as well as the disposal of the bodies. Those who were disturbed by that in The Burning are sure to be bothered here. This reviewer, who did not have that much of a reaction to that stuff in that read, was considerably bothered here. Especially in terms of the depiction here of the recovery and later autopsy of the various body parts of the first victim.

 

With that caveat in mind, Rage: A Novel by Linda Castillo, is a good one and well worth your time. I have been a fan of this series since the very beginning with Sworn to Silence. Still am. But, I just don’t really need things to be as graphic as they are here with the first body. Even though I read a ton of mystery and crime fiction each year, in this case, it was a bit much.

 

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/3G8EV4k

 

 

My digital ARC came by way of the publisher, Minotaur Books, through NetGalley, and with no expectation of a review. 

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2025

SleuthSayers: Home Is Where They Have to Take You In

SleuthSayers: Home Is Where They Have to Take You In:  The Robert Frost line in the title is often how a lot of stories, particularly crime, evoke setting. In particular, when a character return...

Lesa's Book Critiques: This Place of Silence by Ian Adams, Randall Lee Schieber and Robin L. Smith

 Lesa's Book Critiques: This Place of Silence by Ian Adams, Randall Lee Schieber and Robin L. Smith

Review: The Burning: A Novel by Linda Castillo

I usually do not run reviews on Sunday. But recent health issues including, several falls over the last couple of weeks, as well as a just diagnosed left ear infection of both the drum as well as the ear canal, threw me off. I can assure everyone that the planet’s gravity still works, nothing broke as I just have assorted bumps and bruises, and I am on both a pill antibiotic and drops in the ear deal so one hopes one is on the mend. I am also back doing news posts for SMFS so the fat man is playing catchup as best as he can. This came out back on Tuesday so I am a few days late with my spoiler free review.

 

The latest in the series, The Burning: A Novel by Linda Castillo, finds Kate Burkholder and John Tomasetti two months into their marriage. The newlyweds are blissfully happy. Especially Kate Burkholder as life is pretty good these days.

 

It wasn’t for Milan Swanz. Especially his last few minutes as he was, basically, burned alive at the stake. It is a 2:47 am wakeup call for Painters Mill Chief of Police Kate Burkholder like no other and a horrific crime scene. A scene that gets into your mind and body in more ways than one.

 

As her and her team dig for answers, it is clear that Milan Swanz was a deeply flawed human being. One that the Amish tried to handle internally. He was disciplined repeatedly and finally recently excommunicated. His situation may have been permanently solved as somebody seems to be a following a book from long ago in the Ana Baptist culture.

 

What follows is a complicated and twisted novel that puts Kate pretty much against everybody else in her search for the truth. Along the way, we find out a little more about Kate’s history and just how important family is to her.

 

Strongly recommended, as is the entire series.

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/3S5nN2j

 

Make sure you read Lesa Holstine’s recent review at Lesa’s Book Critiques. Lesa also sent me an ARC for the book a few weeks ago before I was approved for it by NetGalley so that was how I read this book.

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2024

Lesa's Book Critiques: THE BURNING BY LINDA CASTILLO

 Lesa's Book Critiques: THE BURNING BY LINDA CASTILLO

Up Around The Corner: Upcoming Signing Event (May 11th)

 Up Around The Corner: Upcoming Signing Event (May 11th)

Lesa's Book Critiques: KEVIN’S CORNER ANNEX – DARK STORM RISING BY LINDA CASTILLO

 Lesa's Book Critiques: KEVIN’S CORNER ANNEX – DARK STORM RISING BY LINDA CASTILLO

Lesa's Book Critiques: SUNDAY SPOTLIGHT – KATE MICHAELSON

 Lesa's Book Critiques: SUNDAY SPOTLIGHT – KATE MICHAELSON

Short Story Wednesday Review: Dark Storm Rising: A Kate Burkholder Short Story by Linda Castillo

It has been a long time coming but it finally happened as Dark Storm Rising: A Kate Burkholder Short Story by Linda Castillo begins. Kate Burkholder and John Tomasetti are married. The two are on their honeymoon and are going to spend time at an area on the shores of Lake Erie. It is a rare stretch of time off from their jobs as Chief of Police Painter’s Mill, Ohio, and BCI agent respectively.

 

On the drive in, both note that there are abandoned farms in the area. When Kate was last here, back when she was twelve, it was a thriving Amish community. Now twenty years later, not so much. The burnt remnants of a cabin on the property they will be staying at is also a sign that something bad recently happened.

 

Fortunately, their particular cabin at “Sugar Maple Cabins” is fine and awaiting their arrival. Mrs. Lovina Nisley and her husband, Enos, are wonderful hosts. Mrs. Nisley remembers Kate, as does Kate remember her, so soon they are getting all the news about what is going on in the area.

 

They are also the first people Enos contacts just a few hours later when Lovina goes missing during a snowstorm.

 

What follows is a fastmoving short story where Kate Burkholder and John Tomassetti do more than just help find Lovina. Readers learn a bit more about Kate and a certain summer when she was twelve. Events of that summer helped shaper her into the woman she is today. Readers long familiar with the series are sure to enjoy Dark Storm Rising: A Kate Burkholder Short Story as it is a good one.

 

The read closes with excerpt from this summer’s release, The Burning: A Novel.

 

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/3VUvaN3

 

 

My reading copy came by way of a purchase using funds that were recently donated via the PayPal widget on the left side of this blog.

 

 

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2024

Lesa's Book Critiques: BUCKEYE BOOK FAIR

 Lesa's Book Critiques: BUCKEYE BOOK FAIR

Review: An Evil Heart: An Kate Burkholder Novel by Linda Castillo

While I reviewed this book back in late March, the book dropped on Tuesday so I am reminding you again. Make sure you read Lesa Holstine's review as well. 

An Evil Heart: A Kate Burkholder Novel by Linda Castillo opens just a few days before Chief of Police Kate Burkholder is to be wed to John Tomasetti. Fall has come to the Amish country side Surrounding Painters Mill, Ohio, and the land is pretty as the trees take on their fall colors. Kate’s on the wedding is soon destroyed as she has a case to work. What might have been a simple hit and run is instead a murder. Not just a murder, but a brutal and savage execution.

 

Aden Karn is the victim of being shot twice by a crossbow. A bolt was fired into his abdomen a couple of inches above his navel. Then, with the twenty-year-old man gravely wounded, the shooter manually pushed the bolt through his body and out his back. That freed bolt was retrieved, and then is forced deep into his mouth before being fired again through the back of the throat and back of his head. The person who did this wanted to inflict a lot of pain and terror to kill in such a brutal way.

 

Aden Karn initially seems to have been a great guy. But, nobody’s perfect. As Chief Burkholder and her team work the case, it becomes clear that Karn was hiding a lot of dark things. Plenty of folks had a reason to kill him. Isolating who did it gets increasingly complicated and more difficult in An Evil Heart: A Novel.

 

After the events of The Hidden One took Kate Burkholder away from home, An Evil Heart keeps her local and makes the tale stronger thanks to the inclusion of the usual secondary characters. All the regulars are fully involved in this brutal and violent case. The latest in this long running series as a complicated and detailed read that works on all levels. Well worth your time, it is nice to have Burkholder and the gang back together in the powerfully good, An Evil Heart: A Novel by Linda Castillo.

 

 

My reading copy came by way of an ARC by way of NetGalley. The currently scheduled release date is July 11^th.

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2023

Review: Go Find Daddy: An Ed Runyon Mystery by Steve Goble

Go Find Daddy by Steve Goble is the third book in the Ed Runyon Mystery Series that began with the July 2021 release, City Problems. It has been more than a year since the events of the last book and private investigator Ed Runyon does not want this new case at all. Yet, Amy Blackmon is begging for help.

Her husband, Donny Blackmon, is on the run with nearly everyone in the area and beyond believing her cop hating husband is a killer. Officer Brandon Gullick was found dead at a barn on their farm. He had been shot twice in the head and executed. Blackmon’s gun was found at the scene and it had his thumbprint on it. The gun was used on the deceased officer and is the murder weapon. Her husband is anti-cop, anti-government, does not believe anything reported in the media, and is very much a proponent of the second amendment. Then there is the social media frenzy about the case and that has brought out the extremes we all see too often these days.

Angie Blackmon goes to church with Tammy Zachman who knows a thing or two trying to get a loved one back home safe. Mr. Runyon found her son, Jimmy, a year plus ago and brought him home safely (Wayward Son). Besides, as Angie explains, she absolutely does not want Mr. Runyon to bring him home.

Instead, she wants Mr. Runyon to find her husband and pass along an important message. Their nine-year-old daughter, Cassie, has subsequently been diagnosed with cancer in the weeks that have past since her dad went on the run. The situation is bad as her only hope, at this point, is some sort of experimental treatment that is hideously expensive. The family cannot afford it. Some friends and the church will help, but things are bad.  Mrs. Blackman wants Mr. Runyon to get a message about Cassie to her off the grid husband so that he can figure out a way of seeing his daughter one more time before the worst thing ever happens.

Obviously, dad needs to know what is happening to his only child. Finding him, before the cops or some vigilante does, is going to be damn near impossible. But, how do you tell a dying child you will not find her daddy?

Before long, he is working the case and trying to find her dad. As he searches and pokes around, it slowly becomes a distinct possibility that while Donny Blackmon pretty much stands in opposition to everything that Ed Runyon has ever believed, he is no killer.

Another highly entertaining read in this Ohio based mystery series, Go Find Daddy by Steve Goble is, at its simplest core, a hunt to find a family member as another family member is most likely not long for this world. That is a tale we have all read many times and some of us have experienced.

But, this book is far more complicated than that as it explores the ramifications of the second amendment as interpreted by some these days, the power of social media, the way society is fractured into many polarizing and often violent groups, and much more. All of the bigger issue stuff does not get lost in the core mystery as author Steve Goble weaves a complex tale. A tale that begins simply enough with asking where is Donny Blackman before asking the deeper question of what really happened at his farm.

While one is always better served by reading a series in order, one could start here with Go Find Daddy. References to previous events are limited, and, for the most part brief, making it possible to read out of order. But, why would you when each book is so very good in its own right.

Regardless of what you choose to do, know that Go Find Daddy by Steve Goble is a good book. Also know that this is a series is one definitely well worth reading. Three books in and there has not been a weak one in the bunch.

 

My reading copy came by way of a NetGalley ARC.

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2023

Lesa's Book Critiques: AN EVIL HEART BY LINDA CASTILLO

 Lesa's Book Critiques: AN EVIL HEART BY LINDA CASTILLO

Aubrey Nye Hamilton Reviews: Go Find Daddy by Steve Goble

Go Find Daddy by Steve Goble (Oceanview Publishing, July 2023) is the third book in the series about Ed Runyon, former detective in the Mifflin County, Ohio, sheriff’s office and now private investigator focusing on locating missing children. Runyon saw far too many cases of lost children shuffled around in the understaffed and overworked sheriff’s office and he set up shop on his own to concentrate on the problem. He takes whatever skip traces and background investigations necessary to pay the bills but any situation involving children gets his full attention.

When Amy Blackmon asks Runyon to find her husband, Runyon isn’t interested. Donny Blackmon is the subject of an intense months-long manhunt, suspected of killing Mifflin County Officer Brandon Gullick. Law enforcement personnel for miles around are looking for Blackmon and when he is found most of them will likely shoot first and ask questions later. Blackmon has been vocal about his dislike and distrust of the police and the criminal justice system in general, expressing his thoughts openly and thoroughly on his blog. Runyon doesn’t want anything to do with the Blackmon family until Amy explains that she needs him to tell her husband that their daughter was diagnosed with cancer after he disappeared. He needs to know that she is not likely to recover.

Runyon is devastated at the news and does not feel that he can refuse her request, although he’s not happy about it. He sets out on a cold trail and encounters hostile police officers, law enforcement representatives who think he knows more than he is telling, and bounty hunters anxious to claim the reward. It’s an ugly situation and gets worse when Runyon realizes that the homicide investigators overlooked some important evidence that points away from Blackmon as the killer.

Oceanview is developing quite an impressive roster of mystery authors. Matt Coyle, Patti Sheehy, T. J. O’Connor, James Ziskin, D. P. Lyle, Bonnar Spring, and James L'Etoile are all writers with whom I am familiar. I can add Ed Goble to the list now. Goble has put a fresh spin on the stock character of disenchanted law enforcement officer turned private investigator. The plot is effective and original, and its momentum is consistent and relentless. The descriptive bits about the countryside were a nice touch. This is a compelling read and I completed it in one sitting. For fans of private investigator books and of rural law enforcement crime fiction.

·         Publisher: Oceanview Publishing (July 11, 2023)

·         Language: ‎English

·         Hardcover: ‎320 pages

·         ISBN-10: ‎1608094472

·         ISBN-13: ‎978-1608094479

 

Aubrey Nye Hamilton ©2023

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

Short Story Wednesday Review: Hallowed Ground: A Kate Burkholder Short Story by Linda Castillo

 

It is Fall as Hallowed Ground: A Kate Burkholder Short Story by Linda Castillo begins and the annual Pumpkin Festival is just days away. Eddie Chupp is harvesting his pumpkins when his dog finds an old bone. A jawbone to be exact. He would have thought it was a from a long dead sheep until he spotted the sliver in one of the molars.

That means this was a person.

It isn’t long before Chief of Police Kate Burkholder and her fiancée, John Tomasetti, of the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation are at the scene. A place known for pumpkins and its location next to the annual corn maze is now a crime scene. The land frequently floods and that might be how the odd jawbone wound up amongst the pumpkins.

There might be more bones. There is a victim to identify. There certainly is a lot to do and it happens in Hallowed Ground: A Kate Burkholder Short Story. A fast moving read with a lot going on. This is a solidly good tale. It also serves as a nice way to introduce Linda Castillo’s upcoming book, An Evil Heart: A Kate Burkholder Novel, coming out on July 11^th.

 

My reading copy came via a purchase as my local library system was not picking this one up. Make sure you read Lesa Holstine’s review of Hallowed Ground. 

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2023

Lesa's Book Critiques: HALLOWED GROUND BY LINDA CASTILLO

 Lesa's Book Critiques: HALLOWED GROUND BY LINDA CASTILLO

Review: Wayward Son: An Ed Runyon Mystery by Steve Goble

 

Picking up a few months after City Problems and shortly before the Covid outbreak in the United States, Ed Runyon is no longer a Mifflin County Sheriff’s Deputy. He has started Whiskey River Investigations and, as a private investigator, will focus on missing kids.  Missing kid cases are important to him and a major reason why he left New York.

Jimmy Zachman is missing. His parents, Tammy and Bob Zachman meet with Mr. Runyon and are doing everything they can to hold it together. The 15-year-old has been missing around 24 hours and they have no idea why he left. While they claim they have no idea, but Ed Runyon sees a couple of possible reasons right from the start. But, he is not there to discuss religion or politics. He is there to find their missing son.

The search for Jimmy will take him far from Jimmy’s home on Poplar Street in Ambletown, Ohio. It will involve technology, a chess app, and a lot more, in a complex case where nothing is as it seems.

As this the second book in the series that began with City Problems, it would be best to have read that book first. Not only do several of the recurring characters return here, time has passed, and some situations have changed a little bit. Additionally, events of the first book are referenced repeatedly and ultimately play a role here, so read in order. 

Wayward Son: An Ed Runyon Mystery is a good one. Like City Problems, the read is highly recommended.

 

My reading copy came from the Kleberg Rylie Branch of the Dallas Public Library System.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2023

Review: An Evil Heart: A Kate Burkholder Novel by Linda Castillo

An Evil Heart: A Kate Burkholder Novel by Linda Castillo opens just a few days before Chief of Police Kate Burkholder is to be wed to John Tomasetti. Fall has come to the Amish country side Surrounding Painters Mill, Ohio, and the land is pretty as the trees take on their fall colors. Kate’s on the wedding is soon destroyed as she has a case to work. What might have been a simple hit and run is instead a murder. Not just a murder, but a brutal and savage execution.

 

Aden Karn is the victim of being shot twice by a crossbow. A bolt was fired into his abdomen a couple of inches above his navel. Then, with the twenty-year-old man gravely wounded, the shooter manually pushed the bolt through his body and out his back. That freed bolt was retrieved, and then is forced deep into his mouth before being fired again through the back of the throat and back of his head. The person who did this wanted to inflict a lot of pain and terror to kill in such a brutal way.

 

Aden Karn initially seems to have been a great guy. But, nobody’s perfect. As Chief Burkholder and her team work the case, it becomes clear that Karn was hiding a lot of dark things. Plenty of folks had a reason to kill him. Isolating who did it gets increasingly complicated and more difficult in An Evil Heart: A Novel.

 

After the events of The Hidden One took Kate Burkholder away from home, An Evil Heart keeps her local and makes the tale stronger thanks to the inclusion of the usual secondary characters. All the regulars are fully involved in this brutal and violent case. The latest in this long running series as a complicated and detailed read that works on all levels. Well worth your time, it is nice to have Burkholder and the gang back together in the powerfully good, An Evil Heart: A Novel by Linda Castillo.

 

My reading copy came by way of an ARC by way of NetGalley. The currently scheduled release date is July 11^th.

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2023

Lesa's Book Critiques: SANDIE’S CORNER – THE DEAD WILL TELL BY LINDA CASTILLO

 Lesa's Book Critiques: SANDIE’S CORNER – THE DEAD WILL TELL BY LINDA CASTILLO